"Man... I miss the eggplant woman." He gazed in the direction of where Mondstadt should be.
"I see," Kujou Sara stretched her back as she replied, "But how does that relate to our prior conversation?"
In essence, she's asking; Who the fuck asked?
It's not that she's uninterested in a topic concerning the Almighty Narukami Ogosho; it was just that Dantalion was the one saying it.
Anyway.
They were talking about karaage.
Fried Chicken.
Something trivial.
But that topic's out of the window now, since Dantalion seemed to want to divert their conversation to somewhere else entirely.
"I highly suggest you stop bothering the Shogun."
"Which one?"
"..."
Now, Kujou Sara regrets proceeding with his nonsense despite her initial decision.
B-but!
That's the Almighty Narukami Ogosho they were talking about!
It's unavoidable.
Still, she wholeheartedly regrets it.
It is not that Kujou Sara who is in denial of anything related to the Almighty Narukami Ogosho and that it would shake her already established image in her mind, mind you.
'If anything, as expected of her Excellency, the Almighty Narukami Ogosho, truly, even history can't capture her Excellency's full majesty.' She thought.
It's only natural.
That's the Almighty Narukami Ogosho, after all.
The Shogun on the mortal plane and the 'shogun' inside are technically the same mold.
One was created in the image of another.
As the creator slumbers inside.
The moment Kujou Sara had realized that before.
She felt that she had become closer to her Exllency, the Almighty Narukami Ogosho.
While it would be a bit blasphemous and arrogant to think so.
To Kujou Sara, it seemed she had discovered similarities in their current setup.
The Shogun Puppet = Kujou Sara.
The Shogun inside = Dantalion.
It is a big stretch, childish even, but at least she had found and acquired something relatable to her Excellency, the Almighty Narukami Ogosho.
Ah~ She shouldn't think like that.
'I am far too lesser to be compared to a being created in the image of her Excellency, the Almighty Narukami Ogosho.'
Kujou Sara narrated in her head.
Especially something that fully embodies the will of the Almighty Narukami Ogosho.
She couldn't be compared at all.
However… At least, even to far somewhat, lesser degree, she had become closer, connected, and relatable to one she admires.
But all of these are but a fleeting thoughts, there is no way she will tell this to someone else--
"What, had you become so desperate that you'd find and use anything just to feel connected HAHA."
"Nonsense." Kujou Sara dismissed it casually.
Anyway.
Trivial stuff.
'Not that I'm implying that the Almighty Narukami Ogosho is trivial--'
"When are we going to Liyue?" Dantalion halted her thought.
"Are you pretending to be stupid?" She questioned him back.
Kujou Sara had told Dantalion that they would decide it after he cured the villagers from Higi Village.
And, as the past would have it, it already happened, he cured the villagers from Higi Village.
So, why are they not in Liyue right now?
Simple, she had said they'd 'Decide', not that she'd agree right away.
The result that day was that the Tatarigami curse would have to be dealt with first, and Kujou Sara would go to Liyue right after finishing preparation for her absence in Inazuma.
"This isn't right, you're getting unsophisticated and unprofessional," Dantalion replied, his voice carrying an exaggerated tone.
"I told you to stop hanging out with your idiot friends all the time! You are getting influenced by these moronic friends of yours!"
"We didn't adopt you just for you to turn into a failure!"
"Stop hanging out around them, or I will have their eyelids removed!"
Kujou Sara sighed, "Sigh..." Thankfully, no one can hear them.
They had no choice; they are in the same body.
Tolerating each other is the only option.
Regardless.
"You are insufferable."
---
They are on the island where the effects of the Tatarigami are supposed to be.
Based on the reports of Inaba Kyuuzou and his squad's telling, Kujou Sara easily concluded that Guuji Yae, with her extensive knowledge of history and things relating to mysticism, would be needed to locate the exact cause of the phenomena.
Still and all.
Kujou Sara decided just to use Dantalion.
Not that she fully trusts him to do it for the goodness in his heart...
It was not out of trust in his goodwill. Rather, as the days passed, she had noticed his growing eagerness to depart for Liyue.
That impatience had become so apparent that she could all but see him willing the matter to be resolved simply so he could move on.
Because of that, Kujou Sara had become fully convinced that Dantalion would do this in a very efficient manner.
Eradicating the problem altogether... She doubts he'd blast the island and be done with it. She knows how he wants her cooperation more than anything else now. It would be stupid of him to do something that would make her more uncooperative.
In summation, Kujou Sara had starved Dantalion.
To her, this was just an expedient measure to ensure that there would be no needless risk to others.
