Meet the Tengu

Editor: Crembo

1 Week has passed since Sakuya kicked my ass. Yes, even though I won, I'm the only one who's in pain after the battle...

Ugh.

Let's get back on topic. A week has passed, and so my monthly quest cleared.

[Monthly Quest - Completed]

[Live in Gensokyo for 1 month]

[Reward: 20.000 AP & IP]

Along with the points, completing this quest indicated I've already been living in Gensokyo for a month. Time really flies when you're having fun. And by having fun, I mean battling monsters every day using superpowers… For fuck's sake, they just keep coming, and every one of them boasts about how they're stronger than the previous weaklings I fought! Freaking weakling... No, really, all of the Youkai that have picked a fight with me so far have been weak. I guess the more powerful ones don't really care about a single human, which I'm thankful for.

And speaking of 1 month, EoSD happens at the end of summer. It's autumn right now, and based on my memory, nothing big happens in Gensokyo until Perfect Cherry Blossom (PCB), which starts in the Spring and ends at late Spring, meaning spring in Gensokyo only lasts 1 month that time, and with that I get like more than 6 months to prepare before the big fight.

… What big fight, you ask? Fufufu, I already learned after Flandre's incident that the system will forcefully make me fight something using its Quest Penalty System, so I'm gonna be "training montage"-ing my Danmaku and flying skills, and every other kickass ability I might buy in the future.

So, let's talk about the new stuff in this past week; here are the results of the random roll:

[Iron Stomach]

[Lets your stomach digest any kind of food without making you sick.]

[Gaia Tattoo]

[Makes your body and mind very healthy and makes them immune to any illness.]

… Is this some kind of "Super Healthy Package"? Buy one, get one free? It's not like I hate it, but why are both of them related to healthiness? Just out of curiosity, why tho?

Anyway, Iron Stomach basically prevents me from getting stomach ache but food that tastes bad will still taste bad. The tattoo, on the other hand, I can consider a jackpot: now I'm immune to any bodily or mental debuff, including poison and mental influences, which in supernatural world is a godsend. I put the tattoo on my chest, where my heart is. Its pattern is a nucleus, with a brown root with a leaf on each end of the roots surrounding it, giving the tattoo a circular shape. Even though I like black, the nucleus and leaves are green... Well, it's Gaia after all.

Back when I got the tattoo, I thought about giving this tattoo to Akyuu, but the System blocked me.

[Magic Items cannot be given to other people, only Consumable Items can be given to other people.]

So, yeah… I can't really do anything about it.

As for my existing abilities, I upgraded them.

[Magical Sense Lv.3 – Lv.4 – Lv Max] = 16.000 + 32.000 = 48.000 AP

[Body Enhancement Lv.2 – Lv.3 – Lv.4] = 12.000 + 24.000 = 36.000 AP

Now, Magical Sense can directly detect any trace of magic. No more sonar-type detection, no more becoming a human beacon, just straight up sensing anything magical in the area.

As for Body Enhancement, I… I just suddenly got buffed up when I leveled it. T-the sensation is a little strange, my body feels so… firm, but I got used to it after a few days, so it's okay, I guess.

And with those ability upgrades, my level went up:

[Lv.45 Young Philanderer, Arah]

It only went up 2 levels, guess the upgrades are too small to consider me more threatening than the me before the upgrade... But, that title! I only told beautiful people that they are beautiful, and cute people they are cute... Is it because I said it to their faces? But why did they call me a Philanderer just for that? I'M CONFUSED!

... Well, enough about that. I'd better focus on what I'm doing right now. Right, if someone asked me what I'm doing right now, I would tell them that I'm playing with a dog. Yes, a dog. Many dogs, in fact.

"Pincer formation, surround the intruder!"

I have been surrounded by white dog-people, a.k.a the White Wolf Tengu.

"Can we talk about this? I mean, I didn't know that I was trespassing on Tengu territory, so can you guys let me go?"

"Then what are you doing here, human? The Youkai Forest is a place where many Youkai live, humans are not welcome in here." Said one of the male Tengu while pointing his giant scimitar at me.

All of them wore a white, long-sleeved shirt, and a large black skirt with red flame-like designs reaching up its bottom, with a white layer underneath the skirt. All of them had short light silver hair, wolf ears and tail and a red Tokin, that's the red box thingy every Tengu wears on their head. They held large scimitar-like swords and a white, round shield with a red maple leaf print on it.

"Well, I'm gathering magic ingredients, you see. I sensed that there's a lot of them in here in autumn, and I kinda got lost in my collecting quest and ended up here." I explain.

"I see, greed it is. Then we will make you an example for those who try to trespass in our territory." He started to take his battle stance, his fellow Tengu following his action.

"Can we just like use Danmaku to settle this?" I ask them with a smile.

"…" They just silently stared at me with their shield in front.

'…They are not answering… Perfect, I did want to test fighting against a group of enemies.'

I look at their Status.

