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I'm just going to put the supports at the start, this time.
Per the votes, here you go:
Kogasa/Kyouko A
Mokou/Tewi B
Chapter 10: A Warning
--Hakurei Shrine
BGM: BGM 12
No, no, that's not it. Look, Chen, you make the mark like this.
Like... this?
No, that's not quite it either. This finger goes here, see?
Hnnn... This is tough.
What part don't you understand? You just do this, then this.
You sure are eager, Ran.
Ah, Lady Yukari. I'm not sure eager is really the right word...
How is it, Chen? Do you understand Ran's instructions?
Ngh... It's complicated. Makes my head hurt.
Hm? How is it complicated? This should be very simple.
Ran.
Y-yes?
If you recall the way I taught you before, why don't you try something like that?
That was quite a while ago...
Ah! I think I see what you're getting at.
Ok Chen! We'll try this one more time, from the top!
Huh?
Uh, okay? So, this, then... this?
Yes, that's it. Then, you take your little finger, and move it here...
Move it here... Like this?
There you go. Well done, Chen.
Really? Yaaay!!
Good girl! You can commit that to muscle memory, yes? Oh, and... Thank you for your guidance, Lady Yukari.
Oh, don't mind me. I was just reminiscing about our past.
I-I'd really rather you didn't!
Now, I'd say that's a good place to wrap things up for today.
Well done today, Chen. Keep up that effort, and you'll be a splendid shiki in no time.
Yeah!
Oh, I was so focused on training that I've lost the morning to it.
I don't suppose someone else went out for groceries? ...I mean, I'll do it, if I have to.
This place certainly is bustling, these days.
You'd hardly think it was an abandoned shrine til just recently.
Indeed. We finished cleaning it up much faster than I expected.
Before too long, it'll be up and running as a perfectly normal shrine.
Ignoring all the youkai, maybe.
No different from my temple, really.
---
Dun-ah♪ Dun-aaah♪
Oh! Headin' out? Have fuuuuun♪
See yaaa♪
Just heading out to buy some food. Be back soon♪
Mm, thanks.
---
Why do I gotta re-paper the sliding doors...
Bet you could give your umbrella a touch up too. Maybe make 'em match?
No way! Who repairs an umbrella with paper, anyway!
Ah, 'zat so? I was sure that's what you were going for.
Oh, hey you! No slackin' off!
Wha!? Why are YOU the one chewing me out!?
---
A little hustle and bustle is a good thing, every now and then.
It's been years since things have felt so lively.
Haha, true enough.
...Oh?
H-hey! Big news here!
Oh, what ever could be the matter? You look quite troubled...
No idea who, but there's a whole army of youkai heading straight for us!
That many? Are you certain?
Star's never wrong about this sorta thing. Detecting presences is her special ability.
I see... Thank you. This seems quite urgent.
Yuyuko, please have everyone assemble at once. And call for those that stepped out to return, as well.
Ahh, and just when I was starting to relax, too...
And with that, we're at the prep screen.
For reasons that will quickly become apparent, I made sure to evenly distribute our Fire, Ice, and Wind weapons around, to ensure as many units had access as possible.
Pretty simple set-up here. Maybe I shoulda had Yukari sit further to the right (you'll see why), but oh well.
I'm kiiinda trying to grind support points on Aya and Komachi, who for some reason both have a support together, but don't have a Fixed Pair. Kind of annoying, but not too big a deal.
Anyway, let's get into the chapter:
A few masked invaders show up...
Then a few more...
Then a LOT more.
We're here, Aya. This is the shrine from the report.
Woah... This shrine was totally run-down before, but it's in tip-top shape now.
Makes sense, what with all the youkai, fairies, and spirits they've got helping out.
As well, this should be home of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden who's been exterminating human-hunting youkai, lately.
So wait, are the youkai helping her exterminate other youkai? That makes no sense.
Mmmm... I'd put good odds on that being exactly the case.
I doubt the Greater Tengu will be very happy about this.
Aya, how shall we proceed?
...For now, we should follow our orders.
Commence the attack.
Aw man, I was worried you'd say that...
