This is the translation for the prologue of this Light Novel, which can be bought here.

Note: I don’t own this Light Novel, but the translation is my own and helped by my friend.

Back when I was still at Terakoya, I had once looked upon the Hieda mansion from afar. Aside from the large size, the earthen walls that dwarfed my height, as well as the firm gate with a thickness that seemed like nothing could possibly cause it to budge, it made me think that something dangerous and terrifying lurked within it, and that thought terrified me. I have grown a little taller since then, and my mind and body should have grown stronger, but that sense of fear I felt back then still seemed to linger.

I thanked the man who carried me inside the basket all the way here and stood around for a while, after which the man muttered in a low voice.

“The current lord of the Hieda family is a child around your age, you know. I’ve only seen her in person once, but her cuteness was nothing short of divine.” After saying that, the man laughed loudly. “Though if it’s you, I don’t think you would lose to her. Proceed with confidence.”

“Thank you… very much.” I was bad with strangers, so despite having more to say, that was all I could manage. Even so, it was an improvement compared to the past.

“I’ll be going now, please wait here.”

“Got it, that’s my job after all.”

Just like me, this person also had a job. With that reassurance, I was able to travel to the Hieda house with a peace of mind. After standing in front of the gate and calling out loud, an old lady wearing a slightly dark blue kimono came out with a scary expression on her face.

“Shrine maiden, what business do you have with this house?”

“Um… I… have something I need to speak to the Head about…”

“In other words, you have some business with Lady Akyū?”

Akyū – that must be the name of the Head. Just from hearing it once, I would not know if it was a male or a female, but considering she was described as being ‘as cute as me’, they must be a girl.

“It seems to be so, I assume you were called over by the Lady and came to play?”

The old lady seemed to think that I came here just to play. That thought made me feel offended in two ways; I was the person who would eventually take over as the Hakurei shrine maiden, and I came here with proper business. It would be important for me to first convey that to her.

“I have something to tell the head of the Hieda family. I come bearing the Hakurei name in place of the current generation. Would you please tell her that I wish to talk about the arm that had been entrusted to this place in the past?”

I looked up at the old lady’s face and tried my best to squeeze out the right words. To speak like an adult. For a moment, the old lady seemed to be taken aback, but simply nodded with a tense expression.

“I understand, I will guide you to the waiting room. As the Lady is currently in the middle of writing, I may have to ask you to wait for a short while, so I would be grateful for your forgiveness.”

The old lady turned around and invited me inside. In other words, I was being recognized as a proper guest. The rooms we passed by were typical eight tatami size, with a low-footed table and cushion at the center. The walls were decorated with a calligraphy scroll, and to its side was a beautiful white vase. If they had known in advance that people would be passing through, flowers would have surely been placed in there. I was served tea and sweets, and sat on the cushion as I waited for Akyū’s arrival.

After a while, a girl with bobbed hair appeared. Behind her, a different adult carried a wooden box with his arm and placed it on the table. He then bowed respectfully and left the room in silence, leaving me alone with the kappa-looking girl.

“You must be the Hakurei shrine maiden’s representative. How do you write the characters for your name, ‘Reimu’?”

“My name-taking ceremony has yet to take place, so it’s just ‘Reimu’ written in hiragana.”

“I see… Understood. My name is Hieda Akyū.”

After Akyū said that, she gently traced the box with her finger.

“The moment I heard it was about the arm, I came over right away. I was told of such a story by the Head two generations ago, which would be my grandmother.” Akyū effortlessly unravelled the string, opened the lid and showed me the contents. The smell coming out of it was terrible enough to make one gag, but Akyū kept her composure. It was as if she was used to smelling such things. Within the box, I could see something that resembled a human arm, and it was solidified in a grabbing gesture. “There are many kinds of works this hand. My clan is no exception, and there will certainly come a day when I can no longer avert my eyes from it. When that time comes, it was said that someone who would be able to properly solve the mystery behind this hand might appear. Are you the person I’ve been waiting for?”

