[x] Searching for a saint

Your search proceeded in silence after that. Unsurprisingly, Reisen and Alice both seemed rather discomforted from learning about Tamamo-no-mae. It was just as well. You weren't about to teach Alice anything further in a location where Seiga could easily be lurking, after all.

Nevertheless, between your wisps, Alice's dolls, and the three of you roaming the mausoleum's halls, the search proceeded rapidly. And as such, despite your thoroughness, you were forced to confront an unfortunate truth.

"... and that's the west wing. For a given value of west." Alice said, landing in front of you. "Enough's enough. We've each checked both sides, and I've found nothing. There's nobody here."

You landed as well, watching her dolls fly back in from all directions. You sighed, pulled back your wisps as well. "I agree. I'd hoped to at least find someone, but there's no sign of any of them. Not Miko, and not even Futo or Tojiko."

Reisen skidded to a stop beside you, scratching at the back of her head. "Isn't that kinda normal for them?" Reisen asked. "From what I've heard, the Taoists have been pretty enthusiastic about solving incidents like this."

"Miko and Futo being gone is not unexpected," you replied, "though I'd had hopes one of them would be stockpiling their occult balls in here. But Tojiko is a surprise. She is far less active in incident resolution, and as such the odds of her being present to guard the fort were considerably higher."

Reisen frowned. "Is it possible they're just in hiding for some reason?"

You raised an eyebrow. "Can you imagine Miko or Futo hiding from anyone?"

She chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head. "No, I guess not."

"It's more plausible for Tojiko," you admitted, "But even if she was hidden, it would imply she's unwilling to be cooperative, thus negating the point."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Not to mention, we've already searched the mausoleum thoroughly. Anyone who's theoretically present is clearly capable of hiding from us."

You sighed. You'd thought dealing with Seiga had been a little too easy. "It seems there's no choice but to negotiate with the hermit."

To your complete lack of surprise, the wicked hermit was waiting for you at Senkai's exit, her zombie in tow. She was lounging with her head propped up on one arm, made only slightly more notable by how she was three feet off the ground. Yoshika was staring ahead blankly as always, but Seiga gave you a smug smile as she floated next to her zombie.

"Did you enjoy the tour?" she asked, affecting innocence.

You smiled at her, refusing to be baited. "It was rather interesting, but some relevant religious imagery would have punched it up a little. A nice cross, perhaps?"

Seiga sat upright, putting a hand to her chest in mock horror. "A cross? Who has time for martyrs? Some of us have things to live for, you know."

You smiled a bit wider. "Such as pining for knowledge you will never obtain? Interesting choice."

She shook her head. "Oh, I don't know about that. You-"

"Yes, that's my point," you interrupted her.

That got a look of irritation out of the hermit. "You do need to know where Miko went, do you not? Because you need to stop this terribly dangerous incident?"

Thankfully, your standing orders prioritized the long-term benefit of Gensokyo. "I would be a poor incident resolver if I investigated this by giving you the means to start another."

Alice scowled, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. "I have better things to do than listen to this. Either make a deal or declare a spellcard."

Seiga laughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "The shikigami knows the ritual I want... though I suppose you could tell me also."

The puppeteer sighed. "There are a number of reasons that would be wrong."

Seiga shrugged. "If you prefer to wander around aimlessly, who am I to stop you?"

"Let me handle this," you requested, as you stepped in. "Let's dispense with the posturing. Knowledge of Miko's location isn't nearly enough for me to hand over the shikigami ritual, something that you are very well aware of." If Seiga hadn't been listening to your story earlier, you'd eat your own hat. "You must also be aware that simply beating Miko's location out of you is on the table. Since you're still here, you must have an offer in mind. One that's a compelling reason not to reach for a spellcard."

It's basic negotiation. As a danmaku duel would be a foregone conclusion (Seiga couldn't take you on your worst day, let alone one where you had Reisen and Alice for backup), Seiga was the one that needed the conversation to remain civil. Applying pressure in that direction would force her to state the reasonable compromise and give you the freedom to argue downwards, instead of vice versa. And if she tried an unreasonable compromise... well, you weren't lying about being willing to beat the information out of her. Not that such information would be trustworthy, but the chance it could be useful outweighed the time it would take for you to acquire it. (The potential satisfaction of that course of action had little to do with it.)

Seiga hesitated, eyeing you up and down. One of her hands slid behind her back for a second, hidden from view, but it was wasted effort; the sound of her snapping her fingers was still audible. Though the way Yoshika stepped in front of her master would have been obvious even if she’d hidden the signal; jiang-shi weren’t that independent. You affected a confident smile and said nothing, electing to watch the wicked hermit definitely-not-hide behind her pet zombie.

"You would know what information you're willing to trade better than I," Seiga said, trying to reverse the tactic.

That made it time for a lowball offer. Something directionally correct, but clearly less than she would want. You hummed, as if considering it. "I suppose I could explain the 'nobody' trick we used for entry."

Yoshika drooped and looked down at the floor, muttering sadly to herself. Listening closely, you heard a faint, "Nobody can't come in..."

"Be serious," she hissed. "The issue was obvious the moment I heard about it."

"Any problem is obvious once pointed out. Are you clever enough to fix it?"

The haggling proceeded from there.

What Seiga wanted was obvious enough. Short of getting entirely new servants with the shikigami ritual, she would aim to improve the one she had through better programming. And while improving Seiga's zombie was less than ideal, it was far more palatable than giving the wicked hermit a tool of enslavement, and a reasonable thing to trade for Miko's location. It helped that it was also a method of improvement that was strictly limited by the species of servant she'd chosen for herself.

