Soft pink sakura petals drifted down on the wind.
The Statue of the Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed God had long since been repaired; the empty sockets that once held Visions were now restored.
Before the statue, people gathered in a dark, seething mass—Inazuma's citizens, shoulder to shoulder, their faces stormy, eyes blazing with anger.
If looks could kill, the ones kneeling beneath the statue would have died a hundred times already.
The Tri-Commission's judgment had finally reached its final act.
The Tenryou Commission and the Kanjou Commission had accepted bribes from a Fatui Harbinger, deceived the Shogun, twisted the path of Eternity, and had together brought disaster upon Inazuma.
Now, they would receive their final sentence.
And the executioner—
Would be none other than the Electro Archon of Inazuma herself: the Raiden Shogun (Ei).
High above the crowd, a white, floating figure bobbed lazily in the air, gaze drifting toward a certain bowl-cut boy.
"Lumine, who would've thought Scaramouche really lost his mind like this," Paimon muttered.
"He keeps mumbling about killing Dottore…"
Down on his knees before the statue, Scaramouche seemed completely cut off from the world around him.
His face was twisted, his expression feral, lips trembling as he repeated over and over:
"Kill Dottore… kill Dottore… hehe… kill Dottore…"
"Su Boss's mental attacks are way too scary…" Paimon shivered. Just remembering it gave her goosebumps.
"Well, it's Su Boss," Lumine answered calmly.
By now, Su Xuan's telekinesis range covered at least the entire route the Death Star had sailed, plus the distance from Ritou all the way to Yashiori Island.
And telekinesis was tied directly to mental power.
That alone said enough about how terrifying Su Xuan's mind had become.
Of course, that was only the range Lumine actually knew about.
Besides, Su Xuan had already slapped a "must be erased" label on all of Dottore's segments. It was only a matter of time before his mental power covered the entire world.
As for why he was waiting until his psychic sense could blanket the whole world before cleaning up the remaining segments—
Lumine had a guess.
Dottore had created far too many segments. For the sake of information and knowledge, they were scattered all across Teyvat's every corner, moving from place to place from time to time.
Wiping them all out completely was an incredibly troublesome job.
Su the pretty boy probably didn't want to leave any fish that slipped through the net and embarrass himself.
Much easier to wait until his psychic power covered every last inch of the continent, and then erase them all in one go.
Doing it personally was efficient and reliable.
Besides, with the strongest main body already dead, those segments couldn't stir up any real trouble now.
"Never thought the people he truly disliked would turn out to be those two…" Paimon sighed.
She still remembered Su Xuan mentioning in his diary that there were indeed a few people in Teyvat he genuinely disliked.
If he ever met them, he wouldn't waste words—he'd just twist their heads off on the spot.
And as fate would have it, those two idiots gathered together and walked straight into Su Xuan's sensing range.
"Hmph! Serves that Scaramouche right. He tried to kill me over and over. He had it coming."
Lumine tossed her hair, chin lifted proudly.
Paimon: "…"
What was with that tone, like she was trying to claim Su Xuan's protection for herself?
As if Su Xuan had personally come all this way just to help her deal with Scaramouche.
Paimon scratched her head, speechless.
"Well… that's not completely wrong, but still. Thanks to Su Boss, everything changed. Our first official meeting with Scaramouche is at his execution platform…"
"Ah—Ei's here."
As they were talking, a streak of violet lightning fell from the sky, slamming down before the giant statue.
The people kneeling below the execution platform looked up—and the moment they saw that familiar purple silhouette descend, their angered, hateful expressions softened into reverence.
"It's the Shogun!"
"Her Excellency has come to punish those who brought disaster to Inazuma!"
"Shogun-sama!"
Cheers spread like a wave.
Listening to the worshipful cries of the citizens, Ei felt a faint stab of guilt.
None of this had actually been arranged by her.
Not only that—no matter the reasons, if her people had suffered, she bore the greatest responsibility as the one who ruled Inazuma.
Fortunately, the first country Su Xuan had visited happened to be Inazuma.
Fortunately, he had told her the truth.
Fortunately, she had left the Plane of Euthymia early and taken Inazuma's affairs back into her own hands.
Otherwise, things would have spiraled into a disaster.
As long as he's here… I believe Inazuma's future will be brighter, Ei thought.
