Stardew Valley of Gensokyo

The door opened, and Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame walked in happily as if they were in their own home.

They sat down on either side of the kotatsu, which was placed in the center of the living room, occupying the best spots.

Akina Sawa chuckled and silently sat down in the seat directly opposite the entrance.

"Why did you guys suddenly have time to come to my house today?" Akina Ze looked to his left and pointed to the sky, "And that thing flying in the air just now must have been your doing, Marisa, right?"

Marisa chuckled and awkwardly placed her right hand on the back of her head.

I don't know if she was genuinely embarrassed or just pretending.

However, according to Akina Sawaya's understanding of Marisa, she is not the kind of person who feels embarrassed.

“Mr. Akina, actually Marisa and I came to ask you for some radishes to take back. Look at all these radishes you have, you must be having a hard time eating them all, right?” After a pause, Reimu Hakurei added, “As the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, I’m here to help you.”

Hmm... I'm afraid they're just here to freeload. Akina Sawa thought to himself.

He glanced at Reimu Hakurei, who was leaning at a 45-degree angle with her hands clasped together.

Well, fine, I'll just eat for free. Providing food for a cute girl isn't so bad; consider it payment for her cuteness. Begging in this cold weather, the shrine maiden's life isn't easy, is it?

Akina Sawa also looked at Hakurei Reimu with pity.

"Of course, Miss Reimu."

Faced with that gaze, Reimu Hakurei smiled, her lips twitching slightly.

Damn it, I feel like I've lost.

Looking at Reimu's twitching lips, Akina Sawa suddenly remembered something.

Wait a minute? Perhaps the priestesses and the others can help with the great fairy's matter?

With this thought in mind, Akina Sawa immediately became restless.

He said somewhat hurriedly, "Reimu, Marisa, do you know about the Great Fairy?"

"...I...don't know"

"Huh? What happened to her? I don't think I've seen her recently," Marisa said, stroking her chin.

"None of you know?" Akina Ze's eyebrows twitched as he continued, "It's like this..."

"Oh, I see..."

After listening to Akina Zeya's story, Marisa rested her chin on her hands and fell into deep thought.

I never expected fairies to do this... Could it be that the fairy I see every day is not the same fairy I saw yesterday...?

In the suddenly quiet room, the clock on the wall ticked away, the internal mechanical noise sounding somewhat jarring.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't help you with this," Reimu broke the silence, speaking with a hint of regret. "You have to understand that fairies are like that..."

Akina Sawa was also watching her, while Hakurei Reimu turned her head away and looked elsewhere, refusing to look directly at her.

Sigh... Akina Ze sighed inwardly. As someone who had only been in Gensokyo for less than a year, he had no choice but to believe in the shrine maiden.

But since the shrine maiden has no solution, will Marisa have any ideas?

Marisa was the person with the most ingenious ideas he had ever seen. If even she couldn't come up with a solution, then the fate of the Great Fairy was truly uncertain.

Akina Sawa also turned his earnest gaze to Marisa.

Marisa rolled her long hair that hung down to her temples with both hands, wrapping it around her fingers again and again, the golden strands intertwining.

Finally, Marisa sighed and stopped what she was doing.

The tangled strands of hair instantly came apart.

Marisa said, "I do have a solution. The reason why the Great Fairy was so weak and even died is because winter is not her season."

"So..." Marisa glanced at Reimu Hakurei and continued, "wouldn't it be simpler to just fast-forward winter directly into spring?"

Akina Sawa was also stunned for a second.

Right, why not just go straight to spring?

"no!"

Reimu Hakurei stood up, as if a cold winter wind had suddenly blown in through a suddenly opened window, instantly lowering the atmosphere to freezing point.

"Why not?" Marisa stood up too. "Don't you dislike winter too? You never want to get out of the kotatsu."

"If that's the case, why not just jump straight to spring?"

The two remained at loggerheads, neither willing to change their tune.

Akina Sawa had never seen such a scene before and wanted to mediate, but he didn't know what to say.

He glanced at Reimu Hakurei and the exorcism wand in her hand, and after a moment's thought, decided it would be better to start by persuading Marisa.

"Marisa..."

“Master Akina, shut up,” Marisa pressed Akina Sawa, who was trying to stand up to mediate, back down and turned to Reimu, saying, “Everyone dislikes winter, so why can’t we just go straight to spring?”

"If I use the new tool I made as material, and combine it with the sun mushrooms I obtained before, I can redesign a magic circle and bring spring forward!"

"I said...Marisa...are you serious?"

Reimu Hakurei had a cold expression on her face, and she had already raised her exorcism wand.

"If you actually do that, that would be a mutation!"

"I will show you no mercy; I will personally defeat you!"

"Hmph, Reimu, I won't hold back either!" Marisa retorted defiantly.

“Alright, let’s give it a try!” Reimu Hakurei pulled out two spell cards.

Although the indoor lighting was not very strong, the words "Demon Sealing Array" and "Dream Sealing Circle" could be faintly seen on it.

Seeing that the situation was turning bad, and ignoring Marisa's arm pressing against him, Akina Sawa mustered all his strength and stood up. He forced his way between the two opposing sides, placing one hand on each of their shoulders and trying to dissuade them:

"Wait! You two, wait a minute! Weren't you discussing how to save the great demon? How did it turn into a fight!"

"There's no other way! Master Akina! If you want the Great Fairy to come back to life!" Marisa said through gritted white teeth.

"No, there must be another way!"

