Gazing Three Thousand Miles Away
Of course, Xia Yu had made all of that up.
On paper, the Shogunate truly could crush Watatsumi Island. From the Raiden Shogun, who stood at the pinnacle of Inazuma's military might, to the Electro Archon's Retainer under her command, as well as the Vision bearers throughout the Shogunate's territory... Watatsumi Island could never hope to compare.
But could the Shogunate truly command those people?
The Shogunate did not dare let the Raiden Shogun learn what Inazuma had become. Ei's pursuit of Eternity did not mean she could simply watch Inazuma's people suffer. She had merely shut herself away.
Yae Miko was even less likely to help the Shogunate suppress Watatsumi Island. They were fortunate enough that she was not helping the other side.
Then there were the Vision bearers from every level of society. One must not forget that aside from the Sakoku Decree, there was also the Vision Hunt Decree.
With a blade already pressed against their necks, how could the Shogunate expect them to risk their lives on its behalf?
Thus, to Watatsumi Island, the current Shogunate was merely a giant with feet of clay. Though enormous, the power it could actually bring to bear was limited.
That was why both sides could fight on relatively even terms.
"Kujou Sara, did you know any of this?"
"...Those are merely your one-sided claims." Kujou Sara's face was pale. "I cannot believe the slander of someone who refuses even to state her name."
In truth, she already believed her.
After all, this was something the Shogunate was capable of doing, and the reasoning made sense.
She had only said that to trick the woman before her into revealing her name. This woman understood Inazuma far too well, and there was also that face and her power to command lightning...
Kujou Sara had already decided that once she learned the woman's name, she would go directly to the Grand Narukami Shrine and ask the Guuji about her identity.
Yae Miko was the Electro Archon's Retainer, after all. She would certainly know more than Sara did.
"My name?" Xia Yu's gaze seemed to see through her plan, but she made no attempt to conceal it. "Remember it. My name is Raiden Mei."
"Think carefully, Kujou Sara. Is this war-torn Inazuma truly the Dominion you dreamed of?"
After saying that, she smiled, then turned and left.
Only Kujou Sara remained, standing silently where she was.
Not everyone had seen what the Electro Archon looked like.
The sallow, emaciated villagers of Higi Village, for example.
"Sis..." A timid little boy approached and mustered his courage. "Could you give me just a little meat? I'll trade you this radish for it."
He nervously held out a slightly shriveled radish. It was already the best thing he had to offer.
"I don't want much, just a tiny bit. One bite is enough." Faced with Xia Yu's scrutinizing gaze, he hurriedly explained, "My mother... she's sick. Doctor Yasumoto said he couldn't cure her, so he asked a kind uncle to take her somewhere very, very far away for treatment."
The boy's voice carried a trace of tears. "I just want her to have a bite of meat before she leaves. Please, Sis."
Ah, so it was you, little liar.
Chouji.
Gazing Three Thousand Miles Away... Back when she had finished this quest, she had... Sigh...
Hah. War.
Watatsumi Island and the Shogunate fought here, while the Tenryou Commission abandoned Yashiori Island to its fate. Samurai slaughtered villagers indiscriminately, tricked miners onto ships before sinking them to silence them, refugees became pirates, and the villages completely lost all order.
Hah. Eternity.
Xia Yu looked at the uneasy child before her and asked as gently as she could, "What illness does your mother have?"
"I-I don't know," Chouji stammered. "Her body is all red and swollen, and it hurts terribly inside. Uncle Yasumoto said he couldn't cure it..."
By the end, he was on the verge of tears.
Couldn't cure it... Hah. Of course he couldn't.
Because this was no ordinary illness.
Chouji's father had been a miner at the Mine, gathering Crystal Marrow year-round. He disappeared amid the war and Tatarigami contamination. A samurai's journal on the island had mentioned a severely wounded miner who was suspected to be Chouji's father.
But he had most likely met with disaster, leaving only Chouji and his mother to struggle through life together.
Yet rope always snapped at its thinnest point, and misfortune always sought out those who already suffered most.
The Fatui had destroyed the wards suppressing Orobashi's lingering resentment so that they could obtain more experimental materials. Unfortunately, Chouji's mother had been corroded by that resentment.
Tatarigami poison caused subcutaneous bleeding and organ failure. Doctor Yasumoto was unable to cure it and could only entrust Chouji's mother to a Kairagi fleet that would smuggle her to Sumeru for treatment. The fleet was destroyed midway through the journey, leaving her fate unknown.
Later, the Traveler arrived on Yashiori Island and met Chouji. By then, he had already been separated from his mother for some time. He had learned to be strong, and he had also learned to lie.
