The first few stories are told in first person, in which Renko and Merry occasionally swap perspectives over the course of the stories. Thus, for ease of figuring out who is who in each story, i'm coding perspectives and dialogue as follows:🌌 Renko Perspective / Renko Dialogue
🎀 Merry Perspective / Merry DialogueIn anycase, this is all the canonical Hifuu Club content, up to date as of 5/17/22.
So if you want to read them for yourselves, here you go.
GHOSTLY FIELD CLUB
🎀 Passing on Through the Dendera Fields in the Night“Yes, I’m sure this is it.”Renko said so, and showed me a notebook with some photos.We’d be disappointed if we couldn’t find anything, because we came all the way here on a chilly autumn night.Though, honestly, I hoped to avoid acting like a grave-robber.color=white🎀 Girls’ Secret Sealing Club“Merry, shall we go and see the entrance in Rendaino?”It was two days ago that she made the proposition.The Sealing Club, whose sole members are the two of us, is mere common club for mediums.Yes, it’s a group for mediums, but we are not into ghost summoning or exorcising as the others do.They just believe we are an incompetent group that does not participate in the usual activities, but the truth is…color=white🎀 Eastern Ghostly Dream Ancient Temple“What is this entrance in Rendaino, Renko?”She told me out of the blue, so it was the only thing I could say, having never heard of such a thing before.“Well, just look.”Renko handed me a photo. It showed an ancient temple like I’ve never seen before.“This is the Netherworld.”color=white🎀 Ancient Temple in the Netherworld“How come you have a photo of the Netherworld?”“I have a back and forth route you don’t know about, Merry.”I didn’t know what the route was, but I suppose it was probably something like spirit photography with a participating corpse.“And in this picture, if you look beyond the temple gate…”color=white🎀 Illusionary Night Ghostly Eyes “See, the gate is here. And on the other side of it, doesn’t that obviously look like our world?”She pointed at the darkened field, and there was a single gravestone visible.It looks like another atmosphere from the one in the picture, definitely our world’s…Also, I hesitated to tell her that the correct term is Sanmon gate and not temple gate.color=white🎀Merry, the MagicianThe truth of the Sealing Club is that we are a group for exposing the boundaries that surround this world.It’s supposed to be forbidden though, as there is the fear they may become destroyed.Even so, I can see the borders of these boundaries. Even if I don’t do anything I can see them.It’s inevitable, I just see them.color=white🎀Strange Bird of the Moon, Illusion of Mysterious CatThen I remembered when Renko mentioned “an entrance in Rendaino”.Did she find out where the entrance is from this picture?“It’s easy. We can see where the moon and the stars are pictured, can’t we?”According to Renko, she can tell what time it is by the stars and where she is by the moon.Renko is always complaining I have unsettling eyes, I think her eyes are more unsettling than mine.color=white🎀 Flower of Past Days Fairy of FlowerLycoris is so creepy! I’ve detested it since I was a child. (note)“The entrance is a gravestone where lycoris grows the thickest in Rendaino.” That phrase escaped from my lips somehow.Renko believed me entirely, saying that since it’s from me, it must be true.It seems that she has decided our destination by herself.color=white🎀 Magical Girl CrusadeFinally, the investigating the ghostly field for holes in the boundary has come!The field is deserted at night, ideal conditions for our activity, so we left for it in the evening.We set off in high spirits at first, but when we arrived at this place, we quickly calmed down.Now that I think about it, this ghostly field is a graveyard…color=white🎀 A Maiden’s Illusionary Funeral Necro-FantasyI figure this gravestone is the one Renko spoke of, but I can see nothing else.Renko was urging me. I tried touching the grave, pulling up the inscription plaques, and all sorts of things.She looked up the sky and murmured “2:27:41”. How unsettling…In the end, it seems I’m the only one acting like a grave-robber.The gravestone is heavy but I managed to turn it…“2:30 sharp!” she said just as I turned the stone by a quarter-rotation.Even though it is autumn now, a panorama of cherry blossoms spread out around us.color=white🎀 Eternal Festival of IllusionsThe autumn leaves had already fallen. Our incompetent club continues with very little activity.My partner, who has a habit of looking up the night sky and murmuring the time, is running late for our appointment.“Sorry to keep you waiting!”“You’re 2 minutes and 19 seconds late.”My partner took out a picture and started talking as usual.“But never mind that, Merry, why don’t we go see the entrance at the Hakurei Shrine?”
CHANGEABILITY OF STRANGE DREAM
🎀 Children's Festival Innocent TreasuresDream changing, the memory of a world of illusionary morning mist.
This present world, sitting atop a crumbling foundation of sand.
A fabricated dream's history, telling of an ancient profound world.
In broad daylight, a town sinks.(Dawn is about to come. The night in this phantasmal fog will be over.
I played with the children in the fantasy world.
All of the kids looked really happy and were smiling.)Is it an illusion, or a tower built on sand?
This dream, till daybreak, is a butterfly dream.(...When was the last time I've seen children smiling so?
Mysterious songs that I've never listened to; mysterious dances that I've never seen.
Maybe there was a festival today.
I thought I also always wanted to live in such a country where I can see this kind of smile on these children.)Dream changing, the conspicuous color of an illusionary scarlet mansion.
This present world, sitting atop a cold-hearted foundation of stone.
A fabricated dream's fairy tale, telling of an ancient beautiful capital.
In broad daylight, a town is corrupted.color=white🎀 Dream of Arcadia "...Oh, that's right. There was this dream I had yesterday.""...so you're going on about your dreams again?""Yes, I called because I wanted to talk to you about the dreams I've been having lately."My name is Maribel Hearn. I'm part of an occult club in this dull town. Though we don't hold any of the regular activities you'd expect from an occult club, like seances or things like that. It's what people would call a bad excuse of a club... even before you add in that this "club" has only two members."Eh, is the stuff that happens in dreams really something you should be sharing with someone else?"But putting that aside, I have an amazing power. Since ancient times, members of my family have had a sort of spiritual sensitivity...I can see the unreachable spaces of the world - that is, I can see boundaries. The true objective of our club is to seek out the gaps of the boundaries, places where you can dive into another world. I guess you'd call it "spiriting away"?...Of course, that kind of thing is forbidden.But recently, I've started to see other worlds in my dreams..."Please, if I don't talk to you about the things in these dreams, I'm not sure I'll be able to tell which me is real."color=white🎀 Shanghai Scarlet Teahouse Chinese Tea 'Beyond the walls of green was a great house in stark red.
A mansion, framed by deep green forest and a sparkling white lake...
Where could you find such a beautiful scene?
For something so red, it managed to fit its surroundings perfectly.
The bold color did look a bit childish, but... I loved it.'Could I take a look inside, just for a minute or two?
But it would be rude to just show up unannounced...
Or rather, would a mansion like this even let me in?
Wait, what am I so afraid of? This is just a dream, isn't it?'...Oh, a maid came out.
Should I ask her?
I want to greet the owner of such a wonderful mansion.'color=white🎀 Voyage 1969 'Everything looked the same no matter how far I walked.
The sun had already set, and I couldn't even see my own feet...'At night, a bamboo forest could be like a maze.
Sometimes I heard strange cries in the distance. Were they coming from animals, or...
What should I do? This was serious.
Was I going to walk in circles until I starved to death?
Or would I be eaten by a youkai? There were so many things I hadn't done yet.'I wandered around aimlessly.
A voice in the back of my mind said that I probably wouldn't starve, because I could survive by eating bamboo shoots.
...What a thing to think about in a dream.
But then I realized that I had no idea what wild bamboo shoots look like.
I'd only seen synthetic ones. All I knew about them was the taste...'At a loss for anything else, I looked up at the sky.
The whole sky was filled with stars.
For the first time, I envied your eyes.
If you were there, you'd know exactly which way you were going; you'd never get lost.'That was when I heard a chilling laugh from right behind me!'color=white🎀 Boys and Girls of the Age of Science 21st Century Boy and Girl "Here are the cookies I got at the scarlet mansion, and the wild bamboo shoots from the bamboo forest."
"Huh? I thought you said this happened in a dream, Merry?"The girl listening to my talk about dreams is Renko Usami: the other member of our little club of two, and the one who comes up with most of our activities. Renko can tell where she is and what time of day it is, just by looking at the sky - it's kind of creepy.Also, Renko calls me Merry. People in this country seem to have trouble pronouncing my name, to the point where I wonder if anyone even remembers it anymore."Yes, I'm talking about dreams. I just said that, didn't I?"
"...But if those were just dreams, then how do you have those things here in front of you?"
"And that's why I needed to talk to you."It's becoming hard for me to tell what's a dream and what's reality. The dreams usually end when I'm being chased by a youkai - I guess you'd call them nightmares, but...
If I keep finding things from my dreams while I'm awake, then maybe even the conversation I'm having now is just a dream..."For one thing, Merry, these aren't bamboo shoots any more.
By the time they get to this size they're too stiff to eat."And if it were to change from a world of nightmares to one of good dreams,
it would feel more real than this one..."Wild bamboo shoots hide underground, to protect themselves while they're still soft and tasty."color=white🎀 Retribution for the Eternal Night Imperishable Night 'I ran for dear life, even though I was in a dream.
I didn't know what it was, but the laughter that I heard sounded like something that obviously wasn't human.
My instincts said "Run for it!"'But the bamboo forest was sloped at a slight angle, which made me lose my sense of balance.'I intended to run immediately, but what actually happened, I wonder?''Although I think I ran a ways, I saw nothing but the same scenes I saw before.
