Reimu Likes Taking It Easy / Seryu Ubiquitous

Whatever I had done back in Singularity F, I could just do the same here.

Koizumi glanced at the three Command Seals on his hand and sighed. It was as if he had recalled the scene before he left.

Yakumo Yukari had helped him restore one Command Seal and slowly said, "Including me, you summoned three Servants this time. I have to remain here, so I'll leave the rest to all of you."

"Then this Command Seal..." Koizumi's face showed a trace of confusion.

This thing could be restored? If he remembered correctly, weren't these supposed to be extremely precious...?

"This Command Seal... Don't worry about using it. You recover one a day, so they're very cheap..."

Yakumo Yukari said it so casually that Koizumi felt utterly speechless.

The Command Seals that had seemed extraordinarily important in his suddenly acquired memories meant nothing in Yakumo Yukari's eyes. That was just... Forget it. Arguing with her over something like this would only make him seem overly dramatic.

"By the way, I read in some of Chaldea's books that very few Masters could form contracts with multiple Servants. So why can I? And I don't feel anything strange with my body at all. It's like forming a contract makes no difference whatsoever." Koizumi looked thoroughly confused.

Honestly, he did not even know what magecraft was. Why could he summon Servants? And as for the so-called magical energy within him, Koizumi could not sense it at all. Could it be that he was not a magus? Then why could he summon Servants? He could not make sense of any of it.

"If you can't figure it out, don't think too hard about it. You'll understand someday."

Yakumo Yukari gave him a mysterious smile and spoke slowly.

Koizumi looked at Yakumo Yukari in frustration. Did she really have to be so mysterious?

His thoughts returned to the present. Koizumi scratched his head, looked over the two storefronts again, and finally sighed.

"Master..." At that moment, a figure stepped out from the Hakurei Amulet Shop beside him.

She was a black-haired girl with an enormous bow on her head, the hair by her temples tied with ribbons. She wore a sleeveless shrine maiden outfit that exposed her shoulders and underarms, with a necktie over her chest. She was the kind of girl who could leave anyone stunned at first sight. Even Koizumi, who had already seen Yakumo Yukari's cute yet alluring charm, could not help brightening when he saw her.

"Aren't you tired of standing outside? Come in, sit down, and have some tea. How am I supposed to do business with you standing out there?"

Your real point was the last sentence, wasn't it...? Koizumi silently thought, knowing her personality.

Archer, Hakurei Reimu. That was the girl's Class and name.

According to Yakumo Yukari, if Hakurei Reimu had been summoned under the same Class as her, she would probably have been far more responsible than she was now.

Unfortunately, the Hakurei Reimu before him was undoubtedly the type with absolutely no sense of responsibility and far too much leisure.

She had no sense of crisis whatsoever. Supposedly, she was the most lacking in that quality among all Hakurei Shrine Maidens.

But Hakurei Shrine Maiden... That meant there were other Hakurei Shrine Maidens besides Reimu...

"If that little girl Akyuu were here, you'd probably understand us better."

That was what Yakumo Yukari had said after hearing Koizumi's question.

And who was Akyuu? Well... The more he interacted with them, the more questions Koizumi had.

Still, to be honest, Koizumi had been quite disappointed that he had not summoned the young mistress.

"Got it..." Koizumi replied and was about to head over when—

A pair of small hands grabbed him. Koizumi instinctively turned around and saw a petite girl with waist-length pink hair and equally pink eyes. Her face was exquisitely delicate, but regrettably, it bore no expression at all. She wore a dark green long-sleeved plaid shirt with a pink bow tie, along with four buttons of different colors and shapes.

From top to bottom, the buttons were a red star, a yellow circle, a green triangle, and a purple X. Her lower half was clad in a pink balloon skirt patterned with cutouts resembling emoticons. Her white ankle-length shoes were decorated with red and green ribbon bows.

"Master, don't go to that poor shrine maiden's place. Come to my shop."

The girl said this expressionlessly. At the same time, masks appeared around her. She picked one up, put it on her face, and aimed it at Reimu.

"You're actually trying to steal customers. Mmm~ This is an angry expression!"

Lancer, Hata no Kokoro. That was the Class and name of this unusual girl.

Reimu Likes Taking It Easy

After taking a sip of tea, Koizumi looked at the people outside the shop and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Reimu's brows furrowed slightly as she looked at Koizumi.

"If you sigh too much, you'll turn into an old man."

"I know..." Koizumi nodded, looking around Reimu's shop with a sigh in his heart.

"Guess that's Yukari for you. She could even recreate Ritsuka's Chaldea and somehow get money from this world too."

That was right. Koizumi originally had no money from this world, but Yukari had somehow obtained some.

