> And we are now south of the human village?
> If not, where would be south of the human village?
> "I guess we might as well go visit that horseradish place you know of."
> What else did Tewi say she was going to search for in the woods before she got conscripted?
> When did Mystia say there was nothing in the horseradish?
> What other general things, like horseradish, did Tewi say she was searching for?
> "Well, I guess we don't have to, then. But after that, unless we want to wander aimlessly through the forest, I guess investigating Kourindou would be our best bet."
>"Don't suppose the horseradish is near the route to Korindou?"
>Vth Vanguard
>:|
> "Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if Rinnosuke would be willing to admit where he got that sword handle from. I'm almost 100% positive the broken sword has something to do with this."
> "Best place to start, I think, if you're that sure about the horseradish thing. Hopefully knowing what's at stake will loosen his tongue."
> "Let's shuffle off, then."
> Make our way to Kourindou. On foot, for a change of pace.
> "And irritating. But yeah. You'd think the one person in Gensokyo best prepared for a total economy disruption would keep his business going. Wonder what gives."
> "If anyone asks, you saw the sign and got concerned for his safety, okay?"
> Knock on the door.
>What's Korindou's lock like?
> Check the door, just to make sure it's locked.
> Pull out the picking tools necessary for the job.
> "You know him better tha I do. Think I should get us in?"
> "You got it."
> Get to work on that lock!
> Put the picks away and carefully open the door.
> Is it making any sound?
> Is it wedge-shaped like that thing from earlier?
>"Get down and cover your ears."
>Hit the dirt and encourage deafness!
> Uncover our ears and look back up for the wedge.
> "I don't know what it is, but it makes a ton of noise and almost killed me yesterday by running into me."
> Get back up.
> "I don't know what it is, but it makes a ton of noise and almost killed me yesterday by running into me."
> Correct this to "I don't know what it is, but it makes a ton of noise and almost killed me this morning by running into me."
> "Yeah, because we're down here and it's up there. Best to stay out of its way until we know what the hell it is. I'll have a word about it with Reimu or Sanae next time I see one of them. But forget it for now."
> Gesture inside.
> "Nothing anything else strange?"
> Lower our voice and nod toward the door.
> "I suspect he didn't. Come on."
> Quietly enter the shop.
> Are there any obvious exits, other than the entrance we just used?
> Look back at Mystia and thumb toward that door.
> Turn back around, quietly make our way to the door, and carefully try to open it.
> Keep that low voice.
> "What the shit."
> "Look at that dust. I'd say there was definitely something."
> Turn back around.
> "Stay here for a second."
> Head back to the front door, and close and lock it again from the inside.
> Return to the second room, make our way over to the door we haven't been through yet, and carefully open it.
> Mental check: Are Seeds any good for invisibility?
> Can we float around while it's active without breaking it?
> Frown and turn to Mystia, then put a finger up to our lips in a "no noise" gesture.
> Turn back to the stairway, begin hovering a couple of inches off the ground, and start floating our way down the stairs. Don't go charging into the landing area, however; once we get really close, get up against the wall that serves as the "inside track" for the turn in the stairway, and carefully poke our head around it while hiding our body behind it as best we can.
> Continue floating down the stairs to the next landing and peek around the next turn as with the first one.
>How easily could we alter our coloration to blend in with the wall?
>It'd be better than nothing, though. And we're not trying to avoid being seen, just to avoid being noticed. If we just move in enough to see into the room and stay still (and are unclothed), it should work well enough, right? especially since anyone in the room wouldn't suspect we're there in the first place.
> Wait, we're stripping? When we have an ally present, and who knows what downstairs?
> Float back up the stairs to Mystia.
Nudity is for sexy times (or protecting Remilia) and this is not sexy times.
> Land quietly
> "Sorry about that. There's some kind of basement down there and there's some light showing through, so I think someone may be down there. But first I want to check something."
> Return to the second room crouch down near some of the dust free squares.
> About how big are they?
> Aside from our footprints are there any other disturbances in the dust around the squares, like they'd been moved or dragged?
> Are our feet big or more average sized?
> "Well, whatever was in here it looks like it was light enough to pick up and carry instead of drag. Looks like various things though, probably storage huh?"
> Head back to the stairs.
> Inventory
> Unsheath trident
> "I'm gonna head back down. You wanna follow or stay up here?"
> About what time is it
> About what time did we see Rinnosuke last night?
> "You figured we'd be doing more cracking skulls than investigating or are you uncomfortable with looking inside Kourindou?"
> "Initially I just wanted to check and see if he was here but look around, something has clearly happened. I saw Rinnosuke pretty late last night and everything in here was fine, and overnight everything has gone missing. From the looks of it, there's only been one other person in that back room so unless our money thief has taken to disappearing furniture and useless things, someone came in last night an made off with everything. I'd say this definitely warrants an investigation, Rinnosuke could be in trouble down there."
> "The way I see it, we have a really nice opportunity to poke around right now that we may not get later. As such, I'm going to go take a look."
> "I don't want to force you to stick around if you don't want to, but I'd really appreciate having you around, even if you just keep watch up here. You still in?"
> Can we sharpen our hearing like we did our eyesight?
> "Great. I'll head back down there and see what I can learn without getting caught. I'll report back if I need to. If I yell to run, then, well, yeah. Don't forget the front door is locked again."
> Float down those stairs again
> Nod.
> Carefully head back down the stairs in the same fashion as before; floating along a couple of inches off the ground, sneaking up to each landing to peek our head around it, moving on to the next landing once we see the coast is clear. Make our way all the way back down to where we were before we went back up the stairs.
> So there's a door blocking the way to the basement, then.
> Take a moment to sharpen our hearing.
> And there are no ambient sounds right now that we can hear?
> Start slowly floating down the stairs toward the basement. Stop if we see anyone.
> Oh fuck. Ohhh fuck.
> Quietly float backward a little bit, retracing a few feet of our flight path in our head, then turn around and float all the way back up to where Mystia is, putting our finger to our lips again in the shushing motion before we come into her view.
> Wave her on to follow us.
> Float our way back to the front entrance, quietly unlock and open it, and leave the shop.
> Close the door quietly behind us, if we didn't already, then turn to Mystia and keep our voice low.
> "Okay. I need you to do something very important. But we need to keep it down. You ready?"
> "Okay. Down in the basement there...I found the money."
> "I need you to zip over to the human village, as fast as you can. Find Byakuren. Get a private audience with her. Absolutely no one else in the village must know where we are right now, or that the money is here. Tell her we found the money, that it's here, and that I'm still here. Tell her I want her here, and that if she can drag Ichirin and Unzan along, even better. Then take her and find Mokou and the hakutaku. Tell them we've found the money, but don't tell them where it is, and tell them that Byakuren is not to be followed by anyone for any reason unless she specifically invites them. Mokou and the hakutaku should be good for temporary crowd control, because I imagine people will want to know why Byakuren is leaving so abruptly."
> Take off our Black Bracelet and give it to Mystia.
> "I'll want this back. But show her this when you get there. She'll know it's mine. Tell her I said this was urgent and top secret, if she resists being dragged somewhere private."
>Um, we sure Byakuren and Mystia aren't going to be bribable by Rinnosuke?
>Do we know of any methods that one could set a sort of silent alarm for having a door opened at the wrong time?
> We trust Byakuren not to turn on us.
> "Also, mention to Byakuren that she should quietly let the jeweler's shop know that I've found the money. Once you're done, stick around the village and help Mokou and the hakutaku do crowd control. I have no idea what we're in for right now, and I don't want to put you in unnecessary danger."
> "Yeah, don't worry about the details. It's something between me and the jeweler. Oh, and tell Byakuren that if the shop is still closed, knock anyway. Her visiting the jeweler can come after you talk to Mokou and the hakutaku. It's should be a quiet thing, and it's less important. You should go with Mokou and help keep crowd control, should it be necessary."
> "Right."
> Smile.
> "And don't worry. We got this."
> "Yeah. Hurry. And stay safe."