And as this knowledge was something you specialized in, Reisen and Alice were happy to step back and let you handle this. The puppeteer had one of her dolls taking notes, while Reisen stood listening at attention, waiting until she was needed.

"The root cause of the vulnerability is that Yoshika is thinking of things in weak equivalences." you explained. "That makes her easier to program, as you can messily reuse concepts, but also far less secure. With such a scheme, I was able to reconsider her command with 'nobody' as a name, instead of being the restriction 'no person'."

Seiga scowled. "Yes, but rigorously defining every possible relevant concept is prohibitive. I need to fit everything on a single talisman!"

You shrugged. “Try a larger talisman, perhaps?”

In point of fact, the correct thing to do (if you were stuck with such an inferior servant) would be to make modular talismans. One large one, designed to interface correctly with several smaller talismans that could be swapped in and out for different situations. By making one of them focus on scenario identification, it would even be possible to get Yoshika to make the change herself, allowing her to swap on the fly between being a servant, fighting a battle, or whatever other task her master might have for her.

But you had no need to tell Seiga all of that.

“Maybe,” the wicked hermit muttered.

You nodded, pressing onwards. “Regardless, the key is to type check critical inferences. By making the comparison more specific, any attempt to game the comparison becomes increasingly tortured, enough for even a jiang-shi to detect. If you had programmed her with the command 'Only my master, Seiga Kaku, can pass', it would have been nearly impossible to bypass."

Well, except for a shapeshifter, but that was a different issue.

The hermit's grimace hadn't faded. "That's still going to cost considerable space across the various commands she'll need."

"It's a limitation of the programming itself," you said. "If you don't want to define the context yourself, you need a servant that can understand context without being taught."

Seiga considered it for a moment longer, and sighed. "Fine then. There are two possible locations that Miko is likely to be at."

You frowned. "Likely?"

"It's a limitation of my knowledge," she shot back, smirking. "She did mention her plans before heading out, but that was hours ago. It is plausible for circumstance to have changed them."

It was a reasonable argument, but you found yourself irritated regardless. "Fine. What locations?"

Seiga leaned back, toying with Yoshika's talisman. "The first would be the human village. Miko mentioned a problem with one of Kokoro's masks, and that is the menreiki's known haunt."

You froze. The last time Kokoro lost a mask, she plunged the village into despair and started a religious war. If she was having another issue… “What sort of problem?”

“One of her masks got cracked,” she said. “Her mask of guilt, I think?”

Damnation. A youkai of her strength, unable to feel guilt? Or worse, trying to pull the emotion out of the villagers like she did in the previous incident? Whether it result in one strong psychopath or an entire village of them, that needed to be prevented, by any means necessary. "What of the second?" you asked.

"The incident resolver meeting at the Hakurei Shrine." Seiga shrugged. "Miko's almost certain to find her way there regardless, but it depends on how much Kokoro delays her."

And that was also something you really needed to be involved in. You gritted your teeth. "When is this meeting?"

"Considering the time you've already wasted here?” Seiga shrugged without the slightest hint of apology. “It should be about to start. If you hurried, you’d probably catch most of it."

Unfortunate. You scowled, adjusting your hat as you paced. Miko and Kokoro took priority; not only was it the more direct step towards solving this incident, but it could also prevent another one. It grated on you to miss the incident resolver meeting, but needs must. Hopefully you could make the tail end of it after dealing with Kokoro; with the news you had to share, it should be easy enough to take control of the discussion and guide the incident resolvers to the optimal solutions.

You nodded as the plan took shape. It could work, everyone would be interested in the Scarlet Devil Mansion capturing Sumireko, and it was enough of a gamechanger to invalidate any previously made plans. You just needed to arrive before everyone left.

“Ran?”

Hm. You adjusted your hat, considering it - Miko was the more direct step towards solving the Which was really the trick, wasn’t it? Being able to call ahead would be perfect, but none of your shikigami were truly fit for the task. The wisps were useless. Zenki or Goki could get there, but all they’d be able to communicate would be a squawk. You could always tie a physical message to one of them, but that would beg the question of why you didn’t just write out the news; an ambiguous “I have information, wait for me” would merely irritate the recipient. And while Chen could deliver a message, you would greatly prefer if she stayed completely out of this incident. And she lacked the necessary presence to make people listen in any case, so there was a reason it wouldn’t work.

Someone tapped you on the shoulder. “Um, hello? Moon to Ran?” Reisen asked.

Oh, of course. You weren’t limited to just sending one of your shikigami. You whirled around to face the moon rabbit, nodding as you considered the idea. Alice would be too assertive, she’d drive the discussion by actively sharing what she knew, but Reisen was a beaten-down servant. Staying quiet would come naturally to her; in the haggling just now, she’d stood by and listened without a word. And at the same time, you could still rely on her to speak up to prevent people from leaving if you were delayed, or in the worst case to share the news for you. And because Eirin’s servant was a good listener, she’d even be able to brief you on whatever details you missed!

Maybe you could call ahead after all.

[-] Send Reisen ahead to the incident resolver meeting.
[-] Miko and Kokoro take priority; keep Reisen with you.

[x] Send Reisen ahead to the incident resolver meeting

The logic was clear. You could guide the incident towards the right conclusions while also handling the Lunar Capital’s Occult Ball and the problem of Kokoro losing another mask. The combination of your strength and Alice’s should be more than sufficient for dealing with Kokoro. Miko as well, should that be necessary. And Reisen would be the perfect tool for keeping an eye on the incident resolver meeting!

The moon rabbit you were staring at was backing away slowly, smiling nervously. “Ran? Is something wrong?”

You shook your head, smiling. “On the contrary, this is beautiful! You’re perfect.”

