The Oni are the strongest enemies of humans in Gensokyo. They prey on humans for a living, and they are powerful and demonic, and they deserve to be the strongest in Gensokyo.

And Xingxiong Yongyi, as the king of the ghosts, her strength is naturally unquestionable. She could burn down an entire human village in the blink of an eye with a raised hand, and she could shatter trees with just her loud voice, something that sounded so fantastical.

So...... She was supposed to dominate all the ghosts underground, but how did she end up in this field at this moment?

Xingxiong Yongyi, who was helping to decorate the Hakurei Shrine, couldn't help but think so.

"What's wrong? Ghost King?"

However, before Yongyi could think about it, a low voice that made her tremble came from behind.

There, the former Warrior God of the Moon was staring at her.

…………

Fei Li looked at the blonde woman in front of him a little strangely. The beautiful face that is not inferior to the monster sage has no usual domineering at the moment, just like another person.

"Aren't you in good spirits today?"

"How so? Is there something wrong with your eyes?"

While sneering and asking rhetorically, she casually threw away the decorations that were supposed to be hung on the eaves of Hakurei Shrine.

"I just think...... Why would I do such a thing?"

"Good question."

Fei Li nodded earnestly, as if he was indeed cheering for Yongyi's question. His reaction made Yongyi frown, but he continued as if he didn't notice it.

"Hakurei Shrine is going to hold a New Year's party...... Since you're here too, I don't think there's anything you shouldn't do to contribute to this banquet."

"I know that, too, but I think there's something wrong......

Indeed, there is no place to reproach in the words of the Martial God. If you want to attend a banquet, it is only natural that you should contribute to the banquet. As a ghost who likes to be lively and loves wine and banquets, there is no monster who can accept this matter more naturally than Yongyi.

However, there is one point that cannot be overlooked.

"That's right...... After all, you brought me here, right? It was you who suddenly said something, and there was a wine feast that pulled me out of the old hell to the earth."

Yongyi's red eyes stared at Fei.

But the other party didn't seem to waver at all, and the sense of oppression from Yongyi's body was perfectly ignored by Feili.

This moon man, who has survived from ancient times to the present, is not offended at all. Still replied with a tolerant and gentle attitude.

"Are you blaming me for being nosy? Maybe I'm suspicious of this, but I found you because the banquet was as lively as possible, and as a ghost, you should agree with this idea...... Or don't you want to attend this party?"

Feili's words are roughly equivalent to the god's hammer for Yongyi. There is no such thing as a ghost who hates banquets.

"Not really. It's just ......."

Yongyi rarely hesitated, and she didn't know what she should say next. The ill-conceived conversation had irritated her.

Sensing Yongyi's anxiety, Feili finally came to his senses.

"Oh, do you think you can't get over it? Indeed, the majestic Ghost King should not do such an inferior thing, it will detract from your prestige."

I should have found out earlier-Fei Li, who didn't know that he was going in the wrong direction, said.

For some reason, looking at such a flying force, Yongyi found that his irritability just now was more and more inflated.

"That's okay, I'll do your things for you."

"Huh?"

I have to say that the flying power of bending down to pick up the ornament that she had just thrown to the ground surprised her quite a bit.

"Let's just go somewhere else and shop everywhere...... Come by when the sun goes down, and then the feast at Hakurei Shrine will begin."

Now the sky is approaching the moment of the demon, and at dusk, there is not much time left before the sun sets.

After saying this to Yongyi, the martial god turned his attention elsewhere. His eyes never fell on Yongyi again...... For him, the ghost of Xingxiong Yongyi is not a guy who needs special attention. Xingxiong Yongyi is not the kind of person who deserves his close attention.

His friendliness to her, his concern, are all within sight. If it weren't for this man's line of sight, Xingxiong Yongyi might be no different from a pebble on the side of the road.

Wait for me--I barely swallowed the words that were about to come out of my mouth.

Looking at the back of Feili leaving, Yongyi stood in the courtyard of the shrine with a gloomy face for a while, and then turned around and walked out of the torii.

"Reimu, what should I do with this thing?"

"What are you going to do with that garbage? Throw it away!"

