|
>>
|
No. 51738
File
133132332433.jpg
- (365.06KB
, 850x700
, 1307252091469.jpg
)
[iqdb]
“… I really have been feeling better lately.”
“That’s good. But you still need to exercise, Miss Knowledge. I cannot emphasize this enough.”
“But I can’t do it for long, and I feel terrible afterwards— ah, Wallachia.”
Patchouli breaks off her sentence as you approach. The woman she was talking to looks you over with a critical eye.
“Sorry,” you say. “I couldn’t help hearing the tail end of your converstation.”
The librarian looks slightly embarrassed, but the silver-haired woman laughs a bit. “I was just checking up on Miss Knowledge’s health. She’s a frequent patient, and I took this as an opportunity to check in before our next appointment.”
So she’s some sort of doctor, then. “Should you really be telling me this? What about doctor-patient confidentiality? Also, I don’t think I caught your name.”
“I’m Eirin Yagokoro. And doctor-patient confidentiality is an Earth concept, and as such I’m not beholden to it unless I choose to be.”
“You’re… an alien?” You’ve considered the possibility of extra-terrestrial life, but only to the extent of the average human. In retrospect, you should have been more open to the idea— you’re a vampire, for Christ’s sake— but you’ve never believed that aliens exist. Now, however…
“Yes. I’m a Lunarian, to be precise.”
“From the moon? But where… the dark side?”
Eirin nods. “Yes.”
“Then it must be hidden by magic, or this news would be all over the outside world.” You say.
“I’m not sure about the earthen governments, but the Moon has been agitated ever since that huamn planted that flag. Lunarians don’t take kindly to visitors, as your sister and her friends found out.”
“Huh?”
The doctor looks at Patchouli with a bit of surprise. “He doesn’t know?”
The librarian shrugs. “Apparently not. Though I’d have thought Remilia would have bragged about it by now.”
For some reason, you can feel a headache coming on. “Will someone please explain?”
“Remilia, Sakuya, Reimu, and Marisa went to the moon about a year ago.” Says Patchouli.
“… The moon?”
“Yes.”
“… The one that orbits the Earth?”
“…Yes.”
“… The one that’s about 407,000 kilometers from Earth?”
“Why are you in such disbelief?” asks the librarian. “Shouldn’t you be excited, as a scholar?”
“It’s just… how did they get there?”
“In a rocket, of course.”
“’In a rocket’, she says. Can you show me this rocket?”
Patchouli frowns, and mutters a spell under her breath. An image appears over her palm. It’s…
“… That’s not a rocket,” you say after a moment. “That’s a house shaped vaguely like a rocket.”
The image dissipates, and the sorceress gives you a weird look. “Why are you acting like this? It’s something I’m very proud of, and I really wish you could see that.”
“… One last thing, and then I’ll explain. How was this thing, if it is what they used, powered?”
“A combination of magic and prayer.”
“Prayer?!”
Patchouli opens her mouth, but you cut her off. “Sorry, but… I was in America in 1969! I watched the broadcast of Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon! I followed the whole thing as a scholar, and— do you know how much money and resources it cost? And don’t even get me started on the science involved! I barely know how the humans did it, and I heavily doubt the greatest mages of this or any era could replicate that feat!”
She looks furious for a moment, until the two of you are distracted by Eirin’s soft laughter.
“I see what’s going on. Miss Knowledge, Mister Scarlet is simply unable to comprehend the feat of going to the Moon from a magical standpoint.”
“But… he’s a mage!” protests the librarian.
“But he’s spent only a few days in Gensokyo. All the rest, he’s spent in the Outside world, amongst humans,” replies the doctor. “And from what I can tell, he admires them. Seeing a weak race achieve something that was only achieved by magic only recently affected how he views the feat.”
“…She’s right,” you say after a moment. “It was amazing to see, and they did it without magic. I was in awe. And I guess I’m a failure as a scholar, because I never once thought of using magic to reach the moon. So, I’m sorry for my enthusiastic disbelief.”
“… I’m sorry, too,” Patchouli responds. “If I’d know how you’d felt, I’d have eased you into the idea.”
The two of you smile at each other.
“Now hug.” Says Eirin, and you and the librarian start to take a step towards each other.
…Then what she said kicks in, and the two of you whirl on her, Patchouli blushing furiously.
The doctor looks oddly shocked, but her face soon twists in irritation, and she scans the crowd, finally locking on a person in a familiar dress. “MARGATROID!” She yells, and stomps off in the direction of the puppeteer.
Bewildered, you turn to Patchouli. “Why is she mad at Alice?”
Your companion looks furious, though you can tell that it isn’t directed at you. “Because Alice used her voice to tell us to hug. She’ll pay for that, of course.”
“… Alice used Eirin’s voice? How?”
“She can perfectly mimic the voices of a variety of people— she uses it in her puppet shows. And she swore that she wouldn’t abuse that ability!”
“But why would she… hey, why is it so quiet all of a sudden?” Indeed, the din of the crowd has died down. Everyone is looking in the same direction as well, and you turn your head…
And lock gazes with a pair of red eye, framed by green hair.
You gulp. It’s the scary woman from your dream.
She makes her way over, people moving out of her way. “It is you,” she says when she reaches you. “I didn’t get to properly introduce myself the other day, since you woke up before I could.”
“Uh,” you say. “Sorry about being in your mansion, by the way. If I’d known—“
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she smiles. “Yakumo was there, so it was probably her fault. So!” she exclaims. “You must be Wallachia Scarlet! I’m Yuuka Kazami, and if I’m not mistaken, you’re in the mood to buy some flowers!”
“Bu—“
“Trust me,” says Yuuka, the smile never leaving her face. “You want to buy some flowers.”
“… How much?”
“Well, I think that since it’s your first time, I’ll give you a discount! So, 50,000 yen.”
[x] “D-deal!”
[x] Haggle
|