"Master, someone is here to see you." After sleeping for who knew how long, Chu Lian heard a girl's voice beside her. She opened her eyes and looked at her blearily before asking softly, "Luoying, who came to see me?"
"Your younger sister, Miss Chu Chu." Luoying bit her lower lip, clearly reluctant to see Chu Lian leave. But she also understood that in the end, they were merely subordinates, unlike Chu Chu, who was family. The chances of keeping Chu Lian here were extremely low.
And in truth, that was exactly the case. Although Chu Lian cared deeply about them, she cared even more about Chu Chu and the others close to her. If forced to choose between them and Chu Chu, Chu Lian would only choose the latter.
"Is that so?" Following the direction Luoying pointed, Chu Lian saw Chu Chu curiously fiddling with one of the machines. She shook her head and revealed an indulgent smile. "Chu Chu still hasn't grown up at all. She's as curious as a little kid. But that's fine. It only makes my abilities as her big sister stand out more."
"Hm? Big Sis, you're awake?" Chu Chu, who had been curiously examining things, noticed someone looking at her. Turning around and seeing that Chu Lian had awakened, she immediately skipped over happily and hugged one of her arms between her ample breasts.
"What's wrong?" Although Chu Chu loved playing Dreambound, she had absolutely no interest in the place where things like it were designed. If Chu Lian remembered correctly, this was only her second time coming here.
So unless something had happened, she would never have come over. But what could possibly have made her run over here to trouble Chu Lian?
"It's like this, Big Sis. A few guests came to the house, and they need you to deal with them. Mm... acquaintances." As Chu Chu spoke, her gaze wandered somewhat evasively. She probably knew that these so-called acquaintances were not exactly very friendly toward Chu Lian.
If not for Mother's instructions, Chu Chu never would have accepted such a hot potato of a task. Who knew whether Big Sis, after getting bullied, might vent her anger on her instead?
Although Chu Lian had never truly lost her temper even once, a tsundere Big Sis was even harder to predict.
Of course, if Chu Lian wanted to vent on Chu Chu privately in bed, then no matter what position, pose, or method she used, Chu Chu would be more than happy to cooperate. Unfortunately, Chu Chu knew Chu Lian far too well. Big Sis would never give her that sort of benefit. The most likely outcome was that Chu Lian would simply beat her up.
Being invincible among opponents of the same rank was no empty boast. Even Yaya, that monstrously strong girl, would be beaten one-sidedly by Big Sis whenever she lowered her strength to Chu Chu's level, much less Chu Chu herself.
"Acquaintances? Almost everyone I know here is already at home. Who else could it be?" The word acquaintances genuinely piqued Chu Lian's curiosity.
During the year she had spent in this world, although she had gone out to complete missions, most of her time had been spent either spacing out or muddling through life without really knowing what she was doing.
As for friends, the former "Chu Lian" had been extremely popular, but perhaps precisely because she had been too popular, very few people had dared approach her. As a result, she had not had a single person she could truly call a close friend. At most, she had acquaintances she would nod to in passing.
Things became even more extreme after Chu Lian herself took over. If not for that attack, when something had happened to her parents and made her realize that there were still people in this world she needed to care about, she probably would not have so many friends even now.
Mm. I've always wondered how Mother and Father, who could practically run rampant through this world and were almost godlike or immortal figures, somehow ended up seriously injured in some inexplicable attack.
After learning about her parents' strength and fragments of their past, that incident had become the greatest mystery in Chu Lian's heart.
As for the acquaintances Chu Chu mentioned, they were probably girls like Cai Ya, Liu Yanran, Li Xiu'er, Lux, Ruriko Nana, Kurosaki Satsuki, and the others, right? Beyond them, there were only some classmates from school, the veteran members of the "First Love Alliance," people from Fantasy Entertainment, Zhao Ziming, and a handful of miscellaneous acquaintances.
But would any of those people come looking for her at this hour? Chu Lian did not believe so. After all, it was already close to eight in the evening.
"Who is it? Can you tell me?" Chu Lian tidied herself up, then followed Chu Chu out of the research institute beneath the reluctant gazes of the monster girls.
Only after the door behind them quietly closed did Chu Chu say a name. "Yukari Yakumo. Sister Yukari."
"Huh? Why is she here? Who else came with her?" Chu Lian was stunned. Why had Mama Yukari come... Uh, no, she meant, why did Yukari suddenly have the time to come over by herself? Chu Lian had clearly never given her the coordinates...
I never gave her the coordinates... never gave her the coordinates... never gave her the coordinates...
As that thought echoed through her mind, Chu Lian finally understood. Yukari Yakumo had already marked her house with Chu Lian's unique aura. Whenever she wanted to come over, all she had to do was sense it.
In other words, as long as Chu Lian lived here, she would never be able to escape Yukari Yakumo's clutches?
Chu Lian knew perfectly well that Yukari had the erotic doujin artbooks and doujinshi Chu Lian had sold her. She had even been threatened into agreeing to sell doujinshi featuring herself in the Origin Land.
