Stardew Valley of Gensokyo

"no"

Without hesitation, Reimu Hakurei rejected Marisa's offer.

She looked into Marisa's eyes and said, "Mr. Akina is a good person, we can't do this."

"Fine, I won't take it then," Marisa shrugged, muttering under her breath, "I came here to freeload, and now I'm pretending."

"Huh? What are you talking about? Marisa?" Reimu touched the amulet in her hand and said with a forced smile.

"Ah, I meant let's go fishing. Master Akina might not be back anytime soon, so it'll be good to kill some time!"

"Fishing?" Reimu Hakurei shook her head in confusion. "But I don't know how to fish, and I don't have any fishing gear."

“It’s alright, I can do it.” With that, Marisa took out two fishing tackles from under her black and white apron, the tackles shimmering with magical light.

------

Two pairs of footprints stretched across the snow, but after a certain distance, only one pair remained.

In the forest on their way to the Lake of Mist, Akina Sawa carried Niqua on his back as they walked through the snow.

At first, Niqua was very excited, but after walking for a while, she got tired and refused to walk any further. Akina had no choice but to carry her on his back. Fortunately, Niqua weighed less than a bag of carrots, so carrying her wouldn't take too much effort.

Nikua, who was being carried on Akina Zeya's back, looked at the quiet forest around her and asked with some confusion, "Strange, where did everyone go?"

Nikua remembered that when the leaves were still clinging to the branches, every time she came to this forest, there would be some fairies the size of a palm or a finger playing around her. But today, she couldn't see a single one. She was puzzled.

Their steps faltered as they heard Nikua's question on their backs.

Akina Ze also fell silent.

Knowing a lot isn't necessarily a good thing.

After a while, he smiled and said to Nikua, "It's so cold, they're probably all sleeping. You know, you like to snuggle up in a kotatsu to sleep, don't you?"

"Is that right?"

“Yes, definitely,” Akina Ze nodded, looking at the empty tree hole.

A slight, cold breeze blew by, and Nikua curled up, leaning even closer to Akina Zeya's back.

It's so warm and cozy, I really like it...

Soon, the forest came to an end.

Looking up, one sees the Lake of Mist, where a thick layer of fog floats on the surface.

The fog on Lake Fog is thicker in winter than in the other three seasons.

The Scarlet Devil Mansion is hidden deep within the thick fog.

However, Akina Sawaya wasn't going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion this time; instead, he started moving in the opposite direction.

It seemed that the temperature by the lake was higher than in the woods, so Nikua got off Akina Zeya's back and they walked together along the lakeside.

The pebbles along the lake were all smooth and round. Nikua skipped and hopped along on them, her light blue dress reflected on the lake's surface, like two sides of the same coin, a fairy dancing. Akina Ze watched silently.

After walking around the lake for a while, a blinding light shone down, and even the thick fog could not block it.

Akina Ze also squinted and looked into the distance, where he saw a crystal-clear igloo standing there.

That must be Cirno's residence.

----

"Cirno! Cirno!"

As soon as she reached the igloo, Nikua couldn't wait to call out Cirno's name.

Unexpectedly, a girl with light pink, shoulder-length short hair walked out of the igloo.

"Oh, are you looking for Cirno?" the girl asked.

Although she looked like a young girl, she exuded a strange maternal aura, which made Akina Ze feel a slight sense of disorientation.

After coming out of the house, the girl noticed the man standing next to Nikua. She smiled and bowed, saying, "Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Lady Horvatlock."

"Ah, hello, I'm Akina Zeya, sorry to bother you!"

Before he could recover from the disorientation, he was greeted with such politeness, especially by a beautiful girl he had never seen before. Akina Sawa responded somewhat flusteredly.

Nikua completely ignored this, her only thought was to play with Cirno.

"Yes, I'm looking for Cirno to play with. Is she inside?"

"Cirno has gone out and will be back in a while. Please come in and have a seat," Lady said, turning slightly to invite Nikua and Akina Ze inside.

"Um, sorry to bother you."

Looking at Lady's smiling, fair face, Akina Ze felt he couldn't say no, so he picked up Nikua and went into the ice house.

As soon as he entered, Akina Ze felt that the room was actually larger than it appeared from the outside, and it was also very bright.

Akina Ze sat stiffly on the ice chair. Looking around, he saw furniture made of ice everywhere: ice bowls, ice tables, ice curtains, and several frozen frogs hanging on the wall.

"Would you like something to drink?" Lady asked, holding up a plate.

"Oh, thank you, anything is fine."

After receiving a glass of ice water from Lady, Akina Ze was finally convinced that the girl in front of him was indeed not human.

Is she a monster?

Akina Ze also secretly guessed, and he secretly sized up Lady, who was kneeling opposite him.

She had shoulder-length, slightly wavy light pink hair, wore a white long-sleeved shirt and a white cape, a well-fitting blue dress with white ruffles around the hem, and white folded socks at her ankles.

Well, the only thing that's certain is that she's an absolute beauty.

As soon as she settled down, Lady, who was kneeling opposite her, spoke up: "Mr. Akina, I often hear Cirno mention you and the interesting things that happened between you."

"Huh? Really?" Akina Sawa was also a little taken aback.

“Yes, Cirno is happy, and I am happy too,” Lady said with a smile.

"Hey, didn't Cirno mention me?" Nikua, who was sitting next to her, couldn't sit still any longer.

"Yes, you all are good children."

Um... I shouldn't be included in this list of good kids, right? Akina Sawa thought to himself.

Just then, Cirno's voice came from outside.

