"I'm used to it…"
The Great Fairy, having spent so much time with Cirno and experienced all sorts of incidents, had simply grown accustomed to the chaos. However, being accustomed to it didn't mean she accepted it. Seeing that Kars had no intention of punishing Cirno, the Great Fairy felt a great sense of relief.
"I said, you still haven't told me your name!"
Cirno, meanwhile, was getting annoyed. Kars was only talking to the Great Fairy and completely ignoring her. As the recognized rival of the strongest fairy in Gensokyo, why wasn't he paying attention to her?
Cirno flew right in front of Kars to make sure he noticed her.
"Kars Scarlett."
It was clear that if he didn't speak up, Kars would likely be endlessly pestered, so he gave his name.
"Kars, is it? Then you must remember mine! I am Cirno! The strongest fairy in all of Gensokyo! And I will be your next opponent!"
"Alright, Cirno-chan, that's enough! We need to go." The Great Fairy urged her, trying to prevent Cirno from doing anything else that might cause trouble.
"But I still have so much I want to tell my rival." Cirno was reluctant to leave so soon. She wanted to spend more time with Kars, as meeting someone like him was a rare opportunity.
"But if we're late, Teacher Keine will be angry."
The mention of "Teacher Keine" instantly made Cirno's face turn pale. She instinctively clutched her head.
"In that case, let's hurry! I'll come back to find you later!" Cirno rushed off with the Great Fairy, quickly leaving the Misty Lake.
"Is that 'Teacher Keine' person very scary?" Kars had noticed Cirno's reaction and saw clear fear in her eyes toward this "Teacher Keine." It was quite remarkable; he hadn't thought Cirno was capable of feeling such a strong emotion.
"Well, I might as well go back and wait for Patchouli to wake up and teach me magic." After the encounter with Cirno, Kars lost the desire to wander around and decided to return to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
As he walked back toward the mansion gate, a figure suddenly dropped from the sky and landed right in front of the gate guard, Meiling Hong. Kars looked at the girl—short black hair, black wings on her back, and a camera in hand—and wondered what she was doing.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! What in the world is going on? Why can't I get in?" Aya Shameimaru, the Bunbunmaru Newspaper reporter, was utterly baffled. She had immediately smelled a huge scoop when the mysterious mansion appeared by the Misty Lake and rushed over to investigate. However, the gate guard kept blocking her, refusing to answer any of her questions.
Unable to get information from the guard, she had tried to sneak inside. But no matter how she flew, she couldn't get any closer to the mansion—a strange phenomenon that deeply perplexed her. Just moments ago, after persistent effort, she had managed to open a window, only to instantly find herself back at the front gate. With her years of journalistic intuition, she knew this place held an enormous, undeniable secret.
But figuring out how to get inside was a constant headache for Aya.
"Meiling, what's her deal?" Kars asked as he approached.
"Her? She says she's a reporter and wants to get inside the mansion. As the gate guard, I obviously can't allow that."
Understanding Aya's situation, Kars prepared to walk through the gate. But Aya quickly flew in front of him.
"Um, are you the owner of this mansion? I'm Aya Shameimaru, a reporter for the Bunbunmaru Newspaper. Can I ask you a few questions? Who are you? Does this mansion hold some kind of special secret?"
Kars had no intention of answering Aya's questions. If this reporter learned about his aunt's plans, it could put Remilia in a very difficult situation, and Kars didn't want to cause any trouble.
So, Kars simply walked past Aya without even looking at her. Once he stepped inside the gate, Aya was blocked outside.
"Another difficult person to deal with. But this just makes me even more curious about what's inside that mansion." For Aya, having a perfect news story right in front of her but being unable to access it was excruciating. She wasn't going to give up easily.
"Master Kars, is that yokai still outside?" Sakuya asked when she saw Kars return, referring to Aya Shameimaru, whom she had previously thrown out using her time-stop ability.
"Yes. She even wanted to interview me. Honestly, do yokai really become reporters in Gensokyo? It's quite strange." Kars, still unfamiliar with the yokai of this realm, was baffled by Aya's profession.
"Someone like her won't give up so easily, I imagine."
"Leave that to me. Master Kars, please be careful when you go out again, so you don't get pestered or give away any information to her."
Kars nodded at Sakuya's advice, understanding that once he was with Patchouli, studying magic, the reporter wouldn't be able to reach him.
Thinking about this, Kars eagerly went to check if Patchouli was awake. Entering the Great Library, he was greeted by the sight of countless bookshelves and Koakuma flying between them.
Kars quickly found Patchouli sitting among the stacks of books and immediately approached her, forcing her to look up from her reading.
"You certainly are impatient. But yes, I have time now, so let's figure out what kind of attribute magic you are suited to learn."
"There's no need to figure it out—it has to be the Sun attribute!"
Patchouli sighed at Kars's response.
"You can't just assume you should learn Sun-attribute magic because you like sunbathing. It depends on whether you possess the natural talent for it, not your preference."
"Furthermore, the Seven-Element magic is characterized by low power but high effect, but each element has an inherent weakness. If you only learn one attribute, your weakness will be easily discovered. Only by combining two or more elements can you avoid this. You can then select which attribute magic to use based on your opponent's situation. Varied attacks are the only way to ensure you aren't defeated. That is the first lesson I must teach you."