Walking along the coast of Tatarasuna was nothing like the game where one could walk as if on flat ground; with every step, your foot would sink deep into the mud and sand.
Recalling how the Shogun had walked through thin air toward the Traveler in the cutscene, Fu attempted to use Electro to construct a platform, finally managing to steady herself on the mire.
"You should remember what I said just now. Above all, do not call me the Shogun. If anyone asks, say that I am Hakurei Reimu, the Guuji of Narukami Shrine."
"Understood... As you command."
Fu nodded in satisfaction, then transformed in a flash, slipping into the persona of Hakurei Reimu. This time, Kunikuzushi was not surprised; anyway, everything could be explained as the actions of a god, beyond mortal comprehension.
Yet, looking at the "Mother" figure beside him who was barely a meter and a half tall, Kunikuzushi felt an inexpressible sense of oddity.
"For abandoning you in the past, I feel deep remorse. This is the greatest mistake I have ever made as a deity. During this time, you must have had a very difficult life..."
By now, Fu had fully immersed herself in the role of Ei, attempting to use Ei's identity to ease her relationship with the Scaramouche.
Kunikuzushi only looked at her with a daze, his eyes filled with indescribable confusion and incomprehension, though his hands, clutching tightly at his lapels, exposed his true thoughts.
"Mm..."
Kunikuzushi did not know how to reply. Deep down, he had once felt revulsion toward this cheap excuse for a mother, but now, it seemed he could no longer muster any hatred.
"Ahem, there must be quite a few wounded from this disaster. Take me to see them at once!"
In a house in Tatarasuna, people critically ill from the Tatasgami contamination lay on the floor, groaning in agony. Suddenly, a commotion came from outside.
"Did the Kabukimono bring someone to save us?"
When the door opened, Kunikuzushi walked in with a red-clad shrine maiden. Only a single shrine maiden?!
Yet, almost immediately, the Tatasgami contamination in the air began to dissipate rapidly, as if driven away by some immense force. A cluster of lightning crackled and hovered in Fu's palm, suddenly exploding outward in all directions. Kunikuzushi wore a look of sheer terror—could Her Excellency the Shogun be planning to kill all the infected craftsmen?
But as the flashes of light faded, the craftsmen who had been in excruciating pain on the ground actually began to climb up one by one, staring at each other in blank bewilderment, unable to understand how their sickness and pain had vanished. Soon, however, their attention was drawn to the red-clad shrine maiden.
"Many thanks, Lady Yae Guuji!"
Kunikuzushi: "Huh?"
Oh no, how could so many people have never seen Yae Miko? She was the one doing all the hard work, yet she was boosting Yae Miko's reputation! Sooner or later, she was going to settle accounts with that scummy fox.
"Has anyone seen Niwa and Escher?"
"Niwa? Just now he suddenly rushed out the door to find Escher, heading toward the western beach. Escher hasn't shown up since noon."
Oho, the heart-wrenching plot was about to begin.
Without further ado, let's go right now.
On the beach, a dilapidated hut stood like a lone leaf of a boat amidst the wind and rain, the faint light flickering from its window the only struggle declaring its existence.
Inside the house, a blue-haired man in Fontaine attire was relishfully polishing various blades, all the while humming some unfamiliar tune in an amused tone.
The hearth beside him burned fiercely, casting a shadow on the wall that appeared abnormally distorted.
The sound of hurried footsteps approached from close by, and a drenched figure burst into the house.
"Escher! Have you really found a way to repair the Mikage Furnace?!"
"That's right, the method has been found. Only one final thing is missing."
No expression could be read through Escher's masked face as he gently pushed a cup of hot water across the table.
"You're soaked to the bone. Drink a cup of hot water first."
Hearing this, Niwa did indeed feel a chill settling in, and without a second thought, he snatched up the cup and drained it in one gulp.
Seeing the other man drink the water, a bizarre smile crept onto the corner of Escher's mouth.
"I found the main reason for the leakage in the Mikage Furnace. It's actually not a sealing issue; the problem lies in a blocked cooling pipe. We just need to open the switch inside the furnace, but right now, we're missing just one thing."
Smiling amiably, Escher produced a large pair of shears, aimed the blades at Niwa's chest, and slowly stood up to walk toward him.
"Something from your body."
"You! What are you doing... My head hurts so much..."
Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Niwa tried to get up and leave, but the water he had drunk earlier had already been laced with a narcotic. He had not taken more than a few steps before his limbs turned to jelly and he collapsed onto the floor, forced to watch helplessly as the other man brandished the shears and walked toward him step by step with a mocking smile.
Suddenly, an irritatingly smug singing voice drifted in from outside:
"You've got no dad and no mom~ All of you don't have a home~ With no friends or kin to help you out~ Aren't you scared, come on let's shout~"
Just a few lines of lyrics, naturally endowed with taunting attributes. Dottore, who was always unflappable, subconsciously crushed the scalpel in his hand—it seemed he wouldn't be able to make a move just yet.
A swaggering little shrine maiden strode in through the doorway, her hands toying with a mysterious little black box. Dottore's mouth twisted in a smirk—was this the backup sent by Narukami Shrine? A child who hadn't even grown up yet?
"Yo, hello there! I am Reimu, the Guuji of Narukami Shrine. You must be Escher, the mechanic from Fontaine, right? How is the progress on repairing the Mikage Furnace?"
"It's quite tricky. I need some time to revise the plans."
With an indifferent expression, Escher pretended to be rewriting blueprints, while still watching out of the corner of his eye to see if Fu would leave. Unfortunately for him, Fu was someone who had read the script.
"Oh my, no rush, no rush at all. Then I'll just sit right here for a while."
Escher's mouth twitched, wondering how someone like this ever managed to become a shrine maiden.
"Say, Mr. Escher, what do you think of the song I sang just now?"
"It was sung very well..."
Escher replied perfunctorily.
"You have a good eye. That song was specially prepared for the scum of Sumeru Akademiya—Dottore."
"Oh? Do you have a deep grudge against him?"
The pen in Escher's hand paused for a fraction of a second, though his expression remained calm and collected.
"Do you know what kind of place Sumeru Akademiya is? It's a place where scholars stay. Yet there's this one Dottore: failing in his studies, utterly bankrupt in character, stealing the academic achievements of others, and eventually getting expelled by the Akademiya."
The expression on Escher's face froze, though the pen in his hand kept moving.
"Oh? Is Dottore really that despicable? I recall that his academic record at the Akademiya was among the very best. Is that information reliable?"
"100 percent reliable. My cousin is at the Akademiya and saw Dottore's utterly vile deeds with his own eyes."
The pen in Dottore's hand also stopped. He cast an amused glance at this seemingly "ignorant" little witch and asked slowly:
"What kind of story is that? Let's hear it."
"Dottore's mother was a promiscuous woman of the streets who kicked the bucket right after giving birth to him. Dottore's wild fathers didn't care about him at all, leaving him to be carried off by stray dogs, until someone from the Akademiya showed mercy and salvaged Dottore's dog's life.
Who could have expected that ever since he was a child, Dottore's nature would be unruly and wayward, idle and unskillful, resorting to swindling and cheating to enter the Akademiya through illicit means. Inside, he just fooled around all day without making any progress, and when it came time to graduate, he stole the work of others, usurped credit that wasn't his, and was ultimately kicked out of the Akademiya, ending up dead in some gutter."
Hearing this, Escher truly could not hold it together anymore. The surest way to infuriate a scholar was to deny his academic achievements. Gradually, a hint of murderous intent crept into his gaze as he looked at this "fragile" Guuji, his hand already beginning to grope for the hidden blade nearby.
"Then guess who I am?"
Putting on an exaggerated act, Fu took a look and immediately feigned extreme shock:
"Oh!! You must be one of Dottore's wild daddies back then! Just look at your utterly hideous and ridiculously pathetic face; you're definitely cut from the exact same cloth as that bastard Dottore!"
Dottore was genuinely driven to laughter by his own fury, unable to maintain his composure.
"Hmph-hehehehe... I am Dottore!"
Fu feigned being struck with terror:
"Woc! You stinky..."
Right at that moment, the door of the cabinet beside them swung open, and an unconscious Niwa tumbled out. Seeing that the game was up, Dottore instantly dropped his disguise and revealed his true colors.
"I originally planned to stop after carving out Niwa's heart, but now... hmph-heheh~ You're next..."
With a loud clatter, the door slammed shut. Dottore had rigged traps on the door beforehand, but unfortunately for him, he had no idea that he had just locked himself in with someone far above his pay grade.