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...Spiritual reactor output steady at 50%... No abnormalities in the connections... Start-up test clear.

Thank goodness, the reactor's working again.

If we'd gotten a direct hit back there, we wouldn't be so lucky. It's a good thing you slammed on the rudder right away.

...It could've been really bad if Nue hadn't called out to us. But we haven't seen her since... What could she be up to?

I'm sure she's still spying on us from somewhere.

I knew you were good at this, Ichirin.

...!

That voice! Is that you, Nue?

Where are you? Show yourself.

No way, it's way more comfortable like this. I've got business with you, but we'll be done real quick. I just wanna ask you one thing.

...

Murasa walks over to Nue's hiding place and pulls her out.

?!

Hey! How'd you know where I was?!

Just a gut feeling. I figured you'd be in the corner somewhere around here.

Uh... Hmm. Well, I guess it's fine since there's no one else around.

So what is it you wanted to ask?

...Right, I wanted you to exlpain what you said earlier.

You mean when-

Minamitsu, didn't you say you were helping out the humans in order to protect me? And something about the bonds you'd formed through the ship...?

...Yeah. The Palanquin Ship gave me a place to belong. Ever since we came to the surface and met everyone in Gensokyo, I've been more and more sure of that.

And most importantly, there are Hijiri's ideals of human-youkai equality.

I don't buy it. Brownnosing ain't any way for a youkai to live.

Nue...

The boat's important to you, cool. But it just isn't youkai-like to do stuff for the humans. Youkai are supposed to live for themselves, and never give up on their own reasons to live.

Maybe so. But this is how I decided to live after meeting Hijiri. And it's not just for Hijiri or the humans either. This is for myself.

...

Fine, I get it. If that's what you think, I'm not gonna argue.

So you understand us now?

If that's the life Minamitsu chose for herself, then I've got nothing else to say. But that's not MY life.

Nue...

So this is where we say goodbye. You'll never hear from me again.

...I want you to live your own life with your own beliefs too, Nue. But that's no reason to say we'll never meet again.

...

She's right. This doesn't change the fact that we became friends in the Underworld.

You're one of our precious bonds too, Nue. We can still be together, even if we live our lives differently.

B-But that's-!

...Hmph, the two of you are WAY too stubborn!

Nue, wait!

Nue runs off, flustered.

...She's gone.

Yeah...

She said all that, but will she really never show herself again?

She's pretty stubborn herself. But I'm sure we got through to her. I have faith that we'll see her again, someday.

...You're right. I'm sure we will.

Nazrin and Rinnosuke step in.

Yo, we're back.

So this is the bridge? I suppose it's fitting that it's the last stop of the tour.

Oh, welcome back. So you've shown him the full ship then?

We finished up maintenance over here too. So what'd you think of the ship?

It's quite fascinating. My antique dealer blood can't help but boil. With my power, I can see all sorts of hidden functions scattered about.

You're impressed then? Is that because you know how things are used?

By the way, wasn't Shou with you?

Master said she'd be taking another look at the exterior. The flying silo is an irreplaceable treasure, so you can never be too careful.

It seems it's true that the ship itself is a single ritual implement.

Still, we're missing some fragments, so it isn't supposed to be like this.

It's less that they're missing and more that Nue's got them... Oh no, she caught us off guard so I completely forgot to ask her about them!

Yeah, she was in and out in a flash.

Shou runs in.

E-Excuse me!

What's wrong, Master? You seem pretty excited.

Don't tell me you found something wrong outside?

Quite the opposite! I found these out on the deck! There's no doubt about it, these splinters are...!

What?! The fragments of the flying silo?!

What's going on? Didn't Nue still have them?

I don't know either, but it seems to be all of them. And I doubt they were dropped here by accident.

...Nue must have left them there for us.

Was she trying to meet us halfway? I mean, she had that attitude of hers, but...

...? I'm not sure what's going on here, but I think I get the idea.

We can finally make some progress here, after all the time. If we can finish up the flying silo with these, then all we'll need for Hijiri's revival is the pagoda.

And if we could just find that, we could break Hijiri's seal.

The pagoda? Just from the name, it sounds like quite the fancy item.

Bishamonten's Pagoda holds an incredible amount of Buddhist power. Unfortunately, we don't know where it is.

I've been searching for it all this time with my dowsing, but no luck. It's actually small enough to hold in your hand.

...I see. I've never seen anything meeting that description.

However, in the off chance that I get it in stock, I'll let you know immediately.

Thanks, Kourindou.

There's something ironic about Murasa messing up someone's nickname.

But this just makes me more and more interested in this ship. If you don't mind, could you teach me how to use it next time?

Sure thing. I'm sure a storeowner like yourself knows to be gentle with it.

...We're one step closer to finally reviving her.

Please wait for us, Hijiri. We're coming to save you.