Stardew Valley of Gensokyo

Why did you change your clothes today? Is it because Miss Wenwen is finally tired of wearing the same clothes?

Akina Ze also had a thoughtful look on his face, but he couldn't believe it.

"arrive"

The distinctive voice of Aya Shameimaru reached his ears, and Akina Sawa snapped out of his reverie.

He loosened his grip on her hands and jumped to the ground.

This is a great vantage point; it would be extremely difficult to climb up without the ability to fly.

The view before them was unobstructed, and Akina Ze pointed to the ancient building below and asked...

"Is this the summit of Youkai Mountain? And that building below is the Moriya Shrine?"

Continuous white clouds and mist swirl around the mountainside, while a bright red sun has emerged from the clouds, revealing half of its shape.

The ancient shrine is situated in a clearing between steep mountain peaks.

"Yes, that's right," Aya Shameimaru replied, landing on the ground as well. Undeterred by the crowd, she picked up the camera hanging around her neck and started taking pictures from the right angle.

"It's so crowded... Why did you get down here..." Akina Sawa silently complained in his heart, trying his best to make room for Aya Shameimaru to take pictures.

However, some physical contact is still unavoidable.

"What do you think?" Aya Shameimaru asked abruptly.

"Quite fair-skinned," Akina Ze replied subconsciously.

"what?"

"Ah! I mean, the clouds here are so white!"

As if to prove his point, Akina immediately pointed to a mountainside shrouded in mist.

Following the direction Akina Sawaya pointed, Shameimaru Aya carefully observed the scene, took out his camera and pressed the shutter several times. Looking at the pictures in the camera, he asked in confusion:

"I can't see how it's whiter than the other clouds..."

"Things are changing too fast. That cloud has probably already merged into the sea of ​​clouds," Akina Ze explained, keeping his eyes down.

"Oh~" Aya Shameimaru didn't speak, only drawing out a long nasal sound. Clearly, she didn't believe him.

However, Aya Shameimaru didn't dwell on the matter any further. Instead, she looked at Sawa Akina with a slightly reproachful expression and said...

"It would be so nice to have breakfast here right now..."

In that instant, Akina Ze suddenly felt that he was extremely guilty and utterly unforgivable.

After glancing at Aya Shameimaru, who was rubbing her belly because of hunger, Akina Sawa silently made up an idea.

He tentatively asked, "Miss Wenwen, do you know what's special about the belt I'm wearing?"

“Of course I know,” Aya Shameimaru said calmly, as if stating a fact. “I’m the best reporter in Gensokyo; nothing can be hidden from my eyes.”

"Then I think I understand."

Akina Ze nodded knowingly. "In that case, I won't hide it anymore."

As he spoke, something suddenly appeared in Akina Zeya's hand.

"Eel rice ball!" Aya Shameimaru's eyes lit up, and she pounced on it, snatching it and stuffing it into her mouth.

"Don't worry, I have more here," Akina Ze said, pulling out several more rice balls from his belt as if by magic.

Even though his mouth was full of food, Aya Shameimaru still spoke incoherently.

"Mmm! I want more!"

"It's all yours, it's all yours."

This is breakfast I specially made last night! I was planning to eat it after finishing my work, but I didn't expect you to come so early, so I didn't know how to take it out. Now you've gotten it all.

Watching Aya Shameimaru devour her rice ball, Sawa Akina smiled helplessly.

Chapter Seven: The Mature Newspaper Deliveryman

"Here, take this."

After taking advantage of her, Aya Shameimaru pulled out a bamboo basket that was as tall as a person from somewhere, filled with newspapers.

"You didn't plan this all along, did you..." Akina Ze frowned slightly as he took the bamboo basket with both hands, his face full of helplessness.

Just a few steps away, Aya Shameimaru pretended not to hear and changed the subject, saying, "There's a proper order to delivering newspapers too."

“Look, this is where we are right now,” Aya Shameimaru said, taking out a piece of paper and pointing her slender fingers at one corner of it.

