“Haha. You look happy, Laika.”
I mentioned this as I looked up from my book. The adorable robot dog is running around my feet. She is a mechanical pet with neither expression nor a voice, but now she is my buddy. This is a story that was never told, that could have occurred somewhere someday. Or maybe it never happened at all.
“I don’t usually do this kind of thing, but you are a dog… so let’s go for a walk.”

“Be careful in the mud. It’s very humid here.”
Laika is happily running around the Forest of Magic. Not only are there magicians who collect tools in this land, but there is also a magical jizou who moves about. Thinking about it now… that magical jizou is also an object that moves when it shouldn’t be able to. According to a Myouren Temple priest, Laika is a robot possessed by the reincarnated soul of a puppy. But what religious people say is questionable. Don’t objects imbued with a certain amount of magical power naturally possess a will and begin to move?
“Wasn’t the priest’s sutra scroll something similar?”

“You’ll fall over if you run so fast.” Laika is running down the Road of Reconsideration. Muenzuka, at the end of the road, has three main geographical features. First, it’s a place to bury the dead who have no living friends or relatives. Second, it’s one of the best places in Gensokyo to find objects that have drifted in from the outside world. And third, Muenzuka is also the place where most humans from the outside wander into Gensokyo. It is said that many of these humans end up staggering down the Road of Reconsideration, but the poison from the red spider lilies restores their consciousness, so they turn around and go back outside the boundary. This is a good example of how poison can be useful instead of being a harmful substance. Come to think of it, the poison doll living on the Nameless Hill far away from here can be considered a kind of cursed item. Could it be that the curse’s power is what allows her to move?
“Are you a cursed item?”

“Well, will you help me with the memorial service?”
Laika became quiet next to me as if she had heard my words. By memorial service, I mean to search for items, but I still have respect and pray for the dead. Spirits of the dead who have not had memorial services can become vengeful spirits who harm humans and youkai. This is partially similar to how old tools that are not respectfully put to rest with a memorial service can become tsukumogami. Laika is not that old of a robot, so she’s probably not a tsukumogami. But when I visit this place, various thoughts come to my mind. This is the place where I met Laika.
“Let’s go home, Laika. The part-timer is waiting.”

“Where have you been wandering, Manager?”
“Just taking a walk for a change. I was being pulled by the dog.”
Black water once gushed out from the ground in the forest. After some deliberation, I thought it might serve as fuel for the stove… but the results were disastrous. It almost destroyed the stove. The part-timer’s job was to clean the sooty stove. Apparently, she had a rough time with it.
“Aaah! She’s also dirty! Geez!”
Laika, wrapped in a cloth by the part-timer, wriggled about ticklishly… just like a normal dog. Laika… If you are the reincarnation of that dog, are you tired of looking at the stars? If it’s OK with you, let’s go for a walk on a clear night. I think it will be fun to look at the stars up close with you. I saw a smile on her expressionless face for just a fleeting moment.
“…Must’ve been my imagination. Hehe.”