"Cheers. "Cheers. ”

At noon one day in the middle of the first month, there were two people sitting in Xianglin Hall.

A young scientist from another world who temporarily lives in the underground library of the Red Devil Pavilion as an archivist, and clinks glasses with the lonely half-demon forest Kinrinnosuke, who lives alone in the Magic Forest and does not interact with people on weekdays, and prefers to be quiet.

Rinnosuke got up and filled their glasses with wine, and the scientist thanked them and took it.

"How's Boss Mori's business lately?"

"It's still the same. ”

A few snacks on the table were gifts left by Mo Ming when he came to pay New Year's greetings a few days ago, and as for a few bottles of wine, they were gifts brought by scientists when they came over according to local customs.

"There's no need to care, you don't make a living from this. ”

Rinnosuke nodded and said with a smile: "It's true that I don't rely on this to make money, it's just to find a job...... If you don't do anything for years, your bones will rust quickly. ”

"On my side, thanks to the shop of the boss of Morijin, not to mention the previous picture tube, the EMC chip that I recently started from your side has really helped a lot. ”

"Speaking of which, I've been thinking a little bit about it for a long time...... It's not uncommon to pick up some outside props, and you can figure out its name and general function, but sometimes it turns out that it's far from what it's actually used for, and to be honest, frustrating. ”

"This is normal, the same thing has a thousand uses, take this chip as an example, it can be applied to the security system of the military's weapons of mass destruction, and it can also be used in the daily communication tools of ordinary people. ”

"Is it such a powerful thing?"

"Not really...... Hmm, it may be a technology being applied on Mo Ming's side, but it is already a product of ancient times on my side. ”

"So it's not really valuable?"

"Not really, as the saying goes, 'when gold is lost, iron will also win glory', whether it is valuable or not, mainly depends on whether it is timely and can be used...... This kind of relatively delicate object is difficult to process on the lathe in Kappa, and if I hadn't found that you have a ready-made product on your side and can use it with a little modification, I would have no other way. ”

"Ha, Mr. Scientist is obviously from another world, and he actually understands the colloquialism of this world, which is rare. ”

Clink.

"Occasionally, I read some novels here, and over time I have accumulated a little bit of culture and common sense here—I wouldn't waste time on this kind of thing at first...... Hiccup, the boss doesn't allow me to stay up late to work, and I am forced to keep exercising and reading every day...... However, the novel culture here is really interesting, compared to ...... Hiccup and the boss play game consoles, but I still prefer to read a little bit. "Scientists don't usually drink alcohol, so they drink very poorly.

In the Red Devil Pavilion, several different styles of old game consoles were bought from Xianglintang.

"There's something I'd like to ask Mr. Scientist more than that...... What are you going to use the thing called "chip" that you took away before? Seeing that you are in a hurry, you said that you received a commission, so is it convenient to tell me the contents now?"

"Hmm...... In terms of application, EMC is the abbreviation of "electromagnetic compatibility" in the external language, and there is nothing new about the use of the chip I took away, mainly in the field of electromagnetic shielding. Is there anything that Boss Mori cares about?"

Linnosuke thought for a moment and said, "I don't know if you've heard anything about what happened in the village recently...... There's a lot of movement in the human world, and it sounds like it's trying to bring humans and monsters closer, so we'll have to wait and see for a while, but if that's the case, it would be good news. ”

"Oh, is Boss Mori planning to go back to the village?"

In this case, it makes sense to care about the relationship between humans and youkai, and what scientists know about Rinnosuke is limited to that he is a half-demon who lives alone in the Magical Forest and does not like to interact with people.

"No, I like to live alone, and although the village is convenient and sometimes lively, it is not suitable for my temperament," Rinnosuke took the food and put it in his mouth, chewed and swallowed, and sighed, "It's about one of my juniors...... She was originally a human being, but she was regarded as an outlier because she learned a certain "skill" forbidden in the village, and ended up living alone outside the village - if one day humans can live in peace with youkai, it will be natural for such children to be accepted by everyone, and I look forward to such a day. ”

The scientist thought for a moment and nodded, "That's true." ”

Then he said: "Thinking about it this way, Boss Mori is afraid that the person entrusted to me is planning something bad? If there is a dispute between youkai and humans during this critical period, especially the occurrence of a murder and blood debt, this rare opportunity for hundreds of years may be wasted." ”

"Scientists' minds are really powerful. Rinnosuke said with a smile.

