Yukari took out an envelope and handed it to Ran.
Ran didn't ask any questions, simply nodded, and soon left the room.
The door closed again. The calm expression Yukari had maintained finally cracked, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
"It's been so long since we last met, I feel a bit embarrassed. What was that word again... 'Otousan'? It's been too long, I'm getting rusty."
"Giggle I wonder what expression Yuuka would make if she found out. Probably pick a violent fight with him, right?"
Eientei.
Princess Kaguya, who had stayed up for three days and nights, was asleep. The one responsible for receiving Ran was the moon rabbit, Reisen.
Ran was led by Reisen to Eirin Yagokoro, who was mixing medicines.
Ran handed the envelope to Eirin Yagokoro and said, "Yukari-sama asked me to deliver this letter to Kaguya-sama."
"Is that so? I understand. You may return and report your mission completed. I will deliver the letter to Her Highness," Eirin said flatly.
Ran wasn't surprised. Yukari had once fought this person, so it was natural she wouldn't be warmly received.
After bowing and taking her leave, Eirin took the letter to Kaguya's room.
Sliding the door open, sunlight streamed into the dark room, immediately startling the sleeping girl.
"Mmm, the light is so bright! Eirin, close the door quickly!"
Eirin's expression remained unchanged as she calmly glanced at the princess curled up under the covers.
"Your Highness, you are the child of that one. Such strong light cannot possibly hurt your eyes."
Princess Kaguya poked her head out from under the covers, her face woeful, "Says who? Look, my eyes are perfectly normal! See, they're tearing up from the light now!"
Eirin watched her princess's antics quietly, ignoring her protests, and simply pulled her out of the bedding.
"This is a letter from Yakumo Yukari for you."
"A letter from Yakumo Yukari for me?" Princess Kaguya was startled and quickly sat up, taking the envelope. Normally, they had no interaction with Yakumo Yukari's group.
'If Yakumo Yukari was sending her a letter, it could only mean...'
Eirin had already guessed the situation, so she didn't disturb the princess further. She turned on the light for her, silently closed the door, and withdrew.
She prepared to return to the medicine preparation room, but couldn't help feeling a stir of excitement inside. A ripple crossed her typically placid face.
'Could it be... Him? If so, then She must have appeared as well.'
Having left Gensokyo, Yusei sat on Tohru's back, comforting her.
As an apocalyptic dragon, not being able to destroy anything this time left Tohru quite frustrated and a little unhappy.
Fortunately, Tohru was simple-minded. A head scratch from Yusei made her forget all about it.
Especially upon hearing Yusei say he wanted to eat her cooking, Tohru flew back at full power, eager to prepare a delicious feast for him quickly.
It's worth mentioning that Tohru's tail was the kind that automatically fell off and regrew, so she felt no pain.
On the contrary, shedding her tail made her healthier and stronger.
This was evident from how she occasionally ate her own tail.
With one month left until the second [Path to Godhood] mission, and Yukari taking care of Hina, Yusei was no longer in such a hurry.
As for the [Heaven], Yusei decided to leave it for now.
Because Yusei intended for this [Heaven] to become nourishment… nourishment for Athena.
Athena's 'mother', Metis, possessed the ability to devour the Sky, a power born from her resentment towards Zeus. Athena had not inherited this conceptually.
However, conceptually, Athena is Metis's daughter. In principle, the Earth, upon reaching sufficient strength, could devour the Sky.
Athena wasn't capable of that yet. So Yusei planned to wait until Athena grew stronger again, then have her devour the Sky.
The poor [Heaven] remained unaware it had been chosen as a prime nutrient source.
Yusei, Tohru, and Athena returned home.
Yui, holding the little fox Hong Hong, immediately rushed up to them. Seeing only three people return, she asked curiously, "Papa, why didn't Hina-nee come back with you?"
Yusei picked Yui up, gave her forehead a firm kiss, making her giggle.
"Your Hina-nee is receiving treatment and won't be back for a while. So, what were you and Hong Hong playing?"
Hearing this, Yui's childish excitement surfaced, "Hong Hong and I were playing chess! She can't beat me! Hehe!"
The little fox jumped onto the nearby sofa, looking somewhat sourly at Yui, "I'm not good at chess!"
Seeing the longing in the little fox's big eyes, Yusei found it amusing. He put Yui down, sat on the sofa, and placed the little fox in his lap for a proper petting session.
"If you want a hug, just say so."
Hong Hong, who had been enjoying the attention, immediately bristled at Yusei's teasing words and jumped out of his lap.
"W-who wants a hug?! Don't treat me like a child! Hmph!" The proud Mount Tu's fox ran off directly, slipping into the room she shared with Yui.
Yui giggled and ran after her to play with the little fox, Hong Hong.
Yusei let out a long sigh, 'Not knowing the proper way to raise a fox spirit was indeed difficult. Who knew when this little one would grow into the proud Queen of Mount Tu?'
'Only at that stage could this pet truly function as a summon in battle.'
But honestly, it didn't matter much. Yusei felt that if he ever had to rely on a summoned creature to fight, then his own end was probably near.
After all, he never depended on pets for combat.
Tohru and Athena went to prepare dinner. Yusei returned to his room, turned on his computer, and checked if Eriri had completed the tasks he commissioned to her.
After all, many of the colorful illustrations hadn't been input into the system yet, preventing him from proceeding with the remaining voice-acting steps.
The combat system and character moves also hadn't been tested, all of which required the character models.
Yusei handled the designs for the other antagonists and normal appearances himself, but the game he was making had an adult version.
Well, simply put, the combat system had two modes: normal battles, and... 'battle damage' leading to clothing destruction.
So, Erira's workload was quite heavy. He hoped she had been putting in overtime these past couple of days.