flstandardbreds Chapter 113 Empty: Huh? Me?
Chapter 113 Empty: Huh? Me?
“In other words, my position is the same as yours,” Yae no Miko said. “You want to save the Inazuma people under the Eye Hunting Order, and so do I. I just want to save this country as well as her.”
Finally, Yae no Miko concluded: "The key is that since the Pure Land of One Heart also represents the inner world of the Shadow, then defeating her there could potentially reverse the will of the Thunder General."
"Is this the method you came up with to abolish the Eyehunter's Order?" Paimon asked. "Not by refuting her with words, nor by using the power of the resistance to stage a coup, but by directly changing General Thunder's inner world?"
"You understand quickly. In short, this is the only way to get Inazuma back on track before he falls into eternal darkness."
"But why does it have to be me? Can't Miss Mei over there do it?" Sora asked.
"Haven't you realized your own specialness yet? I've said before, the Pure Land of One Heart generally only allows space for the existence of the self, and the fact that you can appear there proves... that she has enough interest in you. Perhaps... she has never seen an individual who seems so unstable for eternity. As for Mei... she may have been interested before, but she probably isn't now."
"Has no one ever gone in before?"
“Ever since that eternal believer began to close himself off, there has never been, and no one even knows, what that space is really like. Your existence is not only an opportunity, but also a key… You certainly didn’t disappoint my expectations, little one.”
With that, Yae no Miko left on her own.
Why did you leave?
"Anti-Lightning General Special Training, huh? I've prepared this all for you. Hurry up and catch up."
What followed was that, under Yae no Miko's guidance, Sora began special training against the Thunder General. The device used was the same one previously given to Kiana and the others, and they even collected a lot of data to improve upon it.
This caused them immense distress, and they couldn't understand why they needed to use Kiana and the others, especially Mei's data, to make such significant improvements. After all, this was about the Anti-Raiden General, not the Anti-Raiden Mei. They truly didn't understand Yae no Miko's unnecessary actions.
However, being a legendary adventurer who had saved Liyue and Mondstadt multiple times, Kong was able to dodge these devices that only seemed to be using attacks in a daze without taking any damage until the devices stopped operating.
After completing his training, Paimon finally couldn't contain his curiosity and asked, "Speaking of which, how does the Divine Child know so much about General Raiden?"
"Are they talking about me? Maybe it's because... I'm a member of Thor's familiar."
"Huh! Like the relationship between Dvalin and Barbatos? I really couldn't tell..."
"Hehe, so it sounds like you're more interested in my fox-like appearance?"
Although he had anticipated that Yae no Miko would refuse, Sora still spoke his mind without hesitation, and as expected, he was rejected.
"Actually, the strange thing is not my appearance, but that I no longer see her, is it?" Yae no Miko changed the subject. "An eternal and unchanging kingdom is our shared dream, but I don't think that means complete stillness. From a certain moment on, she embarked on a path that became increasingly difficult for me to reach."
Unconsciously, Yae no Miko's tone began to turn melancholy.
"Before Ying stepped into the Pure Land of One Heart, she did not say goodbye to me. Perhaps it was wishful thinking on her part. I think this is also the way she believed that friendship should last forever. No goodbyes, no more meetings. Our relationship will remain forever as it was back then, at least that's what she thought in her heart."
Isn't this just running away?
"In your human terms, yes. Now that we have embarked on two completely different paths to eternity, I can either maintain the status quo or bring her back on track at any cost. Now, I have made my choice because if retreating into a pure land is her stubborn pursuit of eternity... then pulling her out of her own world is my practice as an eternal companion."
Paimon exclaimed sincerely, "Miss Miko is a very good friend."
"Well, I'm only telling you this to make it easier for you to understand my plan. Don't get too cocky, okay? After all, you couldn't even understand Kiana's simple explanation just now. Alright, enough chit-chat. Next up is the second phase of the Anti-Lightning General Special Training."
Thus, the second phase of training came to a perfect end, and Yae no Miko expressed her approval of Kong and the others. It was just a pity that, in Yae no Miko's eyes, they were still no match for Raiden no Kami, which really poured cold water on Paimon's somewhat complacent attitude.
