Steward Of Paradise At Work

by Tall-Gothic-Guy

I didn't come here to meet shrine maidens or monsters. I didn't come here to erect a cross. No one even told me about magic being a thing here. Actually, I didn't expect myself to be here at all. I was simply chasing a woman who created eye portals. But it beats being a runaway thief. I just wish I knew sooner, that this place will never give me a break, not even God...Bring it on.

27. Knowing is Half the Battle

"For a town brimming with gifted humans, it is rather…quiet." Advisor deducted with interest. Maybe with more interest than he expected to have when he planned to visit it. The village's humans lived simpler lives, and despite more than most being poor they express satisfaction with their lives, accepting it as their own. The many descendants of powerful Youkai hunters seemed to have become complacent over the many decades, which led to their current lives of relative peace inside their walls.

"I like the sight." He had already seen and met the inhabitants outside the village, not many were too friendly when he asked for directions, so quick to react with anger when he was simply stating the falseness of their bravado and self-conception. Seeing such a polite community brightened his spirits, it helps him know that humanity hasn't fallen far. "Sadly, they would not trust a person with a suspicious attire."

He might have to seek out enlightened individuals if he could ever manage to know the location of archives that held the knowledge of Gensokyo and its inhabitants, especially prominent figures like the Hakurei Shrine Maiden. Plaguing the town is simple, turning waters red and destroying crops with locusts has never been difficult, even the disease he sent throughout Europe that has been dubbed as the 'Black Death' has been a success when he released it to the world, taking more lives than he anticipated. But his new Wielder wants a stable attack, controlled and kept behind a drawn line. No deaths, and recoverable suffering.

A command he has never heard once. Most of his past Wielders never actually tell at what extent should he do his task, and even to this day it confuses him when he receives a negative feedback for simply doing what he was told to do. Did he go too far? Or did he do little? Only after he asked did they ever tell him and pin the blame all on him.

It was a universal sign that his Wielder has fallen and lost his respect. He obeys solely those who have no Pride, and to not take responsibility for your own actions is an act of conceitedness. Besides, they were the ones who told him to do it, and Advisor was simply following orders.

If a sword or a knife has taken a life, which would you accuse as the murderer? The blade, or the wielder? He is merely a craft of wood and lumber, meant to herd, lead, exert, punish, and signify his Wielder's subjects. He never kills, takes, or destroys of his own accord. Handcrafted tools have no freewill, such is the law of the world.

….but he can excuse his act of siring lost orphaned children as some form of freewill, but such an action is rather minor compared to the wide-scale massacres he has done when he had none of it. Besides, half of the intention was a dying wish from a kindly old woman that had nothing left but her life, and the other half became part of his identity due to the fact that he has done it for so long that it became instinctual.

He wonders if his new Wielder will be different from the past ones. For such a being of great power, her humility is rather profound. More practical than proud, adhering to facts than self-opinionated possibilities. A respectable character.

"It oddly amuses me that these humans are protected by Youkai, inside and outside." He commented in his droning tone as he stepped into the darkness of an alley as soon as he slipped through the walls. "Like poultry or bovine in a farmer's land. Anything that comes inside the land is either deer or wolf, more than likely to be eaten."

Hands elegantly folded behind his back, back as straight as a board, he began to stride in relaxed steps. He has no destination but he kept his eyes on everything around him, surveying every detail with both interest and sharp attentiveness. Being at the edge of the village, there wasn't much to see except decay. Dilapidated buildings, weeds covering the ground, and more unwanted foliage filling the abandoned spaces. Not to mention the many unsavory individuals that he could feel are gathering around one building. At least he found first targets. Better the wicked than the innocent to suffer, or so most of his past owner's used to say.

Taking a turn to the left, with a graceful pivot in his feet, he decided that he should survey the inner parts of the village. There's likely to be some information there, but with his attire that's very unlikely. It will only make humans give him a wide berth, not to mention be automatically assumed as a Youkai.

He froze before his left pointy shoe could lay its soles on the ground. He smelled a foreign aura from one of the buildings. From what he could gather, it doesn't seem harmful, but it's a giveaway sign that whoever lives in it has been exposed to many elements of Gensokyo than most and can tolerate his presence better than the simple humans that litter the streets. He should go there.

He will not take the streets just yet, discreetness should come first. Navigating several alleys without a hurry and without breaking his elegant poise, he finally reached the establishment that permeated the auras even strongly thanks to his close-proximity with it. He somehow smelt paper as well, a similar scent to one of the past libraries he frequented inside his past Wielder's mansions.

He leaned his upper body forward like a lever, peeking from the side to see the establishment's name and the eyebrows behind his crow mask rose up slightly in interest. "Suzunaan. An endearing name for such a foreboding place." He quipped with a finger below his 'chin'. "I wonder if it carries the information I need."

Brushing aside the cloth tassels without triggering the entrance bell, he wasn't surprised to see rows of bookshelves creating a passage towards the desk ahead, which strangely seemed to be unoccupied. "Hmm…" He hummed in wonder. He felt two souls in the building, one was behind the room he currently occupied, another was right here with him, just somewhere. Maybe the occupant is cleaning. He can hear feathers brushing against the spines of multiple books.

Deeming it as none of his concern, he ventures into one isle and eyes through the selection with a keen eye, without the slightest sound made in his every movement while the other occupant fills the silence with melodic hums and rhythmic brushes of a feather duster.

So far, he found himself intrigued, but not satisfied. None of them contained any particular knowledge of Gensokyo given by their titles. While he felt interested in versing through each text, he has work to do, any form of recreation can be had once he's finished.

Going through four isles, even bothering to verse through a few books to have a clear detail of its contents, they only contained folk tales, fairy tales, biographies, bestiaries, classical knowledge, old history, even books that originate from the Outside World's humans, but he found little information of importance and necessity. Nothing in particular that could be helpful for his task. Knowledge of Youkai from children's stories can be beneficial but he targets a wider scale. Something broader and encompassing all of Gensokyo since its isolation from the Outside World. Maybe before it was a world of its own.

"Hmm?" Something caught his eye. Leather-bound cover made from the hide of a creature unknown to man, the visage of a grinning demon filling the cover, and an iron chain surrounding the entire book diagonally, keeping the contents locked and secret. His verdict?

"Necronomicon." He breathed in his unchanging drone that belied disbelief. "I thought the translated manuscripts were long destroyed…" Sauntering over it with his clawed-gloves reaching out, he held the eldritch tome like a delicate vase. Flicking the lock loose, the chains rattling as it hung from the spine, he flicked to the first page and immediately absorbed the unthinkable knowledge found. Despite the corpse-like stillness of his form, the motions of his head as he skimmed the forbidden text was indication enough for his intention to binge-read till the last page. "Such knowledge….so unearthly….the author is honestly mad…."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE NECRONOMICON!?"

The presence of a vulnerable mental state made him snap the book shut and fix the chains in place once again in a single motion, keeping its contents forever unknown to all except himself. The unfriendly energy in the book has been stable until the person behind him panicked. She could have been possessed and become something indescribable if he hadn't closed it.

"Shouting is unbecoming for a librarian, my child." He remarked, placing the tome back where he found it, in the same exact position that a sharp eye would not have noticed it was held seconds ago. "And you are playing with fire, storing such atrocious books in your inventory."

"You can't tell me how to do my job! Collecting these books is part of my job!" The other person in the room, who happened to be a young child holding a feather duster, pointed out heatedly. "And first of all, I'm a Book-Renter, not a librarian! There's a difference!"

He tilted his head, to better indicate his wonderment to the pubescent human's claim. "There isn't much of a difference to the third correction, however." He pointed out helpfully. He would have proceeded to explain his point but he shouldn't waste time doing so when he has a command to follow. Maybe next time.

"Jus-just….!" The young one sputtered for several seconds before deflating in defeat, apparently not having the will to have any arguments. "What are you doing here?"

"To read, of course." He replied lightly.

"O-okay." She deadpanned, "Why are you here?"

"I believe the answer to that question matches the one prior, therefore your inquiry will leave you no satisfaction for any other answer." He pointed out helpfully.

Her cheeks brightened in irritation. Why are all humans so short-tempered? He was merely answering their questions. "I mean why do you want to read a book!?"

Maybe he will have to be more elaborate this time to make sure she doesn't ask the same question again. Repetition is a cause of irritation for humans after all. "Well, to read is to acquire knowledge. My cause for such an action is because I am ignorant and curious. To be rid of my ignorance and to be quelled of my curiosity, I must skim and scan through the text of the desired topic and absorb whatever information it contains. Once I have learned what I needed to learn, I will leave whatever reading place I am currently at and execute whatever task or ambition I carry, putting what is learned into practice or into good use. Is that answer satisfactory for you?"

The girl was left with a hanging jaw, barely letting out a coherent word except a short "…uh…"

He figured to continue, maybe assume a little something about the girl to impress her. "And while I have been explaining to you the motivation of reading a book, you seem to have looked past my appearance as a ghastly figure of The Plague that was under the conception of looking after the diseased, barely reacting with any fright or repulsion or even hostility, especially on first sight." He glided towards her, forcing the young girl to lean her head back as his beak almost stabbed her in the nose when he peered closer to her. "It can mean…that you have seen many things than most of the village population ever had…didn't you?"

He found out that it did little to help. The scent of apprehension was permeating out of her, even her wide eyes was beginning to express fear. His appearance's natural effect to cause fear was starting to act up, not to mention that this girl's practically an infant due to his towering stature.

Maybe he should stop being this intrusive, it won't do him any favors and even likely draw unwanted attention, both to him and the girl. That wasn't part of the command. He was to cause a plague, not discord. Perhaps a simple question might calm her down. He leaned his head away, standing back upright with his form as straight as a board. "What is your name?"

The girl's shaky mouth continued to speak soundless words, but after a few uncertain and apprehensive seconds, she managed to let out the answer. "Ko-Kosuzu…"

"Well, good morning, Kosuzu-kun." He turned around gracefully and began gliding towards her desk, peering at the inside of the gramophone's horn with some interest. "If you have managed to release yourself from the trance that left you unable to respond to any possible inquiries I might have, at least listen to the query I bear with me since my entrance."

"Be-before that, can I ask something!?" Kosuzu squeaked heatedly. "I've been nothing but confused and out of mind since you started talking!"

"Oh, have you?" He turned his head towards her, his body language and dead inflexion betraying no genuine bewilderment. "Well, do forgive me. My arts of conversation are rather odd by human standards, it is the trouble you receive when you speak to someone like me."

"I-I see that."

"Of course you can." He stood back upright without breaking eye-contact, seeing the foreign element clouding her otherwise human eyes, identifying her as one of the awakened. "Your abilities of observation may be beyond that of standard levels of human perception, being able to read even forgotten languages despite having never learned them yourself, but surely you do not need such empowerments to comprehend my vocabulary."

Her expression grew even more confused, and lost. "Are you calling me an idiot?"

"No." He answered motionlessly. "I do not question your intelligence, I am merely remarking the needless notion to mention that you can see my point when you could simply nod to affirm—."

That drew a severely frustrated groan from Kosuzu. "Can I ask it now!? Because I think I'm getting really angry the more you talk!"

He finally decided to simply be quiet. He might have pushed the girl close to her breaking point. That wasn't his intent here.

"Why…." Kosuzu paused, scrunching her little face as she worked her young mind, probably to reconfigure her words without eliciting another explanation from him. "…what do you want to read about here?"

He turned to the necronomicon, then turned back to her. "Well…" He placed a clawed index finger below his 'chin', staring into space to figure out how to put it into simple terms. "…an archive…containing the knowledge…regarding Gensokyo….and its prominent figures…." He placed his hand behind him along with the other, elegantly folded and returning into the motionless form he always was. "Would your establishment happen to have such a file?"

"Why do you want it?" Kosuzu asked. "Are you new? Are you an Outsider?"

"Your understanding of the term 'Outsider' differs to mine." He remarked, motionless. "What is it?"

"You are." She exclaimed astoundingly, nonchalantly approaching him without any regard to his ghastly appearance. "Tell me, tell me: where did you come from before you got into Gensokyo?"

