After finishing the diary entry, Su Xuan looked around at the girls.
They were clearly shaken by what they'd just learned about the true nature of the Abyss.
But he hadn't written all that to deliberately stir up their anxiety or force them to cling to him for salvation.
The Abyss—its true name, Pitch-Black Fate—really was devouring countless stars across the universe.
Whether it would one day become the very structure of the universe, like the Will Overmind in that other world, Su Xuan didn't know.
But since Pitch-Black Fate could swallow all the planets and suns in a cosmos, its level of existence was definitely not low.
"You said just now that if the Abyss keeps dragging things out," Yae Miko began, "another hundred, another thousand years from now, you'd have the power to blow up the whole universe."
"Can I take that to mean that before destroying the Abyss, you won't leave Teyvat?"
For once, the foxy Guuji dropped her usual teasing and spoke with genuine concern.
As soon as she did, all the women around them turned their eyes to Su Xuan.
Su Xuan just snorted.
"Do I look like I've lost my mind?"
"I'd just sit here and waste time with it?"
"I literally just said: once I reach the 'world-level,' I can use the Flying Thunder Guiding Thunder barrier to cover all of Teyvat."
"Once that's done, the problem is basically solved."
"Outside this world, there's nothing left anyway. Even if I went out, there'd be nowhere worth exploring."
"So why would I waste the effort wrestling with it? If it wants to wander the universe, let it wander. As long as it doesn't bother us, that's good enough."
The girls all blinked.
Ayaka caught onto a single word. "Us?"
"Yeah." Su Xuan gave a helpless shake of his head. "I really don't get what you all are thinking half the time."
"Always worrying about if I'll run, when I'll run."
"I've worked this hard to collect such beautiful scenery. That's my personal treasure."
"I'm not about to just throw away all the wealth I've earned."
Honestly, after everything recorded in the diary, any diary holder with a functioning brain should have some grasp of his character by now.
No one could still see him as some distant stranger.
Compared to before, his progress in "collecting scenery" was much more efficient.
And even when he barged into their inner sanctums now, their mental resilience was far stronger than back then.
He didn't need to keep treating everything as a stiff transaction anymore.
If nothing ever changed, the diary's role as a "matchmaker" between him and these women would be pointless.
All of them knew exactly what Su Xuan meant by "wealth."
A strange, quiet pride rose in their hearts.
Their tightly strung nerves finally relaxed.
Yae Miko's smile turned sultry.
"Since you've said that much, I suppose I have to show my best."
"Even if my jaw dislocates tonight, I'm going to make sure you remember my name."
With that, she began to demonstrate the "arts of service" she'd learned from her books—right there in front of everyone.
Su Xuan didn't stop her, letting the pink fox keep herself busy.
At the same time, his telekinesis spread out, blanketing every corner of Inazuma. His psychic sense swept the land like a carpet.
Soon, in some forgotten patch of forest deep underground, he felt a faint, abnormal pulse of energy.
He crooked his finger lightly.
In a remote woodland, a broken horn wrapped in murky violet-black aura burst up through the soil—
Then was immediately swallowed by a ball of light.
The light shot across the night like a shooting star, streaking toward Tenshukaku.
Moments later, the glowing sphere hovered in Su Xuan's palm.
The girls stared curiously at the light in his hand.
They were long past the point of being shocked by his power, but telekinesis still left a lingering awe in their hearts.
Was there any force in the world more convenient, more unreasonable than this?
"This is…" Ei hesitated.
"Yeah," Su Xuan said casually. "The horn you cut off Chiyo with your own hands back then."
"Now that the puppet has been dealt with…"
"And Sumeru's little 'godmaking plan' has probably gone off the rails…"
"All the man-made crises are basically wrapped up. What's left are the big ones: the Heavenly Principles and the Abyss."
"As for Inazuma—once we deal with Chiyo's horn, you won't have any real problems left."
He closed his fingers.
Under the crushing force of his telekinesis, the broken horn and the Abyssal taint clinging to it shattered into nothing.
The whole time, Yae Miko didn't lift her head once, completely focused on "serving" him.
Chiyo's broken horn was, in theory, the last remaining proof that her old friend had once lived in this world.
She should've at least looked at it.
But right now, Yae Miko's thoughts were crystal clear.
Pleasing Su the pretty boy was the real priority.
As long as they—these diary holders—didn't disappoint him, he'd never let them suffer.
