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Sakuya, bring me some sugar.

Right away, Mistress. Does anyone else need anything?

I'll have another cup, thanks.

Me too!

I'd like some teacakes myself. Western sweets will do.

...

What's wrong? If you don't have any, then I wouldn't mind waiting while you make them.

Could you not use Sakuya however you please? You're already forcing your way into our group as it is. If you need something done, then just ask one of your rabbits.

How petty. I wouldn't have said anything to you ordering my Inabas around.

Maybe we should take some home with us, if you're offering.

Having more hands isn't necessarily better.

More people come in.

Oh, looks like this is where everyone was.

Seems that way. Guess they'd never forget to stop for teatime, even at a time like this.

Good work, girls. Patrolling the ship?

Yup. They're having a meeting in the bridge though, so shouldn't you be there?

Meetings bore me. Let's just leave that to the people who care to take charge.

They can handle the tedious stuff, leaving the good parts for me.

As long as there are enough people, taking shifts to rest is important.

Don't relax too much though. These Underworld youkai aren't pushovers. Especially the oni. You can never be ready enough for one of those guys.

Oni? I suppose I did hear mention that they live down here.

I'm sure you can tell from seeing Suika in battle, but even among youkai oni are considered one of the strongest races. Before they left the surface, humans feared them as the strongest kidnappers.

If they're so strong, then why aren't they rampaging on the surface?

They had some friction in their dealings with the humans, and finally ran out of patience. That's when they abandoned life on the surface and sought out somewhere else to live.

Then they ended up in the Underworld and built a brand new society.

Oh, so they found a room to keep all to themselves.

But if that's the case, then can't the oni just head outside without a problem? They moved here themselves after all, and Suika lives on the surface like normal.

Correct. Unlike the other youkai, they aren't sealed in the Underworld. They may be strong, but they wouldn't endanger the entire village.

So they prefer to live in the Underworld along with the sealed youkai then.

So where in the depths of the earth could they possibly-

You can be as curious as you want, but you'd better not be actually thinking about looking for them.

Yeah, especially since all the youkai down here want to chase us out.

Let's treat this like hide-and-seek, and move REAL carefully.


quote:

Palanquin Ship - Bridge

Music: What's the Strategy?

No sign of any youkai. Please continue descending like this.

Little by little, we've gotten pretty deep.

I can't believe the Underworld is this huge. Now I'm worried about how stable the surface's foundations are.

Hey Suika, will this really take us to the Palace of Earth Spirits? Your directions are pretty vague.

It'll be fine! I know this place like the back of my hand. Just keep going straight ahead, and we should see a huge bridge.

A bridge?

It's something like a checkpoint, leading to where most of the youkai live. A youkai known as a Hashihime serves as guard there.

Yup. Her power's a real pain. But I guess her personality's even worse.

Hearing you talk about the Underworld like this is a novel experience, Suika. Even when we're sitting down for a drink together, you never talk about your past.

Huh? I don't?

And hey, it's not like we hear much about what you were up to before you came to Gensokyo either.

So we both don't talk about our old homes.

Doesn't that just show how much both of you treasure your current lifestyles?

Enjoying yourself is all well and good, but could you please spare us these uproars at the Moriya shrine?

Yeah, Suika makes the news just by hanging out on Youkai Mountain.

Oh, that's right, the mountain youkai have a hard time dealing with the oni.

That's cause they used to rule the mountain before the tengu stepped in. Seeing your old boss show up must make things pretty awkward.

It's not like I'm planning to come back to the mountain or anything. They really shouldn't worry so much about it.

Speaking of coming back, why DID you return to the surface anyway?

Huh? Whaddya you mean?

Good point. You did go down to the Underworld, right?

Well yeah, duh. I used to party with all my oni buddies. But...

But?

But I missed the sake on the surface. The stuff they make down here just isn't all that good.

You've gotta be kidding me. Well, I guess it's your kinda reason.

Ah ha ha! Were you expecting something respectable?

Once they've been lured by the smell of sake, both humans and youkai like to get noisy. That's good enough for me.

...Well, I think can understand.

Maybe it's good enough for YOU, but whenever you're around all these other youkai show up and it's a real pain.

Hey I'm not ALWAYS the one gathering them.

...Sorry to cut off the conversation, but it looks like we'll need to be careful soon. I can see a light in the distance, so we should be coming up on that bridge any minute.