That was why Reimu and the others had money to open shops. But—

At the mention of this, Reimu glared fiercely at Koizumi, her eyes filled with deep dissatisfaction.

"I'm saying this, Master: Yukari gave you money, and you didn't tell me?!"

"If I told you, that'd have been the end of it..." Koizumi rolled his eyes at Reimu. Though he had known her for less than a day, he had already come to understand how greedy she was. Just buying a cheaper storefront had led to her haggling endlessly with the seller. If Koizumi and Hata no Kokoro had not stopped her, Reimu would probably have pulled out the Yin-Yang Orb and smashed it into the seller's head.

"Besides, didn't all that money get wasted on buying shops anyway? Who told you and Kokoro to start competing over something like this?" Koizumi felt miserable as he said that. They should have been finding somewhere to rest, but he had casually suggested settling down in this world first. Then Hata no Kokoro said she could sell masks she made herself.

Hata no Kokoro was a tsukumogami formed from the masks used by Noh Performer Hata no Kawakatsu over countless years. She could make exceptional masks, and every mask she made housed a soul. So whenever she sold one, she would ask its owner to take good care of it. Of course, they probably would not understand what she meant.

Reimu said she could make amulets and similar things to ward off evil and keep them safe. Of course, Reimu might have only been saying it casually. Then... Hata no Kokoro had inadvertently called her a poor shrine maiden. It might have just been a jab—at least, based on Koizumi's understanding of Hata no Kokoro, she had probably said it without thinking—but it had made Reimu unhappy.

Since Hata no Kokoro wanted to sell masks, Reimu would sell amulets and see who could sell more.

That was how things had ended up like this. Before they had even spent a night at an inn, all their money had been used to buy storefronts.

Honestly, Koizumi just wanted to ask: were they children? Why were they so unwilling to let something so trivial go?

Thinking of that, Koizumi sighed again, drawing Hata no Kokoro's gaze.

The three of them were currently in the Hakurei Amulet Shop. Koizumi had dragged Hata no Kokoro here. She was very unhappy about it and had even put on a Hannya mask to glare at him, leaving Koizumi helpless.

Based on Koizumi's guess, she was probably angry. Fortunately, he was not so socially inept that he would fail to notice.

"All right, don't be angry, Kokoro. At worst, I'll go sit at your place later. Is that okay?"

Upon hearing Koizumi's words, the mask on Hata no Kokoro's face immediately changed into a woman's mask.

"It's a promise." Her calm tone made one wonder whether she had truly been angry just moments ago.

Perhaps changing her tone according to the expression represented by her mask was one of her abilities too, Koizumi silently thought.

"It's a promise."

Reimu glanced at Koizumi and Hata no Kokoro but did not concern herself with them. No, it would be more accurate to say that she had no interest in such matters. All she cared about was her Hakurei Shrine and her offering box.

"This is really relaxing~~~~~" Reimu took a sip of tea and sighed from the bottom of her heart.

Koizumi felt powerless at those words. Taking it easy was not a good thing. They still had a mission.

"Hey, hey, hey! Reimu, don't forget the important matter. We came to correct the distortion and retrieve the Holy Grail this time."

"Tch..." Reimu's cheek twitched slightly, and she felt extremely annoyed. If possible, she really did not want to deal with this sort of troublesome business. But that hateful Gap Youkai was watching from over there, so openly slacking off would not look good either.

Though it was for Gensokyo as well, taking on a huge headache like this was just...

"If possible, I really don't want to take on this huge headache. Couldn't you have summoned Marisa and the others? Why did you have to summon me?!" Reimu was extremely dissatisfied about being summoned.

Moreover, when she had first been summoned, she had not wanted to come along. But Yukari had forcibly dragged her over.

Reimu felt that Yukari had definitely had something to do with her being summoned.

"Wasn't summoning random? I heard it summons those with the highest compatibility with you..." Koizumi shut his mouth after saying that. He would never admit, even if beaten to death, that he had the best compatibility with such a lazy person.

"Mmm... This is a mask..." Hata no Kokoro suddenly seemed to remember something and produced a mask from nowhere.

Seeing Hata no Kokoro offer him a mask, Koizumi gladly accepted it.

However, seeing Hata no Kokoro's expressionless appearance, Koizumi wanted to tease her and see what kind of reaction she would show... Hmm, that was not a bad idea.

Thinking that, Koizumi revealed a meaningful expression and carefully examined the mask.

"This mask looks perfect at first glance, but on closer inspection, it's rather crude..."

In an instant, Hata no Kokoro changed into a Hannya mask, displaying her anger toward Koizumi.

"I worked very hard to make it..."

"How boring..." Seeing Koizumi tease her, Reimu curled her lip and continued drinking her tea.

