A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable objects and characters belong to their respective owners. Mainly Team Shanghai Alice for Touhou Project or, as per usual, my own characters belonging to me.

Note 2:

("Common Language [Japanese in this case]/Speech")

(‘Foreign Languages’)

("Thoughts (In their own native tongue)")

(Attacks/Weapon names)

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Written, Titles)

(Actions/POV)

(Titles/Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)

(Narration & Everything else)

(“Demonic Speech”)

(‘Demonic Thoughts’)

A Retired Officer’s Shop In The Eastern Wonderland Chapter 12

Gensyoko: Hakurei Shrine

August 30th, 2003: 2100

Third Person: Omni

“I think they have arrived.” Not a moment too late or a moment too early, the colorful individuals of the Scarlet Devil Mansion stand infront of the doorway into the shrine’s main hall.

“Hello, shrine maiden-san.” Remila did a curtsy to the host of the event… though the maiden in question did not want to host it in the first place. Behind her, all the others did the same at the signal of their mistress and, in one other’s case, sister.

“Honestly, just how many times are you going to make problems for me.” Reimu sat with one arm on a propped-up knee while the other leg was folded to the middle of her body. Her grin becoming a bit strained as she looked at the group.

“Well, that is neither here nor there,” Remila said with a smirk on her face as she stepped into the hall with her short steps, Sakuya falling in line behind her. Flandere walked in after the pair with Meling following closely behind. And finally, a girl with lavender hair and a nightgown stepped into the building with a woman with red hair and a stereotypical librarian outfit.

After they said their greetings to the host, Sakuya led Meling around to pass out the dishes and drinks they had prepared. Flandere immediately took to Desmond as he repositioned himself to a nearby empty table. Meling was quick in coming after her when all the plates and bottles were settled.

“Nee, Officer-san. How are you doing this night?” She was actually quite polite with him at the moment, a far cry from the usual unrestrained girl that head fun with. In fact, he could tell the polite manner of speech from her was quite strained, only barely keeping from breaking out in excited talking.

“I am doing well little miss vampire,” Desmond responded with a smile, though the pair of girls could only tell by the tone of his voice. He tilted his head slightly in a playful manner.

“Desmond could not provide any games for today, so simple games without any need for extra objects are what you will find. Though I do believe Remila and the fairies are playing something.” Desmond motioned to the trio messing with Marisa. While he was the main playmate of hers, Marisa was a close second in that regard. She had a quick goodbye before heading off to the group.

“May I have a drink with you Meling-san?” Desmond quickly asked before she went off to make sure Flandere had a caretaker. As she set up the final table of the room with alcohol and snacks, she quickly nodded in agreement. While not as elegant as Sakuya when it came to setting the table, it was still efficient.

“Of course Officer-san.” Desmond almost chuckled slightly, almost everyone knew he was Desmond, Meling was not one of them since she never actually met the man. She quickly sat on one of the cushions without much effort.

“It is some nice alcohol,” Desmond remarked after taking a sip of the sake. He already knew that they would prepare only the highest quality of dishes and refreshments for the party after all. He quickly pours her a cup before refilling his own.

“Kanpai!” They both remarked when they clinked the vessels together. Desmond noticed that Marisa finally got out of the predicament that was the group of what basically were children.

“Thank you for bringing me inside,” Meling said with a bow of her head. Yeah, she was the first line of defense and was just knocked out in her spell card battle. Something that would have had Sakuya leaving her there.

“Don’t worry about it, I couldn’t let anyone be on the ground like that. Especially a lady.” Desmond just waved his free hand before grabbing the gourd holding the alcohol. How they got the high-quality booze when they don’t interact with the human village much was something that he would never know.

“Y-y-yeah…” Desmond blinked in surprise at the sudden stammering of the woman. She was already slightly blushing, and it definitely was not from the alcohol. Meling spent a majority of the time as the gate guard, so comments like these were hard to come by.

“Right, you are a martial artist, right? Which style do you practice?” Meling took a second to recover from the comment before settling herself into the conversation once more.

