The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

Her race is a nine-tailed fox spirit, which inherently possesses great strength. In addition, as Yakumo Yukari's shikigami for a long time, her abilities are stronger than those of ordinary great yokai.

While Yakumo Yukari was in a deep sleep, she was responsible for maintaining the boundary. When the shikigami carried out their master's orders, they would receive the master's power, making them stronger. However, they would not receive any bonuses in areas outside of the orders.

Although she could also use the power of the boundary, she was actually of no help in dealing with unexpected incidents in Gensokyo that were outside her command.

"If only Lord Zi could wake up sooner..."

After quickly finishing the fried tofu, Yakumo Ran glanced at the thick, terrifying, and bone-chilling fog in front of her, sighed softly in the air, turned around, and stepped into a purplish-red rift that had silently appeared behind her.

...............................................................

This is an extremely cold region shrouded in fog.

After entering the area of ​​the Lake of Mist, Shi Bai made this judgment in his mind.

Logically speaking, fog is a form of water evaporation, and under extreme cold, it should not remain in a fog state. However, the fog covering this fog lake is clearly quite special.

...because they are living beings.

He came to this conclusion after exploring the entire Lake of Mist.

The area of ​​the Misty Lake is not small, but for him, there is no difference at all. In less than five or six minutes, he had walked all over the lake surface and shore covered by mist.

—No source was found, only the extremely cold fog covering the lake.

"...Is it a living mist?"

Shi Bai frowned slightly, turned his head to look at the extremely cold fog around him, and stopped in his tracks.

In fact, he had learned about the Lake of Mist before. Nothing had ever happened here before, except for the perpetual fog. But this winter, the Lake of Mist suddenly erupted.

Because of this incident, all the yokai who originally lived around the Lake of Mist and wanted to claim it as their own territory have long since fled.

"I wonder if it really is her, if she really is the source of all this..."

P.S.: Good morning...

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Helping Others is a Traditional Virtue

The vast Lake of Mist had an incredibly calm and still surface.

Extremely cold fog spread across the lake, affecting the climate of the entire Gensokyo from its source.

"Is the living mist... born of resentment?"

Exhaling, Shi Bai bent down and placed his hand on the water's surface.

As he moved, the surrounding mist quickly gathered and solidified, and in just over ten seconds, the extremely cold mist above the Lake of Mist was swept away.

Standing upright on the lake again, Shi Bai opened his arms and looked at his palms.

In his palm, a girl, about the size of a child's fist, with snow-white hair and pale eyes, lay quietly.

—Lady Horvatlock.

"Actually, you should have entered the underworld and entered the cycle of reincarnation long ago, but you stayed here because of a trace of unwillingness in your heart... What a pity."

After staring at the sleeping girl in his palm for a while, Shi Bai shook his head slightly, put her in his pocket, and walked out of the Misty Lake.

As he left, the dense fog above the mist lake began to gather again. However, after Shi Bai took away some of the key elements of power, the fog returned to its original state.

The anomaly that had trapped Yakumo Ran for nearly a month was easily resolved by Shi Bai.

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"Yuki-onna? Is she the cause of the snowstorm in Gensokyo?"

Looking at the girl on the table, who was no bigger than a cup and had been brought back by Shi Bai, Kazami Yuuka clearly became interested.

"I suppose so. The reason why the blizzard lasted for so long was probably just for the purpose of resurrection."

After thinking for a moment, Shi Bai nodded.

"Lady Horvatlock, a friend I knew before. She was a powerful yokai more than a thousand years ago, but she died in the war between Yokai Mountain and the Moon Capital... Well, you could say she died, she was seriously injured."

"Then what's wrong with her current state?"

Yuuka Kazami nudged Lady on the table, who showed no signs of waking up, and asked her with some curiosity.

"She's not some kind of dwarf, so a snow woman shouldn't be this petite, right?"

"Uh... because I interrupted her recovery."

Shi Bai reached up and scratched his hair, a slightly embarrassed expression on his face.

"To put it simply, she should have died long ago, but perhaps out of some kind of unwillingness in her heart, she probably used some kind of secret method to survive in this world. Originally, according to her plan, she would probably achieve the conditions for her complete revival through this blizzard that was destined to last for several months and sweep across the entire Gensokyo, but I ruined it halfway... so she is only this small now."

"I remember you just said she was your friend."

Kazami Yuuka looked up at him, her face calm.

"Does she need any help?"

"Ahem, I can handle this kind of thing... Although I interrupted her recovery, it was actually a good thing for her."

Shi Bai coughed a few times, making a fist, and turned his head away slightly embarrassed as he met Kazama Yuuka's calm gaze.

"That method could fully revive her, but it would only be a temporary fix. Unless she has the ability to keep the seasons in Gensokyo in a perpetually snowy winter, she will disappear once spring arrives."

"Whatever you want."

Reaching out to brush the snowflakes from the other person's shoulder, Yuuka Kazami smiled gently.

"........."

Looking at Yuuka Kazami in front of him, Shi Bai suddenly felt a bit of resentment towards those third wheels who were lingering in the store.

..................................................................

As if waking from a deep, dark dream, the girl's expression was momentarily dazed.

