About ten days after Beidou left port, Inazuma, Narukami Island.
Warm sunlight spilled into the Yae Publishing House, the air filled with the scent of ink from a mix of new and old paper, along with a faint, lingering aroma of desserts.
The editors were busy at their respective desks, with occasional low-voiced discussions and the rustle of turning pages.
The door was gently pulled open, and a figure with a heroic aura walked in—it was Beidou. She greeted the editors she knew familiarly and walked straight toward the office of a certain big shot.
"Yo, Captain Beidou, what wind blew you to our little Bookshop?" a somewhat lazy and playful female voice rang out.
Yae Miko leaned lazily back in her chair, her long pink hair shimmering in the sunlight, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.
"Shrine Maiden." Beidou gave a hearty laugh and placed a package carefully wrapped in oil paper on a low table nearby. "I brought back some 'local specialties' from Liyue this time, thinking you might be interested."
"Oh?" Yae Miko raised an eyebrow with great interest, her gaze falling on the package. "For 'local specialties' to be personally delivered by Captain Beidou, they must be extraordinary."
"It's a few books." Beidou got straight to the point, unwrapping the package to reveal several books with different bindings and spreading them out on the table. "Written by a few authors in Liyue, they sold quite well over there. The manager of Sanyu Bookstore asked me to bring them over to see if Yae Publishing House is interested in printing them in Inazuma."
Yae Miko extended her slender fingers, gently brushing over each cover.
Record of Shi Po's Wanderings, twin deities, synthetic god, secret tales of feiyun, a bite of liyue... Her gaze drifted over the titles. Among them, just by looking at the titles, several indeed fit Inazuma's light novel culture perfectly.
But when she saw the one with the simple cover and the particularly eye-catching title, the various affairs of the raiden shogun and the guuji, her fingertips paused slightly. Then, those fox-like, enchanting eyes curved, and her smile deepened.
"My, my..." She picked up the "special edition" book, her fingertip lightly tapping the title on the cover. "This Liyue author is quite bold, aren't they? To actually target me and Ei?"
Beidou laughed loudly. "I knew you'd react like that. So, do you dare to print it? That Shopkeeper Sun and this author are both eagerly waiting for your answer."
Yae Miko didn't answer immediately. Instead, she slowly opened the various affairs of the raiden shogun and the guuji and began to browse through it quickly.
As she read, the smile on her face became increasingly brilliant, and she even let out a few pleasant, light laughs that sounded like wind chimes.
Beidou watched her at her leisure, not speaking to interrupt.
After all, she knew exactly what was written in that book.
Yae Miko was indeed the editor-in-chief of Yae Publishing House; her reading speed was extremely fast, and before long, she had finished a rough reading of the book.
"Interesting, truly interesting..." Yae Miko closed the pages, her eyes flashing with cunning and amusement. "...Hehe, this author, though we haven't met, seems to know very well how to dig up 'material'~"
She set the book down and lightly brushed her fingers over the cover of synthetic god.
Opening the book, her fingertips wandered between the ink-scented pages. After a quick look, those fox-like eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of her lips curled into a meaningful arc.
"Heh..." She suddenly let out a soft laugh, a sound like wind chimes—pleasant, yet carrying a hint of cunning.
She looked up at Beidou sitting opposite her and asked with great interest, "Captain Beidou, don't you Liyue people always respect Rex Lapis most of all, not daring to show even a hint of disrespect?"
As Yae Miko spoke, she closed the book, her fingertip lightly tapping the four words for "synthetic god" on the cover.
"Look at this title, Regarding the Matter of the Geo Archon Being a Synthesized God Who Caused His Wife's Death... Tsk tsk, this author 'Li Xin' is certainly not ordinary in their boldness."
Her tone carried obvious playfulness, as if she had discovered something extremely amusing. "To fabricate such a lingering, tragic story about 'causing a wife's death'... If Rex Lapis knew that his image—so steady and majestic in the hearts of his people after guarding Liyue for thousands of years—was written as a deeply affectionate persona who, trapped by love, didn't hesitate to manufacture counterfeit currency to maintain traces of his late wife... I wonder how he would feel?"
She shook her head gently, her smile becoming even more radiant. "To even dare to 'romantically' reinterpret the source of Mora in such a way."
Yae Miko looked up and, seeing no sign of rebuttal or explanation from Beidou, gave a light sigh and shook her head. "It seems that the more orderly and respectful a place appears on the surface, the more bold and bizarre the stories they fabricate about their own god become."
"This level of imagination would make even the most far-fetched authors at our Yae Publishing House feel inferior."
She leaned back lazily against the chair, her gaze sweeping over the various affairs of the raiden shogun and the guuji on the table before returning to Beidou, the cunning in her eyes almost overflowing.
"What? After finishing with your own god, you didn't feel satisfied, and now you want to extend this 'talent' to our Inazuma to make up stories about me and the Lord General?"
"The Shrine Maiden is joking." Beidou gave a hearty laugh, not minding Miko's teasing. "Readers love to read it, authors dare to write it; it's just market demand."
"It's true that we Liyue people respect Rex Lapis, but isn't it also quite interesting to listen to these bizarre stories in our spare time? At least, the people of Liyue accepted it quite quickly. As for Inazuma..." Beidou paused meaningfully. "It depends on whether the Shrine Maiden finds it interesting. I think Liyue people will all like it, and maybe your Inazuma people will find it interesting too?"
Yae Miko tapped her chin with her fingertip, appearing to think, and then broke into a smile.
"Interesting, of course it's interesting." Yae Miko said unhurriedly. "I'm quite looking forward to this."
She picked up the various affairs of the raiden shogun and the guuji and lightly tapped it against her palm.
"So?" Beidou crossed her arms, waiting for her decision.
"Print it, why not print it?" Yae Miko said with a smile. "Such an interesting cultural exchange is exactly what our Inazuma needs. The Sakoku Decree was only recently lifted; wouldn't it be great to let the people see a different kind of style from Liyue?"
She weighed the various affairs of the raiden shogun and the guuji in her hand, then placed it casually on the table.
"Especially this one... I'm really looking forward to that person's expression when she sees it." Her words were full of anticipation.
"As for when to print it..." Yae Miko drawled. "Allow me to read it carefully first. After all, understanding another side of an allied nation's god and seeing how others understand our Inazuma's god is also a very interesting experience, isn't it?"
Her smile became increasingly profound; she had clearly already viewed these books, especially the one involving her and Ei, as a source of amusement.
As for whether this amusement was directed at the book's content or the subsequent storm it might cause, perhaps only this meticulous Shrine Maiden herself knew.
"I will prioritize printing this one, promoting it as a 'Liyue Blockbuster Masterpiece' introduced by our Yae Publishing House. The other books will also be prepared for publication later," Yae Miko said to Beidou with a chuckle.
"I knew you'd like it." Beidou wasn't at all surprised by this result. "Then I'll leave this to you. For the royalties and follow-up matters, Yae Publishing House can just contact Liyue's Sanyu Bookstore directly."
"Don't worry, I won't let these interesting authors lose out," Yae Miko promised, then called over an editor and gave a few low-voiced instructions.
The editor took the manuscripts, and when he saw the title of the special edition book, his face instantly showed a look of terror and disbelief. However, under Yae Miko's gentle yet extremely oppressive gaze, he still braced himself to take the task and retreated with unsteady steps.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"