"Trash? I think it could decorate the shrine and make it a little bit festive."

"I don't need it! Throw it away for me!"

"I think this thing can sort of make this shabby, old shrine a little newer."

"What did you say?! You definitely wanted to say shabby!"

"Ah...... No, you heard it wrong............

However, listening to the steady male voice in the ears and the thunderous girl's voice, this out-of-tune conversation still relieved Yongyi's inexplicable mood a little.

"Hmph...... It's really laid-back."

Said to go wandering elsewhere...... But Yongyi didn't do that. She just sat down on the stone steps outside the torii gate and pulled out the sake she had brought with her and drank it.

Although she prefers a lively drinking party, it is also a nice thing to drink herself once in a while, as she does now.

Today, however, Ganwei's wine has lost its former taste. The wine, which was originally considered good under Yongyi's picky taste, unexpectedly became tasteless.

Why this change?

…… Probably from a change in mood.

Although she didn't want to admit it, every time she saw Feili, she would become strange, and Yongyi herself had this self-awareness.

For this thousand-year-old enemy, the ghost has no ill feelings. Instead, there is a mixed emotion. Even if she only met a few times, it still left an indelible impression on her heart.

That was the first time Yongyi knew that someone could be so powerful.

Time goes back to the millennium, the heyday of the ghost clan. At the suggestion of a certain realm youkai, for the future of youkai. Millions of monsters have launched an invading army towards the moon.

The army of the Moon Lords is better equipped and more advanced than the youkai imagined, but there are only 100,000 people in number, only one-tenth of the number of youkai. With the advantage of numbers, the balance of victory finally tilted in favor of the youkai.

But that's the end of it.

The remaining hundreds of thousands of youkai were wiped out in an instant, and only the big youkai survived from the aftermath of that terrorist attack.

When the youkai were only one step away from victory, it was self-evident who would have knocked them into the abyss of defeat.

There is no victory left, and this fact, of course, is understood. But at the very least, the enemy in front of them must be killed, and the great monsters have launched a graceless siege against the Warrior God of the Moon.

Yongyi is also one of the big monsters that besiege and kill.

The demon is strong, and Yongyi, who has already felt the wall of his own boundaries, is undoubtedly not a weak person among the big monsters. But in the face of Feili, who has already broken through the boundaries, there is no difference between him and a child.

That unprecedented siege and killing fight, as long as the big monster who survived, will never forget, it is a legendary past that will never fade in memory.

It was also during that fight that Yongyi understood for the first time what "fear" was. That's what the man taught her.

But the strange thing is that for this guy who killed his own compatriots and killed his friends. Yongyi didn't have any hatred.

Is she longing? Still obsessed with a man's beauty -- obsessed with his overwhelmingly powerful beauty.

"Hmph, you're really like an idiot......

She literally laughed at her own stupidity.

I care so much about that man...... It's like I'm having a crush on him, which is really miserable. If Cuika had found out, she might have laughed off her big teeth.

Thinking of familiar friends, Yongyi's mood couldn't help but calm down a little.

But it was like deliberately disturbing her mood. Someone's voice reappeared.

"Can I sit here?"

The one who speaks is flying.

His voice was so calm that it was so harmless that Yongyi couldn't help but want to smile back.

But in the end, the ghost resisted this subconscious move.

Yongyi did not answer. But her silence was already a reply.

"Oops, although I don't know you well......

After sitting next to Yongyi casually, his opening remarks were really not very beautiful.

"Don't you have to help Reimu Hakurei?"

"Hey, I'm fast, I'm almost done with what I need to help with, and the next thing is to wait for the banquet to begin."

"So come to me to spend time?"

"Not exactly, I have a question I want to clarify, which may sound narcissistic. But what I want to ask is...... Do you care about me?"

It sounds narcissistic and unacceptable, but the problem is that it's true.

「…… Yes."

There was silence for a while before Yongyi replied.

For ghosts who never lie, answering the truth is a surefire option. However, even the bold Xingxiong Yongyi can't say things like "I care about you very much" without care.

"Why?"

His gaze was so gentle. But such a gentle gaze seems to make all the secrets hidden.