Does this forest continue on for eternity, or am I running around in the same place?
...But I guess they are both the same.'To think along the lines of "when you look at things objectively, there exists a clear reality" like Renko does really is outdated.'The truth exists within subjectivity.
If you can only see the scene that you've seen before... that's the kind of place this is.'And so, I'm running.
Because dream is not something like the antonym reality.
In recent common sense, they are synonyms.
Even in a dream, it seems that it will not do not to run away from strange things. Since that's the truth.'My major is relative psychology.
Renko's is super unified physics. I wonder how her recent studies of strings are coming along?'color=white🎀 Night Falls Evening Star 'But it's strange...
Even though old-fashioned people like you consider dreams and reality to be direct opposites, I heard that people long, long ago didn't distinguish between dreams and reality.'And these days, we distinguish between dream and reality, but they are the same.'The truth of reality and the truth of dreams, the real me and the dream me, each of them exists.'Am I myself a butterfly of night, human of daytime?'According to current common sense, they're both me.'I thought I ran away a considerable distance, but I didn't feel fatigued at all.'Was it because I was practically flying in the sky? Did I become a butterfly, I wonder?'But I could see the finish line for this kind of midnight marathon...'...I stopped running.
However, just a little further through the bamboo forest, there was a scarlet red shining light.
It had an ominous glow, seemingly unreal.
To put it simply...
Was its color closest to that of the flame reaction of rubidium, I wonder?'Although it was by no means a glowing piece of bamboo, like from that story.'Remaining cautious of what may have been behind me, I peered into the direction of the light.'color=white🎀 Doll Judgement The Girl who Played with People's Shapes 'But, oh, what I saw with my own eyes!
Nowadays, for extinct species like Japanese wolves or kappas, it is the era when you can see them in 3D CG...
Even so, I've never seen such a large creature as the one in front of me.'It was bigger than a Japanese wolf; a mouse-like black thing. Only its eyes were shining red.
...No, was it a rabbit? Its eyes were also red.
But eye's position looked odd for a rabbit.
It had two eyes directly in the front of its head, like how yours are.
Although I guess all humans are mostly like that.'The size of its face was same as that of human.
Or maybe it was a human's face? Yes, a human's face. It was a face. Definitely.
Do you know of a beast like a large mouse with a human face?
...At that time, the big mouse raised a familiar, eerie voice.
Of course, this big mouse was the thing that was chasing me.
Though, it was not looking at me now, but at the scarlet light.'Indeed, it wasn't the big mouse's eyes that bathed the area in scarlet!
How could it be, that the eerie big mouse was startled by that scarlet light.
Then, I turn my face towards the shining scarlet red light...'color=white🎀 Border Between Dream and Reality "And, this is the scrap of paper that fell after the big mouse and the girl left.""Hey, are you really talking about your dream?"The true identity of the scarlet light that confronted the big mouse was somehow a girl. That girl was shining a scarlet light. If you're wondering how she was shining scarlet, it is very simply that the girl's body was entirely engulfed in flames.No, that notion is not entirely correct. It's more accurate to say that she was sending out flames from her entire body. The deep scarlet flames spread out diagonally, like a bird spreading its wings...Isn't it so. To the extent of not even being comparable to big mouse with the human face, she was ominous. The mouse was terrified and fled just seeing the girl raise her hands."Don't you get it yet? Dream and reality are the same thing. I said so all the time, didn't I?
To me, talking to you now might be dream or reality, I don't quite know...""Now now, Merry, I'll listen about your talk about the dream world so just calm down a bit. In the end, who was that girl? What happened afterwards?""I don't know. After that, the big mouse ran away... and the girl left, too.
I was hiding the whole time so the large mouse and the girl wouldn't see me.
Why did I still hide even after she chased the mouse away for me? It's because..."I gazed into the girl's eyes, a scarlet red eye shining even brighter than the big mouse's..."...Since you could not call her human."color=white🌌 Phantasm Machine Phantom Factory In the end, all Merry talked about was the world in her dreams before leaving by herself, satisfied.I considered what she said while I was looking over several objects that Merry gave me. Merry said that dreams and reality are the same thing, but that couldn't be. Even with that common sense of relative psychology nowadays, it is to the very end a matter of one's mind, and if objects from a dream show up in the real world, that would be a big problem. It's against the Law of Conservation of Mass. What would that do to entropy?I have a firm belief. Merry unintentionally crossed a boundary, and believed that she was dreaming. She may even be at a place unusually close to a boundary right now. Did Merry go beyond being able to see boundaries to being able to manipulate them? No, I doubt it. Maybe we've been doing too much actual club activities lately.As things are now, she might be eaten by youkai in a dream. Or experience a spiriting away. Her mind is swaying through so many worlds. When she is in another world, if she doesn't think she's in a dream, she might possibly not be able to come back. She might think this world is the dream. Even though she herself does not realize it, she's in grave danger.'If she's asking for my help, then I have two ideas:':First, throw the stuff away and convince that it was all a dream or an illusion.
:By doing this, there will not be a dream world within this reality a second time. Dream and reality are different things.'And the other way is...':Strongly convince her that she actually was in another world, and awaken her from the dream.
:That way, she wouldn’t die in that dream world without knowing the truth.
:But… if I did that, there is the possibility that she would not be able to return to this world.':Which is the best for Merry? Which is the best choice in my opinion?
:...Isn't it obvious?`color=white🌌 Mystic Maple Eternal Dream "Honestly, you're always late, Renko, even though you're the one who called me.""Merry, I was 3 minutes and 15 seconds late. Somewhat disappointing, eh?""What do you mean, 'disappointing'? Anyway, what did you want today?""Definitely club activities. We might as well since all the members are here.""Although there are none but us two... wait, did you find a place like that entrance again?"There is but only one conclusion. It's Merry's dream world.
Its beautiful nature with a hint of mysteriousness.A shrine in the deep mountains separated from the human village.
Kids having a great time.
A deep green, and sparkling white lake.
A scarlet mansion, and tea time under the sunshine filtering through the trees.
A huge bamboo forest that makes you lose your way, and wild bamboo shoots.
The full moon that makes people insane.
A creature that has a human's face thats not a human.
And, the ominious phoenix...
...It's not fair if you're the only one who gets to see them!"Of course, I can find entrances to another world.
See, I have plenty of clues.""Clues... these are the things I got in my dream world, Renko.""That's right, that's what we're looking for today.
Doesn't it seem like the children in this country are having fun?
Do you know why, Merry?""?""They learned to think that dream and reality are the same thing,
because of the scholars who think as you do.
As a mere virtual phenomenon seen within the mind, they have incorporated it as a real physiological phenomenon.
Outside of subjectivity, there is a believable objectivity. There is an absolute truth.
You say subjectivity is the truth? By saying that, there is an inconsistency. The theory is mistaken.
As proof, you did not recognize subjectivity, and definitely did dream, didn't you?
Dreams and reality are different. That's why it's possible to make dreams reality with great effort.
And so, kids are able to smile.
Let's wake up! Dreams are things to be made into reality.
The world of dreams can be made into reality!"
RETROSPECTIVE 53 MINUTES
Hiroshige No.36 Neo Super-Express The Hiroshige runs eastward, carrying two girls. It runs eastward, without the slightest turbulence.It had plenty of benches facing each other, accommodating up to four people. However, as they were all vacant, the two did not have any trouble finding an empty space. The morning outbound trains were extremely crowded with commuters, packed like sardines, yet the inbound for Tokyo trains were vacant, conveniently for them.A pleasant spring sunshine came in from the windows. This newest model of Shinkansen features a half-panoramic view in all the cars. Each car is entirely window except the ceiling and floor, in other words, the walls of the Shinkansen are the windows. It almost looks as if it were a test tube running on the railway.At the left of the blonde girl facing in the direction opposite the train's was an endless, beautiful blue coast; at the right was a breathtaking vista of plains dotted with pine trees without a building in sight.It must have been 25 minutes since we left... Off in the distance, we can see Mount Fuji under an umbrella of clouds.
It appears so majestic, it almost looks like a sage or hermit lives on it.Because of the efforts of the Mount Fuji Revival Association, it has finally been acknowledged as a World Heritage Site, but seen from the Hiroshige, it looks much more austere.
One of the reason is that because from the panoramic view from the Hiroshige, you never see any high buildings, power transmission lines or elevated railways.Besides Mt. Fuji, even the sea coast on the left side is so beautiful that even if it were acknowledged as a World Heritage Site a dozen of times over, it would not be enough. Such is the beauty of Tokaido.Though to Merry, the blonde girl, the extremely beautiful Japanesque scenery she saw while riding the Boyu Shinkansen Hiroshige was just dull visual stimulation.color=whiteBlue Sea of 53 Minutes"Hiroshige has large seats and runs very quickly, so it's convenient...
But to me, this 'fake' scenery through the Kaleido-screen is so boring.""Maybe, but because of the pictures they display on the tunnels, it's much brighter than the subways in the past.
It feels just like we're above the ground, doesn't it?""The Mt. Fuji above ground might not be this beautiful, but I wanted to see the genuine one.
I wish we could have taken the old Tokaido Shinkansen.""Don't talk like a spoiled kid. Nowadays, the only people who ride that are Tōhoku people, Indians and celebrities.
