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>>3075 3074 here.
it was Yukari talking about it in >>210871
>Yukari nodded. “Mmmm. It happened as a bit of a confluence of events. Ran’s always been the maternal type - as anyone who’s seen her with Chen knows - and while investigating a particular incident, she found herself driven to try taking it further.” She looked out, over the library. “I agreed, with… a caveat. That any child born would be kept a close-knit secret, for as long as was feasible. And at least trained to make an potential shikigami, if they had the appropriate aptitudes and affinity.”
huh, didn't quite remember it as Yukari doesn't make it clear to Kosuzu that it was the immaterial Children incident, and she was inspired by it... but still its interesting that Yukari indirectly brought it up to Kosuzu, but not to Yachie and Keiki.
So glad that Ran's gang past has been brought up in this story now. Favorite little lore thing from 19, just adds so much to her character.
>>3080
Yep. Also makes that one article Aya wrote about Yukari “disciplining” Ran take on a new light, now that we can be fairly certain that Ran didn’t suffer a meaningful personality change or loss of memory by becoming a Shikigami.
It's been a while. If anyone even remembers, I'm the writer of A (Lion-)Dog Among Gods (>>/youkai/31590). I semi-recently talked about my wish to revive that story and my troubles in doing so (>>/gensokyo/17495), and part of that effort is going to be starting off with a small, generally related project. I have something of a direction in mind, so it hopefully won't take me forever to write something, but I'm also not going to promise daily updates or anything that wild. This whole thing will amount to a handful of short updates with no choices. I'd still appreciate it if I got some kind of commentary or discussion.
Don't mind if events or circumstances described clash with what's already been depicted in Lion-Dog.
The door swung open with enough force to almost take it off the hinge, battering the already somewhat abused wall behind it. It opened into a single room mostly piled at random with newsprint and other detritus. Smells of soot and solvents hung heavy in the air, and different strata of dust had formed over everything, never swept away in the name of tidiness. Machines that would have hummed incessantly lay still, a cold, metallic graveyard.
Footsteps bashed at the floorboards as the room’s owner, Shameimaru Aya, almost hurled herself into the room. If someone had been near, they would have caught a bouquet of strong liquor generally permeating the air around her. She listed to this side and that crossing the room, her feet punching the floor with every stride, her hands in tight balls. One hand unballed and reached out for the corner of the room. There lay her hammock, practically falling from its hook. She lunged for her substitute bed. Her shoulder violently hitting the hammock took it all the way off the hook, and she unceremoniously plummeted to the floor, knocking her head first on the wall, then on the floor.
Cradling her shoulder, Aya lay in a twitching pile for some time before eventually sitting up and pulling herself flush with the wall. One hand balled itself up again. She struck the floorboards with the side of her fist, not causing any major damage but exacerbating cracks that had long been there. Then, she fell limply back against the wall, unmoving for a time.
Much of the hours prior, Aya had been first locked in meetings with her superiors. Following the last of those, the meetings had continued in their unofficial form at a nearby bar, where pouring drinks and supplying expected answers became part of her expected duties. After a certain point, joining in the drinking was also expected, and she drank until she resembled the red-faced prototype of a tengu. They had laughed at her drunkenness. They had turned her into a spectacle for their own amusement. She had loudly laughed along with them.
They had once more denied Aya her permission to publish. The situation with the Yasaka Shrine, they claimed, relied on a stable and unified publi
God I wish to be carried around like I were nothing on an oni's shoulder.
... Maybe more seriously, I guess that it is like Suika to take bold direct action and cut through hesitation. I suppose the sort of semi-friendship where she, the trash panda, and Aya drink and talk shit at Geidontei does exclude conspiracy—mutual conspiracy, at least, as cluing someone in is done when it can no longer be helped or its to their advantage. Too bad they don't really care about one another; sounds like Aya could do with a break.
Haunted by spirits both high-proof and more figurative wordy sorts doesn't sound like too much of a good time. Wonder what drives her beyond the surface-level spite. Perhaps she'd benefit from something like samizdat, risking things but keeping the higher ups out of the loop. Or maybe just selective leaking, enough to annoy people in power and have her fall into suspicion, but without anything conclusion; nothing that would cause her to be thrown into a bird-cage oubliette.
