Stardew Valley of Gensokyo

Fortunately, the crops in the fields were all harvested before autumn, and new crops have not yet been planted, so the fields do not need to be maintained now.

Every day, Chito, who had taught herself to cook, began to prepare all the meals. Although the taste was just average and not as good as her own cooking, it was still enough to fill her stomach.

"I wish Nikua and the others could wear maid outfits."

As the saying goes, once people are full, they start thinking about all sorts of things.

Akina Ze, who was comfortably reclining in a rocking chair with his legs crossed, also watched the three people playing and frolicking in the yard with half-closed eyes.

She had already conjured up this scene in her mind—Niqua, Yuri, and Chito, all dressed in maid outfits, smiling sweetly around her. When she was thirsty, someone would offer her juice; when she was hungry, snacks and candies would be brought to her mouth so she could open her mouth and take a bite.

Gee

How carefree and leisurely such days are!

Bang!

Out of nowhere, a frying pan came flying from Akina Zeya's blind spot and hit his smooth forehead with a loud "bang".

Strangely, Akina Ze did not react much to this; he only twitched his eyelids.

Since using the Kamehameha Wave last time, Akina Ze has felt that his physical condition is better than the day before every time he wakes up, and his appetite is also getting bigger and bigger.

Two rice balls used to be enough for a meal, but now even five or six rice balls aren't enough to fill his stomach.

If it weren't for the abundant harvest of crops in spring and summer, Akina Sawa, as a farm owner, might not even have enough to eat.

However, thanks to his improved physical condition, such sneak attacks were nothing to Akina Zeya. He didn't bother with them, since they wouldn't hurt him anyway, and he could just lie there and conserve energy.

But things are never as we imagine them to be.

"Nikua, you're right!? This guy really is a cripple now. I hit him so hard and he didn't even react!" Cirno, who had sneaked out of the temple to play, curiously touched the frying pan in her hand. Looking at Akina Sawa's shiny forehead, she raised it up again, intending to hit him a few more times.

"Bang~"

"Bang~"

"Bang~"

Three more heavy blows followed.

Akina Sawa simply couldn't take it anymore.

One mistake can be taken as a joke, two mistakes can be laughed off, but three mistakes are simply asking for trouble.

Just as Cirno was about to smash Akina Zeya's forehead like a drum for the fourth time, Akina Zeya moved.

Akina Zeya grabbed the edge of the frying pan with his right hand and lifted it up, raising Cirno and the pan together.

But the matter didn't end there. It would be a shame not to teach such a naughty brat like Cirno a lesson.

With his free left hand, he explored backward by feeling until he touched Cirno's smooth, tender face, which was even more bouncy than jelly.

Akina Ze showed no mercy whatsoever, and his left hand instantly transformed into a cruel and cold pair of pliers, firmly gripping Cirno's cheek.

"Quick! Quick... let go!" Cirno protested violently, her words muffled as her cheeks were pulled, her legs kicking wildly in the air, trying to break free from the devil's grasp.

Even so, despite her cheeks getting bigger from being pinched, Cirno didn't want to let go of the frying pan; instead, she gripped it even tighter.

"Hmm?" Akina Ze also noticed something amiss.

Cirno could have escaped simply by letting go of the frying pan, so why didn't she?

Don't say it's because you forgot to let go of the frying pan.

"Do you know you were wrong?" Akina Ze, who had been kneading for a while and was starting to feel sleepy, asked with a yawn.

"I know I was wrong! Let me go!" Cirno was flexible and immediately admitted her mistake, but how much of that admission was genuine was anyone's guess.

"Then tell me, where did you go wrong?"

"Huh?" Cirno was a little stunned. She let go of her right hand from her left and right hands that were holding the frying pan handle, and stroked her chin like other people used to think about things—Cirno thought it would look cool.

Unfortunately, Akina Sawa didn't turn around; instead, he kept his hand on hers and didn't see what was happening.

"Because I used the top of the pan instead of the bottom?" Cirno, whose chin had become a little hot from rubbing it vigorously for a while, replied cautiously, "After all, you have to use the bottom of a frying pan!"

"..."

As expected of the "genius" Cirno, such bizarre remarks were something Akina Sawa never expected. He was momentarily unsure whether to reward Cirno for her lame joke with a good laugh or to give her another spanking...