The rabbit’s ears went bolt upright as she blushed, waving her hands in front of her. “Eh?!”

It took a moment for your mental train to switch tracks, and once it did your hand met your face. “Right. Not a shikigami. Phrasing.” You muttered. Clearing your throat, you opted to clarify. “Perfect for this task in particular, I mean.”

Alice raised an eyebrow. “Interesting choice of words. Is that also a shikigami thing?”

“The innuendo? No. The mental oversight?” You waggled your hand noncommittally. “After a fashion. A shikigami evaluates everything with the framing of how to best fulfill their orders, and I realized there was a task that Reisen was uniquely suited for.”

Reisen sighed, scratching the back of her head. “Oh. I thought you meant… never mind.”

“The fault is mine. It was understandable you would reach that conclusion, particularly if others have already expressed it.”

“Huh?”

“You are aware you’re conventionally attractive, yes?” You prodded. Reisen still looked blank, so you elaborated. “While there is a train of thought that larger assets are strictly better, your moderate sizing, shy demeanor, and style of dress mesh very well for a schoolgirl or girl-next-door look. This is in turn enhanced by your nature as a youkai rabbit, being exotic enough to draw interest, yet still approachable for a brave villager. Or if you would prefer a closer species, your lunar origins give you the allure of a foreign lady to the earth rabbits.”

“D-don’t be silly, I’m just another rabbit at Eientei!” Reisen stuttered, shaking her head. “I’m just the help, or Tewi’s pranking target.”

Perhaps a rabbit, then? “You’re a lady descended from the moon, one who possesses a mysterious power and is uniquely trusted by the god-like beings that hold sway over them.” You shook your head. “There would be no shortage of interested males if you decided to pursue such a thing.”

As Reisen went a deeper red than the Hakurei shrine maiden, you were forced to conclude that this was new information for her. Alice’s poorly hidden laughter and Seiga’s outright cackling were also clues that you may have overexplained.

“Are you sure you evaluate everything relative to your orders?” Alice managed.

You sighed, walking over to face the puppeteer. “A shikigami does contain traces of the original personality, as well as the knowledge of their past self. While I no longer possess the relevant desires, I have extensive knowledge of what it is that men seek.”

Alice visibly struggled for a moment, before straightening up with a mischievous smile. “And if you were ordered to seduce someone?”

You glanced over at the still red-faced bunny. No, she’d suffered enough. But since Alice was literally asking for it…

“Why, my dear Alice.” You caressed her hair as you leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I’d show you the night of your life.”

Alice immediately went bright red, and shortly after you received a doll to the face and a punch to the stomach as her shock wore off.

Without magic behind the blows the damage was minimal, unlikely even to bruise. You stepped back and brushed the doll off as you reverted to full formality. “While my tenure as a shikigami has never required them, you may rest assured I possess all of those skills as well. Hopefully that answered the question to your satisfaction.”

Yoshika was holding Seiga up at this point, the hermit was laughing so hard.

“But perhaps we should discuss the task at hand?”

At this point, the pair of blushing maidens were only too happy to agree.

Once you’d explained your plan, Reisen had been happy to follow it, and departed with minimal fanfare. After that, you and Alice departed for the human village. You’d expected her to ask more questions about the shikigami ritual (and to need to deny her until you were certain Seiga was no longer nearby) but instead the puppeteer remained silent for much of the trip. At first you thought it was a combination of irritation and embarrassment, but as time went on her mood turned more pensive. It wasn’t until you reached the outskirts of the village proper that she spoke.

“Hey Ran. Did you mean all of that?” Alice asked, flying next to you.

You were going to need a little more context. “Regarding what?”

Looking down, she sighed. “Not having desires of your own outside of your orders.”

“It’s an exaggeration,” you admitted, scratching at one of your ears. “But only a small one. The ritual was designed with that in mind.”

“Why go that far?” she asked. “What’s the point of a sentient servant if they lose what it means to be sentient?”

“Would feeling anger or fear make your dolls fight more effectively?” you replied. “Would desiring to smell the roses or play with each other make them better servants? Such things are hindrances to a good tool.”

“You’ve been Yukari’s tool for a century, and you display emotions and desires both!” she pointed out.

You took a deep breath, clasping your arms behind your back. “As I said before, some trace elements of the original personality remain. These are most notable when the shikigami is first created, but fade over time.”

“Fade how?” Alice demanded. “Emotions and desires might be felt in the conscious mind, but their causes lay deeper. If the integration of the master’s soul is on the level of decision-making, it shouldn’t be able to touch the subconscious!”

You gave her a grim nod. “True. The shikigami ritual can’t directly touch the subconscious, which is why those elements remain in the first place. However, it can influence them indirectly over time. Have you never lost interest in a hobby after being unable to actually perform it for a time?”

“Doing the dolls theater for the human village is always more effort after a break,” Alice admitted, then flinched. “Is that it? Depriving them of a chance to exercise those desires?”

You paused at a crossroads, looking around for a sign of Kokoro. Nothing yet. “That’s half of it. The other half? While it is difficult to prevent a soul from feeling inconvenient emotions, pushing the desired emotions onto it is far simpler. Shikigami have an urge to serve, one that only grows stronger the longer they are kept from serving. The only relief is acting in their master’s service, and this is coupled with bursts of pleasure upon completing orders and receiving the master’s praise.”

Alice halted beside you, grimacing. “I’d have thought it would be more effective to use pain when the shikigami resists.”

You sighed, turning back to face her. “Tamamo tested that idea. While effective in moderation, a relationship built upon negative reinforcement is inherently less useful. A servant that wants to serve is more productive than one that merely fears punishment. Why give the slave something negative to associate with the master?”