"The memory eludes me, Kosuzu-kun." He can vividly remember the day when he was carved from a branch till the day he was put atop a slab of stone, never to be used again. He wasn't human, he would not mull over the past like the most of them. History makes him valuable, but the present brings his importance as an object to whom that wields him. "I cared not for where I am nor for when I am but for what I am. I was never the person before you when I was born. I was once an extension of a grown sapling on the ground, likely in a time that was ancient compared to today, hewn out to become a staff and present authority over the sheep of my owner."

"Oh! You're a Staff Tsukumogami!"

"But then, I became the medium of a higher power, brought before gods, magicians, and a ruler to demonstrate miracles." Kosuzu knelt in a seiza on the floor before him, much like a child listening to a fairy tale. It reminded him of his past charges when he told of the rise and falls of man's vanity to make sure they rise up as humble and respectable individuals. "The first miracle was to become flesh, and back into a staff. And when it is repeated thrice, I have devoured attempts of imitation. Afterwards, I tainted the waters red with blood, to taunt the powers of a god of the Nile. My third miracle is a taunt against a god with the head of an amphibian, delivering a plague of frogs upon the populace. The fourth brought the lice from the dust of the earth, to test the power of a dust god."

"Ew." She made a disgusted face, scratching her head almost out of instinct.

"The god with the head of a fly is defied when I brought the harassment of flies upon the people, leaving them miserable until I was told to make them go away. The sixth led me to deliver the death of livestock, no cattle and beast has since breathed. When the next command came, I delivered the disease, leaving all who worshipped the defied gods to be unfit in their presence on account of their uncleanliness." His right thumb and index finger rubbed silently behind his back. "The next miracle led to the demonstration of divine power. I let hail and fire rain down from the sky, destroying the means of their comfort and destroying their surviving livestock. Then came the locusts from the sky."

"What are locusts?" Kosuzu asked.

"Insects of the wind, a plague to your harvest." His beak that was pointed towards her is lowered just slightly, indicating the grimness of such a creepy-crawly. "They will ravage the green, devour the crops, and leave you to starve. Not even scraps and crumbs are left behind for you to pick on." In a slow and deliberate motion, his upper body angled forward like a lever, drawing closer towards Kosuzu's knelt form, staring deeply into her wide maroon eyes with the cold, unexpressive lenses of his mask. His body was impossibly bent into a diagonal letter V, without the slightest wobble. "Man and beast suffered as they took away the last of their surviving provisions."

The color of surprise showered Kosuzu's face, a gasp escaping from her lips as she took note of his words. There was no fear or even dread after hearing the things he did, only shock.

There was more to this girl, indeed.

He snapped back upright like a bent stick, eliciting a surprised yelp from the young girl over the suddenness of the movement. "After that, I was left in the dark over the following days until I was called to divide the sea, bring water from stone, and ensure victory to my first Wielder's war." He looked to the side, facing the dark corner. "And time after that, I was put into a temple and was laid to rest."

"Whoa…." Wonder glittered her maroon eyes, "And that was long ago?"

"Long…" His stare raised upwards, staring at a time and place that was far more primitive compared to the Mystical Land he was in now. "…long ago. Long before the gods of this land were even born…."

"When did you wake up?"

He remained in his current pose, staring up to the ceiling as he answered her with his reverberating but silky-smooth voice, "Decades…maybe centuries after the temple I rested on was destroyed. I awoke not as wood but as flesh, and became man from the rubble. It was a sad little time for me, having no Master to obey."

"But did you get to find a master then?"

His stare panned downwards, back to Kosuzu who has taken a seat on the nearby sofa. "There were candidates a plenty, so many wish to command me, and so many do not hold a candle to the man my first owner was. He was humble, obedient to his higher, resolute, wise in his decisions, open-minded, and honest." He faced the entrance and slightly tilted his head to the side, lenses shining as the rays of daylight peeking from the gaps between the tassels reflected on them. "Those who do…..do not last. When their ambitions grew strong as well as their self-righteousness, they no longer had the space for humility in their hearts…so I destroyed them, along with their works. I took away their Pride." And that's when he discovered his own personal gift as a being for the very first time. It might as well be the driving force of his godlike and divine power. So long as his opponent has Pride, he can never lose.

So far, no one has ever noticed his true strength as well as his greatest weakness…until he met the Queen of his supreme target and pledged himself wholeheartedly to her.

"But as of now, a worthy wielder came to me days ago."

"Is your new master a man or a woman?" Kosuzu asked, resting her head on her hands while her elbows rested atop her elbows.

"A beautiful female, Kosuzu-kun." He answered, pointing out a true fact from what he can remember of the Noble Chimera. A description that's both undeniable and 90% acceptable from all humans. "She carries the strength of many beasts, her power so great it can destroy the earth and shatter the skies apart….yet she sees herself beneath a human."

"Is she really that strong? She could just be exaggerating."

"No." His objection was quick to come out. Though toneless and dead, it made him sound quite defensive, even to himself. Which is rather surprising. Still, he continued to speak, "She did not boast of her power nor did she flaunt. She stood before me like a human and spoke to me workwise. She wears the flesh of man, yet her power is bare before my eyes. Restrained, but not out of sight. She did not position herself as someone above me nor did she speak to me as if she refers to a lowly subject. She portrays herself as an equal to me, as someone worthy of mutual respect. Maybe even beneath me. It was a sight to behold."

"You sound like you really respect her, even though your voice is not really that colorful."

"And I do." He honestly admitted, "Never have I seen someone so humble that she would listen to even the cries of those beneath her….not since my first owner. For the first time, I held high hopes for the potential of my new wielder as a permanent owner."

"Wow. She must be a lucky woman, if your standards are really that high." He heard her shuffle as she adjusted her position on the couch, leaning backwards on the backrest with a sigh. "What's your name? I never get to ask that, and what's the name of your new master—er, Mistress?"

He shook his head slowly, his beak waving side to side like a grandfather clock's pendulum. "I have many names given to me by my past wielders and from the children I adopted and raised, from many languages and dialects, therefore I do not have a real name. And my new owner has not told me her own name nor has she given me a proper one either, therefore I shall refer to her as 'Queen' and you can refer to me as 'Advisor'."

"Monko….okay, I'll call you Monko-san then." She stood up and courteously bowed, followed by a jovial introduction. "Hi, pleased to meet you, Monko-san! If you want to rent a book, you can ask me anytime! Suzunaan is the bestest book-renting shop you can ever hope to look for in the Human Village!"

He felt pleased and was in a lighthearted mood thanks to the innocent display that he didn't want to confront the proud claim. He gave his appreciation with a light incline of his head. "Would there be anything to enlighten a newcomer, Kosuzu-kun?" He never cared to count how many years have past whether he was in a deep sleep or not. The last time he closed his eyes, it was at the time when a Japanese Mountain erupted. And when he was awoken, the mystical land called Gensokyo has disappeared from the map.

"Oh, I got just the thing. Wait here." She sauntered over to a specific isle and traced her finger over several spines, searching the requested book. "Say, when did you get to Gensokyo?"

"As I have said, I do not care for the when. However, if you wish to hear a rough estimation, it would likely be…." His head slightly tilted, as if peeking into a crack of the past. A quirk he developed whenever he would try to rummage through his memory. "…a century and one decade prior to now. But I have spent the majority of my time here resting in a cave, awaiting my owner to come and claim me."

The cur who called himself the King of Nature had all the nerve to tell him to go to Gensokyo, create a cave to hide in, and await his Queen to claim him.

"How long were you waiting? It must be boring."

"Allow me to repeat myself: I do not care. The isolation was hardly ever tedious, I must admit. It gave me ample amounts of time to contemplate my life, which is rather…new. I never have done such a thing before." Time spent alone in the darkness also gave way to grow a slight bit of personality and a development to his personal sense of grudge. A grudge that was not built on the foundation of Pride. A feat of emotion as equal as the anger without sin.

And the King was the only person he ever loathed for the very first time in his life. The times he led his failed owners to their downfall was never due to him acting out on raging emotions, it was a simple consequence of cause and effect. If his wielder carries a sense of Pride far larger than it is appropriate for their own good, it is a clear sign that his owner is unworthy of his power and unfit to wield him. The Lion, however, earned the honor of being destined to fall due to his own freewill of personal emotion, not to the failure to meet the self-made criteria he so devoutly followed for more than three millenniums.

Every animal does not have Pride, should not have Pride, but that lion does, especially the Chimera fledgling with two spines. He will set that one thing straight and make the reality of animalkind whole again.

"Aha! Here it is!" Exclaimed the young girl, pulling a blue book out from the selection. Walking over to him with the item in hand, she held it out to him. "Here you go, Monko-san. It's a bit out of date so it's not really up to speed with what happened lately."

Nodding in acknowledgement, he took the book slowly with one hand, each end of his fingers ending with dark claws it seemed as if a tangible shadow was reaching for the tome as they held the top edge of the book before gently pulling out of her hands.

"Oh and if you're gonna read about Youkai, don't take it too seriously. Lots of it are a little exaggerated. It's like that so humans could get scared of them." She leaned close to him. "It's how Youkai can stay alive. Fear is food to them, but don't tell that to anybody. It'll destroy Gensokyo if you do."

"I am aware." He admitted, having understood the spiritual structure of Youkai and their metaphysical lifeline to the physical realm since King Solomon began to enslave demons. It would not be a stretch that he had created some of them himself, short-lived as they were.

The word 'fear' made him feel a slight twinge of playfulness. A strange sensation he developed when he began to sire his seventh orphan. He felt inclined to indulge in it. He hasn't been in company with a child in a long time, after all. Given by Kosuzu's age, including her enlightened understanding of Gensokyo's structure, she may not be frightened so easily if he wants to demonstrates his power just for the sake of entertainment. "Before I read, may I request for you to turn around?"

"Hm?" She tilted her head in question, "Why?"

"I plan to commit a slight bit of mischief." Alarmed, Kosuzu's eyes widened in response. He quickly continued before she could get to say something about it, all without breaking his smooth, ghostly voice. "A demonstration if you will. Just for the sake of your entertainment."

A doubtful frown crossed her features, "What are you gonna do?"

"I will present to you the very first miracle I ever performed in my life." He inclined his head, implying his earnest will if he cannot express it by words or by facial expression just like a human. "Consider it a little treat for your help in finding this tome for me."

Even more doubt crossed her features, still unrelenting to his request. "I don't know…."

A justified reaction, given that he lacked to mention other things, especially the safety guarantees. "I swear, it will be harmless. Spectacular, but harmless. You will not suffer even a scratch. You simply have to see and be amazed or be appalled. The choice is yours."

Kosuzu pondered over it, finger below chin for several seconds. Eventually, she looked up to him and nodded, "Okay."

Having her permission, he placed one hand over her eyes, then placed the other hand atop her head to spin her around, his left hand literally twisting in impossible limits that his fingers are pointed to his direction without the slightest crack of bone. He can feel her stiffening, likely apprehensive. "You shall not open your eyes and face me until I give you the prompt."

"O-okay." She softly answered.

Upon drawing back his hands, they disappeared into the darkness of his cloak, as if merging into the cloth. His body is beginning to shift, shrinking before expanding, growing, extending. The dark robes that happened to be his natural skin began to grow scales, colors of tropical green, fiery red and jet-black glittering like priceless diamonds across his form. His legs merged together, artificial bones that constituted his human body's joints melted, reshaped and made flexible, stretching even further that he had to coil himself into an intricate bundle instead of overtaking the entire floor space.

His beak expanded, splitting horizontally to create his massive maw lined with sharp teeth and a pair of wicked fangs, his eyes morphed back into the unblinking pair of jade orbs, slit for a single second before turning into a round circle: wide, watchful, and ever so attentive. His shrunk tongue flicked out, exposing its forked design that came during his shift, tasting the scent of old paper, leather covers, magical miasma and Youkai energy. The last touch: his ribs expanded outwards and his hood is spread open, exposing the symbol of 'Pride' at his back and revealing the hypnotizing allure at his front.

He remembered very well to morph himself a functional pair of ear holes. The young girl has a rather imperceptible frequency, after all.

