"Meet me back here in two hours," she says. "I'll take care of what we need for the mansion."

With that, Sakuya vanishes, leaving Grey at the center of the Human Village.

Unlike most of Gensokyo, the village's inhabitants are primarily human, though he can see several youkai walking around as well. The place is known as the safest place in Gensokyo for humans, and those who come from the Outside often find their way here. It seems to be far more crowded than he expected, perhaps due to a larger influx of Outsiders during recent times.

Grey pauses to think. He still can't explain why he has knowledge of Gensokyo, but he knows that it can really come in handy.

[ ] Try to find Keine's school. As the Village guardian, she would know much about recent news concerning the village.
[ ] Try to find Akyu's house. The author of the Gensokyo Chronicle is a vast well of knowledge and wisdom.
[ ] Try to find Reisen. The lunarians have dealings with the village, and she might be selling medicine today.
[ ] Go window shopping. Too bad you don't have any money.
[ ] Wander aimlessly. Perhaps you'll bump into something interesting.
[ ] Custom

"W-what is this for? You don't give your enemy only weapon, you must be crazy or just plain stupid!" Sakuya says.

"..."

"I don't need this to kill you, you know that."

"Let's just say I'm a coward, and I'm afraid of dying painfully." Grey says.

"Don't think I won't kill you. I just can't risk anything like that happening again."

The knife disappears from her hand. She takes the gun in both hands and points it at Grey.

"I am r-r-really going to enjoy this," she says.

Her hands are shuddering violently as she struggles to aim.

"Any last requests?" she asks.

She manages a menacing grin as she finally managed to steady her arms. At this range, she can't possibly miss.

"Thank Remilia for me," Grey says.

He closes his eyes as he waits for her to shoot.

Remilia. She was always difficult to understand. Sometimes childish and sometimes crafty, she acted as if she was some grand pupeteer, pulling the strings from behind. But despite that, she believed in him from the start, even when he couldn't believe in himself. He wonders how things would have turned out if he spent more time with her. Perhaps he would learn to see through her cryptic words and find something more.

Flandre. The little sister scared him from the very beginning, and even now she still scares him. Her sheer destructive power is a natural thing to fear. But meeting her in person, he somehow feels that she is very different from the person he heard about. She still speaks and acts in an odd manner, but she is starting to understand the value of things that can't be "unbroken". Perhaps he could teach her more, if he had a chance.

Patchouli. The first person he met in the mansion. Intelligent, but a little clumsy, perhaps he can thank her for surviving his first night in Gensokyo. She showed unexpected kindness to a stranger she only met a few days ago. She even saved his life. Even if she spends most of her time in the Voile Library, he has no doubt that she would help him if he asked. Perhaps he should try to repay her kindness next time.

Koakuma. She was the most understanding and selfless. Despite her claims that it was her mistress' orders, it was obvious that she was going out of her way to help him. She trusted him when he found the most suspicious of things, and she fought by his side when it came to battle. If there was someone he could count on, even against the others, it would be her. Perhaps he shouldn't forget his promises next time.

He pauses as he realizes how long he has been reflecting on the last few days. Shouldn't he be shot yet?

He opens his eyes to see that Sakuya has lowered her arms. She is still holding the pistol in her right hand. He can't see the expression on her face clearly, but was she...

In the next moment, Sakuya vanishes. He blinks. He feels something heavy fall into his holster.

"If you don't hurry up, I'm going to leave you. It's a long way to the village, you know."

He turns around to see that Sakuya is already several yards away. She pauses and turns her face toward him, revealing a confident smile.

"We have a lot of work waiting for us back at the mansion. Don't think you can slack off just because you're an Outsider."

Loading User Commands:
[X] "I didn't come to ask about anything. I just felt like walking with you."

---

"I didn't come to ask about anything. I just felt like walking with you." Grey says.

Sakuya stops walking.

"S-stop it," she says.

Grey also stops walking and turns around. Sakuya is several steps behind him. She looks vexed.

"It's not funny anymore, so just stop it!" she shouts suddenly.

"..."

"I-I know what you're doing! You're trying to catch me with my guard down!"

"Huh?"

"Just like that time..."

Sakuya hangs her head down. Grey can't see the expression on her face.

"He was nice to me. He was nice to everyone. He was almost like family.."

She hold her hands over her chest.

"If only things were a bit different, then maybe..."

She clenches her fists.

"Maybe we would. And then perhaps. But then..."

She shudders.

"Maybe... I would be the one with a chest scar instead!"

Sakuya's eyes narrow as she gives Grey a dark look.

"He betrayed her, after everything she did. And to think I almost..."