> Turn back around, and quietly re-enter the shop.
> Make our way back down to the staircase headed to the basement exactly as we did before, floating and peeking, until we're back where we stopped when we first saw the money.
> Slowly float a few more feet down the stairs. Keep a sharp eye out for anyone.
> Float all the way down the stairs, so we are floating a couple of inches off the floor.
> Is there anything on the table?
> Is Rinnosuke asleep?
> Does he appear to be actually doing anything?
> Slowly float a few feet toward him.
> While keeping an eye on Rinnosuke, slowly float over to the nearest little object we can see.
> Was that in stock earlier?
> Are there any obvious exits other than the one through which we entered?
> What is the room's light source?
> Is there anything else notable in the room, aside from the money, the table and the shopkeeper?
brb bleeding shoulder
> What are Rinnosuke's hands doing?
>Circle around the desk, still keeping an eye on Rinnosuke, until we get behind him. Take a quick look at any other objects that stand out in the money piles.never mind don't do this
> Turn back toward the table.
> Pull out our two broken sword pieces and carefully put them together again.
> Try to will the sword back together like the previous two times.
> No stronger or weaker than before?
> Put the sword pieces away, then float up to the table, to the opposite side to where Rinnosuke is sitting.
> Frown.
> "And here I only wanted to see what the tablecloth was made of."
> Look around again.
> "That's quite a collection you have. I was gonna ask you about the sword handle you sold me, but it seems a little less important than it was an hour ago."
> "Yeah, I've noticed."
> Land.
> "I don't suppose you have a second chair somewhere? Floating around everywhere gets kind of monotonous after a while."
> Look at the floor. What kind of shape is it in?
> "Kinda dirty down there. But I'll think about it, I guess."
> Have we ever accepted a favor or loan from Rinnosuke?
> How much do we know about his powers?
> How DOES he get back stolen goods?
> "So what now?"
>"Well, it really looks like you're behind the whole gem thing. And I'm pretty sure that means you're also the one who had Tewi steal my spellcards."
>"How exactly did you secure Tewi's cooperation? Namely, she was scared shitless when I found her, and I don't think it was because of me. So I'm really pretty curious about that one."
>"And why did you want my spellcards, anyways?"
I'm fairly sure that Guy's obliviousness would miss Hurricane Katrina.
> "Well, you're not about to let me leave, are you? I figured it was worth a shot, before you kill me or whatever."
> "So I can go, then?"
> Frown.
> "And you won't try to stop me from telling everyone about what I've seen because...?"
> "A little bit. I was honestly expecting something more climactic than, well, this."
> "Do I get to find out what they are?"
> Pout.
> "Aw, c'mon. Pleeeeeeease?"
> "Oh, fine. But can you at least tell me where you got that broken sword hilt?"
> Frown.
> "You gave a packet of noodles for it and then priced it at four bottles of wine when combined with a mere clay sculpting set?"
> "You kidding? The sword's been full of questions without having any answers, and I haven't had the time to make any cute little models of the Buddhists yet."
> "Well, I'm glad someone finally appreciates the art of me breaking into their house."
> "Makes me wonder, though. Is that why all this money is here? So you can feel the use people have gotten out of it? You don't seem the type to just crash the market because you're bored."
> Raise an eyebrow.
> "That's odd to hear from someone that seems to be using my use of these tools as a narcotic. Or hell, for all I know, an aphrodisiac."
> "No, it's not just that. I mean, you conscripted Tewi and want nothing to do with me? She's built like a human nine-year-old and I'm me, in all my glory. You've had every opportunity to go the sex slave route with me, and there hasn't been a peep. So I'm thinking there has to be something else at work, y'know?"
> "So you're right, I was disappointed that you seemed willing to let me go. I work hard on this figure, you know. The least you could do is show some interest."
> Boost our chest a cup size.
> "You almost say that like you'd appreciate some help changing those circumstances."
Time to enact Serp's Law of Mafia: When you fuck up, the best recourse is to dig yourself deeper and go completely insane.
> "It's preferable to many of the ways I'm imagining this meeting could end."
> "Maybe. Gotta say, though, Tewi didn't seem all that enthused about your vision of the future."
> "You conscript her and force her to abandon her home and you don't even tell her why? Now that's just rude. And believe me, I know rude."
> "Well, clearly that's not the case, since it seems she didn't fulfill it after all."
> Pat our purse.
> "Pretty sure she didn't, yeah."
> "Well, I guess if her mission was to irritate me, then yeah, she accomplished that."
> "Huh. Do I get to know what those items are, or is this another one of those things I'm not certain I want to know, with things as they are?"
> "I have a reasonable guess as to what they might be, but you seem to be suggesting she didn't actually fail, which wouldn't line up with my guess."
> "I guess my guess is wrong, then. But that doesn't really matter now. I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me who traded you the sword handle?"
> "What kind of youkai are you anyway?"
> "But knowing who traded the sword hilt to you could be a major clue as to who's behind the missing money!"
> Grin and bow.
> "Thank you. I'll be here as long you demand I be."
> "But since I can't get any closer to you to help, uh, teach you about all what's over here that you're missing over there, I suppose the time has come. Yes, I am certain I would like the answers to the questions I've asked, even with things as they are."
> "If you didn't want to use me for my, erm, skills, then why did you target my cards personally?"
> "So you wanted my essence but not me personally, even though your project was theft on a scale that defies measurement? I must say that I'm hurt."
> "If you had made a convincing argument for it, maybe. You seem pretty dead set on whatever it is you're doing, after all."
> "A true thief considers all options for action, provided the reward is sufficient."
> When did we open that bar, anyway?
> Chuckle.
> "I've been around the block a few times. There's more to me that you might think."
> Before we owned a bar, what did we do for money, if anything?
> "Well, for me, it's less about the exchange, and more about the disruption. I could have been convinced with a number of the different effects this would have on Gensokyo, it's just that the forced bartering system wouldn't have been one of them."
>"You see, there's a reason money came into use. Bartering can work, but matching objects against something with agreed-upon set value is a lot less complicated. Avoids a lot of nasty disputes, too. Sure, there are issues, but those are because of people, not the money itself. Taking money away won't change those people."
> "You'd be surprised. After the initial change I adapted a new barter system immediately and was the first bar to reopen. The oni weren't exactly keen on learning a new system of payment, but with time they could easily improve. Unlike many of the other youkai, I am not defined by the money I am worth."
> "What will you do with this money?"
> "For what?"
> "Just to be clear, your definition of a better reality."
> Shrug.
> "Don't think I can say I've ever dwelled on it that much."
> "Probably because happiness isn't a physical material object that can be purchased or traded? We can obtain things that grant us happiness via that object, but we cannot obtain happiness itself in a physical manifestation."
> "And this new economy of yours will enable us to exchange immaterial objects and abstract concepts straight across for goods and services?"
> "And what of those that do not have the inherent resources to keep up?"
> "So that's why you needed my essence. You want to use my abilities to allow people to change themselves. That about right?"
> "Them right now can still put in effort to get by. The system we have now bases returns more on how much effort one puts into it. The system you propose bases returns strictly on what one was lucky or unlucky to come into being with."
> "Depends on the individual skill set. What if someone only has services to offer that aren't in demand, and the only exchange opportunities are in fields that the person either hates doing or flat doesn't know how, and can't obtain the knowledge on how because they don't have anything desirable to offer in exchange for being taught?"
> "Then they can still get by with whatever money they've accrued, even if just for a little while."
> "Goods that may have important functional or emotional value."
> "I suppose that may be true. But then again, I haven't had the time to sit down and think about it thoroughly, and neither has anyone else, other than you."
> "Still sounds to me like you're forcing what you think is best on the entire countryside, and making it a power grab to boot since you're the only one that's had the opportunity to sit down and think out the advantages and disadvantages of how to work the system. You're no better than the Yamato."
> "Then you'd have no problem sharing them all with everyone right before you went live with this new economy, right?"