You might be as carefree as the Tōhoku people though.""I'm a celebrity."...The Boyu Tokaido had been in operation since before they were born.After the relocation of the capital in the Jinki era, many people were faced with the necessity of coming and going between Tokyo and Kyoto. Suddenly the former Tokaido Shinkansen alone wasn't enough, so, in a pinch, the government started developing a new Shinkansen as soon as they could.And the result was the creation of the Boyu Shinkansen Hiroshige. It runs between Kyoto and Tokyo in 53 minutes. This Shinkansen enabled the commuters to come and go between Kyoto and Tokyo, and it instantly became the main traffic artery of Japan.The surprising thing is that the Shinkansen runs entirely underground in a straight line. From the departing station to the terminal, you cannot see sky, sea, mountain, forest, Sun nor Moon.color=whiteBamboo Cutter Flight Lunatic Princess
"It's nice to arrive in a flash, but aren't you bored with this fake scenery, Renko?
They even show a fake full moon during the nights when the real one is out.
The past Tokaido had 53 stations, while now, it only takes 53 minutes in spite of the increase in the distance from then.
It's impossible to call it a journey anymore.""Though the travelling times has become shorter, a journey is still a journey. Sightseeing in Tokyo will be so much fun.
Unlike Kyoto, there are plenty of historical buildings in places like Shinjuku and Shibuya.
I thought it'd be better to spend less time travelling so we could sight-see more.""Yes, yes. You're right.
Ooooh, I wonder if we can see the ancient rabbits making medicine on the fake full moon?""Oh, right. Have you heard this story?
The fact of the matter is the Hiroshige could make the trip less than 53 minutes if it went at its maximum speed, but they purposefully adjusted it to arrive at 53 minutes sharp.""One minute per station. At that pace, I'd go senile in three weeks. What a short journey that would be..."Renko Usami and Maribel Hearn (Merry) decided to take a trip to Tokyo where Renko's parents live during their university's vacation.
It was more of an excuse to follow Renko on her trip for Higan, still she was looking forward to this trip so much because she had never been to Tokyo.She was also looking forward to the scenery on the way to Tokyo, but unfortunately, all of the trains on the Boyu Tokaido run under ground.In spite of it, the train presented them the sunlight from the windows like that above ground during the day and displayed the beautiful scenes of Mt. Fuji and the Pacific Ocean.That's the ultimate feature of Boyu Tokaido that cost a fortune, the device called the Kaleido-screen.color=whiteHigan Retour Riverside View"Merry, did you know that the Higan ceremonies in Tokyo has some strange manners and customs?""Huh? How?""There's not only visiting your family's grave,
but finding gaps in the area around the graveyard and visiting the Netherworld, too.
You know how ancestors come back from the Netherworld during the Bon Festival, right?
During Higan, you go to them to return the favor."Is that true?
Oh my! I'm not ready at all. Why did you keep it a secret?""Because it was a lie.
Still, let's go anyway, since we've come all this way."The Boyu Tokaido was made for the sole purpose of rapidly moving people between Tokyo and Kyoto.
That is why there are only two stations.They're called Bo-Tokyo Station and Yu-Kyoto Station.
In other words, there're no other stops except the first and the last one.
36 minutes have already passed since they left Yu-Kyoto Station.The scenery outside was likely the same as what Utagawa Hiroshige enjoyed.
The beauty was beyond words. The sky, the sea, Mt. Fuji and the 53 stations.color=whiteLegend of Aokigahara"Ah, I...""What's the matter, Merry? You look scary all of a sudden.""I suddenly felt kinda sick.
Don't you feel it, Renko? The space we're now is a bit different from normal.
Also, I can see a gap in the border... Maybe it's a bug in the screen-controlling program?""Ah, perhaps we're under the sacred mountain.
The atmosphere is a little different... No, wait, it might even be the dimension that's different.
You're such a worry-wart that it's making you overly nervous.""Oh, I see, so we're under Mt. Fuji.
But I do know about Mt. Fuji. It's been said there's an entrance to the Netherworld underneath it since ancient times.
But it's a volcano, isn't it? I wonder if it was safe to build a tunnel here.""Stop worrying so much. Just have a drink and stop being so pessimistic.
When Mt. Fuji was recognized as a World Heritage Site, they designated it as an extinct volcano, so it's no longer merely dormant. Remember?"The Boyu Tokaido was designed just to connect Tokyo and Kyoto, but the government had to do quite a bit to assuage fears and concerns of tunneling under Mt. Fuji.It makes a detour underneath of a sea of trees instead.But there are a lot of bad legends about the woods surrounding Mt. Fuji, so it may have affected the operation and number of passengers that would ride it.With that mindset, they never announced it officially.color=whiteWhite Flag of Lord Usa"Ha ha, sake tastes pretty good in the morning.
Now that I think about it, this Shinkansen was originally designed to stop at Kamakura, too.""You seem to know everything, Renko.""Because I do, you know.
I heard they wanted to connect the three capitals and name it the Keito Shinkansen.""That seems like it would have been warm. Wait, Kamakura isn't a capital, is it?
And Kamakura is too close to Tokyo to be a stop between Kyoto and Tokyo.""That's why it was okura-iri (suspended).""Shouldn't they have realized it from the beginning?
Have you been fooled by some Hachiman-sama lover?""By the way, do you know what kind of okura they mean in the phrase okura-iri?"Speaking of Fuji, the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji Katsushika Hokusai created is well-known, yet he was not satisfied with any of the pictures of Mt. Fuji he drew. You can tell this because he actually drew forty-six pictures.After that, a young Utagawa Hiroshige, who was only half his age, published The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido which became more popular. Undaunted, Hokusai also published his Hundred Views of Mount Fuji despite the thirty-six edition he released earlier.
That is how obsessed he was with Mt. Fuji.However, Hiroshige was also rather fascinated with it.color=whiteReach for the Moon, Immortal SmokeIn the end, the Japanese now have chosen Utagawa Hiroshige.
The Boyu Shinkansen Hiroshige continues to run for eastward. It is likely around Kamakura by now."Renko, the Mt. Fuji displayed in the walls of the tunnel is a bit too dynamic, isn't it?""Hmmm... I can't say for sure since I've never really had a close look at the real one, but I think they're about the same.
If the real one didn't have any man-made objects around it, I believe it would look something like this.""To me, this Fuji looks more like the one Hokusai drew than that of Hiroshige.
Its scale is also a process of automatic video re-targeting.
I get the feeling it's more going for impact than realism.""Merry, do you know that Hiroshige also antagonized Hokusai by creating his own thirty-six views of Mt. Fuji?""Oh, was it an imitation or an inspiration?""Even the name was almost the same, only differing in the kanji, Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji. It was published after Hokusai died.""Oh, dear."The scenery with few buildings through the Kaleido-screen showed the sacred and dynamic Mt. Fuji.The genuine Mt. Fuji became more beautiful through the efforts of the Mount Fuji Revival Association. However, due to the strict guidelines they put in place, that turned off a lot of people from climbing it, so the tourist association took a big hit. How ironic.The reason the Japanese have chosen Hiroshige is because they couldn't understand the talent of Hokusai. They hated his insanity with a passion.But, if this Shinkansen weren't Hiroshige but Hokusai, what kind of pictures would the kaleido-screen show?The Shinkansen would definitely provide an insane illusion for 36 minutes that would take you to your destination faster than the current one.color=whiteRetrospective Kyoto"I hope we'll arrive in Tokyo soon.
What a dull journey...""You're right, still it's better not to be tired before the arrival.""Well, as long as we'll have more time for sightseeing of Tokyo, it's OK.
Where were you going to show me around?""Don't be in such a hurry.
First, I need to go home, finish the visit of my family's grave for Higan, then once we find a place for our luggage, we'll go sightseeing, OK?""Wait. Weren't we going to visit the Netherworld?""Tokyo is a spiritual city just like Kyoto, so we'll be able to have a great time.
Because I'm with you, Merry."As the sins of the spirits trapped in the earth by asphalt are fading away, there are a lot of cracks in the roads of Tokyo.Even inside the perimeter of the Yamanote Line, a strange field is starting to form. Not leafy plants, but curious flowers made of nothing but stalk and petals are covering the roads. The number of the old-fashioned vehicle called the car has decreased along with the decrease in population. Even if anything major happened to the roads, it would not be an inconvenience.Tokyo is an unique city where flashy young people make their own rules.
Like the town where Machi-yakko, Hatamoto-yakko and Hiseshi run wild...Tokyo is about to return to its roots.color=whiteLocked Girl Girl's Sealed Room"Unlike Kyoto, Tokyo is rural so there are many nostalgic things.""For example?""Amusement parks in tall buildings that have a feeling of confinement and massive shopping malls.""Those sound nice. Such unrefined entertainment still exists here.""That's because Kyoto is too uptight.
Their idea of entertainment are things like modern tea ceremonies.""But I like green tea.
Especially when the tearooms are secretive."The food theme parks in Tokyo used to be found all over Japan.
With each store selling delicious flavors from all over the country all in one place, they seemed to be rather undignified theme parks. Even so, they are still very popular in Tokyo.Ever since the Edo era, Tokyo has had eating competitions, where gluttons would eat as if they were unafraid of death by overeating. With that in mind, it seems obvious how present Tokyo could turn out these food theme parks.The city Tokyo is the genuine successor of Edo.As Merry had only seen it in books, the closer she came to Tokyo, the town exceeding time, the more excited she got.color=whiteGensokyo Millennium History of the Moon"Mt. Fuji is getting smaller. That means we're near Tokyo.""Listening to you talk about it, Renko, I've actually started to look forward to it: Tokyo.""Well that's what happens when I'm the one talking.