For her, living such a leisurely life was exactly what she wanted most. She did not want to bother with anything else.

"Mm... You really did work hard on it. I can tell..."

Seeing that she was angry, Koizumi bitterly smiled to himself. She really got angry easily. Just like a child...

But then again... Koizumi looked over Reimu and Hata no Kokoro, and the corner of his mouth twitched violently.

He had never expected Hata no Kokoro to be taller than Reimu. Was this a joke?

According to Hata no Kokoro herself, she was about 158 centimeters tall, while Reimu was only 156 centimeters. Hata no Kokoro was two centimeters taller than Reimu...

"Sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Forgive me, Kokoro."

Koizumi spoke softly.

The next moment, Hata no Kokoro switched to a woman's mask, showing that she had calmed down.

"I forgive you..."

Koizumi smiled faintly, though he felt a little helpless inside. Using masks to express her feelings really left him unsure what to say. If possible, Koizumi wanted to see Hata no Kokoro make expressions with her own face.

What a shame... Koizumi thought.

Then—

"Miss Reimu, Miss Kokoro, Mr. Koizumi, I didn't expect business here to be so good..."

A girl with an orange side ponytail, dressed in the silver-white armor of the Imperial Guard, arrived in front of Reimu's shop with an amazed expression.

Seryu Ubiquitous

Seeing the orange-haired girl in silver-white Imperial Guard armor, Koizumi smiled. "Yo, Seryu. You came to support Reimu's business too? You really don't need to pity her, though. Reimu is always broke. She's a genuine poor shrine maiden, whether in terms of money or... certain other aspects..."

As he spoke, Koizumi glanced at a certain flat area on her body. Then—

"Go die!" Without another word, Reimu sent Koizumi flying with a rising kick. She then glared viciously at the fallen Koizumi. "If you bring that up again, next time I'll smash Dream Seal right into your face!"

Hata no Kokoro looked down at her own chest and inexplicably felt displeased. At the same time, she switched to a Hannya mask.

Then Hata no Kokoro slowly walked up to Koizumi and spoke softly.

"You deserved it..."

Koizumi's body suddenly trembled. Come to think of it, when had Hata no Kokoro learned how to add insult to injury?

"Hahahaha~~~~~ Mr. Koizumi, you and Miss Reimu really are as close as ever..."

The girl Koizumi had called Seryu said this with a laugh, as though she were very familiar with them.

"Where did you get the idea that we're close?" Reimu rolled her eyes at Seryu and spoke helplessly.

"Ow..." Koizumi slowly stood up, rubbing the spot where he had been kicked.

Reimu really hit hard... Koizumi complained inwardly.

"Seryu, are you done patrolling?" Koizumi looked toward the girl, his gaze occasionally drifting to the little creature beside her. It looked like a pet dog, yet gave off a hint of danger.

"Yeah. And today, I really have to thank Miss Reimu for the amulet she gave me. Someone ambushed me on the road, and that amulet suddenly appeared and blocked the attack for me. I should thank Miss Reimu." As she said this, Seryu looked at Reimu curiously, her large eyes sparkling with wonder.

"Miss Reimu is amazing. That amulet isn't an Imperial Arm or a Shingu, but it has such an incredible effect."

"That amulet can only be used once. Besides, it was just to thank you for helping us."

Reimu waved a hand and spoke calmly.

That was indeed the case. Reimu had only given her the amulet because Seryu had helped them.

Today, Koizumi, Reimu, and the others had arrived in this world. When they entered the Imperial Capital, they ran into a little trouble. Just as Reimu was about to deal with it, Seryu happened to be patrolling and helped them out. She had also kindly told them where shops were being sold. Reimu had kindly given her an amulet. That was all.

After finishing her patrol, Seryu thought of Reimu, who had helped her, and came over to take a look.

She had not expected that Reimu would sell so many amulets so smoothly just after opening her shop.

She heard that Reimu had learned from the merchants she had seen before, which was why things had gone so smoothly.

By the way, Seryu's full name was Seryu Ubiquitous, and she currently worked for the Imperial Guard.

"Well, I'm a member of the Imperial Guard. How could I refuse to help someone in need? That would go against justice!" Seryu said, thumping her chest as if she were filled with righteous conviction.

"Justice..." Reimu gave Seryu another look, her brows slightly furrowed, but said nothing.

Though she was about the same age as Seryu, Reimu did not believe in things like justice.

The place she lived in, Gensokyo, appeared peaceful on the surface, but no one could count how many people died inexplicably in the shadows. Remilia often went out to prey on humans in Gensokyo, and Reimu sometimes turned a blind eye to it. So Reimu did not take justice to heart.