"What a thoroughly unpleasant plant."
At the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the chief maid had been carrying the Mistress's clothes to hand-wash when she nearly tripped over something on the floor. It wasn't carelessness on her part—she simply could not fathom how vegetation was growing on an interior floor.
She opened the doors and windows. The plants had clearly grown in from outside. Sakuya narrowed her focus, and every weed within her field of vision was eliminated in an instant.
Then she threw a knife. It struck the gatekeeper's forehead with pinpoint precision.
"Ow! I wasn't slacking off!" The gatekeeper scrambled to peel the eye-pattern sticker off her eyelid.
"Then explain what this is." Sakuya pointed at the top of her head, expression blank.
Hong Meiling removed her cap and found it covered in catnip.
"Huh? I slept so long stuff started growing on me!" Meiling hastily plucked it all off. No real resistance—the roots hadn't burrowed in.
The grass didn't need soil to thrive. The root systems hadn't actually penetrated anything; seeds simply appeared and immediately began growing, as though drawing nutrients straight from the air.
The good news was it didn't seem to grow on living skin, and some instinct encoded in its DNA still drove the roots toward actual soil.
Sakuya grabbed a handful and sniffed. "Could work as a base for infused liquor. Probably has medicinal value too."
The moment she finished speaking, cat grass erupted again across the area she'd just cleared.
Whatever this stuff was, anything this prolific was bad news.
"I can't make sense of what's happening, but whoever did this must be a powerful... no, a genius magician."
A girl in pajamas murmured this, irritably brushing off her hat.
"Powerful genius... is there a difference?" Meiling blinked.
The look she received was pure disdain. "It means a beginner invented a spell formula that even I find impressive—and then inexplicably used it on something I can't make heads or tails of."
"Can you resolve this, Patchouli-sama?" Sakuya asked.
"I've tried. Probably not. If it were purely a magical construct, I could attempt a counter, but there seem to be other components mixed in."
Patchouli's tone was distinctly displeased. Whether that was because of the grass or the morning's crow-tengu newspaper was anyone's guess.
"Sakuya."
"Mistress?"
The very person they'd been discussing arrived. A small girl holding a parasol and sporting bat wings—the true master of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the Eternally Young Scarlet Moon—walked to the entrance and regarded the three of them gathered there with a puzzled look.
Sakuya dipped in a bow. "I thought you'd be catching up on sleep at this hour."
"Had an unpleasant dream. Old things better left forgotten." Remilia kicked at the weeds underfoot. "So who's causing an incident this time? Never mind—did Flan eat properly today?"
"The Second Young Lady was very well-behaved today."
"Good. Walk with me."
"Yes, Mistress." Sakuya fell in close behind her.
Scared awake by a nightmare? How adorable, Mistress.
They occasionally took daytime strolls—usually just around the shores of Misty Lake. The only thing to watch for out here was the odd prank-loving fairy.
"Does Reimu's daughter really live this far out?"
A clear young voice carried from the distance, putting Sakuya on alert.
"Should be right around here. I'm pretty sure Mysti knows the lay of Gensokyo really well."
"Oh, there's someone."
"What's this?" Sakuya focused her gaze and saw three pint-sized girls tramping through the cat grass toward them.
Upon spotting her, Yimi clenched her fists and struck a pose like a tiny Nezha, standing firm. Behind her, Wriggle struck a matching pose, while Rumia stood with both arms stretched straight out for no discernible reason.
"Congratulations, Host! Achievement unlocked: [Three Bros Under the Moon]. Reward: gacha pull +1."
"Pull!"
"Congratulations, Host! Item obtained: [Achievement Hint]."
[Achievement Hint]: Randomly reveals the unlock condition for one locked achievement.
Another one of these duds. Whatever.
The little cat pointed at Remilia. "Are you Reimu's daughter?"
"Hah?" The five-hundred-year-old Remilia jabbed a finger at herself in shock. "Do I bear even the slightest resemblance to her? Where did you three come from?"
Sakuya studied the group for a moment, then leaned in to whisper near Remilia's ear. "Mistress, according to the newspaper, the one in the middle is very likely the illegitimate child of Reimu-san and the black-whi... and Marisa-san, conceived through irregular means. The crow's paper has zero credibility, of course, but her close relationship with Reimu-san seems beyond doubt."
"Reimu's daughter? Has time really passed that quickly?" Remilia peered at Yimi in confusion, unable to fathom why this child had come looking for her specifically.
Then again, nobody said a person could only have one child. She herself had a younger sister. But that confrontational posture—could this be about an affair? And why were they heading this way?
Could it be Patchy?!
Remilia's eyes flared crimson—the manifestation of her power to perceive and manipulate fate. Strangely, when she turned that gaze on the one in the middle, she saw absolutely nothing.
"Never mind, she's not. Let's go." Yimi turned to lead her two subordinates around the group.
"I must ask the three of you to stop there. The Scarlet Devil Mansion lies just ahead." Sakuya leveraged her longer legs to block the three little girls.
"The Scarlet Devil Mansion?" The newcomer kitten had naturally never heard of the place.
Self-proclaimed strategist Wriggle swiveled to fill them in. "It's the vampire's house. Inside there are vampires—gruesome, terrifying, and they love eating little youkai."
"Who's gruesome and terrifying and eats youkai? How thoroughly unpleasant." Remilia's scarlet eyes narrowed to slits. She waved a hand. "Sakuya. Throw them out."
"Yes. Pardon the discourtesy."
Sakuya Izayoi struck a peculiar stance. "The World!"
In what seemed like a freeze-frame of stopped time, she picked up each of the three girls one by one and relocated them, facing the opposite direction.
"Ah, they ran away?" The clever Rumia assumed it was Remilia's group that had vanished.
Wriggle folded her arms. "Cowards. Scared off just like that. Come on, let's not waste our time on cowards."
Not actually very far behind them, Remilia's fist tightened.
"I've changed my mind... I'll discipline you personally. Last time Reimu beat me up pretty badly, you know." Remilia's eyes gleamed cold, and a vivid crimson spear condensed in her hand.
Divine Spear "Spear the Gungnir."
"Hmph—Rumia, go!" Wriggle thrust a hand forward in command.
"Why Rumia?" Rumia protested.
"Didn't we settle the ranking earlier? Mysti was the vanguard, you're number three." Wriggle was not pleased with the weaseling.
"Is that how it was?" Rumia chewed on her fingertip, unwilling to step forward.
"Fine, rock-paper-scissors." Wriggle shook her fist.
She lost.
"Damn it, how does someone with nothing going on upstairs have this much luck?" Wriggle pulled out several Spell Cards, insects swirling around her.
Remilia bonked her on the head with the spear.
"Ow! That hurts!" Wriggle clutched her skull and rolled across the ground.
"Green bug!" The little cat called out in worry.
"Useless." Rumia crouched down and poked her.
"I'll avenge you." Yimi beckoned, and an equally crimson spear materialized in her hand.
"That's..." Remilia's pupils contracted slightly.
The entire weapon radiated an aura that made her deeply uneasy—one that triggered an instinct to retreat.