If they could keep him happy, they might never even get the chance to feel despair. Their future skies would always be clear and bright.
"I checked Inazuma's current situation just now," Su Xuan said.
"Other than Tsurumi Island—that haunted land—everything else seems to have been handled."
Hearing that, Ei answered immediately:
"Yes. I've already gone to Seirai Island and Amakumo Peak."
"The ward was displaced, but luckily it wasn't destroyed. I returned it to its rightful place and calmed the Thunder Bird's resentment."
Su Xuan nodded approvingly.
"You really have grown, being able to think of handling Amakumo Peak on your own."
Ei flushed, secretly pleased at the praise.
Then she sighed. "But Tsurumi Island is beyond me."
Su Xuan wasn't surprised.
Tsurumi's eternal fog came from damaged leylines.
Even as Inazuma's ruler, Ei had no way to fix those.
As for the Sacred Sakura cleansing rituals—
A few moments ago, while searching for Chiyo's horn, he'd noticed Lumine and Shenhe had gone outside the city and were resting in a tent.
They'd mentioned meeting a shrine maiden in a fox mask and ceremonial robes.
From the way Lumine talked about it—
Bored anyway, might as well go see what's going on—
He was pretty sure she'd accepted the request of a girl called Hanachirusato, and was preparing to cleanse the Sacred Sakura.
"I more or less get the picture," Su Xuan said.
"Tomorrow, I'll take Kokomi back to Watatsumi first and set up a Flying Thunder Guiding Thunder mark in her room that leads straight to Tenshukaku."
"Then I'll head to Enkanomiya to get a proper look at the 'Sun of Tokoyo' creation mechanism."
"And while I'm there, I can clear out the Abyssal energy covering Enkanomiya."
"Once that's gone, the 'holy soil' problem on Watatsumi will resolve itself."
Kokomi stared at him, stunned.
She'd never imagined that the reason Watatsumi had become unfit for crops would be tied to the Abyss.
The pink little "ornamental fish" turned to him with eyes full of gratitude.
For once, she had no idea how to express the depth of her thanks to this man who seemed capable of anything.
"After that," Su Xuan continued, "I'll head to Tsurumi and see about solving that problem too."
Once his plans were laid out, his lips curved in a wicked grin.
"When everything in Inazuma is back to normal…"
"I'll drag Raiden Makoto out of your memories."
"And tell her everything you've been up to these past few years."
"Makoto!" Ei gasped, calling her sister's name.
The moment she heard he'd tell Makoto about it all, a sharp shiver ran through her.
Her gaze slid down to Yae Miko, who was still busily "working."
If anyone was going to drag every last embarrassing memory out into the light, it wouldn't be Su Xuan.
It would be her own backstabbing retainer.
Yae Miko seemed to feel those eyes on her. She glanced up briefly and rolled them.
Does that even need to be said?
The diary already had most of it written down.
She refused to believe that once Makoto was revived, she wouldn't also be given a diary copy.
"Mm!" Yae Miko suddenly raised her head, panting for breath.
"Honestly, can you focus a little?"
"I'm here doing my best work, and you're off thinking about all kinds of nonsense instead of cooperating."
"Do you really want to see my jaw come off that badly?"
Su Xuan hurriedly smoothed a hand over her head and laughed.
"Of course not."
"Anyway, now that all the business is settled—"
"It's time to get down to the real work."
"Since you're both beautiful and clever, Miss Fox, let's have you fire the first shot."
—
The next morning.
Kamisato Ayaka was jolted awake by the noises beside her.
She opened her eyes just a slit—
And saw Su Xuan, very much in his "main body," having morning practice with the Raiden Shogun herself.
The smacking impacts of palm strikes were followed by Ei's soft, breathless cries.
Ayaka took one look, then squeezed her eyes tightly shut again, face burning, pretending to sleep.
Her mind drifted back to the madness of the previous night.
In the end, Yae Miko's plan had worked.
With her coaxing, they'd come up with a "game"—
Each of them kneeling, kissing Su Xuan in turn, and swearing that from this day forward, no matter the time or place, if Su Xuan wanted to enter their homes, the doors would always be open to him without condition.
Remembering Su Xuan's stunned face when he'd realized what Yae Miko was up to, Ayaka couldn't help smirking secretly.
As expected, Guuji-sama really knows how to keep him happy…
Unfortunately, when she recalled her own performance, Ayaka could only shake her head privately.
