Stardew Valley of Gensokyo

Reimu Hakurei glanced back at Marisa, who seemed completely unconcerned.

Suddenly, she had an idea.

“Mr. Akina, the banquet you hosted before was quite good. You will be in charge of the shrine’s New Year’s banquet this year.”

"I'll take responsibility? Really?" Akina Z was also somewhat surprised.

Is it a bit too fast to be in charge of such an important banquet after less than a year in the business?

"That's a great idea!" Marisa nodded in agreement. "Master Akina's cooking is much better than Reimu's. At the New Year's banquets in the past, everyone only drank alcohol and didn't eat any food, not because the alcohol was good, but because the food was terrible."

"Hey! Marisa! You freeloader, how dare you complain now!" Reimu Hakurei suddenly became angry and slapped Marisa's forehead hard.

"What? You can't even say it's not good?"

Marisa shook her head from side to side, and after shaking off Reimu's hand on her forehead, she immediately hid behind Akina Zeta.

Although it's not very thick, it's more than enough to cover a young girl.

"You guy!"

Seeing Marisa hiding behind Akina Zeta and making faces at her, Reimu Hakurei's face turned blue and purple, and finally turned completely black.

Seeing that a farce was about to break out, Akina Z, who was worried that his house would be demolished, quickly tried to mediate, saying, "Reimu, the things you make are actually very delicious. I love your roasted sweet potatoes."

"Marisa, you too, I've never seen your mushroom soup taste that good."

Akina Z also offered some words of comfort to Reimu, who was a little agitated.

"Hmph!" Reimu Hakurei rolled her eyes at Marisa, who was hiding behind Akina Zeta, and sat down directly.

Seeing that the situation had calmed down, Akina Z wiped away his cold sweat.

I've never seen these two argue before, what's wrong with them lately...?

Alright, let's let these two calm down a bit more first.

Akina Z also patted Marisa's shoulder, who was hiding behind him.

"I have some leftover radish cake from this morning in the kitchen. Marisa, would you like to heat it up?"

A warm sensation came from her shoulder, and Marisa was startled; she hadn't felt that in a long time...

Marisa nodded as if possessed and said, "Okay, then I'll go see how Master Akina usually operates."

Reimu Hakurei didn't move; she sat quietly.

Outside, snowflakes began to fall, gradually filling the entire world.

The world was dyed snow-white.

In this pure white world, a wisp of bluish smoke slowly rises along the chimney...

Chapter Twenty-Four: Adorable Beads

The snowflakes fell like goose feathers, flowing endlessly.

Inside, the fireplace was burning brightly with some wood, driving away the lingering chill.

Akina Ze glanced worriedly at the increasingly heavy snow outside and took out a piece of white paper with two circles drawn on it.

"Time is probably running out. We should identify a suitable location to carve out the small world as soon as possible."

"In other words, we need to find a relatively weak point in the space."

Marisa said, nestled in the kotatsu.

Cutting the world apart is undoubtedly related to space, so places with weaker spatial connections are the best destinations. Holding rituals there can significantly increase the success rate.

“That’s right.” Akina Sawa nodded in agreement with Marisa. “Do you know any suitable places?”

“I don’t know, but…” Marisa reached into her skirt, which was covered by the kotatsu, and rummaged around for a bit. “This guy knows.”

As he spoke, an octagonal prism that reflected a faint crimson metallic luster was pulled out—a miniature Bagua furnace.

"Isn't this the item you use to activate spell cards?"

"But it doesn't say it can't be used for other things."

"Wait a minute, I'll tell you how to use this."

Marisa used her other hand to adjust the mini octagonal furnace, occasionally twisting the screws on it.

After a while, Marisa frowned slightly.

"I haven't used this feature in a long time, so there might be a small problem. Let me fix it."

With that, Marisa flipped the miniature octagonal furnace over and slammed it down heavily.

Snapped!

Snapped!

After two precise strikes, Marisa flipped the miniature Bagua furnace back over. She glanced at the furnace surface and her expression improved noticeably. She muttered to herself, "Sure enough, the old man only works when you hit him."

After solving the problem, Marisa pointed to the hearth and said:

"Look here."

Akina Ze also looked over and saw a pointer, shimmering with a silvery-white luster like an incandescent light bulb, hovering in the center of the furnace.

"The direction this pointer is pointing is where we're looking."

"I originally created this function specifically to find Elder Zi, cough cough, that guy's residence. I didn't expect it could be used here."

Akina Sawa nodded, seemingly understanding.

Marisa is still somewhat useful, so feeding her so much isn't a bad deal.