Suddenly, a knife appears in her right hand.

"I won't let Lady Remilia get hurt again!"

Grey watches Sakuya silently. Her legs are shaking and her body isn't in a proper attack stance. Her hand is shuddering as she struggles to hold on to her knife. Her eyes show defiance, but her lips betray hesitation. They stand still in silence for a moment. It can't have been longer than a minute, but it felt like eternity.

Present and Past. Calm and Violence. Holy and Damned. Joy and Sadness. Courage and Fear. Faith and Despair. Trust and Betrayal. Life and Death.

Grey looks into her eyes and finally sees it. She seems cold, but she is gentle. She seems heartless, but she is warm. She seems silent, but she has so much to say. She seems confident, but she is alone. She seems reliable, but she needs others too. And she knows it.

He takes the pistol from under his jacket and checks the magazine. It still has more than half a clip left. He tosses it over to Sakuya, who catches it by reflex.

She gives him a puzzled look.

"Kill me."

[X] Inventory
A few pieces of blank stationary. You'll need something to write with, first.
A pair of police handcuffs and keys. Heavy-duty.
Three small candles. You'll need some matches.
Remilia's letter. You read it earlier this morning.
Mauser C96. Early semi-automatic pistol. You have two unused magazines for reloading.

[X] Status
Patchouli - C
Koakuma - B
Remilia - C
Sakuya - B
Flandre - C
Meiling - D

Loading User Commands:
[X] "I'd like to take a walk with you. Do you plan to visit the Human Village?"

---

"I'd like to take a walk with you. Do you plan to visit the Human Village?" Grey asks.

Sakuya gives him a little smile.

"In fact, I have to go there to order some materials. The stock we have isn't enough to finish the repairs," she says.

"Sounds good. I'd like to see village myself, and I can't ask for better company."

"Stop being stupid." she says as she turns away quickly. "Anyway, meet me at the lobby in fifteen minutes. I have to leave instructions with Meiling and the others."

She closes the door behind her before he can say more.

"Hmm, the village," he mutters. He knows that some friendly youkai live with the humans there. He may learn something from Keine or Mokou. He might also meet some other youkai visiting the village. But some of those youkai may not be so friendly. Grey takes two fresh clips from his cabinet and places them in his coat pocket. He also makes sure that the gun isn't visible.

"Just in case," he tells himself.

Twenty minutes later, Grey finds himself walking side by side with Sakuya. The path is straightforward, so he pays little attention to it.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" she asks suddenly.

"Huh?"

"You wanted to talk to me about something, didn't you? Why else would you ask to walk with me?"

Grey pauses to think.

[ ] "I'd like to hear more about the Human Village."
[ ] "I'd like to know more about you."
[ ] "I'd like to hear more about..." (Specify.)
[ ] "I didn't come to ask about anything. I just felt like walking with you."
[ ] Custom

Loading User Commands:
[X] Go with the fairy maids. Meiling goes with Flandre.

---

Grey lies on his back and stares at the ceiling. They were able to drive off the youkai hornets only two hours ago.

After they finished clearing every room of vermin, the fairy maids said they would handle the cleaning and repairs. Flandre returned to her room to go back to sleep, as expected. According to Koakuma, Patchouli returned to her room to recover. Koakuma stayed at the library with a few fairy maids to help with repairs. Meiling stayed outside and supervised the cleanup of the grounds.

Grey sighs. Everyone insisted that he take a break, since he is a guest. But even after a bath, he still doesn't feel relaxed.

There are still many questions left unanswered.

A knock on the door interrupts his thoughts. He gets up from his bed and opens the door.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you."

Grey shakes his head as he offers Sakuya a seat.

"I heard everything from Meiling and the maids. I have to say that you continue to surprise me," she says.

"Can't just watch while the mansion gets trashed, can I?" Grey says.

Sakuya nods.

"Thanks to your help, casualties and damages were greatly minimized. You've impressed everyone in the mansion. Even me."

Grey opens his mouth, but he finds that he has nothing to say.

"I-I-I mean you impressed me for an ordinary human. Don't misunderstand it," she says with a stern expression, though her cheeks have a light tinge of pink.

"It's enough to receive any sort of praise from the chief maid," Grey says with a bow.

Sakuya gives Grey a sharp tap on the head.

"Don't make fun of me."

"I wasn't trying to make a joke. Coming from you, those words really mean a lot."

Sakuya clears her throat.

"A-a-anyway, Lady Remilia told me to say thank you in her place, since she had to return to her room to rest."

"I'm sure she had a long day," Grey says.

"Yes. She only had time to check on her little sister before heading to bed."

