Fantasy Maiden Wars E Part #20 - Turmoil on the Lake Part 1

Part 20: Turmoil on the Lake Part 1 - Part 1a

*sniff sniff*...

You kappa have good noses. I can't see much through this thickening mist myself.

That's because we're really fussy about water. We can tell where the water's from through a single sniff. This smell reminds me of Youkai Mountain, though. I wonder what's going on there right now?

Huh, are you homesick?

The water from here flows from Youkai Mountain. It feels as relaxing as my own home.

There's no official map of Gensokyo, so Sanbondo just made this up. Seems reasonable enough though.

I can understand the feeling. The smell of your home is special to you. Opening the door to be greeted by the ever-familiar scent of home... With the usual people waiting for you... Just that alone gives off a warm feeling.

Well, these little ones are with me now.

Shang-hai.

...

...Well, I can't say I understand that sorta thing anyway. ...It's starting to get real cold. Are we at the lake yet?

I believe you are feeling cold because we are approaching the lake. The sunlight hasn't been able to shine through recently.

Huh, that Cirno friend of yours is a cold one?

Cirno is an ice fairy.

An ice fairy? That's pretty grandiose for a fairy. If y'all came up with such a freezing nickname for her, she's gotta be a cold one.

Whoa... Now that's really chilly of you, Marisa.

Yes, Cirno has the ability to manipulate cold. It's an amazing power that can create icicles in summer. It can even freeze frogs with them still alive.

Huh, sounds like she'd be a good air-conditioner... But what was that about frogs?

Sounds like she's strong, but using her power that way...

Ahh... But when you put an orange on one of her icicles to turn it into a snack...

Hm, that sounds good.

If you think that, try sticking a frozen cucumber into an orange. It's super tasty.

Wouldn't you just break your teeth?

It really is an amazing power for a fairy though. Nature giving them a power that lets it be cold in summer seems kinda unbalanced.

There are fairies who can make themselves disappear. It's certainly not unbelievable.

The power to make nature itself change...

But if she has so much power, then is she the leader of all the fairies?

Well... She is, mainly because she is much more energetic than the others.

Ahh, so she's the leader of a bunch of kids...

But even so, I think she's doing much better compared to how she was before. Cirno isn't very good at listening to others, but she always has good intentions.

Well, it'll be pretty nasty if she pranks on top of that.

Some wind blows by.

This chill... Cirno must really be nearby.

That's good. It was worth it for us to come here at least.

...I've got no plans on befriending someone who's so cold in the summer.

Humans must have it tough. Youkai like us have no problems dealing in temperature differences like this.

Yeah. I wanna take a dip when we reach the lake, it's been a while.

Quit it, just thinking about it is making me shiver.

Don't waste your magic power like that. We're going to be resolving an incident, you know.

Shaddup, my body's a lot more delicate than yours.

The forest has opened up, everyone. We will emerge at the lake soon.

There's a very brief pause here.

This is bad, I have to tell everyone!

And now for Reimu's pre-chapter cutscene.

It's hard to tell which way to go from here.

The suspicious mist is getting thicker... But it seems that normal mist is mixing with it too.

That would be normal, this is the Misty Lake after all.

The Misty Lake?

Yeah, it's a gloomy place that's always shrouded in mist. It's damp as well, and humans don't go there often. Thus, it became a natural habitat for fairies.

Humans would normally be close to wherever there's water too. What a weird place.

Take a moment to think about why Rumia might know this.

This place would be an exception.

Youkai Mountain? I believe I have heard of it before.

There seems to be a lot of troublesome things going on there. It'll probably be best to steer clear of it.

Mm... The mountain of youkai is quite an exclusive and unsociable place.

Why would that be?

Youkai Mountain has formed its own society that's different from most others. Each youkai has a position and a duty. There are clearly-defined laws, and a lifestyle of hierarchical relationships.

Information from within never leaves the premises. Ever since the oni left Gensokyo, the tengu's rule has become ever so remarkable.

An unknown time ago, all of the youkai that both humans and the majority of youkai despised/were afraid of were moved underground and sealed off from Gensokyo. Among them were the oni, who actually left of their own free will.

The tengu... The newspaper reporter earlier was one of them, no?

Yes. That girl didn't seem like she was on duty... But there's no doubt that she's also plotting something. Especially regarding...

...That other shrine maiden.

She did seem to be hiding what she knew about that shrine maiden. Perhaps a major incident occurred? One so major that they absolutely could not let it leak outside.

Too bad Aya's terrible at keeping things to herself.

With how she ran when we asked, there isn't anything we can do but speculate.

So referring to another isn't entirely understandable...

Could Youkai Mountain possibly be trying to establish their own shrine maiden...? Perhaps that shrine maiden will then aim to take Reimu's place...?

If it's to take Reimu's place, then will it be a blue and white shrine maiden?

Since ~The Other Shrine Maiden~ didn't outright appear in Reimu's route, here the game just hammers who it is into the player's head with the dialogue.

They may be suspicious, but there's nothing we can do about it. No one knows what youkai are thinking.

Even if you say that, this is a potential problem for you, isn't it? If a replacement shrine maiden really pops up, your specialty might be snatched away.

Nope, won't happen. I'm the only shrine maiden around here. And even if there was another shrine maiden around, there's nothing to think over.

...Which means?

...Haha, that actually sounds reliable coming from you, somehow.

It certainly wouldn't be easy for anyone to supplant Reimu from her duties.

Indeed. So let's keep moving.

Understood. It has gotten colder now that we are closer to the lake...

Once again, wind blows by.

Eeep... *shiver*

Huh, you're kinda soft for a half-ghost.

That is because I am still half-human as well.

Even so, this coldness in summer is still unnatural.

That's enough! You can come out already! ...Geez, where did Dai go?

Meet Cirno. Believe it or not, she's one of the most popular Touhou characters. She is also a fairy, so that kind of tells you a lot about her personality right from the start.

Or maybe she got tired looking for me and went to take an afternoon nap.

Hey, hey, Cirno.

What? Did you find Dai!?

Ah, no, but... Um, are we still gonna keep playing hide-and-seek? We've been searching for awhile now, it might be time to stop... And well, there are other fairies who want to go back home for their naps...