> Inventory updated. Bug fix E-IM09332962 implemented.

[X] Inventory
A neatly handwritten note. Alice wrote it.
A short pamphlet. "A Draft of Spell Card Rules"
A small sack. It can hold a lot of items.
A long walking stick. It looks sturdy.
A hooded cloak. It can cover your head from the rain.
A set of gray robes. It has many pockets.
A small pouch full of mushrooms. Maybe Marisa knows what they are used for?
A beginner's magic book. "Basic Magical Theory and Simple Applications"
An ornate silver bracelet. Engraved on it is a serpent biting its own tail.
A spell card. "Logos Sign 「Calculated Risk」"
(5) Several blank spell cards. You can inscribe spells on them.
A small calling card. The name "Yukari Yakumo" is written on one side.
A large syringe from Dr. Yagokoro. It is filled with a luminescent blue substance.
A small unmarked envelope. Yukari was in it.
An empty syringe. Dr. Yagokoro said that its tip made from lunarian silver.
A mysterious spell book. "Theoretical Boundary Binding and Intervention"
A strange untitled book. Patchouli lent it to you.
A length of rope. You feel a faint energy from it. It was used to bind Wriggle.
A small candy wrapper. It has a design of bright pink and blue stripes.

[X] Option
None.

Loading User Commands:
[X] Thank her for the candy and eat it.

---

"Well, I got something good for ya!"

Cirno pulls out a small pouch from her dress. She takes something small from it and holds it out to him. Wrapped in a pink and blue wrapper, it looks no different from an ordinary piece of candy.

"This'll pick ya up!"

"Oh? Ah, thanks."

Grimnír takes the little gift and stares at it curiously. It seems harmless enough. After all, he doesn't ever remember being told not to take candy from strange fairies. Besides, for some reason, he can't refuse this girl's eager smile. Slowly, he unwraps the candy and pops it into his mouth.

"Hmm... not bad!"

Cirno smiles wider.

"Feel any better?"

"Huh? Not really, what? wait.."

A gentle warmth begins to flow into his body. The feeling is strange, but not uncomfortable. His eyes widen in surprise as he realizes that he has begun to glow. But in the next moment, the glow fades. He blinks for a few moments.

"Eh?"

Grimnír quickly stands himself up. The pain is gone, and his wounds seem to be completely healed. Even his headache has cleared.

"Ya look much better now, Grim!"

Cirno nods to herself and smiles with confidence. Then, before he can react, she does a little hop and starts hovering in the air. She gives him a wide smile and a peace sign.

"I'll see ya later! I'm kinda busy right now! Let's play again some time!"

Grimnír hesitates for a moment. Looks like she is going to leave if he doesn't say or do something.

[ ] Try to talk to her. (Custom)
[ ] Don't let her escape. Grab her quickly!
[ ] Don't let her escape. Block her with your body.
[ ] Don't let her escape. Enclose her in a spell barrier.
[ ] Just let her leave. Follow closely behind her.
[ ] Just let her leave. Follow some distance behind her.
[ ] Just let her leave. Wait here for Yukari.
[ ] Custom

".. awright?"

"Ugh..."

"Hey! Ya still alive, Grim?"

"Yeah, barely. It hurts everywhere."

Grimnír slowly opens his eyes. Someone is standing over him, staring curiously. It takes him a few moments to realize that it is the ice fairy. The air around him becomes chilly as she leans closer. He jumps up quickly and backs away. There are many dangerous beings in the Forest of Magic, and instinctively, he knows that this one is one of them. She falls on her back in surprise.

"Uwaaaah!"

"W-what do you want?" he cries.

The ice fairy slowly gets up, dusting off her skirt.

"Geez, don't surprise me like that, Grim!"

"Grim? You know my name?"

She frowns hard at him.

"A-are you stupid or something? Of course I remember you! Anyway, why didn'cha just blast that bad tree away like you always do?"

".. what?"