After all, based on the reports, catching the curse is inevitable as long as you are on the island long enough.
At any rate, that is not what they are focusing on; purifying the island is at the last of the list of priorities because it's the easiest for Dantalion.
But finding what or who caused it is the primary objective.
This could not be natural deterioration.
Based on what Guuji Yae said, this could be the malevolent remnant of the slain Orobashi. It was supposed to be sealed by the Electro Archon, but somehow, the seals seemed to have been broken, resulting in the release of the Tatarigami.
Kujou Sara looked out of the window.
At present, she sat in the passenger seat while Dantalion handled the wheel.
Yes, a car.
Dantalion had failed many times to get this thing outside, compared to the rugged truck he'd once handed over to the army--a beast built for function over form--this machine was something else entirely.
They are in a 'Jeep', as Dantalion would call it.
And true enough, it was far more comfortable than that rattling shitbox of a truck. Cushioned seats, a smoother ride even on rough terrain, and the faint scent of fragrance lingering in the air.
And, out of nowhere.
"If I didn't know what you are," Kujou Sara muttered, eyes still on the passing scenery, "I'd never guess you were an illusion."
Perhaps because of how idle the ride was, she gave in to comfort.
Making her say things unlike her usual self.
She had noticed it from the very first time--Dantalion's illusion was flawless. Not a flicker, not a seam. Every detail, from the shifting of his weight in the seat to the subtle rustle of his clothes, told her he was physically there.
Even the environment reflected it.
Her senses--sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, balance, proprioception, thermoception, nociception, chronoception, baroreception, magnetoreception, echolocation-by-vibration, spiritual resonance, energy perception, battle-instinct, danger-sense, energy fluctuation mapping, air-pressure intuition, heart-rhythm reading, and the very Tengu-born gut-feel that never failed her--all swore he was real.
At this point, she wasn't even sure anymore if the truck he'd given the army, or the Jeep they were riding in now, were real, physical machines… or just more of his illusions wearing the perfect mask of reality.
It's vexing.
"Hm...?" Dantalion hummed and calmly replied, "What do you want me to say to that?"
Glancing for a second in Kujou Sara's direction silently, before bringing his gaze back to the rough road.
"...Nothing." She answered.
"I see…" He paused and thought for a moment.
"It's a matter of knowledge. Take the Tanuki Yokai, for example–"
"Bake-Danuki." Kujou Sara corrected him, almost a whisper.
"Right… Take the Tanuki Yokai, for example, their illusion can be easily discernible if you are aware of basic physics: certain things don't look right, some shadows look like chicken scratches, the feeling of heat of a light source doesn't correlate with its size, and the sensation of materials is off. You get where I am going with this."
"Mhm…"
"Though their Transformations are a different matter, that's what they are known for, so they definitely have to be good at it."
"You see, contrary to what many believed, illusions aren't as simple as lighting a match. Perhaps there is someone out there with something like that, but I don't, though I believe meeting them would be very rewarding, for me specifically."
"Mhm…"
"My Illusory Manipulation requires me to project what I want to show in my mind whilst considering 'EVERYTHING'. Everything has to connect with reality, the sensation of fabric to the skin, the wind passing by, and the sensation of your footwear every time it makes contact with the ground, the temperature of air as it comes out of your body, EVERYTHING."
"Mhm…"
"That's also the reason why some would just skip it altogether and just pick up the reality the victim believes in, as the illusion runs simultaneously. Essentially, making the victim imagine the world as how they believe it behaves."
"..."
"They insert their illusion while picking up the reality of the victim; in a sense, the victim was the one casting the illusion, with just the caster assisting it to arrive on their intended use."
"..."
"That has a major flaw; once the victim realises that they're in an illusion, it will be rendered less effective, only less, since as long as the victim doesn't know how to counter the illusion, the caster can just persistently keep going, despite the victim already being aware of it."
"..."
"Mhm… I guess what I said earlier was wrong. It's a matter of capabilities."
Dantalion stopped his musing and looked at the silent Kujou Sara.
She had seized the action of affirming she had heard him amidst his musing.
Dantalion himself knew that while he had said a lot of words, it meant nothing, as it was just him creating noise.
Even the conclusion arrived at the most obvious cause.
He's good, while the others are not.
It's all pure nonsense.
It was as Kujou Sara intended, the reason why she said what she said earlier.
Dantalion continued his gaze at the sleeping Sara.
Or at least, the Illusion of himself, who was driving.
But it doesn't matter how he worded it. After all, he can align his point of view to match that of his illusion.
It was all pure nonsense.
