"Here, I must thank Taroumaru for his strong assistance!" Thoma said, stroking the chubby little head of the Shiba Inu.
"Hey, why are you like this!" Paimon said glumly.
"Because you two are so slow. I've been waiting here for you for a long time (all night), so out of a little vengefulness, I decided to play a trick on you."
"But how did you convince that old guy Hiiragi Shinsuke? He's famously unyielding, like a smelly, hard rock in a latrine!"
Thoma was still very curious about this. Before he left, he had inquired, and that was a legitimate entry permit, the kind that allowed free entry and exit.
"Well... that's inconvenient to disclose..." Lumine said after thinking for a moment.
She had promised Shiki not to interfere in Ritou's affairs anymore, so she wouldn't tell others the real reason.
Especially since this person's identity was still unclear.
"Inconvenient, huh... Never mind, that's not important. What's important is that I can take you to see Miss Kamisato."
"Miss Kamisato? Shouldn't it be the Raiden Shogun?"
Lumine frowned at this. Raiden and Kamisato, they didn't seem to fit together at all, did they? She just wanted to meet Inazuma's Archon, not get involved in strange things.
"That's not right. You should know that my Young Miss is one of the administrators of the Yashiro Commission. As one of Inazuma's Three Commissions, she can certainly introduce you to the Raiden Shogun," Thoma said.
"So this is the connection you were talking about?"
"Yes, after all, I'm just the Kamisato Clan's housekeeper. I don't have that much authority to introduce you to the Raiden Shogun," Thoma shrugged.
"Alright, alright, when are we meeting that Young Miss?"
Lumine was a bit helpless, but given the current situation, she could only follow the path Thoma had laid out.
"We'll leave shortly, but before that, we need to go to the Thousand-Armed, Hundred-Eyed God Statue first."
"Thousand-Armed, Hundred-Eyed God Statue?"
"Yes, I'm sure you've heard of the Vision Hunt Decree, right? The construction of the Thousand-Armed, Hundred-Eyed God Statue is related to the Vision Hunt Decree."
As they spoke, the three walked across the wooden bridge to the front of the Tenshukaku, and there, the massive God Statue stood.
It was called Thousand-Armed, Hundred-Eyed, but it didn't actually have thousands of arms. The main form of the God Statue was a hooded woman sitting on the ground, with a pair of huge wings on her back.
And on the God Statue, Lumine saw many sparkling things.
"Those are all..."
"They are Visions. Those Visions confiscated by the Vision Hunt Decree are all embedded in the God Statue," Thoma said.
Lumine looked at the Thousand-Armed, Hundred-Eyed God Statue again, but this time, she heard some strange sounds...
'To become a world-renowned Adventurer...'
'With great power comes great responsibility...'
'...'
Thoma noticed Lumine's unusual state and quickly asked, "Traveler, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I heard some strange sounds, like... wishes..." Lumine shook her head.
"Wishes, huh? Speaking of which, obtaining a Vision is also related to wishes. Being deprived of a Vision is equivalent to being deprived of one's wish."
"It seems the people's wishes are more persistent than imagined!"
Lumine lowered her head thoughtfully at this;'So a Vision doesn't represent power, but wishes...'
"Alright, both of you, it's time for us to head to the next stop—the Kamisato Estate!"
"Oh! Are we finally going!" Paimon clapped her hands in delight. Apparently, anything related to Mora interested Paimon greatly.
Especially when going to the Golden House and the Jade Chamber, she almost wanted to fly upside down.
The three embarked on the road to the Kamisato Estate, and at the same time on Yashiori Island...
'This should be enough no matter what, right?' Shiki thought as she lifted the backpack full of crystallized marrow.
She would have liked to carry the bag on her back, but unfortunately, the large bow tied from her obi didn't allow her to do so.
As for taking off the obi... please, she didn't want her clothes dragging on the ground.
Because there was a red lining inside, it wasn't indecent, but getting dirt on it was really troublesome to wash.
So carrying it was fine, it was no big deal. Besides, with the waypoints, it wasn't tiring at all.
Shiki's luck was good. She found a backpack full of crystallized marrow by searching around Musoujin Gorge, a total of twelve pieces, which was more than enough for Xavier as research material.
There were many side quests in the game, and Shiki only remembered a period of frantically searching for crystallized marrow, but she forgot which specific quest it was. However, having a little extra was always useful.
Besides, Xavier said three pieces, who knows if he'll go over budget and need more materials? Better safe than sorry~
After putting the crystallized marrow at home, Shiki went to the Kamisato Estate. She had something to tell Ayaka, and it definitely wasn't because she wanted to eat the Kamisato Clan's lunch.
Her frequent visits in the previous period had made the Kamisato Clan's guards and servants very familiar with her, and she walked into the mansion unhindered.
"Hmph!"
A delicate shout came from inside the house. At this moment, Ayaka was performing her daily suburi training.
Her current strength was due in part to her persistent daily training. A certain Liyue Seven Stars once said, "Where the heart goes, day after day, there will surely be improvement."
As the Young Miss of the Yashiro Commission, Ayaka was strict with herself. If she couldn't memorize an ancient poem once, she would memorize it ten times. If ten times wasn't enough, then twenty times, until she had it memorized.
The same went for Kendo. If she couldn't do it once, she would keep practicing, from the most basic suburi to the current Frostflake Heron.
Suburi is the act of swinging a sword with both hands from top to bottom. Perhaps its other name is easier to understand: Ichimonji.
Ichimonji is the move that best demonstrates a swordsman's basic foundation. Although simple, to achieve smooth movement and have each swing produce a strong whistling sound, it requires long-term practice.
Because to produce a whistling sound, the blade's trajectory must be correct, meaning the path of the falling blade must be a perfectly straight line.
The straighter the line, the sharper the sound, and vice versa, the quieter it becomes until there's nothing left.
To achieve this, Ayaka trained like a madwoman every day, and when she reached her goal, an ice-blue Vision appeared on the tip of her blade.
"Ayaka, don't you need a break?" Shiki asked, stepping forward.
"No need." Ayaka shook her head, "You're busy outside, so I must also work hard."
"Alright then, I'll wait for you here for a bit. Or, how about we spar?"
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