Even if there isn't any sort of definitive conclusion to the Hakurei case, I am enjoying seeing a reckless Aya sharing the truth if only to herself.
>>3056
>Too bad they don't really care about one another
Canonically? I guess. I mean, I think there's some... let's say distant concern about each other's affairs vis à vis being youkai, but, yeah, probably not a lot of personal regard. I'm not fully sure what the case is here.
>sounds like Aya could do with a break
Indeed, but what would an Aya on break even do? Hmh, something to ponder, yes.
>Wonder what drives her beyond the surface-level spite.
Indeed. I think that's something Aya herself has to consider. Is she really as concerned with Reimu as she presents? Does she really care about Gensokyo as much as she says? Is her writing a product of pure love for the form, or is there some other impulse there? These aren't simple things to answer, and I don't know if all of them will be answered.
>spoiler
Now, what kind of fool would wish for something like that?
The Scarlet Devil Mansion had contingencies to contain a raging vampire, but it was never a good day when those were put to the test.
Sakuya was best utilized playing support. A role that galled her, in truth, but one that was necessary just by the nature of the conflict. She could not meaningfully intercept the full power of the frenzied youkai, but her power was uniquely suited to avoiding it. Smaller attacks could be deflected by her knives, (not that it would prevent the mansion from taking a beating, but she could at least lessen the damage), and stopping time allowed her to pull her allies out of the way of any more powerful blows.
Offense was a similar story; while enough of her knives would give even the Scarlets pause, this was not a case where overkill was an acceptable solution. If attempting to suppress an outbreak alone, she would be forced to whittle her opponent down, gradually chipping away at that near-limitless stamina until her energy was exhausted and her sanity returned.
Such measures had been necessary with Flandre twice in times past, and an entire wing of the mansion had been wrecked both times. She was thankful to have better options at present.
As her target gathered herself for another charge, Sakuya stopped time, fanning out her knives out to both sides. The wall of blades wasn’t a serious obstacle, a vampire was fully capable of charging through them… but to a creature functioning on instinct, the pain they represented was enough of a deterrent to shape its path. Her quarry charged for the one hole left in the wall, claws outstretched.
The maid let the charging youkai get within a hairsbreadth of her before stopping time once again. When it resumed, she was no longer in the attack’s vicinity, and Meiling leaped in to neatly field the charging youkai. The gatekeeper’s raw strength was less than either of their mistresses, but she made up for it with technique, dodging the swipe, grabbing the wrist, and executing a picture perfect over-the-shoulder throw to slam the vampire down to the floor, wings first.
Neither the throw nor the follow-up joint lock was more than an inconvenience to a vampire, but that had been planned for. Disruption
Yeah, that's a point I've been back and forth with my beta-reader on. There's definitely some changes that could happen if Greg is known to exist before arriving in Gensokyo, but I think the changes to the plot could be kept relatively small.
I think the easiest way to minimize the changes is if the incident resolver committee just knows Sumi has a cameraman, and doesn't remotely suspect she'd bring him to Gensokyo. Sakuya knows better because she's already been doing her usual ultra-diligence in investigating urban legends (on account of Remi feeling poorly before she lost it), and thus interrogated Mokou a little more forcefully than Reimu and Kasen's more casual questioning. (Basically everyone in ULiL had a chance to go to the outside world and fight Sumireko, so they wouldn't really expect Mokou in particular to have new information, particularly since she's not the investigative sort.)
But yeah, with that, nothing about the later plot needs to change: people don't realize Greg's there until he's been seen in action, and everything he does in Gensokyo is an order of magnitude more notable than being Sumi's cameraman in the outside world anyway.
As for the other reason for this change? Well, that comes down to this being the planned first update of the rewrite. The two key differences that give rise to this story (at least, the ones that are obvious early on) are that this is a bigger, more serious urban legend incident, and that Sumireko has an accomplice/ally/friend working with her. The first chapter needs to be the story hook to lure the reader into reading the rest of it, and so it's good to have both of those details made clear from the get-go.
Finally, don't worry too much about me getting caught up in endless revisions. I have no desire to let USiL stall out for months while I revise the first arc; at absolute most I'll be splitting my attention via alternating between fixing those early chapters and continuing onwards.
Admittedly, I've barely written anything in the past week or so, but that
>>3052
Alright, if you're sure it can work, I will not argue with the man behind the curtains. I will warn you, however, that working on both revision and updates at once will be mentally straining. Pick one if you find yourself over your head.
