<- Back to Chapter 13 | [Back to the Table of Contents] | Forward to Chapter 15 -> Chapter 14 Moon and Kappa *Knock, knock, knock.* There was a sound at the store's entrance. "This late at night? Who could it be?" Relying on the light gathered by the snow on the window, I went to the front door. It had been a while since I'd closed up shop for the day, and the interior was now freezing cold. "Are you open?" Standing there was the maid who worked for the vampire. For someone who came calling in the middle of the night, she didn't seem to be in a particular hurry; but then, I suppose that most of her hours of activity were nocturnal. By the look on her face, she considered it to be normal to go out in the middle of the night. Her mistress being a vampire, I suppose that can't be helped. "What are you saying? All the lights are off; it can only possibly mean that we are supposed to be closed." "It could be that you were saving up, or absent; I was wondering which one it would be." I wonder if, in the case of my being absent, she was planning on coming inside by herself in order to get what she wanted. This is why I don't carelessly leave my place. "I am looking for a lucky item...do you have any?" I lit the store's lights. At the same time that this vanquished the madness of moonlight, it brought the gloominess of night back into the store. I believe it is a very uncouth thing to come calling at a shop after it's closed, but as long as it's a customer, I don't really mind it; I'm also used to having customers come terribly early in the morning as well. "Lucky, you say...that's a really vague request. I have a 'meteorite with an engraved shinto gate' that I just got--" "No, not something with so little authenticity. Don't you have something that you can tell it's a good omen just by looking at it?" I couldn't possibly imagine what she would use an object of good omen for in the middle of the night, but if it was something that I had for sale, then I wanted to sell it. Lucky items are usually articles with little utility, so I don't have much interest in them. I told her, "In this case, I have a great lucky item somewhere," and went to fetch an article of really good omen that was laying deep in storage. "Oh my, isn't it such a colorful tortoise shell? That certainly seems to be of good omen." "Red and blue, black and white, and yellow at the center; all in all, a five-colored shell. I don't think I've seen anything with a better omen to it." "But...a shell like this seems strange for a tortoise; it's too big, and a little featureless." "Right, this isn't actually a tortoise shell. It's a 'Kappa's Five-Colored Shell'." It takes a while for my outside world heater to warm the cold interior of the shop. When the room finally started to warm up, my head also started to work better. "A kappa. I see. ...Where do the kappa live again...?" "There are kappa living in the mountain. You people might never have gone into the mountain, but there are a lot of youkai living there. But, this shell is not recent; it's from more than a thousand...probably from 1300 years ago, I suppose. Anyway, it's really old." "That is pretty old." "But since I won't accept later complaints, I had better advise you beforehand that I was told it was a kappa's shell, but I can't ascertain that that is absolutely so. Still, a five-colored shell is the best lucky item one could have." I stated truthfully about the credibility of it being from a kappa. And so, the maid's face expressed little doubt. Seeing her expression, I changed the subject. "By the way, why is it that you want a lucky item? And this late at night, on top of that?" "That's because...it would seem we need a lot of luck for a certain spell to be successful." It was a very strange story that she spoke of. A few days ago, the Scarlet Devil Mansion - where Sakuya Izayoi works - was celebrating Setsubun. A vampire chasing demons away would be a strange event, but these kinds of mysterious events were frequent at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, so this wasn't all that weird in comparison. "Just when the celebrations were ending, there was an incident with the moon. Though I suppose you don't know about it." Later, I read about it in the Bunbunmaru News; it seems that on the night of the Setsubun, a terrible disaster made the moon crack. The moon cracked without a sound, and it was restored without a sound. And, considering the time it took place, only a few had actually witnessed it. "But what is the relation between the moon incident and the item of good omen?" "My mistress was surprised to see the smashed moon and said once again, 'this time, we will go to the moon'." By "this time," it means that she has had the sudden decision of going to the moon before. She wanted to perform a spell for going to the moon (a spell apparently named "Project Apollo"), but apparently, she didn't have the necessary ingredients, and the spell failed. Project Apollo is an extremely difficult and complicated outside world magic. I've browsed several grimoires detailing the spell's procedure, and both the procedure and the ingredients seem to be those of the highest level of magic. Especially because many of the ingredients and tools are of no understandable use. And even going after each one of them would be extremely hard. That's why I believe there's not a single magician in Gensokyo capable of performing it. "The mistress' magician friend said 'I have enough of the ingredients, but for a magic of the highest level to succeed, a good fate of the highest order is needed,' and so she ordered me to 'bring the luckiest item in all Gensokyo'..." "...How unfortunate." The performance of a spell consists of six elements: These are the performer's Ability, the Disposition of the soul, the Substance of the ingredients and tools, the Space in which it takes place, the Time during which it is performed, and for last the Fate. Of these, Fate carries the most strength: as long as you have enough Fate on your side, it can cover for the other elements; similarly, if the Fate element is entirely absent, even the simplest magic will fail. "The other elements seem to be almost complete, with only Fate left for last. Since I couldn't find such lucky items as a four-leaf clover or a bamboo flower, I wondered if something more unusual would work..." I don't think unusual things and lucky things are the same, but maybe that's the accepted idea at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. If unusual means lucky, then rather than a kappa's five-colored shell, a tsuchinoko sake might be better. However, I had the feeling that this would be my best chance to sell this kappa shell; I couldn't possibly let this chance get away. "This five-colored shell is not only unusual - in fact, it is just the thing you are looking for." Lucky items must be told of as being lucky, so I spoke at length of why this item was not only lucky, but why it was ideal for her. I stopped talking while standing and went to sit on a chair by the heater. I offered her a chair to sit on, but she said "I'm used to standing" without moving off her upright posture. Being seated by myself, I pointed to the shell she was holding and