……

……

One

……

In the morning, Alice showed up on time at Suzuna-an, and the three girls had been waiting for a long time.

Since the end of last year, the head of the barnyard family has been in better health, and he has become much more active because of this, and he will come to Suzuna-an every once in a while, and he has long been familiar with the famous lady who is the head of the barnyard family.

After the New Year's Dawn incident, several people quickly became acquainted with each other through the call puppet made by Alice. Suzu and Aqiu often visit Kokura Kuriko, who lives alone, and Kuriko still encourages books to be delivered to Suzuna-an, so in addition to the time for doll talks, the three of them often communicate on weekdays.

The cause of the incident stemmed from Kururiko Ogura's concerns.

What he was worried about was the big monster that should not have been worried about the least of the several people, the holder of the fifth call puppet and the lord of the Earth Spirit Temple, Gu Ming Jiju, who lived in the old hell.

The mind-reading monster who had been keeping in touch with several people through the puppet suddenly lost his voice a few days ago.

Instead of using a call puppet, she asked the two of them at Suzuna-an, hoping that the three of them would invite Miss Alice over together.

When you think about it, it may be a bit of a fuss.

The big monster with the label of "not liking to socialize with people" is the same in almost everyone's cognition.

Rather, she would never be absent from the after-dinner chit-chat for the few days since she got the call doll, which is enough to be an anomalous event that is enough to exclaim.

Although the giant youkai was not actively involved in any topic, everyone knew that she was there and listening, occasionally interjecting to share her opinion or tell a bad joke without warning, and as for the occasional joke between the three human girls, although there was no verbal response, it was roughly guessed that she would also keep silent with the corners of her mouth raised.

After going on like this for many days, there was no news of it.

Kokura Kuriko immediately noticed the abnormality and said this to Honju Kosuzu.

Xiao Ling doesn't have a very deep understanding of the Jue Monster, and in her opinion, maybe it's true that the Jue Monster is tired of it.

This kind of tea talk.,While reading a book, there is a small talk with a match.,Everyone occasionally argues with their own opinions.、It may seem a little noisy to the monster.。

Jue Youkai only cares about her own character, and it is not difficult to see from the things she did in the first month. When you get bored, you can find it troublesome to explain it to others. It is not impossible to simply close the puppet directly, and no longer contact it.

However, Kururi Ogura insists on her opinion - the satoru monster must have encountered some situation where she can't contact herself, and it is impossible that she voluntarily lost the doll. In order to convince Suzu, it is necessary to invite the lady who is the head of the house in the barnyard field.

Ah Qiu did not immediately respond to Chestnut's opinion, but first questioned her position without saying anything about it—why did Chestnut care so much about a youkai who almost killed him not long ago?

"I like this youkai a lot, that's all," Ogura Kuri replied, "I've been thinking about asking Miss Alice to help me make a doll or pillow for the past two days, but it seems that the time has not yet come, and if I find out, I might be killed." ”

Xiao Ling asked, "Is it the kind of ...... that the outside world says?" Shake M?"

Ogura Chestnut fell into deep thought.

This slightly explicit response made the celebrity Miss Aqiu blush a little, and then gave up the topic of her position, and then echoed Ogura Kuriko's opinion.

When it comes to understanding mind-reading monsters, Barnyard Aqiu is not inferior to the chestnut sister in front of him who has known Gu Ming Dijue for less than a month.

Ah Qiu also sensed that something was wrong at the first time, and came to a similar conclusion: Gu Ming Dijue could not cut off contact with several people without warning, so there must be something abnormal - it was just that Miss Ah Qiu, who believed in the friendship of gentlemen, did not take the initiative to mention the matter.

After all, common sense has long taught her that worrying about things beyond her power will only increase her troubles.

In reality, Sister Chestnut obviously has a stronger ability to act than herself.

Yesterday evening, I received a message saying "I want to ask Miss Alice for help". Early in the morning, Alice was delighted.

Miss Alice, who lives alone in the Forest of Magic, has a delicate mind, as the three of them have learned from their recent reading and research.

This is also the reason why Chestnut will find Xiaoling and the two to negotiate first.

The discussion of "Feeling that the monster is abnormal" is not mentioned in the call puppet - Miss Witch must be able to detect the concerns of the three of them from the discussion and take the initiative to ask for help, but Ogura Kuriko is reluctant to do so.

Before the New Year, Miss Alice and the big monster Gu Ming Jijue did not have a good relationship, or rather, there may be a small grudge.

