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Chapter 7: Underground Counterattack
A few days after rescuing Aya from the underworld...
Yukari's group received word that Aya wished to repay them, and so they visited the village.
Sorry for making you come all this way.
You needn't worry about it. You wouldn't be able to enter our territory anyway.
Rather, perhaps we should be the one's apologizing.
Entering the village so brazenly is sure to raise a fuss, is it not?
It's fine. Everyone here knows that you all saved my life.
Very well, then.
It would be quite regrettable if we were simply making matters worse.
Right, ok, let's move on to the main topic.
You didn't need to make us come all the way here just offer us your thanks, right?
So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?
Now now, Ran. A bit lacking in patience, are we?
Better we get to the point than keep talking in circles.
Plus, Lady Yuyuko insisted that the food will be better the earlier we eat.
So, we really should get things moving.
Oh my. I hadn't realized you were so hungry.
Oh, is that it?
Ah, the meals are being prepared at the moment.
So, um, please look forward to it.
W-wait! I was just repeating what Lady Yuyuko said!
Goodness me. When did my Ran get to be such a glutton, I wonder.
Well, no matter. We have some appetizers to deal with before the main dish.
Huh? Um, I'm sorry, but the chefs are working on both the appetizers and the main dish at the moment...
...
Uh...
Hey, Aya. I don't think that's what she meant.
Huh?
Oh! Right! Sorry, I, uh...
Ah, I get it. It was a metaphor for our reason for coming here.
...Right. Let's get back to that.
R-right.
Ahem. In that case...
Miss Yukari, once more, let me thank you and your party for the other day.
I must apologize for asking you to come all the way here.
In addition to offering my thanks, I would like to speak with you about another matter.
Real long side-trip just to get back here. Guess she really wanted to say all that.
Gah.
A-anyway! Rinnosuke, please, come in.
Is your conversation finally re-railed? Kept me waiting for a bit.
S-sorry about that.
Yukari, please, let me introduce you.
This is a worker at our local tool shop, Rinnosuke Morichika.
Though he lives in this village, he has inherited half his blood from youkai. A half-human, half-youkai.
Ah, I recognize this. This is the part where we set them up on a date, right?
I decline.
I refuse.
How unfortunate...
O-oh. Never mind...
Yeesh. No wonder the talk's gotten so derailed.
Nice to meet you, Yukari Yakumo. It's an honor to meet a famous Youkai Sage such as yourself.
Hehe, no need to place me on a pedestal.
Praise will get you nowhere with me.
A Youkai... Sage?
Is Yukari a big deal too?
Oh, you didn't know?
Even as youkai go, Lady Yukari holds considerable power.
Is that right...
Sure didn't seem that way to me.
(She looks at Lady Yukari without a fear in the world. Just how gutsy are you?)
I wasn't even particularly trying to upsell you.
Unless, did my words seem that charming to you?
Well now, who can say.
In any case, I presume you had a reason to have us meet, yes?
What would you like to discuss?
Right, of course.
Like I mentioned, Rinnosuke works at a tool shop here.
I was thinking that if you were ever in need of tools, he might just be the man for the job.
I see. True, that might be useful.
Are you sure that's ok?
As a half-youkai, dealing with us is probably fine.
However, a store in the village dealing with us youkai might be a step too far.
True. We might cause trouble for the people at your store.
Mm...
It's unfortunate, but humans and youkai have quite the bad impression of each other.
No worries on that point.
I've been thinking of going solo lately, so I'll handle your requests myself as training.
This way, you won't be bothering anyone from the store.
Besides, if you just say you're my saviors and that you're there to trade with Rinnosuke, I'm sure they'll get the picture.
If you say it's fine, then I guess it's fine?
Yes, it ought to be.
Everyone in the village trusts me.
So from now on, if you ever need anything, just give me a call.
I can prepare salves, tools, and all the things you need for combat.
Understood. I'll be relying on you from henceforth.
Ran. I leave managing our supplies to you.
Leave it to me.
And one other thing-
Monk: Sorry to bother you!