His speech and intonation now altered, emotion and expression now released, able to line his words with color and life, he can predict that this will cause Kosuzu a bit of an alarm due to how very unsettling it is to hear for many humans who aren't used to it. In a breathing whisper, louder than it should be to be considered a mere whisper, a sharp inhale preluded a hissy prompt. "Tuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrn….."

His tongue flicked out, and he tasted the fear that was practically blowing out of the young girl's form the sooner she heard him. Her form was even stiffer, cold sweat running down her neck, and despite them being hidden underneath her neat green skirt, he could practically see her knees trembling in their efforts to keep straight. Rigidly, she turned…..very slowly.

He reared his head back, deciding to take a flair of dramatization in the performance by letting the upper half of his form blend in the shadows before stepping into the light. His entire bottom half piled in a coil, frozen like a boulder in the middle of nowhere, he awaited for her eyes to turn his way.

And when she did, her fear was suddenly overtaken by confusion. "What the?" She said as she looked at a glittering bundle of thick rope, taken in by their shining colors. "Monko-san? Where are you…." Her eyes that had been following after the end of the rope slowly reached up to him, and then she realized that the shining bundle was his body. Her fear came back at full-force, the scent so thick he could bite it in the air. As he moved his head into the light, staring down the little human as his eyes locked firmly into her maroon orbs, he slowly and deliberately leaned downwards, closer to the visage of frozen shock gracing Kosuzu's face.

His nose bumped into her forehead, an exhale making her bangs flutter from the gust of his massive nostrils.

A loud thud breaks the silence of Suzunaan's interior and Kosuzu's body lies limp on the floor, unconscious.

"Oh deeeaaar…wassss it too faaaaaaaaaar….?" He asked himself in genuine bewildered shock, beginning to regret his choice of showing gratitude. An emotion he could only feel towards innocent souls. His head hovering over her unconscious form still stinking with fear, his slick tail gently scooped her up and settled her back to the sofa, as comfortable as possible. "I will coooome back to apologiiiiizzzeee…..onccce I accomplisssssshh….my command….." He promised to her and glided towards the entrance, the book he borrowed lying atop the middle of his body.

Breaching into the sunlight as he exited, his body slowly shrunk for the sake of stealth, making sure no bystander nearby is alarmed at the sight of a dangerous predator exiting a young girl's establishment. Returning to the darkest alley he could find, slipping past many obstacles and garbage without dropping the book that has now grown heavier on his slim frame thanks to his new size, he entered an abandoned building and settled there.

Growing a functional pair of arms with only two digits, he can freely open the book and read. He isn't concerned for the darkness, the pair of eyes he has are specifically built to see in the dark. And without further ado, he began to read, muttering the important details.

"A closed world, without any humans to create history. Youkai remember distorted versions of past events, and Gensokyo is not facing the fact…

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

"Ninth Child of Miare….Heida no Akyuu…." He recited the last words in the text, noting the second to the last sentence before the Author's name. "If there are any opinions you'd like to present, please visit the Heida Residence…..Hmm….."

Closing the book, he shifted back into his humanoid form, expanding his size and shortening his form's entire length, growing back his limbs, stiffening his maw into a rigid 'beak', and reducing his intonation back to the flat yet smooth drone that betrayed no life, emotion, or expression. Knelt in a seiza position just like the way Kosuzu did, he took the book into his clawed hands and hid it in his 'pocket'. He will return it once he is through.

But for now, he plans to pay a visit to the author herself. Just a couple of questions to ask and a lot of precautions for her to take note of. A few more steps have to be made if he ever wants the outcome to end up exactly as the Queen's command to him: No deaths, a horrible plague upon the land, and a bearable calamity brought upon all the inhabitants. He has all he needs to know, but additional knowledge is a grand addition. The more he knows, the likelihood of his Wielder succeeding will grow even higher.

If these 'Incidents', as the locals seem to call them in general, are commonly handled by a mere pair of very gifted, if rather arrogant young girls, he would love to see them deal with a rather unique Incident of his own. If his limited amount of freedom could allow him to hope, the shrine maiden will be at a loss once he sets the plan into motion. He can only be wrong if his deduction had gaps in facts.

"She's only human.…and no human is an island…" He intoned, a resolute fire lit in his heart as he rose to his feet gracefully. "…we'll see how delectable your Pride is once we meet, Little Shrine Maiden….."

The oddities of this world regarding conflict and the means to resolve it will put him in a fight against anybody once the Incident begins. That means he will have to polish his abilities to fight if he wants a chance at making the Incident a success…

….or does he have to? Just because he was in a fight, it doesn't always mean he should hit back. If humans are capable of transcending the universal law of hitting back with the simple phrase 'Turn the other cheek', why not himself?

Besides, he was a tool. Tools do not fight back nor do they harm of their own volition. The harm they could ever do is when their wielder wills it. If incorrectly used, the tool could even harm their own owners. Just like he did to his past owners.

"Mm." He hummed in approval with a very animated nod for the little trick he just thought up. "Perhaps for the very first time: I look forward to this little disaster in the making."

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

[…geez…..] One more throw and I'm sitting down. Not gonna pull the knife out and go for yet another 'one more' like the last hundred times. Okay, here we go. Hold on to the blade, feel the weight, aim, then throw.

*Tig!*

Huh….near dead center hit. Almost touching the smallest circle. [Of course it's the last throw that's close.] Says me as I pull the knife out of the tree trunk with a carved target circle, sheath it to my holster and go inside my house to lie down on the wooden couches packed with pillows. Sigh, [Geeeeez…..]

Life's been a lot normal since the last two weeks after that lion attack. Not a lot of ruckus, just simple living, a living that's fitting for a human like me looking for a break. Nothing special in the dango-selling business too, same old same old. Even if I was a walking hamburger to any Youkai, nobody really tried their chances with me. Is the path to the village really that safe or are they biding their time, waiting for me to lower my guard?

Except for one….some fuckhead wolf Youkai a couple days ago (8 days ago, I think) really thought he could get me while my back was turned. He should've picked a better time to attack me, maybe when I walked out of that bamboo forest after getting my arm fixed up. I was incapable of combat at the time.

Unfortunately for him, Eirin's medicine was absolutely powerful. My ribs were in perfect condition after a single week, giving me my good ol' mobility back. It even turned the stitches in my arm into a scar just as quickly, making me feel very 100%. When me and that Youkai faced off, it was a day to remember:

It was night time when I decided to get home (got a little workaholic that time at the dango place), probably justifying the time to attack me (Youkai are nocturnal, after all), but his intentions were outright inhumane. He wanted to eat me, said no one will care since I'm an outsider, and even said that no one will miss me once I'm gone. And there's the fact that he smelled hermit on me.

Not gonna lie, I was gloriously pissed off when he said it. Shithead didn't even realize that I'm under the protection of Reimu, and I really didn't like the way he talked to me. He said everything like I was an acceptable target, which is so infuriating that I could've killed him right away.

But I held back and did the right thing that's fitting for a Gensokyo citizen. Suggest a Spell Card Battle instead. Then maybe, just maybe, I can ask him to have his wolf buddies to back off. It's fair, and I'm even willing to have him over for dinner if he doesn't wanna go home hungry after losing. I was gonna cook fish that night. I got lots of money from my boss at the time to cover up the food eaten by an extra-mouth.

Turns out he wasn't inclined to listen to me at all.

He doesn't give jackshit about the spell card system, even said it right in front of me. Said he doesn't want my human shit. He wants me. And when I thought he can't be reasoned with, he blatantly said that he is a Youkai and it is his job to attack humans and eat them.

I lost it right after. If he's not interested in Gensokyo's proper way of dealing with conflict, then what's the fucking point?

With the new special move dedicated to magic fires created days prior, I shouted {Abante} and I went flying to his face. It was some sort of dash-attack, except it's seriously destructive. Bombs on both my feet and a single one in my good punching right fist, I literally exploded myself forward and smashed an impact grenade into his fucking mug. Thank god for his human form and face, having only ears, tail, and claws to indicate his Youkai origin, because I would think twice before I punch a dog's muzzle (I could cut my knuckles with the teeth).

I remember messing up the ground on my ejection, even burning a few trees as I went flying towards him but the Holy Spirit kept everything contained while I wailed on him.

It kinda amazed me that the fuckhead was able to get up from an explosion to the face but that was a cue for me to hand out even harsher punishment. He did the typical Left 4 Dead Hunter Pounce on me, my boy, Golem, was quick to send him sprawling on the ground again with a nice and healthy punch to the face again. The punch was also explosive.

Not so fast on recovering from that one, he was. When he resorted to shooting teeth-like danmaku, I almost thought the bitch was blind, cuz Golem was still there, taking the shots for me like a champ as I stomped towards the sprawled bastard.

And when I was getting close to him, he tried to run away, his tail in between his fucking legs. Oh no, I'm not letting that happen again. The Skinwalker Bitch was able to escape, but not him. Oh no, not happening. Absolutely not. Those who ever tries to kill me without adhering to the Spell Card Rules will not leave unpunished.

Luckily, Golem was able to grab him when he was in mid-air, then swung him overhead and smashed him to the fucking earth behind me. I swear I felt the ground shake upon impact. Pretty sure his bones are all fucked as well. That's not gonna make him move anytime.

He was seriously weakened on the crater he lied on. When I stood over him, my burning machete in hand, he was too weak to do anything when I'm literally in touching distance with his claws. What he did? He reached towards me with a shaky hand, begging for….help.

I didn't give it to him. I didn't trust him. I didn't believe that he was that broken. He could've been lying, or pretended, trying to make me let my guard down by reaching out to my humanity. Whatever the case was, I was still pissed for what he said to me.

First, I chopped off his reaching hand, then followed it up with the other one when he held the stump. He really was pretending: He could still scream and writhe on the ground. After that, I severed his legs from the thighs….both of them. My machete was burning hot at the time, very easy slice on his limbs (just 2 or 3 swings). And when he began to curse at me, I took away both his arms, right at the shoulder.

Oh how the blood ran from his four stumps….it spilled on my shoes, some splattered on my face when I was still chopping him. Youkai can't die physically like bleeding, but I could tell that it was really painful for him. He was reduced to screaming and crying and begging and apologizing and vowing to never do it again.

What I did?

I threw my glowing machete just 2 feet away, and it gave him false hope that he thought I was gonna stop. I brought him straight to despair when he saw me take out the knife instead. He saw my upper torso begin to light up in flames. He felt the heat wave coming out of me that was slowly rising. He saw that he had his chance when I suggested the Spell Card Battle, and he lost it all because he wanted to eat me above everything else, especially his own safety.

I hovered over him, my knees on either side of his waist while one hand supports my horizontal body up from the ground. My knife was positioned to stab him, and he knows that. He was panicking very hard, know what I was about to do to him. I shut him up by pulling him by the scruff of his collar and screamed into his face. My entire head was engulfed in flames in the process. I likely looked like the Devil to him when I did.

After roaring, it was nothing but a bloody screaming and stabbing session. I stabbed him over and over and over and over, filling the front of his body with so many openings that I swear it was a hundred stabs. While he screamed, I screamed too, for two reasons.

First reason: to relish in the moment that I was actually committing murder. Even though he wasn't gonna die because there was nothing magical imbued into my knife like my fires, making him possible to grow everything back or even reconnect them, it's still a count for me. Only this time, I'm not possessed doing this. And I was really enjoying it.

And my second reason: it's to show that whoever was watching me do it from the forest thicket, especially Youkai, will understand that they will suffer something as horrible as this if they disregard the Spell Card Rules just for the sake killing me or eating me, or both.

I didn't know how many times I stabbed him, but I was getting exhausted, and my throat was getting sore from all that screaming. My front's also bloody from all the splatters, and my grip on the knife was starting to hurt from both hands.

And he was still alive. Barely. Even with all the stabs on his front from shoulder to below the ribs, even when I gutted him open and stabbed his intestines when they were showing, he's still breathing.

