> "I mean, I think I've just about made up my mind at this point otherwise, so if you're willing..."
> Marisa begins "I'll try my best..."
> "It all started yesterday when that Tengu
Aya left one of those
newspapers on the front door. The big letters on the front page caught my attention and soon I became interested in finding out more about the competition... It sounded a lot like a Tengu publicity stunt at first but it seemed odd to have the starting event so soon? I mean if it was a hoax they'd want to have it far off in the future so people would forget about it when the next big story rolls around. That's when I decided to visit the shrine and told my
mentor Mima about it. She claimed it was the first time she'd heard about it and was also surprised it started so soon."
> "Later that day we decided to head on over to the shrine early in hopes of catching the event's organizer but found only
Reimu there. Sitting on the steps we pondered if
Reimu could be the culprit, having completely forgotten that tonight also happened to be this month's
Full Moon Festival! Shortly after the half-ghost
Youmu appeared at the bottom of the hill and spotted us. We asked if she was visiting because of said competition but she claimed to know nothing about it and reminded us about the festival. Along with Reimu the two of them began preparations for tonight which is when lady Mima spotted a
peculiar doll on the
donation box. The shrine maiden asked if we knew anything about it and asked we have a look at it while they set up the shrine grounds. It looked unlike Alice's dolls, resembling more of a
shrine maiden than a
maid. I quickly dismissed it as some kind of offering from the village but lady Mima remained skeptical and continued inspecting it. At that point I went back into the shrine and decided to continue working on an
experimental spell card we were developing and kind of zoned out while focusing on the magical tome I was referencing...
> "Shortly before sunset a
new Youkai and
celestial arrived at the shrine, the former apparently invited by the
Inchling Princess. At that point Reimu asked me to help with preparations so I set my work down on the table and went outside to assist. Leaving the shrine I ran into lady
Mima who had just finished examining the
peculiar doll on the
donation box. She argued it must belong to
Alice since it was of very
similar construction, even though it's
clothes and
hair were different. Still not convinced I told her not to mention her
findings to the
shrine maiden and asked if she could double-check my tweaks to the new spell card. After that I went over to the warehouse and started bringing out tables, chairs and sake jars until the guests began arriving."
> "Quickly after the festival began a duel started between the flower lady and celestial, during which I remember seeing Mima cheer for her friend Yuuka. Shortly after the match ended in a draw the doll we examined earlier came to life and introduced us to the "High Stakes Incident Showdown" competition and directed us to the round table where she had placed a stack of blank spellcards. Confused I picked up a handful of cards to investigate when one light up in my hands, showing various details about my
species,
skills,
interests etc along with a snarky comment at the end. Regardless I showed it to lady
Mima and she pondered how the doll could discover such
information about us. Interested in seeing what was written in her card she continued searching through the piles but found none that would light up.
I suggested she
take one anyways to 'fit in' and not raise suspicion considering everyone else seemed to find theirs."
> "After Iris ran off Yuuka Mima and I discussed possible ways the doll could've been
spying on us and how involved the
Tengu could be when something started to smell like it was
burning. Following the scent led us to the table where the Scarlet Mansion residents and the Inchling Princess were
experimenting with the spell cards. Pacthcouli claimed the cards were eerily similar to an
anti-theft enchantment she was designing in hopes of canceling my library subscription. We then discussed possible culprits among the different
factions in Gensokyo for much of the night,
Yuuka and
Mima leaving only
once or twice to
refill the tea kettle."
> "Finally we were interrupted by the
donation box exploding and destroying much of the shrine's
front facade and we've all been investigating around the shrine and yard since"
> Scratching her head she comments "Whew that was long ze... Hope you've been paying attention cause I'm not repeating any of it!"
