Stardew Valley of Gensokyo

"If I go back now, Kaguya Houraisan will definitely laugh at me, won't she? I'm so forgetful, even when I'm chopping down a tree..."

"I don't have an axe at home... and I can't afford to buy one in the Human Village unless..."

Upon hearing this, Marisa Kirisame shook her head violently and muttered to herself, "Marisa, you can't do this kind of thing anymore! You are a law-abiding and good mage who protects the human village. You can't do such petty things anymore."

Not planning to return to her old profession, Marisa Kirisame found herself in a dilemma: "How can I cut down trees without an axe...? Can I use magic?"

"Magic...magic..." Marisa Kirisame's eyes lit up. "Since I don't have an axe, I'll use magic to chop!"

Having figured out the direction, the mini Bagua Furnace flew out of her pocket, and Marisa Kirisame planned to use its power to cut down the tree.

A bright flash of light streaked past, startling a flock of birds into flight.

Where the flash came from, a ten-meter-tall oak tree looked as if it had been struck by lightning, its entire body charred black, with a fiery red interior beneath its cracked bark.

This ancient tree, which has been growing for countless years, is already in a state of spontaneous combustion. Perhaps one day, after a rain or a gust of wind, it will turn into dust and scatter away.

Oak trees in this condition are certainly not suitable for building timber; they're more like charcoal for fireplaces.

The culprit who caused this tree to become like this is naturally Marisa Kirisame.

She stood in front of the still-steaming tree, her brows furrowed deeply.

"Damn it, this is already the lowest setting I've ever used!"

Although Marisa Kirisame is a magician, she only knows light and heat magic, and her focus is on firepower.

Her usual research focused on making things more magnificent and powerful, but now she had to control the force of her attacks to only melt a tree instead of burning it, which gave Kirisame Marisa a real headache.

This is actually one of the reasons why Patchouli of the Scarlet Devil Mansion does not acknowledge that Marisa Kirisame is a wizard.

Marisa Kirisame only pursues firepower and superficial splendor, and the magic she has learned is limited to light and heat. Patchouli would look down on such a mage.

Although she often turned a blind eye to Marisa's book-stealing behavior, standards are standards.

In a situation like this, if Marisa Kirisame knew both Phoenix and Water types, she could easily cut down the entire tree by summoning a wind blade and a water blade, without having to worry for so long.

But Marisa is Marisa; when faced with difficulties, she always chooses to meet them head-on and never give up.

Since excessive exertion was causing damage to the trees, she used various methods to limit the amount of force exerted.

"Whoo~"

Taking a deep breath, Marisa Kirisame focused all her attention on the miniature octagonal furnace in front of her.

This item can absorb her magic power to unleash powerful magical attacks, but what if it only absorbs a little bit?

Marisa Kirisame slowly channeled her magical energy into the miniature Eight Trigrams Furnace until a laser beam, noticeably thinner than usual, appeared. Only then did a faint smile appear on her face; her estimation was correct.

As long as this level of magical energy inflow is maintained, the mini Bagua Furnace can continuously shoot out a laser line about three meters long from its central part.

Wielding her new miniature octagonal furnace, Marisa Kirisame arrived at the foot of another oak tree.

If you want to prove whether an idea is correct, then verification is inevitable.

Controlling the endpoint of the mini Bagua furnace, the laser beam swept into the tree trunk from the right edge.

Suddenly, a thick plume of black smoke rose up, accompanied by a pungent, burnt smell.

Marisa Kirisame twitched her nose slightly, her expression unchanged as she continued to move the beam of light until it emerged from the left side of the oak tree.

"Squeak~"

A tooth-grinding sound came from inside the oak. Marisa Kirisame's face lit up with joy, and she took several steps back to a safe position.

The birds cried out anxiously, as if they had realized that a habitat had collapsed.

The branches high up trembled until a gentle winter breeze blew, like the last straw that broke the camel's back, and the oak tree crashed down...

"Hehe, I did it."

Looking at the oak tree lying in front of her, Marisa Kirisame's face showed joy. Although she didn't have an axe, how could chopping down a tree be difficult for her?

Temporarily turning off the laser beam emanating from the center of the mini Bagua furnace, Marisa Kirisame scanned the nearby woods and began searching for the next oak tree. She planned to cut all the timber for her master Akina in one go.