“To be exact, my teacher, the person known as the current generation of the Hakurei, was the one who solved it.”

“I see… However, this arm has been managed by the Hieda family for a long time. We have taken quite a risk just by continuing to hide the identity of the arm.

“Even if you are a messenger from the Hakurei, you’re not thinking about getting your hands on it at no cost, right?”

Akyū pointed her gaze at me, as if she was expecting something. But even if she mentioned a price, I had no idea what I was to offer.

“If I’m allowed to be a little more straightforward, I want you as compensation.”

“Um, me, you say?” It was one thing if she desired money or precious goods, but I never imagined that she would ask for me. “Are you really fine with me?”

The response that came out showed my crumbling composure in response to her unexpected words. Akyū then gave me a slightly unreserved smile.

“To be exact, I want to hear about your experiences with confronting Youkai after you’ve taken on the role as the Hakurei shrine maiden. It’s for the sake of the duty that I must fulfil.”

“Duty…?”

“Yes, just like how you had no choice but to become a shrine maiden from a young age. I was also tasked with weaving into writing the history of Youkai from the moment I was born. However, what we call ‘Youkai’ do not always remain the same. They change according to the state of the human world. That is why it is not enough to rewrite the books of old in modern words. I believe that your eyes and ears, as well as your words will be of great use.”

Akyū’s smile was quite similar to Teacher’s, as if she believed that I had the capability. “I am not asking for you to head out frequently. Whenever anything interesting happens, as long as it can be widely publicized, that will be fine with me too.”

“If it’s just that, and nothing else…” If it was something like this incident – one which I did not fully understand – I felt like if it was Akyū, she would be willing to listen to me seriously and give me a truthful response. “I guess I can make some time for something like that.”

“If that’s what you want, then I don’t think it’s a huge deal…” Even when it was for events like this, which I didn’t fully understand, Akyū still listened seriously, and so I picked the correct answer. “Alright, I think I can take around some time.”

“I’m happy to hear that, but please do keep it in mind. The condition that the current generation of the Hakurei is willing to fully cooperate for the sake of writing the chronicle of Gensokyo, will serve as grounds for us to be able to trade for goods that will save one of the clans involved from a life-or-death situation. Furthermore, this will become an important connection for you; after all, apart from the current generation Hakurei, you have no foundation within this village.”

Akyū was implying that she wished to make things a little easier for me, for when I eventually become the Hakurei shrine maiden. I was grateful for that, but I could not understand why Akyū was willing to go this far to help me, despite us having never met before. Then, as if she was able to tell my doubts, Akyū explained the reason behind it.

“I was asked to do so by the woman who became the first Hakurei shrine maiden in this village. That when the time comes for an outsider like her to take over the role of the shrine maiden, I was to avoid letting them go through the same hardships as her if possible.”

Akyū talked about that Hakurei as if she were an old acquaintance. Even though the first shrine maiden should have died nearly a hundred years ago.

“Moreover, I too feel sympathy for you, who had a duty you could not refuse imposed upon you from a young age. Since I am also the same. I believe we’re quite similar, you and I.”

Akyū seemed to think that I hated becoming a shrine maiden. And if I had responded accordingly, Akyū likely would have handed over the arm right away. Even so, I did not want to tell a lie and deceive her.

“I’ve never thought about it like that. When I was first told that I was to become a shrine maiden, I wasn’t so sure. But now, I don’t think it’s that bad if it means becoming the same as my teacher who raised me.”

“But…! To become a shrine maiden in this village means to fight against Youkai, you know!”

Changing from her usual calm way of speaking, Akyū began to angrily speak in a shrill voice like a child. “Those people, they all possess a great and troublesome power. I know all about it since I’m a Child of Miare. It must be a difficult job. You’re… Reimu, you’re being deceived. They’re just pushing all the inconvenient things onto you because you were born an outsider and don’t know anything!”

When Akyū finished saying all that, she pressed her hand to her chest and started coughing badly. Even though tears flowed down from her eyes and she looked like she was suffering, I could not do anything but look on anxiously.