"In this regard...... the scientist hesitated slightly, "at the request of the employer, and the identity and the content of the commission cannot be disclosed...... But I can ask her if she will use it for a bad purpose, and if I have to guess, I can't say, but from the point of view of "shielding the mind from being obtained", this kind of targeted device should not pose a direct threat to humans, and is more like a key item that will be used in the fight against youkai. ”

Linnosuke smiled bitterly: "Mr. Scientist, you have said too much. "Obviously, if you don't disclose it, you will sell the employer.

The scientist also smiled bitterly after hearing this: "If it was Mo Ming, he must have pretended not to hear it and talked about him left and right." "It's all clear over there, and it's naturally not easy to sell Guan Zi here, from this point of view, compared to Mo Ming, the personality of the boss of Senjin is actually much more honest.

Rin nosuke raised his wine: "Both of them are top human beings, and it is really lucky to be able to get acquainted. ”

Clink.

"You're welcome, speaking of which, this guy put down these dishes and left?

The last time the three of them drank together was four or five months ago, and it was a rare opportunity for the three young men living outside the village to raise a glass together.

"Mr. Mo Ming's words, in recent days, seem to be inquiring about some news - I came here before, and after putting down the gift, I touched this small notebook and kept asking, and there were a lot of clue-like things written densely on it. ”

"What's the news, are you going to do something bad?" the scientist asked with a smile.

"At the time, I was asked if I knew any 'wonderful legends' - it didn't matter if it was true or not, as long as it was interesting and had to take place in Gensokyo. ”

"Oh? I'm kind of interested in that, too. "The scientist and Mo Ming came to Gensokyo only before and after, and what they know more about Gensokyo is the notes that have been passed down through the barnyard family.

Lin Zhisuke shook his head: "Although I am also a long-lived half-demon, I don't even know my own background, as for the age of nearly 100 years old, it seems to be a long time for humans, but it is not as good as Brother Mo Ming, I have lived in the Forest of Magic for a hundred years, what wonderful story can I know? I thought about it for a long time, but I couldn't help." ”

"Also, if you ask the people in the village about the anecdotes of the past hundred years, there will always be people who can tell you two or three things, but if you are worthy of the so-called "legends", since there is a saying of "Millennium Gensokyo", you still have to find some non-human people with more experience to ask. ”

"I made a suggestion and said that there are two places to ask about some old things - one is the other side of the Santu River, where the Grim Reaper has passed countless undead and should be able to ask for some good information, and the other is the White Jade Tower in the underworld, which is also an unsurpassed undead, and if you don't lose your memory, it is already an instinctive impulse to pour out the past to others. If you ask, you won't hide it, and you might get something out of it. ”

The scientist thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "Impossible, with his cautious personality, neither Santuchuan nor the underworld will dare to go over." ”

"That's true, Mr. Mo Ming vetoed this proposal on the spot-"

"Hahaha, I'll just say it. ”

Clink.

"But...... Hiccup, why did he ask these things? From what I knew about this man, he couldn't have started acting suddenly for no reason—it was natural to say that he was interested, and everyone was interested in hearing some anecdotes, but since he could get him to start gathering all kinds of information, there was definitely some decisive external factor. ”

"Hmm...... Well, I really haven't thought about it, Mr. Mo Ming's own anecdotes, I've heard some from the human child who lives in the Magic Forest - people like him must have some very important purpose to act. ”

The scientist drank his glass and was silent.

The two took a few bites of food and filled their glasses with wine.

After a while, he spoke:

"I'll admit, he's very good — there's something I can't reach, he's a guy who makes people think they can't figure out what he's thinking. ”

"But don't let that make this guy mysterious, and let me say that with his character, he would do this kind of thing seriously - nothing more than ...... Hiccup, one reason, was commissioned by a beautiful girl. ”

“…… Huh?" Rinnosuke, who was about to put down his chopsticks, paused, thought carefully for a few seconds, and couldn't help but be surprised, "Is it really possible to think about it like this?"

"Not only is it possible, it should be the most ......"

"Bang Bang Bang Bang - 』

The two turned their heads and saw Mo Ming standing at the open doorway and looking at this side with a smile.

"I heard someone say I'm handsome behind my back?"

……

……

Rinnosuke fetches a pair of chopsticks and a wine glass.

Mo Ming closed the door of the store, put on clogs, squatted on the charcoal basin next to the wine table, roasted for a while, and sat down.

"I said two, eating my cooking and drinking without calling me, I'm afraid it's a little inappropriate, right?"

"Without further ado, it's not like you're running around all day and can't find anyone?, but I went to the shrine before I came, and the Hirori shrine maiden told me you went to the village - honestly, is there another beautiful girl who has entrusted you with an event?"