She turned her gaze toward the heads of the Kujou Clan and the Hiiragi Clan, then spoke coldly:
"For the sake of your past contributions to Inazuma—"
"I will permit you a few last words."
Down below, Lumine stared at the two clan heads, who now sobbed with regret, and shook her head.
They had worked their entire lives for Inazuma, only to stain their final years—and pull their entire clans down with them.
For what?
For power?
For wealth?
For something else entirely?
Or perhaps, there was some more unfathomable force tugging strings behind the scenes.
Like… this was just a small stepping stone fate had prepared for their dear "Hero of Eternity."
A neatly packaged outlet for his rage toward Inazuma.
These mortals, left unprotected by fate, were there for one purpose: to bear the blame in the hero's stead—
While the hero himself ran off to Sumeru to eat well and drink better.
Unfortunately for fate, even it hadn't expected a world-class drifter beyond its control to crash in and ruin the hero's golden path.
All Lumine could think was: Serves him right.
On the platform, Ei carried out the execution in one clean stroke, ending the lives of those who had preyed on Inazuma's people.
Then she stepped, step by measured step, toward Scaramouche.
"Kill Dottore… kill Dottore… hm?"
Head drooping, Scaramouche's dull gaze suddenly caught a pair of long, slender, violet-clad legs in front of him.
Familiar.
Where had he seen this outfit before?
Those purple stockings, those high heels—
In that instant, the fragmented mind of the Balladeer snapped sharply awake.
He jerked his head up.
His eyes met a pair of cold, violet irises.
A familiar outfit.
A familiar face.
A familiar chill in those eyes—and the familiar blade in her hand.
"Y–you…" he stammered.
"It's… you…"
He finally remembered who this cold woman was.
The one who had killed him again and again.
A crushing wave of terror crashed over Scaramouche, and his voice cracked into an ugly half-sob:
"Don't… d-don't come any closer…"
Ei looked down at the tearful puppet without the slightest change in expression.
She didn't even feel like wasting words on this creation that had long since gone off the rails.
She raised her blade high.
"Die," she said simply.
—
High atop Tenshukaku, three figures stood together, watching violet lightning flicker around the statue in the distance.
The cheers carried faintly all the way up to them, signaling that the incident tied to "Eternity" had finally reached its conclusion.
"Phew…" Rosalyne exhaled. "So Inazuma's mess is finally over."
Su Xuan's method of repairing relations between Snezhnaya and Inazuma had worked perfectly.
After Dottore was twisted to death by Su Xuan, Rosalyne had immediately brought the unconscious Scaramouche to Inazuma.
With Yae Miko receiving her, the two sides followed Su Xuan's instructions and dumped all responsibility for the Inazuma crises on Scaramouche's head.
The news that the Fatui had delivered the true culprit to Inazuma spread quickly.
The people went wild.
The Five Commissions incident, the Vision Hunt Decree, the Sakoku Decree—
With all those crimes stacked together, the citizens of Inazuma wanted nothing more than to tear Scaramouche apart.
His execution served as an outlet for years of pent-up anger from the Vision Hunt and lockdown.
"The people need somewhere safe for their emotions to go," Yae Miko remarked.
"Only then can they move forward."
"That man really is something…"
Rosalyne, however, had a different take. She laughed softly.
"Guji-sama, you still don't quite get it."
"Someone like him doesn't care what Inazuma's people think."
Ayaka blinked.
She thought back—Su Xuan really had never shown the slightest interest in ruling any nation.
He'd called that sort of thing a tiring, thankless job.
"Oh?" Yae Miko raised a brow. "Enlighten me, then."
Rosalyne continued, lips curling.
"The only reason he's doing this is to help your Shogun a little, that's all."
She pulled out the diary and flipped it open, showing Yae Miko the relevant page.
"Just like he said himself—there's a bond between him and Ei. That's why he…"
"You understand, don't you?"
Yae Miko's eyes lowered.
This woman… she's clearly using Ei's name to imply herself too.
After all, in the same entry, Su Xuan had also mentioned Rosalyne.
"Tch. The way you say it makes it sound like we're useless," Yae Miko shot her a glare.
Rosalyne just waved dismissively. "Anyway, according to the Death Star's route, it should reach Ritou in a day or two."
"I'll head to Ritou first. Beidou promised that once she drops Su Xuan off, she'll take me straight back to Snezhnaya."
"I'll send her back to Liyue with a batch of Snezhnayan specialties as a thank-you."
