Stardew Valley of Gensokyo

This simple and elegant building has no fence and its gate is always open.

After hesitating for a moment, Akina Ze also went in. Yes, this is a teaching place, not a kindergarten.

Before even reaching the classroom, Akina Sawa could hear Sangetsu Sei's voice, so noisy that it was hard not to hear.

Akina was somewhat surprised to hear the voice, after all, these three fairies were all mischievous and could easily pull off all sorts of pranks.

It's no wonder she's Teacher Huiyin; she can even keep such a top-notch troublemaker in check.

"Mr. Akina?"

Huiyin, carrying a bowl of carrot dishes, came out of the kitchen and saw Akina Zeya pacing in front of the classroom door.

If it were a stranger, she might have been kidnapped by Mokou, who was summoned by Keine.

Akina Sawa scratched the back of his head and stepped aside, saying, "Well, I was just passing by and thought I'd drop by. Sorry to bother you."

"It's alright. Since you're here, you can help carry these things inside. I still have some things to get."

"Oh? Okay, okay."

Caught off guard, Akina Ze also took the plate from Huiyin's hand. It was a bit heavy, so there must be plenty of ingredients inside.

After saying that, Huiyin went back to the kitchen, while Qiumingze stood in the hallway, somewhat at a loss.

Just then, the noise in the classroom stopped, and three small heads peeked out one after another from the front door frame.

They are Sunnymilk, Luna Cherud, and Stasafia.

Upon seeing that the person outside was Akina Zeya, or more accurately, upon seeing the plate Akina Zeya was holding, they jumped out one after another, grabbed Akina Zeya's clothes, and pulled him into the classroom.

"Eat, eat, eat!" the three spirits shouted in unison.

Although there were three of them, Akina Ze felt that no matter how many fairies, each less than a meter tall, came, he couldn't pull himself up.

However, he felt a little strange. Why did only the March Fairy appear? Where did the other fairies go? And what about Cirno?

With a sense of doubt, Akina Sawa followed the direction from which the force was coming and walked into the classroom.

Sure enough, the classroom was empty; apart from March Spirit, there was no one else in sight, and Cirno wasn't there either.

That's true. If Cirno were also there, there wouldn't have been only the three fairies that appeared.

Akina Ze placed the plate he was holding on the table, and then Kei-yin came over with the cutlery.

"Does it seem strange? There are only these three fairies in the temple house." After dividing the tableware in her hands equally among the three fairies, Keine said.

Akina Ze also asked in confusion, "It is indeed a bit strange. I understand that children in the human world go home for lunch, but why are there so few fairies as well?"

Instead of answering Akina Sawaya's question immediately, Kamishirasawa Keine looked at the March Fairy who was wolfing down her food and said, "How much do you know about the existence of fairies?"

"A fairy? Hmm... let me think."

Akina Sawa has spent almost a year in Gensokyo since entering the city this spring and now through winter.

However, his understanding of fairies was still somewhat vague and unclear.

Moreover, as for Cirno, although she was the first person Akina Sawa met when he came to Gensokyo, he didn't actually know her very well. He didn't even know where Cirno lived.

He is always passive and will not take the initiative to explore other people's problems unless the person tells him.

After pondering for a long time, Akina Ze tentatively said, "I think fairies are pretty much the same as humans, right? Except for not growing up, they don't seem to be much different."

“No.” Kamishirasawa Keine gazed at the snow-covered mountaintop in the distance, where the brown mountain body was fully exposed after the white cover was removed.

She said slowly, "Fairies are part of nature. Spring goes and summer comes, autumn goes and winter comes. The fairies in each season are actually different."

"Hmm?" Akina Ze was also a little puzzled. He pointed at the March Fairy and said, "Why would you say they are different? I don't see any change in these three fairies."

“They are different,” Kamishirasawa Keine paused, then continued, “I just said that fairies are part of nature, or more accurately, they are the embodiment of a part of nature.”

Kamishirasawa Keine looked at the fairy among the three fairies who ate the most elegantly and wore a blue dress with stars of different sizes, and said, "Just as Stasafia is the embodiment of starlight, and starlight exists at all times and in all places, so she will never change."