He deceived the Traveler with promises of treasure and repeatedly asked him to gather Crystal Marrow. It was not because he was greedy, but because Crystal Marrow could be exchanged for money. He wanted to save enough travel expenses to journey alone to Sumeru and find his mother.
The quest did not end with a happy reunion. Chouji, still only a child, bid farewell to the devastated Higi Village and embarked alone on the long journey to Sumeru. His path ahead was filled with uncertainty. The quest's name, Gazing Three Thousand Miles Away, referred to a boy gazing toward his mother thousands of li away, not knowing whether they would ever meet again. It was one of Inazuma's most depressing child-related side quests.
"Take me to see your mother." Xia Yu stood, picked up the roast chicken she had casually left cooking over the fire, tore off a drumstick, and handed it to him. "Perhaps I can help."
"Really, big Sis?" Chouji joyfully accepted the drumstick, carefully wrapped it in a piece of cloth, then stubbornly stuffed the radish into Xia Yu's hand.
It was obvious that he intended to bring the meat home for his mother.
Seeing this, Xia Yu could only sigh. Holding the roast chicken in one hand and the radish in the other, she followed behind him.
They arrived before a dilapidated house. Hearing the faint coughing and occasional pained gasps from within, Chouji hugged the small cloth bundle tightly and opened the door.
"Mother!" He happily rushed toward Ryouko. "Look what I have!"
Like a child presenting a treasure, Chouji opened the cloth bundle. The aroma of the drumstick, roasted with Xia Yu's extraordinary skill, instantly filled the entire room.
"Cough... Chouji, where did this come from?" Ryouko struggled to sit upright and asked.
"A kind big Sis gave it to me!" Chouji moved aside, revealing Xia Yu behind him.
"M-My Lady!" When Ryouko saw the clearly luxurious clothing worn by the person behind him and the pair of horns atop her head, she immediately knew this was not someone villagers like them could afford to offend.
She spoke in terror, "Chouji is only a child and doesn't know any better. I'll kneel and kowtow to you, so please don't..."
Her reaction left Xia Yu at a complete loss. Xia Yu hurriedly reached out to support Ryouko. "I gave it to him because he's such a filial child."
"And he said you were sick?" She looked Ryouko over. "This illness truly is..."
Terminal.
Could Sumeru really cure an illness like this? Even if it could, would a penniless woman from a foreign land truly receive treatment?
Xia Yu did not think so.
"My Lady, this illness of mine... cannot be cured." Ryouko smiled bitterly. "But Chouji is still so young."
She reached out and stroked Chouji's head. "I truly cannot stop worrying about him... Perhaps if I go to Sumeru and recover there, we may still meet again someday."
Hearing this, Xia Yu understood.
The woman before her no longer held any hope for her own survival.
But she did not want to die in front of her child, nor did she want to burden the rest of his life.
As long as she remained in Inazuma, a filial child like Chouji would never abandon her. Yet look at the current situation. Higi Village was on Yashiori Island, where the Shogunate Army and Watatsumi Island were locked in a brutal struggle.
Amid the chaos of war, Chouji was only a child, yet he would have to support someone who could no longer work... She would drag her child down with her.
So... Sumeru was probably nothing more than a beautiful wish.
"Mother, you'll definitely recover." Chouji's eyes reddened. "Uncle Yasumoto said they can definitely cure you in Sumeru..."
Before he could finish speaking, the door was pushed open.
"Chouji, I heard you brought someone back...?" An exhausted doctor with dark circles beneath his eyes entered, only to see Xia Yu's figure, which looked completely out of place amid their surroundings.
"And this is...?"
"Just call me Raiden Mei." Xia Yu nodded to him. "I'm merely a traveler."
"Oh, I see. This humble one is Daisuke Yasumoto," the man introduced himself. "A quack doctor from Yashiori Island."
His voice was filled with bitter self-mockery.
Xia Yu nodded.
Doctor Yasumoto, the central figure of the quest Treatment on the Island.
After war broke out, Tatarigami contamination spread, and every physician fled Yashiori Island. Only Yasumoto remained.
The Tenryou Commission had once offered him a generous salary to practice medicine for the Shogunate, but he refused outright. Hundreds of patients on the island had no one to treat them, so he could not leave.
The villagers, including the village chief Washizu, all called him a quack doctor and accused him of doing nothing but brewing Sweet Flower soup with Lavender Melons to deceive people. The truth, however, was that Tatarigami poison originated from Orobashi's resentment and could not be cured by mortal medicine. The Lavender Melon soup merely eased pain and soothed the patients' minds as a final comfort. Yasumoto knew it was useless, yet he still brewed it for them day after day.
It was all he could do.