“So you cut them off from themselves and addicted them to following orders instead.” Alice stared at you, obviously troubled. “How much testing-”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.”

Alice clenched her fists, swallowing. “Is this inevitable? How do I work around it? What about my doll?!”

You looked away. “As the psychological attack happens on two fronts, you would need to fight it on both. For the shikigami’s orders-”

“Wait a moment!” Alice said, as a couple of dolls fished out pencil and paper. Once prepared, she nodded at you, and you continued.

“For the shikigami’s orders, the key is to have long-term directives that can be continually worked towards, but never finished. This prevents both the feelings of withdrawal from failing to serve, and the bursts of pleasure from finishing orders. The occasional short term order is acceptable, but they should be minimized as much as possible.”

“And for encouraging their own desires?” Alice asked. “Can they be given time to pursue those?”

“They can’t just be ‘given’ time off. A shikigami will prioritize their orders first and foremost, and feel agitated in the absence of any,” you sighed. “I experienced that back in my first days as Yukari’s shikigami. She was too worried about my condition to let me actually serve, and it was exceedingly unpleasant. No. You need to plan an order that will allow the shikigami to fulfill their desire while carrying out the order.”

The dolls were scribbling away furiously. “An example would be helpful here,” Alice said.

You are to care for Chen as a pet and be highly affectionate towards her.

You… didn’t want to explain that one. “The simplest example would be ordering your shikigami ‘Engage in a hobby you enjoy’. This would have the side effect of heavily encouraging their enthusiasm about that hobby, but it would be a hobby they legitimately wanted to do in the first place.”

The writing paused, and Alice rubbed at her eyes, turning a tired look on you. “Is there nothing better?”

“There is nothing perfect. Long-term orders you are compelled to follow will always change a person somewhat, even if you choose them as well as possible. The best set of orders my past self came up with,” you hesitated, but decided Alice deserved to know, “is what was used for Chen.”

Alice blinked. “You can explain that?”

“‘Be yourself. Be happy. Be free.’” you quoted, smiling slightly. “Her orders contain no secrets. But I’ll admit, it’s not completely without side-effects. Chen is more free-spirited, cheerful, and probably more spoiled than I suspect she would have been otherwise… but there are far worse fates.”

Alice sighed, rubbing her eyes again. “I was half expecting something else horrible. No, that sounds like something I can work with. Though probably not with those exact words.”

“A newly created living doll would hardly have much of ‘herself’ to be.” you agreed. “Perhaps ‘Find yourself’ at the start? To encourage her to figure out her personality first and foremost?”

“Maybe,” Alice said, as her dolls flipped to a new page and continued scribbling. “I’ll need to consider it more carefully.”

“After we find Miko and Kokoro,” you reminded her.

Alice startled, shaking her head. “Ah, yes. By all means.”

She sent out her dolls, you sent out your wisps, and the hunt for the Taoist was on.

[-] To be continued.

Toyasatomimi no Miko opened the door to Geidontei, pausing at the entrance as she surveyed the establishment. Seeing Kokoro sitting at the bar, she sighed, hanging up her cape on the coat rack. Well… sitting didn't really convey the sense of malaise. Kokoro was slumped onto the counter, laying her head on her arms as she idly stirred a half-empty drink. And if that wasn't enough proof of her emotional state, the old woman mask propped on the side of her head confirmed it. Miko grimaced. There were multiple reasons she wished she could just return to the search for Sumireko... but she was the only one suited to fixing this particular problem. She strode up and took the seat next to the menreiki.

Kokoro’s eyes tracked the saint’s every move, but that was her only reaction. "Finally ran out of important things to do?" she asked.

Miko winced. The set time for this meeting had been over an hour ago. "I apologize. Searching Hakugyokurou took longer than expected."

Kokoro shifted, turning her head to look away from Miko. "Because Sumireko wasn't there?"

It had been a reasonable theory. The lack of incident from Sumireko appearing there had made it the odd one out, and while Marisa had dismissed the encounter as 'feeling off', Miko had guessed that the young man from the pond was involved. His desires had been noticeably more peaceable than Sumireko's, and Yuyuko was someone worth negotiating with. If you wanted to get back across the border, soliciting help from Yukari via Yuyuko was a plausible plan. But alas, it wasn't what Sumireko had done.

"Unfortunately not," she said. "It was a dead end."

Kokoro's mask for laughter wobbled, moving slightly closer to the menreiki's head for just a moment. However, the melancholic old woman mask stayed put, and the laughing face quickly returned to its previous orbit. Kokoro sat back up, taking a gulp of her drink. "You're not out chasing her, or gathering occult balls or something?"

"There would be little point," she admitted. "Without an idea of how Sumireko's managing to appear and disappear across half of Gensokyo, the odds of catching her are negligible."

Kokoro's mask switched to surprise as she looked at Miko. "You're giving up?"

"Nothing of the sort," she said. "There's about to be a meeting at the Hakurei Shrine to compare notes and formulate a plan. Sumireko's various appearances must have left a clue, I simply need to work out her true motives."

"Of course." Kokoro said, draining the rest of her drink. She pushed the empty glass across the bar, where a pink-haired waitress refilled it with sake.

Miko hesitated. Drinking ages in Gensokyo were barely a thing in the first place, but Kokoro had been sentient for only a year. "That won't help with what's bothering you."

Kokoro looked over at her. "Are you trying to be my dad?"

The saint hesitated, but gave up with a sigh. It wasn't her place. She waved over the bartender for a glass of her own. "Just some hard-earned wisdom. I'd tell the same to Tojiko if she was drinking to forget."

