One-way traffic

"You just said you weren't interested in my performance, didn't you?"

"...Are you suggesting I might be interested in your puppet show?"

"Well, but no matter what, I'm not the one putting on the show, so who knows?"

This guy... actually managed to find a loophole in a place like this.

After hearing the girl's words, which sounded like she was toying with him, Accelerator gradually felt speechless.

However, this can be seen as breaking his stubborn view of the girl in front of him.

Since they met, he had never seen Alice actually show any normal human emotions.

Looking at it now, it seems that she also had a side that belonged to human emotions.

"Excuse me, is anyone there?"

It was at this very moment.

A new sound came from the back door of the preparation room.

"When I came here to take notes before, I think I left my textbook here. Please allow me to enter and retrieve what belongs to me... Is that alright?"

"It's alright, please come in."

The person outside spoke in perfect honorifics, and Alice responded in the same manner.

Click.

The door opened, and a rather tall figure walked in.

That was something that would even surprise Accelerator.

"Then I'm sorry to bother you."

"It's okay, just remember to close the door behind you."

After hearing Alice's words, the person who came closed the door behind him.

A blue and white dress appeared before my eyes.

However, it wasn't made for aesthetic purposes; on the contrary, it looked like the kind of practical clothing a teacher would wear.

Even their chests were adorned with ties the color of maple leaves, and they wore short-sleeved clothing even in this season approaching spring.

At the same time, he also wore a hat on his forehead, like a teacher's hat, with a maple leaf-like decoration on the top of the hat, similar to a tie.

Even more amazing is...

What appeared before her was a head of long, white hair that reached her waist.

It is the exact same hair color as mine.

"Huh…?"

It seems the other party has already realized this.

The white-haired woman, who didn't look very old, probably around the age of a young girl, let out a slight gasp of surprise upon seeing Accelerator's hair color.

But she quickly realized her impolite behavior and immediately bowed her head to apologize.

"This outfit... if I'm not mistaken, you must be the one from the Terakoya in the Human Village."

"Ah, it seems the villagers' discussion has even reached the forest mage..."

Now it's Alice who's surprised.

Although he had heard about her, he had never actually met her.

If that's the case, how did she find out about what was going on on her side?

"Well then, nice to meet you, Miss Alice Margotrovid, the puppeteer... My name is Kamishirasawa Keine, you can just call me Keine."

"They even know your name...?"

"Please forgive my rudeness for knowing your information directly. Actually, I learned about it from the villagers' discussions over the years."

Go to Baize Huiyin.

Before her, a woman with the same hair color as Accelerator responded directly to Alice.

Unlike Accelerator's oppressive nature and Alice's silence, the woman named Kamishirasawa Keine gives people a gentle and highly inclusive feeling.

It's something that can be directly perceived even with the naked eye.

"I had guessed it before, and it seems I was right. The lady who performs the puppet show every year will definitely come this year as well."

"That's right, but... what did you mean by entering the backstage room?"

"Ah!...About this, it's actually something the kids from my temple school did..."

The two girls then began to discuss it amongst themselves.

Accelerator had no interest in the conversation between the two women, nor was he interested in interrupting them.

And so, the first one simply crossed his arms, put his silver cane aside, and leaned against the wall.

However, based on their conversations, I was able to glean some insights.

This woman named Kamishirasawa Keine is also a yokai (supernatural being).

The specific race is unclear, but it seems... it's called something like the Bai Ze that devours history?

The so-called "terakoya" refers to the place where young children in the village are gathered together to solve their schooling and education problems. This is also Kamishirasawa Keine's profession in the village, as well as her living quarters.

She is probably one of the representatives of examples of humans and monsters living in harmony.

“I see… There is such a thing, even in the history I have recorded it.”

"A single history cannot record much information, well... just like the person standing next to you."

How did I end up getting into this mess?

Seeing that Alice had deliberately shifted the focus of the conversation to him, Accelerator clicked his tongue in amazement for what felt like the umpteenth time.

"Have you finished talking? I'm just waiting to ask where the information I need is."

"If it's just information, you can chat with this person."

Alice's expression then became amusing.

"This person's race of monsters are beings who control history. In other words, if you talk to her about some unique records, it might be helpful."