"As for compensation for Inazuma—don't worry. Her Majesty won't shortchange you."
Yae Miko had no reason to doubt that.
When Rosalyne brought Scaramouche over, she'd already "sold out" the Snezhnayan diary holders.
The Tsaritsa's name was on that list.
And from the way Her Majesty had allowed Rosalyne to act with full authority, it was clear enough: the Tsaritsa was also moving to align herself with Su Xuan.
In Rosalyne's own words:
We're all "sisters" now. With Scaramouche taking the blame, the grudges between us can be settled, don't you think?
To be fair, Yae Miko thought that logic was perfectly acceptable.
Now that they knew of the unfathomable Abyss beyond the world, human nations bickering among themselves seemed… petty.
Especially in the current situation.
The most important thing now was, of course, the pretty boy who had tied all their fates together: Su Xuan.
Everything else was trivial in comparison.
After a few last instructions, Rosalyne bid them farewell and headed alone toward Ritou.
Once she was gone—
Yae Miko finally turned to Kamisato Ayaka.
"We should get ready as well. We'll head to Ritou at dawn and wait quietly for Su Xuan's arrival."
Ayaka hurriedly nodded.
Since Su Xuan had casually suggested presenting Scaramouche and the two corrupt commission heads to the people, the Yashiro Commission—never mentioned—had come out completely clean.
All Yashiro Commission personnel who had been detained were freed after Yae Miko publicly revealed Scaramouche's crimes.
And because it was Beidou and Sangonomiya Kokomi who had asked Su Xuan how to handle Scaramouche, Yae Miko suggested that Ei also release the detained rebels from Watatsumi Island.
For now, Watatsumi still lived under the supervision of the shogunate troops.
But the reason for their release was so simple that Ayaka could hardly believe it.
Since Kokomi had received Su Xuan's response, it meant her relationship with him was quite good.
If Ei stubbornly kept her people locked up, it would make it look like she didn't take Su Xuan's diary seriously.
The moment Yae Miko voiced this, Ei immediately announced the release of Watatsumi's prisoners.
As for why Watatsumi still had to live under shogunate supervision—well, that was a minor detail.
Once Sangonomiya Kokomi arrived with Su Xuan, if he wanted her to continue as Watatsumi's Divine Priestess and restore their autonomy, Ei could make it happen with a single word.
Call it what you will—Yae Miko preferred:
One sister's not around, so the others are babysitting for a while. Nothing wrong with that.
Ayaka couldn't help but sigh inwardly at Su Xuan's influence.
Perhaps to him, these were just random lines in a diary.
But everyone else had to think carefully about them.
Even Ei, the god of Inazuma, was being dragged into a position where she might soon be calling the other diary holders "sisters."
Putting all that together—
The thought of finally meeting this legendary man made Ayaka's heart pound wildly.
"Yo, little one. What are you thinking about, getting all red in the face like that?"
"Don't tell me you didn't actually study what I made you study?"
Yae Miko stared at the flushed Ayaka, worried the girl would choke at the critical moment from sheer shyness.
"Don't you dare assume that just because the Yashiro Commission was cleared, you no longer have to put in the effort."
"Don't forget, the only reason your commission was spared is because he didn't mention you when distributing blame."
Ayaka panicked.
"N–no, Guji-sama, I was just… nervous and excited about seeing him soon, that's all."
"I haven't forgotten anything I should do."
Yae Miko studied her expression and the firmness in her gaze, then finally exhaled in relief.
"That's good. You scared me for a moment. I thought you were going to mess up my arrangements."
"Arrangements?" Ayaka repeated, confused.
Yae Miko nodded slowly.
Wearing the expression of someone sharing a boat with her, she gave Ayaka a mysterious look, then turned her gaze toward Inazuma City below, and beyond—
"From this moment on, Inazuma will still appear to be the same Inazuma of Teyvat."
"But in truth…"
"I'm going to turn it into a nation dedicated solely to serving Su Xuan."
Ayaka's eyes went wide.
"?!"
"Eh!?"
Yae Miko shot her a sideways look.
"What's with that overreaction? How are you going to stand firm in the future if you get flustered over this?"
"Besides, our dear Shogun has long since become Su Xuan's shadow slave."
Ayaka: "Huh?"
The pure White Heron Princess stood there, completely stunned.
The Shogun… had already become Su Xuan's slave?
When had that happened?
Why did she know nothing about it?!
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