Stardew Valley of Gensokyo

Patchouli closed the book in her hands once again.

“Sakuya, you know, I like children who love learning the most. Although I don’t acknowledge Marisa, who can only fire magic cannons, as a magician, she likes the knowledge in my books, so it’s fine to give it to her.”

"But would that really work? Why not just give it to her directly?"

Sakuya Izayoi asked, puzzled.

"We only truly cherish what we have."

Patchouli took a sip of her black tea and continued, "Look how much Marisa is improving! I'm sure she's studying the books she got from me very diligently."

"Okay, I understand. But Hong Meiling must be slacking off again, letting Marisa in so easily. I'm leaving now."

Sakuya, who had already noticed that the Scarlet Devil Mansion's gatekeeper was slacking off again, couldn't wait to wake her up, of course, with a dagger.

The underground library has once again returned to tranquility.

"By the way? What did Sakuya want to talk to me about just now?"

Patchouli, sitting in her chair, suddenly realized she seemed to have forgotten something, shook her head, and said, "Never mind, I'll just continue reading."

……

Marisa, fleeing for her life, flew over the gate guarded by the sleeping Hong Meiling and found herself in a safe area.

Marisa slowed down, since the spring breeze was still a bit chilly.

Marisa was in a great mood today because she got the book, and even wanted to sing a song.

"Huh? What are they doing?"

Marisa, flying through the air, passed by Akina Sawaya's house and saw him and Cirno studying something by the wall.

However, Marisa didn't want to go down and take a look; she just wanted to go home and properly peruse the hard-won book in her hands.

……

Back home, Marisa eagerly flipped through her magic book. Time flies when you're focused on something, and that's how Marisa missed her mealtime.

As she turned to the next page, she glanced up and saw the clock, and the time on it reminded her of something.

"Oh no! I promised Alice I'd go to her place for dinner today!!!"

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Seven-Colored Puppet Master

"I'm so bored."

Although it's a comfortable life to rise with the rooster's crow and rest with the sunset every day.

But even Akina Zeya would get tired of it. Living the same life every day would be boring even for a mortal like him, even if he lived in the immortal realm.

But there's not much entertainment in Gensokyo. To be honest, if he weren't already grown up, Akina Sawa would have wanted to go to the temple school in the human village to become Keine-sensei's student. Of course, he went there shamelessly, but whether Keine-sensei would accept him or not was another matter.

Moreover, the news that Aya brings every day isn't very interesting anymore. Perhaps it's because the Human Village has been too peaceful and tranquil lately, and even a reporter like Aya Shameimaru can't find anything interesting to talk about.

So today, Akina Sawa plans to visit the Human Village. Although he doesn't have any money, he can just look around without paying, right?

After finishing his chores at home, Akina Ze planned to go out. Unfortunately, the two chicks were still too small to take out for a walk. Otherwise, walking the chicks on the street would have been quite fun.

Akina Sawa wandered aimlessly through the streets, occasionally seeing things he wanted, but having no money, he had to give them up.

Fortunately, a girl holding a strange umbrella was making funny and strange gestures nearby, which warmed up Akina Ze's somewhat disappointed mood due to boredom.

Hey! Why are you ignoring me?!

Tatara Kogasa swears that today is another day in a bad mood.

I originally planned to scare 10 people today to make myself happy, but after I started, I didn't expect that they would all ignore me. In fact, the children were not scared at all, and instead gathered around me.

After finally escaping the children, Tatara Kogasa decided to try again. This time, she targeted Akina Sawa, who was walking alone, but she failed again. This left her feeling frustrated. Why is that? Why can't I scare people?

Unwilling to give up, she called out to Akina Sawa, intending to ask him as well.

"Ok?"

Akina Ze looked at the girl who had been following him with a puzzled expression. He didn't know her, so why was he paying attention to her? Was she out of her mind? The thought of this possibility made Akina Ze panic a little.

"Don't you think I'm... well... afraid of being scared when I see you?"

Tatara Kogasa continued to press for answers.

They can communicate normally, so they shouldn't have any mental problems, Akina Ze also came to that conclusion.

Why would I find you scary?

"Look!" When Tatara Kogasa heard Akina Sawa say the same thing, she got a little anxious and pointed to the decorations on the umbrella in her hand, saying, "Aren't the eyes, mouth, and big tongue on this umbrella scary!"

Hearing what Tatara Kogasa said, Akina Sawa also took a serious look.

Under the sunlight, the umbrella and its decorations revealed an eggplant-colored sheen, but upon closer inspection, it was somewhat eerie.

However, on this bustling, sun-drenched street, it didn't feel scary at all.

It seems she really wanted to scare people, right? Akina Sawa also saw that Tatara Kogasa almost cried after he commented that she wasn't scary at all.

He decided to help her.

"Look, the sun in the sky is so bright, how could it scare anyone under such circumstances?"

Akina Sawa pointed to the sun hanging in the sky, radiating endless heat, and said to Tatara Kogasa.

"So?" Kogasa Tatara nodded, seemingly understanding.

"Try it after sunset; I'm sure it will scare people then."

These words reminded Tatara Kogasa of her past successful scares, all of which occurred in poor lighting conditions. Because she was a tsukumogami (a spirit inhabiting a vessel for spirits), she had no concept of day or night. It was only after Akina Sawa's reminder that she realized she needed to be mindful of her surroundings when scaring people.

The thought that she might have grasped the essence of something terrifying made Tatara Kogasa eager to put it to the test.