Upon spotting an oak tree a hundred meters away that was just as large as the one that had fallen, Marisa Kirisame's eyes lit up. "I've decided on you."

Before long, Marisa arrived at the oak tree that had become her target, summoned the laser beam from the mini Bagua Furnace, and planned to use the same trick again.

Suddenly, a block of ice struck with force and slammed heavily into the ground in front of Marisa Kirisame's shoes, embedding itself deeply.

"Who?" Marisa Kirisame called out warily, her eyes darting left and right.

"It's me!" Cirno, dressed in a dark blue dress, emerged from behind a tree, tossing an ice puck up and down in her hand, and said righteously, "This forest belongs to Akina-nii, and I won't allow you to cut down trees here."

"So it's Cirno..." Marisa Kirisame breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "I'm here to help Master Akina cut down trees. You can ask him if you don't believe me."

"Did Akina send you? How come I didn't know..." Cirno asked, looking puzzled.

For some time now, she has been playing with Niqua and the Great Fairy in the woods by the stream, but Cirno has never heard of Akina Sawa cutting down trees nearby.

"If you don't believe me, you can go to Master Akina's house and ask him yourself. Why would I lie to you?"

"Hmph!" Cirno snorted, her face full of disbelief, and said, "Marisa, you're a big liar! You always lie to us fairies!"

"You're definitely planning to trick me into leaving so you can secretly cut down the tree!"

As she spoke, Cirno nodded in satisfaction, seemingly quite pleased with her flawless reasoning.

"Tsk." Marisa Kirisame waved her hand impatiently, trying to shoo her away. "All this talk is pointless. Cirno, you'd better not bother me, or I'll spank you!"

"Tsk tsk tsk~" Cirno clicked her tongue three times in a row and retorted smugly, "I knew Marisa, you were lying to me again. With me here today, you can forget about destroying Akina-nii's forest any further!"

With that, Cirno forcefully threw an ice block at Marisa.

The frog inside the ice block retains the lifelike, comical appearance it had when it was instantly frozen.

ducking to avoid the incoming ice block, Marisa Kirisame's face darkened instantly. She cracked her knuckles, making a popping sound. "Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson today..."

......

Chapter 209 Stubborn Cirno

The woods by the stream suddenly came alive with broken ice and charred marks everywhere, on the trees and the ground, and occasionally you could see half-thawed frog limbs.

“Cirno has finally learned her lesson…” Marisa Kirisame glanced around warily.

Suddenly, a ball of ice, radiating a chilling aura, shot out from behind a tree on the right front at incredible speed.

Dodging the attacks by turning her head, Marisa Kirisame raised her hand and fired an orange-yellow pentagram, which flew straight into the bushes and exploded into a ball of fire.

Marisa Kirisame did not let her guard down; her expression remained serious.

This back-and-forth shooting has been going on for a long time, and neither of them can gain the upper hand.

"Damn it... If I wasn't worried about destroying the forest and therefore couldn't use powerful magic, I would have taken this annoying fairy away with a horizontal Limit Spark long ago." Marisa Kirisame muttered to herself.

She thought it would be a quick battle, but to her surprise, Cirno didn't fight head-on this time and instead resorted to guerrilla tactics.

Whenever Marisa Kirisame thinks Cirno has been driven away and starts cutting down trees again, an ice ball will shoot from a hidden corner to disturb her, preventing her from cutting down trees.

“There!” Marisa Kirisame raised an eyebrow.

In the corner, a bright blue ice ball had just emerged when she swiftly fired a pentagram at it. This was the fastest reaction Marisa could manage; if that still didn't work...

Sure enough, another ice hockey puck came flying a few seconds later, and Cirno kept harassing the enemy like a jungle ranger.

A transparent magical shield appeared in the void, shattering the incoming ice ball. Marisa Kirisame's forehead veins bulged. "Enough..."

If Cirno keeps harassing her like this, she won't be able to cut down another tree even by tomorrow.

Amidst a flurry of thoughts, Marisa Kirisame's expression suddenly calmed as she faced the incoming ice balls and said, "Cirno, you want to protect this forest, don't you?"

After a while, the relentless ice hockey attack stopped, and Cirno's smug voice rang out: "I'm on the side of justice, and Akina-nii will praise me too~"

"The side of justice?" Marisa Kirisame smiled faintly, then her expression suddenly changed. "Cirno, if you continue to harass me, I will destroy this entire forest. Remember, this is all your fault."