But Lady Aya, there's an emergency!
Huh? What?
W-what's happening?
Monk: It's youkai!
Youkai are popping up around the village and running wild!
At this rate, someone's bound to get hurt!
Yukari!
To think they'd actually come into the village...
There are surface youkai here, so I didn't think they'd go that far.
Most likely, it's the underworlders from before, back for revenge.
Before any humans get hurt, we're heading out!
Understood. In that case, I should take a moment to quickly organize our supplies.
For a change of pace, I decided to actually translate this tutorial.
Welcome back to the System Tutorial! I'm your host, Daiyousei.
This time, we'll be covering Rinnosuke's Item Shop.
Dai-chan's System Classroom
Fourth Period: Item Shop
From here onwards, you'll have access to a "Preparation" screen.
On this screen, from the "Manage Items" menu, you can buy, sell,
or even repair your items.
First, you select a unit, and then choose from "Buy", "Sell", or "Repair".
Woah there. Leave this part to me.
Kyaa!
"Buy" lets you purchase what I've got in stock.
The store's inventory will change per chapter, so keep an eye on it.
Of course, if you don't have the money, you can't buy anything.
I don't do sales on credit, of course.
From "Sell", you can sell off your unneeded items, as well as any For Sale Only items.
You should start by selling those off, so you can afford some weapons.
"Repair" lets you restore the uses on your weapons and staves.
This costs money too, by the way. Sorry, but I don't work for free.
Now, was there anything else? Let's see... Oh?
Um...
Ah, my apologies for startling you.
I'll leave the rest to you.
He leaves.
Haa, that really spooked me.
Oh yeah, I guess we can call it here for today.
Manage your money well, and keep your equipment in good shape, everyone!
...
That guy was kinda cool...
Alright. Let's get started!
Preparation screen!
We're missing an option from this that'll get introduced next chapter, but for now, let's take a quick look.
Pretty much everything they said in the Dai-chan Classroom was right. They only missed out on one thing.
I haven't been mentioning it, but items in this game don't disappear when they run out of durability. Instead they enter this "broken" state, so you can repair them at Rinnosuke's shop.
In addition there's this option: combining. I think they added something like this in Awakening? But it's been so long, I might be imagining that... Anyway, slap two identical items together, and you'll replenish the uses. A nice thing is that all uses are saved no matter what.
Example: an Iron Sword has a maximum durability of 46. Let's say I've got one with 30/46 uses, and another with 20/46. If I combine them, I'll wind up with one Iron Sword with 46/46, and another with 4/46. No waste. It's nice.
One particular reason why you might want to do all this repairing/combining is that big Star rating. For this Iron Sword, it's 13. This is a count of how many kills you've gotten with this particular weapon. IIRC, every kill above 50 increases the weapon's critical hit chance by 1%, up to a maximum of 50% at 100 kills.
We won't be getting anywhere near that for quite a while, but it's worth thinking about.
Once we sell off all our treasure items, we end up at ¥15000.
Ignore my money, I'm jumping around recordings to grab these screenshots
As mentioned, there's a variety of items in stock. Iron is always in unlimited supply, but we can buy 1x Steel or Slim Sword, if we wanted. Same for Hand Axes or Javelins. For now, I'm saving my cash.
Eventually we're gunna want to dump cash into buying up Jewels of Evolution for ¥10k. They're what you use to promote, and considering how tight cash is in this game, we're gunna need to budget hard to promote most of our units.
Let's check out this second option.
Supports! I'll assume you're roughly familiar with how these work from Fire Emblem.
One somewhat unique thing is that a bunch of characters start with pre-set support levels together. Yukari's got a natural C with Ran, Shrine Maiden, and Youki, for example.
...Don't ask me why she can't support with Yuyuko or Suika.
The Three Fairies and the Prismrivers each start with a B with their other members. Just like normal Fire Emblem, each unit can only have one S support, though IIRC none of them are particularly romantic, if you were hoping. As an aside, this does mean all the trios are destined to have a third weel 
.
