Stardew Valley of Gensokyo

Chapter 210 Misplaced Relationship

A sharp icy blade slid across, and the towering oak tree fell to the ground, scattering a patch of snow from its branches.

Looking around, there were not only this one oak tree, but also more than ten oak trees of the same size lying haphazardly on the ground.

Marisa Kirisame, perched on a broom with her feet barely touching the ground, nodded in satisfaction and said:

"Very good, keep it up."

"Hmph!" Cirno, who was being ordered around, snorted in dissatisfaction, turned her head away without saying a word, but her hands had already begun to obediently summon ice blades again.

It was Cirno who swung her ice blade and felled the oak tree.

After enduring a brutal tickling hell, Cirno, laughing so hard she could barely breathe, finally succumbed to the clutches of Kirisame Marisa.

However, Marisa Kirisame knew that Cirno was definitely feigning submission so she could escape at any opportunity.

But she didn't care, as long as Cirno could obediently help her cut down trees during this time.

"Compared to magic of light and heat, ice magic is much easier for cutting down trees."

Looking at the oak logs scattered all over the ground, Marisa Kirisame couldn't help but comment.

Her method of using a miniature Bagua furnace to cut down trees was a roundabout way of using highly concentrated lasers to melt the tree trunk. However, this method could easily cause the tree to catch fire inside before it even fell. Unlike the Ice Blade, which directly cuts the tree trunk in half.

Moreover, it can fire multiple ice blades at the same time to cut down multiple trees, making it much more efficient and faster.

"Boom~"

After another oak tree fell with a loud crash, Marisa Kirisame counted the oaks lying on the ground and said to Cirno, who was still chopping away, "That's about enough. Now we should think about how to drag these trees back to Master Akina's house."

Upon hearing this, Cirno's expression changed, revealing surprise. She asked incredulously, "You're really here to help Akina-nii... with some work?"

Marisa Kirisame was taken aback for a moment, then replied irritably, "Then why do you think I would come here instead of cutting down the trees near my own house?"

Knowing she was in the wrong, Cirno didn't argue back, but just whispered, "Anyway, they're definitely here to do something bad."

Perhaps she didn't hear, or perhaps she pretended not to hear, but Marisa Kirisame simply frowned slightly and said, "Tell me your thoughts, what's the best way to drag all these trees back?"

Cirno bit her finger, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said, "Why don't we just freeze these trees into giant popsicles and slide all the way to Akina's house?"

"..."

It seemed hopeless. Marisa Kirisame withdrew her gaze, a thoughtful expression on her face.

......

Staring at the rough draft in his hand, Akina Ze also frowned deeply.

There was a simple floor plan drawn on a piece of white paper, square and with abstract barrel walkways arranged in it, but if you didn't tell anyone, no one would believe that it was actually a brewery floor plan.

"It seems I really don't have much design talent..." Akina Ze sighed.

Compared to a greenhouse, which only requires a single enclosed room, designing a brewery is much more difficult, even after simplifying it considerably—simply adding rice and water to the brewing vats in the correct proportions. A typical brewery would require a significant amount of space just for processing the raw materials.

Suddenly, Akina Ze also smelled a fresh scent of bamboo forest coming from behind him. He turned around and saw Kaguya Houraisan standing behind him, her right arm slightly raised, as if she was about to do something.

Seeing that she had been discovered, Kaguya Houraisan put her hands behind her back and gave an awkward smile.

"It's not like I'm stopping you from playing... Is it really necessary to do it secretly...?"

Akina Ze's lips twitched, and he looked somewhat helpless.

Just now, after Kirisame Marisa went to cut down the tree, Houraisan Kaguya said that she had to leave for a while. He thought that this was Kaguya-hime temporarily giving up the idea of ​​returning to 'shoot' and choosing to come back another day, so she was just making excuses. In fact, she had already returned to Eientei.

But to everyone's surprise, Princess Kaguya didn't leave; she just planned to sneak in for a 'shot'.

"It's all because of what you did that I'm embarrassed too, okay?" Kaguya Houraisan raised an eyebrow and retorted irritably.

Since the plan had already been exposed, Kaguya Houraisan became quite frank and spoke lewd words in a serious tone.

"Turn around and stick your...butt out."

Just before she was about to say that word, Princess Kaguya paused slightly, seemingly somewhat ashamed, but still said it anyway.

This was something so unconventional for her, and although Princess Kaguya's tone was normal, her temples and earlobes were already flushed... Her heart was certainly not as calm as her face showed.

"Could we find a secluded place...?"

Although Akina Sawa didn't mind Kaguya retaliating in the same way, he didn't want to be seen standing on the side of the road... He didn't want to be looked at strangely when walking on the streets of the Human Village in the future.

