Chapter 28 The Last Milk Dango

"Eh?"

Raiden Ei blinked gently.

Blank.

She unconsciously looked around the cabin. The narrow cabin had pitifully few furnishings - a clean bed, a cabinet, two broken glasses on the floor, a small kitchen. Nothing else.

Nothing, nothing at all.

She extended her perception further, to the whole ship, to the surrounding sea... There was no trace of Seino Raimei's aura at all.

Still blank.

Immense confusion.

She had planned what to say, had rehearsed the words for their meeting, but it all came to nothing. The surging emotions were like waves crashing on soft sand, without any sense of reality.

Ei didn't know what to do anymore, she didn't know what to say. She had sealed off Inazuma's waters, walked thousands of miles, her heart full of hope, but found nothing.

The hope that guided her here was just an illusion.

The Shogun wasn't wrong, Sara wasn't wrong either. Because of her stubbornness, she had missed it, missed this last chance to say goodbye.

It was all for nothing.

This huge sense of disappointment was something she had never experienced before.

She suddenly felt dizzy.

After a brief moment of 'surprise', the young man seemed to recognize Raiden Ei's identity. He quickly lowered his head and bowed:

"Seino Fugin pays respects to the Shogun."

He spoke very politely and respectfully, showing he was a well-mannered young man.

His voice was as light as the wind, his purple eyes seemed to hold the light of spring. This young man's aura was completely different from Seino Raimei's.

"...Mm."

Ei's lips were a bit dry. She made a soft sound that might have been a response. After a while, she seemed to slowly recover and said, "You're from the Pillar General's mansion?"

"The Pillar General once adopted me."

Seino respectfully replied. He looked into Raiden Ei's eyes. Seino had never seen Ei with such an expression. In his past impressions, she was always calm and solitary, like a still pond. But now she looked somewhat downcast, or rather, empty?

Rather than a still old pond, it was more like an empty clear pond.

But this expression only showed for an instant before she recovered, or rather, pushed those emotions to the depths of her eyes.

"...Do you know where Seino Raimei is?"

"I don't know... If you don't know, how could I possibly know?" Seino said softly. "I was ordered by the Pillar General to act as Inazuma's secret envoy to Mondstadt. These are my documents."

Of course, Seino was fully prepared, with all kinds of documents arranged perfectly, leaving no room for fault.

"The Pillar General's whereabouts..."

Seino paused, looking at Raiden Ei, and said, "He didn't tell you?"

"...You're the decoy he left for me." Hearing Seino's words, a faint, self-mocking smile appeared on Ei's lips. A very slight smile. "He didn't tell me."

Ei's voice was very soft.

"He didn't want to see me that much..."

"Maybe," Seino said. "He didn't want to see you, just didn't want you to see him so weak. The Pillar General cares a lot about his image."

"He didn't want to leave you with that kind of impression in the end." The young man's eyes were full of sincerity.

The purple eyes trembled slightly. She lowered her head a bit, gripping her collar tightly. Faint blue veins could be seen. After a while, she let go and nodded:

"Yes, you're right. He does care about his image."

As if remembering things from the past, Ei's voice lowered: "He's like that. He was like that before."

The cabin fell into a long, long silence. The air seemed dead.

"Your name is... Seino?"

Finally, Ei broke the silence.

"Seino Fugin."

"Seino Fugin, what do you think he was like in daily life?" Ei asked. Her questions were varied and detailed. "What did he like to do usually? What was his favorite food?"

"The Pillar General..." Seino was a bit surprised. He didn't know why Ei was asking about these trivial matters. This wasn't like Ei's style.

In their daily interactions, especially during the time Seino served as her attendant, Ei never inquired or cared about his affairs. Her mind was only on martial arts.

"You mean?" he asked, puzzled.

"I want to know..." Ei pressed her lips together. She pondered for a moment, seemingly thinking. Finally, she nodded seriously: "I want to know about him. I want to know how he lived these hundred years."

"The Pillar General liked... well, he was an old smoker, he liked to smoke a bit every day. As for hobbies, he liked hunting. He also loved drinking, he had to drink one or two pots of sake every day. His favorite food was grilled sardines."

Ei listened quietly, listened quietly. Somehow, she nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes, he liked to drink and smoke. That's the same as before."

"Then? What time did he usually get up? What did he do after getting up?"

"The Pillar General got up before dawn... He would meditate for a while, then have breakfast," the young man talked about his daily routine. "In the morning, he practiced swordsmanship, or went hunting in the mountains behind the mansion. He ate very little at noon, tofu and peanuts, just some simple dishes, but always with wine..."

Ei listened to these trivial details of daily life, really just small household matters, but she listened very carefully, inquiring about every little detail. Listening to these, she seemed to see Seino Raimei's life.