>Admittedly, I've barely written anything in the past week or so, but that's just life in general and getting caught up in my other hobbies. I'll get back to work eventually, I just need to figure out what's actually going to happen in the incident resolver meeting.
After Trying It Out, I can honestly say that important bits of the story are hard to plan - and much harder to execute. Definitely take your time.
>>3050
>Namely, he's the cameraman. Because Sumi (and him, but mostly Sumi), would absolutely want footage of her fights with all these youkai.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think going through with this retcon might open up a plothole.
In >>/th/202992 , Satori and Greg both get trounced by Reisen because her lunatic eyes are able to completely nullify both of their abilities. Satori attempts to get around this by plucking spellcard ideas out of Greg's head instead of Reisen's. However, since Greg has only seen spellcards from Marisa, Nitori, Alice, and Koishi by this point, Greg is unable to supply Satori with any useful ammo, which forces Greg to swap opponents with Sumireko in order to make any headway against Reisen.
But if Greg had filmed Sumireko's fights with everyone earlier, then Greg would have seen loads of spellcards from dozens of different youkai, so he should have had plenty of ammo for Satori to pull out of his head to use against Reisen. Which makes Greg's decision to drag his battered, broken, barely conscious body over to Sumireko completely nonsensical, since he could have just stayed down and thought up dozens of spellcards for Satori to use against Reisen instead.
I don't know man. I think you should focus on progressing your story as is, warts and all, instead of trying to go back and retcon things. Striving for perfection is all well and good, but Perfection is the enemy of Good Enough. Your story is great as it is. Its well written and compelling, and we all love you for it. If you go back and start retconing things now, you risk opening up a bunch of plotholes in it, and your story is good partly because it currently doesn't have plotholes in it.
Under the shadow of the full moon a masked multitude gathers. They tell tales of Gensokyo, of the masks worn by both people and places. Perhaps they are stories of fact, of the lies everyone tells for the greatest and small of reasons. Perhaps they are simply idle fiction, farce and fancy to get a smile out of all present.
Or perhaps they are stories of when the masks slip. Of what lies beneath the surface. The real Gensokyo, hidden under the facade...
Contest Entries for the 2024 Halloween Contest go here! If you don't know what's going on, or you just want to see the rules, follow this link: >>/gensokyo/17580
Hello? Helloooo? You there, young lad
Can you hear me? Avast, ahoy!
What sordid tale brings to me
The wandering spirit of a lost boy?
You’ve wandered far from any place
A young man should ever have seen
Tell me lad, what brings you here?
Where on earth has your soul been?
You ask why I speak of your ghost?
Ah, yes, I see - you’re quite new here
This is the hell of pooling blood
And you’re among the dead, I fear.
You’re right to not attempt to swim
Across this rotten, cursed moat
The grudges here will drag you down -
Unless, of course, you ride my boat?
…Well, what are you waiting for? Come on, hop in.
Sit down right there and grab that oar.
We’re quite a ways from any land
We’ll have to row until we’re sore
…Oh?
I’m not quite sure I trust my eyes
But here, within the bubbling ooze
A sludge-beast crawls up onto land
A defiant piece of refuse
A being void of name and face
You are a truly tragic wreck.
How did you reach this wretched state
Crawling from the murky dreck?
Come closer, you, and let me hear
Your sordid tale in your own voice
I am able to change your fate -
If you trust me, and take that choice.
Yep, just a little closer. Here, let me scoop you up.
But first, before you tell your tale
Let me say some words of my own
It will inform you where I hail
And of the seeds that I have sown
The pool you crawl from is my feed
A delightful and wicked dish
But newer flavours is what I need
Author's Note: Couldn't get an image I liked.
The bake-danuki before her took a long drag of her pipe. The smoke fell from her mouth as she chortled, an unnaturally large and thick amount. “Oh…? And what will you do against all of us, I wonder?” From the tobacco smoke leaped a hoard of tanukis and demons.
In response, Ran dashed forward. Her left hand was on the other youkai’s right shoulder. Her right hand held its heart. “You… pathetic… wretch…” she snarled into her ear. “Did you really… think… you had a… chance… of even… intimidating me? Or do you not know my name…?” She pulled the organ out through the cavernous wound and held it high above her head. “This is what your master has earned with her defiance! No creature can hope to stand against Ran, emperor kitsune!” She squeezed the heart and let the blood drip into her mouth. It was warm, thick, and delicious.