"Heh, what do you think of the resistance forces, Kong?"
“Completely no match for General Raiden,” Sora replied without hesitation.
"That's true. Even if we can occasionally gain some advantage on the main battlefield against the Shogunate army, when it comes to actually facing Raiden-shogun... with those people whose God Eyes are embedded in the statues, they are probably just shrimp soldiers and crab generals."
Paimon quickly retorted, "You can't be so sure. Sora is, after all, the captain of the Swordfish Division 2."
"Haha, I didn't mean to belittle them. On the contrary, it's precisely because of their insignificance, precisely because they lost their God's Eye, that they possess an even more precious will. In short, if things go according to plan, they are a group of guys who can be quite helpful."
"So... what exactly is the plan?"
"Don't rush, um... it's almost time. I have another guest. Let's go back to Narukami Shrine and talk there."
Although many questions remained, Sora decided to accompany Yae no Miko back to Narukami Shrine to meet the other guest. While waiting for the guest to arrive, Yae no Miko told Sora about her next plan: she wanted to persuade the Tenryo Magistrate to defect.
Specifically, it means getting someone to betray the current Heavenly Ruler, and that person has already come behind Sora.
"Don't move! A wanted criminal dares to show up at the shrine so brazenly! Don't get any funny ideas, just come with me to the magistrate's office and arrest her!"
The speaker was none other than Yae no Miko's target—Kujou Sara. Yae no Miko could not possibly stand by and watch Sora be captured and taken to the magistrate's office, so she intervened to stop it.
"Oh, have you all forgotten? This is Narukami Shrine. If we fight here, it's disrespectful to the shogun... So, who's going to take the blame?"
Kujo Sara also realized that Yae no Miko was intentionally protecting Sora, so she stepped forward and questioned, "Lord Yae no Miko, are you perhaps... protecting this wanted criminal? And the shrine maidens today look very familiar to me!"
"We're just friends, there's no need to talk about protection. Tell your men to step back first, we can discuss some things properly."
It was obvious that Yae no Miko had deliberately sent his subordinates away because he had something important to discuss. Out of trust in the Thunder God's Familiar, Kujo Sara dismissed the guards who had come with him.
"Then, may I ask Lord Yae-no-miya, is hiding wanted criminals at the shrine also disrespectful to the Shogun? And it seems there's more than one being hidden!"
“I thought our arrest warrant had been lifted,” Kiana said.
"The warrant for Raiden Mei has indeed been lifted, but that doesn't mean your warrants have been lifted as well. Accomplices who caused a ruckus at the ceremony."
"Alright, this is my time to talk to you, not for you to come and arrest people."
Yae no Miko stepped forward and interrupted, "But it's still the same as always, Lord Kujou Sara. When it comes to loyalty to the Shogun, no one can match you."
"As a subject, I should be loyal to the general; as a warrior, the general's level of attainment is what I have been pursuing all my life."
"Even if General Thunder... he'll take your Eye of God away sooner or later?"
"The order to hunt down the enemy was the general's decision, and I have no complaints."
"Alas, it's such a pity..." Yae no Miko sighed, "A sincere heart was ultimately betrayed by the times. Should we say you were confused, or the only one who was clear-headed?"
"Please speak frankly, Lord Palace Master, what do you mean by that?"
"The Eye Hunting Order is nothing but a foolish policy that was misled by the foolish masses and made the people of Inazuma cripple their own hands. And the one who deceived the Emperor is your own master, the Tenryō magistrate—the Kujō family."
"You mean... the Kujo family betrayed the shogunate?"
"Exactly, you understand correctly."
It was obvious that Kujo Sara did not believe Yae no Miko's accusations at all.
After all, when it comes to worshipping Musou's sword, the head of the Kujo family surpasses everyone else; even Kujo Sara admits that his respect for the Shogun doesn't even come close to one ten-thousandth of his. So how could such a person betray the Shogun and the Shogunate?
Yae no Miko was naturally very confident about this, and she promised to hand over the evidence of the Kujo family's betrayal of the shogunate to Kujo Sara three days later. As a condition for agreeing to this, Kujo Sara planned to treat Sora and Kiana as collateral for the bet.