Now to be honest, there are a shitload of supports in this game that are all pretty long, and I don't really want to translate them all. So instead, I'm just going to let you guys vote on them. In-game, I'll just pop supports whenever I get them, but I'll keep them recorded so I can translate them later if you guys wanna see them. More details about this in the thread.
For reference, the supports we can currently access are:
-Shrine Maiden/Youki B
-Sunny/Luna A
-Sunny/Star A
-Luna/Star A
-Kogasa/Kyouko C
-Lunasa/Merlin A
-Lunasa/Lyrica A
-Merlin/Lyrica A
Anyway, we're still missing an option that should be sitting at the top, and that third option is just Save, so let's get started!
Alright everybody! Payback time!
We give back triple what we got. A big return on your investments!
--
Last time, that oni and satori youkai rained on our parade, but no one's getting in our way this time.
We can be as jealous as we want.
--
Let's make 'em regret pissing us off!
Let's go!
--
It really is the group from the underworld.
Like this, the hated will grow even more hated, and the conflict deepens further.
Getting humans and youkai to understand one another is proving terribly challenging.
"Rome wasn't built in a day", as they say.
It all depends on your efforts.
Right...
What's our status?
Monk: We've sortied in response, but...
The situation doesn't look good.
Forget "not good", this is looking real bad.
Lady Yukari, how shall we proceed?
If this situation persists, it'll be bad for everyone.
I'd rather not intervene quite so much, but our hands are forced.
Ran, send a familiar to notify Yuyuko.
Until everyone else arrives, we'll have to manage ourselves.
That goes for you, as well.
Huh? Uh, me?
Yes. I'd like you to assist as well.
For the time being, I've placed barriers around everyone's houses, but they won't hold forever.
Outside of the Hieda estate, us youkai can't exactly walk around freely, right?
We require your "permission" as a pretext.
Oh, that makes sense!
I'm not very strong, but I'll help as best I can!
BGM: 月まで届け
Kinda feels like the game's spoiling itself here...
So, this chapter has a few gimmicks. There's a few of these gates we want to protect around the map. This one's got 300 HP, and leads to the Hieda estate, so it's an instant game over if it gets broken.
There's also 6 houses around the map, with 200 HP each. I believe we also fail if half of these get destroyed. They're all guarded by a pair of monks, and there's a few other monks dotted around the map, too. Spoilers: most of them will die.
For the time being, we've only got Parsee, Yamame, and Kisume to worry about. Though uh, they've gotten quite a lot stronger in the past 2 chapters.
Just for reference, Kisume's got a massive 18 defense, and can swap betwen a Hand Axe or Steel Axe. She's polite enough to remain perfectly stationary.
She drops a Heavenly Peach upon death, which boosts Defense by 2.
Yamame's got a well-rounded spread of stats, a Steel Lance, and will drop our first Jewel of Evolution on defeat.
Unlike Kisume, she actually moves around, and will actively target villagers.
Parsee's probably the biggest threat here. She moves around like Yamame, she has a propensity for proc'ing Confuse at the worst possible times, and she has a fucking Rune Sword of all things. It's a C-Rank sword with 1-2 range that drains HP upon hit. Luckily it runs off of her (quite low) Magic stat, cuz otherwise she'd be a serious nightmare.
Considering our rather lackluster party atm, we definitely can't deal with the underworld trio, so we're mostly just going to ignore them for a few turns.
Using the powers of foresight, I know to send Shrine Maiden down between the first and second houses.
Yukari's moving east, while Aya and Byakuren go west.
A bunch of monks attack the youkai invaders, and mostly accomplish nothing.
Well, I guess they accomplish dying.
They sure are good at that!
spooooooky dark bullets
At the start of turn 2:
What the heck? I just wanted to sell some charcoal, and I get caught up in this mess.
Fine then. If the sparks are flying, I gotta do my part.
---
That... doesn't look like a villager.
She doesn't seem like an ordinary person.
So yeah, we gotta go recruit her with Shrine Maiden.
Everyone keeps going in their pre-planned directions.