The mask swapped out to curiosity. "Does she do that?"

"Not any more." Miko sighed. "After she tried to electrocute Futo, I put my foot down on the matter. She wasn’t terribly happy about that."

"Did she deserve it?"

"Tojiko, or Futo?" The saint raised an eyebrow, before smiling. "In either case, the answer is yes."

Kokoro's lips twitched upwards, ever so slightly. "I didn't think you drank at all."

"Not heavily. I prefer maintaining access to my wits. But the occasional glass in moderation does no harm, and it helps me seem more approachable."

Kokoro fiddled with her dress, her hands twisting and wringing the fabric. "You know, I haven't tried it myself, but the stewed vegetables here are supposed to be really good... If you've been running around all day... do you want to grab dinner?"

Miko looked over at the menreiki, at her own face staring back at her from the mask of hope she'd made. The offer was tempting, surprisingly so. With everything going on, she’d spent precious little time with the menreiki of late. But that was precisely the problem.

"There isn't time," Miko said gently. "The incident resolver meeting is starting soon."

Kokoro clasped her hands. "Well... maybe after?"

"While I won't know specific plans until after the meeting, I'm likely to be busy until the urban legend incident is solved. Matters are escalating. Nitori has been kidnapped, the pond got blown up, Satori and another outsider are somehow involved... and then there's that whole mess with Remilia."

Kokoro's face fell, the mask of hope vanishing. "You're just always busy with important stuff, then?"

It was just like when she was the crown prince. He’d had conversations on this topic with his children more than once, about making time for them amidst running a nation. Miko shook her head. This wasn’t the time for sentimentality. "It is the burden of leadership. Though that reminds me. Your urban legend, the Kuchisake-onna. You should stop using it."

Kokoro fixed him with a stare, as her active mask switched briefly to surprise, and right over to anger. "What?"

Miko took a sip before responding. This wasn’t something Kokoro would want to hear, but it was a point she needed to be firm on. "Until it's clear what caused Remilia's malady, it's too dangerous. You risk losing yourself, or hurting one of the humans."

Kokoro downed her entire drink, slamming the empty glass back down to the counter. "Did you come here just to tell me that?"

"Kokoro-"

"Did you?!" Kokoro demanded, jumping to her feet.

She was acting like a disappointed child seeking reassurance… but that was the damaged mask talking. Of course her emotions were going to be out of sync; better for Miko to remind her of that than to say something that would embarrass her once it was fixed. "Of course not. Your mask is cracked, remember?"

Kokoro didn't respond, and Miko got up herself, her voice soothing. "Much like with the mask of hope, your damaged mask is affecting your emotions. You'll feel better once it’s fixed."

The mask in question leapt to Kokoro's head. The face of a man looking downcast, cringing, unable to meet the other person's gaze. The crack ran from the top of the mask a quarter of the way down the face, ending in the middle of the forehead. Miko's gaze was fixed on it as Kokoro herself stared downwards. "And that'll stop me from causing another incident, will it?"

The shot hit home, earning a flinch from the incident resolver. "Better to say you'll be back to normal."

The mask of guilt shook, and the hermit could have sworn she saw a small chip fall away from it. "So you can get back to ignoring me? Like normal?"

The saint froze. She'd misjudged. She'd thought Kokoro's malaise was from her damaged mask, but the hurt in that question could not be missed. Which... which meant-

Which meant that the comparisons to her past life were far more relevant than she had thought. And in that case, she’d made a series of terrible mistakes from the moment she walked in. Perhaps even before that. Perhaps all the way back to when she first met Kokoro.

Her next words came out slowly, carefully, nervousness slipping through her tone. Attempting to creep back from a precipice she may have already passed. "Have you always felt that way?"

"Why bother asking? It's obviously not important. If it's important, you'd have said something about it!"

Damnation. This was not a conversation that should happen with a damaged mask. "Kokoro, please. Let me fix your mask and we’ll talk about this immediately afterwards."

"No we won't." Kokoro laughed beneath the old woman mask, the kind of laughter that was an attempt to avoid sobbing. "Mami was right. You only make time for serious things."

"This is serious," she pleaded. “Far more than I realized.”

"More serious than Sumireko?!" Kokoro demanded. "Than solving the urban legend incident?"

Miko hesitated... but that was all the answer the menreiki needed. She shook her head, her mask swapping out to anger. "I knew it."

"Just because incident resolution is important doesn't mean this isn't." Miko said desperately. "Please, Kokoro. Let me fix your mask, and I promise we'll talk later. About everything. I’ll make this better. I'll answer any questions you might have."

Kokoro's cracked mask was in her hands as she looked down on it. Her hands shook as the mask depicting her emotions swapped from the anger of the oni to the determination of the fox mask. "Then answer one now."

Kokoro's emotions lashed out - anger, confusion, longing, guilt - the mask in her hands cracking further as she turned to face Miko. As the waitress dove behind the bar, Miko tensed, needing an effort to keep her hand from her sword as she faced the set of masks she'd created… at the girl she’d brought into this world.

"Am I pretty?" the Kuchisake-onna asked.

[-] Finding Miko.

Like at Senkai, between your wisps and Alice's dolls, the search proceeded rapidly. Unlike then, your target was actually present, and you located them in short order. Miko and Kokoro were locked in combat right outside Geidontei, and upon relaying that information to Alice, the two of you flew over to the conflict.

Worryingly, that conflict wasn't just danmaku. Kokoro and Miko were locked in martial combat, with the menreiki's naginata thrusting and slashing against the hermit's sword. Which was a concern. The protection the spellcard rules offered were in fact tied into the use of spellcards and danmaku in general. Without them, there was the risk of real damage, something you needed to prevent.