"No way!" Kaguya Houraisan refused decisively, her tone slightly tinged with embarrassment and annoyance: "Hiding in a corner, wouldn't that look even more like that?!"

"Uh..." Akina Ze was speechless for a moment. Indeed, as Kaguya-hime said, it was easier for people to think the wrong thing when the two of them were hiding in a corner doing that kind of thing.

"Alright, then hurry up..."

Giving up the struggle, Akina Sawa gently placed the manuscript in his hand on the wooden stake beside him and turned his back to Kaguya-hime.

No... the more I think about it, the stranger this thing seems... I clearly slapped Kaguya's butt, but her revenge was to slap her back in kind... On the surface, it seems like there's nothing wrong with it, a slap from you and a slap from me is indeed equal... but is it really equal? ​​Akina Sawa thought to himself.

After waiting quietly for a long time, but Kaguya Houraisan behind them remained motionless, Akina Sawa called out with a puzzled expression, "Hurry up, I'm in a hurry."

But still no sound came, so Akina Sawa had no choice but to turn his head to see what Princess Kaguya was doing.

But they found her carefully examining the design drafts of her brewery that she had placed on the tree stump.

Instead of doing anything productive... what's so interesting about doodles? Akina Ze was speechless for a moment.

Seemingly noticing that Akina Sawa was also looking over, Houraisan Kaguya tapped the paper with her slender, jade-like fingers and laughed, "It's drawn rather abstractly. Don't tell me that something so abstract is a design draft for a brewery."

I'm really sorry my design talent isn't very good... Akina Ze secretly rolled his eyes, "Didn't we agree to 'slap' me back? How did we end up talking about this again?"

"Hey, let's not talk about that now." Kaguya Houraisan flipped through her notebook to another page of white paper, picked up a brush and drew a straight line on it, saying as she drew, "Your design is really terrible, I'll draw a better one for you."

"Thank you so much..."

Unable to fathom what Princess Kaguya was thinking, and after assessing the situation, Akina Sawa nodded in agreement.

It's obvious that Kaguya-san is trying to downplay the matter, but she was the one who proposed it, and she was also the one who backed out at the last minute... Oh well, why bother thinking about these useless things? I might as well go and see how to draw the design draft.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Akina Ze also stepped closer to see what the brewery looked like in Princess Kaguya's drawing.

......

Chapter 211 Takeoff!

On the drawing, black pen lines clearly outlined all the modules of the brewery: the rice steaming area, the koji-making room, how many brewing barrels were lined up in a row, the walkways between the rows for people to walk on, and the ventilation openings reserved on the walls... everything that needed to be there was there, and it was drawn very clearly.

Although Akina Sawa didn't understand design at all, he instinctively felt that the drawing on the paper was pleasing to the eye.

"How about that? Isn't it amazing? It was made exactly according to your requirements."

Kaguya Houraisan patted the drawing paper and said smugly.

Learning is a lifelong pursuit. In order to plan the most efficient furniture placement in a realistic simulation game, she read many books on design online.

However, Eientei didn't need her; this was the first time Princess Kaguya had demonstrated her skills in reality.

Looking at the dazzling array of items on the drawing paper, Akina Ze also looked somewhat troubled. "The design is indeed quite good, but it's too complicated. I just wanted to set up a family workshop, and you've made it so comprehensive..."

"Oh, it seems you find it too complicated." Kaguya Houraisan understood the implication and said dismissively, "Then I'll draw another version."

Turning to a new blank page, this time Houraisan Kaguya began designing it as a family-style sake brewery.

The ink pen tip landed on the paper with vigorous strokes, followed by a series of "swish, swish, swish" sounds, and in no time another design draft was produced.

Akina Ze glanced at it too, but still shook his head with difficulty, "It takes up a bit too much space..."

"Where is 13x13 too big?" Kaguya Houraisan couldn't help but retort, "This is the most efficient layout!"

"But it wasn't you, Kaguya-san, who said it wouldn't work..." Akina Ze replied, his voice a few decibels lower.

"Uh..." Kaguya Houraisan finally realized that she had indeed said it...

Having made a blunder, Princess Kaguya coughed twice to cover her embarrassment and said, "Then I'll draw another one."

This time, Princess Kaguya's hand speed had improved even further. After all, she had gained experience from the previous times and completed another design draft in just a few minutes. She refused to believe that she couldn't do it this time! This was no longer a design issue, but a matter of face.

After receiving the new design draft from Princess Kaguya, Akina Sawa casually placed the tea he had brought from the kitchen on a tree stump and said, "Miss Kaguya, I brought you some tea. Thank you for your trouble."