"So, the fairies of spring don't appear in the bitterly cold winter, is that what you mean?"

Akina Sawa looked at the empty classroom, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Have they disappeared? Or are they just dormant?

Akina Ze wanted to ask again, but he was afraid of asking about something he didn't want to face. His lips trembled a few times, and in the end, he chose to give up on the topic.

But there's one thing he absolutely has to ask.

"What about Cirno?" Akina Sawa asked as well.

Kamishirasawa Keine hadn't spoken yet.

Upon hearing the name of their arch-nemesis, Sonnymilk, with his orange-red hair, swallowed the food in his mouth, put his hands on his hips, and said proudly, "Cirno must have secretly gone into hiding because she couldn't beat the three of us."

However, the other two fairies did not go along with Sunnymilk.

Lunacheru, the Moon Fairy, seemed to have thought of something and looked at Star Fairy Stasafia with some uncertainty, saying, "Didn't Cirno also disappear around this time last year?"

“Huh? I don’t seem to remember at all,” Stasafia tilted her head, looking confused.

The March Spirits' antics ended quickly; food was still very tempting to them.

Kamishirasawa Keine withdrew her gaze from Stasafia and said to Akina Sawaya:

“Cirno is where she lives; she won’t come to the terakoya in winter.”

Chapter Thirteen Watermelon Juice

"Winter is so cold, when will summer come? I want to drink watermelon juice."

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu Hakurei huddled inside the kotatsu, half her face pressed against the tabletop, her fair skin flushed slightly from the heat emanating from it.

"Watermelon juice is indeed quite delicious, with a sweet taste, but even in summer, Reimu, you probably couldn't afford it," Marisa Kirisame, who was visiting the Hakurei Shrine, retorted mercilessly.

She was also huddled inside the kotatsu. In the end, the only thing worth praising about the Hakurei Shrine in winter was this old-fashioned kotatsu.

"Tsk," Reimu Hakurei clicked her tongue indifferently after being teased, and said, "If I just tell Mr. Akina that I want to drink watermelon juice, he will definitely send me a lot."

"You're not thinking of blackmailing Master Akina, are you?" Marisa teased.

"What are you thinking? I am a shrine maiden. I asked Mr. Akina to bring watermelon juice as an offering to the gods," Reimu Hakurei said righteously.

"Stop talking nonsense, your shrine doesn't even have any gods enshrined."

"Of course there is! Look, isn't there a deity on the platform?"

"Then do you know what this god's name is?" Marisa Kirisame showed no mercy to Reimu, directly exposing her lie: "You just want watermelon juice."

"I don't care! I don't care! My power as a shrine maiden is unlimited!" Reimu Hakurei leaned forward with both hands, rubbing her face against the table and making a ruckus.

After a while, the noisy Reimu Hakurei quieted down.

It wasn't that she was out of energy, but rather that the kotatsu was just too hot. Although it was winter and the wind was howling outside, the kotatsu was the absolute source of heat in this small room.

Even with just a little exercise, Reimu felt incredibly hot, her whole body was sweating profusely, and the sweat sticking to her clothes was very uncomfortable.

Reimu Hakurei adjusted her collar, hoping a cool breeze would blow in.

But after waiting for a long time, apart from the air blown by Marisa puffing out her cheeks, there was no other wind.

Ugh, winter is so unbearable. Having a kotatsu is really great; it warms the body and soul in the cold. But if the temperature warms up a little, turning on the kotatsu feels too hot, and turning it off feels too cold. It's such a hassle.

"If only there were no winters in the four seasons," Reimu Hakurei thought aimlessly.

Just then, a gust of hot wind blew from Marisa's direction.

Reimu loosened her collar, tilted her head, and glared at Marisa with displeasure, wanting to see what she was up to now.

Marisa was holding her large wizard hat and fanning herself in this direction.

Although Reimu Hakurei was quite pleased with Marisa's self-assured act of fanning the shrine maiden, the problem was—it was hot air blowing!

