Mentioned Characters: Yukari, Yuyuko, Youmu, Ran, Chen, Reisen

Youmu Konpaku is the gardener of Hakugyokurou and Yuyuko Saigyouji's bodyguard-slash-swordplay instructor. While she is half-human half-phantom, this does not mean that one of her parents was a human and the other was a phantom. She belongs to a long line of half-human half-phantoms, and she inherited her position at Hakugyokurou from her grandfather, Youki Konpaku. Youmu lacks confidence in her sword skills, believing she still lacks experience, even though, objectively, they are quite impressive. Occasionally, she is sent out to investigate incidents as a representative of Hakugyokurou, usually when they involve spirits. Youmu is loyal and earnest, yet she is easily influenced, so she can sometimes become overconfident or act strangely. But this just adds to her charm. In the 80th provisional Gensokyo, she draws on her experience as an incident resolver to serve as a guard. When traveling between probability spaces, the ship can be attacked at any time. And since battles of bullets outside the ship can be extremely dangerous due to the turbulent possibilities, it is best to leave them to the professionals.

[Part 1 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "Have we got a guest, Lady Yuyuko?" asked Youmu as she entered carrying a tray laden with tea cups. Earlier, Yuyuko asked her to prepare tea snacks of a higher quality than usual, so she assumed the answer was yes. That's why she brought three cups instead of two. "Thanks, Youmu. We've been talking for a while, so I was getting thirsty." Yuyuko is the president of the Hakugyoku Student Council, of which Youmu is also a member. It's Youmu's job to do everything that the president doesn't do, and she is constantly amazed at how Yuyuko places so much faith in her―especially since out of all the student councils in the academy, there is no president as beautiful as Lady Yuyuko. And she's not just beautiful in terms of looks. Her every action is elegant and refined. Youmu was proud to work alongside her. "Hello, Youmu." "Oh, hello." Mystery solved. It seems Yuyuko's guest was her best friend, Yukari Yakumo. Yukari was another beautiful student council president whom Youmu considered second only to Yuyuko. "Hello, Youmu." "Ah." "Heya!" "There's more..." Yukari wasn't alone. She had brought along her vice president, Ran, and her secretary, Chen. Youmu would've really appreciated it if Yuyuko had told her how many people were coming. She had to go back for more cups!

[Part 2 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "So... they sent you on an errand?" "I guess. Honestly, I don't know what's going on." Youmu was talking to Reisen Udongein Inaba. It seems they were in a similar boat. Yuyuko had asked Youmu to investigate an urban legend about a cherry tree, while Reisen was tasked by her Eien Student Council with investigating a completely different one. "Not that that's anything new. Even if I asked my student council president what her plan is, I doubt I'd understand it." Youmu could sympathize with that. But even if she couldn't understand, she wanted to know what Yuyuko was thinking. Youmu couldn't really explain it, but she had been feeling uneasy ever since she heard the urban legend was about a cherry tree. "You don't think there's any truth to it, do you?" Youmu had no idea, that's why she was investigating it. Still, it was so strange and creepy that she couldn't help but wonder if it was true. There was a mysterious allure to the whole thing. Could there really be an unidentified corpse buried beneath that cherry tree?

[Part 3 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "I should've expected this..." Youmu's first thought was to investigate the urban legend by wandering around the academy and asking people about it. But as is the way of such things, the answers to her questions only brought more questions. Rumors beget rumors, so if you try to trace a rumor to its source, all you'll find is another rumor. By the time she realized what was happening, the sun had already started to set. She had to know if the urban legend was true. Was a corpse really buried beneath the cherry tree? She stood before the cherry tree in a corner of the academy grounds and pulled out a trowel. "I should've just done this from the start." Youmu wasn't angry. She was simply disappointed with herself. She always realizes things too late. But saying it out loud made her feel better. It was as if she were forgiving herself. Like it wasn't really her fault. After all, everyone makes mistakes. She also found that digging a hole like this was actually pretty fun. Not that she would choose to do it, if she didn't have to. Unfortunately, it stopped being fun almost immediately. The sun had set. "This is super creepy... It feels like there might be ghosts about."

[Part 4 of an unresolved investigation into a lost world] "Youmu?" "EEEEEP!" Youmu jumped so high that it almost looked like she was flying. But when she shakily turned around, expecting to see a ghost, she saw Yuyuko smiling down at her. Youmu sighed with relief as she tried to calm her beating heart. "Phew. It's just you, Lady Yuyuko." "Let's go home, Youmu." "Huh, but I still haven't―" "Did you find something?" "No, but..." "Then it's fine. Let's go." "Hm?" Youmu hadn't managed to find anything, but Yuyuko didn't seem upset. In fact, she was smiling. Youmu took her smile to mean that what she had done was enough. So, it was with a sense of relief that she headed home with Yuyuko―relieved that she didn't have to walk back home alone in the dark. Buried beneath the legendary cherry tree lies an unidentified corpse. And at night, its spirit appears beneath the tree's branches.