I decided to finish him off….via beheading. Except, I did not use the machete. Doing it with a knife never felt so disgusting….and outright thrilling. And when everything that connected his head to his neck was now detached, I rose up to my feet, lifted up his head (actually heavier than what TV showed), and screamed—or rather, roared straight into the dark evening.

Yeah, whoever was watching me that day now knows something. They know that there was no human there. Only a wolf Youkai….and a fucking MONSTER.

Once I was through with my breath, I scattered his head and his chopped limbs to several places by throwing them as far away as possible into the forest in multiple directions. But I left his body there on the middle of the road, as a display for whoever wants to fuck with me. A simple message: Do the same thing as he did and it's gonna happen to you too.

I'd like to see him try to recover from that predicament with his body parts scattered everywhere, especially his head.

My only regret from that ordeal was that I attacked first. But his intentions were clear. He wanted to kill me, and I acted accordingly in order to protect myself. I even gave him a choice. It's not my fault if he's so suicidal. But next time…I'll do better. Make sure to give my predator the first move, and then hand out hell.

It's strange though….killing that guy (or as killing someone that comes back to life could be) felt outright funny…

it's not like killing a pig when I have to listen to it scream before it dies, it's the same feeling I'd get when I kill a chicken.

When I kill the fowl in order to eat them, I make sure they don't suffer in the whole process (which is why I never wanted to kill a pig again after the first time, too scary and traumatizing). But that Youkai was screaming to hell, suffering unlike the chicken, had emotions unlike the chicken, even got freewill….yet it's still feels I killed a chicken…that guy even had a human face…I was stabbing a motherfucking human body…..why? Why'd it feel so light?

If my mental state is already wrong, I gotta not make it worse by encouraging my sadism. Always give my enemies a choice, avoid any opportunity to commit killing, Youkai or not. It should not be easy for me to take a life. The weight of a life should be heavy. Did the justification of 'he had it coming' soften it up?

That is straight-up sociopathic.

[Tsk. Fuck.] It's been a while though, I should just forget it and try to regain my humanity. The only way to do that is to live like a human. Wake up in the morning, eat your breakfast, go to work, and then go home to rest after a long day. Rinse and repeat, very basic, very straightforward.

Doing good deeds, however, are super effective. I've been doing a lot of that outside of work, and I enjoy it every time.

[I guess I'll cook now.]

Knife-throwing practices early in the morning right after a good dance-out never fails to break a sweat. Still 6 in the morning, got a couple more hours before the dango place opens up at 8. Some more experimenting with holy fires or magic fires wouldn't hurt…or I could just go early and have a walk around the village.

[Meh.] Says I as I take the finished scrambled egg on the pan to my plate and scoop out some rice from the rice cooker. After that, I sit down atop the table and eat after a little bit of prayer. Simple living, simple food, just the way I like it.

[Hmm….] I should round up some vegetables later. Meat's kinda expensive around here. Fish, however, is affordable. The scarcer it is, the pricier it gets, I guess. I thought they'd hunt for deer instead of relying on livestock meat all the time but I guess the Youkai there deters them. But nothing beats fresh fruits. Still got a couple more apples in stock, as well as some bananas for later.

Right after washing my plate, utensils and pot, I then flop to my bed. Sitting up so I don't mess up my digestive system after eating, I bring out all my spell cards just for a little bit.

With these in my right hand, they are:

«Second Coming—The Lake of Fire»

«Holy Spirit—Let the Fire Fall»

«Divine Punishment—Burn the City of Sin»

«Roaring Spitfire—Dancing Titan»

And now for the new ones I cooked up since the last few weeks, here in my left hand:

«Seal of Solomon—Demon Trapper» This one's a little something right after Mamizou's visit.

I'd be questioning how an immobilizer for demons could end up being a spell card…but then a big fat light bulb lit up right above me when I thought of it at the time (which was funny cuz the Holy Spirit literally shaped Herself into a light bulb right above me). I don't have to put the actual seal in, that'll just be unfair in the game since my enemy ends up being completely helpless. Instead, the Holy Spirit will create a closed circle via a big fat dome trapping my opponent inside. Whether I'm inside as well depends, but what happens is that holy bullets will fly from all directions at you. You dodge them as much as possible and hold out till the dome runs out of energy. Minimum at 50 seconds but the real challenge is at 5 minutes, where the bullets get even more complicated and numerous by the thousands. You get hit, well, sucks to be you.

«Exorcism Sign—Legion Chainer» This one will go to the Holy Fire section.

A rather typical name but it's all I got. Anyway, this I can use against spectral enemies, folks that belong to the other side of life. Like liches and phantoms and other apparitions of the afterlife. Effective against Youkai too, but it'll be a lot of hurt if it hits. What happens is that chains fly out of me, either from my hands or from my entire body, especially my back, and they snake in on the opponent with spear heads aimed at the vital areas. Their length is absolutely infinite, so if you're gonna have them stop chasing you, make them fly into a wall or something solid. Danmaku won't cut it. You get hit, well, sucks to be you. You'll be dragged back to me to get smashed in the face with a fistful of holy fire. GET OVER HERE!

«Anger Sign—Supreme Meltdown» Holy shit, this card, man. Really took a lot out of me when I whipped it up. I have to be really pissed to get it going.

This one is a tribute to one of the Seven Deadly Sins. And boy, does it make a lot of HELL. Potentially destructive to the environment as well. What happens is that so much heat rolls out of me it actually burns the grass. If there wasn't anything flammable, then it just gets EXTREMELY hot, even the air. After that, I manipulate all the heat in the air, made them combust like gasoline was in the air before morphing them into big fat fireballs, then they fly up to the air like a reverse meteor shower. If that wasn't threatening to any trained aerial fighter, the size of those motherfuckers is what you gotta worry about. Soccer ball sized? You can say 'meh'. The size of a house? Or a mansion? Try your luck then. Oh, and they explode….randomly, even when they were barely off the ground upon flight. Even I can't guess which one blows up next. Not to mention that the air gets very hot. Do you still wanna fly around while it's like that? You get hit, well, sucks to be you. You know what to expect when you go to hell.

«Burn the Philistine Fields—Three Hundred Foxes on Fire» Now this one's a fun card for me to make. Straight out of a bible story, dedicated to the spectacular thing the Strongest Man in the Good Book, Samson, did.

Really straightforward thing. What happens is that a lot of fox species (even the cute and tiny fennec fox) jump out of me and frolic almost everywhere, but they do hit and run tactics, and they're like wolves when they go for a strike. It's like watching a tidal wave go after someone. What's amazing is that they actually move like real foxes I could almost think they're the real thing. Their tails are rather bigger than I remembered. Not only that, each one leaves a long trail of holy fire behind as they run, just like what I think would happen when you tie a torch to their tails like what Samson did. If you can fly, then so can they. They still leave a trail of fire while doing it, gives me a nice little image of 'Animal Art' in the night sky. You get hit, well, sucks to be you if you're a Youkai. You'll either get ripped apart or get roasted.

And now this last one was made just three nights ago, last Saturday.

«Benevolent Theophany—The Pillar of Fire» Even though it's made out of magic fire, it's on a theme according to the Exodus.

When the slaves escaped out of Egypt and went past the split sea, they were accompanied by a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. Both Pillars was God Himself, as a literally sign that He will never leave them in their entire journey to the Promised Land. The emotion put here is a little complex: righteous anger. The anger without sin. Rare thing. But when I got the emotion down, the activation happens quickly while not having it down makes it slow. The pillar didn't have to be a tornado of fire like in the movie Prince of Egypt, it can be a really tall fire instead. With me as the source of the pillar, burning like the fattest bonfire ever, the tongues of fire practically reached sky-high. And when the shape is complete, fireballs and firebombs fly out of it into every direction. Left and right, up and down, diagonally, vertically, and diagonally. It's like a tornado spitting out the trash it collected, except the trash is literally explosive and burns like hell.

Damage control was well in mind as the Holy Spirit caught every bomb and fireball before they touched the ground. It was kinda funny though. Lots of holy orbs shapeshifted into fuckin' baseball gloves and doused every fire they caught. The only damage there was the spot I was standing on, black and charcoaled from me being a fat bonfire.

Love the automatic artwork on these cards, really expresses what'll happen when you activate them. There's the Seal of Solomon, a tornado of fire, fire and brimstone falling from the sky, even two foxes facing opposite directions while their tails are tied together to hold a lit torch.

Can't wait to use 'em in a fight.

[Alright, time to go.] Pocketing my spell cards (which they simply disappear inside), I then undress and head for the bathroom, carrying with me my towel. Just gotta wash up, use some shampoo for my hair, soap up the sweat out of my body, then I'll head out in my jogging pants and red shirt.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

[C'mere, boy.] I clap my hands and he bounds up to me, panting happily with his tongue hanging out and nearly knocked me over when he slammed his paws on my shirt and lapped up my face. Big boy should learn not to push me, even if he's very happy to see me. He's big enough as it is. [Ah…! Ah! Stop it! Peh! Pweh! Egh! We talked about this! Come on!]

Big boy wolfo here never stops greeting me like this, especially when we finally decided to become friends the day after his howling concert outside my house. When morning came and I went out for some target practice with my knife, he just sat right there before my front door, wagging his tail as he looked like he was expecting me.

It was quite a moment between the both of us. I knelt at his level, held out an open hand for him and he reciprocated by placing his paw right atop my palm. Right after that, I neared my forehead to his as carefully as possible, and we formed a bond of companionship.

I also finally gave him a proper name, Vincent. A name of a past friend's Husky, one of my favorite dog breeds. If you got a doggo of the wolf-looking type, I'm already your best friend. But if a Filipino owns him, I sure as hell like to call him: [Visente, come on! Stop! I get it! I get it! You miss me! Now come on, let's walk.]

Boy's still lolling his tongue out as he parted from me, looking at me as he maintained his pace with me on our walk. Oh you: I scratched him behind his ears before I put a little jog in my step, quickening our speed just for exercise's sake.

He's been great company since then. He doesn't visit much but he sure likes to walk with me whenever I'm heading out into the village first thing in the morning or heading home at dusk, almost every weekday. He rarely doesn't. The times he actually visits my yard, it's always to cuddle with the Holy Spirit. And I let him, even shapeshifted a holy orb into a glowing wolf made out of holiness for him to play with. Holy Spirit adored him as much as he did Her, even cuddled with him under the shade in his afternoon siesta sessions.

I never fed him. He's a hunter, and hunters search for their own food. And there's plenty of them around the forest I live in, deer and likely a few rabbits. Just so I don't make him get used to me hand-feeding him all the time and lose his touch to the good ol'-fashioned chase and kill. Given that he's still fit, strong, and shapely since the last two weeks, he's been keeping himself well-fed on his own. I once found him feasting on a boar during my forest walks, don't know where the fuck he found it but I left him well alone in his lunch (are boars native to Japan?). Given that he was the only one eating it, did he snag it all on his own? Wolves usually hunt in packs, and they have greater chances to take down the biggest prey as a group. The boar he ate was decently big, almost as big as Visente…I find it hard to believe. Is the boy really that strong on his own?

As far as I've read Outside, predators kill as quickly as possible and not risk injury in a fight. They're not fighters like us humans. If a predator can't win without any injury, if not severe ones, even if they win, then backing off is their best option. Boars have the capacity to kill (really dangerous fuckers), and will fight in order to live, unlike the wolf who wants to eat. Weight is also an advantage in a fight, and that boar was FAT. I don't think Visente's massive body is heavy enough to impede his speed, I saw how fast he runs. But somehow he still wins?

Wow…

After seeing it, I always wanted to see how he kills his prey all on his own without the help of his pack, but how can I do that when he's so quick on his feet? No way I'm asking the Holy Spirit to record it, I'd just go brain-dead from Her story!

Oh well, it's none of my business anyway.

But I finally heard him bark. Absolutely powerful-sounding. Apart from the time when he wasn't there when the wolfuckhead showed up (prolly having early dinner or family time), he really told somebody lurking in the woods to FUCK OFF in the most eloquent way possible in the ancient wolf language when we were walking home at night. If he's gonna tell off somebody with such words, I'd like to join in. What I did is that I let out a really loud growl at wherever he was swearing at. With additional flames coating my upper body with a firebomb in my right hand, we made sure whoever was behind the thicket knew there's two big bad boys ready and waiting for a confrontation.

