"Though... Flandre, you were the one who asked me to come out and play with you today, yet we ended up digging in the dirt all afternoon..." Amiya said with an apologetic, slightly sheepish look.
"Hehe, it's completely fine! Doing this counts as playing too!" Flandre grinned brightly.
To Flandre, doing literally anything was completely enjoyable so long as it wasn't "serious business." Since potting plants and digging soil didn't count as official work, it naturally fell under the category of fun and games.
Hearing Flandre say that, Amiya let out a soft sigh of relief, her mind put at ease.
After washing up in the back breakroom, Flandre changed into the smallest available size of Rhodes Island patient loungewear—since none of the standard adult Operator attire could fit her small frame—and followed the other three out of the Sanatorium Garden.
When they arrived at the central cafeteria and located Remilia, the elder vampire looked at Flandre in her oversized medical smock, then at Hong Meiling in her sharp Rhodes Island Operator uniform, and found herself temporarily speechless.
"Are you two doing some kind of coordinated cosplay?" Remilia asked, raising an eyebrow.
Amiya quickly stepped forward and explained the entire afternoon's gardening saga.
Upon learning that Flandre had spent hours playing in the greenhouse soil and had only swapped clothes after taking a bath, Remilia finally turned to face Lena.
"My sister has a rather peculiar personality," Remilia said politely. "If she caused any trouble or made a mess, I hope you'll be patient with her."
Lena waved her hand dismissively with a warm smile. "Little Flandre was exceptionally well-behaved, and she's incredibly quick-witted! Her work was both fast and meticulous."
"If anything," Lena added, "we wouldn't have finished half of our workload today without her help. She was an absolute lifesaver!"
A fond, proud smile tugged at the corners of Remilia's lips upon hearing the praise; she always felt far more satisfied when others complimented her little sister than when they praised her directly.
After Lena and Amiya bade farewell to the Scarlet Devil Mansion group and walked over to another table, Remilia reached across the counter and lightly pinched Flandre's cheek before turning her attention to Eirin Yagokoro.
"What is the latest word on those youkai who ran off toward Higashi?"
Eirin's expression turned somewhat subtle and strange. "Word came back through that drunkard. They've taken over a mountain range in Higashi and officially raised their banner to establish a new Mt. Ooe. They even sent a little oni back to deliver a message: 'We're having a grand time here and have zero desire to return home.'"
"So they don't plan on returning anytime soon?" Remilia looked at Eirin.
"They likely won't be back for quite a while," Eirin sighed softly. "After all, for youkai, this land is practically paradise."
The sheer volume of suffering on Terra ran deep into the very soil, producing an endless, abundant feast of 'Fear'. For youkai, the concept of going hungry simply did not exist in this world. Since it was a safe, endless feast, they naturally had no interest in returning to Gensokyo to live under strict constraints.
As for Ibuki Suika, her reason was even simpler—it was far more entertaining here, and the land was overflowing with exotic, potent liquors. She simply didn't want to leave.
"And what about us?" Remilia inquired.
"This location isn't ideal for a return transit," Eirin explained smoothly. "We will arrange for team members to cross back once the Tengu return and we clear this territory. However, you will definitely need to make the trip back with us."
Eirin looked directly at Remilia. "After all, while leaving Gensokyo is simple, crossing back over to Terra requires your presence to anchor Flandre's spatial coordinates."
Remilia offered a firm nod; this plan had been settled long ago.
When she had rushed over to Terra previously, it was entirely out of desperate concern for Flandre's safety—leaving her younger sister stranded alone in an unfamiliar, dangerous world was an unbearable worry.
Now, however, the situation was fundamentally different.
After several months of direct field observation, Remilia could confidently state that while there might be individuals on this world capable of harming Flandre, those entities were exceptionally few and far between.
Furthermore, Ibuki Suika staying behind wasn't a bad thing at all; the powerful oni could serve as a formidable backer in the region. If Flandre ever encountered a crisis she couldn't resolve alone, she could simply seek out Suika for reinforcement.
