Yae Miko
Passing through row after row of vermilion torii gates, Kujou Sara was finally led by a shrine maiden of the Grand Narukami Shrine to Yae Miko, who stood beneath the Sacred Sakura.
"Well, well. What a rare guest."
Yae Miko looked at Kujou Sara standing before the shrine, a trace of surprise flashing through her eyes.
Her personal acquaintance with this general of the Tenryou Commission went no further than knowing each other. They could hardly be called close.
But with the war currently so pressing, why had she abandoned the front lines to come looking for her?
A hint of curiosity crossed Miko's mind.
"Lady Yae Miko." Even when facing the Electro Archon's Retainer, Kujou Sara maintained a strictly businesslike attitude.
Logically speaking, their relationship should not have been so stiff. Back when Kujou Sara was still a child, she had nearly fallen from a mountain and died. It was Yae who noticed her tengu talents and arranged for the Kujou Clan to adopt her, indirectly granting her the status and position she held today.
But Kujou Sara was someone who drew an extremely clear line between public and private affairs. She understood the difference between a 'personal debt' and 'the duty of loyalty to the Shogun.' She would not turn a blind eye to Yae's actions that went against the Shogun's will merely because Yae had once helped her. Gratitude was gratitude, and positions were positions. The boundary between them was perfectly clear.
Kujou Sara was upright, devoted to order, and utterly loyal to the Raiden Shogun. Yae, meanwhile, was unpredictable, fond of teasing others, and adept at concealing her thoughts. She never revealed her intentions directly and often deliberately spoke in circles to test Kujou Sara, leaving the straightforward tengu unable to fathom her.
She disliked Yae Miko's frivolous and cunning manner. In private, she even felt that Yae dressed too ostentatiously and behaved too casually, entirely contrary to her own strict ideals as a warrior.
Moreover, during the war against the Watatsumi Island rebels, the Grand Narukami Shrine's stance could only be described as highly ambiguous. Kujou Sara's repeated requests for assistance had all been tactfully rejected.
The Archon's evil remnants ravaging Yashiori Island not only plagued the local people but also obstructed the Shogunate's advance. Although Kujou Sara was stern and impartial, she could not cold-bloodedly send her soldiers to their deaths. Thus, despite Yashiori Island's vast size, the two armies could only fight back and forth along Nazuchi Beach at its edge.
"So, what brings the Tenryou Commission's general to my shrine?" Yae Miko looked Kujou Sara up and down before asking, "If you're still seeking support from the shrine maidens, I can only apologize."
"The evil remnants on Yashiori Island do not fall within the Grand Narukami Shrine's jurisdiction, and I cannot possibly send the shrine maidens to die on the battlefield."
At this, Yae Miko was also quite helpless.
The Grand Narukami Shrine might hold an exalted position, but according to the division of responsibilities within Inazuma's government, Yashiori Island and Orobashi's remains genuinely did not fall under her authority.
The Grand Narukami Shrine was only responsible for Narukami Island, the rituals of Mt. Yougou, routine purification, and shrine blessings. It dealt solely with ordinary, minor evil spirits and possessed no authority to mobilize armed forces, station troops across islands, or suppress wartime contamination left behind by Archons.
The Tenryou Commission, meanwhile, was responsible for national military affairs, outlying islands, the lingering calamities of Archons, the maintenance of wards, and the suppression of monsters and warfare.
Ever since the Archon War, the Tatarigami of the great serpent Orobashi had been guarded for generations by the Kitain Clan, which served under the Tenryou Commission. Maintaining the wards was a military responsibility, not the work of shrine maidens.
Yae had already taken the initiative beforehand to urge the Shogunate to station troops, provide sufficient equipment, and arrange for onmyouji to inspect the wards regularly. She had fulfilled the limited duty of warning them. The destruction of the wards was a failure of the Shogunate's defenses, so the Tenryou Commission should naturally dispatch troops to clean up the mess. The shrine had no authority to overstep its bounds and take control of a military district.
Furthermore, the source of Yashiori Island's contamination was the lingering Archon residue of the serpent god Orobashi. It was corruption of the highest Archon level, not an ordinary monster or resentful spirit.
Ordinary shrine maidens only knew basic purification and minor exorcism Arts. Faced with widespread erosion from an Archon's Tatarigami, they would immediately lose their minds and be consumed by hallucinations. Going there would only mean throwing away their lives. Only professional onmyouji, armies composed of Shogunate samurai, or beings with Archon-level power could oppose it.
And most importantly, there was that damned machine known as the Puppet Shogun!
The rules of order programmed into the Puppet Shogun stipulated that disasters, monsters, and border conflicts within the realm must be handled first by the Tri-Commission. Dependents and shrines were forbidden from mobilizing private forces and crossing islands to interfere in military or governmental affairs without authorization.
If Yae privately led a large force of shrine maidens into Yashiori Island, which was under the Tenryou Commission's jurisdiction, it would directly violate the governing rules established by the Shogun. It would deepen the puppet's suspicion that she 'overstepped her authority and harbored unfathomable intentions,' thereby undermining her long-term plan to persuade the Shogun to understand the true meaning of 'Eternity.'