"Hey! Marisa, what are you doing!" Reimu Hakurei snatched the wizard hat from Marisa's hand.

I'm fanning you.

Marisa Kirisame stared with a pair of big, innocent eyes.

"Stop kidding me, what's with that hat of yours? It feels hot to the touch." Reimu Hakurei wasn't buying Marisa's act at all.

As soon as she got the hat, she noticed something was wrong with it.

It was hot, like clothes that had been drying in the sun all afternoon in summer—scalding to the touch.

“Reimu, did you finally notice? Guess what’s new on my hat compared to before.” Marisa chuckled.

Hmm...? What's new?

Reimu Hakurei lowered her head in confusion and turned the hat in her hand over.

A five-pointed star was hanging at the end of the hat, and it was glowing yellow.

Is this the thing that's generating heat?

Reimu Hakurei curiously reached out to touch the five-pointed star.

It's soft and a little hot to the touch?

Hmm... what the heck is this?!

Reimu Hakurei tossed the hat back at Marisa with both hands, looking disgusted, and said:

"Marisa, what weird stuff have you sewed on again? Be careful it doesn't cause problems."

“It’s alright, this is a sun mushroom, the same kind of ‘sun’ you saw at the Misty Lake last time.” Marisa took off the five-pointed star from her hat and rubbed it in her palm.

"It was fried into several pieces before, and I used one of them to make a five-pointed star. Look, it's not bad, is it?"

"But it's still a bit of a pity. If the light emitted by the mushrooms were blue, it would be just like real stars," Marisa said with a hint of regret.

A mushroom emitting blue light?

Are these mushrooms still edible...?

The first thing that came to Boli Ling's mind was cooking.

The thought of deep blue mushrooms floating in a well-cooked soup instantly killed Reimu's appetite, even though she was usually open to all kinds of mushrooms.

This kind of dish is probably only eaten by mushroom fanatics...

"By the way, Reimu, have you heard the story of General Fuyu?"

Changing the subject, Marisa asked Reimu Hakurei a question.

"You mean that Winter General? I heard about him when I was little, but now it seems he's just a youkai." Reimu Hakurei said uninterestedly, "If he causes any harm to the people, I wouldn't mind defeating him."

“It’s not that time yet,” Marisa moved closer to Reimu and asked, “But Reimu, aren’t you curious about what General Fuyu looks like?”

Reimu Hakurei pushed away Marisa's face, which was very close to hers, with disdain and said, "There are so many youkai in Gensokyo. If I were curious about every single one of them, wouldn't I be exhausted?"

"Tsk, boring woman," Marisa muttered under her breath.

Although she spoke very softly, Marisa was so close that Reimu heard the whole thing.

Suddenly, an ominous aura emanated from Reimu.

"Huh? What are you saying, Marisa?"

Feeling the gravitational field, Marisa felt a chill run through her, as if she'd eaten an ice pop on a sweltering summer day. She quickly shook her head, trying to reassure everyone, "I didn't say anything! DA☆ZE!"

"Hmph! Marisa is a boring person too, no fun at all." Reimu Hakurei shook her head and put down her exorcism wand in disappointment.

But if we just let Marisa go, wouldn't we be letting ourselves be slandered for nothing?

Reimu Hakurei suddenly remembered the scent she had just caught from Marisa.

It was nothing to mention before, but now it seems...

"Marisa" Reimu Hakurei pinched her nose in disgust and waved her arms in Marisa's direction as if trying to dispel something.

Why do you smell like radish? It's quite strong. Why don't you take a sniff?

"Really? That's impossible!" Upon hearing Reimu say that she smelled like radish, Marisa immediately tensed up. She lifted her collar and began to sniff, her delicate nose slightly upturned as she carefully smelled along her left and right collars down to her neck.

Oh no! I can really smell radish. Did I pick it up from Master Akina's place?

Marisa was lost in thought at that moment.

Although she usually acts very carefree, she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable when someone said she smelled bad, especially when it was Reimu who said it.

But as long as you don't act awkward, it's not awkward.