Amid the occasional Hilichurl wails, Reisen Riou and Anko Kanno awaited Kujou Sei.
The Hatamoto, fresh from tallying Shogunate casualties, looked grim. The losses were heavy.
He opened with a deflection.
"This is your scouting result? Why was there a Mitachurl Thunderhelm? I'll report this to the Tenryou Commission…" Kujou Sei fumed.
Reisen Riou and Anko saw it coming.
Kujou Sei's political savvy was lacking. Years as Ritou's top officer, far from intrigue, had dulled what little cunning he had. A martial man, his scheming skills had atrophied.
"Hmph," Reisen Riou scoffed, cutting him off. "Look at this."
An Electro mirror formed in his hand, replaying the Thunderhelm's birth from the Ley Lines.
"This is Ley Line memory. Ley Lines don't lie. Look at the surroundings—it's clear."
The mirror shrank, showing the Thunderhelm's emergence alongside Shogunate Foot Soldiers and samurai.
Kujou Sei's face twisted as he stormed off. He couldn't pin this on them.
Truth was, without a Vision, he'd hit his ceiling. Ambitious subordinates eyed his post, and now he had to dread their backstabbing.
The heavy losses of elite troops needed urgent replenishment.
His inexperience showed. A Kujou by name, but a branch family member, he knew little of youkai or their Ley Line memory-reading. Had he known, he wouldn't have humiliated himself or crossed Reisen Riou and Anko.
Now, he'd failed to shift blame and made two dangerous enemies.
Reisen Riou smirked at Kujou Sei's retreating figure.
"Knew he'd try to dodge the blame."
"He'll hold a grudge," Anko warned.
"Scared of him?" Reisen Riou chuckled. "He'll be slinking back to the Kujou Clan soon."
Under Raiden Makoto's era, the Kujou Clan head was wise, shaped by her governance. The main clan alone numbered over four thousand, with branches pushing past ten thousand. Over a hundred competed for clan head in each generation, emerging from rigorous training. The current head was no fool.
Someone like Kujou Sei, erring and offending others, wouldn't be spared.
After the Shogunate's main force left, Reisen Riou and Anko performed an exorcism ritual, purging residual monster auras and elemental traces before returning to the Ritou Shrine.
These remnants could harm humans slightly. Reisen Riou, cautious, insisted on the ritual. But honestly, Teyvatians had LV2 elemental resistance—enough to shrug off discomfort, not death.
Reisen Riou was right. Back at the Ritou Shrine, Kujou Sei was scrambling to minimize the fallout.
The dead Foot Soldiers, elite after years of training, weren't the worst issue. From common families, they lacked clout. Generous pensions could settle it.
The fallen samurai was trickier.
A mere Konin, but from a notable family. A branch bastard, sure, but his name was logged with the Tenryou Commission.
Had he lived, Kujou Sei could've buried the losses with effort. His death made the debacle undeniable.
As the commanding Hatamoto, Kujou Sei faced punishment.
He knew his cushy Ritou post was gone. Next stop? Likely Kujou Encampment, where Mitachurls were routine.
The thought of that monster-infested front line drained his face.
Events unfolded as expected. After Kujou Sei and his aide submitted the battle report, the Tenryou Commission's verdict came swiftly: negligence and recklessness. His samurai rank and benefits stayed, but he was reassigned to Kujou Encampment.
As he'd feared, Kujou Sei's face paled.
His replacement was an elderly Hatamoto, retired from Kujou Encampment, seeking a quiet post. Not a Kujou, but from a high-ranking Tenryou Commission noble family.
Ritou's elite Foot Soldiers and low-ranking samurai were quickly replenished.
Life on Ritou settled back into calm.
"What're you staring at?" Anko Kanno asked, returning to the Ritou Shrine after a day's patrol and clearing a couple of Slimes born from elemental buildup.
She found Reisen Riou gazing at the shrine's empty grounds.
The Ritou Shrine, newly built, was spacious but understaffed, leaving much of its land unused.
Inazuma shrines typically handled exorcisms, geomancy, faith propagation, youkai veneration, funerals, festivals, divinations, healing, almsgiving, offerings, Ley Line suppression, Sacred Sakura cleansing, junior miko training, and nominating senior miko candidates.
The Ritou Shrine only managed exorcisms, Ley Line suppression, and Sacred Sakura cleansing, funded solely by Ritou Town's stipends.
"Thinking about these wastelands," Reisen Riou said. "Feels like a shame to leave them empty. I'm planning to grow vegetables or grains. What's best to plant?"
"Uh… shouldn't it be flowers or trees?" Anko blurted.
"That's for when we've got staff and surplus. We're in startup mode—food crops make more sense," Reisen Riou said.
"No need for that, right? The town's already spreading word about the shrine. Offerings will come. If push comes to shove, open a funeral business—resources won't be an issue."
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