[Lv.35 White Wolf Tengu Patroller]

[Lv.37 White Wolf Tengu Patroller]

[Lv.35 White Wolf Tengu Patroller]

And there's like 2 more to my back, I can sense them.

'He who strikes first will win.'

I sent an Energy Laser toward the middle Tengu, which he blocked with his shield, while his two companion dashed forward, swinging their scimitars at me.

As I deflected them and sent them flying backward, the two Tengu behind me started to move. I raised my hands, both my palms held in their direction by relying on my sense, and shot at them with a laser, both of them dodging it.

The Tengu who blocked my first shot dashed forward, jump-slashing toward me. I jumped backward to dodge it, but after his attack missed, accelerated forward immediately using Vector Change, and punched him in the face. My attack connected and he was sent flying backward from my punch.

His friends didn't take my actions kindly. One in front of me and one behind started attacking at the same time. Both of them swung their scimitars diagonally. I stopped their attacks by grabbing their scimitars. Both of them looked surprised with what I did, but the other two also started swinging their weapons at me.

'Send these two to disrupt the other two Tengu. '

The two Tengu I stopped started flying toward their friends. The Tengu that I targeted were surprised by having their friends suddenly rocketing towards them, all of them colliding with each other. While they are still in the 'two for one deal' position, I laser them down, putting four of them out cold.

'When you don't need to make any gestures and then everything starts exploding, that's when you know you're an OP character.'

I look at the Tengu that I punched in the face. His face look okay, but he's angry at me.

"Don't worry about your friends, I just fired Danmaku at them, they'll be okay with a little rest."

"…Damn you, human." He once again took his battle stance.

"Whoa, wait, there's no need to fight me now, I really am gonna go-""TAKE THIS!" He once again dashed toward me.

'Dammit, Youkai and their stupid pride.'

He swung his scimitar and I summoned my Light Saber, deflecting his attack, his arm holding the scimitar going up because of the deflection while the other positioned his shield in front.

One good thing about my light saber is that I can make it solid whenever I want, and this is one example of it.

I sped to him with the help of Vector Change and then slashed through him.

He fell forward while my light saber disappeared from my hand.

I looked back at his body; he's still on the ground, unconscious from my attack. I look at the other Tengu, all of them still unconscious. I checked the surrounding for any other threat, and I didn't sense anything.

"*sigh*" I breathed out a relieved sigh.

"I better get out of this area." I walked away from the direction of the mountain, until I got an idea.

"…Oh no, I got another bad idea but my teasing personality keeps tingling, so…Yolo?" I turned around.

I searched for a big waterfall in the Mountain Area, and after I found it, I started waving like crazy at its direction.

'…Hope that waterfall is the one where Momiji's at.' I started smiling when I thought that.

After like 10 seconds of waving like a mad man, I started running from this place.

"Now, let's seriously go away from this area."

And I left the scene of my crime.

-Evening, Hakurei Shrine-

-Me POV-​

*sip*

"…This green tea is bitter like always." I commented about the tea I was drinking.

"Green tea is always bitter in the first place. If you're hoping the taste will change after drinking it so many times, there must be something wrong with your head." Reimu replied.

I'm in Reimu's house, where I usually come after I've already filled up my collecting quota. Also, the view from here is great. No wonder all the characters are always having parties in her shrine.

"Reimu, do you only have green tea to drink?"

"… You should feel grateful that I'm even serving you a drink."

"Aren't you the one who should feel grateful that I help you with sweeping the leaves near the shrine?" I countered.

"… Do you wanna get hit?" she countered my counter with a threat.

"I'm sorry, I'm really grateful for this delicious tea."

"… Good."

And so we resumed chilling while drinking our tea; Reimu and I sitting on the porch, me sitting cross-legged while Reimu does her seiza look-alike sitting, you know, that sitting pose every anime girl in Japan uses, as we looked at the whole land of Gensokyo until the sun set over the horizon.

This is like our little routine each time I come by her place. Marisa also sometimes comes to play, but today, she wasn't here. Usually she's already here when I come.

Speaking of Marisa, she's placing a new order for Magical Ingredients, and so is Alice. The season's changed, and so the available Magic Ingredients have changed as well. That's also why I bumped into the Tengu this morning, the Youkai Mountain is the new gathering spot in the Autumn... The Forest of Magic also has the ingredients, but it's fewer than when it's summer.

Just as I thinking of that, I sensed something coming from the sky and immediately activated my Counter Armor.

The thing landed in front of us. It produced a lot of wind when it landed, making Reimu close her eyes, but I was okay because I had the Armor covering my body.

I looked at the figure. It was a girl, she had black wings, red eyes, pointed ears and semi-long black hair. She wore a white blouse, black short skirt, and a tokin on her head. She was also holding a camera in her hand.

She pointed her camera at me.

*Click* And took my photo.

I looked at her status.

[Lv.75 Traditional Reporter of Fantasy, Shameimaru Aya]

"Good Evening! It's your honest and truthful Reporter, Shameimaru Aya." She announced her arrival cheerfully.

