"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm! Do you think Sister Yuuka will actually like her?"
Komeiji Koishi asked with bright, open curiosity as they strolled back down the snowy boulevard.
"Probably! After all, everything we've seen from her so far makes her remarkably well-suited to work under the Lord of Seasons and Flowers."
Flandre tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment before answering Koishi's question.
Walking beside them, Hong Meiling cast a gaze full of profound, silent pity back toward the direction Celestial Master Bai had departed.
Although they all technically worked beneath powerful figures—and Meiling herself answered directly to a strict head maid named Sakuya Izayoi—life at the Scarlet Devil Mansion was genuinely warm and pleasant. With Flandre occasionally stepping in to cover for her when she dozed off at the gate (even if those well-meaning interventions frequently backfired into larger messes), her daily routine was rather idyllic.
However, Miss Kazami Yuuka was an entirely different beast.
When it came to horticultural work, Yuuka was infinitely stricter and far more unforgiving than Sakuya Izayoi could ever dream of being. She was the exact sort of master who, upon discovering a single neglected flowerbed, would seamlessly convert the careless gardener into fresh organic fertilizer on the spot... Ahem, ahem, better not to dwell on that too much.
Thinking of that powerful youkai who wore a perpetually serene, elegant smile while harboring a thoroughly sadistic temperament, Hong Meiling couldn't help but suppress a full-body shiver.
One had to remember that even the notoriously reckless fairies of Gensokyo behaved as meekly as frightened quails whenever they stepped near Yuuka's territory. Just how bold were those fairies normally? Take that infamous ice fairy who froze frogs at Misty Lake—she regularly flew straight up to the Hakurei Shrine Maiden to declare, "I'm the strongest in all the land!" Yet even a fearless little idiot like that wouldn't dare act arrogant inside Kazami Yuuka's Sunflower Field.
Consequently, Meiling could only offer a silent, heartfelt prayer for poor Bai Suzhen's future survival.
"Bai Suzhen beneath Mount Qingcheng, cultivating her form in the cavern for a thousand years~~"
Flandre suddenly hummed a cheerful, melodic tune, causing Hong Meiling beside her to instantly lose her composure, bursting into laughter before happily chiming in with the next verse.
Hearing the catchy melody, Koishi tugged eagerly on Flandre's sleeve, asking her to teach the song because she found the lyrics wonderfully charming. Flandre naturally wouldn't refuse Koishi's request, slowing her steps to teach her the verses line by line.
Singing and chatting happily, the trio quickly made their way back to the main estate in Flower Village.
The very second they stepped through the front doors of the villa, Remilia glanced over her teacup at Flandre and narrowed her scarlet eyes, her brow furrowing instantly.
"What trouble did you go and stir up this time?"
"We didn't do anything at all!" Flandre insisted with a look of absolute, wide-eyed innocence.
"Really, now?" Remilia tilted her head skeptically. Her younger sister had gone out for a simple afternoon stroll, yet the threads of fate twisting around Flandre's aura had noticeably thickened upon her return. If Flandre claimed nothing had happened, Remilia would sooner believe her own fate manipulation was malfunctioning than buy that excuse.
"Alright, alright! While we were wandering through the Plum Garden, we happened to run into Celestial Master Bai whom Sister Yuuka wanted to meet." Knowing she couldn't hide anything from her older sister's eyes, Flandre gave up and spilled the beans.
"Celestial Master Bai?" Remilia blinked slightly. Their group had traveled together the entire time, so she hadn't heard the woman's specific surname yet... "Ah, you mean the Agricultural Master!" Remilia quickly connected the dots, pressing forward.
"Spot on! Big Sis is amazing, guessing it right away!" Flandre beamed with a bright, flattering smile.
"Hmph, naturally. Otherwise, how could I call myself your big sister?" Remilia puffed up slightly in satisfaction before getting straight to the point. "Since you've already met this Agricultural Master in person, what is your impression of her?"
The moment Remilia asked that question, Kazami Yuuka—who had been quietly sipping tea near the sunlit window—turned her head and directed her sharp, emerald gaze straight toward Flandre.
"She's a genuinely nice person, and you can tell at a glance that her passion for plants and flowers is completely sincere," Flandre replied after a brief pause to organize her thoughts. Turning to her side, she looked at Koishi, who nodded her head vigorously in full agreement with Flandre's assessment.
Seeing the two youngsters offer such unreserved praise to a local specialist, Fujiwara no Mokou—who had been lounging on the sofa watching a Lungmen drama on television—leaned over the backrest with sudden curiosity.
