Patchouli was still upon his big stack of books, and although some books still remained in the desk, the sheer amount of them still covered 80 percent of the desk area. Her teapot was empty already, yet some treats remained in a bowl, patchouli technically did not require food intake at all to survive, as being a true magician gave some perks in life, but the sweet delight of sugar was a sin she was guilty of.

but steps interrupt the natural silence of the library, as they close in to patchouli. as she turns her head to the direction of the sound, she gets a clear view of who entered Voile, it was the foreigner, showing up once more.

"oh… it's you." Patchouli spat.

"Sorry for that whole mess when we met. it was my hail mary." The tanker said.

"To think I gave you access to the most well-informed place of this land, by stripping off your shirt… Either have I stooped so low in search of knowledge, or you'll do whatever it takes in search of knowledge." Patchouli said in her characteristic tone of voice.

"I see no objection… I've stooped lower, but my mistake was assuming I had nothing to lose in the first place." The tanker continued, "But now that a key part of my life has shown itself recently, I have an awful lot to lose now."

"But whatever it must require… I'll overcome it!" He said in confidence towards Patchouli.

Patchouli only sighs as she closes her eyes, but then she lets a small smile off enough to be distinguished.

"That dedication, reminds me of certain acquaintances of mine. You have potential." Patchouli said in a faintly cheery tone.

"But first, let us analyze your potential first." she said

"But hold on, before all that, I wanna ask, what did you exactly say to Remilia?" the tanker asked.

"I was called to her quarters before she fell asleep for the "day", and she said aside for the 'hard work' I've accomplished, I, and I quote: 'Gathered the interest of my most trusted friend'."

"W-well… you said to figure it out myself, and was limited by you not wanting her to know the reason, so I just happened to say that I just got amazed by your attributions on the mansion and got interested in you!" She said in an embarrassed tone.

"You may have accidentally said to your mistress that you have a crush on me." The tanker teased Patchouli.

"Shut up! This is only to analyze the core of your powers! now take off your shirt and show it so I can inspect it properly." Patchouli pouted.

"You're making it even worse…" the tanker kept messing with her.

"SHUT UP!" Patchouli shouted.

But all I could do was watch from afar, hidden among the giant shelves and dim lighted halls. Ever since he came upon the mansion, this strange fellow nabbed my attention the moment I saw him from afar…

He seems sure where he is going, but at the same time, something blind is emanating from him…

My sis sure has a keen eye for toys.

Whatever Patchouli said to Remilia, things have gotten somewhat promising. She has allowed me to access the library during the day for the rest of my four days left, in exchange for more specialized hard tasks when she is awake at night, and all this in the remainder of my four days left in the week. Although I'm riddled with more work during the night, the fact that she gave me the day to investigate is unexpectedly generous of her. Could it be that she finally appreciated and found in her heart my dedication? or maybe she got bored of torturing me and had nothing else in mind? but honestly, the fact that I got access to the library in the first place, completely negates the extra work, maybe it finally paid off!

No time to waste on the first day in the library then!

Patchouli got the first turn, she asked me to lick on some cotton swabs and expel part of my smoke into a jar, she said to do it far away from her due to her condition so this was my first time learning she was asthmatic. She asked me general questions such as if I required food intake, general properties of my smoke and if I produced bodily waste.

"Well theoretically I can go months without food, but just the thought of not doing it gets on my mind, so I usually take about 2 meals a day on average, like the longest I went without eating was 2 whole months. My smoke has a characteristic smell of burnt birch wood and ash, I expel it naturally but when I lay out smoke, the smell intensifies. As for my waste… would you believe me if I told you so?" I Explained.

"I know it's uncomfortable but I need to know to at least have a base hypothesis of your "inner workings," Patchouli pressured me.

"it's… not complicated but weird. First off: Yes I do lay waste but very infrequently as a person would on average, and second… they're not the same as a person or human at all."

"Do you mean?" she said but deep down knew the answer.

"D-different color…shape and texture, that's all you're gonna get!" I said embarrassed.

"Enough for me," she continued, "Now if you may take your shirt off, Need a close look at your outer structure."

"Do I have to?" I said in a whining tone.

"The faster we finish, the more time you have for your investigation, ok? It's not like I wish to see you naked." She pouted.

