"Journey to the Illusionary Funeral" is a story written as a sequel to "Disease Leading to Fantasy," but at the same time, it is also written as a prequel to "Lineage Leading to the End" and "Fleeting Fantasy." Reimu plays a big role in "Fleeting Fantasy," and is a fundamental element of the story, but on the other hand, I decided not to have Reimu herself appear at all. This is because I wanted to depict the cause and effect that the actions of the Hakurei shrine maiden abandoning Gensokyo, whose true intentions are unknown, ultimately lead to the collapse of Gensokyo, but at the same time, I also had the feeling that I wanted to depict Reimu from that time someday. And so, when it came time to make a compilation, I drew Reimu this time, but in my eagerness to express that "Fleeting Fantasy depicted Yukari's feelings for Reimu, but actually Reimu also had feelings for Yukari!", the first draft of the script had an extremely long outpouring of Reimu's feelings towards Yukari. However, upon rereading it, I felt like, "Isn't this more a YukaRei book than a Hifuu one?", and above all, there were too many serious lines in a row, it was too explanatory and the pacing was bad, making it difficult to read, so I cut a lot of it out. Specifically, on page 261 of the compilation, Renko brushes off the conversation as a joke, but someone takes it very seriously and adds fuel to the fire by saying, "But that person is important to you, right? Then you can't just leave it as a fight and part ways." She herself has been separated from someone important to her, so she must have had her own thoughts on the matter. So I cut the lines, but there are many elements, such as Renko's lines reminding people of Yukari (well, it's Reimu who is correct because she associates it with Yukari after hearing her explanation), the conversation naturally leading to talk of Yukari, helping people in need in the end (even though she's no longer the Hakurei shrine maiden), and having thoughts after hearing Renko's story about being in the same boat, and Hiyori-sensei, the artist, drew a lot of them. In reality, she did have a ruthless side, abandoning Gensokyo, but she was also troubled by her own inner turmoil. I hope that this portrayal comes across to the reader.

The song itself is of Yakumo Ran, but since Yukari's song "Necrofantasia" is an arrangement of "A Maiden's Illusionary Funeral," I derived the title from that, associating it with Yakumo Yukari. Incidentally, my initial idea was "Shinsetsu: Gensou ni Itaru Byou" (True Story: Disease Leading to Illusion). However, this was too simplistic and was quickly discarded. I wanted the title of the compilation to be the same as the title of the newly drawn manga, so I decided to go with a title that was more appropriate for a newly drawn manga rather than one that sounded like a compilation. Working backward from the content of the manga, I added "Tabiji" (Journey) to what I had decided up to "Gensou ni Itaru" (Leading to the Illusionary Funeral) to complete it. I like the title. "Illusionary Funeral" is Yakumo Yukari. Also, since the song is included in the Hifuu CD, it is a symbol of one of the elements related to Hifuu's activities. It is a word that refers to a world different from the world in which the two live, and by extension, it is a word that symbolizes the two Hifuu members. In short, "Journey to the Illusionary Funeral" is a series of stories that connect Merry and Yukari, and at the same time, it shows the path that Renko takes to restart the activities of the Secret Sealing Club once she is by herself. I think we were able to create a compilation that depicts such a story.