Keine Quest - Harvest

[Hanzo K.]

>Nod. "I was planning on taking care of the planning when we have Kanako with us. I just hope we can avoid a battle between her and Reimu."
>"As for the kids, they should stay here for the time. I was considering actually taking them in, so long as they behave. They do need someone to guide them, and Neneru- that's the little cat.- seemed to be quite interested in learning."

[IdiotsOpposite]

Mokou grins. "Take 'em in? I've seen your house, it's not big enough for three new guests, Keine. And besides, wouldn't you have to deal with the anti-youkai attitudes of the village? I hear they don't even want Rinnosuke in, I doubt they'd let in three youkai. I'm not saying you can't, but... it'll be hard."

[Hanzo K.]

>"Well, it's either that, or have them live here."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>"Well, it's either that, or have them live here."

Mokou laughs. "I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem with that. But don't get me wrong, Keine, I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm just saying, if you're going to try to integrate even a couple of youkai into the city, it'll be tough. Might be worth it, but it'll be tough."

[Hanzo K.]

>Nod. "At the very least, they shouldn't have trouble with Neneru, she seems quite well-behaved."
>What do we know about Shikigami?

[IdiotsOpposite]

>Nod. "At the very least, they shouldn't have trouble with Neneru, she seems quite well-behaved."

Mokou grins. "Yeah, I'm not sure about the others, but the catgirl seems fine at least."

>What do we know about Shikigami?

You know they exist, and you know that Ran and Chen are both shikigami. You heard a rumor once that Reimu was considering getting a shikigami, but it was either unfounded or she decided against it. If you wanted to know more, you'd probably ask Patchouli, once she sorted out her library again. You'd ask Ran, but... she never seems to have a schedule for you to speak to her.

Marisa and Alice have now managed to approach you, and Marisa opens conversation. "Yo, Keine! Me and Alice are gonna disappear for a bit, but we wanted to check in with you first.  Glad to see you're back, ze."

[Hanzo K.]

>Nod towards Alice and Marisa. "Just stay together, and stay safe."
>"Also, before you go, I was wondering what you two knew about Shikigami."
>Look back to Mokou with a roguish grin. "Because I think I've figured out how to get the village to accept them."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>Nod towards Alice and Marisa. "Just stay together, and stay safe."
>"Also, before you go, I was wondering what you two knew about Shikigami."

Marisa and Alice give each other a look, shrugging. "Ain't seen anything about that... I'm pretty sure Ran and Chen are, you could maybe ask them? Or Patchy, she has a lot of books."  After she says that, she flies off on her broomstick towards the forest, Alice following close behind.

>Look back to Mokou with a roguish grin. "Because I think I've figured out how to get the village to accept them."

Mokou raises an eyebrow. "Keine Kamishirasawa with a shikigami? The day that comes, I'll have seen everything." Then she laughs. "Oh, sure, go for it. Don't know who you'd ask, but you could always use some help."

[Hanzo K.]

>Smirk. "Not just one, but three."
>Beat.
>"....I'll need to have my house expanded. We should find Patchouli and consult her. Hopefully she hasn't gone to sleep yet."
>Let's go find Patchy.

[IdiotsOpposite]

>Smirk. "Not just one, but three."
>Beat.
>"....I'll need to have my house expanded. We should find Patchouli and consult her. Hopefully she hasn't gone to sleep yet."
>Let's go find Patchy.

Mokou grins before pointing out a door. "Good luck getting the older one... Shiku, I think, to agree to that. Anyway, Patchy's over here." She knocks on the door, and after a few minutes, you see the face of a sleepy youkai dressed in purple. "...Did you need something?" Patchouli asks, opening the door a bit wider to allow the two of you in.

[Hanzo K.]

>Nod. "I came to ask you what you know about Shikigami."
>Enter!

[IdiotsOpposite]

>Nod. "I came to ask you what you know about Shikigami."
>Enter!

You and Mokou step into the room, closing the door. You're not sure why, but you feel like Patchouli's already gathered every book in the Myouren Temple here, seeing the thick stacks of them gathered around the small writing table. Patchouli sits down on the small bed and gives you her characteristic stare.

"Shikigami... that depends... are you looking for summoned shikigami or contracting an existing being?"

[Hanzo K.]

>"The latter. You recall those three young youkai that were with us when you and the other magicians were freed, yes? They need someone to guide and teach them."
>"But the problem is, the village isn't likely to accept them as things are currently. But then I recalled that among the rare few Youkai I do permit in, there is a Shikigami."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>"The latter. You recall those three young youkai that were with us when you and the other magicians were freed, yes? They need someone to guide and teach them."
>"But the problem is, the village isn't likely to accept them as things are currently. But then I recalled that among the rare few Youkai I do permit in, there is a Shikigami."

Patchouli nods. "A rather... inventive way to get around your own rules, I suppose... but contracting an existing being is simple. All you need is someone with magical energy and the contract in question. It's almost always verbal, of course. A magic circle is drawn, the shikigami and its owner stand in the circle, and they each state their end of the contract before the bargain is sealed. I actually have the circle you'd need in a book in my library... but not here, of course..."

[Hanzo K.]