He notices a strange sight behind the ice fairy. The great Youkai tree has been reduced to frozen splinters of wood and broken branches. Could this fairy really do that much damage? Why did she help him? And why was she speaking as if they had met before?

"Your name was Cirno, right?"

She nods quickly and smiles.

"The strongest! Too bad about poor Dai-chan. She got killed pretty quickly, ahahaha!"

"K-killed?"

"Nothing new. Even if she stays in the back row, she always ends up dead. Gotta wait on her respawn again, I guess."

"Wait, what?"

She turns toward him. Then, her eyes widen in surprise.

"Hey! Yer hurt, aren'cha?"

He stares at her disbelievingly. Did she notice that only now?

"Well, I got something good for ya!"

Cirno pulls out something from her dress. It looks like a small pouch. She takes something small from it and holds it out to him. It looks like some kind of candy.

"This'll pick ya up!"

[ ] Thank her for the candy and eat it.
[ ] Take the candy, but don't eat it.
[ ] Refuse the candy.
[ ] Custom

Loading User Commands:
[X] Custom

---

"A Youkai tree?" repeats Grimnír.

Yukari shakes her head.

"The Forest of Magic is full of Youkai. Why are you acting so surprised?"

"Well, I guess Marisa mentioned something like that..."

"This place is among the worst places for Outsiders to visit. Most of them end up eaten by the forest beasts or man-eating plants. Others get killed by wild fairies or simply starve to death trying to find a way out. The deepest parts contain even more dangerous creatures."

"Err... really?"

The tiny girl on his shoulders smiles at his reaction.

"Did you really think that a normal human could walk around here and survive on his own?"

"I never really thought about it that way."

"Well, you shouldn't worry about it. You aren't exactly an ordinary person, Grey Wizard."

"..."

Grimnír flies closer to the tree. The ice fairy said something very strange. She wasn't just freezing trees. She was freezing only this tree. If she wasn't lying, then it wasn't just some random prank. She must have a reason to do something so strange.

"Hey Yukari, do you notice anything odd about this tree?"

"Huh? It's a Youkai tree. Why would that be unusual in this place?"

Suddenly, something shoots out from the tree and grabs her. He blinks in surprise as a long green tendril wraps around the little Yukari.

"W-what the.. iyaaaah!"

Then, before either of them could react, the tendril swings itself hard toward the sky, throwing the gap youkai high into the air. He can hear her tiny scream as she disappears from sight. Cursing loudly, he turns toward the tree.

"Damn it! You'll pay for -mmph!"

Another tendril shoots out and wraps around his mouth. His eyes widen in horror. He can't utter any spell commands like this! He tries to pull the plant away, but his effort his futile. It has effectively prevented him from casting spells.

"Mmph!"

Several more tendrils shoot out, binding his arms and legs. His sack and staff fall to the ground. Then, the tree starts pulling him closer to itself. He struggles with all his might, but it only succeeds in angering the tree even more. The tree starts to tighten its grip, suffocating him slowly.

"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"

He can feel his strength draining. His vision starts to blur and darken. He knows that he is going to lose consciousness soon. He was too careless this time...

"Stupid tree! I'll kill you for sure, this time!"

That voice. It sounds vaguely familiar.

"Taste the strongest blade - Icicle Sword!"

Who was it?

Loading User Commands:
[X] Custom

---

"Flying is faster you know. Already tired?"

"Not really. I just think that we should be a little more cautious."

The apprentice wizard walks along a worn path in the Forest of Magic. The sun shines brightly over him as it approaches noon. Upon his shoulder is a tiny girl that could fit on his palm. She slowly opens her parasol to shade herself from the sunlight.

"Say Yukari, why did you reveal yourself back there?"

"Hmm?"

"Wasn't that a little dangerous?"

"I suppose it was, but I thought it would be fun~"

"Fun?"

"Don't think about it too hard. Just think of me as your partner."

"Partner," he repeats. "Why does that make me feel even more uneasy?"

"Because you aren't stupid."