“Well? What will it be?” Mamizou asked.
Ran Yakumo blinked. “I’m sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment; I’ve been in a very similar situation before.”
“Then I suggest you do what you did before and live another day,” the bake-danuki chuckled.
The kitsune sighed. “There are thirty-seven of you. That is just over four times the number of bake-danuki that lived in Gensokyo yesteryear. Census records show that the population of the Human Village continues to hover around one thousand in number. That’s one thousand humans that know enough about tanukis to get rid of them, and they don’t care for thieves. And that’s nothing to say about my master and the Hakurei shrine maiden. You may no longer need to forage for small amounts, but taking too much can also be cause for serious concern. I highly recommend you do something to pay the humans back for what you have… relocated. That way, at least, you might be spared from cruel retribution.”
The bake-danuki was quiet for a while. “I understand
Kiketsu Plushie Investigation Audio Log:
Are we doing this? Really doing this? I mean, Yachie's the boss and all, but they're a child's plushies!
...
As Asami, he-who-manages-Reimu, first of his name, put it, "Yes, shut up, and don't leave the file anywhere you-know-who might find it." Which is absolute fishbait. I don't know why she's suddenly so touchy about the plushies now. Everyone knows the girl loves those things, and she's still willing to dive into the pile when nobody's looking. Maybe the old man found out and teased her about it? Or the crafting goddess? (Sure hope the boss knows what she's doing working with that psycho.) Whatever. Beyond my paygrade.
What, you want me to call her "the miko" all the time? I know that's the cover story, but this is an internal file! Nobody's going to see it!
...
Fine, whatever. You're the boss.
Entry 1 - Genjii:
This one was the easiest one to verify. Our miko had dreamed up a turtle plushie with a beard, we check out the surface, and lo and behold, the Hak- what do you mean we're not using the name? Our miko's never supposed to see this file anyway, right?
Whatever. Anyway, the future youkai shrine has a giant youkai turtle of the same type, complete with beard.
Anyways, Genjii is absolutely our miko's favorite plushie. He's the one she insisted on taking with her when Yuuma attacked, and she loves him to bits. Like, literally to bits, the boss has had to patch him back together several times. She doesn't actually play with him as much, and when she does, he comes out on top, but he's the first one she'll cuddle if she's feeling down, and especially if she's scared. Though she tries to hide whenever she does it these days. It's a pity too, pushing her around on top of Genjii when she was tiny used to be a blast.
Interestingly, Genjii's also the only male plushie in the bunch. Which, taken at face value, means that he must have been the most important man in her past life.
...what? Look, you asked me t
A real influx of omakes recently! I've got a few things to say on each of them
Was a good exploration into the split psyches between Hakurei and Kicchou Reimu. The mix of concern and envy towards Kosuzu was quite compelling, and the introspection into the situation with Tsukasa, and with the other immaterial children really helped illustrate Reimu as the 'big sister' of the immaterial children.
Marisa does a bit of trolling, Yukari responds with a lot of trolling. I didn't fully understand any references that might have been there though, since I don't play TF2
A bit of horror! The beginning with You my being forced to act according to code, no real free will is pretty unsettling. Made only a mite less so by the fact that she's with people that genuinely care for her wellbeing.
The end part is interesting in it's own way, it seems like it would pre-empt a lot of what happens in the main fic. Especially if Zombie Youmu meets foxsuzu
Overall, a good time reading.
Besides it just being the script of Expiration Date, there's actually not a single TF2 reference here. I had decided to rewatch it just for fun and that's when I found the inspiration to write this omake. In fact, the idea to post it here was an afterthought too because I realized it would fit halfway through writing, so I decided to just slip it into the thread without telling anyone seeing as it was just a script copy.
I could see this going on as "Let's make Youmu a shikigami so she isn't rotting and she can actually think properly" "The gap youkai wants to steal my Yoshika's little sister? Not on my watch!" *writes a talisman instructing her to go somewhere so Seiga can hide her away* *searching, finding, attacking* *goal accomplished, happy end* and you could even have Yoshika as Youmu's phantom half with a more savage and direct fighting style!
