Part 69: Chapter 4S: The Perfect and Elegant Maid

...Remi, I'm coming in.

Ahh Patchy. Good morning.

My, you woke up early. It's barely the evening.

Mmhmm~. It happens every so often. Anyway, why are you here?

I'm not sure if you've heard about it yet, but... Yuuka wants Sakuya to join her when she leaves. Did you know about it?



Yuuka is not one for secrecy.

I see, I suppose there was no need to dance around the subject then.

What has Sakuya said about it?

She still seems confused. To be fair, it was rather sudden.

...Hmm.



You must be joking. A master should never owe her servant a favor.

Would you really be fine if it happens? You like Sakuya a lot yourself.

Indeed I do. Seeing how that girl gets on in Gensoko has been my latest source of fun. That's why I've entrusted the choice to Sakuya. It's boring if everything's decided by you already, don't you think?

...If that's how you see it, then I have nothing more to say. I hope you don't end up regretting it. I'm not going to be listening if you come to me crying.



She's my Sakuya after all!

Your character never changes even when you wake up early, I see.

Alright, who's ready for some Actually New Stuff?



Sakuya's route does actually have some unrecycled resources, it's just all crammed into chapter 4.

...Dianthuses are blooming here. One of the seven autumn flowers... But there does not seem to be rice around. And these footprints... I suppose they are from a deer. They could not be from a horse, surely...

(Sakuya is the worst at relaxing.)

...

*sigh* I came here to take a walk as recreation, but it has not worked at all.



Oh goodie, we're finally reached the point where Sakuya actually takes the time to think about this.

...want to...

...?

...huh.

Did I just hear someone talking? It seems to be coming from this direction...

The scene shifts to a nearby spot.



Mrs. New Character here was introduced in Touhou 9, which involved a ton of flowers. That's probably why this pre-chapter dialogue keeps bringing them up.

It's already the season for that, huh? It looks so elegant. Ooh, this maple tree looks amazing too. The wonders of nature...

...

Ohh, a girl in western clothing? The late summer brings strange things with it.

...Who are you, and what are you doing here?

I prefer to field one question at a time.



A shinigami is essentially the japanese equivalent of the Grim Reaper. Also, since typing out "Mysterious Shinigami" over and over again would get ridiculous, I'll just reveal her name: Komachi Onozuka.

Shinigami...?

That's what I said. I'm not here to take your life though. That isn't really my job to begin with anyway.

Komachi's job is to ferry souls across the Sanzu River. Remember that.

...I see. I am not learned about such things. Still, you are quite the refined shinigami to be observing the wildflowers around.

Oh, I'm nothing that outrageous. I couldn't tell a good flower from a bad one. The lingering summer heat was fierce at my post. So I came here for a bit to cool off.

...You must have quite the freedom to be able to neglect your duties at will.

She doesn't.

Hey, don't say that. What are you doing here any...



...? Whatever the matter may be, I shall be excusing myself now.

No, you can start over. You have to re-think it!

...Huh?

I know already, you've come here with such an empty look on your face... Look, whatever the problem is, I'm sure it's not worth it. Those who commit suicide aren't qualified to cross the Sanzu River. You should enjoy your life while it lasts.



You've got to admit that coming to Youkai Mountain in the middle of the night is a pretty dumb thing to do.

I know the value of life very well, thank you.

Ah, was I wrong? What're you doing here then?

Just having a stroll... and thinking to myself.

Huh. You want to do something like that? I think you've chosen the wrong place and the wrong time.

The wrong place and time...?

Yep. Dusk is the time of evil spirits. You encounter ghosts and youkai more often during that period. Especially here, which houses some pretty mean ghosts. You might get drawn in and killed.

...That is quite a melancholic reason. If you know they are around here, why are you here yourself?

...To be honest, I'm here specifically for those ghosts. They're pretty dangerous, so I'd rather not get you involved...

Which is why you were idling about looking at the scenery instead of doing some exorcism.



...!

...Guess we talked too long. They're coming out in droves.

...

...



Sounds about right. You look pretty capable, lend me a hand!



...



At this point, I do not have a choice. After all...

...

...Even if I refused, I would not imagine they would allow me to escape.

Yep, they're no ordinary ghosts. They're a dangerous group called "vengeful spirits".

Vengeful spirits?



Gee, wasn't that somebody's job?

So they wander alone, feeling nothing but resentment. If you're not careful, you'll be haunted by feelings of resentment as well. Watch out for yourself.

I see, so that is why you said it was dangerous... Sending these ghosts to the Netherworld is a shinigami's job, correct?

Oh, er, this is sort of a hobby of mine. It would be dull just enjoying the cool evening, right?

...It still does not change the fact that you are shirking your duties.

Well, if we go about this badly, it'll be even more tiring than work. Best not to underestimate them.

All right, let's begin the evening of vengeful spirit hunting!



Like the rest of Sakuya's route, this chapter is nothing special.



Nice background though.



Komachi is the final playable character in FMW E, and honestly she's pretty bad. She'll be seeing around 85% hit rates on average if she doesn't cast Strike. She's got something to make up for that though.



My pair of characters will be splitting up to make getting the Bonus easier.



Komachi is the only unit in enemy attack range at the moment.

All right, it's time for you all to leave this corrupt world. I'll give you enough of a fight so that you won't have any regrets.

Remember when I said that Komachi had something that balanced her flaws as a unit?