Still, I can't deny Tokyo is mentally immature to Kyoto.""Isn't it fine to act silly once in a while?""They've ignored the gaps in their boundary.
The study of spirits has been carried out for over one thousand years in Kyoto.""Oh, it's the credits.
They even try to claim credit for the scenery displayed here."Words were displayed on the scenery through of windows.
It meant the end of the 53-minute film.By nature, scenery doesn't belong to anybody. In addition, the imagery is based on the Tokaido that Hiroshige probably saw.
Even so, human beings insist that scenery is theirs. Along the scenery that all the passengers likely believed to have been actual footage, the developers' name of the three-dimensional picture continued to appear and vanish.
The world returned to darkness when the final sentence "Designed by Utagawa Hiroshige" appeared in the middle of the screen.color=whiteThe Purest Sky and SeaEven the highest dynamic range images,
and the most Japanesque scenery,
are not better than the true color of the sky.Nowadays, nobody would believe something as old-fashioned as that.Virtual sensations stimulates people more than real ones.
Just as they cannot distinguish between dreams and reality, and humans from butterflies.
It's common sense in these days that these two elements can never be separated.Needless to say, virtuality is the essence of human.Though my body has vanished with flowers,
My spirit flies with its fragrance.They came above ground and left Bo-Tokyo Station, continuing their non-altruistic 53-minute conversation.
MAGICAL ASTRONOMY
Welcome to the Moon Tour"Fulfulling one of mankind's dreams, voyages to the Moon are finally possible for everyone!""Tours from each of Japan's travel agencies will begin next month."The sound of heavy footsteps from people coming and going to the railroad station pounded in the air, along with newspaper extras flying in all directions.While most only had interest in the sports section, this time, the unusually good news the extras held within caused people to hold onto them for keeping in their bags. Some said that they were interested in the articles, but there were more than a few who were captivated by the pictures.Pictures of the universe soothe the soul. The reason being that they force you to realize mankind's triviality. For all the hardships we face, the feeling we get when we compare them to the sheer vastness of space comforts us. With a universe this immense, one's own efforts are not very important. Bosses and politicians and fallen dictators are all insignificant humans. One should work to their own satisfaction. This feeling can be sensed from just looking at pictures of the universe.Renko Usami and Maribel Hearn (Merry) are excitedly chatting at a sidewalk café on their university's campus.color=whiteGreenwich in the Sky"They say that they're also sending off another manned Martian probe now.""Really? But that doesn't matter right now. What I want to talk about are the 'Moon Tours' all the newspapers mentioned.""Yes, for someone who can tell the time and the place by just looking at the stars and the Moon, you'd like to know how the Moon's surface looks up close, am I right?""I'd know that 'I am on the Moon,' won't I?""What about the time?""All I know is Japanese Standard Time (JST). Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) is beyond my abilities.
It'd be strange if the Earth and the Moon used the same time, anyways.""Wait, wait. 'Beyond your abilities?' It's just a matter of subtraction, isn't it?"They use UTC in space at the moment, but it's basically the same as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
The Royal Greenwich Observatory was constructed in the 17th century. When you think about a time system designed to observe the universe to be used in that universe, it's somewhat funny.color=whiteSleepless Night in the Eastern Country"So, when are we going on this Moon Tour?""You're awfully hasty, Merry.
Well, but I would like to get the reservations made soon as well, since I'm sure it will be crowded.""It will probably be extremely crowded during summer vacation and such. Since that seems a bit warm, how about delaying it until fall?""I don't think the Moon gets too hot, but I agree.
Fall's nice; it feels Japanese.
In that case, let's go during the Harvest Moon.""And we'll bring dumplings!
That's the ticket! Let's do it!"Even with all the knowledge we have about it, we feel nothing for the universe but eternal romance.
Concerning one of these romances, if we were able to go and stand on our captivating Moon, I'd think that everyone would be itching to go.However, these two haven't yet found out about the expenses such a tour would incur.color=whiteThe Wheelchair's Future in Space"But a manned Martian probe has yet to be carried out with any success.
I wonder if we can witness the universe imagined by Hawking.""In the end, the problem is that there haven't been physicists that have surpassed Hawking.""Oh, but what about you, Renko? You just need to work hard at it.
You do have a rare ability.""I'm in a different field, but maybe I am as smart as Planck. Plus, I don't think it's practically possible to observe the dissipation of a black hole.
I don't even think that mankind will make it to Mars.""Oh, how pessimistic. But if that's what you think, I'll believe you.""The amount of energy needed in order to observe it is enormous.
In fact, practical, much less theoretical, observational physics is coming to an end.
:And while I'm thinking about it, the Moon Tour is too expensive."Physics is coming to an end. Our world was already rapidly progressing into an age of explanations and philosophy.color=whiteDemystify Feast"Yes, even though it's on campus, this café is rather trendy and the food is nice, too.
So, why is physics coming to an end, Renko?""To be brief, the cost of observation is too expensive.""The same reason why we can't go on a Moon Tour, right?""The energy needed for separating small objects becomes greater as the objects become smaller. From molecule to atom to nucleon to quark... If these became any smaller, we would need an inexhaustible amount of energy to split them, right? And then when we finally get to the point where we find an object that cannot be separated even if we used all of energy in the universe, we can say this object is the smallest substance in the world.
Physics is moving on into the next phase because it has already reached the smallest world. We can not longer observe anymore, so this is now mostly the realm of philosophy.""Ah, this new cake looks delicious!
Its smallest units would be artificial egg and artificial strawberry, right?"The amount of energy is said to be limited to 1019 GeV. If an amount of energy exceeded this quantity, it couldn't exist in the space-time. Incidentally, this 1019 GeV is called Planck energy, which is about as 1021 times as great as the energy created by nuclear power.color=whiteSatellite Café Terrace"Geez, I keep forgetting not to discuss physics with you, Renko.
It always turns into a one-sided conversation.""Yeah, yeah, my bad. It's just my specialty.
But this cake is pretty good.""I wish we could go to the Moon......
But naturally, it costs a fortune.""That reminds me. Did you know they opened a cafe in a satellite for the space travelers? They say coffee brewed in zero gravity is phenomenal.""But it has to be an indoor café, doesn't it?
I prefer outdoor ones, like terraces."When coffee is exposed to a vacuum even for a moment, it boils instantly because of the low pressure, but then the water freezes as soon as the heat dissipates.
This boiled yet frozen coffee, Satellite Iced Coffee, is the main attraction in the menu.color=whiteG Free"Now that you mention it, doesn't coffee need gravity to brew?
The drops won't fall without it.
How do they make coffee under zero gravity?""That's why they brought siphon coffee back from the dead.
It circulates hot water with vapor pressure.""Siphon coffee...
I've only seen siphon coffee makers as decorations in cafés, but I suppose they are used for making coffee, too.
Even so, I heard that drip coffee tastes better...""Those are siphons modified for zero gravity. Since there is no convection, they can make coffee with a rich flavor.""Hmm... Were it not for coffee, I would be wide-awake in space. With excitement..."Mankind, released from gravity, is now developing a new culture. But at the same time, they found that many of their tools relied on gravity to operate.
It was just recently that gravitational force, which had been proven long ago and tormented physicists for a long time, was unified with the other forces.color=whiteCelestial Wizardry Magical Astronomy"Wow, the universe is sure fascinating...""What's the matter? Are you saying there's nothing fascinating on Earth?""At 16:31, I saw the evening star.
It's just that there are hardly any mysteries left on Earth.""If I could see all the mechanisms of this world like you Renko, I think I would start to become nihilistic.""That's why I envy your eyes, Merry.
You can see plenty of mysterious worlds.
Besides, I wanted you to see the gap in the Moon's boundary.""I'd go if the fare was lower."The boundary is not a part of Earth; it's just a border, so it is only natural for the Moon to have one as well.
The boundary of the Moon is one which separates the dazzling Lunar Capital from the desolate, lifeless satellite. As long as the boundary exists, even if you went to the Moon, you couldn't get any of the rice cake or medicine the Moon rabbits are making; at most, a moonstone."The Moon may be hiding a forgotten world; a lunar capital with advanced civilization where nobles live.
Rabbits would make medicine of immortality while gazing at the three-legged crow living in the sun and worrying about mankind, excited about the Moon Tour.
You are the only one who can see that world, Merry.""You're right. I want to go there before humans gather and colonize all of it.""If it's decided then, let's start preparing.""If we want to see the Lunar Capital, maybe we should learn more about it.
About the ancient Moon that has been forgotten for a long time.
About the dazzling Moon capital of legend.
About the Moon that symbolizes insanity.
Yes, knowledge will help discern the gap in the border.""Wait, in my opinion, what we have to take care of first is getting a part-time job, so we can make enough money to go there."color=whiteNecrofantasiaEven though the sun has set and dinner time was approaching, they finally left the café after eating the new cake.
In this university, students can pay with a student card in any of the shops on campus. The price is collected along with the tuition monthly.
It reduces the need for managing money, avoids crowded registers, and lets students shop easily (because their parents pay for the tuition), increasing sales as a result. But thanks to that, students now find their expenses piling up much more than expected."There's supposed to be an elixir of immortality on the Moon, apparently.""Immortality, huh?
Doesn't seem like someone like you would need it though, right Renko? What with the end of physics fast approaching and nihilism about to take hold of you.""Who are you calling a nihilist?
I'm practically bursting with life.
Why, I'm sleeping soundly at night even now because I'm so excited about what the universe holds.""Then, would you take it if you happened to get your hands on it, Renko?"Although the world had developed rapidly, with just about every country enjoying prosperity to some degree, mankind itself had merely moved on to its next stage. The human population, which had continued to grow exponentially since before the Common Era, had shifted into a phase of gradual decline.