As for her own household arrangements...
Remilia glanced over at Hong Meiling. Since she herself would be temporarily absent, Meiling would definitely need to stay behind on Terra to help watch over Flandre.
From her recent discussions with Patchouli, she also knew that Knowledge intended to stay on Terra a while longer to accompany Flandre back to Lungmen. The next time Remilia crossed back over, Patchouli would return to the Scarlet Devil Mansion via Yukari's Gap.
That left only Sakuya Izayoi...
It was definitely best if Sakuya returned with her; otherwise, back at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, a mountain of domestic and administrative duties would grind to an absolute halt without her perfect management.
Having finalized her mental plan, Remilia looked down to enjoy her dessert, only to discover that the special Red Plum Cupcake Sakuya had just baked exclusively for her had vanished without a trace from her plate.
Remilia turned her head sharp to the side. Standing right beside her was Flandre, with a faint, telltale smudge of pink plum frosting lingering on the corner of her lips.
Sensing her sister's intense glare, Flandre casually raised her sleeve, wiped away the pink smudge in one quick motion, and looked at Remilia with wide, entirely innocent eyes.
"Sister... why are you staring at me like that?"
Remilia was so stunned by her sheer audacity that she almost burst out laughing. You're asking why I'm staring at you?!
"You little cake thief, don't you dare think you're getting away with this!"
Remilia reached out with lightning speed to grab her, but Flandre had already anticipated the move and bolted out of the cafeteria like a shooting star.
Without missing a single beat, Remilia instinctively snatched up the feather duster handed to her by Sakuya Izayoi and gave chase at full speed.
"Waaah! Sister, I'm sorry! I'll never steal your cupcakes again!" Flandre wailed tearfully as she fled down the corridor, her cries echoing off the steel bulkheads.
Seeing the elder sister furiously pursuing her younger sibling with a feather duster, the surrounding Operators and staff members all wore knowing, amused smiles. This was purely a domestic family dispute—one that no outsider could possibly intervene in.
Not far away, Amiya, who had just sat down with her tray, stared wide-eyed in absolute bewilderment.
When she and Lena had departed moments ago, the Scarlet sisters had been the absolute picture of harmonious affection. How in the world had it devolved into a high-speed feather-duster chase in the short span of time it took to get her food?
Lena happened to have witnessed the entire heist. Laughing softly, she recounted how Flandre had skillfully snagged the cupcake the exact second Remilia turned her head to talk with Eirin, only to immediately get caught red-handed.
Amiya couldn't help but burst into cheerful laughter upon hearing the truth; she certainly hadn't expected Flandre to possess such a delightfully mischievous streak. "She really brought that on herself! Hahaha..."
The high-speed pursuit raged across the corridors of Rhodes Island for over an hour, finally culminating in Flandre being cornered at the end of a dead-end maintenance corridor.
"Impossible..." Flandre pressed her back against the cold steel wall, looking utterly despairing and unwilling to accept defeat. "How... how can you possibly be so familiar with Rhodes Island's layout?!"
"My foolish little sister..." Remilia cackled like a theatrical Great Demon King, slowly approaching with the feather duster raised. "Who was it that spent all her time playing around without ever bothering to memorize the landship's structural schematics? And whose loyal head maid arrived on Rhodes Island a whole month ahead of time?"
Flandre watched in sheer terror as the shadow of the feather duster loomed over her.
A short while later, Flandre trudged aggrievedly behind Remilia back toward their private quarters, clutching her bottom with both hands.
"You had plenty of your own pastries, so why did you have to steal your sister's?" Patchouli asked with a helpless smile as Flandre threw herself dramatically into her arms, weeping about the cruelty of her 'Great Demon King' sister.
"Because the cake on Sister's plate smelled so much better than mine!" Flandre declared with absolute, unyielding righteousness.
Everyone turned their eyes toward Sakuya Izayoi, who calmly shook her head. "Utterly impossible. I baked both cupcakes in the exact same tray, with the exact same batter, and distributed them entirely at random. There was no difference whatsoever."