"This Inazuma hasn't changed much from when I left."
Raiden Makoto let out a quiet sigh of relief after walking through the city with Ei, still carrying Yae Miko—now in fox form—in her arms.
She had feared that with Ei ruling alone, Inazuma might have regressed.
But if things had at least stood still, that was already a blessing.
She couldn't expect more.
The fox in her embrace rolled her eyes.
This was only the surface.
Had Su Ran not cleaned up Kujou Takayuki and Hiiragi Shinsuke just yesterday, the city would likely still be a mess.
Now, with the Tenryou Commission headless and the Kanjou Commission's cowardly Shinsuke paying for his life with coin, things were quiet—for the moment.
Makoto had no idea what Inazuma's real situation was.
If she saw the battlefield littered with corpses, she might have been horrified.
"Yes… indeed!"
Ei dared not admit to her sister that she had neglected governance.
But seeing the dream-Inazuma still thriving, she felt relief.
At least, the vision presented to Makoto was beautiful.
"But this is still just Inazuma in a dream, isn't it?"
Makoto immediately pierced her sister's facade.
She had been an older sister for millennia— how could she not see through Ei's heart?
The moment she said the word dream, Yae Miko was not surprised.
She already knew this Raiden Makoto was the real one.
Ei, however, froze.
She could not comprehend how a figure born in the dream could know this truth.
Even Inazumans themselves were unaware.
So why did Makoto know?
"Was it… Su Ran who told you?"
She couldn't think of another possibility.
And resentment stirred in her chest.
Why had Su Ran revealed this?
Even if it was only a dream, must he be so cruel?
"Ei! I died five hundred years ago. The only reason I can walk here again is because of him. How could you blame him?"
Makoto would never resent Su Ran.
Even knowing the dream robbed Inazumans of freedom, she had been granted a chance— a chance to stand again beside her sister in their city.
Whatever Su Ran's schemes, Makoto could not hate him.
Nor would she allow Ei to blame him.
"No… I just dislike that he told you."
Toward Su Ran, Ei's gratitude far outweighed resentment.
This eternal dream, Makoto's return— for these, she was deeply thankful.
But everything was already perfect.
Makoto and eternity had both returned.
Why introduce this flaw?
Why let Makoto know it was only a dream?
Wouldn't it have been better to let her believe it was real?
"Foolish girl…"
Makoto could not exist here in flesh, only as lingering consciousness.
And yet, here she was—walking the city streets.
How could she not notice something was wrong?
Besides, she had met Su Ran before.
She was the dream's first guest.
"But if this is your 'eternity,' isn't it cruel to Inazumans?"
After hearing more of the dream's truth from Su Ran, Makoto understood its horror.
No death, no illness, no aging.
Yet no new life either.
No births, no fresh souls.
Humanity stripped of the cycle of life and death.
And how long would this dream last?
Even if their bodies never wore down— could mortals truly endure centuries of memory?
To Ei, this dream was eternity.
But only because she had long grown used to self-confinement.
She had merely traded her plane of Euthymia for a dream-prison.
For her, little difference.
But why should Inazumans accept such a cage?
Makoto would not tell her sister to abandon it.
That too was part of their promise.
All she could do was stay beside Ei, to soothe the solitude that had weighed on her all these years.
When the talk of the dream ended, Ei visibly relaxed.
Borrowing yesterday's memories of walking Inazuma, she led Makoto to try new things— like dango milk.
"Two… two Shoguns?"
The snack vendor Tomoki blinked, dazed, seeing two Raiden Shoguns before him.
"I… am I dreaming?"
Ei shot him a glance.
Indeed, this was a dream.
"Two bottles of dango milk."
"Y-yes, right away!"
Dream or not, if the Shogun came to taste his snacks, what greater honor could there be?
This would be the best advertisement imaginable.
But as Ei took the bottles, she realized something.
She had no mora.
Yesterday Su Ran had been there.
Now he wasn't.
She couldn't possibly make Makoto pay, could she?
Her gaze fell on the fox in Makoto's arms.
Time to cough up some coins, Miko.
But as a tiny fox, Miko didn't seem to have any pockets for money.
"Put it on the Tenshukaku's tab."
Hearing she meant to pay, Tomoki shook his head furiously.
"No, no! For the Shogun to taste my snacks is honor enough. How could I take your money?"
"Rules are rules. They cannot be broken."
Ei shook her head, recalling that infuriating Su Ran.
"Didn't a man come yesterday, carrying a child who looked a lot like me? Put the bill on him."
"…Eh?"
Tomoki froze.
He vaguely remembered that man— and the distinct child in his arms.
If even the Shogun knew them… then didn't that mean…?
Tomoki suddenly realized he might have stumbled on a terrible secret.
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