"Flandre seemed to enjoy the day."

"I suppose that's true, though the damage she caused was pretty bad. It'll be a while till we finish the repairs."

Sakuya sighs.

"Anyway, that's all I came here to tell you. Now if you excuse me..."

"Wait a moment!"

Sakuya pauses.

[ ] "Would you like to have some tea with me this afternoon?"
[ ] "May I offer to cook you something for lunch?"
[ ] "I'd like to take a walk with you. Do you plan to visit the Human Village?"
[ ] "Need some help with anything?"
[ ] "Can we talk about something else?" (Specify)
[ ] "Nothing, never mind."

Loading User Commands:
[X] Slowly sweep through each room as you retreat. The other fairy maids may need help.

---

"We have barricaded the front door as you instructed, Master Grey. They won't be able to break in from this side."

"Good work," Grey says, "but don't call me Master. Just Grey will do."

"O-of course, Ma-er, Grey," the fairy says, blushing.

Grey turns to the fairy maids.

"Alright, we're going to sweep through every room as we clear the mansion of this vermin. No one gets left behind."

The fairies cheer as Grey leads them forward. In the next few minutes, they systematically clear the rooms in the west wing of the mansion. They manage to rescue several more fairy maids, increasing their own ranks, but in some rooms, they find only bloody corpses. The youkai hornets can't fight well in enclosed spaces, and they prove to be easy to exterminate indoors. For some reason, they don't seem to be as organized as during the initial attack.

"This doesn't feel right," Grey says.

It almost seems like they are acting as some sort of diversion. Grey continues leading the fairy maids, but sweeping the rooms is time-consuming. He can't afford to rush them forward, as they might get confused. He sighs as they approach the east wing; this the most he can do, for now.

As they near a corner, they stop as a sudden flash of red light fills the room, blinding them. This is followed by a deep rumbling that seems to shake the foundations of the mansion. Grey strains his eyes as they readjust to normal light. A small winged figure is walking toward them, her eyes burning a fiery crimson.

"Flandre?"

Grey grunts as something red quickly knocks him to the ground. His head spins as he tries to sit up. As his vision clears, he sees Flandre clinging to him in an embrace. She is shaking uncontrollably. Grey waits for her to calm down, stroking her silky blonde hair gently. He never thought that this girl would be so vulnerable. He senses a foreign, but not entirely unpleasant odor coming from her, like some kind of perfume. He shakes his head to quickly prevent that line of thought from going any further.

"B-big sis, where is big sis?" she whispers finally.

"Sakuya and Lady Remilia are at the Hakurei Shrine, don't worry. And I'm sure Patchouli and the others can take care of themselves." he says.

Flandre sighs in relief. She stops shaking, but stays a few more moments in Grey's arms before standing up. She smiles brightly at Grey, with no trace of sadness, nor hesitation in her voice.

"I'm in charge then!" she says. "Now tell me what's going on? I went up to see if big sis was having some loud party again, and all I find are these dirty bugs. Their bites really itch, so I roasted them. They probably don't taste as good as roast potatoes though."

"Nothing that the little sister should worry about, we are just taking care of some pests," Grey says as he reloads his pistol. "Perhaps you would like to join us? You can think of this as a kind of game. I expect these bugs are good for danmaku practice."

Flandre's eyes light up. The fairy maids shudder at this, as if they've seen that expression before.

"Try to hold back though. I'd hate for your sister to come home to a mess we can't clean up."

"Of course! The other one taught me a lot of things about that," Flandre says. "Some important things can easily break, and I don't know how to unbreak them. So I've been practicing how to play without breaking them. Did you know that if you play carefully, you can play with things more than once? Not like strawberries though, when you eat them you can't eat them again."

Grey looks at her thoughtfully. With her help, they can fend the attack off completely. He probably can't afford to leave her alone though. If they could meet up with either Meiling, Patchouli or Koakuma, he can probably split the group into two groups. But before he can decide, a familiar figure in green flies toward them. Flandre perks up and waves at it.

"It's China! It's China!" she says.

Meiling smiles weakly at Flandre as she approaches. She doesn't look hurt, but she looks tired.

"Grey said I can join for danmaku practice!" Flandre says.

Meiling looks at Grey with puzzled expression. He just gives her a shrug and a polite smile.

"I see you've organized the fairies. We should split into two groups to clear the area faster. I can probably go with the maids or with Flandre," Meiling says.

Grey nods. Flandre can't be left alone with the maids, that is certain.

[ ] Go with the fairy maids. Meiling goes with Flandre.
[ ] Go with Flandre. Meiling goes with the fairy maids.