Like a proverbial Noah's Ark, capitalism had exacerbated society's inequalities through economics. As a result, nations across the board had shown a decline in birth rates, though this was all merely a sign that they had entered capitalism's final stage: population control.
As one of the first nations to have had to turn its attention to the issues brought on by rapidly declining birth rates and population collapse, Japan was able to skillfully avoid the downsides brought about by this depopulation. Moreover, thanks to the efforts of its chosen people, it was able to successfully revitalize its national character, rich in industriousness and mindfulness."The elixir of immortality?
Of course I'd take it.
You know why immortality is portrayed as a terrible thing to have to bear in stories and such? Those were all meant to serve as cautionary tales against greed and to celebrate rebellion against figures of authority. But on the flip side, the fact that those stories even exist serves as proof that the elixir of immortality is a real thing.
Immortality doesn't imply the absence of death. Rather, it merely implies a state of existence in which the boundary between life and death disappears, and you exist as neither alive nor dead.
It'd be like a bona fide Necrophantasia—a practical realization of being in a world somewhere in between the world of the living and the Netherworld at the same time."color=whiteThe Far Side of the MoonThe two of them sat down by fountain-equipped lake inside the university's campus.The Moon was already out, and a flat Moon with no craters could be seen floating on the lake.Merry the magician saw them:Rabbits making medicine;Celestial maidens wearing dazzling dresses,dancing gracefully in the sky.She saw the other side of the boundary through the Moon reflected in the water.
Seeing this Moon, Merry had an idea."Hey, Renko.
If the Moon Tour is too expensive, why don't we try thinking of another way to get there?"
TROJAN GREEN ASTEROID
Satellite TORIFUNE"Hey, you know about TORIFUNE right?""TORIFUNE? Ah, you mean that space station where that accident occured?"TORIFUNE is the name of the ill-fated space station where everything aboard died due to some unexplained mechanical trouble a few years ago."Didn't they load all kinds of plants and animals onto it as part of an experiment to test whether they could adapt to life in space?""Yes, I believe so. But why are you bringing this up now?"The TORIFUNE held a highly specialized ecosystem. It was a test to see whether or not one could construct a complete ecosystem given a strictly confined area. The goal had to do with terraforming implementation.
However, it wasn't planned for somewhere like Mars or Venus. You can only do something like that in science fiction.
They were trying to see how well it would work on Earth."I think they might still be alive."color=whiteTrojan Asteroid Jungle"Merry, what are you talking about? Even if it's supposed to be a mini-ecosystem, there's no way it could have maintained itself on a completely abandoned..."Renko broke into a bitter smile."...But knowing you, I'm sure you have some reason to think so, right?""Well, lately I've been able to see inside of it."
The TORIFUNE is said to be lost in space, out of humanity's reach, but the truth is that we know it has stopped at an Earth/Moon Lagrangian point.In case of an emergency and control of the station was lost or the thrusters were malfunctioning, the TORIFUNE was equipped with a system that would automatically maneuver the station towards a Lagrangian point in order to prevent it from falling to Earth and make it possible to recover.color=whiteDesire Drive——A green forest, as wild as it is beautiful.The stifling humidity. Is this heat due to the computer malfunctioning?A species of treehopper dance fantastically in this space of artificial gravity.
Is it natural for that morpho butterfly to have such a dazzling, and venomous, color?I hear the sound of water flowing, but I can't see a stream anywhere.
I wonder if the roots of all these plants, strewn about unchecked, have completely covered it?This is what you would call a "jungle" isn't it?Maribel Hearn's adventurous spirit flared.color=whiteThe Fairies' Adventurous TaleWhat she saw before her was like something out of a fairy tale.Maybe it was because of all the sturdy plants selected for the ecosystem, but even out of human's care and control, nothing withered but only continued to grow.Outside the window was a world of nothingness, buffeted by harmful solar winds.
But inside this floating spaceship was an isolated green paradise.It was as if Merry had caught a fever from all the strangeness around her, and she excitedly explored the area.
Maybe it was because of the unstable sense of gravity, unlike the Earth's.After exploring a bit she came to a place where the ivy grew thick, and discovered something there that didn't seem to belong.Two pillars with a piece of wood over the top, a Shinto shrine gate.color=whiteAme-no-torifune Shrine"...And that's when I wake up.""Huh? You mean to tell me that was a dream?
In any case, your dreams really are frightening, Merry.""By the way, why do you think would there be a Shinto shrine gate in a space station?"There was a shrine to Ame-no-Torifune built inside the satellite TORIFUNE.
It seems that Ame-no-Torifune is worshipped for safe travel through space. It might have been put in place partially due to the fact that the Satellite TORIFUNE resembled Noah's Ark, which took pairs of animals onboard at the time of the great flood.
No matter how much science advances, in the end we still rely on gods."You really know a lot, don't you?""If you didn't know that but it still came up in your dream, then there's no mistake."Renko nodded."There was a shrine to Ame-no-Torifune close by here, wasn't there?""I guess we might as well.
Tonight we'll go "see it" from there."color=whiteUFO Romance in the Night Sky"Wow! This is the inside of the satellite TORIFUNE?""Wonderful, isn't it?
You'd have a terribly hard time finding a world like this on Earth." "It really is just like out of a dream. An isolated paradise, huh."Renko and Merry were 380,000 km away from the Earth's surface, inside the satellite TORIFUNE.
...Well, in a dream, of course.Every time they find a way to the other side of the boundary, they can't help but go adventuring."Most of the plants and animals here are probably derivative sub-species. With resistance and vitality like this, it'd probably be a bad idea to take them back to Earth...""Why are you analyzing all of this like some sort of researcher?""All scientifically-minded people are like this... Huh? What was that?"From somewhere a low growling sound could be heard.color=whiteHartmann's Youkai GirlAn unknown creature stood before them.
A ferocious beast with wings on its back.
If you were to describe it in terms of "Earthly" creatures, it would be a chimera."Wh-What is that!?""Hmm, is it an artifically-created beast?
But its wings are too small for its size, so it wouldn't be able to fly.
Since this is a closed environment, genetic abnormalities are more likely to occur...
This might be some sort of winged cat, hmm...""Now isn't the time for that? How can you be so calm?
That thing is clearly dangerous!!""Well, this is a dream, right? One you're showing me."The chimera leapt towards the two.color=whiteThe Barrier of Ame-no-torifune Shrine"Phew... That was close.""Huh? That was it?"When they came to, Merry and Renko were back on Earth at the Ame-no-Torifune Shrine."When I went by myself, I only saw insects!
I didn't know there was going to be something like that there!
Wait... Renko, weren't you scared?""Well... it was just a dream, and how could I afford to be scared when there's the thrill of witnessing a new lifeform?""Even if you say it was just a dream, scary things are scary!!""Hey, can we go again?""What?"Merry knew that this dream wasn't just a dream.
What they saw was without a doubt the true nature of the satellite TORIFUNE.
If what they were looking at was true, wouldn't it be possible they were actually there?Real and virtual, it's clear which has a greater effect on humans..."…Let's not.
It's too dangerous.""But can't we run away whenever we need to, like we did just now?
Also, don't you know?
Humans can be whatever they want to be in their dreams."color=whiteEmotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind——Renko had overcome the unstable gravity and was lightly springing all over the place."This is so awesome!
Even if that monster came back again, I'd be fine with this kind of agility!""Don't say things that will jinx us.""We'll be fine!
Right now I'm almost like the protagonist of a shooting game!"Renko took a pose as if she were shooting a gun."Even if this is a dream, I don't think you'd be able to shoot light bullets or anything.
This is "my" dream, after all.""I know, I know.
But I also know that this is the real satellite TORIFUNE, the 'Torifune Ruins'."It is said that the reason the satellite TORIFUNE malfunctioned was because of a computer bug. But there was no way to tell what actually went wrong from the backups of the system.
After the incident, with no way to keep the satellite TORIFUNE from moving to a Lagrange point, an expert said, "Japan's engineers have spent a large sum of money just to make a ruin in space," in criticism of the project.
Ever since then, the satellite has been called the "Torifune Ruins"."Which means, that monster really does exist in the Torifune Ruins.
Isn't that so exciting?""Cut it out already.
No matter how many times you say it's just a dream, what will happen if you get hurt?"At that moment, the monster attacked.color=whiteThe Gensokyo That Floats in Outer SpaceThere are no plans to retrieve the satellite TORIFUNE.
After all, it is thought that after humans lost control of the ship, all life inside it perished, and that there would be no real merit in retrieving the remains.Who would have thought that on an Earth/Moon-bound Trojan asteroid, there was an isolated paradise brimming with life?Renko waited in front of the hospital."Did everything go alright?""It was just a graze. And it was a clean cut, so there's no risk of infection.""Well, that's good.
I was so worried after we woke up and your arm was hurt!""It's not fair, you made it out perfectly fine…"
NEO-TRADITIONALISM OF JAPAN
Green Sanatorium"Was it boring?""Of course it was boring! I couldn't believe that they had to quarantine me all the way up in the mountains like that! You can't even get a signal out there!""Quarantine...? It seemed more like therapy, I guess."Due to extreme environmentalism, cities have been decorated to look like forests. Like a painted jungle, there is no natural vegetation.
Humans tried to create and bend nature to their will, but it was only a matter of time before the untamed portions were totally neglected. Treatments were found for most diseases. Incurable hereditary conditions were treated not as diseases, but rather as idiosyncrasies, and the society changed to accommodate them.