"But is it normal for this thing to keep spinning?"

Akina Sawa also pointed to the incandescent light bulb that was constantly spinning in the miniature octagonal furnace and asked Marisa:

"Oh, this description says we're currently above the destination," Marisa said casually, snuggling back into the kotatsu.

The world around the kotatsu was so warm that she didn't want to leave it for even a moment longer.

"Oh, so that's it."

Akina Ze nodded blankly.

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him, and he seemed to understand something.

"This is our destination!?"

"This is our destination!"

Akina Sawa and Marisa spoke in unison.

......

"I never imagined that the weakest point in the space would be my own yard."

After circling the yard and completing the inspection, Akina Ze was also somewhat incredulous.

Because the narrow space just happens to surround the entire courtyard.

"Shall we continue?" Marisa asked Akina Sawa as she stepped on the snow.

With little time left in the heavy snowfall, Akina Ze suppressed all his thoughts.

"continue!"

Seeing that she couldn't persuade Akina Sawaya, Marisa called out into the house.

"It's Reimu's turn to make your move. The location is Akina Sawaya's yard."

Strangely, there was no sound coming from inside the room, as if Reimu had fallen asleep on the kotatsu.

Marisa called out again, somewhat puzzled.

Reimu Hakurei finally came out of the house, but she didn't look like she had just woken up.

Turning his head, Akina Ze also looked curiously into the room, and suddenly his eyes widened in surprise.

An unexpected person was sitting on the cushion, smiling and waving at him—the youkai sage, Yukari Yakumo.

Akina Ze blinked, wondering if he had seen wrong. When did she go in? Just now?

"Don't worry about her, she'll be fine," Reimu Hakurei said to Sawa Akina as she came out of the house.

"But are you really sure? Even I could fail, and then all your things..."

"It's alright, I've already made up my mind. It's just one room anyway. If it's gone, I can build a better one. Besides, I've been wanting to change the decorating style for a while now."

Akina Ze also waved his arm and said with a smile.

Nodding, Reimu Hakurei remained silent. After glancing at Zeya Akina one last time, she stood motionless in the very center of the main gate of the compound.

Suddenly she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and a gust of air blew across the ground, causing her body to gradually float up.

The surrounding snowflakes seemed to be held captive by a gravitational force, swirling endlessly around the rising Reimu Hakurei.

Layer upon layer, soon countless layers of snowflakes converged into a snow belt, intertwining and twisting just meters away from Reimu...

Worried about being affected, Akina Sawa and Marisa stood at a higher point in the distance, looking at the central area surrounded by snow.

The scene was too grand, and Akina Ze felt a little uneasy, so he asked Marisa.

Will Reimu get into trouble?

"Impossible, Reimu will never fail."

Upon hearing this, Akina Ze nodded with a slight sense of relief.

Yeah, Reimu Hakurei is the strongest being in Gensokyo, how could anything happen to her? I'm really overthinking it.

It seems I've been too stressed lately; I need to get some rest.

Akina Sawa also shook his head.

He missed the days when he could sit in a rocking chair and read the newspaper.

I wonder what Wenwen will write in the latest newspaper...

The snow tornado grew larger and larger, and its powerful spiritual energy genuinely affected the surrounding environment.

The wind was howling! It stung my face.

Akina Sawa stood upright, with no cover nearby and no way to go anywhere else. More importantly...

Marisa was hiding behind him.

Therefore, Akina Ze could only hold on and hope that the prelude to Reimu gathering spiritual energy would pass as soon as possible.

The pace is dragging on too long; it will be hard to explain if we attract Mokou's attention later.

Although this place is located in the most remote corner of the community, it still belongs to the community.

Akina Sawa wasn't sure if Mokou would agree with his decision.

Suddenly, a crack silently appeared in the air in the distance.

Within the dark crevice, the whites of the eyes and the dark pupils formed a large eyeball, while countless layers of large eyeballs made up the entire crevice.

The endless, enormous eyeballs kept moving, without any discernible pattern.

Suddenly, all the big eyes turned to look in one direction.

A figure was there, at the opening of the gap, and then she jumped out...

Chapter Twenty-Five: Meow?

Akina Ze also watched quietly as the blue-glowing runes gradually extended inwards along the corner of the outer wall of the courtyard.

Suddenly, he remembered something.

He heard that from Mokou when he first arrived in the village.

It concerns the previous outsider.

It is said that she died at the hands of a monster, and it seems that she died in the courtyard.

Now that I think about it, could it be because the space here is relatively thin?