Without mentioning Paimon's complaints, in the story, the three of them had already returned to Furuyama's side.
However, Furuyama, who was originally standing in this place, had already disappeared. In the end, he still couldn't obtain the tea set that the Shogun personally prepared for him. It seems this is not fortune, but regret.
It's not just regret for him; for Ei, it's the same. In the end, she still couldn't taste that familiar yet become strange flavor.
The Ei in the real world unconsciously pursed her lips, just like her own realization in the story. Perhaps this is the 'encounter' and 'loss' brought by moving forward.
Although very regrettable, if they don't move forward, then even this momentary 'fate' is gone.
The Ei in the story was also stirred by memories and decided to personally brew tea for the Traveler.
Fortunately, Ei just can't cook; she still learned to brew tea quite properly and didn't poison the Traveler to death.
During the process of brewing tea, Ei recalled many things and told them to the Traveler.
Kitsune Saiguu, Raiden Makoto, and various friends—they mostly all passed away in that catastrophe.
Her sister, in order to protect her, secretly went alone to Khaenri'ah. By the time she arrived, Raiden Makoto was already gasping for her last breaths.
The sisters' last meeting was in the Plane of Euthymia; that was her sister's Plane of Euthymia.
Ei cried very sadly inside it. She is a god, and perhaps the only place she can cry is here.
Afterward, when she brought her sister's consciousness space back to Inazuma, she discovered that a massive 'Sacred Sakura' had appeared on Mount Yougou.
This truly shocked the crowd, whether ordinary readers, the Commission members, or even Kitsune Saiguu was somewhat surprised.
Yae Miko was relatively fine with it; previously, Ei had asked her about the Sacred Sakura.
In people's hearts, the Sacred Sakura is the divine tree that has always existed in Inazuma—how could it have suddenly appeared?
Who would have seen it coming? Ei, you little girl, you can really keep things hidden in your heart.
No, that's not right. It's not that she can keep secrets; it's simply that she had no one to talk to. She had told Yae Miko about this matter.
As expected of someone from the Raiden clan; when there's something, she still speaks it out.
Ei didn't want to mention these things afterward because these matters are closely tied to parting; she didn't want to recall them.
But now that it has been written out, she also feels relieved. Lucian is simply her spokesperson, although it was still said through her mouth.
If not for Lucian, the process of her changing her mind would have been quite circuitous.
Just like written in the book, in her memory, that divine tree did indeed appear suddenly.
Ei only regarded it as the 'magical function' of the consciousness space. In any case, that Sacred Sakura did indeed help Ei quell that monster catastrophe.
[Ei sighs: "Bitter tea enters the throat, and in its aftertaste, there is also sweetness."]
Who knows if she is really talking about the tea or the memories—perhaps both, since flavors always carry memories with them?
Resting, thinking of old friends and old affections, and using new fire to try new tea.
["...It's also time to face all this squarely."]
Seeing Ei open her heart and willing to face the memories of that catastrophe, Lumine and Paimon also naturally asked about things from that catastrophe, for example, had she seen the Traveler's brother?
However, very regrettably, by the time Ei arrived, the battle was already nearing its end. She saw nothing and knew nothing.
Afterward, she hurriedly rushed back to Inazuma and also had no time to closely examine Khaenri'ah.
Although very regrettable, Lumine could also understand and no longer dwelled on this matter. Together with Ei, she offered the last cup of tea to Furuyama.
[Ei places the tea aside. "Thank fate for giving us the chance to meet again."]
So, indeed, one still must move forward; otherwise, there wouldn't be the chance to meet again.
Lumine and Ei continued moving forward, pursuing the remaining monsters. Only this last location with monsters remained.
As per the old rules, Ei still shouldered the duty of battle; after all, this is the thing she is most familiar with.
However, it was fine at the beginning, but as they fought on, Ei's movements became increasingly strange. She even several times suddenly stopped her actions, letting monsters escape under her blade, and even got sneak attacked.
Fortunately, Ei's body excels in being tough-skinned and thick-fleshed. She not only has inexhaustible brute strength but also a body of unbreakable cowhide.
The monsters' attacks landing on Ei's body also had no effect, so even with several bouts of 'lag,' she still didn't suffer any significant injuries.
Moreover, Ei's combat power is ridiculously exaggerated; in just a few moves, she beat the monsters to a somewhat mushy state, and they didn't dare take the initiative to attack.
However, Ei's movements were so stiff and laggy that even if Ei said it was fine, Lumine and Paimon could see the problem.
The readers also had anticipated this early. They knew the Shogun wouldn't be doing it to conserve stamina; there must definitely be a problem with her body.
Could it be that after reading too many prophecy books, we really can prophesy too?
[Paimon: "No problem, you rest in the back first and recover your stamina!"]
["We'll deal with the monsters!"]
The 'we' she spoke of naturally referred to the Traveler alone.
Paimon is fine shouting cheers and encouragement, but if you have her go up to fight, she's not even enough to stuff the teeth gaps of the dogs opposite her.
Fortunately, the monsters were wary of Ei and didn't dare move recklessly, so even though Paimon was flying around, she didn't get her butt bitten by the dogs.
Just as the Traveler raised her sword wanting to step forward, that familiar light appeared again, and the figures of three samurai appeared before everyone.
This sudden change made the monsters even more unwilling to act rashly, baring their teeth and glaring this way.
[Fujiki: "Th-this, here is?"]
["Shogun-sama is also here! Shogun-sama, are you injured?"]
Fujiki also spotted Ei's abnormality at a glance. After all, in reality, everyone else is very fluid, but only your movements are 'frame-dropping'—that's indeed quite strange.
["We, the Shogunate samurai, will surely protect Shogun-sama completely until the very last moment!"]
The three samurai drew their swords and blocked in front of Ei. Clearly, Ei is much stronger than them, yet at this moment, they stood in front of Ei.
Facing the monsters that might have injured the Shogun, they knew full well they weren't opponents, but they never once thought of fleeing.
Because if they were afraid, they wouldn't have picked up weapons from the very beginning.
Our strength and status were all bestowed by Shogun-sama; this is her expectation of us.
Now that Shogun-sama is in dire straits, it's time to fulfill our promise!
Brothers, draw the blades at your waists! Brothers, fight together with me!!
The eternal path is vast, Narukami eternal!
Next came a series of scenes. Unlike the previous Shogunate soldiers, these samurai actively charged toward monsters several times their number.
The blades in their hands never stopped. Facing the monsters' assaults, they even constantly paid attention to protecting Shogun-sama, protecting the strongest existence on the field.
In this fierce melee, Ei merely stood to the side. This was her first time not leading the charge to participate in battle.
From the 'bystander's' perspective, she experienced the 'protected one's' perspective.