began to explain: "The colors of red, blue, white, black and yellow can express everything in nature. The directions of East, West, South, North, and Center; the seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and the Setsubun; the five elements of Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, and Metal. In short, those five colors can represent everything in our world. Those can even cover the Space, Time and Substance necessary for performing magic. Besides, the tortoise was considered of good omen since long ago for being the animal that carries the world along. So, all the colors of nature represented on a tortoise is the biggest sign of good omen an item could be. Much has been said about tortoises capable of living ten thousand years. Of course, those wouldn't be normal tortoises, but the ones that have such shells." "But didn't you say that this shell was from a kappa rather than a tortoise? Do kappa live ten thousand years as well?" "And that's why this item is perfect for you. Kappa are often related with the Chinese river youkai called kahaku...but this is not correct." "That's the first time I've heard about this, though..." "Kahaku are gods who live in big rivers. I can't help but think that putting kahaku and kappa together is flattering the kappa a little too much." "That's right, kappa are even worse than tengu." "Just because there's a youkai with a similar name in an outside world country, to think that they are the same creature is unreasonable. And, as far as wording goes, it's only natural to use the same character for 'big river' - ka - as for creatures who live in rivers." "I think that kappa are creatures who became a lot more like us." The water kettle atop the heater started to whistle. As I brewed some tea, the chilled shop finally started regaining some appearance of vitality. I wondered if the maid wouldn't take it upon herself to brew the tea, since it should be her habit, but apparently she wouldn't do that at other people's houses. This was proof that she was a proper maid. If you think about it, there might be some people who prepare tea and clean things up at other people's houses, but that's rather insensible. When you come to other peoples houses, even if you are a maid, you are still a visitor. That is why, even if you offer to help, you are just giving trouble to the host; you would just be insensible to his good intentions. A maid should be sensible wherever she is, and should always avoid any discourtesy. Very differently from a certain someone who comes to my shop, makes tea, and drinks it on her own whim. So I served tea for her as well. "So, where did the kappa come from?" "If you think about the image of a kappa, you'll soon be able to answer that." "A kappa's image...by the way, is a kappa's shell smooth?" Yes, the kappas shell is different from a turtle's: "I think the origin of the kappa is related to the kahakame." But, by any means, for someone who comes calling in the middle of the night, this maid doesn't seem in that much of a rush. Maybe she thought since the beginning that going to the moon would be impossible. She looked like she was just playing along with her mistress. "Kahakame, the river turtle. Their name in kanji is written with the characters of 'great turtle'. What these characters express is the idea of a huge turtle. It would not be unusual for a fully-grown one to reach the size of a human. When these turtles live for many years, they become able to understand human speech, and gain the ability to take on human form, becoming kappa." "Kahakame...never heard of them. And are there really such big turtles on rivers? They couldn't be sea turtles..." She talked like she had seen a sea turtle swim before, which made me a little curious, but I went on. "Why don't you try remembering? There certainly are. Really big ones, who live in rivers and ponds instead of the sea. Try thinking about a kappa's image again, looking at this shell. Doesn't it remind you of a round and smooth tortoise shell?" "I see. Now I understand what you meant. This item is indeed just what I was looking for. But even so...my mistress is definitely going to say something like 'I have nothing to do with water creatures'." The maid seemed to reach a conclusion, and went back with the five-colored shell under her arm - after paying, of course, and without helping to tidy up anything. She was a really good maid. I cleaned for both of us, and once again closed the store. But thinking about her last words...I noticed that she not only had all the knowledge of a maid, but was also a really fast thinker. As soon as she perceived the true nature of kappa, she must have simulated in her head how it would be to explain it while showing it to her lady. To explain why it is a lucky item, she would have to mention what was said of the shell; she was already planning on not explaining the kappa's true nature. The real nature of the kappa are the great turtles. Tortoises that don't live on the sea, but in rivers and ponds, and can get incredibly big. In other words, snapping turtles. If these turtles live for too long, they gain supernatural abilities and become kappa. Her mistress wanting to go to the moon carrying a turtle seems, by itself, a little contradictory, and I can't help thinking it defeats the entire purpose. And so, her mistress not having anything to do with water creatures, she won't tell her the shell is related to turtles. The moon and the turtle. Two things that look similar but are indeed very different. However, the turtle is the one we can touch, and that brings good luck. The moon is ominous and untouchable. That being the case, if I were to choose which one is the better...I wouldn't even have to say that it would be the turtle. Rather than looking at something distant and ominous, it's better to look at something close and lucky. She should have realized that much - that using a turtle to get to the moon was ridiculous at first glance - and did it on purpose. Her mistress probably won't notice, but maybe it will be good enough for her if someone knowledgeable enough in the Scarlet Devil Mansion realizes it. As for me, more than an unexpected extra income, I got a small feeling of exhiliration. That five-colored shell was too big, and no one would be interested in it; it was pretty much defective stock. And even though it was supposed to be a kappa shell, it was suspicious. When that maid came here, I thought that was my last chance to sell it, and used my uttermost sensibility on that shell and that girl. When looking at the outrageous goal of going to the moon, and that very maid-like way of acting, it was suddenly like the relation between the kappa and he turtles and between the moon and the turtle was flashing. Because it's a lucky item, it doesn't matter that it's completely unrelated. That's why I talked about it in such a roundabout way. Of course, I'm sure she soon understood that, and decided to take the article, as it was all calculated. I put the brush down and looked through the window. At that moment, I had the impression that the moon had shone red, just for an instant. <- Back to Chapter 13 | [Back to the Table of Contents] | Forward to Chapter 15 ->