"Yes, I'm thirsty too." Having drawn several pictures in a row, Kaguya Houraisan was indeed a little thirsty, so she picked up a cup of tea and took a sip.

This time she was absolutely confident, having taken into account both the requirements of simplicity and the required floor space, and it was impossible for her to be rejected again.

Akina Ze also looked at the manuscript in his hand carefully. It did look good in every way, with a simple layout and as many brewing barrels as possible, but he still felt something was off.

After thinking for a long time, Akina Ze said embarrassedly, "It feels a bit lacking. If I could combine it with my original drawing, it would be almost there."

"What did you say......?"

Upon hearing this, Kaguya Houraisan was immediately enraged, "I drew it so well... and you actually want me to look at it together with your doodle?!"

"It's just a suggestion." Akina Ze quickly explained, having inadvertently angered Princess Kaguya.

"I don't accept your suggestion." Kaguya Houraisan tore the last sheet of paper from her notebook, held it up to Akina Sawaya's face, and said in an unyielding tone, "Use this design to build it! Understand?"

Unexpectedly, Princess Kaguya was so angry... Akina Sawa, caught off guard, nodded in agreement.

Actually, the final design draft drawn by Princess Kaguya was quite good, but it wasn't square. That's why Akina Sawa felt it was slightly lacking, but since Princess Kaguya had already approved it, they'd leave it as is.

After the dust settled, Princess Kaguya still looked somewhat indignant.

Akina Ze calmly picked up his own cup of tea from the three cups placed on the tree stump, took a small sip, and then looked towards the forest, asking in confusion, "Marisa has been gone for so long, why hasn't she come back yet?"

Suddenly, he seemed to see a dark shadow flying rapidly towards him from the sky...

......

"Will this really work...?"

In the woods by the stream, Cirno watched with great suspicion as Marisa Kirisame carved magic circles onto the ends of each oak tree.

“Of course it can work!” Marisa Kirisame said confidently, wiping her sweat. “As long as I align the oak with the right direction, and then you freeze the part near the ground to reduce friction, once the magic circle’s thrust is activated, it will naturally fly to its destination.”

“But I have a feeling something’s not right…” Cirno replied anxiously. As a fairy, her intuition was actually very strong, but now it was giving her a frantic warning.

"Don't worry, how could there be a problem with such a brilliant idea as mine?" Marisa Kirisame reassured her, patting her chest.

Although Marisa spoke with great confidence, Cirno was still skeptical; she trusted her intuition.

Seeing this, Marisa Kirisame said in a seductive tone:

"Cirno, would you like to experience what it means to be the fastest in Gensokyo?"

"Faster than Youmu Konpaku?" Cirno's eyes lit up as soon as she heard the word "fastest" in Gensokyo.

Cirno, determined to become the strongest in Gensokyo, will not let go of any opportunity that allows her to be number one.

With her left hand pressing down on the brim of her hat and her right hand twirling in the air, Marisa Kirisame exclaimed excitedly, "As I predicted, we can definitely surpass it!"

"I'm in!" Cirno was immediately fearless. As for her instincts warning her, let them be. She just needed to make sure they didn't stop her from becoming the strongest in Gensokyo.

The two reached an agreement, and soon every broken end of the oak tree lying on the ground was engraved with a magic circle that glowed with a faint red light by Marisa Kirisame. She also used her magic to slightly adjust the direction in which the tree was facing.

"Cirno".

After completing these tasks, Marisa Kirisame gave a soft shout.

Cirno, understanding immediately, released freezing air from her hands, coating the bottom surfaces of each of the adjusted oak logs with a thin layer of ice.

With this ice shell, the friction between the oak and the ground will be minimized.

After inspecting each oak tree, Marisa Kirisame beckoned to Cirno with satisfaction, "Choose an oak tree to stand on. I'm about to activate the magic circle."

"Is this really possible?"

Ascending to the back of an oak tree, Cirno's heart pounded. It wasn't that she was timid, but based on past experience, Marisa was completely unreliable.

"The strongest?"

Marisa Kirisame uttered just one word, and Cirno, who had been quite wavering just moments before, immediately calmed down, her eyes revealing determination.

"Very good." Having resolved Cirno's problem, Marisa Kirisame stood on an oak tree, closed her eyes, and sensed all the magic circles...

She suddenly opened her eyes and shouted, "Light the fire!"

"Boom~"

All the engraved magic circles spewed out eerie blue flames like fountains.

For a moment, the woods were filled with a faint blue light.

Moreover, the oak tree engraved with the magic circle began to slowly accelerate forward under the force of the thrust.