'... Oh great, it's Aya, somehow I already feel tired.'

"… Can you do something about the wind next time?" complained Reimu.

"Ayayayaya, sorry, next time I will arrive more quietly." Aya apologized.

Aya thrust a piece of paper toward Reimu. It's a newspaper! "Here is the new issue of Bunbunmaru Newspaper, please take it."

"In the evening? That's rare." She received it.

"Well, something happened this morning so I had to include that in the newspaper too."

'… Oh no…'

"… Smoke in Magician's house… Kappa new Invention… A new type of maid spotted in the Human Market… There's nothing that looks noteworthy enough to make you late in giving your newspaper, in my opinion."

"You're looking at the back side, Reimu-san; you just flipped sides when you took it."

"Oh," Reimu flipped it, and started reading. "Is it a Human or a Youkai? Tengu Patrollers attacked by mysterious assailant."

I peeked at the newspaper in Reimu's hand. It had a clear picture of me taken from high above, standing in front of 6 unconscious White Wolf Tengu.

Reimu turned her head towards me, while Aya took out her notebook.

"I have my reasons." I immediately responded.

Reimu now turned her body completely in my direction. "Explain." She said coldly.

… I also turned my body in her direction from pure pressure

'… I'll say it again, this is bullshit, I got scared by someone who looks younger than me.'

"I accidently trespassed on their territory and because they wouldn't let me go peacefully, I beat them up." I gave my excuse.

*scribble* *scribble* The sound of Aya scribbling in her notebook filled the air.

"Why were you in the Youkai Mountain Area?"

"Collecting Magic Ingredients."

*scribble* *scribble*

"Why there?"

"There's a lot there in Autumn."

*scribble* *scribble*

"Why?"

Dude, her questions keep getting shorter.

"Work."

*scribble* *scribble*

"…"

And then she crossed her arms, thinking.

I glanced at Aya. She looked happy at my interrogation.

"This picture was taken this morning right?" Reimu asked.

"Yes." Aya answered.

"Arah, have you taken any injuries in that fight?"

"Nope."

"… Then I will allow you to go there, but always keep your guard up, because you're in Youkai Territory."

"Yes, ma'am."

*scribble* *scribble*

I changed my sitting direction to look at Aya now.

"So, who are you Tengu-san?"

Aya stopped writing, and started introducing herself.

"Hello, my name is Shameimaru Aya, you can call me Aya; I'm a reporter from the Bunbunmaru Newspaper, which is also run by me. Our newspaper covers the entirety of Gensokyo and we deliver the most accurate information." She lightly bowed.

"Y-yes, my name is Arah, a human, originally an outsider, but I've already been living in Gensokyo for a month." I was surprised by the bow but I introduced myself and lightly bowed to her too at the end.

"Hooh~ an Outsider, interesting! Then, can I get an interview about this morning?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Great." She prepared her notebook and started writing something in it.

I looked at Reimu, but she didn't appear to be giving a fuck and kept drinking her tea. Typical Reimu.

"Since Reimu-san already asked some of the question I wanted to ask, this will be fast."

And our Q&A session began.

"How did you defeat our Patrol?"

"Using my ability."

"What is your ability?"

"No comment."

"What was your opinion while you were battling against our patrol?"

"…Hmm, their coordination is good and all, but the enemy was just that bad of a match up with my ability."

"… Ayaya, I see." She starts writing more furiously than my other answer.

'… I got a feeling the next time I go to the forest, it's gonna be even more noisy than today.'

"Okay, these are all the questions I have for you, sorry for the inconvenience."

"Don't be Aya-san, there's no inconvenience if the questioner is someone cute."

*Smack*

I knew these familiar smacking sounds. I didn't need to look for the culprit. It's Reimu.

"Ayayaya, this is the first time a human has complimented my looks."

"Just ignore him when he says that."

"… Don't worry Reimu, you too are c-"*SMACK*

'REIMU, Y U DO THIS?! And it's harder as well.'

I held the back of my head, it hurt, my Counter Armor was still on but somehow she penetrated it.

"That was fun, but I have to go. Bye Reimu-san, bye Arah-kun."

She opened her wings and flew toward the Human Village.

"Is she gonna distribute her newspaper to the Human Village too?"

"Yeah."

"Dammit, that mean Akyuu will also see that news. I gotta calm her down before she makes a big fuss about it. Bye Reimu."

"Take care then."

And so I also flew toward Human Village, following the route I thought Aya took through the sky.

Author note:

Heyo, Author here, to be honest with you, I got a problem with concentrating when I write the series right now, it's different from a month ago, when I'm writing this fanfic when I'm fasting, I think there's correlation between hunger and concentration here, and I don't like it, and this is also making the release set back like 1 day, precious chapter also set backed by 1 day, making this chapter set backed by 2 days from the original schedule (I have a schedule?). Goddammit,

So yeah, PCB happen in the early spring, when there's still snow even when the Sakura/cherry blossom tree flower already bloomed or something, I don't know about the situation when PCB happen, need to dig the wiki again.