Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia/Article and Interview/Reimu Hakurei

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Article: Yukari Yakumo

Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia

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スクープ！　霊夢と外来人はグル！ 博麗神社は外の世界(あちら側)の味方	Scoop! Reimu and the outsider, accomplices! The Hakurei Shrine: Ally to the Outside World
本誌「文々春新報」が追い続けている外来人の侵入問題で、ひとつの残念な事実が浮かび上がってきた。それは、博麗の巫女が外来人と手を組んでいるかもしれないのだ。	In Bunbunharu Weekly's pursuit of the problem of the outsider's invasion, one disappointing reality has risen to the surface. That reality is the possibility of the Hakurei shrine maiden forming an alliance with the outsider.
先に掲載した、なんの変哲もない一枚の写真。博麗神社社務所にてシエスタを満喫している当代の博麗の巫女、霊夢氏の様子である。だが、この写真が収められた、まさに同時刻の山中において、問題の侵入者・宇佐見氏の目撃情報が独自の経路から弊誌に寄せられているという事実をどう考えたらよいだろうか。	See the previously shown photograph that doesn't appear to have anything out of the ordinary. The photograph portrays the Hakurei shrine maiden, Ms. Reimu, fully enjoying a siesta within the Hakurei Shrine. However, this magazine was able to gather, via certain means, eyewitness reports stating that when this photo was taken, the problematic intruder Ms. Usami was spotted in the mountains. What could that imply?
博麗の巫女の仕事はいくつかあるが、その中の一つに「外から迷い込んだ者を元の世界に送り返す」ことがあるのは周知の事実だ。しかし、彼女が外来人に対して何らかのアクションを起こそうという気配は全く無い。これではまるっきり職務放棄ではないか。このような人物に博麗大結界の管理が任されていることは、おかしなことではないのか。	The Hakurei shrine maiden has various jobs, and it is a well-known fact that one of them is to "return those that wander in from outside back to their original world". However, there is absolutely no indication that she has any intention of performing such actions in regards to the outsider. Is this not a complete abandonment of her duties? It seems rather odd to entrust the management of the Great Hakurei Barrier to a person such as her.
「博麗霊夢」を巡る証言	Evidence surrounding "Reimu Hakurei"
現在の状況に対し、巫女と親交のある人間に話を聞いてみた。	In regards to the current situation, I questioned a human that was friendly with the shrine maiden.
「何もない時の霊夢は、だいたいあんなもんだぜ。お賽銭集めに奔走してないだけ、まだマシなほうじゃないか。なに、菫子？　あいつはいっぺん懲らしめられただろ」（霧雨魔理沙氏）	"Reimu's usually like that when there's nothing going on. Honestly, isn't it better than when she's going around trying to get donations? What, Sumireko? She's already been told off, hasn't she?" (Ms. Marisa Kirisame)
「確かに霊夢はちょっと頼りなかったり、だらしなかったりするところがあるのは否定できないわね。だからといって仕事をしていないわけではないというか、肝心なところではやっぱり博麗の巫女なんだなって思わせてくれるところもある。なんだかんだで信用してる妖怪は多いんじゃないかしら」（茨木華扇氏）	"I won't deny that Reimu can be a little unreliable and a little slovenly. But that doesn't mean she doesn't perform her duties, and when it gets down to it, she does do enough to make you think, oh, she's the Hakurei shrine maiden after all. I'm sure there are a lot of youkai that trust her for some reason or another." (Ms. Kasen Ibaraki)
確かに異変が起こっているときの彼女が、言いようの無い威圧感を纏っているという噂はあるが、それを証言する者は少ない。しかし、何もしないことが幻想郷を守ることに繋がるというのか？	It's true that there are rumors that, whenever an incident occurs, she is surrounded by an indescribable intimidating aura, but the people who testify as such are few and far between. However, could there be a connection between her lack of action and the protection of Gensokyo?
「昼行灯」の裏にあるモノ	The dark truth behind a "useless facade"
現在の幻想郷は、未だ影響が続く都市伝説異変を皮切りに、新たな来訪者らに警戒を怠れない状況にある。しかもそれが「ちょっとした近所の異界」程度であればともかく、「地獄」であったり「外の世界」であったり、果ては「月の都」だったりと、最大級の厳戒態勢が敷かれるべき地域ばかりだ。にもかかわらず、楽園の守護者たるべき巫女がこの体たらくなのはいただけない。起きた異変を解決するのは当たり前、起こる前に問題を取り除いてこそ楽園の守護者ではないか、そう期待するのは間違っているだろうか。	Currently, Gensokyo is in a state of affairs where, on top of the Urban Legend Incident still maintaining its influence, there is a lack of vigilance regarding new visitors. While it would be a different matter if it were simply visitors from "Otherworlds that were fairly nearby", visitors are coming from areas such as "Hell", the "Outside World", and even the "Lunar Capital"—areas that should necessitate a maximum level of caution. Nevertheless, for the shrine maiden, who should be the protector of paradise, to be acting in such a manner is completely unacceptable. Resolving incidents as they occur is standard, but it shouldn't be wrong to expect that the protector of paradise works to solve problems before they occur.
いやそれよりも、このようにやすやすと侵入者が入り込んでくること自体が大変奇妙な事である。だいたい、外の世界の一介の女学生が博麗大結界を越えてくることなどが、果たして本当にありえることなのだろうか？　百歩譲ってありえたとして、それはそれで大変な異常事態である。これは一体どういうことなのだろう。結界の効力が何らかの原因で弱まっているのか？　だが、先に見せた境界の妖怪・八雲紫氏のあいまいな態度も気になるところだ。たとえば外の世界との境目を、あえて曖昧なものにしようとしているのか。	Even before that, it is exceptionally strange in itself that the intruder is able to come and go so peacefully. In the first place, is it even possible for a single high school girl from the Outside World to be able to cross the Great Hakurei Barrier on her own? Even assuming that it was possible, that in itself poses some extremely abnormal circumstances. What could this mean? Is the efficacy of the barrier weakening due to some unknown cause? Moreover, the unclear attitude of youkai Yukari Yakumo as reported previously is also on my mind. Could it be that she is trying to make the boundary line of the Outside World unclear as well?
いや、それよりも現実的なのは、外の世界を利用して本格的に幻想郷の支配権を握ろうとしているのではないだろうか。巫女の立場を利用し、外来人と境界の妖怪を抱き込みながら。幻想郷においては実質的に博麗の巫女に逆らえないという茶番を演じている我々の、真の存在意義が問われる日が来るのは、そう遠くは無さそうだ。	Well, more realistically, it seems more probable that someone is trying to seize control of Gensokyo by utilizing the Outside World—using her position as a shrine maiden and getting the outsider and the youkai of boundaries on her side. For the subtantial amount of us youkai that carry on the farce of being unable to oppose the Hakurei shrine maiden, it seems that it won't be long before our meaning of existence becomes questioned.