I don't know if the past has been written off after the tea party, or maybe it is still in my mind, but it is a matter that only the person concerned can decide—the correct understanding of the fact that Miss Alice does not care about the abnormal state of Komei Jiju', and does not regard "help from friends" as her obligation, this self-consciousness comes from Ogura's observation of the two young girls.

Honju Kosuzu and Barnyard Aqui, they carefully maintain this friendship born from humans, witches and youkai. They value it so much that they don't want it to be unpleasant for any reason. For this consideration of Ogura Kuriko, he finally won the high praise of Suzu and Aqiu.

But the veteran Ah Qiu still pointed out one point to the two of them - if this friendship is truly cherished, it is necessary to forget the race and remember each other's individual individuals, so that it can be maintained.

"Please, Miss Alice!" Ogura Kuriko said this sentence as she sat down on the wooden floor of Suzuna-an, regardless of her image.

The startled witch lady hurriedly helped the chestnut up and asked the reason.

Of the five, Alice is the only one who has the ability to move around Gensokyo, with the exception of Kokumi Jiju, who is the only one who can go to the Old Hell to investigate.

Alice understood the whole story as quickly as she could, a little relieved and a little angry, and then agreed to the request with the air of no one else.

……

……

Second

……

Catching a glimpse of the crowd on the notice board, Alice slowed down.

Remembering the scene a few years ago, when she first came to Gensokyo, she was surrounded by the villagers, and Alice couldn't help but shake her head and sigh.

It seems that it is still too early to come to the human village without disguise, and the people here are still watching the visitors from outside the village like animals, as they did at the beginning, and it is rude to do so after so long, these human ...... Because of her reserve, Miss Witch refuses to think about the possibility of "because she is outstanding".

Walking out of the village, Alice followed the path towards the location of Hakurei Shrine.

Of course, not that she herself wanted to go there. Alice occasionally walks around the periphery of the Enchanted Forest, on the shores of the Lake of Mist, and visits Marisa's hut or Pache Richli's library, but never goes to a shrine, especially when Mo Ming is around.

In other words, there are other good reasons for the trip.

As she walked, she thought about it.

"Please, Miss Alice!" Not long ago, another girl in Suzuna-an also folded her hands and said this to her.

Honju asks Alice to help her send a message to Mo Ming - the propaganda to correct the name of the mountain chick of the god of misfortune has been resisted by some villagers.

In fact, this is the news that the head of the Foggy Rain family personally went to Suzuna-an to convey to Xiao Ling, tracing this matter and stemming from a certain evil idea of Mo Ming.

Mo Ming once told Kiriyu and Hui that "please tell Suzuna-chan of Suzuna-an's honju Kosuzu about the progress of the content of the New Year's Festival agreement", on the grounds that he didn't want to have close contact with the people of the Renli clan, and it was also troublesome to send people to the shrine to report frequently.

The purpose of this time was out of some selfish thoughts of Mo Ming himself.

Honju Xiaosuzu runs a bookstore called "Suzuna-an" in the world, and this real estate seems to bring her stable economic income, but in Mo Ming's opinion, if she wants to live in a small circle, it is not enough to have only one property.

For example, if Motoju Xiaoling is attacked by a young villager who is a ruffian while walking in the village, most likely no one will immediately stand up for her, not because there is a lack of people with a sense of justice in the village, but because there are many times to weigh the pros and cons of being a person.

In the past, there were also incidents in which the village restaurant owner offended the bastard young man who wore a knife and learned to be a samurai all day long on the street during the farming period, and finally was secretly splashed with feces in front of the store in the early hours of the morning for many days in a row, resulting in the store not being able to open.

Although there was no such incident, it is difficult to say what the future holds. Suzu's father is a cultural person who ran a bookstore in the previous generation, because of the characteristics of the bookstore, Suzuna-an, and even the beautiful girl Kanban Musumo Honju Kosuzu is also a little famous in the circle of cultural people in the village, but that's all.

Mo Ming is a layman, and he only thinks about problems from an unbearable perspective - it is okay to say that he is mediocre, but the young Xiaoling is very smart and cute, and there are many people in the village who are worried about this girl, if she does not have enough social status, she will inevitably have to suffer in some stages of her life in the future.

Therefore, although Xiao Ling herself doesn't quite understand what the agreements of the New Year's Eve Festival have to do with her, since she was asked by Mo Ming, it is not a difficult thing to do, so it is not easy to refuse.

In the end, the matter spread as Mo Ming expected - the leaders of the clan in the world, Wuyu and Hui, would come to Suzuna-an every once in a while to report to a little girl.

And Wuyu and Hui don't care about this at all, and let others say it.