Akyuu was awoken by the sound of thumping feet in the hall. She rolled over in annoyance. Her door rattled open. She lifted her head to scowl at the intruder.
The figure breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods…" she murmured to herself.
"Reisen?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah, s-s-sorry, I got… turned around. On my way back from the bathroom. …S-sorry."
The door started to close, but Akyuu exclaimed, "Wait!"
"…Wh… What is it…?"
The younger rabbit stared up at her big sister for a while. She brought her legs up and hugged them close to sell her lie: "I… had a bad dream…"
"What about?"
She shook her head. "…I don't remember… …Will you… stay with me…?"
"…Of course."
As Reisen lay down next to her, Akyuu caught the reflection of moonlight in twin rivers on the bigger girl's cheeks. She could feel the tension leave her bigger sister as they held each other close and returned to the land of dreams. She, too, felt more relaxed in that moment than she ever had before.
It’s a quiet day, as I like. There are many ways to pass the time, some very exhilarating, others collected. Mine is often associated with the former.
I puff a hit of smoke from my pipe, my pride and joy. Smoking isn’t what I’m referring to, though. That’s very much the latter.
No, the pastime that I prefer and give to the people of this land of Gensokyo is that of gambling. In this room suffocated by my pipe smoke there are many Youkai of all creeds who roll dice, draw cards- and some even bring in tiles on occasion. The regulars are tengu, kappa, and various other miscreants that live on this cutely named Youkai Mountain. I’ve taken residence in my own little corner called the False Heaven Shelf for so long that people who come to play don’t even remember my species, though that’s not their fault. Over the ages everyone began to look closer and closer to humans in appearance, until one day I noticed that my own robes were filled by someone I didn’t quite recognize. Not the worst thing to happen to a mountain hag.
The changing times didn’t stop anyone from enjoying foolish risks or having luck be in their favor, no. I would say it let them enjoy their pastime more than before, treating those human compulsions like their own. The only changes now are remnants of the world we left behind appearing on occasion. Nothing so grand as lost writings or treasures. We’re the kinds of people to look for western card games or new house rules for games on hand.
A couple weeks ago, one of these house rules came into my den. It was a funny little thing at first, just an old hanafuda game called Koi-Koi. Seldom played in my view, the many Youkai decidedly considering it too juvenile for them to participate in. Quite ironic to hear coming from the diminutive kappa, with their upturned heads planted on oversized packs. I thought it no more than nostalgic novelty to see the hanafuda cards broken out, with the preference for western playing cards over the last decades.
What truly caught my eye was when they suggested different house rules. They would shorten the game length from the original twelve rounds to just three. Twelve represents one year, like how the cards of hanafuda
Finally have some time to properly give my thoughts on the story. Sorry for the surprise, but I've actually been wanting to give this piece a proper critique since it first showed up in the front page. I love gambling stories, and all I want from this critique is to simply encourage more writers about this genre. That said, let's begin with the positives...
This version definitely have a better and more concise description than the previous one; I have a good time following the game - as opposed to the original version - and, as a result, the game felt pretty intense too. The little girl from the original is removed, allowing the story to focus more into its main conflict. The story still retain its strong points from the previous version: Sannyo's laidback characterization and her love of gambling is still good. The 'atmosphere' (couldn't find the right word) of Sannyo's gambling life is also great, adding more to the story and making it feel more alive. I also love that you've made Sannyo use her smoke against Yachie, adding more layer of depth into the strategies of the game.
Frankly, I don't think I could point out any real weakness from the story without being overly nitpicking, since the previous version's main weakness (the difficult flow of the game) has been resolved. Perhaps the exposition could flow better if the story starts from Yachie's appearance? Maybe the hook could start immediately with the game they're playing so it would grab the reader's attention? These are merely suggestions. Though, it seems there is an editing mistake in the line when these wolf tengu show up:
>The sliding door slams open and in come wolf tengu. Based on their drawn patrol weapons, they’re obviously not here to gamble.
>The sliding door slams open, and in file three tengu in white. The wolf tengu, and their patrol weapons. These aren’t late gamblers.
It doesn't bother me much, but it's pretty funny to imagine them going over the door twice.