A mortal's daily life, not particularly grand, not particularly exciting, full of oil and rice and firewood and salt, full of tofu and peanuts, and sardines... But it was a long-lasting fortune. These were what made up Seino Raimei, made up his later years.

"What about after dinner?"

"After dinner..."

Seino paused. He hesitated a bit. Finally, he slowly said: "He would go to the side room and sit quietly by the window for half an hour."

"Was he meditating then too?"

Ei asked.

"No, that window directly faces Tenshukaku. It's just my personal opinion..."

Seino looked into Ei's eyes and said seriously:

"He was thinking of you, Lady Raiden."

Silence.

Ei lowered her eyes, saying nothing, just silent. As the sea breeze blew and waves lapped, dusk began to fall, with the sound of wind in their ears.

"Heh...." After a while, Ei laughed a bit miserably, as if murmuring: "I see."

"I understand."

She nodded to Seino, "Thank you, young man."

"Lady Raiden."

Seino took a stack of snack boxes from the kitchen counter. He handed them to Raiden Ei, "The Pillar General... anticipated that you might come. This is what he asked me to pass on to you."

Ei took the box. It felt light. She slowly opened the lid. A soft, sweet fragrance wafted out, a long-missed scent.

The box had ten compartments, each containing pure white snacks. They seemed to have been prepared in advance and placed in the compartments.

Looking at those snacks, Ei felt as if her heart had been heavily struck. Her heart, which had just calmed down, began to ache faintly again.

Those past memories, those memories buried deep in her heart, those small but enduring daily moments, those trivial matters, suddenly flooded into her heart like a tide.

"Hello, Ei. Would you like some snacks?"

"This is milk dango. I once ate it in the streets of Inazuma. It has a smooth but not greasy texture."

"Mortal,"

"Those who practice asceticism do not eat such miscellaneous things... Moreover..."

"When did I allow you to address me by name?"

"You've become a bit full of yourself."

"...Maybe it's delicious? Have a little, just a little, to fulfill a citizen's wish? This is also one of the Raiden Shogun's duties, isn't it?"

"I've already said, this will disrupt my practice... I don't like mortal food."

"Ah... it's ready. Do you want to eat?"

"..."

"...I'll eat just one piece."

Those daily moments that she once took for granted, one insignificant instant after another. Back then, the young man was still young, she had plenty of time to squander, to waste, to argue, to lose... But now, a hundred years later, she could only reminisce on a lonely boat in the vast sea.

She didn't know how to describe her current feelings.

Perhaps she wanted to cry, but her puppet body couldn't shed tears, and her heart, desolate for a hundred years, had long forgotten what tears were.

Ei did nothing.

There was nothing she could do.

She just looked at the milk dango and softly made a sound.

"Mm."

"...I understand."

Ei said.

"Then, Lady Raiden." The young man asked softly. He pointed at the storm outside the window blocking the small boat. "Can I leave now? This is the Pillar General's mission."

"It's fine if you only let me go. I can row the small wooden boat on the ship."

Even until his death, was he still thinking about Inazuma's affairs...?

"You may go..."

Ei said softly. She waved her hand gently, and the lightning opened a gap.

After this, Ei didn't say anything more. She just hugged the box of snacks, as if hugging something precious, and stepped off the boat one step at a time, walking back the way she came. The heavy lightning pressed in front of her, and she walked towards the lightning.

She didn't look back even once.

Seino rowed the small wooden boat, slowly passing through the gap in the lightning.

The storm closed between them, separating them into two worlds.

And so they drifted further and further apart.

[You made milk dango for her. I remember you once said something]

"Guard the frontier outside, make midnight snacks at home."

[You've made the midnight snacks in advance, so you have nothing to worry about now]

"Yes, I can have a good fight now. I said, Seino Raimei should die on the battlefield."

[I said before, the way you chose to die this time is very interesting]

"You just like to watch the fun, don't you?"

[No, I've been unhappy with It for a long time too, otherwise I wouldn't have helped you squeeze out your life]

"One last confirmation, this won't implicate Inazuma, right?"

[It is very powerful, but It is also very rigid. It is bound by the "Principles" It set. This time is different from the Enkanomiya incident. No one knows about this matter except you, and you're far enough from Inazuma now, you're in uninhabited waters]

"Will you handle the aftermath cleanly?"

[I will. I will completely strip away your memories, especially today's events. I will thoroughly destroy them. The newborn you is already a different person from Seino Raimei. It can't interfere either, otherwise It would have done so already]

"Will It come?"

[This is an open move. It will come down, just like how you lured out the great serpent last time]

"That's good."

[Seino Raimei, go mad one last time]

[Remaining Lifespan: 1 hour]