> "I don't know. Write up a flier, maybe. Or grab a tengu and have them write a news article about it. Describe exactly what's going to happen, what people can do, what people should so, what people shouldn't do, and precisely why it's better than the current system. Get your news spread around the countryside, so everyone has a chance to prepare for what's coming."
> "Were they undergoing a forced total sacrifice of a way of life when those changes occurred? Or were they able to ease their way in, slowly weaning off the old systems into the new ones?"
> "All right. If you don't want a tengu newspaper, I'll be your herald instead. It's the least I can do for breaking into your house."
> "Oh, but I insist."
[01:47] <E-Nazrin> Hm, this is pretty interesting.
[01:51] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> 'Tis why I asked!
[01:53] <E-Nazrin> As of page 9 of 10 I'm inclined to do the heraldry but I'm also concerned about the effects of Rinnosuke's schemes on the convenience of exchange (the primary purpose of money).
[01:54] <E-Nazrin> Or has he addressed that problem already?
[01:55] <E-Nazrin> (There's also the fallacy of assuming that no common abstract unit of currency will arise in the absence of a physical one for that purpose, defeating a large part of his point with this)
[01:56] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> I believe he is opposed to the convenience of monetary exchange because it ruins the beauty.
[01:56] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> Exchange, to him, is an art.
[01:56] <E-Nazrin> So basically the only skill that ultimately matters in his world is ability to barter, which is of course his specialty.
[01:56] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> The latter thing, though, is an interesting idea.
[01:56] <E-Nazrin> This IS a power grab.
[01:57] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> Pretty much.
[01:58] <E-Nazrin> So instead of dorfbucks we deal in seconds
[01:58] <E-Nazrin> And Sakuya rules the world
[01:59] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> Anyway, I'm out. Feel free to post all this.
[01:59] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> (In fact, I encourage it!)
[01:59] <E-Nazrin> I shall!
>Ah, but trouble for whom?
>"One thing bugs me, though. What's gonna stop some other boring standard currency from cropping up?"
>How much have we traded with Rinnosuke in the past?
>"If they can't find enough precious metal, they'll use something else."
>"Oh, I don't know. But someone'll think of something."
> "All right, then. So this is all about exchange, right? What do I get in exchange for my cards?"
> "Even though it was done on your orders?"
> "Did she decide to use those methods completely on her own?"
> "And nothing was implied about the consequences of failure?"
> "But those details could very well have influenced her decision, to the point where the choice she made wasn't really a choice at all."
> "That's all well and good, but given the circumstances of how my cards were initially obtained, you're still responsible for them, and I still want something in return for them from you."
> "That's still between you and me, since I hold you responsible for Tewi's actions, on the grounds that it was a choice you forced her into making."
> "Really? Even when the piles of currency all around us shows you have no qualms taking without asking?"
> "Taking without asking is taking without asking. Does it really matter if the person taken from was left something they didn't want or nothing at all?"
> "Were it under the direction of one so enamored with the concept of exchange as you claim to be, I'd expect something would have been left in place that the recipient wanted and agreed to take on in return for giving what they had to begin with."
> "And the lack of anything I wanted or agreed to take in place of my money says enough on its own."
> "Will it? You espouse the beauty of exchange but resort to stealing just to get to this point. And what's even better is that you're about to buy your way into a new economic system. I guess the beauty of the exchange must operate under the morals of convenience."
> "Of course, of course. I wouldn't expect any less from a power-grabbing hypocrite."
> "Anyway, I'll go off spreading the news now, so people have a chance to prepare. You keep on doing whatever it is you're doing."
> "It's a necessary sacrifice. I've made peace with it."
> Turn around and walk back up the stairs.
> Make our way back to the entrance and leave the store, but don't close the door behind us.
> Let them approach.
> Grin.
> "Never better."
> Gesture back to the door.
> "I found someone new to harass for trying to grab at power they don't deserve and forcing the rest of the countryside to live as they dictate people should."
> "Yeah. Long story short, Rinnosuke took everyone's money, and plans to use the entire existing Gensokyo economy in some sort of bizarre conceptual alchemy project to change it into a completely new economy, one with no currency where literally anything one possesses can be exchanged. You could exchange material goods, or physical traits, or even emotions. We could exchange my shapeshifting for your physical size, or your spirituality for my ingenuity, or any other of a huge list of possible combinations."
> "You know how Tewi nicked my cards? He's using the shapeshifter essence I infused in them. He also apparently has always been in possession of a lot of books, which would explain what we discussed last night. Beyond that, though, I have no bloody clue. He also managed to prevent me from moving toward the table he's sitting at somehow. I'd float over and not move anywhere. No idea how he did that either."
> "I'm sure there's more to it than that. Apparently he just needed the essence of a shapeshifter, and nicking my cards was easier than nicking something like my hair. But I can't say the cards were all he needed with any certainty. You wanna go down there and ask him yourself?"
> "He gave me more answers than I expected him to. He even let me leave just now, after I told him I was going to warn everyone."
> "Apparently he's doing this for the art and beauty of the exchange. Never mind that he had to have my cards stolen in order to steal everyone's money, and is about to buy his way into a new economy. Oh, no, it's all about the exchange."
> "It's also pretty noteworthy that he wants to turn Gensokyo's economy into one entirely based around barter, when he's the one that's had the most time to think out how to abuse such a system, and when he's the best barterer in Gensokyo, and is going to start anew with a huge economic advantage over everyone else in Gensokyo as a result. Yeah, this really has 'benevolent' written all over it."
> "I'm standing here now, ain't I? But I know what you mean. Even I'm a little surprised."
> Frown.
> "Honestly, I'm thinking he let me go because he thinks I can't stop him, or because I wouldn't be able to tell people in time before he pulled his little trick off. Which makes me glad you're here. He knows a good deal, but I don't think he knows you were on your way."
> "Not sure. Did Ichirin stay behind?"
> "And what happened at the jeweler's?"
> Frown.
> "Did she forget to tell you I wanted you specifically to take care of that? Damn. So much for that plan."
> "I was really sending you there to get the attention of the jeweler's apprentice. She doesn't like Mystia very much because Mystia talks too much for her liking, but I know you can be trusted to keep secrets. I was hoping to have her along as well - If nothing else, there's no way Rinnosuke would have been expecting her."
> "Don't worry about it, what's done is done. Maybe she'll figure it out regardless. I should probably apologize to her after all this is over, though."
> "Anyway, you ready?"
> Size down our bust to its regular size
>Do we know of anyone with power over distance? If not, ask Byakuren if she does.
>Lead the way.
> Do we remember where the Jacinth Tiger was?
> How big was it?
> How valuable would we estimate it at?
> "Hey, I'm back. Did some thinking, and I realized you were right. It would cause a lot of trouble to go out and tell everyone. So I figured I'd keep you company. I even found you another customer!"
> "Byakuren, if you want to ask him about what's going on, go ahead. We're in a shop, so I think I'll go browsing."
> Look around a bit, then let our eyes settle on the Jacinth Tiger. Walk on over to it.
> Pick up the Jacinth Tiger and examine it while listening to the conversation.
> Walk over to the Emblazoned Apron and pick that up. Drop it if it feels cold as well.
> Pick up a handful of coins. Drop them if they're cold.
> Frown.
> Take out our trident and try to poke some of the coins.
>What's in the southwest part of the Forest of Magic? What's further to the southwest of it, if anything?
>How well can we dig?
> "Wouldn't you still be able to do that in your new economy?"
> "Anyone can harvest that spark? How?"
> "Well, yeah. I can appreciate having the effort and precision that goes into my jewel crafting acknowledged by an outside observer. But I don't go out forcing people to care, for a number of reasons."
> Poke at the apron with the non-trident end of our trident. If the other end of the trident is pointy in itself, angle our poking so that we're not stabbing the apron. Does our trident feel cold as we poke the apron?
> "Not sure. I'm still kinda working this situation out to its logical conclusion. These paradox sparks. Let's just go ahead and assume that they can indeed be harvested by anyone that buys into the system, because the obvious alternative would be that only you can do it and the implications of that combined with what you're trying to do are pretty clear."
