One-way traffic

The figure standing in the same spot was someone else.

Bathed in the faint light of the nearby fire, there was another entity that also radiated a red hue.

"You are…"

The first person to be surprised was Alice.

The blonde girl stared wide-eyed in shock at the figure swaying in the breeze in the dim light before her.

"The Hakurei Shrine Maiden... Reimu?"

It is an existence where red and white are completely intertwined.

As a human, she possesses immense power that no human should have. The actions of this girl with such power are not for the purpose of protecting anyone, but merely to maintain order between humans and demons, just as the girl was born for this purpose.

Holding a royal coin, she wore a red and white dress, with a large red and white bow tied behind her head.

Reimu Hakurei, the paradise shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine.

"Ok?"

The shrine maiden in the paradise turned her head slightly to the side.

Seemingly noticing Alice's gaze, she also showed a somewhat puzzled expression.

"It looks familiar, but not too unfamiliar... well, I just can't quite remember it."

"what?"

"Is it a magical youkai? It's rather incongruous to see someone like you in a human village like this."

It seems... she doesn't remember herself?

The attitude displayed by the witch in front of her made Alice feel somewhat disappointed.

However, the mage girl did not show this on her face.

"And you over here, are you a monster too? But I can't tell your exact identity."

"It's Bai Ze, the yokai who governs history. So far, he was born in this village as a teacher at a temple school... But now is not the time to confirm each other's identities in detail, is it?"

The shrine maiden turned around and only then realized what was happening around her.

Before they knew it, the villagers had gathered around.

"Witch, priestess?!"

"Am I seeing things...? It really is that shrine maiden from the Hakurei Shrine?"

"What's so surprising about that? With something like this happening, it's not strange at all that she, as a shrine maiden, would come to resolve this strange occurrence."

In this Gensokyo, the Hakurei Shrine Maiden's reputation has always been the most renowned, no matter where you look.

Whether they were monsters or humans, everyone knew about her reputation. Even the children in the village who hadn't grown up yet knew about the shrine maiden, and her story was recorded in their textbooks.

Then, several elderly people walked directly to Reimu.

"Thank you so much for your help, Lady Hakurei! Oh, you came just in time!"

"Without your help, we would probably have perished in the clutches of that monster..."

"Yes, it's alright, you can stand up first."

The kind-hearted shrine maiden quickly made the people in front of her stand up straight.

Even so, the expressions on these people's faces still showed great sadness.

"Um, what exactly happened?"

"...While it's true that Lady Hakurei saved us, even so..."

The old man sighed repeatedly at that moment.

"The tragedy, it just couldn't be stopped..."

"..."

I have the answer.

Even without knowing the details, one could guess the specific content.

However, she frowned, and even tightened her grip on the gohei.

Too late…

Even though I sensed the anomaly immediately and rushed over at top speed, was I still a step too late?

It's perfectly normal for monsters to attack humans, leading to murders and other crimes within human communities.

Yet, I still couldn't shake off this feeling of sadness.

This is something that I can never forget, no matter how many times I've experienced it; I truly empathize with the victims.

"…Huh?"

However, a voice came from behind.

"What's wrong, Xiaoling?"

"Um, please look this way..."

The one who spoke was the ten-year-old girl who had been rescued earlier.

Her sudden action, as if she had discovered something, immediately drew everyone's attention.

As a result, even Reimu Hakurei and the others were drawn to the scene.

They followed the girl to the end of a fire.

"Well--?"

"Wha, what?"

What appeared at the end was a scene that no one could have imagined.

On the ground ahead of the spreading flames, several figures lay dead.

There were not many of these people, no more than ten in total, including both men and women, and they were all lying on the ground unconscious.

"What's wrong with these people...were they also affected by that monster?"

"Could it be that he just fainted from fright?"

"But why do these people's faces look so familiar..."

People immediately began to speculate about this.

However, the old man was shocked after seeing it.

“T-What is this—?!”

"Excuse me, what's wrong with them?"

In this bizarre situation, even Reimu Hakurei, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but ask him in a surprised tone.

The old man simply stated the answer directly.

“These people… are the ones who should have been killed by that monster.”

"You, what did you say?"

“I saw it with my own eyes. Old Chen from next door, and that kid Xiao Mi... they were both contaminated by the stuff that guy spewed from his mouth, turning into a sludge all over the ground. I saw it with my own eyes!”

"Now that you mention it, their faces do look familiar..."

"It really is those people?!"

Amidst a series of questions from the crowd, the people who had fallen to the ground suddenly began to cough.

They swayed as they rose from the ground, looking bewildered.

It wasn't until this moment that people were completely certain.

"They...they really are the same group that was attacked earlier!!"

Although the current situation is quite unbelievable.

But that is indeed the case.

Those who should have been killed did not die.

The reunion brought tears of emotion to the eyes of their loved ones, creating a touching scene.

but.

Ultimately, what is the reason for all of this?

"Thank you so much for your help, Lady Hakurei!"

"Ah... even so, I only rushed over to drive away the last monster."

"That's not all! If it weren't for you, our village in the Human Realm would have been destroyed by that monster!"

"I would also like to thank Miss Alice and Miss Huiyin. Without your timely support, we would never have been able to evacuate the crowd in such an orderly manner."

"Oh right! We also need to thank that young man who helped us in the first place... Huh?"

It seems that the villagers only noticed this at this point.

Among the people being thanked were puppeteers, teachers from terakoya (traditional Japanese schools), and the Hakurei Shrine Maiden who had just arrived.

…but the one person who left a deep impression was nowhere to be seen.

"Then, where did the person who helped us go?!"

"I can't find it... it's like it's vanished!"

People were immediately confused, as many of them remembered the figure who had just rescued them.

However, at this moment, there was no trace of the other party's whereabouts.

It was as if they had vanished into thin air.

Alice, who had witnessed all of this, subconsciously turned her head, as if she had thought of something.

"Could it be that human..."

——————————————————————————————————————————

Under the pitch-black night sky, the only thing that could reflect the moonlight was that figure, the same color as the moon.

Accelerator walked onto the path in the woods not far away.

Whether it's the safety of the villagers or the problem of those monsters, everything has finally been guaranteed.

He witnessed the witch's arrival.

Although he didn't recognize the other person at all and had no recollection of that unique aura, based on his guess, it should be a shrine maiden from the Hakurei Shrine.

In other words, it is the miracle that governs the depths of this Gensokyo, known as the Hakurei Barrier.

but.

"Given the current situation, now is probably not the best time to meet with that guy."

The giant monster that he originally intended to deal with himself was ultimately defeated by the witch of this world.

After that, Accelerator instantly changed the angle of refraction of the light shining on him, creating an effect similar to camouflage... No, considering the uniqueness and stability of his ability, the actual effect was probably far greater than that of camouflage.

In other words, it's called invisibility.

Although the eyes cannot achieve such precise refraction, by turning the body away, the other parts can blend in perfectly with the surrounding environment.

Then, a premonition arose in his heart.

Meeting that priestess now would probably not achieve the result I want.

Moreover, exposing himself in front of so many people would inevitably cause a lot of trouble, and for Accelerator, such a thing would be completely out of character for him.

"Speaking of which, how exactly did those guys survive?"

Those people who should have died from the monster attack but survived were not actually saved by Accelerator's help.

Ultimately, Accelerator simply couldn't understand why these guys were alright.

However, now is not the time to explore these issues.

In the end, he still had to choose the solution that best suited him.