"Lady, I'm back!"

Before she could finish speaking, Cirno rushed in, clutching a lifelike flower tightly in her hand.

A crystal-clear ice flower.

Chapter Sixteen Fish

A stream babbles by, and Marisa and Reimu each hold a fishing rod as they stand on the bank.

Akina-Sawa doesn't know when he'll be back, and since she has nothing better to do, Marisa decides to go fishing with Reimu to pass the time.

She had previously learned how to fish from Akina Zeya, and even paid for it by eating several kilograms of freshly picked mushrooms from the forest.

Moreover, even though Akina-Sawa personally taught her, Marisa still spent a long time learning and almost went astray by using magical items to...fish.

As the saying goes, "It takes a thousand days to train an army for one day to use it," and this time it has come in handy.

"Reimu, watch my movements. Fishing is actually very simple."

Marisa Kirisame held her fishing rod at a near-vertical angle, the metallic hook attached to the colorless, transparent fishing line, swinging freely in the direction of gravity.

Fishing hooks are very sharp and have barbs at the tip. If you get hooked by accident, you're bound to lose a piece of flesh.

This is something that Akina-Sawa repeatedly emphasized when Marisa was learning to fish.

Thanks to this, Marisa has never been caught on a fishing hook, but looking at those sharp barbs... it's best to avoid such an experience altogether.

Moreover, Marisa actually had other plans.

She took out a slender stick from her pocket, with a black, shiny metal cube embedded at the top.

The slender stick is engraved with some strange patterns.

What does this do?

Reimu, who was standing aside watching Marisa operate the device, wondered curiously.

Soon, Reimu learned the purpose of these patterns.

As Marisa channeled her magic into the stick, like water flowing backward, the texture of each section was filled with magic.

When all the textures were filled, the metal block at the top began to emit a faint blue glow.

The fishhook, which was originally just suspended by the fishing line, seemed to be attracted by something and flew towards the metal cube that emitted a faint light.

In an instant, the fishhook stuck firmly to the metal block. Marisa nodded in satisfaction, pinched the end of the fishhook with her hand, stopped the transfer of magic power, and removed the fishhook from her wand.

This allows you to safely and "efficiently" catch dangerous fishhooks swinging in the air.

Marisa was very satisfied with this. In fact, besides this "magic rod", she had made many other tools, but the other tools seemed to be useless in the current situation. However, they might be useful in the future. If all else failed, it would be a good idea to sell them to Master Akina and let him experiment with them. Marisa thought to herself happily.

After Marisa unleashed a barrage of punches, Reimu Hakurei silently looked at the fishing rod in her hand. Its emerald green skin, though long since made into a fishing rod, still exuded the fresh scent of bamboo.

This is just an ordinary bamboo pole with no magical elements whatsoever.

"Sorry, Reimu, I haven't had time to modify that one of yours yet."

"It's okay, you can continue." Reimu Hakurei shook her head. For some reason, she thought of her increasingly long exorcism wand. The feeling of holding the two seemed almost the same?

Turning around, Marisa Kirisame took out a small gourd from her pocket, poured out a round dumpling, and attached it to the fishing hook.

"This is fish bait I made from mushrooms; it's sure to attract fish," Marisa said confidently.

Hand-rolled mushroom balls are loved by both big and small fish.

Now the preparations for fishing are complete.

Marisa Kirisame turned to Reimu Hakurei and gave her a peace sign, without waiting for Reimu's response.

You can tell she's very confident about this fishing trip.

Having made all the necessary preparations, Marisa focused on the bamboo pole in front of her, glanced at the position, and then gripped the fishing rod with both hands, one in front of the other.

With her legs slightly apart, the hem of her black dress was stretched into a curved arc, and Marisa swung it from her shoulders along her waist! The long fishing rod turned into a semi-circle.

Pfft!

A ripple appeared on the water in the distance; the fishing hook had gone into the water.

"Now we just need to wait for the fish to bite." Marisa Kirisame stuck the fishing rod in the ground, clapped her hands in satisfaction, and looked at Reimu, saying, "Reimu, why don't you give it a try? Fishing is really not difficult at all."

Reimu Hakurei nodded silently. She cast her fishing rod out like Marisa, and the smooth hook shone in the air like a cold, dark star, almost invisible to the naked eye.

But the sharp-eyed Marisa still noticed.

"Wait a minute, Reimu, you didn't bait the fish, did you?" Marisa slapped the back of her head. She had forgotten to give Reimu the mushroom bait, so all her efforts were wasted.

Thump thump!

A commotion came from the water in the distance.

"The fish has taken the bait! Reimu, I'll go reel it in and then give you the bait later!" Marisa said with delight.

The fish took the bait faster than she expected. Marisa thought she would have to wait at least a while, but it was so fast!

This must be thanks to the freshly made mushroom bait! What fish wouldn't like to eat mushrooms? Marisa thought to herself.

"Wait, Marisa," Reimu Hakurei said, gripping the trembling fishing rod in her hand with some confusion. "It looks like I've taken the bait?"

"No way...you didn't even have any bait..."

Marisa was somewhat skeptical, and she turned her head to look at the spot where the fishing hook had landed in the distance.

Sure enough, ripples were spreading where Reimu had just cast her line, clearly indicating that a fish had taken the bait.

That's a bit strange.

Marisa scratched her head. Master Akina never said you could catch fish without bait, did he? Does that mean you can actually fish with or without bait?

Thump thump!

The movement of fish in the distance interrupted Marisa's thoughts. She shook her head and said: