79. Telling The Story

A tall handsome man suddenly appeared. He had similarities with Ayaka, and a small mole under his mouth gave him a unique charm. If he walked in a city, no doubt some ladies would glance at him from time to time. That man was none other than Ayato, Ayaka's elder brother.

"Well, I don't think those guards would notice you with your technique."

"Eh, big brother, you've met Ryūhei already?" Ayaka turned to her brother.

"Yep, about half an hour ago."

"Why didn't you tell me? If you told me, I would have prepared something beforehand. And, you know, I'm sweating." The last sentence was so low that it was barely heard.

Though, both of them still heard it and made them laugh.

Ryūhei had indeed come secretly and met Ayato first. However, knowing that the guards were not even aware that anyone had come into the residence, their awareness needed to be raised further considering the clan's current situation was not that good.

After a while, everyone knew that Ryūhei had returned. But since no one noticed his arrival, Ayato insisted on increasing the portion of their training to deal with a precarious situation at a later time.

Well, because of this, Ryūhei got their resentment. Though, Ryūhei didn't care that much. As long as they are still loyal to the clan, nothing else matters. After all, the Kamisato clan already took care of him for 5 years.

— — — — —

Three Commissioners, usually called Tri-Commission, is a collective term for three organizations that oversee every matter in Inazuma. It's roughly equivalent to the Liyue Qixing in Liyue. The three factions are Tenryou Commission, Kanjou Commission, and Yashiro Commission.

The Tenryou Commission handles military and police affairs with the Kujou clan as the leading faction. The Kanjou Commission manages the finances of the nation, supervises the borders of Inazuma, and handles mercantile and bureaucratic affairs, with the Hiiragi clan as the leading faction.

Last but not least, the Yashiro Commission is responsible for ceremonial affairs, celebratory events, and public festivals. And also manages shrines and temples. The leading faction is none other than the Kamisato clan.

The Vision Hunt Decree that began earlier this year generated a conflict that destabilized Inazuma as a whole, stirring controversy across Inazuma.

The Yashiro Commission tried to prevent this while calming down the masses by promising to try their best to abolish the Vision Hunt Decree.

However, whenever the Yashiro Commission made a proposal to repeal the Vision Hunt Decree, it was promptly vetoed by both the Tenryou Commission and the Kanjou Commission.

And now, the Yashiro Commission is at a dead end. Sooner or later, every Vision belonging to the holders of the Yashiro Commission will be seized by the Raiden Shogun as they are the only faction that opposes the decree. And things will be more troublesome after that.

That's why Ayato thought of preparing everything ahead of time by increasing the training portion of the guards and servants. In addition, since Ayato also controlled the ninja organization called the Shuumatsuban, he also increased their training portion.

Even though Ayato realized that this kind of thing was pointless because his opponent was the Electro Archon, he still tried because it involved the people of Inazuma.

Back to Ryūhei, Ayaka, and Ayato.

"Oh right, Happy birthday, Ayaka. I got a lot of presents for you." Ryūhei said while opening his backpack.

Ryūhei took out a pile of books and something wrapped in a cloth.

"Hmmm. Are these novels? What kind of novels, Ryūhei?" It was Ayato who opened his mouth after seeing the pile of books. As he wanted to pick up one of them, Ryūhei caught his hand while saying.

"Hey, this is not for you, big bro. Anyway, it's called manga. You can say that manga is my business in Liyue."

Ayato turned to Ryūhei.

"Hey, hey, c'mon, little brother. Even your big bro was curious, you know."

"Pay me, 4000 Mora, then I'll give you one." Ryūhei stretched out his hand to receive the money.

"How stingy." Ayato shook his head. He reached into his pocket before handing Ryūhei the money.

Ryūhei nodded.

"That's more like it." Then, he took the first volume of Shokugeki no Sōma manga from his backpack. Then he said, "This is a manga about cooking. Maybe with this you can improve your cooking skills!" Ryūhei snickered.

And except for causing Ayato to darken his expression, it also caused Ayaka to laugh.

After a moment, Ayaka asked him.

"Ryūhei. What business do you do in Liyue?"