This monk tries to keep her allies' HP up, but it's not really helping.
Player phase 3:
Those underground folks asked for our help, and everyone seemed pretty interested, but man...
I reeeeally don't wanna get involved.
If I think about it, we're definitely gunna lose.
Everyone's acting real funny, lately. Getting all hopped up, gossiping about them nasty humans and stuff.
I should start looking for an excuse to peace outta here.
---
Wait a second...
What is that youkai rabbit doing here?
We start with talking to Mokou.
A human!?
The hell're you doing! If you keep messing around here, a youkai's gunna eat you!!
...Wait. Are you talking to me?
What are you, daft?
Yes, you. Don't see anyone else around, do you?
Oh yeah. Good point.
Yeesh.
Listen lady. There's a bunch of scary youkai running around, making a mess of things.
Look, I'll take you somewhere safe, so just shut up and follow me.
Thanks.
But, I'm fine.
I think I can protect myself. And frankly, I don't think youkai are really all that scary.
...I guess you're not from the village. And you're not an ordinary human, either.
Who are you?
I don't know. Not my name, or much of anything else.
...Uh.
Sorry to hear that. I didn't mean any offense.
It's fine. I don't really mind.
Setting that aside, what do you mean youkai aren't scary?
What makes you say that? Do you know something special about them?
Hmm, it's kinda hard to explain.
Just, like, they don't seem very different from a human like me. Or something like that.
What are you going on about?
You're talking like a kid who doesn't know a thing about youkai.
Or maybe, you've met a youkai before?
Actually, I'm living with a few.
Youkai, ghosts, fairies, and humans. We're always together.
What in the world?
I don't really buy that, but you don't seem like you're lying.
I'm getting kinda interested in you.
My name's Fujiwara no Mokou.
Think you can introduce me to those youkai you're know?
I'd like to know more about you and your pals.
Sure thing. Let's go together.
I'm so glad. I said I was fine, but being by myself was a bit nerve-wracking.
Having a strong-looking person like you around is a real relief.
Happy to have you, Mokou.
Uh, sure.
(Seriously, what's going on with this human?)
New recruit, new stats! 
HP: (20)17
STR: (30)5
MAG: (50)7
SKL: (30)4
SPD: (20)4
LUK: (30)2
DEF: (10)3
RES: (30)4
Before we even talk about Mokou's stats, we need to start with her skills. Firstly she Immortality. Even on Standard mode, she can die up to 3 times per map, and she'll just pop back in at low health at the start of the next turn. Her second skill is Paragon, which doubles all EXP that she gains.
Mokou's an odd duck. She has pretty low growths (and low bases, honestly) in everything but Magic, but she levels up twice as fast as everyone else to compensate. She's made of wet tissue paper defensively, but she can also die 3 times per chapter for free. If her growths cooperate (particularly her Speed) then she can be a valuable asset. In my experience, she usually lags behind everyone too much to be useable in combat. At least Immortality lets you bait dangerous enemies with her without fear.
As an aside, upon promotion she gets an even better version of Immortality with like ~6 uses. No prizes for guessing what that skill's called.
Tewi time:
A youkai rabbit?
I had thought we were only dealing with underground youkai, but I suppose not.
I'm the one who's surprised here.
I was only expecting humans. What's a youkai like you doing here?
Our circumstances are a tad complex. I imagine it's the same for you.
Pretty much. Short form, we got hired on.
That said, I was just thinking I needed a new employer.
Ah, is that right?
Perhaps I could hire your services, should it please you.
We talking business?
In that case, I'll go for a thousand carrots.
Deal? Kay, I'll work as much as I'm paid for.
HP: (20)23
STR: (45)7
MAG: (5)1
SKL: (50)10
SPD: (40)10
LUK: (99)14
DEF: (30)5
RES: (10)4
A solid cavalier-type unit. Good bases, decent growths, slanted towards offense. The 99% Luck growth is cute. She is a Beast, of course, and she has the same Gather skill as Suika, letting her randomly get treasure items upon defeating enemies. I'm going to take a guess that it runs off the Luck stat, so she's probably much better at using it than Suika is.