> Resheath the trident, pull out Tewi's dress, wrap it around our hand and grab at the apron with the wrapped hand.
> While doing all this, talk.
> "Even with that sort of equality, I imagine people are going to take time to warm up to the idea, assuming one has to truly see this proposed beauty of exchange. In the meantime, they'll still have to use the system to get by, even though they'll be unable to reap the additional benefits of harvesting these sparks for however long they take to get to that point. If they ever do."
> Drop the apron and walk back over to the Jacinth Tiger. Whie walking, unwrap our hand from the dress, put it away, and keep speaking.
> "But we have someone in this room that already has a whole bunch of these sparks, is in perfect position to keep gathering them even if what's about to happen exhausts all the current ones, and has more knowledge of how to game the system than the rest of Gensokyo combined. This person is going to have a running head start in the race, and will be accelerating much, much faster than anyone else."
> "The system would be different. You could exchange those sparks for other things. Power, looks, a longer life span. Things you couldn't get with them now. And for all we know, each exchange involving sparks creates more sparks, which just ramps your resources up even further."
> "Then tell me what practical purpose they will serve to the common Gensokyo native."
> "Well you're going to have to explain it to everyone eventually, why not start now? If you don't inform them of this new system there's an extremely high chance that it will never come to fruition. You're forgetting that humans are stubborn and will resist any kind of change no matter how slight. Without any explanation they're much more likely to revert to the old system. Hell, they're probably doing that now! Do you really want to be caught in this stalemate for years or would you rather go ahead and get them started on this plan?"
> How thick and solid has the Jacinth Tiger felt?
> "Sounds like all the more reason why this change will greatly benefit you in comparison to everyone else."
> Use the trident to gently knock the Jacinth Tiger off the mound of money it's on so it hits the floor.
> How is that cobblestone shaped?
Now or never, I guess.
> Come on, Nue! Grit through it! You're the best in the world at what you do! Don't let a little cold hold you back!
> Try to pull the cobblestone out of our purse.
> Gotta do this gotta do this gotta do this! Can't let the power-hungry win! Everything we've stood for over the years, knocking the undeserving on their ass where they belong! This is the worst one yet, and needs to be taken down!
> If we're gripping the cobblestone in one hand, grab that one hand with the other. If we're gripping it with two hands, keep them as they are.
> Turn that shout from one of pain into one of anger and let it out! Bring that stone down on the statue as hard as we can!
> "No."
> "Get away! Warn people! Get them here!"
> "Then stop him! We're done for otherwise!"
> "Don't give him anything! It'll only give him more power!"
> "Promise me. Promise me you'll stop him."
> "And promise me...you won't give him anything."
> "Don't like doing this...but I'm counting on you. Please."
> Let go.
>Moan.
> Forbidden beast? Looks like shopkeeper boy might have been successful in his plot.
> Slowly roll our head in the direction of the voice.
> Oh right, those guys. (gals)
> Is everything still cold?
>Crazy fairies.
>"Where's Byakuren?"
> "...Uhh...thanks."
> Take the glass of water and drink it down.
> "...Where am I?"
> "...Of what building?"
> Can we tell what time of day it is from the position of the sun?
> "Oh. ...Who's the head of the mansion?"
> "You'll have to pardon my ignorance, I live underground. What is the Mistress's name?"
> Pause for a moment, the give a low chuckle.
> "Really now? And after all the time and effort Flan put into letting me know there was no entry..."
> "Oh. Yeah, thanks."
> Take and eat the biscuit.
> Sit up.
> "So who here wants to talk to me about why I'm here?"
>"That so? Huh..."
>Wonder if Patchouli uncursed us...
>Where's our stuff?
>How're we feeling?
>... is it odd that the fairy said 'reimbursements' when she was offering the food and water?
> Pull our arms out from under the sheets and check our hands.
> Where's our trident?
> Get up with a small moan and walk over to grab our purse.
> Walk over and grab our trident while talking.
> "How do I get to the library?"
> Sling the trident into its usual spot.
> "Lead the way, then."
> Follow the fairy maid to the library.
> Walk our way toward the center. If either of them looks up and sees us, give them a wave.
> "Better than I was, much worse than before this whole fiasco started. How long was I out for?"
> Only lost an hour? That could've been worse...
> "He told me that he was going to exchange Gensokyo's current economy for a new one. One devoid of currency, based entirely around bartering. And not just material goods. Knowledge. Physical traits and abilities. Even emotions and life span. An economy where literally anything can be exchanged for something else, interpersonally or intrapersonally."
> "Uh, well, his primary focus was on 'the beauty of the exchange'. He thinks currency transactions are ugly and that currency itself is false. Is that the sort of thing you mean?"
> "Well, uh, he said the beauty of the exchanged 'violates the idea of equivalency'. He cited an illiterate man giving him a rare book in exchange for a bag of beans as an example. By capitalist standards, there's no question who came out ahead, but the illiterate man has no use for the book and could grow plenty of food with the beans while he himself may find the book worthless. And that this exchange could happen a dozen times, and it would be different each time because of the circumstances of the people involved. Then he said that 'a kind of friction' is created with each such exchange, which created what he described as 'a spark'. Which he claims he can harvest somehow."
> "And it wouldn't surprise me. I think he's just power hungry, though. But I'm not exactly an expert on this particular topic."
>"Um, could you clarify?"
> What do we know of the power of faith?
>"Wait, so that stuff he said is true, and it's true because he thinks it's true?"
> "How annoyingly tautological. Is there a way to break this death spiral?"
> "Well, I'm not good with magical details, so I'll settle for anything that can stop this from happening now and make it extremely unlikely it will ever occur again."
> Glance at Byakuren, then back to Patchouli.
> "Uh, with as little physical damage as possible."
> "I think I tried one of those already, when I tried to point out that the sparks he mentioned would effectively serve as the new currency in his system since they didn't serve any other functional purpose, but he claimed they did before I got to that point, so that idea went out the window. Of course, it was accompanied by some BS about how it would take him too long to explain, so maybe he was lying to save face, but from what you've said it sounds like he wasn't."
> "I asked him if anyone could harvest the sparks. He said that one needs to fully appreciate the beauty of the exchange to be able to harvest them. They must 'know it and feel it'. He compared it to looking a piece of artwork in passing versus 'stopping and appreciating each detail that went into its crafting'. Understanding its history and its maker."
>"What if we went after his mind directly? I know for a fact that mind-reading is possible; it may also be possible to go the other way, to plant something in his mind. Although I wouldn't know how to; I'd probably need to speak to Satori about that. But if it's possible, then we could plant something in his mind. Something that would get him to 'act in a way contrary to his view of the universe'. Or what if we planted a thought, something that would make him question his course of action?"
> "What about the thing you mentioned where he's tricked into doing something contradictory to his world view? That seems like it would be a good place to start. What could we trick him into doing that would run counter to this faith? I imagine it'd be hard to get him to use currency to buy something without him noticing."
MAUS WHERE ARE YOU ;_;
> "...maybe tricking him into throwing something away? Or trading something for nothing?"
> "What about making an objectively even trade? One thing for that same thing. No paradox to be had there, no spark to be generated."
> "Two of the same thing, I'd imagine."
>"He'd probably be unlikely to make such a trade, though. Not much point in trading something for itself, you know."
>Take out a Seed of Non-Identification.
>"Of course, I might be able to help with that little issue."
> Frown.
> "Would that be a problem? I was wondering about asking Marisa if she still has one of those tacky aprons of hers, since I know he has one, but if even those sorts of things are enough to generate a meaningful difference for him..."
>Hmm...
>"You know, another idea occurs to me. If it was something akin to faith that caused this, would it be possible for a countering act of faith to undo it? Because I happen to be on very good terms with someone who represents not one but two gods. And I think they want this incident solved, too."
>"And I take it Yukari just wouldn't care?"
>Well, that's one muscle route out of the picture... probably.