"Oh? Mind telling us how you ended up running into this 'Celestial Master'?" Mokou asked, grinning wryly. "And honestly... 'Agricultural Master'? Before coming to Terra, I'd never heard of a title like that in my life."
Hearing Mokou's blunt remark, several others in the living room let out amused chuckles.
Back in Gensokyo, with the Hakurei Shrine and various human villages nearby, they were all thoroughly familiar with monster-exterminating Taoists and ghost-banishing Celestial Masters—plenty of rowdy lesser youkai had been soundly thrashed by such practitioners over the centuries.
Yet "Civil Engineering Celestial Masters" and "Agricultural Celestial Masters"... To be entirely honest, those modern industrial titles felt hilariously disconnected from the mystical reverence usually associated with the word Celestial Master. When they first arrived in Great Yan and learned of these professions, it was only because they were ancient, worldly beings who had seen every absurdity under the sun that they managed to keep straight faces; anyone younger would have burst out laughing on the spot.
"Well, how should I explain it..." Hong Meiling stepped forward to clear her throat, happy to share her expertise. "The Celestial Masters in this world operate using the foundational principles of the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams. On that Agricultural Master's uniform, the two trigrams Xun and Gen were prominently embroidered. Furthermore, judging by the precise technique she used to bury and preserve those snapped plum branches today, she clearly possesses deep mastery over earth-attuned Arts."
After all, when it came to the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams, Meiling was the resident authority.
"Hmm? Snapped branches?"
Kazami Yuuka, who had been silently listening to their conversation from across the room, suddenly turned her full attention toward Meiling, her emerald eyes narrowing slightly.
Hong Meiling instantly wished she could slap her own mouth—how on earth had she let that specific detail slip out?!
"It went like this... blah, blah, blah!"
Seeing Meiling freeze in panic, Flandre quickly stepped forward and recounted the entire sequence of events at the Plum Garden from start to finish.
Hearing that the culprits who damaged the ancient trees weren't Flandre's trio, Remilia quietly exhaled a breath of relief. While Yuuka wouldn't have openly lashed out at her guests, had Flandre actually broken prized blossoms, it would have severely lowered their standing in the Flower Tyrant's eyes. Instead, not only had Flandre's group kept their hands clean, they had actively stepped in to apprehend the vandals—a move guaranteed to earn major brownie points with Kazami Yuuka.
"How will those people be sentenced in the end?" Kazami Yuuka asked calmly, taking the initiative to press for details.
"Uh, I'm not completely versed in every single statute of local commercial law," Flandre replied seriously. "However, I can easily put in a word with Sister Beatrice, asking her corporate legal team to pursue the maximum possible statutory penalty when they face those idiots in court."
Although Kazami Yuuka's expression remained entirely placid and refined, Flandre could practically smell the faint, unmistakable scent of fresh blood hanging in the air around her.
Personally, Flandre wouldn't have minded in the slightest if those vandals had been turned into garden fertilizer. However, if their group started casually executing citizens right after arriving in the region, it would negatively impact Flandre's hard-earned standing back in Lungmen. Since Kazami Yuuka intended to establish a permanent, long-term residence here in Flower Village, keeping a low profile and avoiding unnecessary bloodshed until their foothold was completely secure was by far the wisest course of action.
Of course, once this entire territory firmly belonged to Yuuka down the line, quietly burying a few reckless fools beneath the flowerbeds where no one would ever find them wouldn't matter at all.
Flandre certainly didn't possess that naive, overly saintly mentality of "they only picked a flower or two, why punish them so harshly?" Back in Gensokyo, flowers and ancient trees regularly awakened into full sentience; since all living things existed on equal footing, taking a flower's life was no different from taking a person's. Besides, once Yuuka took over management, there would undoubtedly be clear warning signs posted everywhere reminding visitors not to pick the blossoms. If someone deliberately ignored every warning to destroy life, wouldn't they simply be reaping what they sowed?
Sensing Flandre's unspoken understanding, Kazami Yuuka nodded faintly and didn't press the matter further. Just as Flandre said, this estate currently belonged to Sister Beatrice's family, and with Flandre personally speaking up on her behalf, those four vandals would certainly not walk away unscathed. Even if they weren't turned into fertilizer as they would have been under Yuuka's direct hand, they were guaranteed to be fined into financial ruin.
Satisfied with that outcome, Kazami Yuuka smoothly withdrew her attention, returning to her tea.