Cherry blossoms fluttered in the wind.
Many shrine maidens looked on in horror toward the great Sacred Sakura tree.
The Three Thousand Thunders stood beneath its boughs, Musou Isshin in hand—
the tip resting lightly against Yae Miko's snow-white throat.
Yet Miko showed not a hint of fear.
Please—did that shut-in Ei really have the nerve to kill her?
She was, after all, the Shogun's only remaining friend.
Yae Miko sat beneath the Sacred Sakura, resting her chin on one hand as she watched the livestream with a sigh.
"Ah, that idiot Ei… she's really done it this time. Now the whole world's mad at her, tsk."
Could the Raiden Shogun remain calm under the storm of public outrage?
Of course not. But Miko wasn't in any hurry.
Let the Kujou and Hiiragi clans panic first!
Those two houses had been deceiving the Shogun for years,
abusing the Vision Hunt Decree to line their pockets with wealth.
If anyone decided to dig into that mess, they'd all go down together.
But Yae Miko couldn't care less about that political nonsense.
Even Ei had "gone on strike"—how could anyone expect a mere shrine maiden to save the nation?
After living for several centuries, she'd long since seen through mortal scheming.
If humans loved to play their little games of deceit and ambition,
then let them tear each other apart—she'd just sit back and watch.
If Ei was lying flat, she'd lie flat too.
Curl up under the Sacred Sakura, cover herself with a small blanket, and reply to everything with a lazy "Mm-hmm, sure, sure."
"This lady's just here for the fun of it!"
In the game, when the Traveler asked for the Raiden Shogun's Gnosis, Yae Miko had sold it without even blinking—no hesitation, no shame.
Now, thanks to this whole livestream chaos, Inazuma's waters had been well and truly muddied.
And that… was beginning to get interesting.
Bai Hao's latest fan video had completely cemented Ei's image as an unreasonable tyrant in the minds of the people of Teyvat.
Ruthless, really—a bit too good at stirring things up.
Yae Miko's lips curved upward. She couldn't help but feel curious about the mastermind behind it all.
Plane of Euthymia.
Across Teyvat, voices of outrage rose like the tide—petitions from Watatsumi Island, condemnation from every nation.
But Raiden Ei paid them no mind.
She kept replaying the same moment—Kazuha blocking her Musou no Hitotachi.
"The Musou no Hitotachi… was deflected?"
She pressed a slender jade finger to her chin, brows knitting.
As a true martial obsessive, Ei's fascination with the way of the sword bordered on madness.
Kazuha's ability to withstand her ultimate strike… had certainly earned her respect.
She wanted to know what happened next—
and so she had sent Bai Hao several messages.
All read, none replied.
Just then, the livestream's Quiz Segment began.
[Ding! Question: What is the name of the Raiden Shogun's most powerful sword technique?]
Blade of Celestial Principles Blade of Eternity Musou no Hitotachi The Milky Blade
[Amber: The quiz is starting again!]
[Xingqiu: Let me think… this one might not be as simple as it looks.]
[Arataki Itto: Hahaha! Simple? This one's a no-brainer!]
[Childe: Exactly, couldn't be easier!]
[Keqing: Anyone who watched the video knows the answer. Too easy!]
[Yanfei: This is basically a freebie!]
[Bennett: A freebie? Then I'm definitely answering!]
[Lumine: Here comes the reward! (eyes sparkling)]
Everyone in the VIP stream room—and indeed, across all Seven Nations—thought this was a total giveaway.
They confidently locked in their answers.
One minute later—
[Ding! The correct answer is: D. The Milky Blade!]
[Ding! Congratulations to Kaeya, Lisa, Venti, Lumine, Paimon, Xingqiu, Chongyun, Yelan, Ningguang, Beidou, Shikanoin Heizou, Yae Miko, Dori, Tighnari… and others for answering correctly. Rewards have been distributed!]
[Ding! Raiden Ei, Arataki Itto, Sayu, Kamisato Ayaka, Gorou, Diluc, Amber, Eula, Bennett, Keqing, Qiqi, Xiao, Nilou, La Signora, Childe… and others answered incorrectly. Penalties applied!]
The VIP room instantly exploded.
[Keqing: What the hell—"Milky Blade"?!]
[Raiden Ei: ???]
[Sayu: Ugh, not again! I just shrank another three centimeters! What is this cursed stream!? Waaaah!]
[Thoma: Sayu… didn't you say you'd stop participating? (sweating emoji)]
[Yelan: Heh, another gambler down. The Tea House is full of them.]
[Xiao: …Lost two centimeters. (facepalm)]
[Eula: This insult—I'll remember it!]
[Kaeya: Oh, Diluc, messed up again, huh? Guess Angel's Share will be serving free drinks this week?]
[Diluc: (￢＿￢)凸]
[Bennett: Help! I got teleported to Dragonspine Palace! It's freezing! And there's a Cryo Hilichurl King chasing me! Somebody help me!!!]
[Gorou: This wasn't a freebie—it was a deathtrap!]
[Diona: How on earth did those who got it right even come up with that answer?!]
[The Mishearing Maniac: Seriously! I wanted to trap a few people—but how are y'all this sharp!? ε=(´ο｀*) sigh]
Though most had answered wrong, quite a few had guessed correctly.
Bai Hao, watching from behind the scenes, couldn't help but chuckle.
He'd thought this trick question would wipe the floor with everyone—
but apparently, the crowd was catching on.
[Keqing: So you're not even pretending anymore, huh? This is pure trolling! (slams table)]
[Yae Miko: Fufu~ "Musou no Hitotachi"? Did you really think the answer would be that obvious? (covers mouth, laughing)]
[Heizou: Exactly. After Xiangling's "The Queen of Weapons" question yesterday, we should've known this stream's never serious!]
[Venti: Ehe~ but "The Milky Blade" does sound the most reasonable!]
[Lumine: I thought everyone already knew it was "The Milky Blade"!]
[Paimon: Yeah, totally! (hands on hips)]
[Lisa: My, my~ You're all laughing so brightly… did none of you know the real answer? (leans on hand)]
[Everyone who got it wrong: …]
Pure mockery. Absolute humiliation.
[Sayu: @The Mishearing Maniac, get out here! Why is the answer "The Milky Blade"? (eyes red)]
At Wangshu Inn, Bai Hao scratched his cheek awkwardly.
Little Sayu was really about to explode, huh?
Well, considering she'd lost a total of six centimeters in height so far…
that was pretty tragic.
Out of pity, Bai Hao decided to play a new clip—
a video of the Raiden Shogun drawing her sword.
…
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