Then, he brought his gaze back into the path ahead.
"Sigh... you should know that I was just asking, I'm not in a hurry..." Dantalion said, exhaling. "You're reading too much into things."
---
Inside their "shared" space.
Dantalion reclined on the unreclinable sofa he was sitting on and gazed at the starry sky above.
How did he recline an unreclinable sofa?
Fucking magic.
He sighed and stayed silent for a few seconds.
A second passed, and a grain of sand slid down a nearby dune.
Two seconds passed, and the moonlight pooled faintly on the sofa's armrest.
Three followed, the wind shifted, just enough to carry the smell of dust.
Four joined after three; his smoke-like form swayed in the direction of the breeze that passed.
Five stayed as it was the waiting number, somewhere far off, sand hissed against sand.
His thoughts were vocalized.
"Everything felt conveniently timed..." He continued, but this time, in his head.
'It's as if the world wants me to arrive at a certain conclusion...'
If everything aligned too neatly, it meant someone, or something, was arranging the pieces.
Not a very adore-worthy experience.
Nor did he enjoy the idea that his "choices" were nothing more than the inevitable steps toward a destination that had already been set for him.
A grain of sand slipped from the tip of the dune and vanished into the darkness below.
He is very aware that everything is happening at the same time.
The past, present, and future are happening simultaneously.
"This space..."
This place can isolate his time, as he had done when he was 'fighting' Ei; the problem is, he wasn't entirely certain if the perception of time was the only thing changed and not the time spent.
Similar in action to his [Thought Acceleration], but... was that truly all?
Was this the space's limit?
That's probable.
After all, how can there be something so powerful yet lack a will? Ego, as the term would be in Tensura.
Even powerful ravaging monsters possess a will. They may be considered mindless or egoless, but they still possess a will--
A proto-ego.
It's all nonsense.
The theory that this space was merely an 'extension' of him fell apart the instant he dragged an object from within it into the outside world.
After all, how can he materialize any material at all when he doesn't even have the ability to do so?
The mechanics of Tensura in terms of abilities are very tight.
It was ultimately created by an omniscient being--Veldanava, so it is to be expected that things would run in a very logical way.
The bullshit the main character has been doing that people didn't expect possible still follows the rules of that universe.
--Even what he's thinking of is unrelated to what is in front of him and seems to be something out of nowhere.
Nonsensical.
"Fuck it..." Dantalion muttered, "I don't give a fuck anymore..."
Without even changing his posture or where his gaze sat.
He raised his left hand, pointing a single finger forward.
The continuously accelerating 38-meter pole, which he created while fighting Ei, with the intent to threaten at the time--to destroy Inazuma by making it rain across the whole nation at the same time.
Then, he summoned the sleeping Kujou Sara next to him for a picosecond, just enough to create a crack in this space and then send her back.
Simultaneously, the moment he summoned and unsummoned Kujou Sara, he sent out three poles.
One in the direction of a certain Archipelago in the 'Dark Sea'.
The other in Snezhnaya.
And the last one is in Mondstadt, the main city.
Dantalion didn't follow their trajectories to see.
He didn't need to.
They were no longer his concern the moment they left his hand.
Like words once spoken, they would reach someone, somewhere, and do what they were meant to do.
The crack sealed.
"She really used my yapping to fall asleep..."
Even the actions he took were unrelated to what he was thinking.
Utter nonsense.
He leaned back deeper into the sofa. Somewhere, outside this space, the jeep's wheel is making a muted sound over uneven ground.
---
The engine hummed in a steady, low drone, punctuated by the occasional jolt when the tires rolled over another patch of uneven ground.
Then came the wind--sharp, forceful--howling past the vehicle loud enough to cut through the insulated cabin. The gust rocked the jeep just enough to stir Kujou Sara from sleep.
No startle, no flinch. Just a slow blink, a measured glance at her surroundings… and then calm.
"That's how a cat reacts when they get abruptly woken up," Dantalion stated, not bothering to look in the direction of Kujou Sara.
"..." She didn't reply.
She stretched, joints popping softly, then reclined her seat again, letting herself sink into it.
"Your blabbering's so boring it put me to sleep," She murmured, voice still rough from her nap.
"You're asleep for just an hour," Dantalion replied, answering a question that was not asked.
"I see."
"What do you want to eat?"
The jeep rolled to a halt, dead center in the road. No pulling over. No hazard lights, he didn't bother parking the jeep to the side of the road, he just stopped there.
There was a delay in Kujou Sara's reply, maybe because she just woke up from a nap, or perhaps she's actually thinking about it.