[Superhuman - Soaring En no Ozunu]

Your enhancement magic didn't require a spellcard, but Gensokyo's magic made them that little bit stronger than unassisted magic, and this was a case where every second counted. As the magic coursed through you, you rocketed off towards Geidontei, leaving a trail of bullets for Alice to follow. As you spun through the air you focused on your wisp, observing the fight while you closed the distance.

It was immediately clear that Miko was the superior swordsman. The menreiki's moves were fast and elegant, with the grace of a dancer and the speed of a youkai, but the saint deflected each strike with the minimum movement possible. A half step backwards here, an angled block there, and Kokoro's relentless offensive never quite managed to reach the hermit.

And yet the initiative was entirely Kokoro's. Her masks harried the saint to no end, darting back and forth as they fired sprays of bullets into the melee. Miko weaved around them as best she could, but Kokoro's pursuit limited her options. Every time the menreiki forced her to outright block a strike, a rain of bullets would immediately descend upon the saint, and she could not escape without damage.

Such tactics should have failed dramatically. Kokoro's offense was reckless, suicidally so for any sort of real combat. She made no attempt to defend herself, and your most conservative estimates gave Miko the opportunity to stab her assailant one exchange in three. But Miko made no move to take advantage of any of those openings, instead taking the danmaku battering and continually giving ground. It was the complete opposite of the flashy showmanship the hermit typically indulged in. In the absence of anything else, that alone would have convinced you something was off.

But in the presence of an opponent that would only defend, reckless aggression was the correct answer. With only one combatant ever at risk of damage, the fight’s victor was predetermined, and the only question was how long Miko would last. And finally, whether through injury, exhaustion, or a simple mistake, Miko misjudged one of her parries. Kokoro’s blade wasn’t fully diverted, glancing off the hermit’s shoulder and drawing blood. The saint cried out, and Kokoro whipped her naginata around, the follow-up strike crashing into Miko’s guard and tearing the sword out of her hands.

You expected Miko to dodge, declare a spellcard, or at least bring out her shaku, but she stood there, unmoving. The saint said something, but your wisp was unable to make out what. Kokoro’s mask vibrated, its visage alternating between a red-faced demon and an old woman as she spun her naginata around and thrust.

You pushed more energy into your spellcard, sacrificing stamina for a little extra speed, but you were still a full street away, and no danmaku would reach the pair in time.

The naginata hit Miko dead-center in the chest, and she folded around the weapon. A moment later, a wave of bullets erupted from it, knocking the saint clear across the street. As Miko’s body created a sizable dent in the wall of a building, you realized two things.

The first was the lack of blood. Kokoro had struck with the polearm’s blunt end.

The second was that the menreiki’s fury was not spent.

Fortunately, no matter how reckless or angry a combatant may be, they could not ignore a kitsune traveling at speeds that were only barely subsonic. You aimed right at Kokoro, forcing her to dodge away from Miko. Hitting the ground hard enough to crack stone, you leapt straight up and launched directly into a second spellcard.

[Radiance - Charming Siege From All Sides]

The key feature of this one was its cyan lines of bullets, designed to come down in dense curtains and trap the opponent in a small, constantly shifting area. Combined with the waves of large orbs, it served its role as a moderately difficult spellcard; challenging for small fry, but simple enough for a real opponent.

In this case it was perfect, as the trap was the point. You had enough control over how the lines of bullets fell to keep them away from Miko, and Kokoro was skilled enough to actually avoid getting hit by the danmaku.

Miko picked herself up off the ground, taking a minute to catch her breath, while Kokoro fired back from her masks. You allowed it, taking the damage as a spellcard duelist should, before letting the card break around the thirty second mark and addressing both of them.

"Now that I have your attention," you said, "what appears to be the problem?"

Miko looked over at Kokoro, closing her eyes and sighing. "This is a personal matter, shikigami. Please do not interfere."

Interesting stance to take with the beating she was receiving. You shook your head. "If you're dueling without spellcard rules, the matter is more than merely personal. It has been some time since I've needed to play peacekeeper, but it is still one of my duties."

"As we are dueling each other, I fail to see how that concerns you," she shot back. "Unless you make a point of interrupting every fistfight between oni, any danger is mine to risk."

Alice caught up then, coming to a stop in the air beside you. "As I understand it, the oni don't fight within the human village."

"Indeed," you gave your companion a nod. "A serious injury within the village would set a bad precedent, regardless of who suffers it."

"There was no time to move things out of the village; this was a matter that couldn't wait. One that's already waited far too long." For all that she was responding to you, Miko only had eyes for Kokoro, her gaze not leaving the youkai.

And looking at the menreiki, there was clear reason for concern. Kokoro was shaking, her naginata wavering between you and Miko. Admittedly, the handful of masks that were visible looked fine, but with over fifty of the menreiki’s masks still hidden, that meant nothing.

“You.” Kokoro growled, the naginata swinging over to point firmly in your direction. “Why are you here?”

“Incident resolution,” you said honestly. “I need to discuss a certain occult ball with Miko, and making sure your mask is fixed is also important.”

“Really. All of a sudden when there’s real problems you just happen to be around to fix everything?” Kokoro said, all but spitting the words. “And all for the low, low price of one new shikigami? I’ve heard all about you, Tamamo-no-Mae!”

“What?” For the first time in the conversation, Miko glanced at you, her surprise clear.

You weren’t expecting to have this talk twice in under an hour. Especially not with Kokoro of all youkai. “The kitsune I’m possessing was her, once upon a time. Though she changed long before she was turned into a shikigami.”