He stops in his tracks and frowns hard at Yukari. She giggles a bit before shaking her head.

"That is a normal reaction to me, unless you don't think I'm dangerous?"

"You are definitely dangerous, Yukari. I have no doubts about that."

She covers her mouth with her fan mysteriously.

"That makes us a good match, then. You are quite dangerous yourself, Grey Wizard."

A few minutes pass in silence as he collects his thoughts. He couldn't deny what Yukari said. His power seems to be exceedingly dangerous, and his affinity for magic is far greater than any normal human. Perhaps that is the reason why magicians and other powerful beings seem interested in him. Waking up with a knife at your throat isn't exactly normal, after all.

"She said her name was Sakuya."

"Hmm?"

"Why did she react like that? She fled as soon as she realized that you were with me."

"Oh, who knows? The folk of the Scarlet Devil Mansion tend to keep to themselves. Quite a secretive group, even among the other inhabitants of Gensokyo."

She smiles wider before continuing.

"I wouldn't worry too much about her. The elemental magician informed us that they can keep their zone stable now. Besides, they recruited some new talent recently."

"That butler fellow?"

Yukari nods.

"We should worry about our own trouble."

~~~

Grimnír carefully walks around a large tree. It looks little different from the others, aside from the fact that has been frozed solid within a large block of ice. Then, he looks around the area.

"She isn't here," he says.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Sakuya and I met someone here earlier. Some ice fairy named Cirno, I think. She said something strange, though I don't really remember now."

"If it's that Cirno, then she probably went around freezing things randomly again."

"Sakuya said the same thing earlier."

"Besides, why would anyone want to freeze a Youkai tree?"

[ ] Return to Eientei.
[ ] Pass by the Human Village.
[ ] Wander around in the Forest of Magic.
[ ] Custom

Loading User Commands:
[X] Use 'Option' (Type: Yukari). [Unknown]

---

"This is my problem, and I'm not letting anyone else get hurt because of me."

"Wait, what?"

"Wounds from my weapons can heal. Don't worry. I'm not planning to kill you."

"So you're going to attack me because you don't want to hurt me?"

Sakuya shakes her head as she walks closer. Grimnr quickly prepares himself. He doesn't understand her motives, but he isn't going to stand around and let her transform him into a human pincushion.

"There are some things that a trip to Eientei can't cure," she whispers.

This isn't the first time something like this happened to him. He remembers other similar encounters. When he first met Yukari, she tried to kill him in his dreams. Alice seems to have a violent side as well, as he had observed first hand during their training. And Marisa? The scary part is that the black-white doesn't seem to have any sense of caution at all, whether it be for herself or any other person. This doesn't even include the encounters with Wriggle (?) and those crazy fairies.

What the heck is wrong with the girls in Gensokyo?

"What the hell," he mumbles once more.

The chief maid stops walking. A dozen knives materialize around her.

"Could use a little help this time, Yukari," he whispers to himself.

No answer. Oh wow. He curses as he creates another spell shield. Several of the knives smash hard against the barrier. However, he doesn't feel twelve impacts. Perhaps only seven or eight of them hit his shield. Then, his eyes widen in horror as he realizes that the other knives are bouncing chaotically against the ground and the trees. They are moving too fast! He gasps as he turns his head. One of the knives is flying straight for his -

"..."

Grimnr slowly opens his eyes. Eh? The knife is gone. In fact, all of the knives are gone. He looks around, confused. Sakuya also seems surprised. Then, without warning, several tiny holes form around the chief maid. In the next moment, knives shoot out of the gaps toward her.

"Ugh!"

Sakuya barely dodges the projectiles. One of the knives gets too close for comfort. A few of the hairs from her bangs are sliced neatly off.

"What was that?" she cries out. "How did you -"

"Use your laser now!"