Music: Price of Life

Well that something is the best music in the game.

NO YOU ALL SHUT UP THIS IS THE BEST SONG.



Komachi has a fun ability.



She can manipulate distance.



So her best attack has her eliminate the space between her and the target so she can slash them.



Unfortunately, Komachi won't be killing anything without a critical. She's a ferrywoman, not a grim reaper.



And as I mentioned, iffy hit rates.



...What is that one doing? It seems to be staring at me.

Ooh, it really is. Looks like it's more interested in you than me. From what I can sense... They're hateful towards humans.

Hateful towards humans...?

Yeah, especially the one far in. I'm sensing really strong feelings from it. I can't tell too much about them unless I get close... But that one's definitely the boss.

...I see. Would it be possible to defeat just that one, then?

I don't think we can be lazy about this.



Sakuya can snore through this chapter.

If I go back all beaten and bruised, what would Meiling say... In that case, I will have to go all out now.



Which is good because otherwise Komachi would have to burn SP healing both her and Sakuya.



Komachi's other attack is a poorly animated slash with the scythe. And by that I mean she doesn't even slash, the sprite just runs up to the enemy and a slash effect plays. Look at Yuuka's attack video for an example, Parasol is the same thing.



Turn 2's enemy phase featured Komachi getting hit and Sakuya dodging.



Only one cast of Trust left, and Komachi will probably need that one too.



Exorcism continues at a steady clip.



Here are the spirits, if you were curious. Nothing dangerous about them at all.



Enemy phase sees the second death of three more spirits. I'd say we're about two-thirds done with the chapter at this point.



Oh, and Sakuya got a level. And a Bomb.



On turn 4, Sakuya can just barely snipe a spirit,



But Komachi can't reach anything.



She makes up for it by dodging a 90% and landing a critical on a 71%.



This will probably be the final level up of the LP.



I'm on the home stretch.



Komachi heals and drops the bomb,



and (after casting her last Focus of the chapter) Sakuya gets the first attack in.

...

This is the vengeful spirit that you said was especially malicious, correct?

Yep. It isn't moving at all, so it's probably a restligeist who died here.

A restligeist? So it's a ghost with a lingering attachment to this place?

Right. It undoubtedly met its end here. It came here to end its life, or it was chased out from its home. It'll probably be something like that.



Whoa there, don't feel sympathetic for it. Its feelings of resentment might envelop you. You can be interested in it all you like after it's down.

...All right. I shall keep my guard up.



The red spirit is a complete joke of a boss.



Seriously, two attacks in and it's already almost dead.



Komachi politely refrains from getting a critical on her counter,



letting Sakuya get a free finisher in. Well, free if you don't count the MP cost.







...This should finish it.

Yep, that should be about it. It should quiet down a bit now.

You were saying that it was a restligeist...?

That thing? It was a pretty seasoned ghost. It seems it was a therianthrope while it was alive.

A therianthrope...



Correct. The village where it was born had no other therianthropes. Some villagers could not get used to it, so it left the village...

So it was alone in the village...

Well, it's a fairly common occurrence. Anyway, it then wandered aimlessly. Soon after, it collapse, and died with a grudge against the village's humans.



As far as ways to tell someone to stay home go, "you will wander aimlessly for the rest of your life and die hating everything" is pretty extreme. Of course Komachi has no idea about Sakuya's situation, but still.

...

All right, you must be tired from holding a grudge for so long. You can rest well now.



The red spirit dies.



And this game's final chapter ends.

------

I'll be skipping the intermission menu for this chapter, so I'll just post Komachi's character write-up here.

Komachi Onozuka

Initial Stats - Level 20 Stats


Personality: Easy-going (Evade: +1 Power, Kill: +5 Power, Get Hit: +1 Power, Miss: +3 Power)

Character Skill: Parry Lvl 2-3 [Levels up at level 20]

Spirits: Strike [20 SP], Mercy [10 SP], Trust [25 SP]

Komachi is mediocre. She's decently strong and packing a lot of HP, but her accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. Awesome music though.

In FMW2, Komachi fulfills a valuable niche role in the first half of the game due to having an attack with a S rank in water, but aside from that all she really has going for her is her first WP skill, which grants her infinite range for two attacks.

With that over with, here are Komachi's attacks! These are from FMW P, where the animations weren't phoned in. And speaking of the sequel, its OST (which is now available for purchase!) had a special arrange of Price of Life.

------

Good evening, everyone! It is time for All Night FMW!

First of all, you listeners out there! You are drinking tea thinking that it is okay, right? You will not be able to sleep tonight because of it, you know~?

So for listeners like you, your punishment is to listen to Akyun here tonight~!

Okay, let us get started with the postcards on All Night FMW with your host, Akyun!

"I listen to All Night FMW every day. I'm a big fan of Akyun especially."

Why, thank you very much~.

"I have a question about that. Does Akyun have a boyfriend? If not, I'm available!"

Hmm, that is not very easy to answer so suddenly. You see, Akyun is really busy with Gensokyo Chronicles work. So Akyun has no time for love.

Buuuuut! Maybe, just maybe! Maybe there is a wonderful person out there who will make Akyun's heart go all aflutter? Maybe there will be, so keep tuning in to our radio station to find out!

So here is the first song to you listeners, it is "Descent ~ A Crisis Draws Near"!

...Please accept my feelings, everyone!