"Since we're going to tackle the Incidents, we can leave it for the short term, but in the long run, this can't be put off any longer."
The Youkai Sage looked at Roland with a serious expression.
"It's about time we started looking for a new shrine maiden."
"A new shrine maiden?"
Roland weighed those words thoughtfully.
Having constructed a Simulated Universe based on Gensokyo, he naturally understood the nature of this place.
They had secretly cordoned off a small patch of land in the real world as a foundation, then used Yukari Yakumo's boundary between illusion and reality to turn that patch of reality into something like flowers in a mirror or the moon reflected in water, forming a fantasy opposed to the real world and thereby preventing outside interference and invasion.
Although Yukari Yakumo's ability deserved immense credit, it still could not be called the key to Gensokyo's formation.
The Hakurei Great Barrier, which covered all of Gensokyo, separated common sense from uncommon sense, and made it a relatively independent existence, was the root of everything.
Because this was something the youkai could never accomplish, no matter what.
Using the power of boundaries to cling to existence could deceive the Human Order for a time, but as humanity outside grew ever more prosperous, the Human Order would sooner or later see through that disguise and bring the fate of extinction down upon the anomalies once again.
Without the Hakurei Great Barrier separating it from the real world, this secluded paradise would have been nothing more than a castle in the air.
A veil like a boundary was one thing, but exploiting the real world itself in this way was something the Human Order would never permit. Even if the youkai had the ability to construct the barrier, they