If she doesn't see any evidence after three days, Yae no Miko will have to apologize for making unfounded accusations against the Kujo family, and she will also take Kiana and the others with her.
After making the bet, Kujo Sara left.
"You scared me to death..." Paimon, who had been holding his breath, finally breathed a sigh of relief. "I didn't expect Kujo Sara to come here. By the way, Divine Child, have you found any evidence of the Tenryo magistrate's rebellion that you mentioned earlier?"
"Hmm~" Yae no Miko laughed, "I'm sorry, no. I only said that on the spur of the moment because I couldn't persuade Sara earlier. Changing the will of a god is a huge gamble in itself. Who can face a god with 100% certainty?"
"What should we do? We only have three days left!"
“If we want to get the evidence, we need an accomplice. Now… come with me to wake up that professional.”
At this moment, Bronya stepped forward and interrupted, "If you want to infiltrate the magistrate's office to steal secret documents, I can help you."
Yae no Miko looked at Bronya with great interest and said, "Oh? I didn't expect Miss Bronya to have such abilities?"
"It's nothing, it's just that some things I went through taught me a lot of stealth and infiltration techniques."
Although the ultimate purpose of those techniques was to serve assassination, Bronya naturally didn't say this aloud, as she didn't want Paimon to have any strange impression of her.
"Alright, but just in case, let me go wake up that professional. It'll be easier to have someone familiar with the area to guide us, won't it?"
Bronya considered for a moment and agreed to Yae no Miko's proposal. Led by Yae no Miko, the group arrived at the guardian forest at the foot of Mount Shadow. In front of a tanuki statue was a tanuki-shaped roly-poly toy. At Yae no Miko's call, the roly-poly toy transformed into a short, yawning girl.
"A tanuki doll has turned into a human! What is this? This is the first time I've ever seen anything like it!"
"No, it's not a raccoon dog...it's a raccoon dog...snoring..."
As she spoke, the girl started snoring again: "So sleepy... If I don't get enough sleep... I won't grow tall..."
"Could this be the professional the Divine Child was talking about?"
Paimon looked at the girl in front of him, who was yawning incessantly and almost falling asleep standing up, and asked a question.
"Hehe, this is a member of the Final Squad, a genuine ninja."
"The final battle... Could this be the secret force of the Kamisato family that Mr. Ayato mentioned?" Bronya speculated. "And the ninja, the way they looked just now, was it a substitution jutsu?"
"I didn't expect that kid Ayato Kamisato would actually tell you this." Yae Miko readily admitted, "That's right, they belong to the magistrate's office and are Ayato Kamisato's secret unit. Currently, Ayato Kamisato and the magistrate's office are maintaining a neutral stance, and I cannot mobilize the final squad."
Bronya stared at Yae no Miko with her eyes half-open, her pupils revealing a complete lack of trust.
However, given who Yae no Miko is, she wouldn't change her mind because of that.
"However, it's still possible to grab a member of the Last Division who's always been lazy to help out. Anyway, that's it. I'll leave it to you to go into the city and find evidence of the Tenryo magistrate's rebellion. After all, it's not appropriate for me to show my face in that kind of situation."
"Even if you say that, what is the evidence?"
"Huh? I thought you'd already figured it out. But I've said enough for today, Miss Bronya, now please explain it to me!"
"you…"
Bronya looked at the smiling Yae no Miko and felt inexplicably tired. In the end, she sighed and began to explain.
"For outsiders like us, it's indeed difficult to figure out the ins and outs of the Tenryo magistrates. But the three magistrates jointly assist the Shogun and have close ties, making it easier for other magistrates to detect anything amiss than for outsiders. Sora, do you remember which magistrate maintained friendly relations with us?"
“The Society will comply!” Kong said.
“That’s right. What we need to do now is evade the Shogunate army’s search and head to the Wood Leak Tea House to meet up with Ayaka Kamisato. Ayaka Kamisato probably knows more about the strange things that have happened than we do. Perhaps we can get the key clues from her.”
"Now that you all know what to do, prepare to set off," said Yae no Miko. "And remember to bring her along too. Her name is Hayato. With her help, you should be able to reach your destination more easily."