As an amusing side note, she comes equipped with a Fire Lance. It runs off Magic, though this D-Rank version only has 1 range. More importantly, as a Fire-type weapon, it has a Slaying effect on Beast units. Y'know. Like the other rabbit youkai she came in with.
For the time being, she and Yukari are Pairing Up. Rabbits are actually pretty tough, so they might be able to kill Yukari otherwise.
By the way, some wolves spawned up in the top left. This monk rushes forward to meet them, but is not long for this world.
I'm already taking advantage of Mokou's baiting power by luring in Parsee.
At base, she can just survive a hit from Parsee's Rune Sword. Had she bothered switching to Steel, Mokou'd be dead.
That might seem like poor-decision making on the AI's part, but...
It was actually a 2000 IQ play, because now Mokou's alive and confused.
...Mostly it just means we avoid standing next to her, but it's still a bit of serendipitous ingenuity.
Come turn 4, and Tewi's ready to roast her former allies.
I'm not sure why the sprite artist made her kick the danmaku like a soccer ball, but I won't complain.
Mokou takes her confused action, and breaks herself on Parsee.
RIP
More youkai spawn in the center, which some of these monks decide to (foolishly) pick a fight with).
At the end of turn 4, our reinforcements arrive in the middle-right of the map.
Oh Yukari, I leave you alone for 5 minutes to go grab some food, and you get wrapped up in another brawl.
No kiddin'.
Maybe this time she'll learn to bring us along to her banquets.
Hold up. They're from underground.
Did those idiots not get why Satori and I broke their fight up!?
What an incorrigible lot.
Alright everyone, make sure to protect our feast.
Awright!
A new turn means Mokou spawns back in with 3 HP.
That reminds me, we haven't actually looked at Yuugi's stats yet, have we?
HP: (70)51
STR: (60)20
MAG: (0)2
SKL: (30)10
SPD: (10)9
LUK: (10)4
DEF: (60)17
RES: (10)6
Our reward for winning the duel is yet another Jeigan-type character, though this one's way more stacked. Just like Youki, she has the Limitter skill, meaning these are her stats after 30% has been chopped off. You can use a Jewel of Reincarnation to reset her stats and take it off if you really wanna train her. Amusingly, once you take Limitter off, her level 1 base Speed is also 9, which isn't too bad.
For now at least, her bases are very high, so she'll put in plenty of work just as she is. She also has the same Oni and Human Slayer skills as Suika.
Annoyingly, Tewi isn't quite fast enough to double this rabbit, and the monk that was up here didn't damage her enough for a oneshot.
...Unless we crit, I guess?
Levels, at last! HP, Skill, and Resistance.
The cleric duo are having their own personal death match up in the top left.
Despite all that talk of how strong Mokou she, she can't really do much against the miniboss trio, so she just moves away and pops a vulnerary.
Oh yeah, and some ghosts popped out of the well. Luckily Shrine Maiden still has a Ghost-Slaying Sword from before.
Kyouko's going to be shipping around Yuugi's impressive arm strength to deploy where we need it.
She also gets this weird level out of it. Magic, Skill, Speed.
Although she moves this time, Yamame still has her previous weakness of not carrying around ranged weaponry.
Everyone else moves forward.
wait kisume stop you're wasting the charges on my special weapons
Magic, Speed, Defense. I guess I'll take those for 2 wasted uses.
The enemy loves running away to heal with vulneraries.
One thing going for Mokou is she comes equipped with Fire magic, and Yamame's a Beast.
Still can't do TOO much damage, but it's better than nothing.
I just wanted to point out that Mokou got 34 exp for attacking Yamame, and not even killing her.
Paragon's a hell of a drug.
We continue moving up, attacking the ghosts in the center.
Merlin gets this HP, Strength, Speed level. Very nice.
Suika gets HP, Strength, and amazingly, Speed.
This is maybe the most blessed Suika I've ever seen.