Akina Ze didn't want to see the two of them fight over his own issues, so he could only use his qi to forcibly hold them down for the time being, while his mind was racing with thoughts.

There will be a way, there will be a way!

Akina Ze was also pale, and sweat kept seeping from his forehead and face, forming beads of sweat that fell from his chin.

First of all, fairies are creatures that are constantly born in Gensokyo as the seasons change. To save the Great Fairy, the season needs to be pushed to a season suitable for the Great Fairy, which is a season other than winter.

However, if the season were to be moved directly from winter to spring, it would undoubtedly trigger the shrine maiden's anger.

Although Marisa appeared very brave, Akina Sawa was certain that if Marisa attempted to reverse the seasons, she would be judged as an anomaly and thus be eliminated by Reimu Hakurei as the ringleader of the anomaly.

Mutation, what is mutation?

According to information obtained from Suzuna-an and Hieda Akyuu.

Whether an event is an anomaly can be judged from several dimensions, such as the scope of its impact, the number of people affected, the severity of its consequences, and the shrine maiden's preferences.

Therefore, based on this judgment, Marisa's decision to eliminate winter and prematurely move to spring undoubtedly aligns with the assessment of a wide impact and a large affected population. As for the consequences, Akina Sawa hasn't yet considered what the effects of fast-forwarding to spring might be; perhaps some people who prefer winter will protest?

In that case...

A vague idea gradually became clearer.

Akina Sawa released his grip on their shoulders and said, "Listen to me, I have an idea."

Chapter Twenty-Three: Snowflakes

“You should all be aware of the problem with the Great Fairy.” Akina Z glanced around at Reimu Hakurei and Marisa sitting to his left and right, paused, and after not hearing any opinions, continued, “In order to save the Great Fairy, I will share my solution, and you can evaluate it, since it may require your help.”

Reimu Hakurei and Marisa both nodded. It didn't matter; it wasn't a bad thing if someone cared.

Seeing that the two of them nodded, Akina Z took out a piece of white paper from the cabinet and started sketching on it.

Although his drawing skills were not very good, one could vaguely make out a crooked line on the white paper that could be considered an oval shape.

“First of all, you can think of this as Gensokyo,” Akina Z said, pointing to the circle on the paper.

"Objection!" Marisa raised her hand and said, "Gensokyo isn't a circle; it's three-dimensional."

"Idiot, you can think of it abstractly as Gensokyo." Reimu Hakurei said speechlessly, "Marisa, where have all those books you've read gone all these years?"

Marisa said with a grin:

"Of course, there are a thousand and one ways to use mushrooms!"

"Ahem!" Akina Z coughed twice. "Let's talk about the mushrooms later. Let me finish first."

Redirect your attention to the paper.

“First of all, the circle formed by these lines represents Gensokyo.” Akina Z looked at Reimu Hakurei and continued after seeing her nod slightly.

"What we need to do is draw a smaller circle inside this circle."

As he spoke, Akina Z redraws a small circle along the edge of the large circle on the paper. Although it is still crooked, it can be seen that the small circle overlaps with the large circle.

"You mean, you want to carve out a smaller world within Gensokyo?"

Reimu Hakurei frowned. She understood Akina Zya's thoughts, but she wouldn't allow something like this to happen.

Gensokyo is a small world separated from the rest of the world. Now, a tiny world has been carved out from within that small world, which is undoubtedly shaking its foundation.

"You can understand it that way, but that's not exactly what it means."

“What I actually want is a world that is both independent and not independent,” Akina Z said, gesturing with his hands.

However, both Reimu Hakurei and Marisa looked somewhat bewildered.

Isn't it a contradiction to be both independent and not independent?

Seeing this, Akina Z continued to explain: "You can think of Gensokyo as a big soap bubble, and what we need is to generate a small soap bubble inside this big soap bubble."

"The smaller soap bubble is inside the larger one, but it is also an independent entity, yet they are in physical contact at the same time."

"This satisfies the requirement of being both independent and not independent, and will not have a major impact on Gensokyo."

"After completing the cutting, the next step will require your help, Marisa."

Akina Z also pointed his pen at the small circle drawn on the paper, "Use your tools to advance the season in this little world to spring."

"Finally, let the great fairy enter this small world, and the salvation will be complete."

At this point, Akina Z also turned his head to look at Reimu Hakurei.

"This shouldn't be considered a mutation, right?"

With a sigh, Reimu Hakurei got up and walked to the window. A snowflake happened to drift in and land in her palm, melting into water in the blink of an eye.

Melted snow water dripped slowly down her slender fingers.

Reimu Hakurei said, "...No, that doesn't count."

Marisa, standing to the side, glanced at him slightly; the flames made her face look a little red.

Reimu Hakurei then continued, "Do you think we can do something like this?"

“I believe in you!” Akina Z added, “And Marisa too.”

"Ha, it sounds nice, but it's not an easy thing to do."

Snapped!

With her palms clasped together, Reimu Hakurei said with a smile, "Mr. Akina, you don't actually think a few baskets of radishes will be enough to get our help, do you?"

“Exactly!” Marisa chimed in, “At least a few more baskets!”

"No problem, I'll agree to whatever you want."

Akina Z responded readily.

I've gone all out, you little devil! You'll have to thank me when you get better...

"Ha, you agreed so readily. It seems you're confident we'll help you."

"Haha, not at all, not at all. Everyone for me, and I for everyone," Akina Z laughed and touched his nose.

"Humph"