Chapter 264: Ayaka, Do You Like Stone Gardens?
"Onii-sama…"
As Bai Luo left the guest hall, Ayaka opened her mouth as if to say something, but Ayato raised a hand to stop her.
'I know this place better than you do.'
The line had sounded almost like a joke at first—light, casual, even teasing.
But to Ayato, it was anything but.
That one sentence sent a chill running down his spine.
Because he knew—the Ausbilder wasn't joking.
The Kamisato estate was unique in all of Inazuma. Within its grounds stood a branch shrine of the Grand Narukami Shrine—a rare honor even among noble families.
Most first-time visitors would pause in surprise upon seeing it, even those skilled at masking emotion would let their gaze linger a little longer.
But Bai Luo… didn't even blink.
It was as if he already knew the shrine was there.
As if he already knew that a shrine maiden served there daily, tending to its offerings.
When his eyes swept across the estate, they didn't carry curiosity or suspicion, not even the alertness of someone checking for hidden guards.
No—there was something else in that look.
The faint, quiet recognition of someone revisiting a place they'd already seen—someone confirming, piece by piece, that what stood before them matched what they already knew.
Every time Bai Luo's gaze landed on a particular structure or an ornate decoration, his expression would subtly shift—a small, knowing smirk.
"Just as I thought."
Ayato could no longer dismiss it as coincidence.
It wasn't hard to connect this to the Ausbilder's Dendro Vision.
Ayato had believed that burning those strange, unknown blue flowers would remove any lingering threat to his home.
But now he understood—that had only been a symptom, not the root.
Those blue flowers weren't the spies.
They were the medium.
The real eyes and ears… were the ordinary plants all around them.
No, Bai Luo couldn't possibly control every blade of grass across Inazuma.
But if he wished, he could probably use them to monitor specific areas—like the Kamisato estate.
And considering that the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions were already riddled with Fatui influence, while only the Yashiro Commission had escaped that fate thanks to Lady Yae Miko's protection… it wasn't hard to guess where this Harbinger would focus his attention.
The realization left Ayato feeling suffocated.
"...Ayaka," he said finally, voice low and hoarse as he picked absently at the Liyue dishes in front of him.
Ayaka blinked, startled by the exhaustion in her brother's tone. "Yes, Onii-sama?"
"Do you like stone gardens?"
"...I do," she answered softly after a pause.
Truthfully, she preferred courtyards with a bit of greenery—they felt more alive, more comforting.
But for some reason, the words of refusal caught in her throat.
Because when she caught sight of the man who had returned to the hall—that unsettling smile still lingering on his lips—she suddenly thought that perhaps a courtyard full of nothing but stone wasn't so bad after all.
At least then, when she rose in the night, she wouldn't feel like the garden itself was watching her.
As the night deepened and the wine cups emptied, Bai Luo showed no sign of leaving.
Ayato, though longing to dismiss him, couldn't very well say so aloud. Instead, he turned to Hyakubei, instructing him to arrange lodgings for the Fatui entourage.
"There's no need," Bai Luo said lightly, waving a hand. "They'll take care of it themselves."
At first, Ayato didn't quite understand what that meant.
It wasn't until his retainers rushed in later with reports that the truth became clear.
The Fatui soldiers had begun setting up camp—right outside the Kamisato estate's main gate.
Before the sun had even fully set, tents were already pitched, the lines of the camp neat and disciplined.
Guards rotated through rest shifts, ready for midnight duty as if on a military campaign.
Hyakubei could only watch from a distance, eyes wide.
"These Fatui…" he murmured, half in awe, half in fear. "Their discipline is terrifying."
Their precision, their unity—it reminded him of something.
A long-ago encounter, before Inazuma sealed its borders, with a certain foreign fleet whose iron order had left the same impression.
He had been shocked back then—truly shocked—by the sheer discipline of that foreign crew. For a moment, he had even suspected they might be spies secretly trained by Liyue.
Yet even that ship's order and precision paled before the terrifying discipline of these Fatui soldiers.
Thinking about it now, and comparing them to the Tenryou Commission's men, Hyakubei couldn't help but sigh.
Maybe, against the Inazuman Resistance, Tenryou's soldiers still looked halfway competent.
But compared to these battle-hardened elites who roamed the continent's nations?
Only the Oni troops of the old wars might measure up… and even that was generous.
He even found himself wondering—if this "Ausbilder" led just this small detachment of Fatui to storm Kujo Encampment, could the Kujo clan's forces even hold the line?
As for Ayato, he had long heard rumors about the Fatui's frightening discipline.
But hearing about it was one thing, seeing it firsthand was another.
Even before this banquet, when Ayaka told him how the invitation letter had been delivered, he had been impressed.
That soldier wasn't simply rigid or simple-minded—his every word and gesture radiated absolute loyalty to his commander.
And that loyalty… was something shared by every Fatui soldier.
Still, what unsettled Ayato most wasn't their obedience—it was where they chose to make camp.
They'd pitched their tents directly across from the Kamisato estate, right beside that huge boulder—one as tall as two Scaramouches stacked together.
And that spot… was exactly where the blue wildflowers—the ones that had caused him endless headaches—grew in clusters.
Just what were these Fatui planning?
"Tell Hirotatsu to keep a close eye on them," Ayato ordered grimly.
The Shuumatsuban agents were all still busy trying to get rid of those blue flowers, and at the moment, Hirotatsu was about the only one he could still rely on.
He sighed softly.
"Honestly… this Ausbilder is a troublesome man."
Ever since that meeting with Lady Yae, his days had been one long chess match—every move, every word with Bai Luo felt like fencing in the fog.
And no matter what he did, the man's expression never changed.
Always calm, always composed, as if none of this truly mattered to him.
Ayato rubbed his temple.
He was starting to worry he'd actually lose hair over this.
Not even the years after his father's passing had burdened him this much.
This Ausbilder… was, without question, the most difficult man he'd ever had to deal with.
. . .
If Bai Luo knew what Ayato was thinking right now, he would have cried foul on the spot.
The truth was, he'd come to visit the Kamisato estate not for politics, not for schemes, but simply because—after that little chat halfway up Mt. Yougou—he'd gotten curious.
He'd come on a whim. Just… to have a look around.
After all, in the Fatui, he was famously bad at doing serious work.
And that odd familiarity he'd shown toward the estate? That wasn't espionage—it was nostalgia.
Because back in the game, he'd spent a lot of time wandering this very place.
Especially during that event—the Hide-and-Seek mode—he used to hop across those rooftops for hours.
So when he saw them again in person, he couldn't help but feel that little spark of memory—that strange, wistful smile.
As for the Fatui soldiers outside…
If Ayato actually understood their standard procedure, he'd realize what was really happening.
For a forward unit like theirs, vigilance was second nature.
They'd always station musketeers at the high points around a camp—ready for any sudden attack.
And as it turned out, that very boulder backed right against the mountain wall was a perfect vantage point for defense and lookout.
In short, they hadn't chosen that spot to provoke the Kamisatos at all. It was simply the best tactical position available.
Had Ayato sent someone to check, they would have seen that the blue wildflowers on the ground there had already been crushed under heavy Fatui boots—flattened into the soil, their petals blending with the earth.
Whether that sight would have finally eased his worries, or only deepened his suspicions, well—that's something only Ayato himself would know.
. . . . .
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