This screenshot serves two purposes. The first is to demonstrate that I'm moving the Three Fairies up aggressively, because I want to steal shit off the underground trio. The second is to point out that Sunny's got 22% to crit on a normal-ass weapon, because support bonuses are some serious shit.
HP, Magic, Skill, Speed, Luck, Defense, Resistance. Considering she can't use Strength for anything, this is effectively a perfect level!
Star's showing isn't too bad either. HP, Strength, Magic, Skill, Defense, Resistance.
Yamame runs out of vulneraries to waste her turns using.
Parsee's gotten rid of the guards in front of this house. Next turn, she'll start breaking down the door.
I don't think there's a reward for keeping every house safe, but I'd still rather not let her get away with that.
Yuugi waltzes up to Yamame and knocks her down to 2 HP.
Enjoy your free level, Mokou.
Yep, that sure was 100 EXP.
Just like normal FE, you can't get more than 100 EXP in one combat, no matter what.
Hmm.
Strength and Magic.
I guess I'll take it?
More importantly, we got our first Jewel of Evolution . Not sure who I'll use this on just yet.
Yuyuko finishes off a nearby wolf and gets HP, Strength, Skill, Luck, and Defense.
In the long term she wants Magic, but in the short term Strength is a very blessed stat for her to get.
God, trying to damage Kisume with physical weapons is such a pain in the ass.
By the way, 200 HP might seem like a lot, but it goes fast.
For one thing, unlike, say, a breakable wall in FE, they can be doubled.
For another thing, they're considered to have 0 Luck, so they're pretty likely to get critically hit.
Oh yeah, and more enemies spawn in various locations on turn 8.
...Actually, I completely forgot to mention this until just now, but if you didn't finish talking to them back in Chapter 5, then apparently Murasa, Nue, and Ichirin will pop up around Turn 5. Never seen it myself, but it's mentioned in some of the event data I ripped.
Kogasa's going to deal with anyone who pops up in the bottom left.
Sunny steps up to the plate.
Assuming she dodges, we've got a 1/3 to steal a vulnerary, 1/3 to get a stat bosster she already drops on defeat, and 1/3 to get her Hand Axe.
Got the Hand Axe .
And then Merlin walks up and dabs on her with a critical hit, nabbing the Heavenly Peach.
Mokou finishes off this wolf that Shrine Maiden weakened.
That sure is another 100 EXP.
By the way, when you're Paired Up, each unit only gets a fraction of the EXP from a kill. Dunno if it's exactly 50%, but you definitely notice it.
HP, Skill, Speed, Resistance.
Keep getting Speed and you might just make it to the big leagues.
The houses keep getting attacked.
We move up and attack Parsee.
Remember how I mentioned earlier that she does more damage with a Steel Sword? She's smart enough to recognize that, so that's what she's been using to attack this house. Luckily, this also means she's much easier to weaken.
Ahh, I'm glad that hit.
That should force Parsee's AI to waste turns chugging her vulnerary.
Healer levels? Healer levels.
HP, Magic, Skill, Resistance.
Everything but Defense for Byakuren. Very nice!
Kogasa starts picking off rabbits.
Btw, Suika still has the Devil Axe for those nice oneshots. I guess it's a bit risky, but her defense is high enough to take a rebound or two.
Speaking of, this wolf hiding below the well here has a Devil Axe of her own. Not that Lunasa minds.
As planned, Parsee heals.
...Not sure what the camera's doing down here, but whatever.
We box Parsee in.
I could finish her off, but Sunny's right there...
As planned, she wastes more time healing.
Yoink!
My Rune Sword now.
Ok, you can go now.
Strength, Magic, Speed, Luck.
Keep it up Mokou!
Oh yeah, she was Paired Up with Komachi. HP, Strength, Speed, and Resistance for you.
That's the miniboss crew down, so we're mostly just mopping up enemies as they come in now.
The last enemies spawn on Turns 12 and 14, and they've got enemies that drop a Fire Axe and Ghost-Lsaying Lance respectively, so I'm deliberately avoiding routing the enemy until that happens.