“I practice the dragon style mainly. Though with how Spell Card battles are, it is hard for me to do much with my skills.” Indeed, she is a strong fighter when it came to more conventional combat. But even without the handy cap of having pretty spell cards, she got the feeling that she would have still lost to Marisa when she came barging in.

“Could I see one of your spell cards?” Desmond had never actually seen the physical manifestation of the card from anyone. Though it was not like he asked about them in the first place.

“Sure. Could you wait a second?” Desmond nodded his head in consent. Her eyes closed as she focused on the image of the card to summon it forth. Slowly, a card made of light appeared, floating and turning above Meling’s hand. Slowly but surely, the color started to flow into the card in place of the soft white light.

“This is my Flower Sign "Selaginella 9". I use it as one of the first cards in spell card battles.” Danmaku in red and green arrange themselves into a 6 petal flower with green acting as the petals and red acting as the center point.

Before she could with to another one, the girl with violet hair walked towards the table. Meling quickly put away the card before anyone else could spot it.

“So you were the officer who mediated the meeting.” The girl in the nightgown arrived at the group now, the girl that accompanied her was now being used as the replacement for Marisa, with the witch in question taking a break at the head table with Remila and Sakuya.

“It is nice to meet you, miss…?” The girl had violet hair underneath the mobcap that had some ornaments on it, like a crescent moon over her left eye along with some blue and purple ribbons. Her hair reached shoulder length and framed her purple eyes. Within her arms, a large grimoire was held.

“I hold the title: The Girl Of Great Knowledge and Shade from one of Remilia’s title-making events. But my name is Patchouli Knowledge.” Desmond stood up to give her a handshake.

“It is nice you meet you Knowledge-san.” Desmond quickly shook her free hand before offering a seat at the table alongside Meling. He noticed her slightly weak pulse and grip as he shook her hand.

“May I ask why you were not at the meeting?” He could already guess it was due to health issues from the information that Marisa and Alice gave him when they first came to his shop.

“I had a few issues concerning my health, it was nothing to be concerned about.” Desmond almost sighed, when he learned about just what exactly magic users put into their eyes of newts, he was not confident at all about her statement.

“I see, I hope you are well enough to not be hurting yourself by coming here.” Desmond remarks while pouring himself another cup, not even feeling the buzz of the drink as he gulps it down. Indeed, her breathing seemed to be stable at the moment and despite the weak pulse, it was steady.

“Thank you for your thoughtfulness.” She bowed her head in gratitude as he poured her a cup of water. Meling had recovered to the point only a faint blush was visible from the alcohol.

“So you are the librarian of the Mansion?” Desmond asked from behind his beverage, though it was redundant in hiding his mouth.

“Yes I am, would you like to know something?” She asked as the conversation steered into. Many people wanted to know the things within the library… with a single girl actively stealing the contents inside. She took a glance at the blond who was dragged back into playing with the group.

“Yes, I am currently in the process of curing some bamboo I recently harvested and am making some scrolls with them. What would be the main elements within them, and how would they affect the casting abilities of the spells within.”

“Spellcasting through a grimoire huh… Well, I believe that, in a theoretical manner, spells that are made to be flexible would be the best option. Though they won’t be much use here considering the spell card system that is in place.”

“True, using spells for combat would be redundant when we have the system. But for things like a utility would be perfect… even if I don’t need it much.” Meling had question marks over her head, while she was not an idiot by any means, she did not know much about magic.

“Fair enough, if I could find a healing spell that would mitigate my illness, I would definitely use it.” It was not just physical activities that caused flare-ups in her illness, but spell casting was also an issue. She took a moment to take some measured breaths, talking this much ran her out of breath.

“Healing someone is honestly something that anyone would want.” Most tragedies happen due to the passing of someone… if it could be prevented… then would the tragedy turn on the one who was saved?

“If only I could heal myself without losing my magic…” Desmond could hear her mumble from a mile away… literally when Eve was actively helping him receive audio.

“If you need someone to talk to about magic besides the magical girls… you could talk to Desmond.” He remarked while pulling another drink to his body. Giving a sigh after finishing another cup, he still couldn’t feel the buzz that he slightly missed when he was 21.

