[Due to the host possessing a specific causal thread, the system has automatically matched the optimal point of entry.]
When the chat group had transported him here, Shin had thought he'd misheard — the message had used the formal address and tone characteristic of his system, not the chat group. But now it was clear: that voice had come from his system, not from the chat group itself.
His system had apparently interfered with the chat group's transport, and that interference was what had warped this iteration of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter into what it was.
Which also incidentally proved that his system's authority ranked above the chat group — though he'd have been perfectly happy never to have discovered that.
Because in Yachiyo's memories — in Kaguya's memories — all of it was unbearably brutal.
When the young man had offered his flesh as food for the disaster victims, when those ignorant victims had been manipulated by opportunists and turned on the young man in a moment of weakness — biting the hand that fed them, killing the goose for the golden eggs—
Even without Lord Tsukuyomi's divine light destroying Japan, the goal had been accomplished.
Exactly like that yellow-browed villain in the Black Myth game of his first life — laying bare every last contemptible flaw of human nature.
With one stroke, it had cured the exile-Kaguya-hime of any lingering fondness for the mortal world and any compassion for humanity.
As for how Kaguya had eventually ended up in the chat group, and how she had — like Miquella and Marika — split off a piece of herself, sealing the other half away to become the Kaguya they chatted with, Shin had no way of knowing.
But his instinct said it had something to do with the entity that had moved to intercept and nullify the majority of Lord Tsukuyomi's divine light.
And the Lunar Capital's urgency in recalling Kaguya was almost certainly because of some crisis that only Kaguya's "Eternity" power could handle — specifically, "impurity."
Based on Shin's knowledge of Touhou lore, the only scenario that could make the Lunar Capital so desperate to reclaim Kaguya for her "Eternity" was the one entity capable of amplifying impurity to infinite levels—
Junko.
Including that entity that had intercepted the majority of the divine light — that might also have been her. Junko, the divine spirit born of grief over a lost child, who had waged an unceasing war against the Lunar Capital.
Though admittedly, that was a bit of "shoot the arrow then paint the target around it."
But unless the Lunar Capital's left hand didn't know what the right was doing, this kind of "exile someone and then immediately call them back" behaviour clearly indicated something had gone sideways — and the only being with the capacity to cause that kind of sudden crisis was Junko.
Shin even began to wonder if the chat group's "Kaguya" slot had originally belonged to Junko — she was also a "mother figure," after all, which fit the chat group's apparent taste in members.
And if you went by the chat group's tier assessments, in certain versions of the lore Junko held a rank approaching supreme divinity — she'd certainly have the ability to interfere with it. Just as Heaven-Attained DIO had managed to.
Though even that felt a little far-fetched. If Junko at supreme divinity level couldn't bring down the Lunar Capital, just how powerful was Lord Tsukuyomi?
No wonder this mission had been rated D++ to B+++ in difficulty. The D++ civilian difficulty was presumably just standing by and letting the Lunar Capital's emissaries take Kaguya back. And B+++ would mean going to war with the entire Lunar Capital.
Shin was suddenly very grateful he didn't want to think about what an A-rank mission looked like. He really hoped it wasn't "get the whole group together and go punch through the Three Pure Ones and the Six Celestial Sovereigns" or something insane like "go bother Azathoth."
Would they win?
Shin filled the group in on the situation and got confirmation from Kaguya to verify a few details.
Though he privately thought this chat group's tier system was getting more embarrassing by the day — Heaven-Attained DIO could interfere with it, Junko could interfere with it, and apparently his own system could too.
[Moon Princess]: This is unbelievable. Oh my — so I really am…!
[Moon Princess]: Alright, alright, jokes aside — well, this does explain some things. Heh, no wonder I always thought Shin looked oddly familiar. If I'd known, I would have put my hand up when the Great Witch was still looking for a match~
Does she actually think he's that good-looking? Shin was skeptical. This Kaguya in the group chat was still acting entirely too carefree about everything.
Though her fundamental kindness hadn't changed — she had, after all, gently tried to dissuade the Great Witch from wiping out humanity.
"…"
Dawn was breaking. Heian-kyo lay cool and still in the thin morning mist, the madness of the previous night dissolving with the moonlight, leaving only a lingering sweetness in the air.
The girl in his arms murmured softly, curling herself up like a lazy cat. Her snow-white skin caught the morning light with a faint flush that the night's intensity had yet to fully fade.
Yachiyo — or rather, the Kaguya who had taken "Yachiyo" as her name — was holding tight to the young man's waist as though afraid that loosening her grip for even a moment might make him disappear.
"Mm…"
Feeling him stir, Yachiyo let out a soft, barely-there sound.
She slowly opened those crimson eyes — still hazy at their edges — and her gaze lingered on the young man's face for a long, quiet moment before gradually coming back into focus.
No screaming in embarrassment. No forced composure as a shield.
She simply burrowed a little further into his arms, soaking in the vital warmth radiating from him.
"Mm…"
Her voice was a little hoarse, carrying the tender fragility of someone just returned from a very long dream.
The memory of the previous night — the relentless, almost overwhelming force of him — left even a goddess who commanded "Eternity" feeling, at this moment, distinctly unsteady on her feet.
It was her first time, of course.
Being filled, torn open, and finally made whole by that nearly savage torrent of vitality — for a goddess who had been alone for countless cosmic cycles, it was the first time she had ever felt something other than empty.
"I thought at first that last night was nothing but a waking dream, after watching my dear leave with that Fairy Knight."
Yachiyo pressed her face to Shin's chest, listening to the strong, steady heartbeat, her voice carrying a trace of wonderment.
"But I'm glad it wasn't my imagination… I'm already satisfied. Even if my dear asked me to go back to the Moon right now to complete your mission, I would agree."
"Don't ever mention that again. Things between us have already reached this point. Whatever comes next — leave it to me."
[Congratulations, Host, on completing the achievement: [I Fed All Living Things]. Saint's Corpse (Incomplete) has been absorbed. New bloodline unlocked. Evolution Points +200.]
[Current Bloodlines: First Witch, Pillar Man (Ultimate Being), Lands Between Demigod (Incomplete), Saint (Incomplete)]
[Remaining Evolution Points: 271 → 171]
[Soul Core (Lv.1 → Lv.2) has levelled up — next level costs 200 points.]
[Lv.2 Skill: [Soul Synchrony] — You may synchronise your consciousness with another's, or forcibly synchronise another's consciousness with yours, achieving a form of mental attunement.]
To be continued…
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