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This is a Touhou Project derivative work. Please beware of changes in character images and settings.
Ms. Keine, are we reading the "Once you understand it, it's scary" book again today?
Of course.
Where did we get to?
We finished reading the Marisa doll story in ② the last time.
Oh yes. Next is ③, about the Palace of the Earth Spirits.
I want to change things up a bit before the main part this time. Let's do a little preparation.
③ Review
6 dead bodies are found in the former Hell. Everyone is in a panic.
The surface's sage suspects the Palace of the Earth Spirits and demands them to hand over the killer
They all say "it wasn't me," and doubt and quarrel with one another
"There's no liar," says Satori. They stopped arguing
After that, Satori goes missing
A letter arrives from the surface: "To everyone, from Satori
I killed all except one Hand over the one liar to the surface
Who's the cowardly liar?"
What are these, Ms. Keine?
Fufufu aren't they cute?
This time, let's put on a play with these dolls!
What~? Why.
Everyone! Listen to our conversation [falsetto]
and think about who could be the liar! [falsetto]
You're super into it......
③ Who's the liar?
I have "lines" for everyone.
On these "lines" are the youkai you will perform and her _true nature_
You are Yuugi. Yuugi is honest. Tired of fighting, the oni of old has no interest in today's quarrels. She only drinks and watches.
I'm an oni! Looks strong
Kanako and several others found dead
How sad..... I was killed... and many others...ohh......
Do gods die?
Well, there's a story about a youkai who eats a god... In any case, it must be a very strong youkai.
Yukari came to the former hell and said, Hand over the killer!
Now. Everyone please act out your youkai and argue.
You're strong, Yuugi-san. I bet you just went a little overboard again.
Oni never lie!
Okuu, you were buddy-buddy with that god recently. So jealous... Did something happen with her?
I'm the strongest, so I'll kill anyone who picks a fight!
And here Satori, the mind-reader, says a word!
There's no liar among us!
And they all stopped arguing.
Who's the killer?
......isn't it Koishi?
Huh?
Because Satori can't read Koishi's mind, right? If the others didn't do it, then it has to be Koishi.
Right?
Hmm I know what you're trying to say, but....... Aren't there more than these 8 youkai in the former Hell?
Could you tell us about that, Satorin?
I said there's no liar among the youkai of the former Hell, no matter how many characters there are......!
Oh, then isn't Yukari the true killer?
Then I would have told you, "Yukari's the killer." I'd have no reason to hide that...
Hmm, I wonder who did it. I'm telling you, it's Koishi!
But we don't know if Satori's telling the truth, either......
No, there's no reason for Satorin to lie!
Why can't anyone believe what Satori says!?
Misty...Satori's definitely a liar.
What!?
So Misty doesn't know noka-.
I can tell, too! "There's no liar" is a lie!
What~ how humiliating...... How can you tell?
Because there's a liar!
Who?
You can't say that, Cirno. Even if you know that Satori lied, if you say that, you won't be able to get out of it.
Then Rumia, too......
Oh, that's what I thought.
What's going on?
You're slow.
If you know that "there's no liar" is a lie, then--
--you must be the liar.
Inside liar Yamame's _brain_
Oh, Yamame-chan (Wriggle), you pretended to look for the killer, but you killed someone, too.
Yeah, that's true, but
Yamame only killed one.
That means there's _someone else who killed a powerful god_. That person should take the blame.
Well, it was me who killed the god.
So I was all scared, but Satori wouldn't tell on either me or the one who killed the god. Why......?
Well, all that matters is that I'm not caught! Covering for me, Satori does some good once in a while!
I'm curious what Satori's trying to do. But unlike Misty, I'd never think, "by elimination, Koishi is suspicious"!
Because I know that what Satori said, that "there's no liar among us," is a lie!
--They all stopped arguing--
The only thing liars could do was to stay quiet.
After that, Satori went missing.
Here's a letter from oneechan.
To everyone, from Satori I killed the surface dwellers! But one was by someone else! Don't forgive the cowardly liar! Find her and hand her over!
Hmm? The letter says "hand over the liar," but not who the liar is.
But you all have an idea about who the _liar_ is, right? Each one of you, separately.......
I wonder who the liar is.
I'm the liar!
And the one who killed the others--
was Satori?
Then the other youkai here are honest-- If they find out that I'm a killer and tell the surface sage, I'll be killed!
This is bad. I'll stay quiet.
She stopped talking.
Yes.
Yamame thought that the _liar who killed one person_ being pointed to in the letter was her--
But what if there were other _youkai who killed one person_?
They'd think just as Yamame did. "_The liar in the letter_ is me!"
Don't messages like "don't forgive the liar" and "hand her over to the surface"
take on a different meaning if the addressees are all liars?
This letter isn't a cipher or a riddle.
You can read it literally: "Liars should cower in fright of the surface's revenge!"
W-Wait, hold on.
What, don't interrupt me!
I just find it hard to believe that Satori could kill the god.......
And Yuugi--
I know!
That's right! Yuugi, an oni, hates lies! I mean
her being scared of being accused of *** is unthinkable!
Maybe Yuugi alone is honest!
But the truth is so cruel that it won't matter who killed what.......
Oh, how frightening......how could there be only 6 dead bodies?
If a youkai kills a human, eat, kidnap, burn, sink etc...... there's no way the body would remain.
There are really many more dead!
They went to the surface all at once, even though they weren't cooperating!
They found out!
Gensokyo--
[muffled]
Let's stop there.
That was close...... She almost gave away the story.
What's Satori trying to do? What did Koishi find out? What happened to Gensokyo?
Many questions still remain, but......
We'll continue this story-- another day.