In this way, people who want to be unfavorable to Suzu or Suzuna-an always have to be distracted to weigh it. Status does not directly imply power, but at least it directly elevates the weight of other people's hearts. Barnyard Aqiu will not be provoked when she walks on the street, it is not that she has a very good brother, and her status is generally recognized by the people in the village is the key.

Mo Ming, a layman, in line with the judgment of his own social person, feels that Xiaoling needs a higher status to live comfortably in the village, and wishful thinking has done a lot of extra work for Xiaoling, knowing that she doesn't like noise, but now Mo Ming is no longer the literary young man who thinks of this for other people's inner feelings.

Originally, there was nothing to say, Xiaoling had accumulated a lot of progress records reported by Wuyu and Hui, and the most critical matter of which was the obstruction of the righteousness of the god of mist was entrusted by the leader of the Wuyu team, hoping to inform Mo Ming as soon as possible, and if possible, ask him to provide some reference suggestions on follow-up treatment.

The problem is、Mo Ming disappeared for several days in a row.,It's not as good as before.、As usual, I came to Suzuna-an to borrow and return books.,Now it happens that Alice is there.,So I entrusted her to go to the shrine to see the situation.、By the way, convey the news.。

Alice thus stepped up the steps of the shrine.

……

……

At the shrine, after bringing a teacup to Alice, Reimu drills back into the kotatsu. The weather has already warmed up, but it seems that the head of the shrine maiden has no plans to put away the kotatsu.

Reimu refills Alice's teacup in the kotatsu and passes it over.

"Thank you. ”

It seems that the little witch's interest at the moment is not very high.

Maybe it's because Miss Shrine didn't take care of her image because she didn't plan to go out today, or maybe it's because she was rolling around in the kotatsu by herself just now, and the bow headband that always stands on the back of her head in her impression is now hanging softly on the top of her head, making the whole person look a little unenergetic.

"The teacher was sick and went to the Forever Pavilion to see a doctor. "Probably that's why Reimu looked lost.

Alice held the teacup: "Miss Reimu, you don't look very good. ”

"Hmm...... Not really. ”

Speechless for a moment.

Alice took a sip of tea, put down the teacup, nodded and said, "Since he can't come back for the time being, let's leave these things with you first, and just go back and hand them over to him." ”

Alice placed the booklet on the table and pushed it through, and Reimu flipped through the booklet and flipped through two pages.

Suzu's handwriting records the progress of various matters such as essay solicitation, private school, and food requisition.

"It should be noted that many villagers still do not accept the god of misfortune and stubbornly regard it as the embodiment of calamity – and the promotion of the correct name has been hindered as a result. ”

"Uh-huh......" Reimu absentmindedly flipped through the booklet, "Eh, oh......"

Random cleared his throat: "Ahem." ”

Learning Mo Ming's tone of voice, he said: "Planning will not always be smooth sailing, just find the crux of the problem and then prescribe the right medicine." ”

Alice laughed, "What did he say?"

"No, I'm guessing he's going to say that. ”

The atmosphere is a little more lively.

"So......" Alice put down her teacup, intending to get up.

"That, Miss Alice!"

"Is there anything else?" he lowered his posture and sat back, looking at Reimu, as if there was something unspeakable.

"You and the teacher...... You must know each other very well, right?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You ...... together. Winning that game, the wisdom game or something, spread widely. ”

"At that time, he was able to win, it was just that he was doing things, and it had nothing to do with the people he partnered with...... I just happen to be a partner," Alice shook her head, "so I don't know much." ”

"Do you think there could be something wrong with this?"

"This matter?"

"The teacher went to the Eternal Pavilion to see a doctor...... Yes, I have a soul disease and need to recuperate, so I should not go and disturb me for three weeks. ”

"Three weeks?" Alice thought for a moment, "how long has he been there?"

"It's been two weeks...... I always felt that it was wrong, but I couldn't say it, and I wanted to go to the Eternal Pavilion to find the teacher, but I was afraid that it would disturb him, because I was told not to go to him. ”

Alice didn't speak, as if thinking.

"Miss Alice?"

"Hmm, I'm sorry," Alice nodded with an apologetic smile this time, "Okay, I get a rough idea." ”

“…… Got it?"

"Well, Miss Reimu, did Mo Ming tell you that he entered Gensokyo when he was doing something?"

"Teacher's words, remember from a ...... called a parachute"

"It can be understood that in order to pursue a better life, he left his previous identity behind and planned to embark on a new adventure - as far as I know, this is what he has been doing," Alice said eloquently, "If there is a very good quality of life now, he must find a way to strive for twelve points, Mo Ming is not a human being who keeps to himself at all, and it is precisely because of this concept of 'not being satisfied with the status quo' that he will do those things that ordinary people can't do, right?"