Whether it was a Youkai or an animal, it made the smart decision of leaving us alone. Which kinda disappointed me 'cuz I really wanna do a tag-team battle with him.

Eh, whatever. Next time.

[Aaaaaahhaaaaah…..we're here, boy.] That was a boring trek to the village gate as always.

"Oh. Morning, Eman boy!"

"Morning. You too, Visente."

And the two resident gate guards greet me as always. "Good morning. Nothing eventful as always?" I asked after a brief bow, first to Sir Tanaka Mirino (dude with standard kimono and hakama combination) and then to Sir Terizawa Akira (the only one with actual armor, like a foot soldier of 19th century Japan). Blokes of the samurai sword and the spear, respectively.

"Not today." Sir Mirino answered, yawning.

"Except for some fairies passing by but that's it." Sir Akira shrugged, resting his spear against the wall while he sat against it, closing his eyes. "Nothing happened."

"Likewise. No attacks for me to report as well." And by 'report', I mean 'story-tell'. We've been exchanging war stories since we've gotten familiar with each other, except these two instead have some interesting encounters to tell me when they were in the mood.

"Hello, Visente." Sir Mirino greeted, kneeling down as the wolfo stepped up to him and began licking his face. "How were you, big boy? You doing good? Hmm!?"

"I'll leave him to you both then." The two didn't like me having a wolf going inside the village with me when they first saw him, and that's justified. Instead, I let Visente go back to his own business in the bamboo forest. Five days later, I saw him getting friendly with the guards. It was nice. He gets to act as somebody for them to play with in the boring guarding business. Even figured out how to play fetch, the good boy.

"Hey," Sir Akira called and I caught the money pouch he threw before it hit me in the face. Given its weight, could've left me a bleeding nose if it actually landed. "The usual, with some sauce if you will."

"Mine too." And then the other guy throws his pouch to me, also nearly hitting me in the face before I caught it in my other hand. He wasn't even looking at me while scratching the wolfo's neck, he's got a good aim. Was he really aiming or was it accidental? "But make it six this time."

"Of course." I also became their delivery boy, hauling dango as well as other snacks to them whenever they order through me, but I only bring it to them when its lunch break. It's fine with me. I get to hang out with them while we eat lunch and chat about our day while Visente sits next to us, eating our scraps when we're done. "See you then."

"Later!"

"Okay, Little Eman." Oh, and Sir Akira's got a thing with using the 'chan' suffix on me. I asked why and he said he grew up like that. While it sounds condescending at times, he says that like he's referring to somebody he's fond of. Later I stopped caring and just put up with it. Sir Mirino doesn't like his name with it though, it got many people infected into calling him that more often despite his protests. Hehe.

And then I head in, pocketing their pouches in my pants. Not a lot of people going about in the streets today, not a surprise. It is a sunny day today, the kind of weather I really hate. By the way, I seem to be finally getting a tan now. My pale skin's starting to gain some color. Well, slightly, but it's a start. Increased chances of skin cancer immunity, coming up.

Both hands in my pockets, upper body slightly leant forward, I then jog towards my workplace. Not too far from the center of the village. I kept my face in a bored expression as I passed by people, returning the greetings of whoever sent me one. A lot of people know me, likely because they see me work at the dango place they frequent to. I bet I made it happen due to the way I address customers: I call everyone I serve in the dango place with either 'Nii-san' or 'Nee-san', regardless of age, especially the kids. I probably came off as somebody who lost a few brain cells in the sun in their eyes. Regardless of how I act though, I do my job and I do it right. Boss accepts the quirkiness, said it's both funny and stupid to him that it's good.

An Outsider who's not all there working in his place made good publicity, I guess. I am a rare species 'round here.

And here it is: Hirabayashi-ya Dango. Humble place, built in the home, two storied, and there's lots of places to sit down in and outside the building. The positioning is well thought-of, regardless of what angle in the sky the sun is, the shadow of the building always falls on the exterior seats, gives people a lot of shade when they want to go for a snack under the summer.

Alright. Let's open it up. Boss over there's getting the shutters out. I went to the pot-bellied old man, "Good morning, Boss."

"Mornin'." He curtly greeted, not even looking at me as he lifted up the last wooden covering and placed it to the side of the building.

And while he does that, I head in the entrance and sweep the place up for a bit beforehand. I'll just get the broom. And while I swept the interior as he entered, readying the everyday supply and heating up the water, we don't start any conversations. He ain't a talker, I ain't somebody that starts the conversation. It's only gonna lead to a rather quiet and sometimes boring atmosphere when there aren't any customers at the hour.

I do get him to talk when he's interested in my stories again, like when I idly played with strings of holy fire running across my fingers like really agile snakes chasing after each other when there's too much dango in stock and we don't wanna overload it. He got interested in it and wants to know my story. Considering he never spoke to me more than 10 words in every sentence and I barely interact with him outside work, it was welcome.

The more we interacted, the more I know about him: He apparently is the last of his family. No siblings, just him and his beloved parents, both of whom have now passed on, leaving him to the family business. He's even 38, no wife or girlfriend to keep him company. After so much time talking, he has trusted me enough to tell me a little with his personal thoughts: he wanted a li'l brother, someone to take care of and someone who can take care of the family business, cuz he didn't want to take over. He wants to start his own eatery, living at a different house as soon as he gets more experienced. Unfortunately, his mum was…cursed with infertility. When I asked how, his only reply was a dark mutter, "Youkai."

Geez.

There goes his chances to have a li'l bro or sister. Despite that though, he learned to accept it and he loved his mum and dad enough that he won't let their business go down once they pass on. He took it upon himself to handle the work when the time comes, even planning to improve their range of products besides just dango.

Sadly…it didn't happen.

Disease took both his parents away….on a single. Fucking. Night.

Boss was seriously devastated. It was just so sudden. He didn't even see it coming. He thought they were simply having a slight fever, he even had the meds straight out of Eintei to deal with it. It didn't work. Right after the funeral, Hirabayashi-ya dango shop did not open for an entire year…he fell into a drunken attempt to suicide via alcohol poisoning is what he did. A lot of people had sent their condolences and sympathies, since almost more than half the town knows his parents. Unfortunately, he was too deep into despair to care. Almost his entire family's wealth went straight to the bottle, even walked out of the safety of the village hoping to get eaten by a Youkai.

In the next morning when he woke up with a powerful headache, he apparently wandered as far as Youkai Mountain, which is hundreds of kilometers from the village. Geez. How he managed to not get eaten, not even he knows jackshit.

To his surprise though, he got brought into a rather tiny house belonging to a rather particular someone when he passed out on the grass in the middle of the night. He got saved by a god. Not just any god, though. It was a fuckin' goddess of Misfortune.

He was expecting death when he saw her. Instead, he only received concern and worry, questioning why was he close to Youkai Mountain, which was dangerous and loaded with unpleasant Youkai. In a fit of rage, both from the hangover and reaching his breaking-point, he ranted everything that happened to him to her. How his parents died, how he so desperately wanted to die, and how he's basically had enough of life. Everything said in tears and in the loudest voice he ever let out ever since his depression where he had talked to nobody.

That…got the god he yelled at into a bit of a realization. Upon hearing his story, she said that it explained his lack of misfortune in his body. She said that before his parents died, his body might've packed so much misfortune that he simply became a target of all bad things that should happen to any person.

Upon hearing that….he blew up on her, raging and screaming so badly as he called her out, basically ending up sounding like he put all the blame on her.

To my surprise, the goddess expressed regret of not being there to take it away, as it is her job to make sure nobody goes through what he did.

What happened afterwards? She….apologized….heavily. She cried too, saddened over his story and wanting to make up for it. It got a lot complicated from there: he was now comforting a fucking goddess of all people when he was the one who's supposed to be comforted. He even laughed about it when he told me (he doesn't usually laugh).

Boss didn't blame her. He didn't want to. He wanted someone to blame for his parents death, so much that he seriously wanted to pin it all on the goddess for everything, in justifying detail that as a goddess of misfortune, she has all the power to either give people misfortune or take it away. He wanted to think that it was her fault. But no…no way can he blame someone who did feel like she was to blame, felt guilty, and cried for it.

Nonetheless, it all ended in a mutual consoling. When she ran out of tears and he began to say things to her, just when he rejected every helping hand that came his way in his despair, he was now asking one from her. He wanted counsel: how can he deal with everything now that his parents are gone?

The answer that came to him was obvious, especially to me: accept it. It happened, and nothing, not even the ferryman of the dead will allow you to change that.

If I'm gonna paraphrase what the goddess said to him: shit like losing your parents is something a majority of the human race don't want or expect (not even me), we don't even wanna know when they'll die, but it's bound to happen. They're all going away sooner or later.

Your parents are dead. Deny it if you want to, but you have to accept it. Because nothing's changing that. If you want to cry, then cry, let it out. It's the most reasonable and acceptable thing to do when you lose a loved one. Hiding your tears is a bad thing to do. If people see you not crying when you lose somebody like that, then something's wrong with you. Have some time alone, think it over and learn to accept it. Go at your own pace. Grieve as long as you want, no one's judging you if you do. If somebody's wants to comfort you, accept it when you want it. It's not a sin to do so.

We're humans. We cry when we're hurt and we offer comfort to those who are. Even a goddess of misfortune can understand that.

And then after that, Boss was cracked open by her words and cried on her shoulder. Apparently, he has been suppressing parts of his suffering inside. His drinking made him unable to recover properly and made it impossible for him to get over it, especially when so many people wished him well and wanted to do something about it. Now he's letting it all out.

And when he ran out of tears, he thanked her wholeheartedly, gave her a very long prayer, and went home, personally escorted by her. And when he reached his bed, he was finally able to think it over: His parents wouldn't want to see him like this. Besides, he made a promise. He promised to continue their business once they can no longer work. They prepared him for such a future and happily did so, even gave him the praise that he'll be a better owner than both of them combined. He was long since ready, and it was his time to shine when they finally took their rest.

His father was a great masher of the dough, able to beat and mush into perfect condition under a single minute. His mother was a monster when it came to adding flavors, even created new ones all on her own, which was received with great results by the village. Boss had been taught their techniques, everything they know is passed unto him. Through every dango he makes and serves, backed up by everything he learned from both his mother and father, they will always live through him.

That was all he needed to realize to get back on his feet and revive the wonderful establishment that is Hirabayashi-ya Dango.

All his dreams of expanding the shops products, he didn't want that. Not anymore. He'll stick solely to dango and nothing else, to honor the memory of his parents, who built their family wealth solely from a sweet round snack on a stick covered in red bean paste.

And now, I play a part in honoring them as well, being a working and willing employee of their establishment, and loving it.

Rest in Peace, Master Atsushi and Mistress Aiya. I pray that your souls find eternal happiness in the afterlife. Your son, Daichi, has been doing very well in your place. I'll be praying for his health and deserved blessings so you can be proud of him more.

"Good morning~!" A hearty greetings erupts from the door, from a rather familiar villager girl who's always fresh and full of energy at the start of the morning whenever she comes in for an early snack. Not to mention that she's always the first customer almost every weekday in this place.

"Welcome!" Cues Boss's line, laced with casual delivery as always.

"Good morning and welcome back, Nee-san." And then goes mine, polite and soft, addressed to somebody who's approximately one year or two younger than me. "The usual goodness as always?"

"Yessir!" The brunette plops down to a single bench, her smiles full of sunshine, brightening the dull atmosphere of the place. "And add some mitarashi this time. Four of 'em. My tummies been complaining since I woke up!"

"Okay." Boss now switches into supreme-dango-chef mode, releasing the secret weapon of our humble establishment. It once needed both his parents to accomplish it, now their son could do it all on his own and satisfy every stomach that enters this place in the process.

"One scrumptious batch for the Lady Shimada's demanding pit that is her stomach, coming up!" Let's get to business, boys!

And thus begins the passage of another day as a dango shop cook and waiter, as well as a friend to my boss, attending hungry customers, both young and old, living the Human life that I abandoned twice and wanted to experience again.