>"How'd you, uh, patch me up, anyway? I'm guessing that chill I felt had to do with some faith-magic-madness-whatever of his trying to punish thievery, but I'm not sure what fixed it."
>"I'd have more reason to be concerned about that if I had my cards, but I'll keep it in mind."
>Damnit.
>"Uh, thanks. How bad was it, relative to other curses?"
>Eye Byakuren for a moment. She had trouble getting us out of there... did she get hit with it, too? Or was that just the stairs?
>Ponder whether that statue would have covered the cost of a new door.
>Then we're even. Except for the curse, maybe. Wonder what he would think of that argument...
>"And... you're okay, Byakuren? He just let ya go, scot free?"
>Deep breath. Sigh.
>"So. We have a crazed merchant stealing away all the money in Gensokyo with some faith-magic-spell-thing relying on my essence from my spellcards, trying to make himself into a god. Figuratively, literally, maybe both. He's managing this solely because he's completely devotedly insane to the idea of getting 'sparks' from exchanges without currency, and the only way to stop that from overtaking Gensokyo as a whole is to make him contradict himself, or to overwhelm him with some other sort of faith."
>"Seeing how our local shrine maidens and gods seem to have dropped the ball on the faith part, can either of you think of anyone that might be able to pick up the slack?"
>Do we know anyone particularly faithful, in that sense?
> "I suppose he didn't. To be honest, since he made no effort to stop me from telling everyone about what was going on, I figured it was because he thought he didn't have to."
> "He did say there would be 'a lot of trouble' if I went out and told everyone. Maybe he was trying to bluff, and there would have been a lot of trouble for him if I had actually done it."
> "Not really. Just that there would be 'a lot of trouble'."
> "What, you mean smashing his stuff?"
> "Do you know how he made it so I couldn't even approach him or touch the money?"
> "I tried to float over to him, and I noticed that I hadn't moved from a specific point, despite being pretty sure I had gone far enough. Later I tried reaching out to grab some coins, and it became harder and harder to move my hand toward them the closer I got, until eventually I just couldn't reach any further. I also tried to poke at the money with my trident here, but it didn't get any closer than I did."
>"Would you please elaborate?"
> "Is there a way to dispel it? Or is it too likely founded in his beliefs?"
>"Actually, I'm not sure how that would tie into it at all..."
> "Well, I can't really describe it any better than that. The best bet at this point would be if you experienced it for yourself."
>"I mean, I'm not sure how he caused that 'arrow paradox' effect with that faith power whatever he's working with."
>Glance at Byakuren. "And even if the brute force solution is on the table, right now Rinnosuke probably has the cash to bribe a good quarter of Gensokyo into fighting the rest. I don't know how much he's thought ahead about covering any weakness in a fight he might have, but I wouldn't entirely count on facing him alone."
> "I'm not as sure. From what I could tell, he already has a pretty damn good theft prevention system, well..."
> Grin a bit.
> "...on his hands."
> "Right. But that'll take time, and we don't know if we have that time. Although...how long did this quick fix take to concoct?"
>"So how did he make that arrow paradox thing work?"
> "Do you suppose his anti-theft curse stacks upon itself as someone gradually steals more and more?"
> "Probably, yeah. Could another one be made in its place, though?"
> "I can't think of anywhere else I might break it, so that shouldn't be a concern. I have no real intention of fighting anyone else right now."
> "So just wrecking his stuff until he gives up is out. Ugh, there's gotta be some trick we can feel really good about going into that basement with...I'm not going back down there without a really comfortable plan."
> Sigh.
> "I gotta admit, I'm running low on ideas here. If that weren't obvious enough already from that stunt an hour ago."
>"I still think the mind and faith angles are worth pursuing. Kanako and Suwako don't know that Rinnosuke's behind this, or even the real nature of what happened, so the fact that they haven't done anything about it yet does not necessarily mean they can't. And as for Satori, I really don't see why you're convinced she'd refuse to help. She's been approachable enough throughout this incident, and I'd only be asking her another question or two. I'm pretty sure she couldn't plant an idea in someone's mind, anyways; I simply think that she might know if it's possible or not, and there's also a chance that she might know of someone who could do it."
>"I wouldn't be doing that. As I said, I don't think she can do it, anyways. I'd simply be asking her if there is a way to do it; even if she can't do it herself, I can't think of a better person to ask about it."
>"We should probably try the Moriya angle first, though. Less running around and all that."
>"I might be able to pull something," - brandish a seed - "Though I dunno what it's like today."
>"What's a shrine maiden have to do for attending their shrine, usually? Just show up? Or is there some sort of ritual? Perhaps if he doesn't make a ritual exchange with someone on a regular basis..."
>"Then again, I doubt he'd be hiding away beneath his house if he had to do that more in order to fulfill this scheme..."
>"I guess it would be predictable for him to want to make more exchanges, but I'm guessing each one would give him more power for this scheme, so that's risky."
>"He'd probably also like to attend to his store and whatever other habits he had before this got out of hand, but it looks like he's stuck on his current task too strongly to be distracted."
>Frown. "... although he was open yesterday, even after the money vanished."
>"Is there anyone that knows Rinnosuke particularly well?"
> "In terms of predictability, I did note he was open yesterday, after he did whatever with the money. He was even open all the way to late last night; I ended up dropping off a shipment of alcohol for him, in exchange for the sword handle and the lockpicks."
> "Yeah. Pretty sure he won't be up for opening again until he's finished doing whatever, as was already pointed out, but in retrospect I don't know why he was open yesterday. Maybe he thought he needed more sparks?"
> "All right. We're pretty sure he can detect an object's creator and history. So we can't just disguise her apron as any old thing. But what if we disguised it as something else she wears?"
> Are the seeds anything more than an optical illusion?
> "He shouldn't be able to see through the seed, no. Unless he's somehow able to detect it in whatever way he detects other traits of an object."
>Would using the seed add more value to any object, likely? The seed would have to be traded with the object to keep up the illusion, correct?
> Could we trigger it to shatter somehow?
> How does that work?
> "There is, though, the issue of the seed possibly adding value to the trade, enough to ruin the balance. I can call it back at any time, but I don't know when I would need to. Too early and he wouldn't let the trade pass, too late and it's an unbalanced exchange."
> "If at all possible."
> Does seed recollection make any noise?
> Does seed recollection dispel the illusion the instant it's called back?
> Frown.
> "Yeah. This could work, but there's no way in hell that I'm going back down there with only it. We need a backup of some kind."
>Do we remember anything about that dream from after passing out due to Rinnosuke's curse?
>"Well... dunno if it'd be at all reliable, but there is that sword I found."
>Take out the parts. Try the willing-it-together again, if only for kicks.
>"I had a dream about it last night, and part of it included a feeling of it being broken and sensing something southwest of a forest: There might be something related to it southwest of the Forest of Magic. It's a hell of a gamble, but if heading there could get it fixed, would it be useful?"
>"For that matter, did you find out anything about it while I was busy getting cursed, Patchouli?"
>"For emergencies, I guess." Fair compromise, at least.
>"I take it you aren't confident about how reliable dreams like that are as sources of information, either? There was a second part to that dream where I felt like someone high up in the Celestial Hierarchy, but I dunno how helpful that would be."
>"About how long would it take to get a quick translation of what's on the sword?"
>"It was. Some short bit about walking through the oni city with the full sword and having the Devas kneel." Shake head. "Don't think I really felt like myself there."
>"... and I had some other sorta fever dream when Byakuren was hauling me out of there. Something about soldiers related to the pain, and... lots of yellow. Was it a war or something? Can't remember it as well..."
>"So we should throw something at him that he's not prepared for."
>Hmm...
>"Maybe we could find a way around his arrow-paradox thing. Perhaps there's a way to reach something without atcually approaching it. To, say, attack an object without actually sending anything at it. Just point and 'boom'. Squeeze and 'pop'. Something like that, his can't-reach-me thing wouldn't work against. Of course, I don't know of anyone who could do something like that. Do either of you?"
