In the story, Yae Miko said: ["The time is about right. I have another guest waiting. Let's return to the Grand Narukami Shrine first, and we can continue our conversation there."]
Upon returning to the Grand Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko asked the Traveler: ["Do you know what the most important thing is before formulating a plan?"]
["—Understanding the current situation."]
[Yae Miko: "The issuance of the Vision Hunt Decree is clearly the result of someone exploiting the fact that the 'Puppet Shogun' is solely focused on eternity."]
[The Traveler nodded and said: "The intelligence from 'Scaramouche' also confirms this."]
The reason Inazuma has ended up in its current state is precisely because of this.
Ei hides within the Plane of Euthymia, engrossed in meditation and ignoring everything else. This has led to the Raiden Shogun, who operates based on programmed directives, developing a 'bug.'
After all, under normal circumstances, the Shogun wouldn't wake Ei unless something went wrong. This allowed the Fatui and the two Commissions to discover the 'bug,' verify it, and then exploit it.
Raiden Ei is still meditating. In her view, as long as the code runs, it's fine. If it runs, it's not a bug—it's a feature.
If things really go wrong, she can always step in. As long as either she or the program is functional, it's acceptable.
Oh, and there's also the prototype puppet Ei created—Scaramouche, who is no better. The Traveler didn't even have to ask anything before he spilled all the intel himself.
Whether it was during the 'Unreconciled Stars' event or this current story, Scaramouche always revealed information without the Traveler even asking.
The two puppets created by the 'brilliant' Ei don't seem particularly bright.
[Yae Miko analyzed: "Hmm, it's actually been quite obvious for a while now. Aside from the Yashiro Commission, the other two Commissions have been colluding with the Fatui. Tch, foolish humans blinded by greed."]
The uninformed citizens of Inazuma were shocked—the Tenryou Commission had betrayed them too? There had been suspicions about the Tenryou Commission's strange behavior earlier, but now it was confirmed.
Inazuma only has three Commissions, and two of them have betrayed the Shogun? How is this even playable?!
The people of Inazuma grew even more pessimistic. They already thought there was little hope of defeating the Raiden Shogun, and now the Tenryou Commission was added to the equation.
To most, the Tenryou Commission held more power than the Yashiro Commission. If Yae Miko wanted to oppose the Shogun, could the Yashiro Commission really stand against the Tenryou Commission?
What they didn't know was that the Tenryou Commission had already been effortlessly dealt with.
In fact, the story was also close to resolving this, as Yae Miko's guest was none other than Kujou Sara.
The best way to deal with the Tenryou Commission was undoubtedly to win over Kujou Sara.
[Kujou Sara: "Don't move! How dare a wanted criminal brazenly appear at the shrine!"]
The moment she arrived, she tried to arrest the Traveler. After all, the Traveler was the 'escort' personally named by the Shogun—today, they had to go serve Ei in the 'QQ Space.'
[Yae Miko: "Oh my, have you all forgotten? This is the Grand Narukami Shrine... If you resort to violence here, the charge of disrespecting the Shogun... who among you is prepared to take responsibility for that?"]
Hearing this, Kujou Sara immediately backed down. She was willing to bear any punishment, but she would never disrespect the Shogun.
Seeing this, Barbara couldn't tell who the real shrine maiden was anymore.
Yae Miko, the Guuji, showed no trace of reverence for the divine, while Kujou Sara, the general, was overflowing with respect for her god.
Even though capturing the Traveler would have been a great merit, she chose to abandon the opportunity to avoid acting disrespectfully in the shrine.
"Sister Rosaria, if only you had half as much respect for the gods as General Kujou Sara does..." Barbara said to Rosaria, who was reading a book nearby.
Barbara was on break, but Rosaria was outright slacking off during work hours.
Still, Rosaria had made some progress—at least she was still inside the church this time and not at the tavern.
"I do respect Ba... what was it again?" Rosaria pondered for a moment before giving up. "Never mind, I'll try harder next time."
She remembered Venti's name but couldn't recall his divine title—Barbatos. She'd only get it right if she saw it in a book.
"Sigh... then at least start by not making the Anemo Archon drink so much," Barbara said.
She'd heard about the incident at the tavern where a group of people had egged Venti on to drink excessively.
Why did you all have to encourage the Anemo Archon to drink like that? You knew he couldn't resist the temptation, yet you still hyped him up!
The scene was like watching a cat perform a backflip while everyone cheered—utterly disrespectful to the divine!
Worst of all, the cat (Venti) was thoroughly enjoying it. The more you encouraged him, the more he hammed it up—a case of an 'animal' insisting on performing.
Rosaria waved her hand dismissively, though it was unclear if she'd actually listen.
Meanwhile, Venti, who was reading a book nearby, suddenly shuddered as if struck by 'spider-sense.'
Don't stop them from making me drink! When I'm broke and can't afford alcohol, I rely on these drinking buddies to pour it down my throat!
They'd pry my mouth open, pinch my cheeks, and just pour it in! It's absolutely... the best!!!
As my devout believer, you shouldn't tell them to stop—you should tell them to try harder!
Don't hold back just because I'm the Anemo Archon!
When it comes to respecting the divine, the people of Liyue are the real pros—they'd never force Zhongli to drink.
Well, aside from Venti, no other nation's people would force their god to drink.
Though Furina used to have her cakes stolen, that's now prohibited by law.
Oh, and some Fontaine citizens used to name their pets 'Furina,' but that's also been outlawed.
This goes to show that when it comes to irreverence toward the divine, the people of Fontaine are the true masters.
Some Fontaine citizens love their god but 'disrespect' her, while some Inazumans 'don't love' their god but still revere her.
The Commissions of Inazuma may betray the Shogun, but would they ever dare to name their pets 'Raiden Shogun'?
If they did, they wouldn't even need the Shogun to intervene—her subordinates would handle them on the spot.
And if they were really bold and named their pet 'Raiden Makoto,' they could recreate the Musoujin Gorge right in their own home—an 'artist's' hands-on restoration.
Back to the story, Kujou Sara turned the topic of disrespecting the divine back on Yae Miko.
["Then may I ask, Lady Guuji Yae, does harboring a wanted criminal in the shrine not also count as disrespect toward the Shogun?"]
It wasn't until the term 'wanted criminal' was mentioned that the readers remembered: the Traveler was a wanted criminal in Mondstadt, a wanted criminal in Liyue, and still a wanted criminal in Inazuma?
What's going on? Is the Traveler trying to review every nation's prison system?
No—this girl has been wanted all this time but has never actually been caught.
So it's more like she's making a guide on how to evade arrest.
[Yae Miko chuckled: "Hehehe... same as always, Lady Kujou Sara. When it comes to loyalty to the Shogun, no one surpasses you."]
Yae Miko liked Kujou Sara very much because there were few people left who remained so devoted to Ei.
Right now, Inazuma needed someone this lo↺~yal↑~!
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Character Voiceline · Kujou Sara: About Disrespecting the Divine
"I actually followed Lucian and the others in opposing the divine... I am guilty. I am willing to bear any punishment the Shogun sees fit to inflict upon me."