"What?! You mean that there are no more tea leaves?! So that means that there's no tea tonight?"
It was nighttime and most of the members of the Scarlet Devil Mansion sat down to consume their meal without tea.
"I'm sorry, Lady Remilia. There were no tea leaves in stock at the Human Village due to shipment issues," Sakuya responded.
Remilia sighed as she couldn't grasp that Sakuya couldn't do a simple task, taking to account of her various achievements in the past. Sakuya had to be punished, but she knew that she only messed up once today.
"Very well, then. You'll go without dinner tonight," Remilia ordered. "And make sure you get the tea leaves tomorrow. I let you off easy since you're my servant, but the consequences will be much more severe if you don't get me my tea."
Sakuya answered, "Yes, milady. I won't fail you again."
In the Human Village the next day, Sakuya returns, ready to succeed in her task once again. However, upon entering, she finds that a pungent smell covered the air.
"Something isn't right. What happened?," Sakuya asked herself.
As she looked around, many dead bodies sprawled the entirety of the road. Some bodies were missing parts or intestines and even some were merely a skeleton. The houses were ravaged, including blood smears on some of them, and some were even burnt to ashes. Suffice to say, the village is a wasteland.
In the distance, Keine layed unconscious as Sakuya saw her. She ran to Keine and hoped that she's not mortally wounded.
"Keine, are you alright? What happened here?," Sakuya demanded.
"Uhh...Sakuya. You...came. Thank...goodness. Three...Three figures...Village..attacked...eating...humans...," Keine mumbled as she passed out after that.
"Keine? Keine! What should I do?," Sakuya blurted out.
"First, we have to move Keine somewhere safe. Preferably my place," a distant voice answered.
"Akyuu? Well, thank goodness you're safe. Yes, we must bring her indoors," Sakuya responed.
Inside Akyuu's House, Keine layed down on a bed in one of the rooms. Meanwhile, Sakuya and Akyuu sat down in the living room.
Sakuya began by asking, "So, what happened? Who could've done this?"
Akyuu responded, "It was instant. Three figures stood in the distance. They ambushed the village, burned down houses and ate every single human they could find, even humans in hiding. We barely had a chance to react and tried to evacuate as many people as we can, however, we can only save a handful of people. We moved them to the far back of the village, out of sight. Keine held them off, but she was mortally wounded in the fight. I couldn't leave her there, so I stood and watch, despite her telling me to flee."
"But how did they manage to find the Human Village? Isn't Keine supposed to hide the history of it so youkai wouldn't attack it? Also, she's strong. I couldn't imagine her going down so easily," Sakuya interrupted.
"I don't know how they managed to find it in the first place since it's supposed to be hidden. Perhaps they've heard rumors about the village. Their fighting style is unique and they managed to strike before Keine can make a move. They ambushed her and weakened her power severely, making her incapable of moving. It's barbaric, to say the least," Akyuu answered.
"How is it possible that they can move so fast? Also, aren't powerful youkai protecting the village?," Sakuya wondered.
"Perhaps that they have a power that we don't know about. As for the youkai, for some reason, they fled the village, as if something was calling them to leave. We haven't heard from them since," Akyuu answered.
She continued by saying, "There's no telling when the village is going to get attacked again. Sakuya, I know that this is much, but, can you help us? I know that you're busy with serving Remilia, but we have no one to turn to. Reimu is off to solve another incident, Marisa is nowhere to be found, and we can't get a call out to the Netherworld, Moriya Shrine, or the Myouren Temple, despite so many attempts. So, you're the only option we have."
Despite the situation at hand, Sakuya can't bring herself to betray the mistress. She had no choice but to break the bad news to her.
"I'm sorry, Akyuu. I serve my master and I don't intend on betraying her. I decline your request."
"I guessed it can't be helped. Don't worry. I understand. I'll try to manage with what I can. Besides, Keine will recover soon. I'm sure of it," Akyuu replied. "Oh, I assume you're here to get tea leaves? Well, I forgot to tell you yesterday, but I had some tea leaves that I could spare you. Hold on."
As Akyuu gathered the tea leaves, Sakuya pondered the possibility that she may have made the wrong choice. After all, with an scene like this, there's no way she can stand by and watch people get slaughtered by ruffians. Eventually, Akyuu returned with the leaves and Sakuya came to the conclusion that her decision was for the best.
"Here. This bag should be enough tea for a while," Akyuu insisted.
"Thank you. I do apologize about the situation, but if I were to help you, then the mistress will be displeased with me for disobeying orders. I don't even want to know the consequences for insubordination. Please excuse me," Sakuya replied.
Sakuya left the house and headed towards the exit. Along the way, she saw two children get water from the well. She hid out of sight to see what's going on.
"Man, I'm thirsty. Good thing this well has some water. You want some, too?," one child asked.
"What are you doing? Our moms told us never drink from a well unless the water is safe. Shouldn't we wait until someone comes to check on it?," the other child recommended.
"Nah. Besides, I've drank from plenty of wells and all of them are okay. Don't worry, if I can eat worms, I can drink well water. Watch." The child took a drink from the well water, and instantly, he fell to the ground.
"Huh? Hey, are you okay? I told you not to drink it! You never listen to me!," the other child asked, panicking. He tried to shake the boy, but there was no response.
"Help! Someone help! I don't know what's wrong. My friend's hurt," the other child shouted.
"Oh, no. That child's dead, isn't he?," Sakuya thought as she stood frozen at what just happened. She wanted to help the poor child, but she knew that she had a duty and she was going to fulfill it. "This is getting out of hand. If I try to help him, Remilia will suspect something is going on. I better get going. I can't get caught up in this any further."
Sakuya immediately leaves the village, trying to take in the events that happened. She completed her task of obtaining tea leaves, but she failed her task of helping someone in need like any human would do. She now is stuck trying to figure out what's right: helping a village in need or remaining by her master's side. Both decisions weighed heavily on her as she made the trip back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.