Yep, this is my life now, and I'm thankful.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

Heida no Akyuu was left speechless. She had been unable to speak due to being at the listening end of the conversation, motionless as her instincts flared danger in the presence of the Crow Man in front of her, and now she was incapable of believing what she has heard.

She had heard many things, even ones far atrocious for her to acknowledge if her mind had been as young as her body, but this one was literally the first among many to be recorded in her unforgettable memory.

"You're insane." She breathed.

The Crow Man had been motionless since she had noticed him sitting across the table, he's still motionless even as he responded to her like many times prior. "From what I have experienced, 'insane' is a matter of perspective wrought from the lack of insight and knowledge regarding my intent."

His reverberating tone embodied the conception of the word 'dead'. Though soft, it was emotionless, toneless, and utterly lifeless that it was impossible for her to see him as a thinking and living being or even meaning any of the words he said. He was more statue than anything. Or a corpse.

"You come in here, right inside my study, look through my records over the information of every important individual in Gensokyo, while I'm right in front of you, then demand me to follow specific instructions and expect me to let it happen!?" She coldly remarked, standing against the fact that once the Crow Man decides to break his civil notion for violence, she is completely at his mercy.

"Your powers of observation hasn't faltered despite the many rebirths." His uncanny delivery left her unable to decide whether that was sarcasm or a genuine remark. "That has been the intention of this impromptu meeting, Ninth Generation Miare. And there is nothing you can do. It is going to happen, with or without your consent, whether you like it or not. If you hold concern for the villagers, you will do as instructed."

He had been nothing short of irritating as well. Even with his monotone voice, most of the words he said gave off the impression that he was looking down on her, ridiculing her wisdom and almost deliberately spiking her annoyance.

Clenching her fist, she glared at him as she said, "Do you think the Great Youkai Sage, Yakumo Yukari-sama will stand to this?"

"Has the Great Youkai Sage, Yakumo Yukari, ever stood up to anything that happens to her little Paradise?" Such a line was supposed to have a rhetorical tone, but his lifeless voice only made him look even more unsettling. "The Red Mist Incident. The Eternal Snow. Maybe even the breaches of the barrier wrought upon by a single Outsider girl. I daresay you barely ever noticed the Incident of the Youkai Uprising, where the tools came alive and the docile residents outside the village became belligerent. These calamities have happened, most of them very critical to the wellbeing of the land, yet what has she done? Nothing."

She opened her mouth to retort, but his point left her unable to. She could mention Reimu or Marisa, but the Crow Man had warned that any attempt of calling them before the start of his scheme will result in her death. Though she never expressed it, she does trust that Reimu had solved incidents without her knowing anything about it, but what of Yakumo Yukari? This was her paradise. As its creator, it should be sensible that she has the responsibility to protect it. But she has never heard any action of the sort from the Youkai Sage.

But if she was so negligent, how come Gensokyo was still alive despite so many Incidents that might or might not have been catastrophic in scale? The easy answer was that the Shrine Maiden and the Witch kept it that way. But what if it was something that the two's default solution to every Incident cannot deal with? What if any action from the two's part actually cause the destruction of the village like the Crow Man implied? Will it spur the Youkai Sage into action? Or will she be proven that the intruder in front of her was indisputable in his claims?

She had lost her momentum in his conflict between words and will, she resorted to the only reply she can muster. "How do I know that what you're saying is true? How do you even know about them if you only arrived here weeks ago?" She hoped he could one-up him in this.

"I speak to the crows. Their knowledge is passed down to their offspring and their offspring's offspring, and they never forget."

Surprise colored her expression before her brows furrowed. "The tengu told you?"

"Oh, I would not refer to such enlarged heads, Ninth Generation of Miare. Their lessers are far more acceptable sources of honest information, especially ones dating back before Gensokyo's creation."

Lessers: a Tengu's underling. Actual crows, the avians that herald bad luck and loot the bodies of their rotten flesh.

She decided to bring up the entire intent of his plan. "You're basically declaring war on Gensokyo."

"That is how you see it." He smoothly replied, his dead voice leaving her unable to deduce if he was either hiding his surprise or he was genuinely denying it. "My Mistress's intentions in the coming calamity are beyond domination and rule. However, since I am unaware of what they are, I cannot tell you."

After several minutes of being in the lesser end of having any control in this conversation, Akyuu finally felt her defiance light up along with her anger within her. "So you're just blindly following orders without considering the consequences?" She coldly snapped.

The Crow Man moved. He finally moved, and it surprised her that she didn't hear even the slightest crackle in his neck bones as his lowered gaze that left his beak facing downwards suddenly raised up, making him appear directly 'looking' at her in the eyes with the lenses of his mask.

"I am a tool." He was still monotonous in his speech, but she heard the tiniest inflexion of emphasis in that one word. "And tools as well as slaves do not question the intent of their owners. If you do not hear your quill questioning you for writing on scrolls, then why should I question my mistress's will? We do what is told and be used as intended. As a human, especially one that perfectly recalls different lifetimes, you should know that even before your first rebirth."

Her irritation sparked once again within her as she noticed the implications of her intelligence as somebody who's mentally a millennium year old being questioned. What's left of her stubbornness, however, wilted as she clearly sees that the Crow Man was completely dead-set on executing his plans. And he left her without any power to do something about it.

Reduced into simply being still, unable to make any more points to counter him, she decided to have his confirmation. "Are you actually going to go through with this?"

"Exactly." In movements that left her staring in silent shock, she watched as he gracefully rose up to full height like a literal cobra raising its head up to square against a larger predator. The drawn hood of his cloak added to the comparison. Now stood as straight as a pole and motionless as a corpse, he became an imposing form compared to the petite and kneeling Akyuu. "Follow as instructed and All will be Well." Appearing to be floated instead of walking, he glided around the table, his gaze never leaving her form as well as her own. Still apprehensive in his presence, she held her body still as well as her head as she watched him approach her soundlessly till he stood behind her. The back of her waist crawled as his presence was so thick she could feel him through the air despite never touching her.

Then she felt a needle prick into her neck, a sting so small yet painful enough to make her choke in her locked throat.

"This conversation is to be kept to yourself." The needle left her neck like a bee retaining its stinger upon drawing back. "Or you will be silenced."

Like a blow in the wind, his presence vanished.

Like a weight graciously lifted off her back and thrown away, she collapsed on the table, crushing her scrolls and nearly spilling the ink bottle from the slam. Catching her breath as she realized she had been holding it for so long, her ragged breathing resonated around the study. With a free hand, she felt the right side of her neck. When she looked at her palm, she found small stains of her own blood.

She turned to look behind her and found no one. She was truly alone in this room, never in the same space as the Crow Man, but the knowledge of the Plague that will befall the village still remains.

The weight of her situation slowly settled in. "No…." The lives of every villager is on her hands now, and no one will be the wiser of her burden. She will be suffering this. Alone.

The entrance to her study suddenly slid open, surprising Akyuu as a concerned servant revealed herself. "Heida-sama, did something happen? I heard a crash."

"Huh?" Heart still pounding in shock, mind still addled by the weight of her new responsibility, she barely sounded calm and casual. "Oh, Kana. I-I was just—I was just tired. Been writing for so long that I nodded off and hit my head on the table!" She added a chuckle, then realized that it did not sound really convincing.

Surprisingly, the servant bought it. "Oh. Heida-sama, you should rest once in a while, you know." Kana advised, almost reminding Akyuu of her current mother. "It's not like you have to write on a scroll at every minute of your life."

"Y-yes." She took a slow breath, a hand to her chest, and she was finally able to get herself together. Facing her servant again, she spoke evenly. "I understand. Thank you for the advice."

Kana smiled, bowing courteously. "Of course. It's what I do. I'll bring you your afternoon tea." Then the door slid back closed.

Her face collapsed to her hands, groaning into them as the weight finally made itself known once again. "I'm really getting out of practice, aren't I?" The last time a responsibility that weighed as much as this was so long ago, where she had been composed and capable at the time. Being sheltered to writing on the Gensokyo chronicles more often must have left her complacent.

She lightly coughed into her hand, and her eyes widened over the taste of blood at the back of her throat. She looked at her palm again and found only the dried traces of blood from earlier. She could only hope that whatever the Crow Man had injected in her, it does not end with anything horrible happening to her despite her cooperation.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

It was a dry bite. There was no venom when he struck her, but the symptoms will be present because she thinks she is. Unless she is told of what he had actually done, the symptoms will only worsen over time as she continues thinking of her very limited time in the world being 'shortened'. One of the many wonders of the human mind.

But it is an effective incentive in making her cooperate without question. If the chronicles is to be believed, the woman named Yagokoro Eirin will be perceptive enough to notice the source of the condition of the Ninth Generation Miare once she is called for assistance. The ability to create any medicine will require one of great knowledge, especially to the human anatomy, and he has been led to the assumption that the doctor might have such intelligence.

But even so, it changes nothing. The result will still be the same. If she tells anyone about their conversation and the things he will do to the village and Gensokyo itself before it happens, and he will strike her down for her troubles. He will know. It does not mean death, as said by his mistress's command, but to a frail and sickly girl with a very limited lifespan compared to every human in Gensokyo, it might as well be.

A disease that a body like hers would fight so hard that it damages the host itself….she might never wake up. Breathing, alive, but forever dreaming. She'll starve straight to her death...

Though it would contradict the orders he received. 'Bearable suffering' it was. It's very unlikely that more than a handful of people in the village as well as outside of it would take well to the news of the only well-known Historian essential to Gensokyo dying. The amount of trouble that will lead to him as well as his owner...

It seems adhering to 'limits' for once might have left him a little…unspecialized in his own work.

"It seems I will have to guarantee the stability of her health. Hmm…." He brushed his thumb below his beak, contemplating the development of his situation. "Maybe a little revision can put things in order."

Upon leaving the premises of the Heida Manor, alluding every occupant, including the guards, along his casual exit, he had been glide-walking across the shadowed alleys once again, avoiding the frequented areas of the village such as the streets. It is now midday, the humans are likely heading to their designated eating spots.

The smell of food is getting dense in the air, meat, green or something sweet arousing the hunger of both human and Youkai present. He can safely assume that he is the only sentient being present to not need any basic sustenance, especially for humans. He isn't made of the same biology as them despite his physique partly resembling them, needing only water and sunshine to last him a planet's lifetime as opposed to a routine diet.

"….?" He froze, as if time stood still, his right pointy shoe yet to lay its heel on the soil without the slightest stagger despite his center of balance tilting. Catching the scent of something really familiar, his beak quickly aimed at the direction of the source like an indicator, which was heading to the direction of the village gate, causing his head to fully twist in a 210 angle and more.

Turning his body around, his head unwavering from the direction of the moving familiarity, he quickened his pace towards the scent. Sticking close to the darkness of the alleys, even slipping into the human peripheral vision in the streets, leaving anyone he passed by befuddled as they 'hallucinated' a tall man in dark robes at the corner of their eyes, he trailed after the source, slowly closing his distance to it.

"….!" The source was a young boy, stinking of so much Pride it practically constituted a towering monument of Anger almost as tall as a young mountain. Yet despite its overbearing scent that made him want to gag, the remarkable scent of Sanctity was so potent it was significantly disproportionate to the amount of Magic Gensokyo had, both in its natural environment and its inhabitants. "Unspeakable…" He whispered in perceptible disbelief in his voice, leaving a passing-by man of middle age dumbfounded over a dark whispers crossing his ears.

With a thumb and middle finger, he reached for the fabric of the Outsider's shirt like a crab's pincer. The point of his claws lightly touching without arousing the slightest awareness of the boy, he then pulled back, holding a tiny piece of the boy's soul. Unlike the souls of others before where it was commonly dark or transparent, it was brimming with bright holy light, mixing with so many colors known and unknown to man.

The boy was privileged—no, blessed with divinity. A rarity among humankind and only carried by the pure and the pious.