I was kinda hoping we could get away without fighting.
Our orders are iron-clad! We are not to question them!
Ever the bloodhound, aren't you?
Oh well... Let's go!
Hold on a moment...
Those are tengu, I believe. Ah, I spot a few kappa grouped in, as well.
Ooh, tengu, eh? Been a while!
Mmm, guess they're gunna mix it up with us. Figure they know we're here?
Hah! Actin' all high'n'mighty, just cuz we aint around. Guess we gotta give 'em a lil' taste of the good stuff.
Sounds good. Let's remind 'em why their flock spent so long under our oni heels!
Yukari, they're coming right at us!
Stay calm. Tengu excel at aerial maneuvering. They'll dive at us, unfettered by the terrain.
Take heed of your ranges, lest you find yourself attacked from an unexpected angle.
Bit hard to spot, but Yukari's advice isn't wrong. We're flanked by a few tengu on the left and right, with the main force at the bottom of the screen. (Note: Nitori's opposite Momiji, but she's invisible).
Theoretically, this might be a problem, what with tengu having being 8 Move flyers, and all. In practice, though, their other stats are surprisingly poor. They're kinda fast, I guess? But damn their HP is low.
Their major weakness, of course, is their typing. Just like Mystia, they're Beasts and Flyers, meaning they've got a lot of weaknesses.
Just to give you a rundown, we can attack them with:
-Fire weapons (though these run on the Magic stat)
-Ice weapons
-Fire/Ice/Wind magic
We're not exactly lacking for those, so they die real easily. I'd almost call this another catch-up chapter like the last one, though I guess you need to be more careful.
Honestly, the biggest problem are that a bunch of them have ranged weapons, like this Steel Javelin nerd. Though, she's got way less Speed to compensate, so even then...
Just be aware that there's a couple jerks with anti-Ghost or Fire weapons mixed in, so you have to be a liiiittle careful.
There's like a miniboss tengu chilling down here with both a Steel Javelin and a Rune Sword, and the Fear skill (the anti-Charisma). Still not too dangerous, but worth watching out for.
...Mainly cuz I wanna steal her shit.
And before we go, we should at least take a quick look at the kappa. Most of 'em aren't all that impressive, being more defensive than their speedy tengu friends. They've also all got this Swimmer skill that lets them traverse water tiles, though there aren't any on this chapter anyway.
There's also a few elite kappa mixed in, who are packing some heat. This one's got a Rune Sword, a Physic, and... I dunno what to call it, but a long-range version of a status-restoring staff. I think there's another one with a Barrier staff, too.
Needless to say, Sunny's going to be busy on this chapter.
So yeah.
Just equip some effective weaponry, and wade in.
Almost everything here will die in one hit of an effective attack, even from weaker characters.
Hope you enjoy level up screens.
Kyouko starts us off with HP, Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance. While I'm still wondering why she's cosplaying as a wizard, I'm happy about all the stats she rocking.
Hello, 19 HP tengu. Enjoy this 36 damage Fire Axe to the face.
Magic, Skill, Speed, Defense, and Resistance for Luna.
Mokou forsakes her fire-based heritage in favour of Wind magic.
Yukari's team has a mission over in the top-right pretty soon.
Shrine Maiden needs to be around here too, so she's not going too far either.
Speaking of, at the start of turn 3:
Oh? What's all this?
Lady Seigaaa, are we there yeeet?
Well, we have arrived at our destination. However, it would seem they're in the midst of something of a scuffle.
Whaaa?
Woah, you're right! Looks fuuuun!
Agreed.
But remember, we're here for the Hakurei Shrine Maiden. So long as we can talk to her, everything else is irrelevant.
Once I have her power... Teeheehee...
We should make haste. Come along, Yoshika.
Kaaay!
---
Huh? Someone else is coming!
Goodness me, business certainly is booming, today.
(Is she aiming for our girl?)
(I can't imagine what she's doing. I might need to check for myself...)
So yeah, that's what Yukari's doing. Can't quite reach her on this turn, though.
Rumia finishes off a kappa that charged at us.
She gets HP, Strength, Speed, Defense, and Resistance for it. Very nice!