Incurable diseases were de facto "nonexistent" afflictions.After Maribel Hearn (Merry) became injured at the Torifune Ruins, she caught an unknown disease. It was diagnosed as delirium caused by a virus that does not exist on earth.
Since society fears things beyond their control, Merry was quarantined under the name of therapy at the Shinshuu Sanatorium. Now, after being informed that Merry is fully recovered, Renko Usami has come to greet her."They wouldn't let me see anyone, and I don't have any relatives in Japan anyway.""Well, what kind of illness was it anyway?""I had recurring fevers, and I would start sleep-walking and seeing visions of other worlds whenever they happened.""Huh? I thought that was normal for you..."color=whiteLed On by a Cow to Visit Zenkou Templecolor=whitetitle subtitle"See how that pillar at the main temple is way out of alignment from the rest of the foundation?""So this is the 'Earthquake Pillar'?"After Merry was discharged, Renko and Merry decided to go sightseeing through Shinshuu as they were in the area.
Their first stop was at the Zenkou-ji temple, where they planned on visiting Japan's oldest Buddha statue. There was nothing new about the main shopping street that ran through the shrine, packed as it was with visitors. As the world of souvenirs was bound by tradition, it was like time had been stopped for over a hundred years there."It's supposedly one of the after effects of the Zenkou-ji Earthquake."The Zenkou-ji Earthquake struck the northern part of Shinshuu in the fourth year of the Kouka era (1847).
Zenkou-ji temple was famous for publicly displaying its private Buddha statue only once every seven years, and during that time the temple would be flooded with people from all over the country. Since the Zenkou-ji earthquake struck right in the middle of the ceremonial unveiling, the damage dealt by that powerful earthquake was catastrophic, and it is said that the dead numbered in the thousands."Are they trying to say that just this one pillar shifted in the earthquake? Is that even possible?""Well, the truth is that the pillar dried out and twisted that way over time.
However, everyone decided that in order to convey the fearsome power of earthquakes to later generations, they should call it the 'Earthquake Pillar', and the name stuck."But Merry had seen it. She had seen a landscape wrought by a frightening earthquake that could easily have twisted that pillar.color=whiteHeartfelt Fancy"Is something wrong? You look a little pale... Are you still not feeling that well?""Ah? Oh... No, it's nothing like that at all. In fact, I'm in the pink...""Hm?"Lately, Merry was not just seeing gaps in the boundaries between worlds, but seeing the worlds themselves.
And it wasn't just in dreams anymore, there were cases where she actually went to the places she saw, and that was making her a little worried.Then there was that time at the Torifune Ruins from the other day. It might have been just a dream to Renko, but it was real for Merry. After all, she was the only one who was wounded.
The real reason she was put in the sanatorium was probably because it was determined she had some kind of psychological anomaly. Of course that wasn't the case, but society just isn't receptive to strange people.
That's why Merry had to keep her ability secret, as some element of the occult."Merry, I know that you have some kind of mysterious power,
but I also know that that power is somehow related to shrines and temples.""Really?""Yeah, that's one of the reasons we came here, but are you sure you're feeling alright?""I already told you, I'm fine.
It's just... maybe I feel too fine. Like I'm able to see more than I should.""More than you should? Like what?""Like Hell."color=whiteEastern Judgement in the Sixtieth Year"Whoa, this sort of has...""It's got a really 'funny' face, doesn't it?"Renko and Merry were standing in front of a statue of a yama. Its face was bright red in anger, but to them the statue just looked like an old drunk."Hey, Merry. Back to what we were talking about before, does Hell really exist?""Well, it's said that Hell exists forty thousand yojana underground.""And 'yojana' is a measure of distance?""Yes, it's a unit of length from ancient India. One yojana is about seven kilometers, so forty thousand yojana would be about two hundred eighty thousand kilometers. The diameter of the earth is just a little over twelve thousand kilometers, so the distance goes through the earth.""At two hundred eighty thousand kilometers, that puts the moon closer to Hell than earth, even if you start by going through the earth. In other words, I guess that means it doesn't exist.""Uh, I wouldn't be quite so sure about that..."The place that's forty thousand yojana underground is the bottom of Hell. Hell is actually about thirty nine thousand yojana high; that means that its ceiling is far closer, just a thousand yojana from the surface. Converting to metric puts that at about seven thousand kilometers underground. In other words, close to the center of the earth.Merry didn't know that much about the inside of the earth, but the thought had crossed her mind that if she believed Hell really existed, she was bound to find herself there someday. After all, Merry was carrying a piece of evidence with her. Merry continued the conversation, trying to conceal her anxiety."Still, that puts it a lot closer than Paradise.""Huh? Wasn't Paradise supposed to be somewhere above the clouds?"]{red}"Hey, Amitabha, who lives in Paradise, is 6×10125 yojana tall, right? Just 'above the clouds' isn't even...""Umm, if that's the case, Amitabha's height is far greater than the scope of the universe, at least according to the Big Bang Theory. That's some ridiculous inflation."color=whiteAgartha Wind"So I guess compared to Hell, Paradise is a lot larger, and a lot farther away.""At the same time, Hell is a lot closer, and a lot more realistic."Since ancient times, as long as there have been humans, there has always been 'hells on earth'. It may be that people imagined Paradise to be far larger than their own hell as a way to quell their fears.
Yet, the real Hell deep underground still remains in silence.Merry didn't tell Renko, but when she was undergoing "therapy" at the sanatorium, she experienced a strange world that lay far beneath the surface, in the depths of the earth.
There was that cave entrance, filled with the frightening stench of death. It reminded her of Yomotsu-Hirasaka as it was described in the Kojiki. Merry was still carrying the strange rock fragment that she found while she was there. For some reason when she held it, she envisioned several landscapes in her mind, appearing and then vanishing just as quickly.
Merry had a hunch that some secret lay beneath the earth, and that it was somehow connected with the origins of this country. Some incredible secret."Merry, what's wrong? You're drifting off again.""Hey, Renko, did anything happen while I was in the sanatorium?"color=whiteIzanagi Object"Huh? Did anything happen, huh...?""In particular, anything that has to do with the depths of the earth.""Uhh... Oh yeah, now that I think of it you were completely cut off from all outside information weren't you? Okay, okay. I remember pretty much everything that went on in the news in the last month. As for something to do with the depths of the earth... Well, if you're fine with fake news...""Tell me.""At one of the methane hydrate drilling sites in the Sea of Japan, they found some ore with a strange composition... Those involved said that it was a relic of the Izanagi Plate that was thought to have completely disappeared some twenty five million years ago, and there was an uproar about it for a while, but it seems that some of the information was fabricated. The rock fragment they found turned out to have been shaped by human hands. Once that came to light, the entire scientific community lost interest."The Izanagi Plate was the ancient tectonic plate which gave rise to the Japanese archipelago when it ran into the Pacific side of the Eurasian Plate. Twenty five million years ago it was completely submerged under the Eurasian continent and disappeared. Its name comes from the god that was said to have created the Japanese archipelago."Something man-made from deep under the earth's surface? Is that true?""Well, I'm not so sure about that. There was that one case of a scientist who claimed that some stone artifact dated back to seven hundred thousand years ago turning out to be a fake, but for something twenty five million years ago? That seems like a tough argument to make.""In other words, it's actually almost certain that it's not a fake."Merry looked as if she had made up her mind.color=whiteYoukai Back Shrine Road"That's great news! That man-made object is real!!""Huh? Merry, are you a little off today? You keep switching from looking worried to being full of confidence at a moment's notice...""The truth is, I've got one of those fragments of the Izanagi Plate!""Huh? Wh-what are you talking about? Are you sure there isn't something wrong with you?"Renko looked on as Merry was getting all excited about something.
She kept on muttering things like “Izanagi was real..." on and on. It was as if Merry was going off somewhere all by herself and Renko started to feel lonely.Come to think of it, recently it felt as if Merry's abilities were getting stronger. At first they had fun enough with just being able to catch a glimpse of strange new worlds, but now they were bringing things back from those worlds as if it were nothing.In those strange worlds they had sometimes encountered beings like youkai. To Renko, those were just figments of her imagination, but to Merry, they were real.Renko couldn't help thinking that Merry was on the same level as those youkai.color=whiteUnknown X"Hey, Merry, about that rock you said you had with you...""Here it is."Merry held out a small rock. Its shape was hard to describe, something like a fishing hook and something like a key, but it was clearly man-made."This is what I found at the Izanagi Plate. It's an Izanagi Object.""Hmm... How can you say for sure?""I can see it. The shape of Japan as Izanagi made it, twenty five million years ago.""You really are acting a lot weirder than usual today, Merry.""Say whatever you want, right now I feel amazing. I keep seeing these new visions, one right after the other."Ever since Merry came back from the sanitorium, her sharpened senses seemed to be on a whole new level.
While Renko felt a bit jealous, she hoped that somehow she too could see what Merry saw."Come on, show them to me, too!"color=whiteGathering the Mysterious from All Around JapanWhen was it that people stopped accepting the mysterious?When will o' wisps appeared, people used to think they were the regretful spirits of the dead, or fires which foxes used to deceive humans.In those thoughts was a deep sense of imagination.Even as science advances, the power of imagination does not grow any less important. The better half of science is still based on imagination. In order to explain those will o' wisps, we imagined that perhaps they were natural combustions of phosphorus gas, or perhaps they were plasma, or perhaps they were some sort of hallucination caused by the inner workings of the brain.However, as this society built on information advances, the power of imagination has been all but extinguished.