Shaking his head, Akina Ze also joined in.

These mountains, this water, these buildings—isn't this a map? The yellowed paper roll is clearly quite old.

However, it does resemble the map provided by the system almost perfectly, except for some minor details. Akina Sawa silently analyzed the situation.

Ta-da! Aya Shameimaru gestured on the map, passing by the Hakugyokurou, the Bamboo Grove of the Lost, and the Hakurei Shrine before continuing...

"We can consider Hakugyokurou, the Bamboo Grove of the Lost, and the Hakurei Shrine to be on the same line."

“Hakugyokurou is closest to us, followed by Hakurei Shrine, and the Lost Bamboo Forest is the furthest away. The village is located diagonally opposite these three places.” At this point, Aya Shameimaru paused and looked at Sawa Akina, seemingly waiting for him to add something.

Akina Sawa felt a little intimidated by that stare. "Why are you looking at me? You can decide for yourself..."

But in the end, she couldn't hold on; Miss Wenwen's expectant expression was just too much.

Shaking his head, Akina Ze said without much confidence, "So we need to go to Hakugyokurou first, then to Hitotari and Hakurei Shrine, and finally to the Lost Bamboo Forest?"

As if finally receiving a reply, Aya Shameimaru breathed a sigh of relief and said, "No, even though the distance is shorter, we can't deliver the newspaper before they get up."

"Why can't you deliver it after you get up?" Akina Sawa asked casually, carrying the bamboo basket in one hand and figuring out the most convenient way to put it into his belt.

“You don’t understand,” the question seemed to hit a nerve. Shameimaru Aya, hands on her hips, said confidently, “Only by delivering the newspaper before people get up can you arouse their desire to read it seriously!”

"...I don't think I've ever heard of this before..." Akina Sawa glanced sideways at Shameimaru Aya, who was standing on the rock.

"It's normal that you haven't heard of it; this is my accumulated experience over many years." Aya Shameimaru bent her right hand, deftly drawing a fan hanging from her waist to partially cover her face, and chuckled. "Experienced advice isn't something I just casually pass on to others~"

"Oh," Akina Ze replied emotionlessly.

"Hmph~ Those who understand, understand."

Having finally gotten the chance to experience what it's like to be a senior, Ayatoro Shameimaru proudly twirled the fan by hooking his pinky finger on the thin string attached to it.

Speechless, helpless, and speechless, Akina Ze silently watched her, unable to utter a single word.

Everyone has moments of illness; she's already like this, so why not just go along with her?

The sky was already beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn, and Aya Shameimaru didn't have much time left to deliver the message. She noticed this as well.

With a snap, Aya Shameimaru put away the fan. Judging by her practiced movements, she must have practiced for a long time, Akina Sawa thought aimlessly.

"Today is your first day at work, so let's go to Baiyulou first."

After saying that, Aya Shameimaru said irritably, "That Youmu Konpaku gets up really early every day. Doesn't she know that this causes trouble? Really..."

"Um?" Akina Ze also raised his hand obediently.

"What is it? Speak quickly!" Perhaps still angry, Aya Shameimaru glared at him fiercely.

Even so, Akina Sawa still weakly said, "When did I start working? I'm just accompanying you to deliver newspapers for one day."

“It’s still work, even if it’s just one day!” Aya Shameimaru’s eyes widened even more. “Let’s go now, destination: Hakugyokurou!”

Without a word, with a loud thud, Aya Shameimaru and Sawa Akina were lifted into the air, instantly becoming a black dot on the horizon.

"Ah~" Rubbing her eyes, which were a little sore from a night's sleep, Sanae Kochiya pulled off the blanket covering her whole body and sat up blankly. It took her a while to come to her senses. "Did someone just fart?"

There was no response, but there were only three people in the room, and the culprit must be inside.