The ball of holy light merged into his fingers and the Holy Spirit introduced Herself to him, flushing his mind with knowledge of the boy, aged wisdom, and enlightenment of the world, as well as a reunion between a Parent and a Child. If he had a human mind, he would have been catatonic on the spot, unable to process what has been learned and likely taking years to come back from it.

Fortunately, his mind wasn't built like a human, and he was able to process everything under just a moment of two seconds where he was left standing in direct sight of every nearby villager before a single eye-blink from whoever saw him rendered him nonexistent, leaving more than a dozen villagers surprised at what they just seen, unsure if it was their imagination or it was actually a Man in Dark Robes with a Crow Mask.

"It seems I will have to revise my steps even further."

The young host of the Holy Spirit had heard his dark whisper, but Advisor was fast enough to elude the boy's eyes upon turning around to see who was behind him. Matching the speed of his turn, staying out of sight and behind his back as the Outsider rounded on his last location without dropping his handheld bags of sweets, he slashed his nape with his pinky finger's claw. The wound was a mere slit as long as a single inch, no more dangerous than a pin prick.

[Ow! The hell!?] He will still feel it just like the Ninth Generation Miare, however. But this time, it was inverted: the boy doesn't know what hit him, he doesn't know what it will do to him, he barely noticed his presence or even knew the Advisor existed, and lastly: it was not a dry bite.

A little moment of death will have to pass just for a little while.

If Advisor will not take the life of Heida no Akyuu, then this boy will take her place. It might violate a direct order from his mistress, but as a tool it is his very nature to be used as intended by his owner, especially to those worthy of him. Besides, 'recoverable suffering' was part of the orders.

Even before he became flesh and able to walk and speak of his own limited volition to seek a worthy owner, he has been versed in the ways of abusing the loopholes of his orders despite having never done so. He would only do such a thing whenever he desires to punish the unworthy by doing exactly as ordered but not how the punished owner wanted, which is one of the most delectable ways of seasoning the Pride he'll devour from them.

With the young boy as the new additional factor of his preparations, he is now more than enthusiastic about the disaster he'll make. "I quiver with anticcccipaaaaaatiiiiiiooooon….!" The only thing stopping him from smiling is his own petrified face, shaped like the mask of the infamous Plague Doctor before his entire body morphed into his very first form of flesh more than three millenniums ago.

In lightning speeds, his slithering form escaped to the walls, lithely slipping through the mouse-hole opening and rushed into the wilderness, opting to make do with his revisions as fast as possible.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

"Here." Here ya go. A bag of siopao for Sir Mirino and a bunch of dango as well as tempura to Sir Akira. Enjoy your meal.

"Thanks."

"Good job."

[Here you go, boy.] And I brought with me a slab of meat for the Big Boy Wolfo. Look at him, wagging his tail and ready to have it. [Catch.]

The red delectable flies through the air and Visente catches it in his jaw before feasting into it eagerly. I might not feed him like a conventional partner but I sometimes grow the mood to do so, especially when I'm feeling a little generous. Today's batch of customers was more than usual today. Pretty sure I'll get paid more than enough to compensate for the price of the expensive meat.

"How'd it go today?" Sir Mirino asked, biting into his first siopao.

"Nothing special, besides the higher number of customers ." Just another normal day in the Dango shop, boring and quiet whenever there's nobody to come in and buy some of the good stuff. "I assume nothing special happened to you two as well?"

"Nothing more than the usual, yes." Sir Akira answered. "Nothing but heat and more nothing."

"But Comrade Meira did come around." Sir Mirino said after swallowing. "But besides that, nothing much later. Just little talkin' and asking the same question as you before leaving."

"Right." I then sit down in the middle of the staircase, wiping my hand wet from the meat's blood. Not like anybody would walk this way to get out of the village nor get in on this particular hour. And as I get myself comfortable, I take out a sandwich I bought from a place that cooks western cuisine and take a bite into it. The thing somehow had mayonnaise in it. Did it ever exist in Japan before? Or did it wind up here in Gensokyo by chance? Still tasty though, and I'm not gonna question its quality as its mixed with the cabbage, chopped tomato, and especially cooked meat and slice of cheese. Owner of the place and/or chef could possibly be an Outsider. Couldn't meet the person since the place was a small restaurant with waiters or waitresses and the chef likely cooking out of sight but I'm very sure.

And then we settle into silence as we feast. The gate was luckily angled to shine a lot of shade down on the four of us in this part of the day so nobody will hear us complaining about heat while eating our lunch. While the cool is good, boredom is still there. You go through work with nothing interesting going on, there isn't much to talk about with acquaintances and friends. Only the Good Boy Wolfo there is a lot more energetic whenever we meet again, always excited to either play fetch or just have a nice scratching.

Deep breath…..then a long sigh.

Weekdays sure feels a little dull unless something rough happens. At least Visente gets to make his lunch exciting unlike us three who just sits down doing absolutely nothing while eating. Once he got himself a big fat siopao in his jaws thanks to Sir Mirino offering him one, he went off, gone into the forest to do his usual hunting in the middle of the day for lunch. The white bun was just an appetizer.

Lucky boy. Must be fun being a big bad wolfo.

My weekends, however, are always the ones full of excitement. I do sorts of things around the Saturdays and I make the most of my time, every time. Such as blowing up Remilia's bedroom with her in it when she…um, invited me in for some 'Private Time~' at a certain Saturday after my back was perfectly healed.

Most satisfying payback ever. She was a fucking smoldering skeleton on the fucking wall. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, there's also a trick for a trick. She fooled me with sweetness and broke my back, I eagerly replied and exploded on her. Hehe. She did regenerate from it quickly and got me back but it was worth it.

I hear a big sigh. Okay, here we go again. Take it away, Sir Mirino. "What ya do this time at that Scarlet Devil Place?" There you go. "Made another Spell Card?"

I nodded. "Once again." Here ya go, check the new one: I threw the magic card towards him like a Frisbee and he catches it in-between his fingers before looking at it. "It's a rather difficult card to execute." Then I take a waterskin that I brought from the village and bring it to my lips, relishing in some water (boss made it cold with his ability) going through my mouth and throat while I beckon the Spell Card to fly back to my hand and pass it to Sir Akira, which he caught expertly.

"Hmm." He looks fascinated. "A pillar of fire, shaped like a twister." Well, Sir Akira caught on fast. "I'd love to see this in action someday." He said as he flicks it back to me. I barely caught it at the tip of my index and middle finger before it hit me in the face. These two guys really know how to throw things at my face, geez. These two should immediately enlist for the Headshot Squad.

I crush the card and it simply disappears out of sight. "If you had been awake at some point in the night last Satuday, you might have been able to see it from here." The Pillar of Fire seriously broke through the mansion ceiling and into the sky. I was at the ground floor, and there were fucking four other levels before it breaks out the roof. "It was too powerful, pierced through several stories and into the heavens for all to see, but the Scarlet Devil herself was too far away to be hit by it and I failed to win...again."

"And she let you off easy? Again?" There goes Sir Mirino's dry question once again. It was once incredulous, but we've been through this many times that he's no longer surprised at the bullshit I've been pulling off in my weekends.

"To be finally clear with you," I turned to him with a bored look to get this settled out. I always reply with a grunt, now I gotta answer it for real. "I am never let off easy." I gestured my neck with two fingers poking at the recent bite wound, then motion a punch to my face that was actually a slap that nearly twisted my head 360, and then a slit-throat motion when she strangled me straight to unconsciousness, smiling gleefully all the way. "I will always pay a price at every visit. She hates me and I hate her, I told you that many times already."

"My gods, boy." He frowned. I can see the concern in his eyes. It's too familiar. "How many times am I gonna ask this? How the hell are ya still alive?" He shook his head before taking a large bite on his siopao.

I sighed heavily, taking the last bite of the sandwich into my mouth and chewed slowly, looking up at the ceiling of the gate. When I swallowed, I replied to him, "She liked me alive, just so she can watch me suffer every time." I then take a swig from my waterskin. Ah, sweet water.

"Seriously, kid, just give it up!" He exclaimed heatedly with a mouthful. When I heard him swallow loudly, he continued with a clear voice. "What's the point going to that bloody place if it's gonna end with you hurt all the time!?"

"She will not leave me alone." I lolled my head back, glaring at whatever was behind me, which was nobody and nothing. Every Saturday bullshit fight with Remilia got too common between us that it became routine now, but in times where we are not trying to throw each other into the shit, she is unbelievably unbearable to the point of suicide. More often than not, she would try to get into my space and land a blow when I did not see it coming. When she ordered Sakuya to teleport me to her Mansion while I was praying in the Place of Worship on Sunday due to not having visited on the day before it, I typically blew off my lid. That's when the spell card of reverse meteors was born. It was the only time I got Remilia back, and it was delicious. She was dead and down on the ground as soon as it was activated.

It's not a stretch to say that I've been getting my new Spell Cards thanks to the weekly bullshit me and Remilia usually do. I'm also getting proficient in danmaku fighting each time, allowing me to be stronger, quicker, more skilled in dodging, able to take a hit well and even better at adapting or reading the patterns of danmaku as quickly as possible.

Going to her is basically a form of training. Even though I end up with harsh injuries each time (with regular goblin heals post-conflict), it's much quicker and real. Just the way I like it. I learn faster in a practical and straightforward experience. Marisa and I never really held on to our fucking training agenda that we basically forgot about it. It's still a painful thing to do though, but that's the general reality when you try to improve combat ability. It just hurts….all the fucking time, especially when your instructor doesn't go easy on you.

I continued, "Even if I have no intention to go to her mansion in the weekend, that maid of hers will simply kidnap me to her doorstep against my will."

"And you don't want anybody to help you with your ordeal?" Now Sir Akira speaks, looking at me with a frown equal to the other guy. He's also concerned for me, and that familiar condescending look in his eyes is nothing short of annoying. "A man could only take so much stress."

"I told you before: my breaking point is lethal, Sir. And even the Scarlet Devil would not want her Mansion reduced to a pile of rubble when she pushes me too far. The Golem will be replaced by a Titan otherwise. " These two are good people, that is obvious for their open expression of concern, but they look at me like I'm naïve. It never fails to be so irritating, especially when it comes off as condescending. What have these two faced? Have they ever walked out the village as far as the Scarlet Devil Mansion? Did they suffer something more horrible than what I've been through in my first week here?

I said this to make it clear, "I have grown accustomed to my situation. It does not bother me so much anymore that I can rest easily each Saturday night, and I am not alone all the time. Kirisame Marisa would sometimes accompany me."

"From what you've been saying, she's not doing a good job at protecting ya." Hey, watch it, Sir Mirino. "If she's been saving the village's ass from every incident like she says she did, then why the hell are you still getting beaten up when she's with you?"

"Because I tell her to back off every time." My tone had more bite in it now. "She gives a damn the same way you do but she would only intervene when I can no longer take it." I just realized that I'm crushing my waterskin. I'm really ticked off, aren't I? "Listen, you two." I spared a glance to them both before I faced forward into the wilderness. "I appreciate your concerns, I honestly do, but you must know that I don't venture into any predicament without knowing the risks. I know that it's dangerous, I know that it's bad, and I know that it is stressing…but it's okay."

Not like Remilia wouldn't give me a break. She's honorable enough to give me a lot of respite when I don't have the time for it and a lot of honesty after she has done her shit. She even blatantly said that she'll only get one shot on me each time I visit and she can't do anymore whether she succeeded or not.

I would be lying if I said that it's not fun each time. Besides, Flandre is always there to greet me every time I visit, lighting up my spirits whenever she arrives with a knock-out hug and long hours of playtime or interaction with each other. Even we got our moments of dueling each other, with or without Marisa's help (I lose each time alone). She sometimes sneaks a few kisses when she feels like it post-conflict, which kinda carries a boosting effect that I don't hate.

"It's part of my life now, and I accept it." I finished, resting my elbows on above one step of the stairs behind me. Sir Mirino reluctantly accepts it while still frowning and grumbling, Sir Akira simply nodded and leaned back, biting into his dango skewers.

"If that's what you say then we'll not mention this again." Thanks. "Isn't that right, Mirino-chan?" Sir Akira asked to the other guy with a small smirk. Hey, I don't get to see that on his face often. He's much more reserved and prim, just like a real soldier compared to Sir Mirino, who tends to go easy about it.