Kokoro flew up into the air, spinning her naginata as the masks behind her multiplied. “The leopard doesn’t change her spots! Tamamo-no-Mae shed more blood than the whole village could hold. Human, youkai, soldiers, civilians, adults, children…”

You could feel the fury pouring off of the menreiki as she punctuated each phrase with a swing of her weapon. “They bent the knee! They ran! Or they died! All of them!”

The drama made a certain amount of sense; Kokoro was a collection of theater masks, after all. The venom did not. Knowing about Tamamo-no-Mae wasn’t that big of a stretch (Tamamo’s infamy had resulted in more than one play about her crimes), but reacting this strongly was unexpected… as was connecting Tamamo’s identity to you. Clearly someone had informed her with malicious intent. Had your presence been anticipated?

Wait, no, that didn’t make sense. You didn’t know you’d be coming here before visiting Senkai, it was absurd for anyone else to expect it. Poisoning the well with Kokoro was also a relatively minor complication for the amount of effort it would take. If someone had intended any sort of trap for you personally, it would have made far more sense to spring it around the incident resolver meeting.

You shook your head, grimacing. You had more immediate concerns. “Regardless of Tamamo’s guilt, I am a shikigami. The kitsune that used to be her is alive only in the technical sense.”

“You invented shikigami!” Kokoro yelled. “What kind of schemer just walks into her own trap? Of course you’ve got some kind of trick! The Butcher of Sado would have died before getting herself enslaved!”

Perhaps. But Ran could make a choice Tamamo would not. And while death would be preferable to being a Lunarian shikigami, under Yukari she had hope of doing something meaningful, whether eventual revenge, or just helping Gensokyo. Something the Butcher of Sado would never- wait. Sado.

…Of course. How could you have forgotten Mamizou? She was the one who took Kokoro under her wing after the religious wars, and the tanuki had both the relevant knowledge of your past and cause to personally hate you. A lot of cause, actually. If Mamizou considered Kokoro a friend, then her ranting about Tamamo-no-Mae to the menreiki made perfect sense. With hindsight, you should have considered that angle earlier.

Well, unfortunate coincidences and bloody history aside, it mattered little right this second. Kokoro was clearly about to-

[Mask Sign - Parade of Hidden Faces]

The masks Kokoro’s had separated joined into a line and all flew in your direction. Yelling at Alice to scatter, the two of you flew in opposite directions, and every last mask followed you.

A dozen feet away from you, the masks stopped, shooting out a single spiral of bullets. It was too simple to be the entire card, and after a short delay the front mask separated, staying put as the remaining masks once more flew in your direction. You dodged to the side, letting them rocket past you, only to be bombarded by waves of bullets from both sets of masks at once.

The pattern was simplistic enough for you to continue dodging, but allowing the masks to continue attacking from more and more angles would quickly make the spellcard unmanageable. You could handle it by retreating, but there was no telling how long the spellcard would continue, and continually backing away risked being too far to meaningfully intervene.

So instead, you kept yourself roughly midway between the two detached masks, regardless of the complications for dodging. As you hoped, the masks flew right back along the same line, and the third mask detached at nearly the same point as the first.

You allowed yourself a nod of satisfaction. So long as you kept the mask parade alternating between the same two spots, the spellcard would remain simple. Kokoro seemingly realized this as well, as the menreiki let out a growl and charged towards you.

You needed to address this. Kokoro’s attack was meant to force you out of the spellcard’s safe zone. Miko had just shown the difficulty of fending off the menreiki’s naginata and danmaku simultaneously, and you had no intention of repeating the saint’s mistake.

[-] Fall back. The further you retreat, the less the danmaku from the stationary masks matters. And with Kokoro actively chasing you, it’s not like you’ll lose her.
[-] Use your enhancement magic and sucker punch her. Kokoro’s been fighting all this time against someone who hasn’t been fighting back. You have a chance to deal significant damage before she realizes she needs to defend.
[-] Use an illusion. If you let Kokoro chase after an illusion, you can focus on dodging the spellcard while she tires herself out.

[x] Use an illusion. If you let Kokoro chase after an illusion, you can focus on dodging the spellcard while she tires herself out.
- [x] Point out that tyrants getting their just desserts should be a familiar concept to her as an actor.

It was tempting to give Kokoro a taste of her own medicine, very much so. But without her mask fixed, you didn't want to risk hitting her too hard. You weren't sure what level of force would break a menreiki's mask, but you didn't particularly care to find out.

Instead you closed your eyes, and with a moment's concentration, you'd created both an illusion overlapping yourself, and a veil to hide the real you from sight. You stayed put, dodging back and forth in the spot between the stationary masks, while your illusion flew off to the side, with Kokoro in hot pursuit.

"Surely a collection of theater masks knows of dramatic irony," your illusion said. "How many villains end up as the final victims of their own schemes?"

"Life isn't a story," Kokoro snarled, thrusting at the illusion and only barely missing. "And you seem quite content for a supposedly imprisoned soul."

As you had your illusion get pushed back, continuously backing away from Kokoro's naginata, you realized that the menreiki wasn't alone in her pursuit. The masks of Kokoro's spellcard were also following your illusion. Which meant that two separate sources of bullets had just become three, and soon to be four. As such, you were forced to shift some of your focus to dodging the increasingly complicated spellcard.

"I'm not really her," you said. "That Ran has been fading away for over a century."

Kokoro hesitated, looking at your illusion carefully as her naginata's point lowered. Then she switched out her mask to a cracked one of an older man, looking down - her damaged mask - and laughed, the sound piercingly unpleasant. "Because you're not her, right? You're not her, so of course you don't feel her emotions."

