"Mm~~ ah—haven't slept this well in a long time."
Stretching comfortably, Marisa sat up in bed with a satisfied expression.
As she groggily looked towards the window, she saw that it was already bright outside. Sunlight filtered through the panes, casting a gentle glow over the unfamiliar furnishings in the room.
Slowly waking up, Marisa blinked in confusion as she took in her surroundings.
Wait a minute—this wasn't her room!
Did she just time travel?
Still dazed, Marisa absentmindedly rubbed her belly under her shirt, yawned, and then wandered toward the door.
Seeing the familiar hallway outside, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
So she had only been moved to a different room for some unknown reason. Probably another one of Yukari's pranks. What was she even trying to accomplish by changing rooms?
Deciding not to dwell on it, Marisa shuffled lazily toward the living room.
"Boss, what's for breakfast toda—huh? Patchy? Why are you sleeping here?"
Marisa stopped in her tracks upon spotting Patchouli sprawled out on a futon in the living room.
Didn't the boss already assign her a room? Did she prefer sleeping on the floor over a proper bed?
Patchouli, having just woken up from a nightmare, had zero interest in dealing with Marisa. She pulled off her sleep mask with a deadpan expression and turned her head away in despair.
Sure, the construction-drill noises had finally stopped, but the nightmares that followed had been just as exhausting.
First, she had dreamt that, with Rin's help, she had returned to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and heroically rescued Remilia from a dire predicament. She had even fought Sakuya to the ends of the universe, where even the laws of reality crumbled away.
But just as victory was within reach, Rin suddenly betrayed her, teaming up with Sakuya to capture her instead.
With all her magic sealed away, she had been locked in an underground dungeon with no sunlight, subjected to unspeakable torture every single day.
And when it was Rin's turn to "interrogate" her, he completely dropped his act of being a decent person, using methods so sinister and forbidden that—
She had barely managed to resist in the dream. Any longer, and she might have actually succumbed.
Shuddering at the thought, she turned to look for Rin—only to realize that he was nowhere to be seen.
Where did he go?
At that moment, Rin reappeared, carrying breakfast into the living room.
"You're all up, huh? Hurry up and wash up, breakfast is ready. I made some porridge and small dumplings, all with the proper seasonings."
"Oh~ Boss, you actually woke up on time today? What a surprise," Marisa remarked.
"It wasn't by choice," Rin replied expressionlessly, his gaze shifting toward Patchouli. "Someone randomly kicked me in their sleep and woke me up."
Patchouli froze, suddenly feeling guilty as she scratched her cheek.
Was that… her doing?
But she had only fought back in the dream! Did she also have a sleep-kicking habit now?
Fortunately, Rin didn't press the matter. Placing breakfast on the coffee table, he urged them, "Hurry up and wash up. I'm gonna go wake up Yukari and Chen."
"Got it~"
Marisa and Patchouli didn't waste any time, obediently heading toward the bathroom.
Before Rin could leave, however, Yukari and Chen stumbled out of their room on their own, looking half-asleep and on the verge of collapsing.
"Speak of the devil, you actually got up by yourself?" Rin asked, surprised. He had assumed Yukari would be just as lazy about getting up as he was.
Yukari rolled her eyes at him.
If it hadn't been for Marisa making weird noises all night, causing her to have strange dreams, she would have slept till sunset!
But when she spotted the breakfast on the table, her grumpiness instantly faded, her eyes lighting up with excitement.
"Chen~ Let's go wash up first. Then we can eat," she said cheerfully.
"Okay~"
As she led Chen to the bathroom, Yukari glanced back at Rin with a smile and gestured for him to save an extra bowl for Ran.
Rin nodded and watched them leave before heading to the storeroom to restock.
Just then, a familiar voice echoed in his mind:
『 New snack item added ─ Fragrant Roasted Sunflower Seeds 』
『 New item has been added to the warehouse and is ready for use at any time 』
『 Daily Task Refreshed ─ Design a striking new signboard for the general store. 』
Hearing the new task, Rin was momentarily taken aback.
A new type of mission?
But for now, he focused on moving inventory. As he opened the general store for the day and finished restocking, he sat down, ready to take a sip of porridge—
Only for a fluffy, white head to suddenly appear in his field of vision.
The ears on top of the head twitched nervously, perking up like a radar as if scanning for threats. Occasionally, they trembled from tension.
When the red eyes beneath finally met Rin's, the figure hesitantly revealed itself.
Short, neat white hair framed a youthful face, with a tengu cap resting atop her head. On either side of the hat, two fluffy white pompoms dangled from strings.
She wore a sleeveless white top that was also dangled with two pompoms, with a deep-red skirt decorated with maple leaf patterns. (T/N: The author seems to reference Momiji in Touhou Arcadia if i'm not wrong)
She looked like a small, fluffy dog that had just jumped out of an autumn forest—so irresistibly soft that Rin felt an urge to pat her.
Her round little face showed clear nervousness. Clutching a newspaper tightly, she hesitated for a moment before mustering up the courage to speak.
"E-Excuse me! Would you like to subscribe to the newspaper?"
"The Bunbunmaru Newspaper is now available across Gensokyo! And for the first week, there's a discount!"
"Would… would you like to order a copy?"
Rin scratched his head. While she did seem a little nervous, it also felt like she was outright scared of him.
Was he really that intimidating?
The villagers back home all liked him just fine.
But since it was Aya Shameimaru's newspaper, he figured it wouldn't hurt to subscribe—it would probably provide some entertainment.
"I'll subscribe for a month. How much?"
"If you subscribe monthly, it's 5,400 yen in total. I—I can round it down for you!"
"Here's the money. But… why did you just step back?"
As he handed over the cash, Rin's eye twitched at the sight of the wolf tengu stepping away from him as if bracing for danger.
A bad feeling crept up on him.
But instead of answering, Momiji's fluffy tail stiffened like a stretched wire.
Snatching the yen from his hands, she shoved a newspaper into his arms—then turned tail and bolted, running like her life depended on it.
Rin sat there, dumbfounded.
'What the hell was that about?' Frowning, he glanced down at the newspaper in his hands.
The moment he saw the headline, his face turned pitch black.
「 Extra! Extra! ─ A Great Tragedy! The Apocalypse of the Human Village! A Sadistic Jet Black Demon Appears─Multiple Young Girls Have Already Fallen Victim… 」