Anyway, let's talk to Seiga.
BGM: BGM 19
Wait right there.
Yes?
It would seem you've business with our girl. Could I inquire what for?
As her guardian, it's my job to make sure suspicious individuals are kept at a safe distance.
Goodness me. Begging your pardon, but you smell rather fishy yourself.
Lady Seigaaa. Am I stiiiinky?
No dear, we're not talking about you.
...I'd rather not have to deal with you using brute force, if possible.
Oooh, scary.
All I was hoping for was to kindly approach the shrine maiden. Is that so much to ask for?
That depends. What exactly are you hoping for?
Lady Seigaaa. Izzit my turn yeeet?
Hold on just a moment, deary.
It's a simple matter, really.
I was just hoping to borrow her strength to amplify my girl's, you see.
Ah, that is simple, and easy to understand, certainly.
So? What exactly were you going to do to her to empower this zombie?
Oh, nothing special, really.
I get the impression that you and I would greatly disagree on what counts as "nothing special".
Oh, it truly is nothing special. A trivial favour, really.
The music stops, here.
Just charms, I suppose?
...Pardon?
BGM: BGM 12
I was hoping she could teach me how to craft talismans, and the like.
From what I've been told, she uses them to exterminate youkai.
So, I figured she'd be quite skilled at producing them.
W-well... That is true. I wouldn't say she's unskilled, at least.
Ahhh, thank goodness♪ Lately, I've been quite troubled over my girl's mental instability.
You see, while I know the means, I'm actually quite poor at crafting charms.
Lady Seigaaa, am I acting funnyyy?
Oh no, not at all.
Really though, this is wonderful. Finally, a chance to learn from a master.
In any case, you were her guardian, yes? I'll be staying here a while, so I am pleased to make your acquaintence.
Of course, should you have any troubles, I'll do my best to help. You can ask me anything.
I... see.
Then perhaps you could help us with all these tengu attacking us?
Ahh, payment in advance? You certainly drive a hard bargain.
Well, let's not keep them waiting, Yoshika.
Yeeeah! Leave it to meeeee!
They leave the scene.
...I've never met someone so ambiguously evil. I can't just be imagining that, right?
And with that, we have two new (kinda not good) recruits!
Let's take a look.
Seiga Kaku
Wicked Hermit Passing Through Walls
HP: (40)24
STR: (0)2
MAG: (40)9
SKL: (30)11
SPD: (20)5
LCK: (30)8
DEF: (30)9
RES: (30)9
What happened to all the good characters we were getting...?
I'd classify Seiga as being too little, too late. Like, even for as not-amazing as Mokou is, she has the decency to join 4 chapters earlier, with comparable bases, better growths (somehow), and Paragon to compensate. Seiga doesn't really have any of that. I guess her base Def/Res are pretty decent for a mage-type character? But, eh.
She has Slip Through, letting her ignore obstacles in the terrain, and Healer, much like Luna and post-promo Byakuren. Oh, and she comes with a... Resire? Nosferatu? Anyway, it drains HP equal to the damage dealt. It's considered "Dark", which doesn't actually mean anything beyond flavour until the sequel.
Actually, speaking of the sequel: to be honest, Seiga is so obviously not-good that it makes me think it's deliberate. She's uh... quite a bit more important in the sequel, so it might be best to think of her appearance here as a bonus.
Yoshika Miyako
Faithful Corpse
HP: (100)40
STR: (80)14
MAG: (0)1
SKL: (20)7
SPD: (20)7
LCK: (5)2
DEF: (20)5
RES: (5)1
Yoshika's not good, but she's at least interesting. She's a gigantic pile of HP and Strength, and literally nothing else. Focusing on HP over Defense is not exactly a great trade for a tank build, but Yoshika's munchkin'd the shit out of it as best she can. She has the same Immortal skill as Mokou, letting her die 3 times per chapter for free, reviving on the player phase right after. She's also the first non-Byakuren user of Recovery, regenerating 30% of her massive HP pool every turn.