Overall, I really enjoyed it, and I'd say that this is definitely an improvement from the previo
>>3010
Damn, I was trying so much to make sure I didn't really make that mistake but I guess it was inevitable. A little bit of insight, I basically took the chunk that people gave the most critique on, the beginning, and highlighted the whole thing before writing a whole new section effectively on top of it. That was also how I did a bunch of other paragraph redrafts, and that's how it ended up with the wolf tengu coming in twice, I simply forgot to highlight the old to delete. The former quote is the new version whereas the latter is the old.
And I really appreciate the thoughts that you've put in here, I was really happy getting through this and using the major points from the exhibition to touch up the parts that weren't quite landing right. Atmosphere and character is something that I really like to get right when I have the room to add it in, something that I don't give myself the privilege of doing as much in my main story Ecology.
I stated it before in my self critique on the original commentaries, but I originally set out on this idea as a way to practice telling a story using something that I only have a general feel for and that readers would not know on the outset. Using gambling games was a great chance to practice that scenario as even if people think I didn't do well the first time, and even if people will say I didn't do well this time, if I can sway the opinion of some people then that makes the effort worthwhile.
>>3011
Yet another case of Murphy's law taking its victim. Don't worry that much, though. I just find it hillarious more than anything.
I'm glad that my thoughts are appreciated. I personally have difficulty in forming words, so it's good to know that my critique reached you well. I also want to improve my wording as well, so giving these critiques is a nice exercise for me.
‘It’s terrible! And even with my powers, there’s nothing I can do about it!’
‘Clearly, it’s an affront to my sister’s entire existence. To both of our existences, even!’
‘I… I see,’ Sanae said, scratching the back of her head. ‘I can understand why that’s a problem for you, yeah.’
‘Couldn’t you help us?’ Minoriko asked, her eyes wide and pleading. ‘Maybe with you and the Moriya Shrine vouching for us, we could convince her to change her mind.’
Sanae looked away, her lips curling into a grimace. ‘Changing Yuuka’s mind? I… I think that’s impossible. You know how she is, don’t you?’
‘Impossible?’ Shizuha folded her arms, the anguish on her face shifting to annoyance. ‘Aren’t you the shrine maiden who performs miracles? How is anything impossible for you?’
‘Yes, but, well, you see, for a miracle to happen, there has to be at least some chance of the thing occurring naturally…’
Shizuha’s frown deepened. ‘Of course there’s some chance! Reimu has made her change her ways and behave several times! Are you sure you’re not just scared to–’
‘Be-besides!’ Sanae interrupted, ‘Lady Kanako said that I shouldn’t do work for other deities than those of the Moriya Shrine. And, I have errands to run for her, actually!’
‘I don’t think this…’ Minoriko started to say, but the shrine maiden had already hurried off down the path. Sighing, the harvest goddess turned to look at her sister. ‘Urgh, that could’ve gone better. I’d have thought the Moriya representative would show more determination.’
Shizuha nodded. ‘Right! This does not promise much good for the Moriya Shrine, if their shrine maiden cannot…’ She trailed off into silence. After a few seconds, her resolve broke, and she fell to her knees. ‘Oh, Minoriko, what are we going to do? Even the Moriya Shrine is too afraid to challenge Yuuka. How can we possibly win against her?’ She slumped into a sitting position and began to sob.
‘I’m sure it’ll be alright,’ Minoriko said softly, kneeling down beside her sister and wrapping her in a hug. ‘There are many powerf
Post your entries for the exhibition >>/gensokyo/17524 here.
In a world where there are more yokai than there are humans, death is uncommon. That isn't to say it doesn't happen; animals need to eat, outsiders are preyed upon by yokai that need human flesh, and older humans passed on from natural causes. Gensokyo is a small world, and with it, a small amount of death. This leaves Eiki ample free time to lecture people about their vices and how to improve them. When she does, they usually don't follow through, which leads to more lecturing. Outside of trying to help others, Eiki would occasionally give a day to reflect on her actions. Her ability to determine right and wrong and the crystal mirror that can reflect one's past allows her to judge herself without bias. The reason why she has been able to remain patient with people who haven't improved themselves is because she recognizes that she also does it as well.
Like everyone else, Eiki is a creature of habit. Her occupation as a yama made her well aware of this fact. She witnesses her past actions and sees all the errors she could have avoided. During these times of self-reflection, a sense of bitterness would stir her heart. She knows she can do better than this, but like anyone else, changing a habit or your way of behaving is a challenge that even gods struggle with. Whenever that feeling of inadequacy began to form, Eiki would change from her work uniform into a more casual attire and take a walk to gaze at the scenery.