"It's up to you to let your imagination run wild. ”

"How's it going, what's the interesting anecdote?"

"Well, it's still being excavated—"

"You're not efficient, beautiful girls will be disappointed in you!"

"You are a beautiful girl, I can't answer the words," Mo Ming filled the three of them with wine, clinked glasses and drank it all, "This wine is good, where did it come from?"

"Miss Menfan's hometown wine, sent some over, the boss didn't drink this, I thought about sending some. ”

"Oh, ...... the shrine."

"Naturally, I've already sent it over and handed it over to Miss Miko. ”

"Okay, even if you have eyesight," Mo Ming said with a smile, "I'll give you a gift over there in two days." ”

"In two days, shouldn't you have given all the gifts in the place and leaked out of me?"

"I'm embarrassed to say, why am I angry that you don't have any psychological points? I can make a mistake in the formula, if it weren't for my fate, I would ...... today."

Rinnosuke hurriedly persuaded: "Two of you, drink." ”

Clink.

"It's really my fault, a scientific practitioner known for his rigor would make such a low-level mistake, and I can't wash it away in this life, and I'm sad and heartbroken!" the scientist filled his glass and drank it all.

Lin Zhisuke changed the subject: "Brother Mo Ming, what are your plans next? If you really can't find any useful clues, and you really mind going to those dangerous places, I won't be able to ...... here."

"Next, I just gave a gift before, and I must have something to do with you when I came here today, the so-called 'Nothing to do and go to the Three Treasures Palace'—" The scientist drank and talked more, as if he had changed people.

"Where do you want to go, do you really think I'm going to find those big monsters and ask questions?" Mo Ming was not annoyed, and took a bite of food and chewed it, "The so-called anecdotes I want to know are not far enough away, and some other prerequisites must be met. ”

"That's so nice, you have a clue?"

"Didn't I say I'm still digging—"

"Then what are you doing today with Boss Mori?"

"Borrow a shovel. ”

“……”

“……”

"Complain to me!" Mo Ming was very angry in the face of the silent two, and no one complained about his powerlessness.

"You...... Are you going to dig up someone's ancestral grave?" the scientist asked tentatively.

"Brother Mo Ming...... Even in Gensukyo, which has little outside knowledge, there are some things that need to be cautious......"

"Feelings, you both think I'm the kind of person who will casually borrow a shovel to dig other people's ancestral graves?!"

"Ahem, just kidding, Brother Mo Ming. ”

Clink.

"Compared with those things and so-called legends, it is not only a historical and contemporary deed, but also a truly wonderful story if it can have enough conflict and drama at the same time, plus a sad ending. ”

"What, got a clue?"

Mo Ming snapped his fingers, and the scientist filled it with wine.

Mo Ming looked at Lin Zhisuke: "Boss Mori has been here for a lot longer than the two of us, I wonder if you have heard of a person named 'Soichiro Genuchi'?"

Rinnosuke squinted his eyes and thought about it, pushed down his glasses and shook his head, "I don't seem to have the impression of this name in my memory." ”

Mo Ming said: "About a hundred years ago, he was the leader of the twenty-second generation of demon exterminators in the village. ”

"Oh...... If you have a history of more than 100 years, I don't know, but I wasn't born at that time, and I don't like to ask about the past personality, so it's normal to not know. ”

"Wait," interrupted the scientist, "you say...... The twenty-second generation?"

"Very smart, the scientist Jun immediately discovered the problem," Mo Ming said with a smile, "With the age here, the thousand-year-old Gensokyo-Demon Slayer has existed since the beginning, and a hundred years ago it was only twenty-two generations, why?"

"Because of longevity?"

Mo Ming nodded: "Yin and Yang arts, magic, Taoism, Buddhism, demon power, and ghost power are all said to be the same power - to the extreme, it is easy to prolong life." ”

"Those who can serve as the leader of the demon slayer are extremely talented onmyoji, so they generally live a long life?"

"That's right, but there are exceptions - like the 'Soichiro Genuchi' I mentioned. ”

"I used to ask Boss Mori if he knew this man, not because he thought he should be remembered because he was a big man, but because he was a figure who had caused a lot of talk and controversy in the village. ”

"Well, none of you here today are involved in the dispute between humans and monsters, so I have nothing to say, let me just say it, you can just listen to it. ”

"The Demon Slayer is indeed a human force that has existed in the human world since the existence of Gensokyo—as for its heyday, I think it was five hundred years ago, and I would describe it as a common saying - 'Knocking down a torii in the human world can smash three people who know Yin and Yang'. ”

"It's a pity that the good times didn't last long—since more than 500 years ago, when the Youkai Sage opened the 'Realm of Illusion and Reality' on top of the 'Great Barrier of Hirori', the fate of the Demon Slayer has ushered in a turning point. ”

"It's not the decisive impact of a particular event, but the news of a fight and murder of demon slayers and youkai over the years, as in the case of 'Boiled Frogs in Warm Water', but very few civilians are killed.