In this age where information is equally available to anyone, there is no room left for imagination.
"On the true nature of will o' wisps, in the vast sea of information given to us, there will surely be an answer. If there isn't, then the whole thing should be labeled as some kind of mistake."People have taken great pleasure in mysteries that have answers, but the mysteries whose answers cannot be found are spurned.
That is why the gods have vanished from this country.
Already, the entirety of Japan has become their graveyard."Merry! I've seen this place before!!"color=whiteLet's Live in a Lovely Cemetery"That spear that's stuck in the ground, that's the Ame-no-Sakahoko of Takachiho! That's the spear that Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-Mikoto were said to have roiled the ground with!"Merry had put her hand over Renko's eyes. Though unstable, Merry was able to share her vision with Renko in this manner."Huh? That exists in our world?""It's sticking of out the peak of a mountain in Takachiho. Even though it's really strange, no one's properly researched it."All of Merry's anxiety was gone. The land under the earth that she had seen wasn't Hell. What she had seen were images of the world of the gods, a place that actually existed."Then that must mean that Ame-no-Sakahoko is real, too. I think it's made out of the same rock as this Izanagi Object. We'll have to check it out!""That sounds great. Let's go in celebration of your full recovery. If the Ame-no-Sakahoko is real, then... there might be another Izanagi Object close by!"Their imagination knew no bounds."After we rest a bit we should go to Togakure. Supposedly that's where Amenotejikarao-no-Mikoto burst through the gate of the celestial cave, Ama-no-Iwato!""Isn't Ama-no-Iwato part of Takachiho's...""Exactly! I'm sure that Ama-no-Iwato's an Izanagi Object! Now that that's that, let's go to Togakure!""This is really exciting, isn't it? I think that Izanagi Objects are sleeping all throughout Japan, it's just that no one's paid them any attention. Only people that have realized them for what they are can see the land as it appeared in the time of the gods. This is wonderful! Let's go out and find them all!"So they started off, taking the graveyard of the gods as factual history.
It was what the members of the Sealing Club, those who accepted inexplicable mysteries, could see: a different Japan.
DR. LATENCY'S FREAK REPORT
The Childlike Duo's Naturalis Historia"All right, most of the work is done.""So all that's left is the personal account and the essay, then.
Or perhaps I should say, your parts are the only ones we haven't made progress on, Merry.""Whoops. Found out, did you?""Remind me which of us suggested this project to begin with?"Much like how an excess supply of goods causes the goods' value to drop, all of humanity coming into wealth is equivalent to rich people disappearing from the world.Ever since the digitization of information, one could obtain vast quantities of it nigh-instantaneously. At the same time, things like speed and volume, which had held absolute authority since primitive times, lost their value.What gained value in exchange was quality.
More than anything else, special information held by only a select few was what excited society's qualitative celebrities.color=whiteThe Frozen Eternal Capital"You're the one who said you wanted to make a book together, right, Merry?""Well, yes.
Writing it all out is just so tiring, though...""Work that's not tiring isn't enjoyable at all.
There's no dystopia more dull than a world where everything works out just how everyone wants it."In a world where the digitization of info had progressed to its limits, there was no such thing as an e-book. "E-books" were nothing more than things created based on original, physical books. So when one said "book," they meant one made of paper.At the suggestion of Maribel Hearn (Merry), the two decided to make a book about the mysterious worlds they had seen. It seemed that they had come to realize that the worlds they saw weren't just dreams.color=whiteDr. Latency's Sleepless EyesShrine maidens, itako, mediums, psychics, economists...People who could see supposedly-nonexistent things have been around since long ago. All of them had eventually been treated like frauds. The things Merry saw, too, had sometimes been diagnosed as delusions brought on by a virus.However, while relaxing with drinks, they sometimes thought:
If things are denied because they can't be seen, then unobservable physical principles and astronomical objects far out of reach may as well be bunk, too.
Since those are all facts that dominate the world, couldn't they go so far as to call Merry's visions truth surpassing those facts?To Renko Usami, Merry appeared to be a scholar of truth, who would open the eyes of all the delusion-spouting physicists."If writing it out is a pain, how about dictating it for now?
I can just transcribe it later.""Oh, you can do that, Renko? You're a lifesaver.
Let's start right away, then. Lately, I..."color=whiteSeptember PumpkinIs it possible to see different things in the same place?Merry said that she'd recently started to see multiple worlds at the same time. According to her, all people are seeing slightly different worlds. Particularly interesting was that despite this, they can apparently still communicate with each other.Merry started to tell a mysterious story.
It was about a strange world that only some humans could see.Not only was it extremely small, but our common sense didn't apply there. A bizarre world where elementary particles flew across boundaries of both time and space."...By 'only some humans,' do you mean physicists?""Correct. Good on you, Renko.
But, did you know that there are actually strange creatures lurking in that senseless world?"color=whiteAn Instant that Exceeds Planck's TimeMerry said that if we refer to the world we humans observe, which is dominated by photons, as "the world here," then there are also countless "worlds beyond" dominated by other types of particles. And in those "worlds beyond," there are life-forms living there as well."Those life-forms that are invisible, but exist very close to us, and can appear to us via fluctuations are youkai, in my opinion.""Youkai...
That suddenly makes it sound kind of crazy.""Well, you could call them angels or devils or phantoms or cryptids, whatever's fine. But when I think of something that can't be seen, yet definitely exists as a phenomenon, I'd say 'youkai' is the best descriptor."The existence of youkai certainly had been supported since long ago.
However, as the world was dominated by science and philosophy that demanded falsifiability, the topic of youkai faded away.color=whiteSchrödinger's Bakeneko"So as I was thinking, 'where did the youkai disappear to?', I became able to see it. A world where youkai live even now.""Perhaps that could be another brane world...""Another what?""Oh, just one of the worlds only physicists can see."Whether for some geographical or geological reason, or even pure coincidence, places where different worlds were easily visible had been called 'holy ground' since long ago. Shrines and the like were definitely holy ground.Merry said she saw a cat at a shrine.
However, the cat never caught anyone's attention and freely passed through objects.
Merry knew what it was at once. It was a youkai cat, she said, lurking within quantum gaps."Huh, a quantumly-unobservable cat...
Until it's observed, it's both alive and dead.
Just like Schrödinger's Cat.""Although since I observed it, that determined it was alive."color=whiteThe Shining Needle Castle Sinking in the AirApparently, the "worlds beyond" didn't just have living things, but all manner of strange objects that defied common sense."I saw a castle floating in the sky once, too.
Upside-down, at that.""If the gravitons have a different structure, the world's properties would be different, too.
That might've been the kind of brane you saw.""It felt mysterious and nostalgic.
And I really liked the wooden tenshu.""Wait, tenshu?
Since you said castle, I thought you meant like Cinderella's.""If I had to say which it resembled, it was more like Matsumoto."Merry had been enjoying her talk about the mysterious world, but she shivered when she briefly remembered something else.
It seemed that not all of her memories were fun ones.color=whiteThe Taboo Membrane WallAccording to physicists who can see hallucinations, this world is supposedly composed of very thin membranes, and a great many of them.Perhaps Merry is seeing one of those brane worlds.According to her, "there's a slight boundary between the world here and those beyond, and something that strongly resists travel between them along that boundary. If I could just get the hang of it, I could easily cross over.""Maybe that transit-resisting 'something' could be the Sanzu River?""The people from long ago who could see probably did name it that, yes."Perhaps a brane is something like a dyed object exposed to the flow of a river.The patterns dyed on the object flow down the river and transfer to another object. Merry's behavior might be that sort of thing, simply put. Of course, it's hardly simple to do.But when the pattern seeps into the other object, what happens?
It'd probably be seen as just a stain, not a pattern."...if contaminants get mixed in, they've got to be eliminated""Huh? What's wrong, Merry?
You seem miles away.""Oh, what?
Sorry, where was I?""You were talking about the things you saw in the "world beyond".
The theme of this book is the record of natural history to gather what you saw there, after all."color=whiteThe Sea Where One's Home Planet ReflectsI saw a forest rich with diversity.
I saw a proud, holy mountain, shut off to creatures who preferred the lower ground.
I saw a deep lake covered in an arcane mist.Those sights weren't just beautiful, but natural too.
They were all hidden in the invisible gaps of the quantum world.By the way, just what would happen if one went to a brane dominated by particles with different properties?Merry remembered, and her face contorted in terror.color=whitePure Furies ~ Whereabouts of the Heart"When they see me, the youkai living there will attack.""What...?
...Actually, you kind of have a habit of getting attacked by monsters, Merry.""Well, I'm used to it by now.
I suppose it is only natural that they'd realize I'm a foreign presence.
Like I see youkai as fluctuations,
perhaps they see me as a phantom-like being."She said the attacking youkai came soaring through the sky, just like formless quantum particles racing to and fro in a vacuum."So, what kind of youkai were they?
Kappa? Tengu?""They were humanoid, actually.
Although physical form has no meaning in that world beyond anyway."Before she could even think of trying to come to a mutual understanding, Merry awoke from her dream.color=whiteEternal Transient Reign"Since we went to all this effort, how about we write it like a big climactic battle scene?""I thought this was a history record.""I think writing it like an epic would still go over well!
All the history records from the Age of Discovery are practically tales of adventure, you know?""Well, you're the one transcribing it, Renko, so I guess it's fine.""All right. With that in mind, let's resume gathering material,
Merry... or should I say, 'Dr. Latency'?""...Are we seriously going with that pen name?