The mask of guilt pulsed, and you felt your heart clench, recalling exactly what you... she... had felt all those years ago. The words all but stuck in your throat. "She was beside herself with grief and rage when it first happened."

The menreiki's laughter stopped abruptly as she floated there, slowly circling around your illusion. "Lying to me in plain sight," she murmured. Abruptly, her red oni mask snapped back to her face, rattling angrily. "Do you think me a fool?! Did you think I wouldn't realize you were faking emotions?!"

"Ran was a mother!" you shot back. "She had a husband, and two children that she loved with all her heart."

"Stop!" Miko yelled. "Don't go there, shikigami!"

You ignored her. Kokoro's continued insistence that you were some heartless animal had raised your ire, and you growled. "Ran's family was important to her, more than you could possibly imagine! Having her daughter torn from her arms was the single most painful experience of her life!"

You'd hoped that would make her flinch, you'd expected a denial... but instead, Kokoro screamed. Her oni mask pulsed and you could feel her sheer fury as she lunged. Reflexively, you jerked your illusion out of the way of her charge, being forced to move it a little faster than you physically could... and to your complete shock, Kokoro ignored it and kept going, her naginata thrusting towards your heart.

You threw yourself to the side, the naginata missing you by inches, and Kokoro followed, chasing you through the minefield of bullets, regardless of the veil that should have hidden you! You weren’t quite able to get out of the way of her follow-up attack taking a slice to your shoulder as the menreiki continued ranting.

"It's just like she said. Lies and trickery, prying open the cracks in one's heart! You haven't changed at all!"

The wound was more painful than debilitating, but either way a clear sign you needed to focus on Kokoro’s weapon. You dropped the veil to do just that, but that left you open to the spellcard. Each slash was accompanied by another pulse of her mask and another surge of anger, and as her naginata drove you into her danmaku, your frustration only grew. Finally, you made a mistake, backing into a bullet you simply hadn't seen, and Kokoro launched herself at you, slingshotting the weapon's blade around with a spinning slash.

And then a doll intercepted Kokoro, flying into the path of the blade and detonating.

The explosion blasted you and Kokoro in opposite directions as Alice flew down, interposing herself. She waved a hand down in a chopping motion, as more dolls flew in at Kokoro.

{Sacrifice - Kamikaze Okinawa Dolls}

"What was that?!" she demanded. "She had you dead to rights!"

You snarled. "I would have had-" you bit the reply back, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. Alice was on your side. Snapping at her would do you no good.

"It's uncertain." you admitted, clenching and unclenching your fists. "The illusion should have worked - did work, initially. Some sort of emotion sensing?"

Below you, Alice's counterattack was proving extremely effective. While Kokoro had been fighting you, Alice's dolls had surrounded her, and she simply couldn't avoid a couple dozen dolls closing in from every angle. No matter which way she flew, one by one another doll would intercept her, grab on, and explode, earning a cry of pain each time.

"What are you doing?!" Miko demanded, flying up to Alice’s face.

"Winning." Alice said, shooting her a contemptuous glare. "Kokoro's already forfeited the protection of the spellcard rules. Now she's going to learn why that was a mistake."

"Stop this at once!" The Taoist shouted, gripping her shaku. "You'll injure her!"

"She can surrender at any point," Alice dismissed her. "And my dolls’ explosions are less dangerous than 'turning her back into a collection of inanimate masks'."

Miko scowled, one hand on her sword. "I should never have said that, but that gives you no right-"

"You can repair her later! Or disassemble her, whichever fits your reputation better."

While your allies were arguing, you focused on Kokoro, trying to understand what she was planning. The menreiki had retreated into the center of Alice's perimeter, trying to shoot down the dolls before they reached her, but hadn't attempted any sort of spellcard beyond that. Instead, Kokoro had both her mask of anger and of guilt out as well, floating freely as they faced in your direction (Kokoro herself wore a third, the fox-like one you were pretty sure represented some form of resolve or determination). Both masks were pulsing, which felt unsettlingly ominous, though not nearly to the degree as before- wait.

Kokoro's masks represented emotions. And if Kokoro could accidentally drain the hope from the village, then what was she capable of intentionally? Your anger before was uncharacteristic of you. Your actions as Tamamo-no-mae had drawn much worse condemnation in the past, without anywhere near the same reaction from you. And yet, you'd been furious, on the verge of showing Kokoro what real combat was like... but you weren't feeling nearly the same surge of fury this time.

Because it wasn't aimed at you, you realized.

"Kokoro's manipulating our emotions!" you yelled. "Don't let her-"

You were too slow.

[Divine Light - Honor the Avoidance of Defiance]

Miko declared her spellcard right in Alice's face, raising her shaku high as she gathered energy into it. You and Alice were forced to fly away from her as the Taoist shot lasers out in all directions, each laser producing a moving helix of energy that spawned bullets in all directions. Miko pursued Alice, keeping as many lasers as possible near the puppeteer and sending the full force of the spellcard at her.

This had three consequences. It meant the spellcard was far less dangerous to you, it forced Alice to break her spellcard to respond to the attack... and it meant that you were left alone with Kokoro.

… with Kokoro’s fleeing form, in fact, because the menreiki was trying to fly off in the confusion.

You’d need to act quickly.

[-] Break up Miko and Alice’s fight. At the very least, Alice should recognize that fighting Miko is forgetting the reason you came here.
[-] You couldn't risk letting Kokoro escape. Chase down the menreiki…
- [-] …with danmaku. Better to do it properly and not risk alienating Miko into fully taking Kokoro's side.
- [-] … and fight her for real. Your best shot at beating her is to disable her quickly and viciously.