> "Or maybe...that paradox could be bypassed entirely by a severe environmental change."
> Rinnosuke had long sleeves, right?
> "Such as extreme heat or extreme cold. Something that makes it impossible for anyone to concentrate unless they live in the stuff or just plain are the stuff. This could be doubly effective because it poses a risk to his possessions as well."
> "Or we could cause an earthquake and disrupt him that way. Do you know how to radically alter the temperature, or cause localized earthquakes?"
> "Collateral damage to the store or to the environment?"
> "Well, I'm really only concerned with the second one, but okay. What're you thinking for temperature extremes? Heat might be slightly better due to his current choice of clothes."
> Do we know this annoying fairy?
> And being a fairy points to her being an annoying fairy.
> "I had enough fairy nonsense yesterday to last me a while. I think I might go talk to Mokou instead, then."
> "Well, I know who would-"
> Frown.
> "Oh, damnit."
> Turn to Byakuren.
> "I'm going to need you with me on this one."
> "Someone's gonna need to talk to her. It might have to be you, I don't know yet. We'll see how my blood pressure is holding up when we get there."
> Turn back to Patchouli.
> "Now, just to keep the apron swap plan also in mind, I have an idea for the story I'd feed him, but I want to make sure I have a couple of important details. When did Marisa leave to get Reimu?"
> "Was it before or after we discovered Rinnosuke was responsible?"
> "Do you happen to know what sort of acquaintanceship Marisa and Rinnosuke have?"
> "Hmm. I think I can make my story work, then. Thanks."
> "Before we take off, any backup heating plans?"
> "'Kay."
> Turn to Byakuren.
> "You ready?"
> "We don't really have the time. I'm doing well enough to get by. I don't plan on picking any fights."
> Nod and stand.
> "Got it."
> Grin.
> "And make sure Flan knows Miss Wings might need to come back, too."
> "Nope, that was me. I hope we don't see each other again until you have your money."
> Assuming no objections from any present party, walk out of the library.
> Follow along.
> "I've changed my mind on the fairy. I think we should go to Turtle House first, and see if they can keep this cold fairy in control. If anyone can, they can."
> Nod at Byakuren.
> Walk through the door and back out to the gate.
> "Hey, you two. Holdin' up okay?"
>"That thing almost ran into me. I'd love to know just what the hell it is. I'm thinking of asking Sanae about it. Since, y/know, Kanako's a god of the sky an all. Strikes me as someone who'd be likely to have information on a strange flying thing."
> Turn to Byakuren.
> "You haven't seen the flying black wedge? It's kinda hard to miss, given how noisy it is."
> "If we see it again, try shooting near it, just to get its attention. Not right at it, just near it. I would do it, but, well, y'know."
> Weren't we looking at Byakuren when we said that?
> Turn back to the gate guards.
> "All right. I may return later today, but I don't expect to be back before you get your money back. Here's to not seeing each other again until then, eh?"
>"Maybe I'll come back just to see you."
> "Later."
> Assuming no objections from any of the gathered party, take flight and head to Turtle House.
> "...I don't know."
> "That's what I'm thinking. Reimu or Marisa or Sanae will know better than me how to handle him once his ritual's disabled. All I know to do is disable it. Somehow."
> "If nothing else, I'm confident Sanae's gods will have an idea. Insane or not, what he's doing appears to be founded on faith, and if anyone would know how to cut off that sort of flow, it'll be them."
> "Is such a thing even possible? How would you teach someone that the sky is blue if they've only ever seen it as green?"
> "Hopefully the apron plan will do it."
> "I'm not going to lie to you. Depending on how bad things get...we may have to temporarily put Rinnosuke himself down."
> Look away.
> "If he's lucky, I'll forget what happened to my cards."
> Continue on to Turtle House.
> Fly toward Renko. Hail her if she looks up.
> ...Why would she be nervous about Byakuren?
> "Unfortunate, but we've got more important things on our plate right now than food. I'll make this quick; we've found everyone's missing money, and we've found a world-altering scheme that's literally insane to go along with it. So now we need your indirect help to stop it."
> "We need help from a certain fairy. Which means we'll need your help keeping her as focused as possible, since you're much better at it than us."
> "Great. The fairy we need works with cold. I hear she lives near the lake."
> "We need an environmental disturbance in the basement of the antique shop here in the forest. The shopkeeper has stolen everyone's money, and he's working on some sort of ritual using it. He's set up magic defenses so he can't be reached directly, so we're thinking a drastic climate change will disrupt what he's doing."
> "Try to keep that on the down-low if possible. But yes. There's a bit of a story to the details; the short version is that he's so insane and so dedicated that his beliefs are beginning to alter reality to match what he thinks is real."
> "Yeah. I should probably ask, though - would Cirno object to having someone else present as a backup plan? I don't want to take any chances, and she's one of two people I want in on this. They won't need to work together, I just want both on-hand."
> "I want the fire woman from the bamboo forest around. If a sub-zero climate doesn't disrupt the shopkeeper, hopefully a blazing hot one will."
> "That should be doable. And we can brush her off as a concerned human village figurehead should Cirno succeed."
> Which is closer to our current location, the lake or the human village?
> Turn to Byakuren.
> "I think this will go fastest if we each get one of Cirno and Mokou."
> Nod.
> "If the hakutaku insists on it, she can come, just so she'll stop wasting your time. But she is not to enter that shop for any reason until I say it's safe. I don't need him turning her like he has others."
> "And you should probably let Mokou know about the act she may need to put on in front of Cirno."
> "Hmm. Either here or at the shop. If we meet at the shop, we could also tell Cirno that they're around to play goalie, in case he tries to run away. After all, who wouldn't want to run away from her?"
> "All right. Good luck. See you soon."
> "Is that normally a problem?"
> How far from here is Youkai Mountain?
> If we used a seed to alter the look and feel of a large apron and then stored the apron in our purse, would the natural bouncing around of the purse through our movement disrupt the seed's enchantment?
> What if we changed it to look like a dress?
> "Maybe we should do that, then. You'd know where to find her better than me anyway. If she needs any encouragement, tell her he stole everyone's money, and that I know how she can stop him."
>Huh. "Outta curiosity, where's Maribel, anyway?"
> "Before I write anything, where do you want to meet up again? Here, the shop, or Marisa's house? I need to stop at her place to borrow something as a part of this plan."
> "Okay. Hopefully Cirno doesn't get excited over breaking and entering."
> Look away.
> "If you're taking her to Marisa's house, she's going to see it for herself."
> Did we ask Tewi who the bartender at the tavern was when she lost our cards?
> Grin.
> "Sounds good to me. I'm actually headed off to the mountain before hitting up Marisa's - want me to let Maribel know what's going on if I see her?"
> "All right. I'll be back in a bit, hopefully with some more info on how to permanently combat this nutjob than we have right now."
> "You too."
> Take flight and head to Youkai Mountain, at a pace a bit zippier than normal, since we don't know how much time we have.
> Head toward the entrance to the tengu village. Let's see who stops us this time!
> "What if I know who is responsible for your missing money, and where they and the money are currently located?"
> "I can tell you where it is and you can go see for yourself. You won't be able to actually do anything to get your money back, but you can look at it, at least."
> Frown.
> "Do you really not have a single person in your entire village that could just up and go there right now? I don't have a problem telling you where the culprit and money are because no one in this village outside of maybe Lord Tenma himself would actually be able to do anything about the situation, but time is kinda of the essence here."
> "Oh, for fuck's sake, you and your regulations. Fine. The culprit is the junk shop owner in the forest. The money's with him in his basement right now. He's set up defensive spells that make it completely impossible to approach either him or the money, and he's currently gathering energy that he's going to use to obliterate everyone's money completely."
> Where is the shop relative to Mystia's stand?
> "You remember the lamprey stand where we worked with the oarfish to get that picture? It's southwest of there, along the road."
Observing it, you note a particular wolf tengu leading them once again.
>"The way is still closed!" she calls out as she gets close.
