"…This…"
Raiden Ei flipped through her memories of the past few days, again and again. In the end, she realized a shocking fact.
Su Ran had never once said that this dream would be hers.
All he had said was that he would draw all the people of Inazuma into the dream.
But the ownership of the dream… had never belonged to her.
Which meant this dream was not under her control at all.
Thi–thi–this… how could this be?
If no one had privileges, Ei wouldn't have thought much of it. But now that she discovered someone who did… she couldn't help but think more deeply.
What if one day Su Ran grew tired of this dream and simply destroyed it? What then?
She felt she had no choice—she must have a talk with him.
Just beyond the wall, Kamisato Ayaka leaned against it, her face pale as she listened in on the words exchanged by two deities.
A dream? Has a dream world… already been created?
Why hadn't she noticed a thing?
Unconvinced, Ayaka pinched her arm.
The sharp pain was still there.
If there was pain, how could this be a dream?
But gods would never lie to her on purpose.
Then… When had she fallen into the dream?
She spread her hands, conjuring a delicate ice flower. She could still feel the flow of elemental power.
So was she awake, or in a dream?
"No… I must verify this myself!"
The more she thought about the implications, the more fear crept into her heart.
Ayaka came to a decision—she had to go to Su Ran directly!
Yes!
If the dream already existed, there was no use in turning to the Shogun. Su Ran was the only one who could answer her.
Her troubled expression did not go unnoticed by another hidden figure within the room.
Yae Miko smiled with satisfaction.
Makoto might be back in the dream, but that was not reality.
Within the dream, people could only live within Inazuma. The other six nations no longer existed for them.
No trade, no novelties from abroad.
And within the dream, no new births. No death, no sickness, no aging.
Give it enough time, and humanity might even grow numb to joy itself.
That was something Yae Miko absolutely refused to see happen.
Even if Makoto had returned, it shouldn't be only within the dream.
Yae Miko admitted it—she was greedy. She was glad to have Makoto back, but she loathed the dream's existence.
If she could have both? That would be ideal.
But Su Ran was not someone who would agree so easily.
Perhaps… Kamisato Ayaka could be of use.
That little girl…
Yae Miko couldn't tell how genuine Su Ran's affection for Ayaka was. But if there really were feelings there, perhaps a little pressure could be applied.
Meanwhile, in Liyue—
A lavish floating pavilion hovered above Liyue Harbor. It was the Jade Chamber, property of Ningguang, the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, one of the seven most powerful figures in the nation.
At this moment, the ever-composed Tianquan, master of endless Mora, sat frowning over a letter.
Its contents troubled her greatly.
The Alcor had gone missing.
Beidou's ship, the flagship of the Crux Fleet, had sailed into Inazuma waters days ago… and since then, no word had returned.
Had that been all, Ningguang could have dismissed it. Beidou had her own ways; she could simply be occupied.
But for half a month now, not a single ship had arrived from Inazuma.
Even with the sakoku decree, that was too strange.
Especially since the thunderstorm surrounding Inazuma had vanished.
It was impossible that not a single person had made it back.
Turning it over and over in her mind, Ningguang reached only one conclusion—Something had happened in Inazuma.
And it was tied to another matter on her board.
She looked up at the wall, where an information board displayed a portrait and scraps of intelligence gleaned from the Fatui.
"The Genius… the Fatui Harbinger ranked second. A month ago, he arrived in Inazuma. Soon after, the storm disappeared."
When the storm faded, there had indeed been refugees fleeing from Inazuma.
But after only a week, not a soul came out again.
This situation had persisted for half a month.
How could Ningguang not suspect that the Fatui were involved?
And this so-called Genius…
He was the Harbinger about whom the least information existed.
He appeared in Inazuma, and immediately the thunderstorm vanished.
Could that have been his doing?
One never doubted a Harbinger's power.
Even the lowest-ranked Harbinger stationed in Liyue, she had never underestimated.
So what kind of influence could the Second exert upon Inazuma?
Whether Inazuma locked its borders or not, Ningguang had no say. At worst, it would cut into her profits.
But Beidou's disappearance? That she could not ignore.
Beidou was her friend. If something had happened, Ningguang, as her friend, could not sit idly by.
"Yet… the Rite of Parting draws near…"
And she, of all people, was the one presiding over it.
She was truly stretched thin.
She could not abandon the Rite. But neither could she abandon Beidou.
Wait too long, and lives could be at stake.
"…I'll have to entrust this to Yelan."
As the hidden agent of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Yelan's abilities had Ningguang's absolute confidence.
In all of Liyue, no one was more suited to the task.
The Adepti could not be asked, and Rex Lapis—she dared not disturb him.
Only Yelan had the skill to investigate.
True, operating in foreign lands would be far more troublesome. Liyue was not like Snezhnaya, scattering Fatui across every corner of Teyvat.
But for Beidou, and for the many Liyue citizens trapped in Inazuma, she would get to the bottom of it.
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