These last few turns aren't super interesting. The most dangerous thing is this random ghost that spawns near the well with a Rune Sword and Charisma. Pretty annoying if you haven't killed Kisume yet, since she's in range of the Charisma.
The Fire Axe-wielder I mentioned has Adept, for whatever reason.
Oh yeah, so here's something interesting.
This ghost was going to drain HP from Lyrica, as per the Rune Sword's abilities, but it got nullified.
There's both a red line through the activation pop-up...
And a pop up on our side saying that we're immune.
What's the deal?
I haven't really been mentioning it, but every character has their own personalized list of status resistances. For some reason, "HP drain" is considered a status effect, and Lyrica happens to be immune.
I don't really pay nearly as much attention to this as I probably should.
Anyway, here's a pair of level ups to take us out of the chapter, starting with Tewi:
HP, Strength, Speed, Luck.
Strength, Skill, Speed, Luck.
...
Oh yeah, before we go, there's one thing I nearly forgot about. Mokou can talk to Tewi. I didn't actually do this during my recording, so this doesn't get a screenshot.
Hey, you!
Huh?
Gah, it's the chick from the bamboo forest.
No one told me you'd be here!
You don't say.
What're YOU doing here? Is messing up the bamboo forest not enough for you?
Aw come on, is my reputation really that bad?
I just give the hapless morons wandering in their fair warning, that's all.
Not to mention, I'm not even doing anything. I'm just here on request.
And they asked you to screw the village up, right?
H-hey now, I just I haven't done anything!
Frankly, I was opposed to us coming here in the first place.
The dialogue branches here. You get this version if you've recruited her, and a slightly different one if she's an enemy. (sidenote: she just runs away).
Sides, I ducked out to work for this other group.
A different group?
(Is she talking about that human girl's youkai friends?)
Right, so, I'm pretty busy here, yeah?
Talk to ya later!
Hey, wait up! I'm not done with you yet!
Yeesh...
Anyway, we clear out the last enemy, and finish off the chapter.
I believe the issue has, more or less, been settled.
What's our status?
I-I've been wounded beyond repair...
My life's purpose is to surprise people, but I was the one got surprised.
Thanks to that tsurube-otoshi, my pride is in tatters...
...Anything else?
No one seems particularly wounded on our side.
How is it on your end?
We made it with minimal sacrifices.
I'm sorry. I was only hoping to thank you, but I'm indebted to you once more.
We had our own reasons for helping. You needn't fret over it.
T-thank you very much.
Now, let us drop the curtains on this matter.
Shall we return to the Hieda estate?
Alright.
Hold up.
Are you this girl's youkai pal?
Hm?
What a sudden greeting. Who might you be?
Sorry, Yukari.
She was protecting me in the previous battle. Fujiwara no Mokou, if I remember right.
She said she was interested in me and wanted to talk to the people I'm living with.
Aha. I see.
Yes, that is correct. Various circumstances have led me to taking this girl into my custody.
Your... custody?
Yes. My custody.
...Seriously?
Sure seems that way.
What the heck for?
"Various circumstances", as mentioned. That's all.
...
Worry not. For now, I mean the child no harm.
Dunno if I buy that.
It's true.
Setting that aside, Fujiwara no Mokou. Would you care to come with us as well?
My presents actions are for the sake of both humans and youkai, and all others as well.
Should you join us, I'm sure it will be of benefit to you as well.
Hmph.
I don't need your damn "benefits".
But if you say you're helping out the girl, or whoever else, I'll lend you a hand.
That work for you?
Yes, that will suffice.
Thanks, Mokou.
Having you helping us is really reassuring.
Sure. Happy to help, or whatever.
Likewise, Fujiwara no Mokou.
My name is Yukari Yakumo. We'll be relying on your strength.
Hmm. Though you could say our sacrifices were few, there were more than a few people injured.
Actually, you could say we were lucky it was only this bad.
In the past, we've had far more victims than this.
I see...
Pardon my intrusion. Are there any injured here?
Hm?
Ah, Miss Eirin!
Thank you so much for coming.