Chouji's mother had contracted a strange illness caused by the Tatarigami. Her symptoms were unusual. The Tatarigami's power flowed through her body without driving her mad, but she suffered persistent fever and bleeding. Unable to cure her and afraid that the village chief, Washizu, would seize her as a sacrifice, Yasumoto secretly contacted the pirate Kairagi Onitaka and arranged for her to be smuggled by ship to Sumeru for treatment.
But even he knew that the journey would most likely lead nowhere.
All in all, he was a great man.
His only senior physician, Naoko, had died of illness, leaving him alone on the island. He watched the villagers fall sick, lose their minds, and die one after another while he remained helpless, able only to comfort himself with Lavender Melon soup.
After the quest was completed, he would thank the Traveler for bringing him Naku Weed and decide to travel alone to the southern sandbar to conduct the highest-dose trial on himself, hoping to discover a medicine capable of suppressing the Tatarigami.
Yet on the southernmost beach of Yashiori Island, only an empty medicine basket remained beneath a tree. Yasumoto was nowhere to be found.
The achievement A Doctor's Odyssey would then appear, with the description stating that the Traveler had witnessed Yasumoto's fate. The story implied that he had tested the medicine on himself, only to be consumed by the Tatarigami poison and remain on the sandbar forever.
Xia Yu's expression darkened as she recalled this.
Another tragedy.
"Miss Raiden," Yasumoto said cautiously, "you should leave as soon as possible. Ryouko's illness is no ordinary disease. It would be terrible if it affected someone of your standing."
Could anyone bearing the surname Raiden in Inazuma possibly be ordinary?
Yasumoto did not think so.
"Doctor." Xia Yu looked toward Ryouko. "Can you cure her illness?"
"...My knowledge is shallow, and I am powerless to help." Yasumoto forced an ugly smile onto his face. "Just as everyone says, I'm merely a quack doctor."
Xia Yu shook her head. "A quack doctor would not receive a generous offer of employment from the Tenryou Commission."
The moment she finished speaking, Yasumoto instinctively clenched his fists. "How did you know that...?"
"I merely heard it from someone." Xia Yu shook her head. "This isn't a question of whether your medical skills are good enough. It is simply a matter of every profession having its own specialty."
"Tatarigami contamination naturally requires the shrine maidens to purify it. Doctor... this falls outside your area of expertise."
"This is a curse. You sought help from the wrong person."
"But... where would we find any shrine maidens on Yashiori Island now?" Yasumoto lowered his hands helplessly. He had suspected the same thing before, but what difference did that make?
Yashiori Island was a battlefield. How could any shrine send its precious shrine maidens here and put them in danger?
"Don't worry. There will be some very soon." Xia Yu's expression turned cold as she turned and left the house.
Soon afterward, Kujou Sara, who was hurrying back to the Kujou Encampment, was intercepted by a bolt of lightning descending from the heavens.
"Go back and tell Yae Miko," Xia Yu said, lightly tapping the long blade at her waist. "The Archon contamination on Yashiori Island has already become an urgent crisis. Tell her to send shrine maidens. No, tell her to come here herself and resolve it."
"Did you hear me?"
"Yes." Kujou Sara looked at the boundless sea of lightning behind her and sighed. "Miss... Raiden Mei."
"We will send soldiers to assist the shrine maidens, but Watatsumi Island..."
"I'll handle Watatsumi Island." Leaving only those words behind, Xia Yu transformed into a bolt of lightning and soared into the sky once more.
"General..." One of the personal guards stared reverently at the lightning that seemed to tear the heavens apart. "Is she truly not...?"
He stopped himself, but everyone knew what he wanted to ask.
Was she truly not the Shogun?
"Don't ask so many questions," Kujou Sara said coldly. "I need to return to Narukami Island. I'll leave the military affairs on the front line to all of you!"
After saying that, she departed with the incredible speed of a tengu.
Only the group of personal guards remained, exchanging confused glances.
Meanwhile, on the other side, their five-star ornamental fish lady stared at Xia Yu, who had appeared before her with a crack of lightning. She had been eating and nearly choked to death.
Seeing this, Xia Yu hurriedly reached out and patted her back.
"Cough, cough... Miss Raiden Mei." Sangonomiya Kokomi finally recovered and took a sip of tea to soothe her throat before nervously asking, "May I ask what else you need?"
Xia Yu treated her far better than she treated the Shogunate Army and openly told her everything she had encountered.
"So, you wish for us to temporarily cease hostilities until the shrine maidens from the Grand Narukami Shrine resolve the... um, lingering resentment on Yashiori Island?"
"What do you think?" Xia Yu looked at her calmly.
"Of course I have no objections!" Kokomi adored the very possibility. She had been working without rest recently and was nearly exhausted to death. If they could temporarily cease hostilities... it would at least give her a chance to catch her breath.
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T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me! But for faster responses, please notify me on my discord server instead (link is in my profile). Thanks!
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