So, Kochiya Sanae, who had ruled out her own options, looked with suspicion at Frogko, who had insisted on squeezing in to sleep with her the night before because of the cold, and Kanako, who had said she wanted to come over because Frogko was there.

But both of them were still fast asleep, with drool dripping from their mouths. It didn't look like they had just farted.

“A sleeping god can’t possibly fart,” Sanae Kochiya thought as she carefully wiped the liquid from the corner of the frog’s mouth with a towel. In the end, she came to the conclusion that, although she didn’t want to believe it, it was the most likely one.

"Could it be that I woke myself up by farting?!" Sanae Kochiya was completely shocked, and the towel in her hand was so overwhelmed that she lost control and stiffly stuffed it into the frog's mouth.

"Woo-woo!" The sleeping frog struggled to its feet.

.....

"There used to be an old bastard at Baiyulou who was truly despicable! But thankfully, he's disappeared in recent years, which is a good thing."

In the blink of an eye, Aya Shameimaru, carrying Sawa Akina, also rushed into the Netherworld Barrier, intending to deliver newspapers to the only two readers living inside.

To ignore the triangular-banded ghosts that seemed to appear out of nowhere from every corner, Akina Sawa tried to distract himself by asking...

"What terrible thing did this old man you're talking about do?"

“He’s done so many things, I’ll just pick one simple one to tell you,” Aya Shameimaru said angrily. “He actually did something like that! He used the newspapers I deliver every day to practice his sword!”

"Not only that! Once he got up early and ran into me delivering the newspaper. Do you know what he said?"

"I'm having some trouble sleeping tonight, so throw all these newspapers down and see how sharp my knife is today..."

Aya Shameimaru's imitation was so lifelike that Sawa Akina seemed to be right there in the scene.

"Did you finally throw the newspaper down to him from the sky?" Akina Sawa pressed.

"How could this be!" Even though so much time had passed, Aya Shameimaru was still very angry when she brought it up.

"Of course, I just slid in and took his sword, and even stomped on it a couple of times."

"Really? I feel like you're just trying to comfort me..."

Akina Ze's eyes were full of doubt upon hearing this.

He had witnessed Youmu's swordsmanship firsthand, so the old man Aya Shameimaru was talking about must be Youmu's teacher, right?

If Youmu is so powerful, how could this teacher be weak?

"You don't believe me?" Aya Shameimaru's cheeks puffed out.

Akina Ze glanced at the ground, estimated the height, and decisively chose to follow his heart.

"I believe it, I believe it! Miss Wenwen is the best in the world!"

"Humph!"

Given her current state, why not just comply?

......

Chapter Eight: Cooking is also a form of training

"Well..."

In a simply furnished room for one, Youmu Konpaku woke up from her sleep, rubbing her eyes groggily.

Two swords, one long and one short, were placed on a wooden board next to the tatami mats.

Pushing back the covers, Youmu Konpaku picked up a black silk ribbon from the side and casually tied it around her head. Then, she picked up two swords and opened the door.

As soon as she stepped outside, the biting, chilling winds of the underworld blew against Youmu's thinly clothed body.

"Woo~"

Although Youmu Konpaku's half-human, half-spirit constitution meant she didn't feel too cold, she still couldn't help but shiver, but that was about it.

Every morning when she wakes up, Youmu Konpaku has two things she must do: make breakfast for Lady Yuyuko and complete her daily sword practice.

This habit has been with her since she can remember, and has never stopped.

However, compared to practicing swordsmanship, making breakfast for Lady Yuyuko is more important.

Today's menu features one of Yuyuko's favorite dishes: pan-fried fish.

Hurriedly entering the kitchen, Youmu Konpaku rolled up her sleeves and carried a wooden bucket onto the stove.

"It's already frozen over..."

The water in the barrel had frozen solid, along with the salmon inside.

While this method helps preserve freshness, it makes using the food a bit inconvenient. If an ordinary person were to do it, they would have to wait for the ice to melt naturally before processing the fish.

But who exactly is Soul Phantom Youmu?