She is, essentially, a big slab of meat that you leave out in front to bait enemies. She doesn't give a shit if she gets hit. She doesn't give a shit if she dies. She just gets hit for big damage, falls over, and then gets back up again.
tbh I dunno how much they'll accomplish, but I'm sending them down into the action.
Meanwhile, levels.
HP, Strength(!), Speed, and Defense. Some truly blessed levels, today.
SM is heading up here too. She's got something to do on turn 6. Yuugi's coming too, since she's single anyway.
Meanwhile, I want to bait the miniboss tengu closer to the Three Fairies without killing her.
I get my wish, and...
Yoink. Got me a Steel Javelin for free.
Alice grabs a HP, Magic, and Resistance level.
And we just keep pushing down.
This stage doesn't really have any interesting terrain, or a shitload of challenge to it. It's mostly an introduction to tengus and their "divebomb you with 8 Move + ranged weapons" shtick, so you know what to expect. As long as you bring effective weaponry, it's really not very hard, so there's not a lot to show.
Lots of one-hit kills. In this case, Kogasa just decided to Ambush-crit a tengu with Iron, just to show that she could do it.
Start of turn 6:
BGM: 月時計ルナ
I'd heard of a youkai shrine, but this really a sight to behold.
If all these tengu and other youkai head to the village, it could spell disaster.
The youkai living here might not attack humans, but these tengu, at least, are a different story.
---
Huh? That's the girl from before, isn't it? Is she helping us?
But trying to fight this many people all at once is a bit much...
Let's go talk to her right away.
Hey, you there.
...Who're you?
Oh, sorry. I'm not here to pick a fight. I'm a human, just like you.
Though uh, I've kinda lost my memories, so I can't really give you my name.
First time I've ever met an amnesiac.
Sorry about that. I really don't remember anything about myself.
...So what does an amnesiac like you want from me?
Oh, right. Guess this isn't the time for that.
So, you're human, right? Who are you? And, why'd you come out here all by yourself?
Just out for a stroll.
Kind of a weird path, don't you think?
Not if you're hunting youkai.
Oh. That makes sense.
Did you seriously think I was just taking a walk?
Well I mean, you DID say you were, so, y'know...
...Are we done here?
Ah, hold on!
What now?
Do you always do this by yourself?
...Yeah. I do everything by myself.
Sometimes I take requests. Sometimes I pick fights.
Either way, I've exterminated a lot of youkai.
As long as there are youkai to fight, I'll keep walking this path.
Isn't that dangerous?
...Pardon?
I said, isn't that dangerous? Exterminating youkai all by yourself seems really reckless.
And, besides...
Yeah?
You're the type to defeat any youkai that you come across, I'm guessing.
But, I'm sure you understand. Not all youkai are enemies that you need to defeat.
!!
Stop me if I'm wrong here, but... you're lost. You're suffering.
You don't know if what you're doing is right. You don't know how to accomplish what you want.
You're looking for an answer, but frustrated that you can't seem to find it.
And because you're frustrated, you take it out on youkai.
Or... at least, that's how it looks to me.
...
Pretty imaginative, aren't you?
Am I wrong?
Hmph...
Not completely, I guess.
So? Did you come up to me just to give that whole spiel?
Of course not.
Actually, I was thinking maybe you could join up with us.
What's in it for me?
Well first of all, it's way safer to have someone looking out for you.
...
Plus, I think forging some connections with the youkai working with me would benefit you.
If you tried working with them instead of defeating them, it might help you find what you're looking for.
Work with youkai?
What are you? Is this some kind of trick?
I'm just offering. If you don't want to, then I won't stop you.
Hmm...
Fine.
Huh?
If you're trying to trick me, then I should find out why.
I'll go along with you and your youkai pals, and figure out the truth.
Does that work for you?
Yeah, that's fine. Thanks.
Just to let you know, if I don't like what I see...
I understand.
If that happens, you can take that knife in your hands, and cut me down. I won't mind.
...Yeah, I'll do just that.
By the way...
Yes?
You asked me who I was, before.
Call me Byakuya. Byakuya, the Youkai Hunter.
I've forgotten my real name, but that's what people call me, so that's what I go by.
Alright. Pleasure to have you with us, Byakuya!