"Hmmm. Let me tell you my story, starting when I departed from this place."

Then, Ryūhei started to tell them, including how lightning destroyed his boat, then Captain Beidou found him in the middle of the sea when he was unconscious.

They were naturally shocked by this. Especially Ayaka when she heard that. She couldn't help but be alarmed when hearing his story.

Ayaka wasn't sure whether she loved Ryūhei or liked him. What she was sure of was that she felt at ease when she was with Ryūhei. What's more, Ryūhei knows her other personality which allows her to share anything with him.

In any case, she was glad that Ryūhei was still alive and kicking after being zapped by lightning although his personality was a little bit different from the past. Not everyone would survive something like that except a person who had the Electro Vision. But, Ryūhei is Visionless.

"Eh, you know Captain Beidou?" Suddenly, a tall man with green eyes and messy blond hair intruded.

Ryūhei turned to the newcomer.

"Oh Thoma, where have you been?"

"Haha, Milord, it's been a while. The patriarch asked me to investigate something. Anyway, Captain Beidou is an acquaintance of mine. You were lucky that someone like her found you when you were in a tough spot."

The "patriarch" Thoma was referring to was none other than Ayato. Meanwhile, he referred to Ayaka and Ryūhei as milady and milord. Though, he sometimes referred to them differently, such as lord or miss.

Anyway, Ryūhei continued his story. The change of his eyes caused by lightning, a sworn brothers ritual, meeting an Adeptus that taught him Adeptus Arts, free buildings because of his business idea, and many more.

"Sounds like a fairy tale to me."

"And these books called manga were published by your company, huh?"

"And you did all of those in two months. Unbelievable!"

Ayaka, Ayato, and Thoma almost couldn't believe what he said. After all, they had never seen Ryūhei draw anything. However, in his time aside from studying alone or going out with Ayaka, Ryūhei spent most of his time practicing the sword and being alone. So, no one knew what he was doing when Ryūhei was alone because Ayato himself was also too busy with his responsibilities as the clan head while Ayaka was responsible for internal and external affairs.

— — — — —

While Ryūhei told his story, Jiu walked through the path to the Narukami Shrine alone because she heard a little fox lives in the shrine.

Arriving at the top, Jiu was greeted by a shrine maiden wearing a white kosode, red hakama, white shocks, and a pair of wooden sandals. Her brown hair is tied back into a high ponytail leaving out her bangs.

"Hello, little miss. I'm Hitomi. Are you coming here by yourself?" The shrine maiden called Hitomi asked Jiu, asking if she was separated from her family.

Jiu raised her head to look at Hitomi.

"Did you see me with someone else?" She asked.

"Well, no." Hitomi shook her head since she didn't see anyone accompanying her.

"Then, why do you ask something so obvious?"

Well, that's kinda rude. Even Hitomi knitted her brow after hearing that. Still, Hitomi kept her smile even if it was forced.

"In that case, let me guide you on how to pray in the shrine."

"I'm not gonna pray. I'm looking for someone in this place."

"Is it your family? Then, let me accompany you."

"No need! I can find her by myself." Without waiting for Hitomi's response, Jiu strode forward.

"Little miss, please wait!" Even though Hitomi is annoyed with Jiu, as a shrine maiden, she can't allow herself to be consumed by her anger.

Jiu halted her step, then glanced at Hitomi coldly. Then, her gaze turned in a certain direction.

"Can you come out?"

"Ufufu. What a cute and rare guest. Are you looking for me?"

A beautiful lady with fair skin, purple eyes, and thigh-length pink hair, appeared before Jiu. She wears a unique and stylized variation of clothing resembling a shrine priestess' traditional outfit. This lady is Yae Miko, the Chief Priestess of the Narukami Shrine.

Nowadays, many of the visitors pray for the Sakoku Decree and the Vision Hunt Decree to be lifted as it has caused them economic hardship as well as riots.

However today, she found an interesting, yet a pretty dangerous guest if her instinct didn't fool her.

"Hitomi, leave this little girl to me!"

"Yes, Chief Priestess!" Hitomi bowed.

Then, Miko looked at the little girl.

Miko smiled.

"Follow me!"