"History... the so-called control over history, at best, only applies to this world, right?"

"Huh...? Does history have a scope of different worlds? Hmm... Although, according to external theories, parallel worlds might indeed exist, but if that's really the case..."

After saying something like that, Kamishirasawa Keine finally realized something.

"Ah...! This is bad! I almost forgot to introduce myself...!"

This guy is surprisingly naive.

Seeing the woman in front of him who was actually going to introduce herself to him again, Accelerator sighed impatiently.

"Stop doing useless things. Just call me Accelerator, that's all. You don't need to ask any more questions, understand?"

"Accelerator?"

I don't know what she was thinking, but the expression on her face seemed to have become very strange.

"What a unique name, not even recorded in history... But you must be only about sixteen years old, right?"

"From a human perspective, that's roughly the case."

"Children of this age are usually still preparing for exams, right? Well... in that case, coming to my temple school to learn and enhance their wisdom is the most appropriate consideration. All the children in this village study here."

With a very serious expression, Kamishirasawa Keine looked at the white figure in front of her and said.

However, this action backfired and caused the other party to have the opposite effect.

"what…"

Without realizing it, Accelerator felt himself chuckle to himself.

That's almost a subconscious behavior.

"...Um, were you just laughing at me?"

"It was just an instinctive reaction when I heard those words, and I thought of something not very funny."

"As a human being, you must never be careless. Even wise people are not completely clear about the knowledge in my temple. I hope you will not show such contempt for wisdom."

In the end, Kamishirasawa Keine simply shook her head slightly.

"Wisdom is boundless. For a young person like you, the current lack of understanding will definitely lead to a knowledge gap in the future... You'd better think it through."

"Ah...that's certainly true."

Accelerator did not engage in any verbal dispute with him.

After all, the other party had no idea who he was.

If someone from the old Academy City heard that he, the number one Level 5 esper, was actually learning knowledge that teenagers learn, they would probably laugh their heads off.

As the strongest student in Academy City, Accelerator is also the smartest honor student among the city's 2.3 million inhabitants.

The amount of knowledge he had stored in his mind was beyond even his own estimation.

However, since he didn't dwell on this topic, the other party stopped arguing.

"So... on another note, what is the purpose of the two of you gathering together?"

"Huh? What do you mean by 'for what purpose'?"

"According to the history I've researched, Miss Alice shouldn't have any reason to meet with this... Mr. Accelerator. Or are you two actually actors in this puppet show?"

"...You don't really think I would do something stupid like fiddling with a doll in front of other people, do you?"

Upon hearing Accelerator's statement, Kamishirasawa Keine completely dismissed the possibility of such a thing.

If that's not the case, then what is it...?

"It's a reason you'd never imagine."

The blonde girl spoke in such a mysterious and enigmatic tone.

"However, regardless of the circumstances, this person does indeed have some questions for you."

"Huh...? Mr. Accelerator?"

"You just treated me like a sixteen-year-old kid, and now you're calling me 'Mr.'"

Upon hearing this, Kamishirasawa Keine's gaze immediately shifted to them.

Basically, the only time I can say anything is now.

The first person shook his head inwardly. He didn't expect to get any useful information from the other party anyway, but he might as well ask anyway.

"So, what exactly do you want to know?"

The woman with long white hair looked intently at herself.

"I will do my best to answer any questions I can, but please refrain from asking questions about evil deeds."

"If I really wanted to do that kind of thing, there would have been no need to come to you people to ask in the first place."

The first person waved his hand.

So he went straight to the most practical question in his mind.

"...What exactly is Gensokyo?"

Chapter 407 The Matter of Gensokyo, The Future

Once upon a time, there was a world that no one could find.

That is a world hidden deep within the mountains of the ancient Eastern Kingdom.

Using terms like "village" and "city" to describe it is inappropriate; such terms cannot adequately encompass it.

Rather than describing it as a specific village, it is more accurate to say that it is an entirely new world.

It was a fantasy land, isolated from the outside world.

In the past, countless non-human beings existed in the world: monsters, vampires, gods, magicians... Some of them were born with non-human identities, while others transformed from humans into non-human beings through their own means.

Regardless of the specific circumstances, they were once very prevalent in history and reality.