Touhou: I Became a Butler of the Scarlet Devil Mansion

Seven-Colored Puppeteer

"Huh? Do you mean the vampire's mansion? I can't believe a human is staying there," she exclaimed, eyeing the doll he was holding. "Oh, you found one of my dolls," she said as she slowly walked over to him and took the doll from his hand. "It's a cute doll," he remarked with a smile.

"Really? Thank you!" she smiled as she looked at him. "Do you know your way to the human village?" she asked. "Well, I just have to follow this path, right?" he pointed at the road. "Hmm, true... How about I join you? You don't mind, right? Plus, I can protect you with these dolls," she said, then pointed her palm at the nearby bushes, causing dolls to emerge, armed with a lance and a crossbow.

"Ahh, I appreciate it then," he bowed to her with gratitude. "Gentleman, huh?" she giggled. "I am a butler, after all," he smiled at her. "Well then, shall we go?" he asked her. "Yes, let's go," she nodded and led the way.

"I forgot to introduce myself," Alice said as she elegantly bowed to him. "My name is Alice Margatroid."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Alice," Shun replied, returning the bow.

"Just call me Alice," she said with a smile.

"R-Right," Shun stammered slightly, feeling a bit overwhelmed by her graceful demeanor. He couldn't help but notice how pretty she was. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he said, "Hm? What's wrong, Shun?" Alice asked, noticing his momentary distraction. "I-I'm fine! Let's go, shall we?" Shun quickly led the way, still feeling a bit flustered, while Alice followed him, her expression slightly confused.

Suddenly, a swarm of fairies appeared, shooting a barrage of bullets at the duo. "Dodge!" Shun shouted, and the two quickly evaded the bullets. "Alice, are you okay?!" he asked with concern.

"I'm fine," Alice replied, flashing a smile. "I didn't expect your reflexes to be so fast."

With the fairies closing in, Alice raised her hand, and the strings of her dolls became visible to Shun. The dolls emerged from the bushes, some attacking with their crossbows and others with their lances, while Alice used her magic to control their movements.

Shun watched in awe as the dolls defeated the fairies, but then he found himself targeted by some of the remaining attackers. "Ack!" he exclaimed, dodging frantically.

"Alice, please let me be the bait!" Shun shouted as he began to run around the forest, drawing the fairies' attention away from Alice.

"Are you insane?!" Alice exclaimed, continuing to shoot at the fairies with her dolls. "I can't let you do that! You're a human!" She shouted. "Please! Trust me!" He kept dodging the bullets and using the trees as an advantage.

Alice was hesitant to let Shun become the bait but eventually gave in to his request. "I trust you..." she said, her surroundings glowing as she muttered a spell. "Puppeteer Sign "Maiden's Bunraku" she chanted, throwing a large bubble-like blue bullet to a random spot below her. The bubble quickly exploded into multiple blonde dolls with blue dresses that flew in random directions. Each of them shot straight lines of blue bullets in different directions, creating a burst of red bullets that fell down, and shooting a red laser downwards in a direction close to one of their lines of blue bullets.

The fairies were caught off guard by the sudden attack, and many of them were hit by bullets and lasers. Shun took the opportunity to run through the gaps in the fairy's formation and continue his escape. He sat down under a tree, panting heavily. "That was... awesome," he managed to say between breaths. "Give me... a moment to breathe." He leaned against the tree, trying to catch his breath.

Alice ran over to Shun and crouched down beside him, concern evident in her eyes. "That was really reckless!" she scolded him, her voice filled with worry. "Ahaha... But I'm fine! No worries!" He then looked up at the sky, his eyes widening in surprise. "Hey, is it just me, or do I see a blonde girl riding a broomstick heading towards us?"

Alice followed his gaze and squinted her eyes. "You're right. That looks like Marisa. She's a magician. She must have heard the explosions.

As Marisa approached closer, she maneuvered her broomstick to land gracefully in front of Shun and Alice. "Well, well, what do we have here?" she exclaimed, her voice filled with curiosity. "A human? Are you lost?"

Shun stood up, slightly taken aback by Marisa's presence. "Ah, no, I'm not lost. I'm Shun, the butler of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. I'm on an errand to buy something and find Miss Sakuya. We encountered some fairies along the way."

Marisa's eyes sparkled with interest as she listened to Shun's reply. "Fairies, huh? That's quite the predicament. But hold on a sec, did you just say you're a butler of the Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

Shun nodded, "Indeed, I am. My name is Shun, and I serve as a butler in the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

Marisa grinned mischievously, twirling her broomstick in her hand. "Well, well, Shun, it's not every day I meet a butler in Gensokyo. You've got some style! And as for me, I'm Kirisame Marisa, an ordinary magician you can find anywhere." She struck a confident pose, her eyes gleaming. "No matter who stands in my way, I'll trounce them with my bullets!"