"Yes...... That's it, but it's ...... from what I just said."

"It matters, because it's not the other way around. ”

"Close your eyes and think about it...... Is this man always self-righteous for you, so much so that he often hides things from you, just to keep you from worrying about him?"

"Yes, indeed. Reimu has no doubts about that.

"Finally, the medicine of the Eternal Pavilion is not the knowledge of human beings, and the medicine that has been passed down to the world there has never failed, and the medicine there is said to be the best, and it is necessary to recuperate there for three weeks...... What kind of terminal illness could it be, and if so, why was there no warning before?" Alice sighed, "Although his soul is damaged, I personally find it a little strange because of this retreat. The speculation based on the one-sided words just mentioned is that what was the intractable problem that he had to leave for a while even under the pretense of "serious illness"?

Reimu got out of the futatsu and stood up.

"Miss Reimu......" Alice also stood up, her expression not relaxed.

"The teacher's serious illness was the news brought by Purple Shikigami, but the teacher himself did not refute it and easily accepted the suggestion that he needed to go to the Eternal Pavilion to recuperate. If it was a conspiracy involving Zi and them, it must not be a trivial matter...... I'm going to go to Purple first, and then I'm going to the Eternal Pavilion. ”

"Don't be impulsive. Alice suggested.

“…… Unexpectedly, I was the one who had been with the teacher for the longest time...... "It seems that Alice saw the truth before herself, making Reimu look more shaken.

"Don't think so," Alice approached the little witch and put her hands on her shoulders, "You're just too obedient to his words, and judging by the look on your face just now, you've been bothered by this, right?"

"Miss Alice......" Reimu seemed to calm down, and slowly paced to the entrance of the shrine.

"Huh?"

"You're ...... to my teacher? What do you think?"

"Perception refers to ......"

Reimu's face was slightly red, and she looked at the sky above the torii while fanning the wind slightly with her palm: "That,That's what it's usually called evaluations......

Walking out of the room, standing side by side with the little witch in the hallway, Alice exhaled as she looked at the afternoon sky.

Suddenly smiled: "Miss Lingmeng, but she is very precious to your teacher." ”

"Just ask, don't ...... if you don't want to say" It seemed to be very hot, and Reimu kept fanning the wind with his palm.

"Well, that's a difficult question to answer," Alice walked over Reimu's shoulder to the side and took out a coin, "You're going to be angry if I belittle your teacher and say something bad about him." But if I praise your teacher, who should be a discerning Miss Reimu, how can I be embarrassed to summarize it first? Even if I did, Miss Reimu wouldn't be satisfied...... In short, no matter what you say, it won't please Miss Reimu, so let's not talk about it. ”

"But I didn't ask Miss Alice for a satisfactory answer...... I learned that the teacher must be an important person to Miss Alice. ”

"What?"

"The teacher once said that two smart people can get the right answer from a conversation, even if they don't answer the question," Reimu smiled, closing her eyes slightly as if sublimated, "I pretended to understand what Miss Alice meant, so I would be smart too." ”

"Eh, do you understand what?" Alice, who was going to put coins into the cash box, was stunned.

"Think about it carefully, the teacher's serious illness was caused by the purple Shikijin Yakumo Blue who suddenly appeared to tell him, and the teacher didn't show surprise, as if he had known it for a long time, and I was shocked and didn't notice that he never echoed Lan's words, but just said goodbye to me by the way......"

"Your teacher didn't want to lie to you, but used a self-confessed trick, so he left a flaw," Alice smiled and nodded, "There are two highest levels of lying, one is to tell the truth as if it were a lie so that others can't believe it, and the other is not to lie yourself so that the other party can misunderstand it." Of course, this sentence did not come from the reserved and self-respecting witch lady, but purely quoted the original words of some shameless human being.

"Miss Alice......" I don't know if I have figured it out, Reimu's expression suddenly becomes solemn, "Thank you." ”

"Ahem," Miss Witch blushed, "it's not good that you're just going to be like this, maybe your teacher will be angry." I suggest that you bring some food and the like in the name of visiting...... Something. "It's the point.

It's not good, I seem to have really learned badly. Miss Witch is alert.

"I'm going to get some snacks!" Reimu, who had finally figured it out, seemed to be starting to come to life, and walked towards the kitchen with broken thoughts, "Do you want to make some ingredients...... Humph......"

"Then, the message should also be brought, say goodbye first~"

Although it was a relaxed goodbye, after turning around, Alice also showed a little thoughtfulness.

Finally...... What happened?

Next stop, the Old Hell and the Earth Spirit Temple.