> "You remember the lamprey stand where we worked with the oarfish to get that picture? It's southwest of there, along the road."
> "You remember the lamprey stand where we worked with the oarfish to get that picture? It's southwest of there, along the road."
>... if we're confident this is the same tengu that helped us with that.
> Only say this if we're actually talking to Momizi.
> Frown.
> "...And that's not going to get me to the people that could actually help fix your problem and get your money back, is it?"
> "Then can I talk to the person whose call it is to make?"
> Sigh.
> "Okay, what about this. You want immediate proof, right? Can I borrow one of your reporters to check it out themselves?"
>"Are those really the only reporters you have in the entire village?"
> Give a small grin.
> "Hey, I resembled that remark once. But yes, I do have to. I told you, time is of the essence here, and I need to consult with the Moriya Shrine deities. What's going on down in that shop right now will irreversibly alter reality for the worse, should he be allowed to finish."
> "The man responsible for the missing money is doing so with a bizarre faith-based magic. I need to know how best to counteract it."
> Do we know who these goddesses of the forest are?
> If not, say "Where are they?"
> Frown.
> "They'll find me? If they're around? That 's not very reassuring."
> "So I just wander into the forest and hope I get lucky?"
> Act like we're about to say something, the stop and slowly grin.
> "That is true, isn't it. All right, I'll go look for them. Thanks for the tip."
> Turn around and head back down the road.
> Enter from the side closest to the kappa village. Land before entering.
> Approach her. If she notices us, hail her.
> "I'm not that much more unusual than I was yesterday, am I?"
> "Really? Well, I suppose it's true that I've found everyone's money and the culprit. And made a jewelry profit, if it'll do me any good. And met surface people I didn't know existed. And got cursed and then pseudo-countercursed, or something. Still in the dark on the details about that one."
> "I've been told I'm looking for the harvest goddesses, since the tengu are obstinate dunderheads that won't let me get to the Moriya Shrine."
> "I see. Thank you."
> "Uh...so you do aura sensing?"
> "Oh, so you knew about my hands already, then."
> "As best it could be. From what I understand, we didn't have time for a proper curse removal, so while it's being subdued, I can't do anything too drastic with my hands."
> "I certainly don't plan on it. Though...hmm. Would you theoretically be able to do something about it, were that counter-curse not present?"
> "Shame, that defeats another backup plan I had for thwarting the money thief. Ah well."
> "Thanks. I'll be sure to come back this way once this is all over, if only to give the tengu what for."
> Does the tree react at all when she touches it?
> "Happy to hear. I'll be taking off to find those harvest goddesses, then. Good meeting you again."
> Keep walking down the path through the forest.
> Take a moment to compose ourselves.
> "A little bit."
> Casually look around to see if we can find the speaker.
> "Might as well, I guess. The more people that know about this, the better. I've found Gensokyo's missing money as well as the culprit, but he's set up defenses I can't seem to get past myself and he plans on using that money in some bizarre insane exchange scheme to change Gensokyo into a place where he'll basically have limitless power. So now I'm trying to find as many ways to deal with this as I can. I've found a couple of physical ways, but I'm hunting for a spiritual way, since the man's dedication to his insane beliefs is what's warping our reality. Right now I'm looking for forest goddesses, in the sense that I'm not actually looking as much as wandering through the forest and hoping they decide I'm worth appearing in front of."
> "I'd like to know if there is a faith-based way to combat what this guy is doing."
> "Let me see if I can describe it properly...he sees beauty in the inherent inequality of exchange, where two things may be traded for one another and the relative value of each, which determines the overall 'fairness' of the trade, varies greatly depending on the people involved and the goods involved. He believes that the paradox of the inherent inequality of exchange generates what he called 'sparks', sparks that he can somehow harvest because he knows of them and sees the true beauty of the exchange. He is so devoted to this belief that it has actually started to warp reality to match what he thinks. Apparently gathering enough of these sparks gives him power, enough power that he was able to switch all the currency in Gensokyo with jewels thanks to how his beliefs are warping reality, and he's going to keep harvesting sparks and exchange Gensokyo's currency-based economy for a new type of economy, one with no currency at all, where someone can trade literally anything for literally anything else."
> "I don't know, to be honest. I don't know too much about how faith works, whether it could be a faith in anything that's simply stronger, or an ideal that's somehow the polar opposite of the existing ideal, causing some sort of karmic cancellation."
> "Huh. What trumps exchange? ...Giving without getting in return?"
> "Actually, I think I may know just the person. Though I don't know if they have sufficiently many things to give to counteract what's going on here."
> "I don't know him very well, to be honest. The art of the exchange is the only thing he talked about, though, so it's all I really have to work with."
> "Don't know how much I trust my instincts on this matter now. My hands still bear the weight of what happened the first time I trusted them."
> "...I'm sorry, I don't follow."
> "Oh. Well, yes, I learned a couple of things from it, most notably what won't work in stopping him. Unfortunately it didn't bring me much closer to what will work beyond simply helping along the process of elimination."
> "I suppose that's true, though it's more thanks to the people around me. Including you."
> "I think I may need to speak with the person to whom giving means a lot about this. She's far more spiritual than me. Hopefully she will have a good implementation idea."
> "Thanks for the advice. If I may ask, what's your name?"
> "Of course. I'll be glad to spread it in the wake of you actually providing useful information."
> Give a short bow to whatever part of the forest we're currently looking at.
> "Nue Houjuu, shapeshifter extraordinaire. It's been a pleasure. Such a shame the tengu can't behave like absolutely everyone else I've met on this mountain."
> "Probably. But as the song goes, I just gotta be me."
> Grin.
> "At least I can recognize and admit when being me might not be the best thing for me."
> "Anyway, thanks again. Should we ever meet again, it'll be with a little bit more money circulating through this countryside."
> Nod to the thicket, then keep on walking through the forest.
> Take flight and head back to the Forest of Magic, aiming for Marisa's house.
> Is it on the main forest road?
> Make our way toward Turtle House. We can start getting our bearings from there.
> Hope Maribel came home...
> Fly down to the door and knock.
> Dash on over to the side of the house where the squeal came from.
> Give a small grin.
> "Well, well, what do we have here?"
> Look slightly taken aback.
> "...Really? Huh. You must be quite the traveler, to be a ghost all the way out here. Maybe you can help me, since I'm lost."
> "Can your ghostiness at least get me to Marisa's house from here?"
> What's up with the wacky hours, parser? Sick again?
> "Well, it doesn't look like you're doing anything right now to me."
> Look southward. Is there anything notable in that direction?
> Turn back to the 'ghost'.
> "Is there a path to get there?"
> "All right. Thanks."
> What is south of here that we know? Is the main forest road southward?
> Take flight and head south, drifting eastward. Keep an eye out for the main forest road.
> Fly over to that clearing.
> Fly down toward them.
>"Sort of. Stupid tengu still won't let me up the mountain, but one of 'em told me about another goddess near the bottom of the mountain that had a suggestion, at least. Thank Shizuha for that."
>Glance at the fairy. "Did she see a ghost?"
> "I think it'll be a while before she returns."
> Walk over to the door and inspect the lock while talking.
> "And even if she does, I have a legitimate reason for breaking into her house, and we can just point her to the junk shop if she's still skeptical."
> Get to work on it.
> "I need to borrow one of her aprons. I'm going to change it so it looks like one of her dresses. It's a part of why we're all here."
> Frown and put away our tools.
> Stand up against the house, against the wall next to the door on the doorknob side.
> Carefully open the door, drawing our arm away from it once it starts really moving.
> Peek inside.
> If nothing looks dangerous, walk inside.
> Head North toward the bedroom.
> Are there any dresses visible?
> What about emblazoned aprons?
> Turn around to look at her.
> "Not yet. As long as you're here, if you find one yourself, let me know. It's large and brown and has a large 'M' in the center."
> "Oh, neat."
> Head over to the kitchen.
> Is the range still going?
> Head over to the aprons and grab one that matches the Emblazoned Apron Rinnosuke had.
