Megumu Iizunamaru
Megumu Iizunamaru's Fantasy Rebirth Story
Where am I? I feel like I've been here before...
And what's that smell? It's making me hungry!
Megumu
Welcome to one of my exclusive rooms...
Megumu
The Ultimate Rice Ball Lounge!
This is super sketchy, Miss Megumu.
Megumu
Haha, sorry about that. But I'm not joking, you know.
Megumu
The reason I went out of my way to abduct you and bring you here―
You abducted me?!
Megumu
Relax. I just needed to talk to you in private. Hardly any tengu come through here so no one will overhear us.
Megumu
You know how it is with crow tengu. The walls have ears.
Miss Aya and Miss Hatate would be all over this.
Megumu
Exactly. This is staying under wraps until my book drops.
Megumu
Once things settle down, I'll publish it through the Great Tengu Press, complete with a special on the Lost Word Incident.
So you ARE publishing it! Classic crow tengu move.
Megumu
And proud of it.
Megumu
Now, I have some critical information that I must share with you.
Megumu
Lord Tenma stands as our highest authority, ruling not just the tengu but the entire Youkai Mountain.
Megumu
And the mountain's a mess. Suika Ibuki's back, the Moriya Shrine appeared, a bunch of gods like Chimata are waking up.
Megumu
Also with the Izanagi Objects in the Rainbow Dragon Cave, the key facilities in the sanctuary... everything's messier.
Megumu
Of course, Lord Tenma is weighing all of this carefully, working out the best response to the Lost Word Incident...
Megumu
But who knows?!
Sooo, no word from Lord Tenma, huh?
Megumu
Sharp as ever. Even a great tengu like me is just middle management, you know.
Megumu
And it's not like I can simply poke Lord Tenma for answers. Luckily, I've got a pretty good idea of what they'd say.
And what would that be...?
Megumu
Well, to be frank, there are things I can tell you, and things I can't. You're human, after all.
Y-Yeah, figured as much...
Megumu
But there are things you should know. And if I put on my crow tengu hat for a moment, I'd say...
Megumu
Just spitting out facts doesn't make them the truth.
Megumu
So here's how we'll do this. I'm just going to think out loud, and what you do with that information is your call.
Megumu
You can ignore it, use it to resolve the Lost Word Incident, or find some other use for it. It's totally up to you.
Megumu
Sound good?
...Yeah, more than I could ask for.
Megumu
Great.
Megumu
But once I start rambling, your stomach's going to start growling.
(Does this mean I get to eat the legendary rice balls?!)
Megumu
Yep. Rice ball time!
Woohoo! Best kidnapping ever!
Megumu
So, tengu are famous, sure... but we're also pretty weird, even by youkai standards.
Megumu
Ask humans where we came from and you'll get every answer under the sun. Monks, divine birds, shooting stars...
Megumu
Cousins of kappa, cousins of oni... you name it. Some even think we're aliens.
Oh, so people see tengu kidnappings as...!
Megumu
Yep. Alien abductions. We're not letting the Lunarians and the shapeshifting youkai hog all the weird theories.
Megumu
Some even thought our hidden tengu village was a spaceship... or on another planet entirely.
Megumu
Back then, humans told tales of tengu kidnappings that could easily be mistaken for alien abductions.
Megumu
Actually, in Gensokyo, they still might.
I mean... I was abducted and brought here.
Megumu
Not at all! This one is totally by consent. ...Oops, I forgot we're not supposed to be having a conversation!
Megumu
Anyway, the point is... tengu are unique. One of a kind.
Megumu
Everyone thinks of oni as ancient beings, but depending on who you ask, tengu are just as ancient.
Megumu
We've been watching over Gensokyo for a long, long time. And that brings us to the real topic for the day.
*gulp*
Megumu
What I'm about to tell you is the legend of...
Megumu
The Shrine Maiden Killings!
(Killings?!)
Megumu
Shrine Maiden Killings, or regicide. Back then, the two were basically the same thing.
Megumu
These days, at least in the outside world, humans like to pretend they live in peace.
Megumu
When disaster hits and the leader fails to solve the issue, what do they do?
Megumu
Swap the leader out for a new one.
Megumu
Sure, there are all sorts of political systems now, but it's all the same game.
Megumu
Swap the leader, cross your fingers, and if they fail... swap again.
Megumu
But that's the modern solution. For most of human history...
Megumu
...failure meant death. Leaders didn't step down. They were cut down. Regicide, in short.