>"I'm relatively alright with some youkai, as long as they're well-behaved. It's more a matter of the village itself not accepting them."
>"You see, even for Youkai, they're still largely just children. So they need someone to guide them in the right direction."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>"I'm relatively alright with some youkai, as long as they're well-behaved. It's more a matter of the village itself not accepting them."
>"You see, even for Youkai, they're still largely just children. So they need someone to guide them in the right direction."

Patchouli nods. "That sounds almost like little Flandre... not that I would recommend anyone taking her on as a shikigami. You are sure you have enough power to take on a shikigami? It is not easy, since they draw from your power some."

[Hanzo K.]

>"Is there a way to test if I am capable of managing those three?"

[IdiotsOpposite]

>"Is there a way to test if I am capable of managing those three?"

Suddenly stepping off the bed, Patchouli gently grabs your head. You feel a slight tingle as her magical energy flows through you, before she sits back down.

"You'll be fine, so long as these youkai are weak. At least, that's what my analysis seems to indicate. I would advise waiting until after tomorrow, though, as the act of binding a contract is somewhat exhausting."

[Hanzo K.]

>Nod. "I had planned that. We should be able to find them around somewhere. I can bring them back here if need be."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>Nod. "I had planned that. We should be able to find them around somewhere. I can bring them back here if need be."

Patchouli gives a shy smile. "Perhaps if you asked, you could get Shou or Ichirin to keep them at the temple for a little while. I'm sure the youkai wouldn't mind, this is a youkai haven after all. Now if only they had a better selection of books..." Staring at the small library she's already amassed here, you can't help but wonder what Patchouli considers a "good selection".

[Hanzo K.]

>Nod. "That is a good idea. They probably aren't powerful enough for a serious fight against people as powerful as those at Eientei."
>Chuckle a little. "I have to wonder though, what exactly constitutes a 'good selection' to you? Even a scholar like myself would be rather pleased with this assortment."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>Nod. "That is a good idea. They probably aren't powerful enough for a serious fight against people as powerful as those at Eientei."
>Chuckle a little. "I have to wonder though, what exactly constitutes a 'good selection' to you? Even a scholar like myself would be rather pleased with this assortment."

Patchouli resumes her default frown. "Have you ever seen my great library? That... well, that comes close to a good selection. Not quite, though. But at least the books here will satisfy me for a single night." She picks up one of the books, which has as its title "The Fires of Har Megiddo", and smiles. "This one actually contains some elemental magic in it, which may be useful. In particular, fire magic, although given the title, that's probably obvious."

[Hanzo K.]

>"I'd be willing to wager that you have quite a few history books stored away in there, wouldn't you? I'll have to see about visiting sometime this summer, it might be useful for the students."
>"Well, I wouldn't be surprised that a book like that is here anyways, considering who leads the temple."

[IdiotsOpposite]

>"I'd be willing to wager that you have quite a few history books stored away in there, wouldn't you? I'll have to see about visiting sometime this summer, it might be useful for the students."

She frowns again. She does that a lot. "I do not easily give up my books, you know... no matter what the black-white rat says. We could perhaps make an arrangement, though."

>"Well, I wouldn't be surprised that a book like that is here anyways, considering who leads the temple."

Patchouli opens it up and begins to read it, speaking to you through the book. "I'm just glad it's here... I haven't studied in a month and a half, I'd be out of practice if I didn't make sure I was up to date on my knowledge."

[Oldmansour]

>"What, exactly, happened to you in that circle for all that time?"

[IdiotsOpposite]

>"What, exactly, happened to you in that circle for all that time?"

Patchouli sighs. "I was used. I was forced to be a conduit to drain magical energy from Gensokyo and place it into the disc. So were the others. But the worst part about it..." She gives you a hopeless stare, "Listening to Marisa jabber for 45 days was worse than hell..."

[Hanzo K.]

>"As I suspected. But then again, Marisa is still only Human, unlike youkai type magicians like you, Alice, and Byakuren, she doesn't exactly have the patience."
>"But did you ever discern the purpose of the disc?"

[IdiotsOpposite]

>"As I suspected. But then again, Marisa is still only Human, unlike youkai type magicians like you, Alice, and Byakuren, she doesn't exactly have the patience."

"Even so... her voice is just that annoying in large doses..."

>"But did you ever discern the purpose of the disc?"

Patchouli shook her head. "The closest thing I could figure is that it seems to be a heavily concentrated form of something I found in a book from the outside world once called a 'battery'. In the book, the 'battery' was an energy storage device. I'd imagine the disk represents the same purpose... although I never could get from the rabbits why they'd need so much energy anyway. After a while, I just gave up."

[Hanzo K.]

>Nod. "I see...Well, we'll find out tomorrow night. We'll have that much easier a time of dealing with them at that point."
>"But at any rate, we'll leave you to your reading. It was nice being able to converse with another scholar."
>Let's head out and find the kids.

[IdiotsOpposite]

>Nod. "I see...Well, we'll find out tomorrow night. We'll have that much easier a time of dealing with them at that point."

Patchouli nods, murmuring "By the light of the full moon, you'll definitely be of far greater use..."

>"But at any rate, we'll leave you to your reading. It was nice being able to converse with another scholar."

"Always. I will see you tomorrow."

>Let's head out and find the kids.

You head out, and Mokou directs you to another room. Apparently she scouted everything out beforehand. Knocking on the door, you wait a moment before a tired-looking Shiku slips outside, her finger to her mouth in the classic "ssh" pose. "The others are asleep," she whispers to you, "don't wake them!"