"Thank you for your help! I'll definitely come back to you often to check on the results of my scary creations!"

"No! No! No! This isn't necessary. You should find someone else."

Upon hearing that Tatara Kogasa planned to scare him every time, Akina Sawa quickly refused.

As the saying goes, "Better to die for your friend than for yourself," although Akina Ze didn't find Tatara Kogasa scary, he didn't want someone to suddenly jump out and scare him while he was focused on something.

This is unbearable; let others enjoy this kind of thing.

Akina Sawa also left with a smile, while Tatara Kogasa, eager to try, walked deeper into the Human Village.

He had just overheard passersby saying that the puppeteer from the magic forest was putting on a puppet show again.

Akina Sawa had always been very curious about this puppeteer, but unfortunately he never had the chance to meet him. Now that the opportunity had come, he was not willing to give it up.

However, there was a large crowd of onlookers; they must all be there to see the puppet show, right?

After squeezing through the crowded throng, Akina Ze finally made it to the front row.

On the small stage, several exquisitely crafted puppets were performing a story with remarkable realism.

Unfortunately, Akina Sawa couldn't understand what these little puppets were trying to perform, but the surrounding crowd was completely engrossed in watching. It must be a story unique to the human village.

……

The puppet show continued for a while before stopping. People around left, and the performers backstage also began to prepare to leave.

Akina Ze also planned to go over and see what the doll-wielder Alice actually looked like.

But before he could get close, a familiar voice came from behind the stage.

"Forgive me, Alice! I didn't mean to yesterday!"

It's Marisa's voice.

"Humph!"

Another voice rang out—was that Alice's voice?

Judging from the tone of his voice, he probably still hasn't forgiven Marisa.

The next moment, a girl with short blonde hair, wearing a sleeveless blue dress, and with a delicate and beautiful doll-like appearance walked out, followed by Marisa.

Marisa, who was walking behind, noticed Akina Zeya, who was among the onlookers, and pulled him over, still in a daze.

"It's because of him that I didn't go that day!"

Marisa looked at Akina Zeya with a pleading expression.

Although he was still confused about the situation, Akina Sawa was willing to admit it because it was Marisa.

After all, he believed that Marisa was a good girl and wouldn't betray him.

"I did it!"

"Huh? Then tell me what you did?"

However, Alice clearly did not believe him and instead asked Akina Sawa what he had done.

"I...I..."

How am I supposed to know what I did! Besides, Marisa didn't tell me what she did to make Alice angry.

Originally, I was hoping to help Marisa get through this difficult time, but it seems that's not going to work. Marisa, you'd better try your best. Akina Sawa gave Marisa a helpless look and then silently stood aside. As for the pitiful look in the blonde girl's eyes, he could only choose to ignore it.

Seeing that Akina Sawa had also left, Alice turned to Marisa and asked, "So, Marisa, do you have any other excuses?"

Chapter Thirty: We Also Have Face

Marisa has her pride too, so how could she possibly admit that she forgot because she was too engrossed in reading Patchouli's books?

But seeing how angry Alice is, let's just forget about saving face.

There are no more excuses left, and Akina Sawa is no longer of any use. I can only tell the truth. I hope Alice will forgive me for being so honest.

Marisa sighed, deciding to tell the truth, "Actually, it's like this..."

After she finished speaking, Marisa stared at Alice nervously.

"So, you forgot about coming to my house for dinner because you were reading Patchouli's book?"

Alice glared at Marisa with an unfriendly expression.

Oh no! Alice is even angrier now!

"So, coming to my house for dinner isn't as important as reading Patchouli's books, huh, Marisa?"

Before anyone knew it, several puppets had flown into the sky, each holding a long spear and aiming it at Marisa.

Yes, the harem is on fire. Akina Ze also quietly distanced himself from the two of them. When gods fight, mortals suffer. He didn't want to get involved in Marisa's battleground.

However, the more urgent the situation, the more important it is to remain calm. Although Marisa appeared to have exhausted all her options, her mind was working at full speed.

嬒q, apple, banana, got it!

Marisa's eyes lit up when she had a brilliant idea. Since she was the one who stood Alice up for the dinner, why not just invite her back? She really wanted to give herself a thumbs up for her cleverness.

Without further ado, sensing that Alice was about to make her move, Marisa quickly said, "Alice, I'm sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn't have stood you up. So, to make up for this mistake, I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow night."

"Na~"

To show her sincerity, Marisa clasped her hands together and tilted her head at a 45-degree angle to apologize to Alice.

It has to be said that the blonde girl's move was really powerful. Even Akina Sawa, who was just an outsider, said he couldn't handle it. If Marisa had apologized to him, he would have forgiven her immediately.

But Alice is Alice after all. Although Marisa's move was ruthless, Alice's expression only softened a little. After all, Alice is also very cute, and this wasn't the first time Marisa had done this, so she had developed a resistance to it.

"Hmph, I'll give you one last chance, Marisa. If you break your promise again..."

"No way! I swear on Reimu's offering box!"

"That's fine then. I'm leaving now. I look forward to seeing how you do tomorrow!"

Seeing that Marisa had made such a serious vow, Alice finally gave her a chance.

After saying that, Alice left.

"Phew~ I finally managed to fool them, DA?ZE."

Marisa breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Alice had already gone far away.

So what are you planning to do?

The situation had calmed down, and there was no magical fight scene, which left him a little disappointed. But as Marisa's friend, he stepped forward to ask.