"argh…Fine." I obliged.

Patchouli then went to her desk and grabbed a cloth piece of sorts as I stripped off my waist coat, jacket and shirt, she then turned back to me as she was accommodating a cloth face mask on her, maybe so she does not inhale my smoke.

She takes a good look at my chest, and then looks around my arms for a while, but then she takes a pair of glasses with a handle on them, places them in her eyes and begins looking at me, this time more closer to my body.

"h-hey! that's too close!" I said as I giggled nervously about it.

but she said nothing.

"Too close! mind if you-" I said as I took a small step back but was interrupted by Patchouli.

"Stay put!" She exclaimed, "Just gimme a little…"

After observing my upper body for a while, she goes and takes notes on some paper sheets back to her desk. I come to try to take a peek, but then she stands back up.

"Now, I need you to show me your core." She muffles under her cloth mask.

I command myself and the smoke in my chest is cleared as she then takes a magnifying glass and takes a look into my core.

"Incredible… It's only the core here, you don't even have organs!" She says in bewilderment.

"I don't?" I said as I looked down upon her.

"How on earth do you produce waste without even having the essential organs at all?" She continued.

"I'd say… it's one of those things best not to worry about too much, it just happens?" I said in a joking manner.

"Could it be… that your core has all the essential workings compressed in there?" she said as she then tried to stick a hand inside me.

"Woah woah! You're getting a bit handsy there!" I exclaimed as I recoiled my belly away, "I said you could take a look, not take a feel!"

"I'm sorry! Curiosity got the better of me." She apologized.

"don't you know that curiosity-"

"Killed the cat?" A female voice interrupted and yet finished my sentence.

We both looked to where we heard the voice come by, behind us through the halls made by bookshelves. A silhouette is viewed as it exits the shadow black of the halls and we come to realize who it is…

"Lady Yukari?!" Patchouli said in shock.

I just stood there beside her as Yukari got close to us, and then I came to realize I was topless in front of her (come to think of it, why am I topless in a library of all things?) so I took the butler jacket I left on the desk on a whim as I covered myself sloppily.

"What the hell were you doing there?! How long were you there for?!" I exclaimed as I took some time to get back on my top attire.

"I have to check on you every 2 days, remember?" Yukari said as she giggled at my clumsy moves to get my jacket on correctly

"I know that, but why do you appear in the most random of places, at random times?" I continued.

"Maybe It's just bad luck on your part, but so egregious, stripping in front of the great unmoving library!" Yukari said as she looked to Patchouli

"Don't get any wrong ideas!" she protested, "Plyush and I just happened to agree to a deal, and this is ONLY for investigation purposes!"

"Right! I gotta get reading!" I said as I finally dressed up and went to a hall in look of…

look of…

I stood there for a while as I had no idea where to start, with patchouli and Yukari just looking at me from behind.

"Come to think of it. I have no idea where to begin… and I still gotta use the rest of my days for investigating." I said as I stood there still.

"Where do I even begin?" I thought

"What did you want to investigate in the first place? Guaranteed we have something in the inventory."

"May sound stupid, but about secret realms and energy." I answered.

"Stupid? remember this saying well dear Plyush: there is no common sense in gensokyo. sometimes we have to venture to ideas out of the box." Yukari said.

"Koakuma!" Patchouli exclaimed into the open.

And from above, flying, a red haired young woman came down and landed next to her, she was wearing attire similar to a secretary, a tight skirt that stopped by the thighs and wearing thigh high black stockings, a white long puffed sleeve shirt with thin bands on her arms, a black vest and a red tie. 4 sets of bat wings stand out of her as well, 2 on her lower back and two more protruding on the sides of her head.

Honestly not fitting too for a librarian's assistant.

"Yes Miss Patchouli?" She said to her.

"Guide this gentleman here to our 'History and magic' sections please." She ordered this "Koakuma"

"As you wish Miss Patchouli."

"Wait, do you happen to have a section on alchemy as well?" I asked Patchouli, as I remembered the name Ven knew about him, the Alchemist.

"Of course we do! Guide him there too." he said first to me, then Koakuma.

"This way, Mr.?" Koakuma asked me

"Plyush Canmoore." I answered.

"Mind if I tag along?" Yukari said as she followed us.