In the end, Akina Sawa also decided it was best to let Cirno go. Firstly, it was autumn, and the weather was cool; fighting barehanded would make his hands cold. Secondly, he worried that Cirno would drag him down to her level, which would be disastrous...

Cirno loosened her grip slightly and broke free, quickly running away 3 or 4 meters.

Having found what she thought was a safe place, Cirno became arrogant again, raising her frying pan and pointing it directly at Akina Zeya, who was lying in a rocking chair.

"Hahaha! You were the one who ambushed me when I wasn't looking, showing no sportsmanship! Now I'll show you just how strong I, the strongest in Gensokyo, really am!!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, two pairs of arms reached out from the rocking chair.

With a crash, the frying pan fell to the ground, and in a few seconds, Cirno had vanished without a trace.

"Sigh~" Akina Ze also sighed, withdrew his hand, and gazed at Cirno's back in the sky.

This situation has been going on for several days. After the Great Fairy self-destructed, Cirno was depressed for a few days before she returned to her usual liveliness.

But anyone with eyes can see that Cirno is hiding something.

Even Akina Sawa himself was saddened by the disappearance of the Great Fairy; he had a deep impression of this quiet and sensible fairy.

Although he knew that fairies could be resurrected, when the fairies actually disappeared, he couldn't hide his sadness at all.

"I remember the Great Fairy likes plum rice balls, so I'll make a few extra for her when she gets back..."

Akina Sawa shook his head as well, the last rays of autumn sunlight filtering through the parasol and falling on his face...

Chapter Two: The Girl Who Arrived with the Maple Leaves

A bleak autumn wind, carrying the scent of decay, swept through the maple forest along the way. The fiery red maple leaves rustled and danced in the air, detached from their branches by the north wind. Rootless maple leaves scattered on the path, on the branches, or even inside the courtyard of a house at the end of the path...

"Achoo!" Akina Ze also sneezed, not too loudly, and tugged at his clothes with both hands.

If you don't take precautions to keep warm, you can easily catch a chill and get a flu in the fall if you get exposed to the wind.

As if activated by a sneeze, several lines of text were projected onto Akina Sawaya's eyelids.

[Task Posted: Party]

[Mission Introduction: Chito and Yuri have been in the Human Village for some time now, but few people know them. Therefore, as their senior, you need to help them integrate into the community.]

[Task Reward: One cocoa sapling]

Huh? This is really rare. The system actually assigned a task, and the reward is a cocoa sapling.

And it seems that the fruit of the cocoa tree can be made into chocolate? Akina Sawa also rubbed his chin, his eyes fixed on the distance.

He admitted that he really wanted a cocoa tree, so that he could plant it in his yard and have a constant supply of chocolate.

However, judging from the mission conditions, obtaining the cocoa tree requires enough people to know and accept Chito and Yuri.

This task is not difficult; anyone who is willing to do it can complete it.

But... Akina Sawa also looked out the window at the gray sky, where countless maple leaves were dancing wildly, and muttered to himself:

"This kind of weather is definitely not suitable for a party..."

"I think so too, how could this kind of weather be suitable for a party..."

A slightly deep female voice rang in Akina Zeya's ears.

Akina Ze turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw a short-haired girl with golden hair standing next to him, wearing a dress that resembled the maple leaves in the sky.

"Who are you?" Akina Ze asked cautiously.

"You ask who I am..." The blonde girl lowered her head dejectedly. "Well... how could anyone know someone like me, who's completely inferior to my sister and has absolutely no popularity..."

"Who is this younger sister you're talking about?"

Upon hearing Akina Zeya's question, the blonde girl looked up, her eyes filled with confusion, but also a hint of joy—it seems I'm not the only one lacking popularity...

"Aren't you a farmer? As a human from the Human Village, how could you not recognize my sister?"

"Um..." Akina Ze seemed to realize something and explained, "I only came to the Human Village this spring. As for the sister you mentioned, I really don't know her. I'm sorry."

As if she had heard something strange, the blonde girl curiously circled around Akina Sawa a few times, looking him over.

"I think I understand now. You're the human who was hidden away by the spirit, right?"