The stance of the demon slayer has changed from "fighting the monsters to protect the villagers" to "fighting the demon slayer and the monsters for the sake of his own race...... Clearly, humans and demon slayers seem to be on two sides, and the human side is even more neutral. ”

Mo Ming flipped through the records in the small notebook while sorting out the words and talking about the past.

The protagonist of the story, Soichiro Genuchi, is an orphan who has been raised as an onmyoji since he was a child - his teacher was one of the most famous demon slayers in the world at that time, and he had extraordinary strength. ”

"It's a pity that this child has a bad fate, perhaps because this one-third of an acre of land in the world is still too small, and this child has been extremely weak and congenitally deficient since birth, and was sent to the famous hermit Taigongwang in the village to recuperate. ”

"Taigongwang This old man is worth mentioning, no one knows his current age, and he doesn't know when he appeared in the world, but every leader of the demon slayer respects him very much, and even some major initiatives will go to this old man for advice, this old man will occasionally teach some talented demon slayer some yin and yang spells, but never teach more, point to point. ”

"The young Soichiro Genuchi was already weak when he was sent there, and the old man took great pains to make him feel better—and later, he became the old man's apprentice, and the only one the old man recognized as a disciple. ”

"Of course, his teacher is not only Taigongwang, but also the extremely famous demon slayer master just mentioned, and he has several masters in total, which can be said to be the best of the best...... How to say it, it's almost the same as the protagonist's encounter in some novels. ”

"What is commendable is that this child is upright and not pedantic, knows how to be flexible and sophisticated, and after becoming the first person of the younger generation to exterminate demons, he naturally took over the position of the leader of the twenty-first generation who is more than 100 years old. ”

"That's when something happened. ”

"That famous demon slayer adopted a lot of orphans, Soichiro was just one of them, and most of them who didn't have the talent to practice yin and yang stayed in the village to find other jobs. ”

"Although I said that, after all, they are all children raised by demon exterminators, and their vision is naturally no better than that of civilians, and they are also afraid of monsters, but they know that monsters can be defeated, so they will not be overly afraid, and some villagers will never go out of the world for the rest of their lives, but they are not. ”

"One of Soichiro's righteous brothers, when he went to the mountains to collect medicine, was disemboweled and eaten by youkai - after his adoptive father, Lord Demon Exterminator, heard the news, in order to retaliate, he single-handedly entered the Youkai Mountain and slaughtered all the dozens of youkai...... Because of this, the monsters of that series are now extinct in Gensokyo, and it is estimated that they do not exist anywhere. ”

"The Demon Slayer was still such a formidable presence at the time—but it was then. ”

Soichiro's adoptive father knew that what he had done was beyond the bottom line of the youkai sage, and that it didn't even meet the rules set by the village and the demon slayer himself, so after taking revenge, he entrusted the aftermath to Soichiro and died by caesarean section. ”

"This unlucky kid...... It's really bad luck, because things don't end like that. There are hundreds of youkai in Youkai Mountain, and although they usually go their separate ways, it is impossible for the demon slayer who is a common enemy to bully them and not keep silent. ”

"There was no need to say much about the war, although the monsters and sages were involved in mediating - the monsters still harassed and attacked the outermost villagers in the world for some time afterward, and at that time no villagers even dared to go to the fields outside the village, which was tantamount to seeking death. ”

"It stands to reason that this is too much for the youkai, but the youkai sage did not come forward - in the end, it was still the demon slayer who was overwhelmed and blamed and pressured, who was still trying to protect the villagers and the monsters. ”

"Soichiro is not a tenacious man, he knows how to be flexible - he stood up, apologized to the youkai in the name of the leader of the demon slayer, and finally took the blame and resigned, and vowed not to use yin-yang magic again in this life. It is said that he has been in office for the shortest time in the history of the demon slayer chiefs. Thanks to him like this, he finally calmed down the anger of the monsters, and there were no more monsters seeking revenge. ”

"At that time, the demon slayer was still quite talented, and when a Soichiro left, it was natural that other talented people would fill his place, and there was nothing to regret - it was just that he himself began to be disappointed in everything. ”

"Staying in the village, not to mention being treated like a hero, no one even wants to sell him the necessities of daily life, and there is nothing that can be done about their situation. ”

