Touhou - Impure Dreams about a Strange Land

The Scarlet Trail

Well, enough lollygagging. I'm a modern man, there's no way I could last a week working on the field. Besides, these villagers are always avoiding me. I know my self-control took a short break and I ended up sobbing in the middle of the street, so what? It is a public space, isn't it? Or maybe my face is dirty, who the hell knows.

I check the town once more looking for this mansion, but there's no such building around. The second thing I noticed, everyone here is wearing traditional clothes, and now it clicks with me. I'm wearing my pajamas and my shirt is... tacky, to be honest. They must be thinking I'm just a weirdo, but I have no other choice. I don't think going around shirtless would do me any favors.

Trying to get directions from these folks go as well as you might think. They either ignore me or they raise an eyebrow whenever I mention this mansion before moving away from me. I tried to bribe them with some of the coins that Yukari gave me, but they're avoiding me like the plague.

I finally grow tired dealing with the village. They're just a bunch of cowardly chumps. I walk to the path that leads out of this cursed town. There's a path, lots of green and no sign of this Scarlet Mansion. How far could this blasted mansion be? I mean, if they wanted to hire someone from here, it shouldn't be too far, right?

As soon as I take a step at the edge of town, I hear the voice of man. "Hey, you, young'un! The hell are you going?"

At first I ignored him, I thought he was talking to someone else until a strong hand grabbed me by the shoulder. "Are ya deaf or somethin'? I asked ya a question you numbnuts." I turn around to see a rather tall man with round glasses and brown hair. He was wearing the same clothes as the rest of the villagers. "Also, ya really like walkin' 'round with those eerie clothes, huh? Almost mistook ya for a youkai!" He started laughing heartily.

"Finally someone with enough balls to talk to me in this place." I sigh as I rub my forehead. "As for where I'm going, I don't know. I'm new here, looking for a place to settle in."

"Outta town? Aren't ya a gutsy fella! Did ya 'ave some place in mind?"

"Well, being honest, I'm not made for manual labor as hard as working on the field, that's not what I'm used to do, so I thought going here might be less daunting in the long run." I show him the red flyer with bats in it.

He took it and examined it, adjusting the glasses on his face. For a second, I thought I saw him smile eerily before he returned the paper to me. "Ain't that so? Welp, ya won't go far with those clothes on ya, so let me give ya a welcome gift."

I lose sight of him as he enters the town. I find him really odd, people gave me the cold shoulder treatment the entire time I've been here, but he's overly nice... I start to feel something is out of place here, but before I could entertain this train of thought much longer, the man came back, carrying a bag.

"Here young'un, if ya want to reach that fancy place, ya ain't gonna get far with those rags!" The bag has some rations and a kimono. It was a tad bigger than my size, but I can't complain, at least I don't have a. The man cordially helped me out and in no time, my modern clothes were concealed under the kimono.

"Wow, how nice of you. Please let me pay you! That's the least I can do." I reach for some coins but the man stopped me. He simply shrugged before putting a hat on my head. "No need, elders should always look for green horns ya know?" He took a step back, smiling at me. "Now, that mansion ain't far from 'ere, but ya gotta walk a fair bit to reach it. Just follow this path an' once e'rything gets misty 'n creepy, that's how ya know you're on the right path!"

I extend my hand to him. "You've been really kind, I won't forget this. Thank you!" He gives me a firm handshake in response. I turn around, ready to move into the unknown and I can hear his voice as I move on.

"Don't stray too far from the path now! Good luck, outsider~" His voice suddenly became more... femenine? I take a look back to see where he was standing, and no one was there. I swear to God I won't set foot on this place ever again.

The weather is good, the sky is clear and the air is clean. Despite some oddities, it haven't been so bad. Besides Yukari and whoever the hell that guy was, nothing too weird happened. The disguise is also working as intended, I came across a few travellers and they didn't look at me weird beyond the small head nod as courtesy.

As the guy said, the road started to get misty. I kept walking for a while, and I was starting to regret my decision once again. Why did I leave the town? To waddle through the mist like an idiot? And what's worse, the mist became thicker and thicker. A creepy fog enveloped the area and it was hard to see anything.

I could hear voices coming from the fog. They sound youthful and peppy and it added to the creepy atmosphere. I got so distracted that I almost went head first into a lake. I kept walking near the shore until I spot a building not too far from the lake.

Well, at least it honored its name. It was indeed a mansion and it also had some shades of red on its walls. Between the fog and mansion, the atmosphere went from creepy to outright oppresive.  Too late now, if I try to reach the village once again, night is going to fall on me in the middle of the road. I won't be having that.

As I slowly approach this eerie building, I was finally able to spot the main entrance. At first I thought no one was home, the mansion and its surroundings were extremely quiet, until I saw a redheaded girl wearing green clothes tending the plants on front of the mansion. 

I don't know how she did it, but even if I didn't make a sound, somehow, she noticed my presence. She turned her head to see me. First impressions do count, and the first time I met her, I was expecting a beatdown. She was both really tall and had an athletic build, but she also had a scowl on her face. It was a mix of annoyance with profound boredom.

"We don't need medicine, we already bought directly from Eientei the last time we were there."