Her walk eventually led her to the village. As she enters, Eiki notices something off. The humans didn't seem different, if quieter than usual, but the atmosphere tugged on Eiki's heart. Something wicked is taking root in the heart of this village. It's what she believed, but what she sees in front of her challenges that belief. They were all good people; not a single one of them deserved to go to hell. In her heart, Eiki should be soaring seeing this, but she couldn't let it slide. She recalled some of these people; she'd lectured them before, and their disinterest was palpable. There's no way they could have turned over a new leaf so soon. Can they?
"...Perhaps I'm being pessimistic." She tells herself. &quo
“Oh, it’s the same as last time?” she asked and immediately betrayed a most childish displeasure. It’s the sort that makes cheeks puff, lips curl, and eyes widen and turn to the heavens as if to highlight her suffering so that the universe would fully witness it. The act also highlighted her deathless youth, as the roundening of her facial features combined with her eternal pallor reminds a casual observer of a bright moon on a chilly winter night. The grains of rice that git stuck to her chin and around the corners of her mouth as she munched vigorously (despite the nominal protest) added some greyish-white contrast—their effect was not too dissimilar to lunar mare.
Such thoughts did not, of course, occur to the target of the complaint. She was much too used to her mistress’ peculiarities and, besides, was too busy concentrating on passing the remaining rice balls to her to think about much. Years of service, however, had trained the retainer to be attentive to the wants of her mistress. So an automatic question, one made without really thinking about the particulars of the situation, sprung forth from her lips, “Is it not to your liking, Lady Yuyuko?”
“It’s not a matter of whether or not it’s to my liking,” Yuyuko frowned, pausing from chewing her afternoon snacks. It was then that she noticed the errant grains of glutenous rice stuck to her face. There was no modesty on display as she picked them off with her fingers and then stuck them into her mouth. She let the individual grains roll around her tongue as if they were sesame grains. She, in fact, was thinking that the rice balls could have done with a touch of toasted sesame for texture’s sake. But she didn’t vocalize that complaint, since she knew it would only distract the girl. Yuyuko had long since lost track of the amount of times she had given what she felt were clear instructions only to see the girl fumble about.
It might be worth clearing up a little misconception before proceeding. Though the world at large sees the girl—her name is Youmu, incidentally—as an earnest servant and something of a personal attendant to the capricious Yuyuko that is just something that
Eirin Yagakoro has received many compliments for her competence in the medical field. Even before the start of Eientei, the lunar capital higher-ups have always held her in high regard. I still remember those moments when, even with their advanced intellect, those Lunarians were baffled by the rate at which the doctor managed to solve her cases. It’s no surprise that the commoners of the Human Village would often have their minds blown away by her, to the point that they accuse her of witchcraft. I heard that modern medicine was the closest thing the outside world had to magic, so those villagers were not wrong, in a sense.
Our time in Gensokyo had provided us with a long list of cases, many of which were basic complications that even a Lunarian rabbit like me could solve, more often than not there were cases where the presence of the doctor was very much needed, as without her, there would be no other individual that had enough experience to solve such cases. One of which, still hot in its trail, was the case of the ninth Child of Miare.
It was an interesting case. In a time when bodily damage was often caused by magic bullets, clients with real, natural sicknesses were deemed as slightly above average in terms of their severity. A twin-tailed little girl came at me during my duty hours. Her yellow apron, along with the red and white dress, was unharmed, with little bells adorning her hair. I thought about the likelihood of a human girl surviving in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost at that time, but the questions vanished as soon as I saw the daughter of Fujiwara in the corner of my eye. She greeted in formality before leaving the girl with me.
I leaned down from the registration desk, bringing my slender bunny ears to the girl’s height. “Hello there, young child. How can I help you?”
“Hello, Miss.” She bowed down. Her tone was one of unease, though, she tried her best to hide it. “This is Eientei, right? I heard that there’s a professional doctor here, I want to meet her in person.”
“Sure thing,” I pulled out a sheet of paper from the drawer and clicked the pen in my hand. “What’s the issue?”
The girl hesitated for a second. “I’m afraid it mi