> How much empty space is there on the large square table?
> Head back to the bedroom.
> Find one of Marisa's dresses. How does it compare in size to the apron?
> Hmm.
> Look around the room for clothing that's roughly the same size as the apron.
> Grab the capelet, then take it and the apron back to the kitchen table.
> "Anything interesting?"
> Set up the apron on the kitchen table as best we can.
> "All right. Just FYI, this might take a couple of minutes."
> Take a good close look at the entire capelet. Go after it with the seamstress' eye, noting even the minute details. Get a good sense of how the fabric and such feel as well.
> Let's say we wanted to change the apron to look like the capelet. How problematic would that string be in terms of solidifying the illusion as best we can?
> That's a good idea. It's a lucky thing we're so amazing.
> Head back over to the apron, and knot those strings together, so that they'd match the capelet strings as best as possible.
> Pull out a Seed and perform the chicanery necessary to make the apron look and feel like the capelet while hiding the seed's presence in the thing as best as possible.
> Allow ourselves a small grin for a job well done. As usual.
> Return the real capelet to its previous location in the bedroom, then come back to the kitchen, carefully fold the disguised apron and pick it up.
> Walk back outside the house.
> "You two ready?"
> Step away from the doorway, then look directly at Renko.
> "This thing's a little bit delicate. Can you get the door behind me?"
> Turn to Cirno.
> "What're you gonna do with that once you pick it up?"
> "Will Marisa mind if you do that?"
> Turn to Renko.
> "What is that, anyway?"
> "Huh. So that's why she's a walking talking bicep."
> Look back over at Cirno.
> "Looks like you're getting it."
> Turn back to Renko.
> "Should I go ahead, then, and wait for you two to finish up?"
> "As soon as we can."
> "See you there."
> Look back at Cirno.
> "I'm counting on you to get that thing up soon. We don't have much time to lose."
> Head on over to Kourindou, but don't enter it yet.
> Nod back.
> "You here alone?"
> "Good. I think it's worth our time for the three of us to talk before our point girl gets here."
> Wait for Byakuren to emerge from the store.
> "I've come back from the mountain. Didn't get to the Moriya Shrine, but I managed to talk to a goddess in the forest at the foot of the shrine, who had some interesting things to say. We have plans on place to stop Rinnosuke physically."
> Tilt our head in Mokou's direction while saying that last sentence.
> "But we should probably also try to stop him spiritually. The physical route will knock his down; the spiritual route may keep his plan from ever getting back up."
> "The goddess proposed finding an ideal that trumps his ideal, and someone with a lot of faith in that ideal."
> "So we need an ideal that trumps the ideal of 'the beauty of exchange.' Do either of you have any ideas in that regard?"
> "Both interesting ideas. I think that bankrupting him would be difficult given the current situation, but swindling runs along similar lines, and I think we might be able to pull that off with some preparation."
> "As for creation, do we know anyone spiritual with the power of creation?"
> "Hmm. How much did Byakuren tell you about the details of why this is actually happening?"
> "That's the gist of it, yeah. He believes that trading makes magic energy. This isn't true, but he's so dedicated to the idea that his faith in the idea is actually starting to warp reality so it is true. His faith is what's causing this whole mess, which is why we may need to find a faith that trumps his to cut it off for good."
> "Patchouli doesn't seem to think they'll be able to stop this. And, to be totally honest, I know they have their faith, but I don't know if their ideals would be specifically suited for trumping his."
> Turn to Byakuren.
> "I think it's possible, yeah. I admit I don't know the specifics of faith, but I've been thinking about what might trump the beauty of exchange, and I wonder if it couldn't be trumped by the beauty of giving. And, well, you're the best combination of spiritual and giving that I know."
> Frown.
> "That's the hangup with that plan. I don't know."
> "Then maybe we should revisit it once we've put a stop to the immediate concern."
> Turn back to Mokou.
> "Now, before this gets done, has this guy ever done any favors for you?"
> "Okay, good. I suspect that he won't be able to force you into working for him, then."
> "We're all hoping so."
> Grin.
> "But you don't seem the easily-swayed type, so I think we'll be okay."
> Give a wave in Renko and Cirno a wave while speaking.
> "Wow, that didn't take long, getting that weight upright."
> Nod.
> "Good. We're gonna need all the cunning we can get."
> Gesture at the door.
> "How much did Renko tell you about why we need you?"
> "That guy in there? He stole everyone's money."
> "He's also going to use this money to give himself almost limitless power. That'll be everyone's problem."
> Shrug.
> "He told me so himself."
> "Could be. But we can go down there and find out for sure, if you like."
> Raise an eyebrow.
> "Really? Why not?"
> Look inside with a quizzical look on our face for a couple of seconds, then turn to Byakuren.
> "I don't see any traps in there. You were just inside. Did you see any traps?"
> "Huh. I went in there yesterday and didn't get caught. Let me try again."
> Unsheath our trident, walk over and step into the store.
> Step back outside.
> "Oh, that? I've felt that. Funny thing, I stopped touching what I was touching, and the pain stopped."
> Frown.
> "You callin' me a liar?"
> Shrug.
> "All right, if you don't want to go in."
> Turn to Byakuren. If we can without Cirno seeing us, wink and grin.
> "I guess we'll need another plan, since our primary partner is too scared to enter the store."
> How did Renko seem to react to the most recent lines of conversation?
> Frown, then sigh and turn back to Reiko.
> "No, I'm not gonna do this to you. If you want to stick around, I'd be glad to have your mind on hand, but I'd understand if you two wanted to leave."
> "Nope. I can come up with some other ideas to deal with this threat. You were the one I wanted the most, but if you refuse to go in, then you refuse to go in. Us arguing about it is just gonna make Renko more uncomfortable, and that's not fair to her."
> "I don't have a choice. Whoever that is in there, if he's the shopkeeper or not, he's doing something he can't be allowed to do, for the sake of everyone in Gensokyo."
> Smile.
> "Thanks."
> Follow her in.
> "Be right there!"
> Look at Byakuren as we're going in.
> "Yeah. Both of you should probably play goalie from upstairs on the inside."
> "Yeah. Keep sharp ears out."
> Finish going inside.
> "It's all downstairs, along with all the money. But we need to make sure not to touch any of it."
> Follow her down the stairs.
> "Yeah, it's pretty impressive, even given the circumstances."
> Lean over to Renko and lower our voice.
> "Try reaching out for the money. You can't even get far enough to grab it."
> Look over to Rinnosuke and give our voice tone a slight grin.
> "C'mon, man. She didn't even break anything of yours, you could at least give her the time of day."
> "Too busy for a trade for Marisa?"
> "Eh, whatever. She can wait a bit anyway."
> Turn to Cirno.
> "I don't think he's gonna tell you much of anything."
> "That looks like what happened when Renko tried to reach for the money. You might need a more indirect approach."
> "Hmm. Shooting him doesn't work, and shooting the money doesn't work. I can tell you from experience that shooting his other treasures won't work, unless you want to get zapped again. Maybe there's a way to directly affect him without shooting him?"
> Chuckle a bit.
> "Aha, now there's an idea. You can't get at him physically, but there are more ways to get at someone than physically. You could make him feel bad, like that. Or maybe you could make him uncomfortable, by making him really cold."
> Frown.
> "Is that an issue? I figured you could make the entire room really cold. Then it wouldn't matter where he was."
> "There you go, that'll do it."
> Give Renko a meaningful look and take a step away from where the ice is forming, ideally toward the entrance to the basement.
> Give Renko a small grin.
> "Don't you get any ideas, now. Like Cirno said, that stuff hurts."
> "Depends on where this goes, I guess."
> Gesture at the ice puddle.
> Does it feel any colder in the room?
> Has the ice yet begun to approach any of the money?
> Turn to Renko.
> "Can you call down the folks upstairs? They'll probably want to watch this display of power unfold."
> "Well, I guess they don't have to come down all the way. Byakuren might be able to hang out on the stairs, at least."