“Those… Those adults, they’re all like that… Those damned adults!” After Akyū managed to squeeze out those words, she began taking a lot of deep breaths, trying to stabilize her breathing. When she turned her head back towards me again, there was no smile, no anger, no expression at all to be found on her face. “I apologize for showing you this unsightly side of mine. Feel free to take that arm.”

“Instead, I’ll… come to talk to you whenever I run into an incident with Youkai.”

“That’s alright, you don’t have to do it. That was but a delusion of mine, please forget about it.”

“You were the one who said that I’d have something to gain from abiding to this condition.”

“Ah… in that case, do whatever you like. But I believe that I’ll always be in a sick or injured state whenever you come and visit.”

After a short while, I gave her a big nod, before tying the string back up and carrying the box in my arms.

“Now that you’re done with your business here, please leave quickly, alright?”

It seemed that Akyū came to dislike me, since she could not get me to feel the same way as her. It was sad, but all I could think about was that the same thing as back then had occurred again. When I was going to Terakoya, I could not see eye-to-eye with the other children I studied with. The adults told me many times to be cordial and considerate to them. Even though I had always been trying to do that. They ended up saying that I was selfish and causing trouble for everyone else.

The words ‘I’m sorry’ would not come out of my mouth. After all, the other person might get angry if I apologized too much. I understood that the best course of action was to leave without saying anything.

When I exited the room, the old lady that guided me to this room was there, and she had a terribly sad expression on her face. She must have heard the whole conversation that happened in the room. As I was guided out of the mansion, I whispered to her after a little hesitation.

“I… think I made Akyū angry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Her getting riled up and throwing a tantrum about her job is an everyday occurrence.”

“She thinks that being the Hakurei shrine maiden is a tough job. But I could not understand that feeling. I… am always like that.”

Teacher was willing to forgive me no matter what I said or did, but it was not because I understood her. I was certain that she was only showing forgiveness out of consideration for my lack of understanding.

“It’s impossible for you to understand another person’s heart. For as long as they refuse to talk to you, that is.”

The old lady whispered that to me, then prefaced with ‘it’s just an old person’s nonsense’ before continuing.

“What we call a ‘person who understands the feelings of others’ is not the one who speaks first, but rather the one who listens first. Even if it’s not everything, there will certainly be things you can pick up from listening, and now you simply have to initiate the conversation from there. If you do that, the other party will be willing to talk again, and from listening to that, you’ll understand more and more. To understand the feelings of others is to go through this cycle of repetition.”

“Do I… need to listen more to her words, then?”

“If you think you want to listen to her, that is.”

“But she said that whenever I come here, she’ll always be sick or injured.”

As I voiced my thoughts that Akyū might be telling me to not come in a roundabout way, the old lady shook her head slightly.

“There will be times when she’ll actually be sick due to her weak body, but otherwise I think you’ll still be invited in. She’ll get mad at me if I say this, but Lady Akyū gets lonely easily. I’m sure she’ll be happy whenever you stop by.”

I did not really understand how one could feel lonely despite living in such a large mansion and having people to take care of her. Whenever Teacher went out and I was left all alone, it was not like I could not see anyone else, so I did not think that Akyū would feel so much anxiety that she would be on the verge of tears.

When Teacher went out and left me alone, it was doubtful that Akyū would feel so much anxiety that she would feel like she wanted to cry because she wouldn’t be able to see anybody else. However, the old lady in front of me did not seem like a liar, and it really seemed like Akyū was suffering when she raised her temper at me.

Even so, despite hearing all of that I still could not forgive her. At least, not right away.

“I can’t promise you exactly when it’ll happen., but… I think I’ll come visit again.”

That response was all I could muster, but the old lady remained silent. She simply sent me out of the mansion with a somewhat warmer expression compared to when she invited me in. I got into the basket of the man that waited for me and returned home, rattling and shaking the whole way. My amount of worries had increased, but I thought that I should focus on exterminating the Youkai for now.

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