As a doctor, for as long as there are those who are injured, I cannot rest.
Really, thank you so much. You're a lifesaver.
Might I ask who this is?
Oh, right. This is Eirin Yagokoro. She's a doctor that arrived here recently.
It's amazing. No matter how sick or hurt you are, one look from Miss Eirin and you're as good as new!
(I see. Ran once mentioned an "amazing doctor" living here. That must be her.)
BGM: BGM 19
I'm glad I figured out how to rip the music just so you can hear how OBVIOUSLY EVIL this song is.
Hehe. Pleasure to meet you, Yukari Yakumo.
Wha- how do you know who Lady Yukari is?
Hmm.
Between you and the half-youkai from before, I'm beginning to feel like a celebrity.
Naturally.
Unique even amongst youkai, the woman skilled in manipulating both borders and boundaries, Yukari Yakumo.
I know all about you.
Including what you fear... and what you're doing, of course.
Yukari...
Well now, it's a bit disheartening for only one of us to know about the other.
Though, if I asked "What are you?", I rather doubt I'd get a straight answer.
I'm from the moon. Formerly, that is.
...
Huh? The moon?
Wait, like... THE moon? The one in the night sky?
Yes. That moon.
Wait, so like...
There are people on the moon? I thought there were supposed to be rabbits.
There are. Rabbits, and people. A fair few, I suppose.
I had no idea...
---
Luna, did you know about that?
Why would I?
So even the Fairy of the Moon didn't know, huh?
Oh come on...
---
I see. I had heard the rumors, but who would've thought I'd meet one like this?
So, Miss "Former Moon-dweller". Why exactly do you know so much about me?
Were you so interested me that you just had to investigate?
You don't need to be so alarmed.
You could say I have reasons to sympathize with you, Yukari Yakumo.
What do you mean, sympathize?
It's a tad embarassing to say this in front of surface-dwellers, but...
I was also hoping to assist in the surface's cultural and scientific development, but alas, the region is a bit to large for me to handle myself.
For the sake of my lord's livelihood, I'd rather peaceful days such as these continue forward... or something to that effect.
Er...
Of course, I don't intend to repudiate or invalidate the surface's own developments.
It would be best for humans and youkai to maintain a healthy distance.
To that end, you've been searching, seeking, and planning. Right?
Haha, well if you're going to say all that, then I've no reason to hide it.
As a youkai sage, and as someone with a grand view of the world of youkai.
Considering your perspective, it's easy to see what your aim is.
Is that really what Yukari was thinking about?
Yes, that's roughly what she was planning
That's why she took you in. That's why she helped Byakuren. That's why she saved Aya. All to that end.
So that's what it was about, huh.
I see now. So that's how it is...
Keeping a healthy distance between humans and youkai? You need me for that...?
Right, Yukari?
Come now Yuyuko, you're giving away all my secrets for free.
You'd need to tell them eventually, right?
Hmhm, true.
So, Eirin Yagokoro. Is there anything you need to say to me?
I did say you didn't have to be so alarmed.
I was thinking of cooperating with you.
You want to cooperate?
Yes, that is exactly right.
From what I've seen, you've quite the collection of raw ingredients, but they are rather lacking in power.
Am I wrong?
Ah, how unfortunate.
You've seen so much about me, but I suppose you didn't look hard enough.
Oh?
You're not wrong.
I've gathered the keys, but their power is insufficient. I am well aware of this.
However, I've already prepared a method to gather strength.
(Keys? And a method to gather strength...?)
Hmm, you don't seem to be bluffing.
I understand. It would seem I overstepped my bounds.
Regardless, I would still like to offer my assistance.
It is possible that your methods won't prove sufficient...
Should the worst happen, I'll look into other possible methods on my own end.
Would that be acceptable?
I have no reason to refuse.
Thank you. I look forward to it.
Yukari Yakumo. I pray for the fast realization of your plans.
Heh. For that, at least, I'll thank you.
...
And that's it for Chapter 7! Stay tuned for Chapter 8, and be sure to check the thread for some extra voting.