Megumu
Whether they called it a revolution, a coup, or a conquest. Whatever the label, the blade fell the same way.
Megumu
Honestly, human history is mostly that. Nowadays they've just gotten better at killing leaders without actually killing them.
Megumu
And if you go even further back, politics was basically religion. Shamans ran the show by talking to gods and reading omens.
Megumu
When the harvest was good and everyone was healthy, the shrine maiden was honored. Festivals kept spirits high.
Megumu
But if the crops failed, if disaster struck, if sickness spread, or if enemies attacked... then the shrine maiden was sacrificed.
Megumu
Because it meant she'd lost her connection to the gods. And a shrine maiden who couldn't reach the gods... was worthless.
Megumu
So they'd replace her with someone new.
Megumu
The next shrine maiden.
(No way!)
Megumu
The shrine maiden is killed. The king is killed.
Megumu
Some saw it as a sacrifice to appease angry gods. Others as clearing the seat for the next candidate.
Megumu
But that's not what it was really about. It was because they failed, and that failure cost them everything.
Megumu
Desperate prayers brought crushing disappointment. Judging them by today's standards is pure arrogance born of comfort.
Megumu
If the harvest failed, you starved and died. If sickness spread, you suffered and died. If enemies attacked, you just died.
Megumu
And it was not only one person. It was the whole family, friends, everyone they cared about.
Megumu
Of course they pinned all their hopes on the shrine maiden's prayers. In the old days, that was survival. That was life.
But real shrine maidens still exist in Gensokyo...
Megumu
Maybe that was a bit too dark. But you heard it, so oh well.
Megumu
You're right. Gensokyo has real shrine maidens. In some ways, things here are still the same as they were back then.
Megumu
Think about it. Reimu is vital to Gensokyo and trusted by all the villagers. So why does she live so far away from them?
Megumu
It's not simply about where the shrine happens to be. It's because that's what being a shrine maiden means.
Megumu
Her life and death are dictated by the needs of the people. In other words, sometimes a shrine maiden is...
Megumu
...not even treated as human.
Not treated as human...?
Megumu
We tengu have watched Hakurei Shrine for ages... and we've seen shrine maidens treated horribly.
Megumu
But I hope you understand that this isn't just about the Hakurei shrine maiden.
Megumu
This is about anyone who's got an ability.
What do you mean?
Megumu
Shrine maidens channel gods. But leaders, doctors, scholars, priests, warriors... can also do things that others can't.
Megumu
That ability alone dooms them to a life of service.
Megumu
And with it comes exploitation, exhaustion, disappointment...
Megumu
...and sometimes death.
Megumu
That's why most humans cling to being ordinary. At the same time, they worship the gifted so they can bask in the benefits.
Megumu
That's just human nature.
That's not true!
I don't see Reimu, or any of you, that way!
Megumu
That's not what I meant.
Megumu
I think you've misunderstood.
What...?
Megumu
I wasn't talking about Reimu or anyone else being special.
Megumu
I was talking about...
Megumu
You.
Megumu
PLAYER.
Me?
Megumu
All right, that's enough rambling from me.
Megumu
Now, let's see what you have for me. You have it on you, don't you?
Oh, OK!
Megumu
Hm, I see. This is just the sort of thing the sages would plan.
Megumu
Let them know that I now understand what they're trying to do.
...OK.
Megumu
...
Megumu
PLAYER.
Yes?
Megumu
Let me make you a promise.
Megumu
You're probably juggling a lot right now.
Megumu
You're practically in a shrine maiden's shoes. You can feel the burden Reimu and her predecessors bore.
Megumu
And that unspeakable fear hidden behind what those expectations really mean must be eating you alive.
Yeah...
Megumu
The only cure for that crushing fear is to face it. There's no other way but to resolve the Lost Word Incident.
Megumu
So I promise you one thing.
Megumu
I'll be right there with you until the very end. And it won't be just me. Every last crow tengu will be by your side.
Every tengu?!
Megumu
Even at the edge of the world, we'll be there snapping pics, scribbling notes, and broadcasting it all live.
Megumu
So keep flying! We're all tuned in.
Megumu
Together, we'll make headlines with our good news!
Yeah!
Costume Presentation
Megumu
The big incident is a threat to tengu society... and all of Gensokyo. It's what the Tenma feared. Now, we need a plan. Luckily, we have the most important card needed to resolve this incident... Yes, you. You're Gensokyo's trump card.