Had she been able to meet Ei, Yae Miko would not have acted so obediently. Unfortunately, all she could see was the machine-like face of the Puppet Shogun.
Yae Miko knew that the root of the problem did not lie with the monsters, but with the rigid Vision Hunt Decree and the corrupt Tri-Commission. Even if the shrine maidens temporarily eliminated the Demonic Beasts, the Tatarigami would eventually leak out again so long as no one guarded the wards and the Sakoku Decree and Vision Hunt Decree remained in force.
Treating the symptoms was inferior to treating the cause. Her plan was to overturn the misguided decrees, reorganize the Shogunate, and then eradicate the hidden threat on Yashiori Island once and for all.
Nor had she completely ignored Yashiori Island. After the Traveler arrived, she had secretly guided him to Yashiori Island to restore the wards.
At the same time, she had been using the Shuumatsuban to gather evidence of the various commissions colluding with the Fatui. She also understood that as long as the Fatui continued secretly working with the commissions, they would simply destroy the wards again even if they were repaired.
And the ones responsible for guarding the wards were none other than the Tenryou Commission, which had the deepest ties to the Fatui... so repairing them would be utterly useless.
It could be said that Yae Miko had worried herself sick over Inazuma.
"Shrine maidens... Indeed, I came to request support from the shrine maidens," Kujou Sara said with a nod after hearing her words. "But before that, there is another matter."
She watched every change in Yae Miko's expression and said, "Yesterday, I encountered someone on Yashiori Island."
"Oh?" Yae Miko raised an eyebrow. "What sort of person could make the Tenryou Commission's general bring her up specifically in front of me?"
"She had a pair of crimson Oni Horns."
"Hmm? A member of the oni race?" Yae Miko smiled faintly. "You shouldn't be asking me about that, should you? As for the oni currently in Inazuma... Oh, don't you already know one? Go ask him."
Ordinarily, when faced with such teasing from Yae Miko, Kujou Sara would have solemnly emphasized that she had absolutely nothing to do with that delinquent. This time, however, she merely continued in a somber tone, "...She looked exactly like Her Excellency the Shogun."
At those words, Yae Miko straightened from where she had been leaning against the railing before the Sacred Sakura.
"Exactly alike?"
"She appeared slightly younger," Kujou Sara emphasized. "But that face... I couldn't tell the difference at first glance."
Kujou Sara felt ashamed as she said this. As a general serving beneath the Shogun, she had actually mistaken someone else for her...
Yae Miko, meanwhile, frowned slightly. She knew just how deeply this young tengu revered the Shogun.
For even such a die-hard devotee of the Shogun to mistake that face, a certain possibility flashed through Yae Miko's mind.
"Furthermore, she could command lightning," Kujou Sara continued. "It wasn't like us Vision holders. There was no trace of a Vision anywhere on her."
"Yet with a single moment of displeasure, she could summon a sky-filling thunderstorm out of thin air... one no less formidable than the storm Her Excellency the Shogun uses to seal the outer seas."
Yae Miko could no longer remain calm after hearing this. She knew perfectly well what kind of being could accomplish such a feat.
An Archon.
Even she, the Electro Archon's Retainer, did not possess the power to summon a thunderstorm.
Only an Archon could do such a thing. But wasn't the Electro Archon Ei...? Could it be...
Yae Miko asked solemnly, "What is her name?"
Seeing her expression, Kujou Sara immediately knew that she must know something.
"She called herself Raiden—"
"Is it Makoto?!" Before Kujou Sara could finish, Yae Miko lost control the moment she heard the word Raiden. She grabbed Kujou Sara by the shoulders and asked excitedly, "Her name is Raiden Makoto, isn't it?!"
If it truly was her... If she was still alive...
"Uh, no." Seeing Yae Miko, a woman who normally spoke in several circles before reaching her point, become so agitated, Kujou Sara realized that this person's identity was definitely far from simple.
"She called herself Raiden Mei."
"Mei... Why would it be Mei..." At this, Yae Miko's grip slackened, and she released Kujou Sara's shoulders.
"Mei... Mei..." A wave of disappointment filled her heart before she gave a self-mocking smile.
Of course. What had she been thinking?
Makoto had died in that calamity five hundred years ago. Why was she entertaining such an unrealistic thought?
But a woman who looked exactly like Ei, could summon thunderstorms, and possessed the power of an Archon... It was difficult not to overthink it, especially now, when she was utterly helpless to awaken Ei from that unrealistic ideal in which she had immersed herself.
How wonderful it would be if Makoto were still alive. She had imagined that possibility countless times before.
"Makoto. Raiden Makoto." Kujou Sara mulled over the name Yae Miko had let slip. "Lady Guuji, may I ask what significance that name holds?"
"You had better not mention that name under any circumstances," Yae Miko said absentmindedly. "Should you show even the slightest disrespect, I wouldn't be surprised if the Shogun cut you down with a single strike."
