Harker !U6tQlVmras 2008/08/14 (Thu) 08:28 No. 9011 ▼ File 121870248664.jpg - (377.58KB, 554x630 , 716bf7c7bab4ea2938910768de668c11.jpg)
[X] This land
[X] Youkai
[X] This village.
[X] Herself
“Well, I would first like to know about this land in general. Gensokyo, was it? Sen only filled me in on the wonders of the village.”
“I’m not surprised, since he always was an impatient boy. To begin, Gensokyo is a land cut off from the outside world. Your world. It is part of Japan and was sealed in back in 1885 so the youkai and other Japanese mythical beings had a place they could go to escape the rapid modernization of the world.” Keine explains. Wait a second…
“Japan? Then why aren’t we speaking Japanese?”
“That would be thanks to a certain gap youkai.” She begins in full teacher mode “She can manipulate the boarders of reality and I assume she has warped the language barrier. If you pay attention to what you are saying, you will notice that you aren’t speaking English, Japanese, or any known language.” Doing so, you realize she s right. All you can tell is that you re making words that seem to carry the meaning you intend. Now that is freaky. “I can only guess that she is more entertained by outsider attempts to fit in than by stumbling about confused.”
“Sounds like a real kind woman.”
“You don’t know the half of it. Continuing, she lives in a place called Mayohiga that rests on the border between Gensokyo and your world. If you ever get lost you will likely end up at that place, since that s the only way to enter without the owner personally warping you there.”
“I get the feeling it would be better for my health to avoid that.”
“Quite. Now, to the south are the Misty Lake and Scarlet Devil Mansion. The lake is inhabited by various youkai and the mansion is owned by a vampire. She is relatively harmless as long as you stay out of her way. Her maid is a bit cold, but she s a respectable girl.” This place just gets more interesting by the moment. Keine continues.
“Towards the east is the Hakurei Shrine where the miko Reimu Hakurei lives. She is considered one of the more powerful people in Gensokyo and is definitely the most powerful human. When a disaster happens, she is the one to fly out and resolve it. As a matter of fact, she is one of the people who developed the Danmaku system so youkai wouldn’t get restless from not being able to beat her.”
“Sounds like an intense person.”
“Not at all, in fact she is a notorious slacker.” Well, that’s anticlimactic.
“Really?”
“Yes, but she gets the job done. She usually relaxes with her friend Marisa Kirisame, the estranged daughter of the Kirisame second hand shop’s owner. She lives in the forest of magic just to the north of the village. The humidity there is frequently high and it is filled to the brim with youkai, so most humans don t go there. On the outside of the forest is the shop Kourindou where you can find many different items from your world.”
“Yeah, Sen told me about that place. He said the owner is a bit strange.”
“Most people seem to think that way, but I wouldn’t know. I never had much reason to go there. Lastly, there is the Bamboo Forest to the northwest.”
“I believe I heard about that place. The one where Eientei is, right?”
“Yes, the one and the same. I take it you already know about the pharmacist that lives and operates there?”
“Her servant patched my leg up from when I fell here.”
“Servant? Oh, you mean her apprentice Reisen. She comes by on market day to sell medicine in the kiosk next to where we met. I was wondering why the shack was in such disarray.”
“That was entirely me, I m afraid. I had a bit of a rough landing.”
“Well, you can t be expected to-“
“And here s your orders.” The waitress cuts Keine off. “Tea and cake for you, tea and biscuits for you.” You instantly perk up when your order is placed before you. Keine thanks the woman.
“No problem. It is my job, after all. She says while returning to the counter.
You sip your tea. Holy hell, that s good. Reunited with the panacea for all of your troubles, you visibly relax.
“I see you like the tea here.” Keine remarks.
“Very much so.”
“Well, are there any other questions you have?”
“A few more. Like just what youkai are.”
“Youkai are spiritual creatures given form. What form that is varies widely from youkai to youkai, but there are a few things they have in common. First of all, youkai are physically superior to humans. Not only are they stronger, but they also heal much faster and from greater wounds than a human could endure. In fact, the only way to permanently kill them is to use a spiritual weapon.”
“Spiritual?”
“Yes, a weapon that has a high amount of faith placed in it. If enough people believe, even a butter knife can cut through a youkai s skin like paper.”
“These youkai sound pretty intimidating.”
“They are, for the most part. You only really have to worry about the younger feral ones, though. They will eat you without a second thought. The older and smarter of them will more than likely just want to play with you a bit. A handful of them even live in the village and you can barely tell the difference between them and the humans.”
“Really? That’s rather interesting. Speaking of the village, could you tell me a bit more about it?”
“Well, it s not the only village of humans in Gensokyo, but it is by far the largest. There is another on the southern edge of the Bamboo Forest and one more north of the Misty Lake. However, the village we are in now is the only one referred to as The Human Village because of the size of it. It is divided into three areas: the Rich District, the Merchant District, and the Worker District. As you probably have guessed, we are now in the Merchant District. Most people live in the Worker s District, and I assume you can guess the last?”
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say the rich people are in the Rich District.”
“Yes. Easy, isn’t it?”
“Very. Mind if I ask one more question?”
“Go right ahead. It is why we’re here, after all.”
“Tell me about yourself.”
“Eh? Me?” Looks like you caught her off guard.
“Yes, you. Isn’t it reasonable to want to know more about the woman that has taken me to this lovely place and told me about the new land I’m in?”
“I suppose… Well, I’m the main teacher and owner of the schoolhouse here. I teach History and General Education mostly. Aside from that, I’m the protector of this village because of my passion for protecting humans.”
“Protector?” Sounds more like a job for a giant robot or a group of teenagers with attitude (perhaps even some combination of the two), not for a young schoolteacher.
“It’s really not as exciting as it sounds. I just hide the villages when a disaster happens and chase off any hostile youkai.”
“That’s still pretty impressive.”
“Thank you.”
The rest of the time in the café goes by in comfortable silence. After you both finish your respective orders, Keine speaks up.
“Well, I should get going. I’m meeting a friend in a bit and I don’t want to be late. If you ever need anything, you can drop by my schoolhouse at around mid-afternoon. See you again.”
“See you.”
And with that, Keine leaves. Looking at your watch, it’s precisely seven after ten a.m. You have quite a bit of time to frolic about in Gensokyo. You decide to…
[x] Get a better look at the market.
[x] Go to that Kourindou place.
[x] Wander about.
[x] Do something completely different.
---
Your patience is greatly appreciated.