Sure. Guess I'll be with you for a bit.
Byakuya
The Bloody Knife
HP: (50)32
STR: (50)14
MAG: (15)7
SKL: (60)15
SPD: (65)20
LCK: (20)6
DEF: (40)9
RES: (30)7
Finally, some good fucking food.
SaByakuya is pretty excellent. Good Strength, good Speed, pretty good Defense and HP. She's using the most well-rounded weapon type, and has no particularly note-worthy weaknesses. She comes with her trademark Silver Javelin, as well as the vaunted Pocket Watch, granting a permanent +2 Move to its user.
Even her skills are good: Flurry was last seen on Youki, and is basically Astra from FE (some% chance to do 5 hits at half-strength, any of which can proc critical hits/other skills). She also has Nihil like Shrine Maiden does, making her completely immune to enemy skills or critical hits. Sidenote: I brought up Flurry being able to proc other skills, because she gains what is effectively Luna upon promotion.
Just for reference, back in Chapter 8 she was only level 6, and had these stats:
HP: 24
STR: 9
MAG: 4
SKL: 10
SPD: 12
LCK: 3
DEF: 5
RES: 3
So in return for forgoing using her for 2.5 chapters, she gained 9 levels, and went WAY over her expected averages if we had trained her normally. Like I said, it's really worth waiting until now to get her.
Even if you don't manage to recruit her now (somehow), you'll get a 3rd and final chance to recruit her all the way in Chapter 16. If you wait that long, she actually joins promoted at level 25, which saves you an Evolution Jewel, but that's a biiit too long to wait for me.
Yuugi was hanging back here to be a Pair Up partner for Sakuya. They won't really be doing much this chapter (they're way overleveled compared to most of our team) but they might as well be around to help.
Most of the rest of this chapter is just an elaborate attempt by me to steal as many staves as possible.
Even snuck in a treasure item from Alice being Gathered up. Very nice, since we're gunna want to start thinking about buying Evolution Jewels for some characters, and they're pretty expensive.
On turn 6 enemy phase, some reinforcements start piling in from the top of the screen. FWIW they don't actually start moving until turn 7, which puts this game ahead of the Fire Emblems that use and abuse enemy phase reinforcements.
I believe there's two more waves on turns 11 and 14, as well.
More importantly, one kappa per wave comes equipped with a Physic staff.
So much robbery to do, so little time...
I start eyeing up Aya. There's no indication of this, but I believe she retreats at the start of turn 10. I'd like to beat her before then, for the EXP, if nothing else.
Here's some levels. HP, Strength (why), Magic, and Resistance.
Mokou does technically gain... Swords, I think?? on promotion, so the Strength isn't completely wasted, but even still...
Star impresses me with a near-perfect, just missing Strength and Resistance.
While Sunny winds up with some HP, Magic, Luck, Defense, and Resistance.
Stealing all the time tends to get you hurt, so I don't mind the extra protection, really.
Strength, Skill, Speed.
To be honest, the Tewi's I've had in the past have been kinda poor? By comparison, this Tewi is honestly pretty ok.
Here's what combat with Seiga tends to look like.
She gets hit.
Misses on the counter.
And then gets hit again. Because of course she gets doubled.
Great work, Seiga.
The tengu Charge of the Light Brigade at Shrine Maiden, and are summarily cut down.
Alice gets Magic, Skill, Speed, Luck, and Defense. Starting to shape up, now.
Yoshika attempts to weaken something with her default Devil Axe.
But she hurt herself in her confusion.
She promptly gets doubled and dies.
Great work, Yoshika.
Kyouko grabs a Skill, Defense, Resistance level.
The particular tengu that she killed also had a rare treasure item to drop for us. Don't get many of those.
Hey, you.
Gimme your shit.
Got the shit.
Oh hey, we're close enough to actually see Nitori now.
We might as well take a quick look at the bosses.
Nitori's interesting, as axe-users go. High Defense, high Skill. The main thing we need to look out for is that weapon. This doesn't really have a proper FE-equivalent, so I'll call it an Impact Axe, for now. It actually gives the wielder the effects of the Faint skill that Kisume had. This means she has a chance of stunning you if she hits you.
