— — — — — —
The once-crowded lakeside, where tens of thousands of Yokai had gathered, was now almost empty—except for a single figure hovering in midair, holding the jeweled branch of Hourai.
Aya Shameimaru, the crow tengu girl, who remembered how noisy this place had been just moments ago, instinctively shrank her neck.
"Uh… the crow girl's coming with us too?" Kaguya Houraisan raised an eyebrow, clearly a little annoyed.
Aya glanced over at the one being asked—Veyron.
"Do you want to go?"
From the side, Yukari Yakumo lightly tapped her folding fan forward, poking Aya on the shoulder through a spatial gap.
"Uh… I mean… maybe? Maybe not?"
Aya turned stiffly, trying her best to smile at Yukari and the two oni standing next to her—Suika Ibuki and Yuugi Hoshiguma.
"Well then, if you don't want to, go home," Yukari said with a casual wave of her hand. "And say hi to your boss for me, will you?"
Then she added with a meaningful smile, "You don't need me to remind you what to say and what not to say when you get back, right?"
"I got it, I got it! I totally understand! On the way here, I ran into something super interesting and got delayed a bit. By the time I got here, there was only leftover yokai energy in the air, so I figured you all had already departed for the battlefield…"
Before she could spin the story any further, Yukari cut her off with a cheerful but firm warning: "No need to make up nonsense. Just keep your mouth shut."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
With a whoosh of wind, Aya vanished—reappearing almost instantly several kilometers away, riding a swift current of air.
"…Is it just me, or is she really afraid of you two?"
Veyron glanced at the two oni beside Yukari.
He could clearly tell—unlike Yuyuko, who was just innocently clinging to him because they share death power— Aya had been trying to stay near him after he appeared to use the presence of Yuuka, Eirin, and the others as a human shield… to dodge the unsettling gazes Suika and Yuugi occasionally threw her way.
"Hey, little bro," Suika said as she took another swig from her gourd, "wanna take a guess what the 'Big Four of the Mountain' title refers to? Specifically, which mountain?"
"Let me guess… the Youkai Mountain?"
At this point, the hint was basically spelled out—how could Veyron not get it?
"Bingo~"
Yukari smiled and picked up the conversation.
"A long time ago, the oni ruled over the tengu. The social structure the tengu have today on the Youkai Mountain actually inherited a lot of what the oni left behind."
She fanned herself lightly. "Oh, by the way… you two Oni still planning to come along?"
"You weren't lying earlier, right? About the Lunar Capital having divine sake from the age of Takamagahara?" Suika asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Of course I wasn't."
Yukari nodded. "Back when I was gathering intel, I sneaked onto the moon a few times. Never made it to the innermost areas, but I did confirm that the lunarians have a tradition of brewing sake. And that kind of thing doesn't just come out of nowhere."
She cast a glance toward Eirin Yagokoro, whose face, as usual, betrayed nothing.
"Once we get up there, there's going to be a fight, right?" Yuugi asked.
"Without a doubt," Yukari answered with a confident nod.
"Fighting and good sake if we win?" Suika beamed. "Sounds like a party. Count us in."
"Well then," Yukari said cheerfully, then she snapped open her folding fan and gave the lake a light wave.
The surface rippled… then split open. The reflection of the full moon shimmered and twisted, transforming into a gateway that led far beyond the sky—toward the Moon.
— — —
Lunar Capital
"Observation Team Three reporting in! We've detected an unusual signal on the near side of the Sea of Tranquility!"
In a city where futuristic skyscrapers stood seamlessly beside ancient wooden buildings, a girl with long bunny ears studied the data on her console. She immediately transmitted the report over a special lunar communication frequency.
"Data Team One received—beginning analysis…"
"Data Team One complete. Confirmed: lifeform signature detected. Handing over to Team Nine for cross-reference with the database."
"Data Team Two has finished its first round. We've confirmed at least one 'high-class individual' is present, but the exact number and classifications are still unknown."
"Follow-up report from Observation Team Three. The signal is on the move. Based on its current speed, assuming no interference, it'll reach the outer barrier of the Lunar Capital in approximately fifteen days."
"Emergency update from Data Team Nine! The signal's core matches a 100% identity rate with the 'Criminal'!"
Inside the mental wave-linked communication network of the moon rabbits, information spread like wildfire.
At the heart of the Lunar Capital, in a lush garden beside the Moon King's palace—the private estate of the Watatsuki family—a delicate-looking princess was half-heartedly nibbling on a peach. She listened in real time to the relay updates from her rabbit scouts, then turned to the girl beside her.
"Yorihime… do you think that 'criminal' is her?"
The purple-haired girl leaning against the tree trunk with arms folded gave a flat reply: "Do we even have another 'criminal'?"
"But her exile isn't over yet," said Watatsuki no Toyohime, the blonde elder sister, tapping her head as if trying to remember. "And even though she only landed on the Sea of Tranquility's outskirts without permission… that still counts as trespassing, right? Legally speaking…"
She paused, then suddenly knocked herself lightly on the head with a chuckle. "I think that means we're supposed to add, like, a billion more charges or something?"
"It's just a minor trespass during her sentence," said Watatsuki no Yorihime, expressionless as ever. "Compared to the things she's done in the past, that's nothing. Or are you saying you actually believe she wouldn't dare?"
"No, that's not it," Toyohime replied. "I just thought our sensei wouldn't let her go off the rails like this."
"…What's this got to do with our Eirin-sensei?"
Yorihime looked puzzled. "Didn't she leave to gather medicinal herbs or something?"
Toyohime gave her sister a long, very judgmental look—just to make sure she was still her actual sibling—and let out a sigh of pure resignation.
"…As the head of the Lunar Defense Corps, I'm responsible for confronting and neutralizing any threats immediately."
It finally clicked.
Several months ago, their teacher had conveniently gone on a "medicine gathering" trip. And now this.
Yorihime's whole face darkened as she stomped off toward the exit, teeth clenched in growing fury.
"Princess?"
In the garden, Reisen Udongein Inaba—one of the moon rabbits assigned to the Watatsuki family—looked questioningly at Toyohime.
"Let's go too," Toyohime said with a cheerful smile. "I am still technically the co-commander of the Lunar Defense Corps, after all."
With that, she casually hooked the half-eaten peach back onto the tree and motioned for Reisen to follow after her seething sister.
.
.
.