"Anything's fine."
It was the nap.
"Okay, Dino nuggies with barbeque sauce it is." As he stepped out of the vehicle.
"..." She didn't protest.
Kujou Sara opened the door and stepped out, too.
She watched as Dantalion pulled an awning from the side of the roof of the jeep.
Chairs snapped open, a table unfolded. A portable stove thumped onto the surface, and a bottle of olive oil floated from the jeep to the pan, pouring in a golden flood under his "telekinetic" control.
Sara took one chair, settling in with her arms draped over the arms, watching as Dantalion waited for the oil to heat up.
Her gaze wandered to the prepared, ready-to-cook 'Dino' Nuggets bag on the side.
Though she felt like this dish was supposed to be catered for kids.
And from the transparent part of the bag.
The shapes... It resembles Saurians, shapes straight out of a child's coloring book, stubby-legged and all.
She has no problem eating it; it's still chicken, at the end of the day.
The oil started to ripple, faint trails of smoke curling upward.
Dantalion didn't check the temperature with a thermometer -- he just dipped a nugget in, listened for the hiss, then tossed it in.
Sara leaned back in her chair, arms crossed,
"You're using too much oil,"
Honestly, Dantalion, hearing that, wanted to reply with--Who gives a shit--but as he is a civilized individual, he restrained himself.
"That's impossible," Dantalion replied without looking up, already dumping a handful more nuggets into the pan.
"I don't make mistakes--" He stopped mid-sentence, squinting at one oddly shaped nugget.
"Is this a di--"
A crack of purple lightning split the air.
Before he even finished his civilized words, the oddly shaped nugget was disintegrated by a purple lightning.
"Tragic," Dantalion said.
Sara didn't even lower her hand after releasing the lightning; her eyes stayed on the pan, expression as calm as if she'd swatted a mosquito.
The smoke from the incinerated nugget curled upward in a lazy spiral, the scent of scorched batter cutting through the richer aroma of frying chicken.
The rest of the cooking was done in silence until the nuggets were done.
---
The golden shapes on a paper towel-lined plate are now stacked up on the table. Steam rose from the pile, curling into the air.
The barbecue sauce clung stubbornly to each nugget, sinking into the crisp breading instead of running down the sides.
They were supposed to wait for them to cool.
Naturally, being built differently, they didn't.
She bit into one, chewing slowly.
Her plan… was simple.
Almost insultingly so.
She does not have the time to scrutinize everything on Yashiori Island just to find a single thing or person.
While she knew Dantalion had a hand in escalating everything, she even asked him, probed him for information, but as he was, he of course didn't disclose anything.
Though Sara would not take his word fully as is, Dantalion had insisted that he was not the one behind the release of Tatarigami.
The credibility of that is questionable, but that's the only answer she'll get.
So, she planned to use the most straightforward way of searching, which is pretty uncouth, if she were being honest.
Her "plan" reminded her vaguely of something Dantalion had once said about illusions, before she drifted off to sleep. The part where 'the caster will stimulate the reality of the victim', she plans to stimulate reactions and responses throughout the island by making her presence known and exposing her intent to everyone in it.
By doing so, she could garner a large amount of information based on the actions that would follow.
Pretty much shaking the table.
Yes, it was crude and contains a lot of holes to poke at.
Nevertheless, it's the fastest.
In addition, most efficient.
And perhaps, she might even be the only one who can execute such a crude way of foraging.
Besides the Shogun, of course.
"Suddenly, everyone becomes pushovers," Dantalion said, apropos of nothing.
"I don't care," Sara replied flatly, not even looking up. "Stop talking about it."
She didn't know what point he was trying to make, and she didn't care to.
"Okay…" Dantalion said, forking another nugget into his mouth. "But I feel like people are avoiding me."
That made her glance over at him. Her expression screaming "Deadass?" without needing words--eyes half-lidded, face drawn with the bone-deep weariness of someone fresh off a twelve-hour unpaid shift.
"What? Aren't you in the same situation?" Dantalion pressed. "Shouldn't you be saying something like, 'People are just jealous of greatness' to comfort me?"
Sara exhaled through her nose. "That's the most ignorant attempt at consolation I've ever heard."
"Exactly," Dantalion said, nodding like she'd proven his point. "That's the kind of thing only mediocre people say."
But what point exactly?
"…Right. But how does that explain people not liking you?"
That's right.
None of it actually answers his 'problem'.
"Didn't you say you weren't interested? Hmm?" His grin stretched, teeth flashing.
It was pointless.
It seems he only wanted her attention.
"..."
-Chapter END-