Touhou - Impure Dreams about a Strange Land

My Pride as a Magician (Patchouli's POV)

"... Mandragora... Raw liver..." I scribble some ingredients I might need for my experiment. I'll let Koakuma handle that, she has a stomach for viscera, and I doubt that a few screams from those plants would be enough to leave permanent injuries in her.

Hm, I should check if we have any medicine left. Just in case these tests prove too much for him... Maybe I should ask Marisa what she uses to restore her mana supplies. Too bad that consultation is going to cost me a few grimoires. How annoying.

But I won't complain much. Whenever I set my mind into researching something,  it always comes with a hefty cost. Rare, difficult to obtain materials, lack of equipment, lack of test subjects, my own health... Sometimes my luck gets in the way, messing up weeks and weeks of progress.

This time though, is different. I don't have to go and search far and wide for materials. I don't need anything too extravagant or complex. I don't even have to put my own body on the line. And the cost? Just a way out of Gensokyo.

Humans from the outside world aren't something unusual in here. What it is truly unusual, is seeing one alive. Most of them fall victim to flesh eating youkai, just a lucky few survive long enough to reach the human village. All they need to do after that, is reach the Hakurei Shrine and ask Reimu to send them back.

"Pfft..." How unlucky, if he only went the opposite way instead of coming here, he would be home by now. But I won't let this opportunity go to waste. I'll get my results, he'll get his way home, and I won't have to do much about any of this, besides ensuring he doesn't expire during the tests. And maybe he'll become the first regular outsider able to cast magic, so he's getting something extra for his trouble.

I rub my eyes, I'm feeling tired again. But not tired enough to ignore that nagging feeling on the back of my head.

Ugh, I know who this is. "Remilia is not here, and I don't have any businesses with you. Please, go away." 

"Oh my, sharp as ever, miss librarian." Yukari stepped out of a gap and took a seat next to me. "Don't be so hostile, it's bad for your health." She winked. That irked me a lot. "Anyways, I do have business with you. More than that, I need a favor from you."

Huh, that's new. But I know better than that. No one in Gensokyo is stupid enough to make a deal with this woman. Well, maybe Remilia... "No. Not interested. I'm already busy."

Yukari sighs, turning her body towards me. "Come on, at least listen to what I have to say, I swear you won't have to do anything and I'll get you something for your trouble."

She's getting on my nerves, and I slap her hand away before she touches me. "Alright, I'll listen if that's what it takes to make you go away."

"That's the spirit! Very well then, I'll try to keep it short. I'm sure you met my little outsider today, am I right?" 

I know she's the one bringing those outsiders to meet their doom here, but... 'My little outsider'? What is she scheming now? "Well, who could have thought? The mighty Yukari, the youkai of the boundaries herself, grew a conscience and now is fond of a human."

"Fufufu, I have an interest on him, that's true. And that favor is related to that. Please, be a dearie, and don't show him a way out just yet. I'll make sure he returns safely once I'm done with him." She leans on her seat, without taking her eyes from mine.

Hah! If she thinks I'm going to babysit a stranger, she's dead wrong. "Sorry, I'm not a caretaker. You're better off asking Sakuya to do that for you, she does it quite well with Remilia. Anything else?"

Yukari pouts after hearing my response. She should act more her age, rather than try and act cute with me. "I didn't say you need to take care of him, just keep that tiny little detail about the Hakurei Shrine with you. If he meets his end in any way, that's on him."