Before Akina Sawa could respond, the blonde girl continued,

"In that case, let me start by introducing myself, although you might forget it very quickly..."

“Impossible, I have a very good memory,” Akina Ze retorted.

The blonde girl simply shook her head, her amber eyes revealing no emotion.

"My name is Aki Shizuha, merely an unknown goddess of autumn leaves."

"God?" Akina Ze also looked puzzled.

In his view, this seemingly ordinary girl in a dress was more like a person suffering from chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) than a deity.

She wasn't as imposing as Kanako Yasaka, nor as adorably cute as Suwako Moriya. She was simply an ordinary girl next door—a girl next door with a slightly quirky personality.

But to call it a deity doesn't really seem like it.

Akina Sawa asked thoughtfully, "Should I address you as God?"

"No need for that, just call me Qiu Jingye," Qiu Jingye said nonchalantly as she caught a maple leaf that drifted down from the sky. The fiery red maple leaf lay flat on the girl's fair and delicate palm, creating a unique and beautiful scene.

Hmm, this look makes her seem more like an innocent girl next door.

"Alright then, Miss Qiu Jingye, is there anything I can do for you here?"

Akina Sawa also shook his head, trying to speak in a very calm tone.

If a complete stranger suddenly appears in your house and claims to be the God of Red Leaves, most ordinary people would think that person is crazy, right? But if it's a beautiful girl who comes to your door, then it's just that the person with a problem has been upgraded to a beautiful girl with a problem.

But this is Gensokyo, a world that doesn't follow common sense. This girl who calls herself the Goddess of Momiji might actually be a deity, not just a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) sufferer. So it's wise to be cautious.

The maple leaf lying flat in her palm was blown away by a gust of wind from who-knows-where. Qiu Jingye looked at the maple leaf in the air and shook her head, saying, "There was something to do, but now there is nothing to do, because even if we did it, we would have failed anyway, right?"

Um... what can fail even if you do it?

What exactly does this refer to...?

Akina Sawa scratched the back of his head, somewhat speechless.

Is this classic riddle-like passage really just a case of a seasoned chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) sufferer?

I'm not a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) sufferer, please spare me the riddles...

Since their ways of thinking didn't align, Akina Sawa didn't intend to continue in that direction. He wasn't good at solving riddles, but he was quite adept at changing the subject.

"It's not very good to stand here all the time. Would Miss Qiu Jingye like to come inside for a cup of tea?"

"Okay, but do you have any black tea? I only drink black tea."

"Haha, I have plenty of tea, whatever type of tea you want," Qiu Mingze said with a smile, shaking his head.

He was quite confident when it came to tea, always keeping several kilograms of tea at home, most of which he had acquired by trading goods with others. For example, the black tea he bought was from the Scarlet Devil Mansion in exchange for wine. He'd heard that this black tea was a high-quality product brought in from outside by the head of the Remy family.

Akina Sawa also walked into the kitchen with a smile and took out an exquisite glass jar from a hidden corner.

Whether it's killing time, meeting up with friends, or even chatting with someone who seems to have chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), having tea is a great option. How can you not have a cup of tea during a leisurely day of slacking off? I'm sure Remy thinks so too.

Since visiting the Scarlet Devil Mansion to see the second young lady and having tea with Remy, the head of the family, Akina Sawa has also deeply felt the charm of tea.

Let's visit Miss Fran again when we have time.

Coming back to his senses, Akina carefully poured out enough tea leaves for the two of them from the glass jar.

Nikua and the other two had no idea about the essence of tea; they just drank it without understanding it. Akina Sawa planned to brew another pot for them with ordinary tea leaves. As for the black tea, he'd leave it to those who truly appreciated it.

I believe Ms. Qiu Jingye is a connoisseur of tea, after all, she said she only drinks black tea.

Akina Ze shook his head and placed the copper kettle on the heated stove. Now he just had to wait for the water to reach the right temperature.

Chapter Three: A Few Things About Brewing Tea

On the wooden table, a copper kettle, from which white steam still continuously billows, rests. Because a damp cloth is placed between the bottom of the kettle and the tabletop, the tabletop is not carbonized by the extremely high temperature.

"How's my black tea? Do you like it?"