"Sure, we'll just leave 'im to die." Sir Mirino then rounded on the armored guy with a blasting glare, "And I told you to stop calling me like that!"

Now that's what I'm talking about. It's my choice, leave me be to my fight. You both warned me and it's my responsibility to face the consequences. "Thank you both."

"You're welcome, Little Eman." This guy in the armor always got his courtesies ready.

"Urrgh." Well, this dude in the robes always go for gruff.

I take another swig of my waterskin, emptying it before I tie it back to my belt and then say, "Now then. I have noticed for the past few weeks that I've only seen you two on patrol, on duty, or on the job. The number of people in the village I've seen to be holding weapons I could count…in one hand." I looked to Sir Akira. I feel like he knows. "Why is that?"

"You can ask him, he knows more." He gestured to Sir Mirino.

….really?

I turn to the gruff, not-so-informative-looking guy. "Why is that, Sir Mirino?"

"Well, it's because not a lotta people here really knows how to fight. I mean, there are but they're just militia with little training, not really given the real training me and Akira here had. So much for Kotohime's fuckin' 'Police Force'." He muttered, having a supremely annoyed look on his face. "Besides, it's not like everybody needs a weapon in their pocket when their jobs don't qualify it. That's common sense."

"And what does that make me?" I got Mr. knife hangin' on to my thigh, y'know? Ms. Machete sometimes joins the trip on certain days.

And I'm pretty sure not having any common sense might save your life. What if a bad guy was there and you got nothing to fight back with?

"You." He pointed at me, "Well, you're excused. You live in the damn forest loaded with damn Youkai and animals." He gestured to the general direction where I go once the day is over. "Without weapons or some powers, you're already dead."

"And not many are that gifted with magic and danmaku to compensate the lack of weapons." Sir Akira added, holding a danmaku orb in his hand. Hey, I didn't know you could do that! "We're a handful here."

Huh…..

"So it is just the two of you? Guarding this place, the entire village all on your own?" The more I think about it, being a guard is starting to sound like a dead-end job, like selling street food when you can't get a proper job. "Do you even get compensated for your service?"

"Well, yes." Matter-of-factly, Akira replied me. "And the pay is handsome. While the shrine maiden is away, dealing with whatever her agenda is, being lazy or whatever, we handle the protection of the village and its inhabitants. It's a far more dangerous job than it seems, Little Eman. A responsibility far more heavy than any average man could handle."

"We're pretty much the first in line to get hurt when something hairy happens." Sir Mirino added, drawing out his sword into both hands and closing his eyes. One second later, the katana is starting to glow a bit yellow. "Or we're the first to hit back." He looks kinda proud, smirking. "Never fails to be exciting, really. Sure, there's the stress and struggle and risk of danger and all but it beats standing around doing nothing!"

"And lastly," Now it's Sir Akira's turn, holding his spear as it stood upright and it began to glow in blue fires near the bladed tip. "The two of us are the only Official Guards of the village. Just two middle-aged men trained with the old ways of the sword, spear, bow, kodachi, and even the naginata. Whoever else is there with a weapon is either eccentric or simply devoted to skill, like our Comrade-at-Arms, Meira. But our obligations are the same, we keep the village safe. There is no noble cause to devote our ability to than that."

Wow…..that is straight up….noble, and these two look like complete badasses just by showing just a bit of power! And how they hold responsibility to their own powers really puts me beneath them. I got powers, and I get all anxty out of the insatiable desire to use them on somebody (Remilia) any time I like. These two know when's the right time to use them and when not to. It's literally part of their job description and they stick well to it. They must've been well-disciplined in their training, in regards to their own powers and themselves.

Unlike me. I never had any discipline training. If there was ever any restraint in both parkouring ability and mystical ability, I'm pretty sure it's a No. Well, besides the fact that I went full-ballistic on the rooftops the first time I got to the village, I'm very practical in regards to keeping my parkours down. You can't just go flipping and tumbling everywhere for shits and giggles when it's only gonna draw unwanted attention to you. Same goes for magical power, don't do it too often in public eye. There are many consequences, the majority being too dangerous for your own good.

….pfft! Like hell I'll have any restraint in the mystical part. It's just so addicting!

Thankfully, I got an outlet for these addictions, keeps everything subtle at the same time too. It's either at home where it's private and secure, or at Remilia's face inside the Mansion where it's only me and the Scarlet Family. The latter's always enjoyable. Thanks to both these options, I won't have my anxiety close to the breaking-point and start blowing it out in all directions, only to draw bad company to my midst.

The lesson to learn from these two noble guards, it's to know what your abilities are good for. Ingenuity is also a plus: every magical power is not supposed to be a weapon.

And the many uses of my power includes this: I extend my fist forward and it lights itself on fire from knuckles to shoulder, heating the area around me a little. The two guards on either side of me who's still holding their imbued weapons looked on with interest. Secondly, I close my eyes for just a second while making sure I don't cut off the flames in my right arm.

Holy Spirit, why not show Yourself to these good men?

And she does.

Lately, She's starting to develop in shape and appearance, taking on a very different form of holiness. Last time She's shaped like really swirly, slow-moving multicolored fires, now She's something nearly akin to glowing multicolored thread crisscrossed like rope swimming through the ocean like a snake. In orb form, She's no longer the holy version of the fireball, She's literally a glowing ball of colors. Same could be said for her bullets. I don't think calling it Holy Fire is appropriate anymore. Might as well call it Holy Energy in general unless I ask Her to look like slow and swirly fires again.

Right now, I don't need to look behind me if she assumed the shape what's practically the top half a human woman's outline or the impression of an angel, because either way, it'll be very clear that this glowing multicolored light is apart from me and had a mind of its own in the eyes of anybody that's looking, especially these two guards. Like strings merged together to form fingers, She reached out towards both men and held their biceps before tracing down to their hands.

Interestingly, both of them were captivated enough that they actually opened both their held hands and allowed Her to interlock fingers. I even get to hear Sir Akira say 'Amazing' in a soft voice. I wonder which one he and Sir Mirino felt, is it soft cotton or warm slightly tangible air?

Slowly, the Holy Spirit parts from them and settles beside me. One hand 'draped' across my shoulders, Her other hand reached for my flaming outstretched fist and, well, laid it down and slowly dissipated the flames. She didn't really lay it down, it was a gesture for me to lay it down and Her motions were in tandem in mine that it looked like it was. Now She's simply holding my hand, which did nothing but bring me another wave of disappointment just like many times before.

I'm a bit used to it enough that I successfully said this in a matter-of-factly tone, "If a struggle comes to the village, you will have me and the Holy Spirit as additional support. If you object, that will do little to stop me. I have the obligation to protect the village when I have all the power I need to accomplish such a task." I leaned my head towards Hers, which she returned, only to send me another wave of disappointment. "And She will ensure my safety as well as anybody else, therefore you'll be relived of looking after me instead of the village itself while on duty."

The Holy Spirit then merges Herself back into me, giving me a little bit of fluttery warmth in my stomach and chest. That actually got the both of them to snap out of it. Geez, do folks, human or not, who see the Holy Spirit for the first time actually lose track of the world?

"Were you two paying attention?" I asked with a biting tone, and I accidently let out a heat wave that made them both wince. It feels like a bus terminal in here.

"Agh! Uh, yeah! I heard! You can help us, gotcha! Lookin' forward to working with you, boy!" Okay, Sir Mirino got the memo, sheathing his katana back into the scabbard

How 'bout Sir Akira? "Ahem. I acknowledge your intent, Little Eman. We will be glad to have you on our side."

Now that's what I like to hear. If it's possible, we can enlist Visente to the opportunity. It'd be awesome, the Big Bad Wolfo and his human companions, ready to take on the baddies!

….But still…there's still some disappointment lingering in my thoughts:

I just can't touch Her. The animals have been able to touch Her. The Youkai have been able to touch Her. Even Flandre got lucky as well as Meiling, but not me. Me, Her own charge can't.

I've began to rely on Her for comfort more often in the past few weeks ever since She stopped me from burning Mamizou, even had Her as someone to talk to if I wanted to vent. The more I've interacted with Her (combat situations not included), the more She started to act like Her own person, I even acknowledged Her as a second entity in my house, unlike before where She was semi-sentient and needing my prompt to act. Her general personality I've seen so far was caring and playful, no questions asked. She straight-up loves me.

But even so, it's just not enough. Her presence alone just doesn't cut it in giving me sufficient comfort anymore. I wanted to touch Her again just like when She saved me from that lion. No luck whatsoever, even if I went back to the Place of Worship just to see if it works there: it doesn't. I only feel my nerves shutting down and nothing else. The cotton sensations are very subtle to feel, completely insignificant compared to Her touches.

Sigh…..

….!

[KHUAAA!] The fuck!? Where the fuck did that cough come from? It felt like I just inhaled a mouthful of pollen!

"Whoa….you okay, there? That was a rough one ya did there." Thanks for the concern, Sir Mirino.

"Wait, there's a cut on your nape. When did you get that? I didn't see that when you came by in the morning." I see that Sir Akira's eagle eye is as keen as always, seeing small details that would've eluded anybody that wasn't as observant as him.

"I don't know…." I replied, rubbing the back of my neck and feeling the slit that had already turned into a clotted line, healed by my healing fires. "I felt a bee sting on the way here. I'm unaware of how I had it but—GHUUAAA!" Holy fucking shit, again! This time it's successive.

Oh no, this time it got me wheezing…..I'm tasting blood on the back of my throat…

…..what the fuck is going on?

Waterskin, gotta drink water—oh fuck, I ran out! I forgot! [MMKHUUAAA!] Again! Argh! This time, I'm actually bending forward—oh no, I'm tasting copper!

"O-oi…that's not a normal cough."

"Out of nowhere and at a violent level of cough? Indeed, it is not normal. We need to get him home—"

[I'm fine!] I shouted, holding out a hand towards Sir Akira before he could touch me, slapping my slightly burning chest. I await a few seconds….there was no more. No more coughs.

Whew. I sat up straight and took a deep breath, soaking in the clean air. "It is gone." I told them calmly, "I am alright."

"Are you sure?" Sir Mirino asked, a concerned frown crossing his features. "I feel like you need to lay down for a bit."

"Better safe than sorry, Young Man. You need to go home and rest for now. I will inform Mr. Hirabayashi for you." That's mighty kind of you, Sir Akira, but….

"We'll find out…" I said to him, rubbing my chest.

"What?"

"What?"

I then stood up with a grunt, stretching my arms above me just to illustrate my current state. I'm actually feeling fine. Once I was done stretching, I then place hands on my hips. "If it comes back later, maybe worse than before, then I will excuse myself from work for today. We can minimize any risks in that fashion."

The two glanced at each other uneasily, having more doubts.

"Besides," I continued, "I have Eintei's medication in my residence. I got my precautions ready when I need them."

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

[KHUUAAA!] It does not work! Eintei's medicine didn't do shit! It only got even worse! The taste of blood at the back of my throat's getting clearer, and it's been getting worse the more I coughed, especially when I went back to work after lunch break.

[Ack—! AGH!] Dammit! I'm coughing again! I got sent home early when Boss was getting concerned. Thought I could press on despite his advice to rest but this thing's actually bad. I couldn't stop coughing, even when I'm not moving. When I was out of the village, a couple hundred meters or more away from the gate, it became hell. I was coughing for an entire 5 minutes, causing an ache in my stomach and nearly suffocating me.

What the fuck is going on!? Fucking shit, I'm wheezing….! I already took my meds, and it's still there.

Okay, here it goes again—!

I coughed, plattering my palm with my saliva as I covered my mouth, now tasting copper very thickly. When it was gone, after a fucking minute or two, I then looked at my hand.

There was blood on it.

[Oh no….that's not normal….] I never heard of any cough that gets worse to the point of spitting out your own blood in a matter of hours.

What the hell is going on with me?

---

In case nobody got it, Visente is pronounced: Vii-sen-teh.

And Abante (a-bun-teh) means 'Forward' or 'Move Forward'.