"I'll have results of your properties just before you begin your work shift, come see me before that hour!" Patchouli said as we went off and followed her assistant.

it's about midday, and Koakuma already guided us to the respective sections to start investigation, at this point I'm sitting in a chair around a big wooden desk, with 4 books I picked up to start: two about magic energy, one on the history of gensokyo (could help me on how a realm like this came to begin with.) and one on alchemy.

Yukari Is accompanying me at the desk, sitting opposite me whilst reading a novel of some kind, but mostly just accompanying me for some reason.

As I read on the books I picked, I make sure to take note of notable things that might be closely related to Realms, the cube and "energy". So far I have noted something interesting about the fairies of this land, they are linked to nature in some way or another, this essentially means that nature can manifest magic by itself, and when that magic is strong enough, that excess materializes into the various fairies of Gensokyo, from very tiny able to fit in the palm of my hand to the size of a nine year old.

Now the question is if I can turn that magic into energy.

As for the book of alchemy, well, to be honest, I have no lead whatsoever or any info regarding the Alchemist at all, but the name prompted me to search there.

So far I have collected 3 pages worth of info.

"So… How are things with Sakuya?" Yukari asked as she set her book aside

"Why are you making it sound like we are actually together? Still occupied and will be." I said as I still kept my eyes on my notes

"you haven't talked to her yet?" Yukari says in a Faux flabbergasted tone.

"Well, Remilia has gotten more tame with me, I take for granted that I was allowed to access the library" I said, still keeping my attention to my notes

"That doesn't mean that you can't leave Sakuya alone, Remilia won't try to make you an arranged date, you have to act for yourself!" Yukari tried to get my attention.

"With the amount of work you still have, you can spare little time to make small talk!"

I just stayed quiet as I wrote my notes.

"OH! I got it! Koakuma~..." Yukari exclaimed.

The red headed assistant came to us as she levitated towards us.

"Yes Lady Yukari?" She asked Yukari.

"Could you tell Sakuya to bring us some refreshments? Plyush here has been reading for hours!"

As soon as I heard Sakuya I lifted my view from the book and looked at Yukari for a moment.

"What will the Lady require?"

"Green tea and some of her famous fluffy Castella cake." Yukari ordered

"and you ?" I was asked by the red-head

"Black tea, Strong. And… something to replenish energy I guess." I said.

"I shall relay it to Sakuya, should take about 15 minutes." Koakuma said as she flew away from us.

"What are you planning?" I asked Yukari as I set aside a pencil.

"Well you have time to take in the day for your investigation, might as well have a talk with Sakuya! Not as Coworkers, but as a guest and server!" She explained

Hmm… not a bad-

…

Idea.

…

Huh?

"Oh, just in time!" Yukari exclaimed to her right.

And as I looked to my left, Sakuya was already there with a silver cart with what we requested.

"I thought you were coming in 15 minutes."

"15 minutes for me, an instant for you."

I see…

"If you excuse me." Sakuya said as she gestured towards the books on the desk.

I nod and clear the desk as I stack the books and set them aside on the floor, and set aside my notes on top of the stack. Sakuya then places the dishes according to what we wanted, Only differences were the teapots we were handed respective to our tea choice. Yukari received a traditional Japanese iron teapot and cup, as I got a more western/European set.

But I noticed that the dish I was brought was something simple: a Focaccia sandwich with a considerable amount of tomato and mozzarella slices, while the bread was brushed with a thin coating of oil with spices, probably olive oil.

"Much obliged." I said as I took a look again into my notes.

"Thank you." Said Yukari.

" If you excuse me, I shall get-"

"Hold on Sakuya! Won't you stay a bit longer with us?" Yukari said to Sakuya

"Eh?" We exclaimed to both Sakuya and I.

"It's not for much, I gotta ask how's Plyush behaving so far as a temporary staff member of the mansion," She explained.

"And besides, Plyush here was getting a bit lonely…"

"Would love to but I have matters to supervise Lady Yukari." Sakuya responded

"Come on!" Yukari persuades her in a charismatic tone of voice, "Just a tad bit of time off, take it as a casual break."

...

"Hmmm, well my mistress doesn't wake up until the next 7 hours so, Sure! I'll make company." Sakuya responded.

What the hell are you planning you damned hag...