Regarding the thunderstorms, it wasn't just the characters in the story who thought they were the will of the Raiden Shogun; people in reality thought so too.
In previous stories, there was no mention of the thunderstorms, but it was noted that the Shogun was merely a "puppet."
So, readers naturally assumed this was Ei's will.
After all, the Shogun is just a "puppet"—could she really be that strong? To envelop all of Inazuma in thunderstorms? Is lightning that impressive?
Only those who had faced the Raiden Shogun in battle knew her strength was no joke! Her lightning was truly massive!
Those bolts of lightning struck down, and you'd think someone had broken a heavenly law.
If her programming didn't forbid her from harming Inazuma's people at will, it's questionable how many would have survived back then.
The value of Kaedehara Kazuha's single strike keeps rising! Only those who faced her directly would understand Kazuha's strength!
It doesn't matter whether it was the Shogun or Ei at the time—neither of them is "human" anyway.
Whether it's the Raiden Shogun or the Raiden Shogun's true lightning, those bolts strike fiercely.
If the Raiden Shogun had to pay an electricity bill, an average person's monthly salary wouldn't cover a single one of her strikes!
Ei was already terrifying in terms of strength, and now she was adjusting her mindset, refusing to see people.
In this situation, everyone was incredibly troubled about reporting the thunderstorm issue. You can't touch a tiger's butt, let alone a female tiger's.
They wanted to report, but the Shogun wouldn't come out to meet anyone. Barging in directly? The Shogun doesn't understand human… cough, I mean, human sentiment.
So, had Ei truly emerged from her seclusion? She had!
But on this point, the real Raiden Ei had something to say!
Regarding the Raiden Shogun's "bugs," Lucian had mentioned them to her, and she had fixed them! Truly impressive—she resolved the issue in advance.
Do you know how hard it is for a programmer to fix a bug without creating new ones? It's not just hard—it's insanely hard!
But in truth, after the fix, new bugs did appear; Ei just hadn't noticed them yet.
After she tweaked some of the Shogun's programming, the Shogun began to suspect whether Ei was suffering from "wear and tear," which caused her to become disobedient.
So, when it comes to bugs, if you can avoid touching them, don't.
But this bug's impact was significant, forcing the usually immobile Ei to take action.
This action ended up causing her to be unable to move when possessing the Raiden Shogun's body in the future.
Back to the story, Kujou Kamaji mentioned the difficulties faced by the Tenryou Commission.
The Kujou Clan had become accomplices of the Fatui and were to be punished by the Shogun. In this situation, the Kujou Clan had lost control over the smaller families under their command.
In other words, the smaller families under the Tenryou Commission had embraced Inazuma's fine tradition of "overthrowing the higher-ups" and stopped listening.
With their subordinates disobedient but the Tenryou Commission's work still needing to be done, Kujou Kamaji was already overwhelmed and had no energy to report the thunderstorm issue.
So, in the end, this difficult task fell once again to the Traveler.
When the Raiden Shogun was in seclusion, the only ones who could see her were the Traveler and Yae Miko.
Thus, the Traveler went to find Yae Miko to inquire about Raiden Ei.
[Yae Miko made a dejected expression and sighed, "Alas…"]
["Since it's you, I have nothing to hide."]
["The Shogun, after that battle, has been struggling with inner turmoil, and her temperament has changed greatly."]
The people of Inazuma's hearts sank. Could it be that the thunderstorms over Inazuma's outer seas were truly caused by something happening to the Shogun?
Something happening to the Shogun? No, that can't happen!
Even if the Shogun abuses me a thousand times, I'll still treat her like my first love!
In the story, Yae Miko was just short of squeezing out a few tears, her tone sorrowful as she said:
["The Shogun's power was already waning, and you struck too hard back then."]
["Her defeat was an immense blow to her. And when I went to see her, I happened to forget to bring tricolor dango and light novels."]
["My old friend, because she couldn't eat desserts while reading novels, became so upset that she broke down, crying and throwing a tantrum. Boo hoo hoo, so pitiful…"]
Ei: "..."
Lumine: "..."
Readers: "..."
Come on, buddy, you're making those of us who were listening seriously look foolish.
The most absurd part was that Ei was actually eating tricolor dango and reading Lucian's novel at that moment.
"You did this on purpose?" Ei's calm gaze turned to Lucian.
Confess—did you deliberately bring tricolor dango and this book to see me?
"Yep," Lucian admitted frankly.
All this time, Yae Miko and I have been bringing you snacks every visit. Did you think it was to fatten you up?
Of course, it was for this moment—to have a laugh at your expense!
"…" Ei looked at Lucian without speaking. After a long pause, she finally said, "Regarding your assignments, it seems we need to increase the workload."
"!?" Lucian's eyes widened, and he immediately began to deflect. "This was all Yae Miko's idea! I'm just an accomplice! It's not that serious!"
"Miko… I'll give her a slash later too," Ei said calmly, her small mouth opening and closing as she ate the last piece of tricolor dango—the pink one.
Lucian nodded. Alright, we're good then.
But there was still one issue: Why is it that you're the one eating all the time, yet I'm the one who has to increase my exercise?
I'm starting to miss that woman. When that big bird taught me Adeptal arts, she didn't make me train my body or martial skills.
Speaking of which, if a consciousness can't get fat, you're just going to keep eating, huh? Sooner or later, you'll eat yourself into a ball lightning.
At Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko read this part of the story with a gleeful smile.
Though she hadn't intended for Ei to hear those words, it didn't matter if she did—Ei wouldn't actually slash her over something so trivial.
In the story, the Traveler naturally didn't believe Yae Miko's nonsense and directly called out her lie.
[Yae Miko didn't mind, smiling as she said, "Hehe, you can't entirely blame me. From what I hear, your so-called 'concern' is just as baseless as my lies."]
[Paimon asked, "So, she's fine, right?"]
[Yae Miko replied, "I don't know the specifics. She said she needed to rest quietly, and since I don't have anything important, there's no need to go looking for trouble."]
In reality, Yae Miko was constantly bothering Ei, as Ei hadn't said anything about "resting quietly"—she just had no plans to "go out" for now.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice · Yae Miko: About Ei's Slash
"Oh my, that truly scared me to death. Who knew she'd actually try to slash me? Luckily, I'm quick on my feet and pulled out some tricolor dango to shield myself, hehehe."