"Marisa, you're bullying me! This isn't my fault, Cirno's fault!" Almost immediately, Cirno's angry voice rang out.

This fairy is still as awful as ever...

With a sigh, Marisa Kirisame continued to guide the conversation without changing her expression, "As long as you don't bother me, I won't destroy this entire forest. But you've been harassing me all this time. If the forest is gone later, don't you think that's your fault?"

No! That's not true!

Cirno was tongue-tied and couldn't think of any rebuttal, but she instinctively sensed something was wrong and could only stubbornly shout it out.

Just then, the corners of Kirisame Marisa's mouth curled up slightly. During this conversation, she had already figured out Cirno's current location.

A broom appeared silently behind Cirno, who was hiding behind a tree.

However, Cirno was completely unaware that she was struggling with the logical traps set by Marisa Kirisame and did not notice that she had been outmaneuvered.

After spewing a few more angry words, Cirno finally stopped, satisfied. "Hehe, Marisa must be really angry. I need to find somewhere else."

Just as Cirno turned around after making up her mind, she saw a wooden stick coming down hard at her.

"Clang!" The clock tower, resembling that of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, rang out, and Cirno collapsed on the spot.

Until she lost consciousness, she was still wondering where the wooden stick had come from.

......

"Well......"

Smelling a pungent odor, Cirno slowly opened her eyes and felt a pain in her forehead. She instinctively tried to touch it, but found herself firmly tied to a large tree and unable to move.

"you're awake?"

The speaker was Marisa Kirisame. She stuffed a bottle of potion back into her bag, a half-smile on her face.

Cirno shuddered; she sensed danger and weakly said, "Can I say I'm not awake...?"

"No!" Marisa Kirisame said in a deep voice.

"Hmph, I knew you were like this, Marisa!" Seeing that showing weakness was useless, Cirno went all out and said, "Let me go now! Otherwise, Akina-nii will come and teach you a lesson!"

"It's still uncertain who will be punished," Marisa Kirisame retorted. "You've wasted so much of my time, and I'll make you make up for it."

Cirno, tied to the tree, glanced at Marisa with a disdainful look, then raised her white chin high, adopting a posture of non-violent non-cooperation.

This gesture annoyed Marisa Kirisame. She glanced at the ground, then her eyes lit up as she squatted down and picked up a withered leaf with a pointed tip.

"What do you want to do?!"

Looking at the fallen leaf, Cirno had a bad feeling and said in a fierce but cowardly tone.

Feeling a slight itch as her fingertips brushed against the head of a fallen leaf, Marisa Kirisame turned to Cirno and said, "You delayed my tree-cutting, and now I need you to make up for that mistake. So, will you help me cut the tree?"

"No, I won't help!" Although her voice trembled slightly, Cirno still stubbornly refused.

"very good......"

Marisa Kirisame, expressionless, walked towards Cirno with a withered leaf in her hand.

While Cirno was trembling, he simply took off her blue Mary Jane shoe and white socks from her right foot.

Only then did Cirno realize the gravity of the situation and cried out, "Akina-nii-san, come save me!"

But the shout turned into a series of loud laughs within seconds...

......

Was someone calling me just now?

Akina Ze also looked up in confusion, listened quietly for a few seconds but heard nothing.

"It seems to be an illusion." Akina Ze shrugged and turned his attention back to the design draft in his hand.

Although the drawings on this design are abstract, you can still see where the door and windows are, as well as a square with 9 columns and 10 rows. Incidentally, this square is used to represent brewing barrels.

Just then, Akina Ze also felt a breeze behind him, as if someone was approaching. He turned his head to look.

Kaguya Houraisan stood there, her arm slightly raised, seemingly doing something.

"Miss Kaguya?" Akina Sawa asked in confusion.

Discovered by her target, Kaguya Houraisan froze abruptly, a barely perceptible hint of panic flashing in her eyes. Then, in her usual elegant tone, she said, "I'm doing gymnastics. Would you like to try, Akina-kun?"

"Gymnastics? That's great, but I won't use it."

Akina Ze also smiled, flexed his muscles by clasping his arms, and then turned back to look at the design draft.

However, Princess Kaguya's gymnastics posture doesn't look quite right... Akina Sawa thought to himself as he looked at the design draft.

......