She never even considered the possibility of seeing the light again.

"you're awake?"

Noticing the movement on the table, Shi Bai shifted his gaze from the manuscripts in his hands and looked at the petite girl lying in a bowl padded with a small piece of cotton cloth.

"You are... wait, how did you get so big?"

It took Lady a long time to recognize the other person, and she couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"Please, it's you who's shrunk, okay?"

Rolling his eyes, Shi Bai handed over a chocolate bar.

"Tell me a little about what happened to you, how did you end up like this?"

"Where is this place...? Have I shrunk?"

Lady reached out and took the chocolate bar, which was much longer than her body, looking around blankly.

“It’s evening now. This is a shop I run in the Human Village. You are the backup ingredients I’ve prepared.”

With a pout, Shi Bai leaned back in his chair and popped a chocolate bar into his mouth.

"What, do you have any other questions?"

"Spare ingredients..."

With a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth, Lady reached out and hugged the chocolate bar, which was so big that she could barely wrap her arms around it, and started talking as she ate it.

"Actually, there's not much to say. It's just that I'm not as skilled as the other person... You know about the war that happened between the Moon Capital and the Monster Mountain, right?"

Although she didn't know what the dark thing was, she could still smell the aroma emanating from it, and since she was already hungry, she naturally didn't hold back.

"Have heard a little bit."

After thinking for a moment, Shi Bai nodded.

However, if he remembered correctly, the war broke out during the period when he forcibly took Tsukiyomi on a 100-year tour. The cause of the war was Kaguya Houraisan and Eirin Yagokoro, who had defected from the Lunar Capital... or something like that.

"I almost died in that war."

Seemingly venting her frustration, Lady took a big bite of the chocolate bar and sighed helplessly.

"Although my strength is not bad, when facing those gods from the Moon Capital, the difference in strength is like heaven and earth... and I almost got killed."

"If you can't beat them, can't you at least outrun them?"

He pulled out another chocolate bar and tapped the other person on the head, Shi Bai looking at him with a look of utter disappointment.

"Look at you, what have you done to yourself? What are you planning to do with such a tiny body?"

"So I don't know what happened either... Stop knocking."

Feeling quite annoyed as she dodged someone's chocolate bar attacks, Lady sullenly spoke up.

"According to my plan, I actually have a chance of recovery, although the chance of my plan succeeding is too low... But if it succeeds, it should definitely not be this size. Something unexpected must have happened that I don't know about."

"An accident? You're lucky you survived."

Shi Bai tossed the chocolate bar into the bowl as well, letting out a soft hum.

"Fine, since we were friends before, I'll help you out. You don't need to thank me or anything; it's just what a friend should do."

"……Thank you."

After a moment of silence, the silver-haired girl sitting in the bowl nodded gently.

"It's alright, helping others is the right thing to do."

With a wave of his hand, Shi Bai turned his attention back to the manuscripts of "The Origin of Gensokyo" that Hieda Ashichi had brought over.

"You should rest for a bit now. I'll find a way to help you recover later. When it's light, I'll introduce you to a few people. But remember to be careful, because some of them might seem a bit fanatical..."

P.S.: Good morning.

I won't stand you up anymore, I really won't stand you up anymore.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Pets and Daily Life

Soon, Lady understood what the person meant by "fervor".

Because from early morning, after everyone gradually got up, she, who currently exists as a tiny person, quickly became... a pet.

...At least that's how she felt.

Being watched, being fed, being patted on the head...

As the mastermind behind the first recorded large-scale incident in Gensokyo's history, she received a very warm welcome.

I'm a senior! A senior!! Do you even know what a senior is?! Why are they all rushing over to feed me?!

In short, Lady is very depressed right now, extremely depressed.

...especially when looking at someone next to you leisurely lying on a recliner catching up on sleep.

She now knew why she had become so small. If it weren't for someone's interference, according to the progress described by others, her resurrection plan might actually have succeeded, and she wouldn't be so tiny now...

"So it was an unintentional mistake... After all, Gensokyo hadn't been established yet when I died. Who knew that it would cause an incident because of me?"

Sitting on the soft cloth cushion placed on the table, Lady looked sullen.

"My conditions for resurrection are extremely demanding, to the point that they are almost impossible to fulfill, because if even a slightly powerful being were to interfere along the way, I would be doomed."

"But he did cause trouble, and you didn't die."

Holding a notebook in one hand and quickly taking notes on paper, Aya Shameimaru timely raised her question.

"...I didn't die, but I've become like this."

Lady's lips twitched slightly.

That's because he's strong enough.

After taking a sip of tea, Kazami Yuuka spoke calmly.

“I’ve reviewed your resurrection plan, and it’s riddled with flaws. If it weren’t for the unique nature of the Yuki-onna race, coupled with perfect timing, location, and circumstances, you would never have woken up. Even if you were to be resurrected, you would first lose some of your emotions, and you would only be able to live in winter. Do you think that kind of life would be good?”

“I didn’t blame him…”

Lady felt a strange sense of fear towards the other person and spoke softly to herself.

Yuuka shook her head slightly and didn't say anything more, instead turning her head to look out the window.