Terrible. Absolutely terrible.
Reality turned out to be nothing like the "theory" she'd studied from books.
She'd thought that with all that knowledge, she'd be able to better please Su Xuan—
But in practice, her instincts had completely taken over, and she'd just wanted to crawl away and escape.
In the end, she'd been dragged back in front of everyone, hands gripping her waist, unable to run.
"Ugh… so embarrassing…"
"I wonder if he was disappointed by how I was last night…"
As her thoughts drifted, the room finally grew quiet.
She could still hear Ei's breathing close by, but nothing else.
After a while, she felt someone reach around and pull her into a gentle embrace from behind.
Su Xuan had long since noticed Ayaka was awake.
He leaned in close to her ear and whispered:
"Miko, Sara, and Kokomi have gone to prepare breakfast."
"Once we've eaten, I'll take Kokomi back to Watatsumi and then head to Tsurumi."
"And while I'm gone, I need you to help me with something."
The moment she heard he had a task for her, Ayaka's eyes flew open.
For him to personally entrust her with something—
This was a rare chance to prove herself.
"Please tell me," Ayaka said eagerly, eyes bright.
"I need you to bring me the girl who 'raises Slimes with bandages,'" he said.
Ayaka: "?"
"Who?"
She blinked at him, lost. "Who uses bandages to raise Slimes?"
"Yoimiya," Su Xuan answered calmly. "Aren't you fairly close friends with her?"
Yoimiya?
Ayaka stared, stunned.
Since when did Yoimiya raise Slimes?
How had she never heard of that?
But she was smart enough that, after a brief pause, it dawned on her.
Actually… that did sort of check out.
She and Yoimiya were of similar age—both girls in their prime—
But Yoimiya's "capacity," in certain areas… was not inferior to the Shogun's.
Ayaka remembered once discussing Summer Festival fireworks with her.
She'd glanced sideways and taken in the… overwhelming difference between them.
Two girls, same age.
Completely different battlefield.
"Yoimiya…" Ayaka repeated under her breath.
She understood perfectly what he was really asking of her.
It was just like when Yae Miko had guided Ayaka herself.
"Could it be that Yoimiya is also a diary holder?" she asked aloud.
The moment the words left her lips, she realized how silly that sounded.
Long, long ago, the name Naganohara Yoimiya had already spread through the streets.
Her family's fireworks business was among the most famous in Inazuma.
Many of the major festivals relied on her expertise.
She was beautiful, kind, and full of warmth.
Of course she'd have a diary copy.
"I think so," Su Xuan smiled. "I'm not about to let a single diary holder slip through my fingers."
"But Yoimiya did help me on my very first day in this world."
"So before I go digging into her secrets, I want you to make the first move—give her some information, let her prepare herself mentally."
"And before you act, I'll check in on her situation myself."
Ayaka's eyes softened.
She hadn't expected the 'kind stranger' Su Xuan had mentioned before to be Yoimiya.
And she could see why this bothered him, just a bit.
Yoimiya wasn't like them—nobles and rulers with heavy burdens who needed his help.
She had been the one to help him.
With the roles reversed, dealing with her was trickier.
You couldn't just walk up to someone who'd once taken you in and bluntly say:
"By the way, those two big 'Slimes' you're feeding with bandages…"
It would be weird no matter how you phrased it.
At least with Yoimiya, he couldn't just use the same tactics he had on everyone else.
Much better to let her friend Ayaka take point, coaxing her step by step, then deliver her straight into his hands.
"I didn't expect the one who helped you back then to be Yoimiya," Ayaka murmured.
Su Xuan nodded. "Yeah. And that's exactly why there's no way I'm letting her off the hook."
Ayaka blinked, then let out a tiny laugh.
He phrased it so ruthlessly—
But she knew full well that Su Xuan must be genuinely grateful to Yoimiya.
Otherwise, he wouldn't specifically ask her to help bring in the "Summer Festival Queen."
"I'll do my best," Ayaka said.
Su Xuan chuckled. "If it were just me and her, getting what I want might take a very long time."
"So this isn't about you 'doing your best,' Ayaka."
"You have to succeed."
"If you take too long, I'll have to let you experience what it's like to be hit, seriously, one hundred times in a row."
Ayaka: "?"
She could barely endure ten—or even eight—"serious hits" as it was.
One hundred in a row?
Wasn't that basically… a creative new way of killing her?
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> patreon.com/lucarioTL