There's a few of these skill-granting weapons in the game, though you don't get to play with too many of them yourself.
Oh, and she drops a Dragon God Statue, which boosts Luck by 2.
Momiji's a swordswoman, focused primarily on Speed and Defense. She comes packing a Ghost-Slaying Sword, and drops an Evolution Jewel (nice). Skills-wise, she's a Beast, she has Radar (like Star), and she has a skill that I'll tentatively call Bodyguard. It won't come in to play this chapter, so I'll save its explanation for later.
Lastly, we've got the big boss, Aya Shameimaru. Unsurprisingly, she's all-in on Speed, though she's actually got a surprisingly good Resistance. I guess she's kind of peg-knight-ish, what with being a Beast Flyer. She's also got Nihil, though that won't save her from getting owned by effective damage.
She's packing a Steel Lance and Steel Javelin. She also drops a Greater Tengu Feather. It might not surprise you to learn that this boosts the user's Speed by 2.
Moving on to turn 9, Aya healed up Yoshika after she revived, and got this near-perfect level. Very nice!
Even Aya is no match for the power of ice.
...By the way, I completely forgot to record this conversation while I played the game, so here's what it looks like when Aya retreats on turn 10:
--
As expected, these girls are pretty tough...
All according to plan.
But for now at least, I'll keep playing along with what the Greater Tengu want.
Momiji! Aya! These people are far stronger than expected!
I'll report back to headquarters. Just buy me some time to retreat!
Buy time!? So you want us to just run away!?
I can't do it. I won't! I refuse to turn my back on the enemy!
M-Momiji, I dunno if you've notice, but we're kind of pinned down here! We can't keep this up much longer!
Even so!
Yeesh. You make a fine attack dog, but we really have to do something about this stubborn streak of your's.
Fine. Go get a taste of their abilities first-hand. Gather as much intel as you can.
Just remember, reporting what happened here comes first! Got it?
Understood!
I sure hope you do...
In our version of events, that conversation never happened, since we're just going to beat her up.
For some reason, despite how much text this game already has, there's no variation on the above for when you just defeat her. I'm really not sure why.
Peace, Aya.
Kogasa thanks you for this level. Skill, Luck, Defense, Resistance.
Yuyuko actually got Fainted when she went up to Nitori to weaken her. Guess I'll have to heal that next turn.
I mean, I could do it this turn, but I've already got a kill planned...
And it involves Byakuren.
Thank you for the Dragon God Statue, Nitori. I will probably forget about it and then sell it on the final chapter or something.
Oh yeah, I forgot the turn 9 reinforcements started down here.
Again, they don't actually move til the start of turn 10, so-
Scratch that, they never move, because they all die first.
Here's a level Alice got from one of them. Magic, Skill, Defense, Resistance.
Oh yeah, so here's something I learned while recording this.
I think waaay back when I first explained status effects during the underground chapter, I said that characters lose their action for a turn, even if they're cured.
Turns out I was full of shit, and you can totally cure Faint and then have the unit move right away. The more you know!
btw ignore that these last couple screenshots are out of order, I'm just presenting them that way to demonstrate stuff
The kappa from the top left keep coming down to me, 5 tiles at a time. I'm in no rush, since I want to steal from one of them (and there's more reinforcements on turn 14).
Bye, Momiji.
Thank you for the Evolution Jewel.
Couple more levels to take us out.
HP, Strength, Skill, Speed, and Defense for Ran.
Healer level for SM gets her Strength, Skill, Defense, and Resistance.
Sadly she's not quiiite going to hit 20 in this chapter.
HP, Magic, Skill, Luck, Defense, Resistance.
I'm getting so many Physic staves on this chapter...
HP, Speed, Luck.
HP, Strength, Magic, Luck.
Hello, Tengu with two weapons.
Thank you for your Steel Javelin.
HP, Strength, Skill, Speed.
At this point I'm just burning Physic uses because they give more EXP.
HP, Speed, Resistance.
Apparently I forgot how many reinforcements there were on this chapter?