It's kind of embarrassing...""I mean, you're a professor who saw the world within the quantum gaps!
It's totally fitting.
Not to mention it's genderless and feels both Western and Eastern too."With the book's contents being what they were, all identifying details about the author were omitted.
Anyone could see that it was an odd publication, but maybe it would become popular with some fans of pseudoscientific texts.Nonetheless, it was a true story.
DATELESS BAR "OLD ADAM"
Old Adam Bar"---Welcome."The unfriendly bartender spoke without looking this way."You must be Dr. Latency.
We've been awaiting your arrival."Thusly addressed, the bearded, elderly man raised his hand without a word.
You could interpret the gesture as one of either affirmation or denial, but the only people who take such a vague attitude are the ones who want it to be interpreted as affirmative.The man sat on the counter, and ordered a drink that they'd never heard the name of."What? Who is that?""Well, who knows. Probably one of those anonymous-by-choice folks,"
Renko Usami answered.It was only natural for Maribel Hearn (Merry) to be suspicious.
'Dr. Latency,' after all, was Merry's own pen name.color=whiteThe Darkness Brought in by Swallowstone Naturalis Historia"So, Renko, what did you bring me all the way to this creepy bar to see? That old guy?""That was a coincidence.
But this will be perfect for an extracurricular Sealing Club activity!"According to Renko, unique people gathered in this bar night after night to share peculiar personal stories, exchange opinions, and so on.It seemed that Renko had acquired this information while selling copies of "Swallowstone Naturalis Historia," the fanzine the two of them had made...Now, it was only amongst the patrons of this bar, but Swallowstone Naturalis Historia was apparently quite famous. The majority of the patrons had read it, and believed its contents entirely.
Which was only natural, because every single patron of this bar claimed to have had experiences just like those written in Naturalis Historia.In short, perhaps they had abilities similar to Merry's.
The two had infiltrated the Old Adam Bar to confirm this.color=whiteReverse IdeologyThese days, establishments selling liquor are divided into two main groups.
Normal stores selling "new-style liquor", and those selling "old-style liquor".New-style liquor is what's commonly and widely drunk; it's designed so that you can't get horribly drunk from it. The chance of becoming dependent on it is low, and it's relatively harmless to the body.
Old-style liquor is the kind that's been drunk since a long time ago, made by natural yeasts. Most such liquors include alcohol, but none contain enzymes or such things that help break down the alcohol. You drink it, you get sloshed.This "Old Adam" bar specially dealt in old-style liquor.In establishments serving new liquor, people don't binge drink, so they're generally very clean. They're sound and hygenic places.
On the other hand, old-style liquor establishments-- perhaps modeled after classic drinking places-- are often old, unclean buildings. Also, their guests somehow tend to be unpleasant people.However, old-style liquor is the more expensive and valuable kind.
An inversion of ideologies is occurring. In short, those with money to spare are choosing to drink themselves under the table in unkempt pubs.color=whiteOutsider Cocktail"Huh. This is pretty expensive.""Because this is an old-style liquor bar, I suppose...
But with this, you can get more drunk than with usual, cheap liquor.""Hm, I wonder if you can actually get drunk and stay healthy at the same time.""Healthy? Reeeaally think about it.
Liquor, oil, salt, sugar, caffeine, gluten... we're actually overly conscious of eating healthily, even though medicine has advanced so much that people won't actually die easily nowadays. Rather it's because of that that planned life expectancy is being put into effect, no? Like this you can't tell if society wants to keep people alive or to kill them, can you? People who spend so much to drink old-liquor are just realists."Drink makes people very talkative.
When someone drinks, they always become self-affirming. This is one of alcohol's major effects. With this effect, alcohol has put human society in motion from the shadows.The bartender placed a pair of yellow cocktails on their table.
When asked what they were, he said "Forbidden Cider." He was serving the same drinks to the other patrons."Cider? Is this juice or something?""Cider is liquor made from apples.
Since this drink's being served, it looks like it's about to start."color=whiteOmiwa Legend---This happened a few years ago, when I went to Nara.
I went over to Mount Miwa, real famous for being a power spot.
See, as an occult lover myself, I've traveled to most famous places, but I'd been thinking, 'hey, I've never climbed Mount Miwa, huh?'Yes, I know the prefecture's been restricting mountain-climbing lately. But they haven't made the reason public, which conversely makes you really interested.How did I get in, even though it's off-limits?
Well, I'd been having a lot of trouble at work and at home right around then... I sort of thought I should turn to God? Or, well, you could say I was just getting desperate. So I snuck in there in the middle of the night...And then I understood-- terribly so-- why they had closed off the mountain.Snakes. Snakes! A giant mass of them, all squirming around...
I figure they can't do anything about them, since snakes are one of Mount Miwa's gods and all.
Just what could they be eating for there to be so many of them there?
I'll bet you it's got nothing to do with how Nara prefecture's lifespan regulations are proceeding the smoothest in the country...color=whitePandemonic Planet---I imagine you're all aware of how a lot of mountain villages have been abandoned nowadays, since populations have gone down, and the principles of natural settlement separation are dominant.But, did you know that there's still some regions with settlements maintained in the mountains, even now?
I make a regular routine of searching for and visiting these sorts of villages; this happened just a few months ago. Found this bizarre village in that prefecture with all the mountains.Apparently, the villagers hadn't been living there since a long time ago or anything; they were these outlaws who'd settled down in an abandoned village they found. But it was weird, is what I'm saying.
They had this religion I'd never seen before. All day long, whenever they had spare time, they went to pray to the hokora.What's so weird about that, you say?
Well, the object of their worship wasn't a god or a Buddha. There was this black material on the altar at all the hokoras scattered about...It was someone's hair.
They were worshiping a bunch of hair. A hair cult! Isn't that gross?
I betcha the guy who founded the whole thing was going bald. laughcolor=whiteAdventurer's Tavern of the Old World"Uuuh...
Is this a ghost story convention?""Looks like something pretty close.
Don't know if they're true or not, but they seem to be framed as accounts of the narrator's personal experiences.""This'll probably sound rude, but we're watching a bunch of grown adults tell stories in this bar like it's a secret clubhouse...""My, really? You're going to be sharing your story afterwards too, Merry.""Augh. I knew this was coming..."Merry knew that her own mysterious experiences were undoubtedly truth.
However, she was somehow unable to believe these other extravagant stories. They just seemed like they were trying to con people.She briefly wondered why Renko believed her accounts.
'It must be because I'm such a good storyteller, after all,' Merry thought bashfully."---Faith in hair has been around since ancient times, just like with snakes.
Regeneration's got to have some involvement in the processes of human faith, huh?"Apparently Renko believed nearly everyone's stories.color=whiteRural Makai City Esoteria"Next is a young lady who's participating with us for the first time today.
Do you have any stories of mysterious, unprecedented experiences?""Oh, yes.
My name is Maribel.
Everything I'm about to tell you is a mysterious,
abnormal experience that I've really had."A murmur went up from the audience.
Was it the otherworldly aura Merry emitted,
or simply surprise at the fact that this young girl was the one speaking?Merry told tales of her various experiences.Of peeking into another world from a graveyard.
Of wandering in an otherworldly bamboo forest.
Of looking out at the cosmos from a satellite eroded by greenery.Of always being attacked by bizarre creatures in these other worlds.
And finally, of awakening just as she was saved by someone, and having returned to the world she came from.A tale of otherworldly adventure, perfectly fitting for this venue.
However, the bar's atmosphere was subtly heavy.The reason for that became obvious with a single utterance from the man claiming to be Dr. Latency."Those are all stories from Swallowstone Naturalis Historia, you know.
You're supposed to tell us about your own experiences here."color=whiteThe Lost EmotionMerry glanced over at Renko.
Renko nodded briefly."My apologies. She was simply testing everyone's knowledge.
In order to experience what's about to occur, you must have knowledge of that book's contents.
You see, we have obtained a magic item that allows one to experience part of the other worlds that book describes."Renko took out a hand mirror and passed it to Merry, who showed it to each person in turn.
Thanks to Merry's ability, that same mirror began displaying the scenery of those other worlds.A mad sprawl of green.
A mountain sending up smoke.
A worn, age-old shrine.Everyone there cast their thoughts to the scenes they'd read in Swallowstone Naturalis Historia.
Perhaps because of the alcohol amplifying their emotions, some even shed tears.color=whiteHangover of Bedfellows Dreaming DifferentlyThe next day, following their experience in the bar.
Though there had been such excitement when they were drinking, they were somehow tired and listless. So this was what people called 'being hung over'.In the end, the visions of other worlds that Merry had shown were the biggest highlight of the night.However, it wasn't as if Merry had simply used her ability and boasted about it.
Most people probably assumed something of that level was just a magic trick, or a mirror that had that sort of function.What Merry had done was to take other people's personal accounts, and make them their own."How'd it go?""Mmm. About half of the stories were just made-up.""It went really well, though.
My plan to have you show each of them the other side of the barrier through the mirror,
and at the same time make contact with them to figure out if they really had been to another world."Merry was deeply impressed by how Renko had come up with all that on the spot.
Yes, Renko truly was intelligent and a quick thinker."The stories about the snakes and hair cult were true, by the way.""Really? I knew it!
Those two stories weren't told anywhere near skillfully enough to be lies.
It's decided, then!""What is?""What do you mean, what? We're headed to Mount Miwa!"Merry, still hung over from the old-style liquor, immediately refused.