Suddenly, he finds his arm already stretched toward at the chief maid. A small beam of light and heat shoots out from his palm. Sakuya leaps backward to dodge the attack. Her eyes narrow angrily at him. Then, he realizes what he just did.

"W-wait, I didn't -"

Another gap opens up to the right of the chief maid. A familiar beam of light shoots out of it, heading straight for the chief maid. Sakuya barely avoids it. The attack grazes the side of her skirt, burning off a small portion of fabric.

"You," whispers the chief maid darkly.

"Oh, did we miss again? How careless~"

Grimnr jumps in surprise. Hovering beside him is a small and familiar figure. The tiny Yukari smirks confidently as she covers her mouth with her fan.

"Yukari? Aren't you supposed to be at Youkai Mountain. Why are you with him?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

She lands on his shoulder and takes a seat.

"This human is my friend."

Grimnr raises an eyebrow at the gap youkai. Yukari just glances at him and winks. Then, she turns back toward Sakuya. She closes her fan and points it at the chief maid.

"This form might be weaker, but I won't let you hurt this Wizard."

Sakuya grits her teeth. In the next moment, both of her hands are holding knives.

"What are you plotting this time? Is this another one of your schemes?"

"Not at all. I'm just looking out for my friends. Is there something strange about that?"

The gap youkai smiles at her.

"But then, why are you here?" she asks. "Remilia never mentioned anything about the trident wielder. Did she send you out on a secret errand, I wonder~"

"..."

Sakuya's expression turns cold.

"Stay out of it. This has nothing to do with you."

Without another world, the chief maid vanishes. Grimnr waits a few seconds, but she doesn't reappear. He sighs loudly. That didn't really go as planned.

"Hmm..."

He turns to the tiny girl sitting on his shoulder. She smiles gently at him, but she doesn't say anything.

[ ] Return to Eientei.
[ ] Pass by Alice's cottage.
[ ] Pass by Marisa's house.
[ ] Wander around aimlessly.
[ ] Custom

Optional:
[ ] Talk to Yukari about something. (Specify)
[ ] Use an item. (Specify)

Loading User Commands:
[X] "Yes, I know how to fight."

---

Sakuya stares at him thoughtfully.

"Say, can you defend yourself?"

Grimnír pauses to think. After surviving Alice's training and Marisa's extra lessons, he can safely say that he can hold his own against the dangers of Gensokyo. At the very least, he should be able to defend himself until he can flee to safety.

"Yes, I know how to fight."

She smiles at him cheerfully.

"It's been a while since I've met an Outsider with such confidence."

Without warning she vanishes. He blinks in surprise. Three knives are floating in mid-air in front of him. He quickly chants the spell commands for a barrier. As soon as he has it up, the knives fly straight at him, smashing themselves hard against the spell shield.

"Damn it! What the hell?"

"Interesting."

He turns toward the chief maid's voice. She seems to be flying several feet above him. A dozen knives materialize beside her, each aimed toward the ground. Grimnír curses as he strengthens his shield. As expected, the sky immediately drizzles blades and steel. He closes his eyes to maintain focus on the barrier until the attack is over.

"Ugh..."

He looks up at Sakuya. She nods at him with a smile.

"You are not bad with defensive spells. However, you will need more than a barrier if you want to survive."

Grimnír frowns hard at her.

"I offer to help you, and you try to kill me? What the hell, Sakuya?"

She pauses for a moment, biting her lip. Then, she slowly descends, landing a few feet away from him.

"I need to gauge your ability," she says. "The man with the trident is dangerous. If you are unsure of yourself, then you better head back."

"That doesn't make me feel much better."

Sakuya sighs sadly. A few knives materialize in her left hand.

"Thank you very much for bringing me this far, but I won't risk taking you if this is your limit. This is my problem, and I'm not letting anyone else get hurt because of me."

She starts walking closer.

[ ] Use barrier. [Defense/Earth]
[ ] Use laser. [Heat/Light]
[ ] Use gate. [Defense/Unknown]
[ ] Use 'Option' (Type: Yukari). [Unknown]
[ ] Use an item. (Specify)
[ ] Flee from the battle.
[ ] Custom