She was not Makoto, yet she was closely connected to Ei... Then there was only one possibility.
When had that woman Ei created another puppet? And she had even granted it authority over lightning?
Wait, crimson Oni Horns?
Why would Ei give her puppet a pair of Oni Horns?
Did it have something to do with Chiyo?
Mikoshi Chiyo had been one of the friends who gathered beneath the cherry blossoms with Kitsune Saiguu, the great tengu Sasayuri, and the Electro Archon sisters before the great calamity five hundred years ago.
Her face was as beautiful as the moon, and even Kitsune Saiguu admitted inferiority to her appearance. She was peerless in both swordsmanship and kagura dance, often performing before the throne alongside Kitsune Saiguu. Even when surrounded by a thousand blades, her clothing would be torn to pieces while she herself remained completely unharmed. Her strength was extraordinary.
Her lifelong wish had been to elevate the declining status of the oni through military achievements and wash away the contempt the world held toward her people.
When the dark calamity swept across Inazuma, Chiyo followed the army deep into the front lines of the Abyss. During the war, she was swallowed whole by an abyssal Feranmut with the body of a tiger and the tail of a serpent. Trapped in a desperate situation, she used her blade to tear open the Demonic Beast's chest and fight her way out. From then on, people called her 'Chiyo the Tiger-Bitten.'
However, the Demonic Beast's body was filled with abyssal corruption. She witnessed her comrades being torn apart with her own eyes, and the Abyss's bone-eroding contamination seeped into her soul. From then on, her nightmares never ended.
The Abyss twisted her perception. In her hallucinations, all her friends, subordinates, and even the Electro Archon became abyssal monsters waiting to be slaughtered. Ei once called upon the baku clan to purge her nightmares, but the abyssal erosion was too severe to cure. Chiyo became trapped in an eternal dream of war, unable to distinguish reality from illusion.
In the end, Chiyo completely lost her mind. Believing that the Electro Archon had been corrupted by the Abyss, she attacked Raiden Ei with the blade she had been granted in an attempt to save everyone, briefly gaining the upper hand during their fierce battle.
Ei was forced to unleash the Musou no Hitotachi, severing Chiyo's sword-wielding right arm and cutting off one of her Oni Horns. The strike also cleaved through the body of Mt. Yougou. Wounded, Chiyo fled into the deep mountain forest like an injured beast and was never seen again.
Only the guard of her beloved sword was returned to the Mikoshi Family. No other relics remained.
News of Chiyo's betrayal of the Archon spread throughout Inazuma, completely blackening the reputation of the Mikoshi Family. Her biological son, Michihiro, was unable to endure the condemnation and vanished into seclusion.
Her adopted son, Nagamasa, bore the stain upon the Family's name and spent his life forging swords and seeking redemption to clear his Mother's name. His attendant Katsuragi died in his place, leaving behind the tragic tale of the famed blade Katsuragikiri Nagamasa.
Yae Miko had witnessed Ei's centuries of regret. This past was also one of the primary reasons Ei later became obsessed with 'Eternity and resisting erosion.'
These events had profoundly influenced Raiden Ei's path. From Sasayuri to Raiden Makoto and Kitsune Saiguu, and then Mikoshi Chiyo, the people around her had left her one after another. She feared that her friends would continually be taken by erosion and disaster, so she resolved to sever change itself, create the Plane of Euthymia, and pursue an unchanging Eternity.
'Did you make the puppet resemble an oni because you wanted to commemorate something?' she thought with a sigh. 'Could there also be a puppet with fox ears waiting for me somewhere?'
"So," Yae Miko said after composing herself, turning to the young tengu before her, "what exactly did she do?"
"She ordered me to deliver a message." Kujou Sara's expression became somewhat strange. "She said the Archon contamination on Yashiori Island has become too urgent to ignore and demanded that you go there personally to suppress it."
"Hmm?" Yae Miko sensed that something was amiss. "Did she truly say that?"
"Naturally." Kujou Sara nodded. "As a general of the Shogunate, I would never make groundless claims."
Yae Miko naturally understood her personality and knew she would never come here to deceive her without evidence.
But shouldn't a puppet created by that stubborn fool Ei, whose mind contained nothing but Eternity, be a machine that placed rules above all else, just like the Shogun?
Otherwise, as the Electro Archon's Retainer, Yae would not have been forced to watch helplessly as the Shogunate descended step by step into corruption. The machine-like Shogun demanded that every department in Inazuma perform only its assigned duties and never overstep its authority, believing such behavior to be a transgression against Eternity.
Yet this Raiden Mei... She appeared not to care about any of that. She had even taken it for granted that Yae should go to Yashiori Island and suppress the lingering resentment of an Archon.
She sounded like the complete opposite of the Shogun.
At this thought, a sharp gleam flashed through Yae Miko's eyes.
"Since it is a request from that esteemed lady, I naturally cannot refuse."
"Yashiori Island, was it? I'll leave immediately!"
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