The former could land her in a situation where every woman in Gensokyo hunted her down, while the latter would permanently cement her reputation as the Doujin Queen. She wanted neither of those things to happen. Absolutely neither.
That was why Yukari Yakumo had practically become the number-one taboo in Chu Lian's heart. Hearing her name naturally left Chu Lian feeling dazed.
I'm finished. She couldn't have come to settle accounts, could she? Chu Chu said she wasn't the only one here. How many people did she gap over this time? Why are you so practiced at coming here?!
Her heart trembled, but outwardly she could not display weakness in front of her little sister, Chu Chu. Otherwise, she would have no dignity left at all—although if dignity was measured by bust size, she had lost that long ago.
"I don't know either. Anyway, she came with a busty older woman in a blue kimono, a pretty big sister wearing a red-and-white shrine maiden outfit with exposed armpits, and a silver-haired maid in a blue maid uniform..." Chu Chu thought for a moment, then described the few people she had seen.
With every person Chu Chu described, Chu Lian's heart sank a little farther. The thousand-year-old group from Gensokyo was all here, someone from the Scarlet Devil Mansion had come too, and most importantly, even Reimu Hakurei—the enforcer of Gensokyo... no, she meant the shrine maiden—had shown up. Just what was going on?
"Chu Chu, did they have any strange expressions when they arrived?" Chu Lian was getting nervous. She could practically foresee what sort of fate awaited her in a moment. But since things had already reached this point, being afraid would not help.
"No. Sister Yukari looked very calm. I don't know the others, but they didn't have any special expressions either. They didn't seem like they came to demand an explanation. Big Sis, why are you so nervous? Did you provoke them somehow?" Chu Chu carefully thought it over and could not remember anything unusual. In the end, she voiced her doubts about Chu Lian's behavior. Big Sis was always causing trouble somewhere. Had she really done nothing wrong this time?
I swear I'll never sell Touhou doujinshi again. No, I won't sell doujinshi at all! If I'm going to sell something, I'll sell original works. I refuse to believe someone from a hentai anime or doujin world would become a Spacetime Traveling Merchant!
As for the subtle matter of how most of the characters in that "Daio's Foot-Fetish Doujin" she had sold in the Origin Land last time were various Touhou lolis, she had long since forgotten about that. In Daio's art style, every face looked the same anyway. Without distinctive character traits, it was practically impossible to recognize anyone. Even if the doujinshi were sold and later discovered, resulting in someone beating her to death...
"You're overthinking it. Is your big sister really that kind of person?" There was no way Chu Lian would admit to the mistakes she had made. Otherwise, they would laugh at her forever afterward. Absolutely unacceptable.
"I knew Big Sis wasn't like that." Chu Chu clasped her hands beside her cheek and smiled sweetly. As for what she was actually thinking, only she herself knew.
"We're here..." Turning down the staircase, Chu Lian looked at the various famous paintings hanging on the walls. She had once thought they were replicas, but now she could confirm they were all genuine. Unfortunately, distracting herself with thoughts like these did nothing to calm her violently pounding heart. This feeling of nervousness was simply unbearable.
"Hi, Sister Yukari! Why are you here again?" Chu Lian greeted her cheerfully, temporarily ignoring Yuyuko Saigyouji, Reimu Hakurei, and Sakuya Izayoi, who were sitting beside her drinking tea. First she needed to deal with the final boss in front of her. The others could come afterward.
"I came to see you. What, am I not welcome?" Yukari Yakumo took a delicate sip of tea, then raised her head. Her golden eyes settled on Chu Lian as she spoke with obvious amusement.
While internally complaining about Yukari's habit of changing her eye color whenever she went out, Chu Lian obediently replied, "Of course not. You're very welcome." Seeing Mom sitting nearby, she also greeted her. "Good evening, Mom. Is something going on?"
"No. Since you're already downstairs, I'll leave things here to you. They won't disturb you for the time being, so don't worry." As Li Mingxue spoke, she clapped her hands. Lilith and Tina, who had been busy in the kitchen, immediately carried out a large pile of food and placed it on the now-cleared crystal coffee table for the guests.
She had prepared quite a lot of food. If no one urgently needed to replenish energy by eating, it would have been enough to last them through an entire night of conversation. Unfortunately, she did not know that one of the three legendary female gluttons of the ACG world, Yuyuko Saigyouji, was sitting right here.
Who are the other two? Why would you ask such a suicidal question? Fine, since you want to know, I'll tell you. One is Artoria, Saber from the Fate series. The other is...
That one really can't be said. If I say it, the Xyrin army will flatten this place in the very next second. Absolutely can't say it!
While furiously ranting to herself, Chu Lian nevertheless smiled as she saw the three of them off. Then she sat down in the now-empty armchair Li Mingxue had vacated and looked at the girls before straightening her expression and asking seriously, "All right. Why did everyone come here?"
"Because of something very important." Seeing that only their group remained, Yukari Yakumo stopped avoiding the subject. She set down her teacup, looked at Chu Lian, and spoke solemnly.
That answer immediately made Chu Lian intensely curious. Just what could it be?