"Or do you still mind the war a thousand years ago...... I don't mean to make you laugh it off, but you really don't think you're the one to be upset about it."

"Not really."

As Fei Li said, Yongyi is indeed not the kind of guy who will be haunted by the pain that happened on the battlefield. Dying on the battlefield is not a happy thing, but it is not worth grief. At least that's what I think in the concept of ghosts.

"Why do I care about you? Maybe it's a dream......

Yearning...... Is that really the case?

"Really? Maybe it's my delusion, but I think maybe you're jealous and have low self-esteem."

Fei Li said the most ridiculous words indifferently.

Jealousy and low self-esteem, these two words are far from the hearty Xingxiong Yongyi, this is simply slander.

But Yongyi nodded as if he was suddenly open. She didn't feel the anger of being slandered, but accepted it with the same indifference as Feili.

Yes, maybe that's what he said. Xingxiong Yongyi is jealous of his great power and feels inferior to his own weakness.

"-- Maybe it's just like you said, I, who longs for the strongest power, is jealous of you who can easily reach this state, and feels inferior to myself who can't break through the boundaries no matter what."

Seeing that his other hand that was not holding the wine glass, Yongyi clenched into a fist as if he wanted to feel something. You can feel the abundant power from the action of clenching your fist.

But that's not enough. Far from enough.

Long before the Moon War, she had already encountered the wall of boundaries on the way to becoming stronger, but she still hadn't been able to break through this barrier. It is true that Yongyi has indeed become stronger than in the past. But there is no qualitative leap, it is simply because of the accumulation of time to become stronger.

But Feili, this guy has broken through that boundary a long, long time ago, that realm that Yongyi can't reach. So she was jealous.

Normal, isn't it?

"Hmph, thanks to you, I found out about this fact."

Sighing and swallowing a sip of wine, she said.

"What? Are you going to despise me for it?"

Hearing Xingxiong Yongyi's somewhat self-defeating speech, the corners of Fei's mouth couldn't help but smile wonderfully.

There is no sense of ridicule, but if you have to say it, there is still a sense of identity.

"I used to think of myself as a man of integrity...... But then I realized that I wasn't as honest as I thought I was."

This time, the flying smile contained a bit of self-deprecation...... If you look closely, it's not hard to see that there's still a bit of gloom in it.

"I've also encountered people who were jealous of having what they didn't have, and I felt inferior to myself because of my weakness. However......"

He spoke.

"And most importantly, did you do something about these emotions?"

「…………」

Looking at Fei Li, who made a summary at the end, Yongyi opened her mouth to say something. But in the end, he silently drank the remnants of wine in the cup.

"You really sound like an old man......

"Well, I'm just an older man. I'm almost four times your age."

Fei replied heartily.

He wanted to put his hand on Yongyi's head, but she slapped it away unhappily.

"Hey! You really treat me like a child, don't you?! I can't be comforted by you."

"Ah, I'm sorry...... I accidentally made a habit of doing things."

For Yongyi's roar and angry gaze, Feili could only smile bitterly and perfunctory.

Thankfully, someone who suddenly appeared saved him at this critical moment.

"You two ......"

I don't know when、Ibuki Sumika, who came to the shrine because she wanted to attend the New Year's party, also came to the torii.

「…… Are you in a relationship?"

Looking at Feili and Yongyi, she said such a shocking sentence.

"Something wrong with your eyes, right?"

"No, I think my eyes are good, and the atmosphere between the two of you is more harmonious than the stiffness it used to be—no, it's better to say that it was just Yongyi's one-sided awkwardness?"

Completely negating the meaning of Yongyi's rhetorical question, Cui Xiang said words that Xingxiong Yongyi couldn't accept.

In fact, even Feili is a little unacceptable...... How strange the word awkward sounds.

"Hey, Suika, there's something wrong with what you're saying, right?"

"I don't think you're right."

"No, not at all."

Then, a small argument between the three of them, not to mention the beginning of the banquet, did not end until the banquet was over.

But in any case, today is another day of peace. It's really gratifying.

Of course...... Except for the fact that the three of them demolished half of the shrine because of their hands, which made Reimu furious, everything was very beautiful.