Whatever, they're just more fodder to feed the engine, at this point.
Skill, Speed, Defense, Resistance.
HP, Skill, Speed, Luck.
Skill, Speed, Luck, Resistance.
Strength, Magic, Skill, Speed, Resistance.
You know, I was curious, so I did the math. Yuyuko's level 1 Strength is 3. Her growth is 20%. Her average at level 15, therefore, should be ~5.8 or so. This Yuyuko is kind of absurdly Strength-blessed, all things considered.
...That little tidbit was for those of you who didn't just scroll past this part to where more dialogue started happening.
HP, Skill, Speed.
HP, Speed, Defense, Resistance.
HP, Magic, Resistance.
I forgot about Yukari's warning and almost let Alice get killed.
Whoops.
Whatever, she lived, it's all good.
And with that, the chapter is over.
Gh, I can't believe they've stopped us! But I'm not done yet!
She's still going!?
Momiji! Let's get outta here!
You're still talking about running, Nitori?
I will NOT turn my back to an enemy!
I get how you feel, but I don't see any other options here.
Try turning the shogi board around.
This was only ever a scouting mission. Winning's not our goal here.
Our primary objective is getting a report back. Don't get our goals twisted up here!
You... have a point.
Very well. As you say, we'll retreat here.
Just like Aya said, we should prioritize reporting on how strong this group has become.
If you get it, then we shouldn't hang around here any longer than we have to. Let's get outta here!
Agreed!
They retreat, presumably.
---
So they can judge the tides of battle, and calmly make sound strategic decisions. Interesting.
Lady Ran! Let's chase 'em!
I agree. Lady Yukari, we should hurry!
No need. Let them go.
Are you certain?
A relentless pursuit will do us no favors.
It would be good to take stock of the situation, first. There are many different ways we can approach this.
...Very well.
Yukari, do you have a moment?
Certainly.
Someone dropped this thing near the edge of the yard.
It looks like it might be a message.
From our dear tengu guests, no doubt.
I can probably guess the contents from here, but I suppose we should all read it together.
Well now, I wonder this says. If it's a love letter, I'll be rather taken aback.
That would make for quite a heart-pounding confession, if so.
Oh! Oh! So if I write a real knockout love-letter to someone, they'll be super-duper surprised, right!?
...Yeah, that might mess someone up.
So, what's it say?
Hmm... Well, it certainly is heart-pounding, I'll give it that.
Wha? No way, it really was a love-letter?
If it were, Yukari said she'd be "rather taken aback". She doesn't seem all that surprised, though, does she?
Ahh... Good point...
No room for a little humour, is there? Well, despite the ridiculous contents, it's exactly what I figured it would be.
Maybe I should've given the act more effort.
So I guess it was nothing important?
BGM: BGM 19
Mm, I'd describe it more as unamusing.
They apparently don't much like me assisting in your youkai extermination.
"If you don't revoke your aid, we will begin attacking you seriously", or thereabouts.
Oh dear. You were right, that wasn't very amusing at all.
Wait, you mean they're going to attack us with even more people?
I suppose? I did say it was a "heart-pounding" read, after all.
That certainly is lacking in amusement, but setting that aside for a moment...
Does this not constitute a shocking development?
Not especially. Considering how hard they just attacked us, it wasn't hard to guess what the point was.
The Greater Tengu are as hard of head as they are short of temper.
If they could have waited just a tad longer, they'd come to understand what I'm really doing here.
Well, seeing as they don't yet understand, I think we ought to go speak with them.
Are you going to sit there and patiently give them a lecture? That's a bit hard to picture, from you.
Should I deem them worthy of my time, perhaps.
You know, it's because of that attitude that people keep thinking you're suspicious. Or attacking us. Or both.
So, what's the plan? Do we just ignore the warning?
If so, we'll have to reinforce our defensive positions, post-haste.
That won't be necessary.
Oh?
I believe it was discussed earlier that we ought to take measures in preparation.
Henceforth, we will plan our counter-offensive, correct?
Indeed. That's exactly right.
And that's it!
Stay tuned next time, for Chapter 11, where we take it the tengu!