“On another note, if you would like Meling. Could Desmond have a spar with you? He needs to have some practice.” Desmond almost stumbled when talking about himself in the third person, though it really shouldn’t have.

“Desmond, I think there is an intrusion in the courtyard… Reimu feels it too.” Desmond takes a glance at the lady at the head table. Remila was still chatting heartily as Reimu shot them down with blunt answers. Sakuya was standing beside them, ready to serve whatever delight was needed at the time. It would seem she could not get out of the situation.

“Could you please excuse me for one second? I have to take a breath of fresh air.” Desmond stood from his spot, finishing the last of his cup before taking a bow to the two mansion residents. Before they could say anything, he already shut the sliding door behind him.

___(TOUHOU PROJECT)___

“Lighten up a little Reimu.” Marisa came into the one-sided conversation between the mistress and the maiden. Her apron had a bit of dust on it from playing around with the child-like group.

“Well if it isn’t the little rat…” Remila said with a slight laugh. Marisa just laughed it off, she already was dubbed that by Patchi, so it didn’t bother her much when her close friend used that nickname.

“Who stole books from my library.” Sakuya made a slight movement of the stress on the word books from her mistress. The smug smile on her face was all that was keeping the maid from attacking.

“Burrowed…. For the duration of my life.” Marisa insisted on her terminology, she would be happy to give them back once she died… what they didn’t know was that she was aiming for immortality… but not by becoming a youkai.

“Ahahaha. You are quite the amusing one. Marisa Kirisame correct?” When she gave her graceful laughter, Sakuya quickly backed down. Hiding it behind filling a cup for the new arrival.

“Darn it Marisa… one day you will be caught and punished for it.” Reimu just shook her head when it came to her childhood friend’s antics. She took a glance at Desmond’s movement out the door. She already felt someone intrude on the perimeter, but they did not have any huge malicious intentions.

“Worried about him?” Sakuya asked from her position behind the maiden, changing it from being at Remila’s side now that Marisa is speaking to Remila.

“Who him? I know that he would be able to fight basically anything.” Reimu said with a slight smile, despite not fighting him, his movements screamed that he was experienced in combat.

“Besides, they are not going to be fighting in the first place. My intuition tells me that they will be talking about his sudden arrival.” Reimu takes another sip of the alcohol, her cheeks already red from drinks.

“Well, if anyone’s intuition could be trusted… it would be yours.” Sakuya said with a sigh… it was the main reason why she lost in the first place despite the time advantage.

___(TOUHOU PROJECT)___

Gensyoko: Hakurei Shrine: Inner Courtyard

“What a beautiful night out…” Desmond said into the warm night, it was still a warm summer after all. He stood upon the porch as he stared up at the starry sky, something that he had barely seen when inside of the city that his department was placed.

“Well, it is fine if you come out. We are in the neutral ground after all.” Desmond said to the night sky, knowing that there was a gaze upon him as he stood outside. As much as he would like to attend the party, this took precedence.

“Hello there.” A woman with blonde hair stepped out of a slit in reality and onto the porch to his right. Her arms within white sleeves lined with purple cuffs. An indigo tabard with a white print drew a person’s gaze to her mature body. Her hair was under a mob cap along with one of the things that revealed her inhuman nature, her ears.

“It is nice to meet you, miss…?” She slowly walked over to him, her nine blond tails swishing behind her as the padding of her cloth-bound feet beet upon the wood that had been waxed just today.

“Ran… just Ran would do.” She responded. Desmond was already on edge… he could feel her strength… and if any legend that mentioned a fox having 9 tails had even a lick of salt… it would be good not to anger her.

“Good evening Ran-san. Might I ask why you are here on this fine evening?” He knew she could have contacted him on any of his visits to the shrine… so why now? Not that he would say it aloud, it was not only her power he was feeling after all.

“I am here to investigate for my mistress… she is busy with other work right now.” Her speech pattern was slightly stiff, almost as if she was talking to a huge threat… or calculating the threat he poses to this world and just couldn’t figure it out.

Number of Words: ~2600

Date Completed: 5/7/2021

Note: Hope you enjoyed it… one more part before we have a time skip again… but that is the sad reality of it.