Disheartened, Soichiro Genuchi left the world and set up a grass hut in a clearing not far from the world, near the periphery of the Magic Forest. He was the first demon slayer to leave the world and live outside. ”

"Soichiro Genuchi refused the help of all his friends who were also demon slayers, and he didn't entertain anyone, so he lived alone, and gradually no one came to visit him to find himself bored, no one knew how he survived, only that he opened two acres of farmland not far from the grass shed——"

"The former leader of the Demon Exterminator, who no longer uses Yin-Yang Magic, lives alone outside the village, and it is not surprising that he will die one day, but I don't know why, he lived like this for two years. ”

Later, the news of his death came - he was killed by a monster and swallowed alive. ”

"The reason for this certainty is that there is a method in Yin-Yang that can retrace events that occurred a certain period of time ago in a fixed scene under certain conditions. ”

"What the demon slayer who found out about his death saw was the cruel sight of Soichiro Genuchi, who was extremely weak, lying on the couch and swallowing the mysterious youkai covered in demonic energy. ”

"Needless to say, the relationship between the demon slayer and the villagers is deteriorating day by day, and more and more demon slayers are beginning to think that this is a betrayal of the villagers to them, and they begin to follow the example of the former leader Genuchi Soichiro, who was disappointed in the villagers, and establish a small settlement not far from Soichiro's former residence——"

"The old man Taigongwang, who would occasionally give some guidance to the younger generations of the demon exterminators, also because of the tragic situation of his beloved apprentice Soichiro, no longer interfered in any related matters, and he retired in the village with peace of mind and did not ask about foreign affairs. ”

"The people in the world are in a hurry, after all, isolating the demon slayer is just the short-sighted decision of the villagers, and those families with a more strategic vision naturally know the value of the power of the demon slayer, but it's a pity, maybe the problem has been discovered a long time ago but I don't know how to solve it, or maybe it is irreversible when it is discovered, and the proposal that the clans finally made is only to provide rations and some daily necessities to the demon slayer who live outside the village on a regular basis every month. ”

"Of course, that's for later, now that Gensokyo doesn't even have a demon slayer, that's another story. ”

……

……

After a long time, Lin Zhisuke spoke.

"I've actually heard a little bit about the past, but I don't know as much as Brother Mo Ming...... Indeed, as you say, it is embarrassing. ”

The scientist sneered: "Humans with shallow knowledge will bring about their own destruction." ”

"Don't be in a hurry to sigh, think this is the end?

"That is, there is a follow-up?"

"Why do you think I came to Rinnosuke to borrow a shovel?"

“…… Want to dig Soichiro's grave?"

"Are you listening to me?" The corpses have been swallowed alive by the monsters, where am I going to dig the grave? but it's closer, it's the area of the grass hut he built when he died-"

"Did I hear me right? Are you kidding?" the scientist looked at Mo Ming incredulously.

"I know what you're going to say," Mo Ming sighed, "The grass shed is not a sealed ancient tomb, it has turned into dust for nearly a hundred years, but unfortunately, in order to commemorate this leader, the onmyoji who could not find Soichiro's body used his former residence as a mound of clothes, and used the yin-yang technique to insert it under the surface and seal it. ”

"So after talking for a long time, don't you still have to dig other people's graves?"

"It's not really a burial of people, and the truth is more important than a mound of clothes that no one will worship anymore, right?"

"The truth?"

"After all, you haven't worked in the intelligence industry, so you're not very sensitive to this kind of thing," Mo Ming put down his chopsticks and stood up, "What do you think...... Why do I know so much? We came to Gensokyo about the same time, where did I hear that?"

“…… Too public?"

"Smart, it seems that it is not to the extent of being hopeless, it's just too lazy to think about these uninteresting questions," Mo Ming praised with a smile, "There are only a few famous old men in the world, if I am targeted, with my thick skin, I am afraid that there will be something that I can't ask clearly?"

“…… That's true. ”

"No kidding, as you all know, this is a very special time for the world—since this respectable old man is willing to tell me this old story, it seems to me that he expects from me...... In other words, he felt that now was the time. ”

Rinnosuke took a shovel and walked out of the inner room, and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "I thought I understood, but why did I suddenly get confused again." ”

"If you want to figure it out, no problem, who are the three of us, come with me with a shovel!"

“…… Having said all that, that's why you're letting us be free laborers?"

Putting away the dishes and chopsticks, extinguishing the charcoal basin, Rinnosuke closed the door of the store.

Each of them took a shovel and headed out of the Magic Forest.