In the real world — Inazuma, within the Plane of Euthymia.
Watching the light screen filled with everyone's teasing comments, Raiden Ei felt a wave of frustration rising in her chest.
Am I really… doing that badly?
She couldn't understand it.
The truth was, governance had never been her strength. She was good at one thing — fighting.
Matters of ruling a nation were something her sister had left behind for her, and Ei had only ever stumbled forward, learning as she went.
But watching the scenes from the video — seeing the people of Mondstadt and Liyue — she noticed something painfully clear:
The people of Inazuma were different.
Their spirits seemed… weighed down.
Even though ordinary citizens weren't directly affected by the Vision Hunt Decree, the entire nation felt blanketed under a stifling heaviness —
a pressure born not from law, but from the very state of the country itself.
So… had she truly been wrong?
Ei's expression grew complicated as she rubbed her temples, irritation bubbling up again.
She didn't understand what exactly she'd done wrong — or even what kind of consequences her decrees had brought about.
Some effects she could see directly, sure — but others were far beyond her reach.
Her orders touched the lives of countless citizens, and those ripples stretched further than her divine eyes could follow.
"I… might really be worse than that Kamisato girl…"
Doubt crept into Ei's heart.
After thinking for a long while, she had to admit — she really was only suited to be a warrior.
She was a god, yes — but gods weren't meant for scheming over bureaucratic details or understanding every effect of their edicts.
She only needed to speak, and the Tri-Commission would handle everything.
And from all the reports the Commissions submitted, the message was always the same:
"Peaceful nation, prosperous people, the Shogun's policies are magnificent!"
What the reality truly was, I knew a little, but not much.
And in her mind, it didn't seem like it made much difference anyway.
After all, she spent her days in endless meditation, leaving the rest to her puppet.
But then she froze.
"Wait… does that mean the puppet also has problems?"
Her headache deepened.
She knew she herself had flaws — she was a soldier, not a ruler.
But if even her puppet — the ideal extension of her will — had issues…
Then perhaps Gu Chen had been right all along.
Maybe someone human, like Kamisato Ayaka, was better suited to lead Inazuma.
After all, humans understood humans better than gods ever could.
In that moment of wandering thought, Ei suddenly understood the true wisdom behind Morax's abdication.
Beyond the reasons Morax himself gave — that his duty was fulfilled — there was something deeper.
Abdicating meant no longer having to deal with such headaches,
no longer having to shoulder the weight of governing —
to let mortals rule themselves.
How peaceful that must be.
But Inazuma was not Liyue.
At this stage, it still couldn't function without her, the Raiden Shogun.
Ei sighed softly.
Just then, a pink figure appeared beside her.
"My my," came Yae Miko's teasing voice, "silent for so long — so you've been hiding here sulking, hmm?"
Ei puffed out her cheeks and gave her a sidelong glare, refusing to answer.
"You know," Miko said with a light chuckle, "now's not the time for self-pity. Keep watching the video — maybe you'll find your answers there."
"…Got it."
Ei nodded faintly and turned her gaze back to the light screen.
In the video:
"Heh… What she's doing is no different from a child throwing a tantrum and locking herself in her room.
Her so-called 'Eternity' has long since turned into a delusion of her own making.
In the end, she's just… afraid of loss."
Miko sighed softly.
"What do you want me to do?" Lumine asked.
"Actually," Miko said after a long look at her, "you and I share the same goal."
"You want to save the people suffering under the Vision Hunt Decree — and I want to save this country… and her."
"The key lies here: if the Plane of Euthymia represents Ei's inner world,
then defeating her might just be the way to change her heart."
"Wait, so your plan to end the Vision Hunt Decree isn't through reason or rebellion, but by… literally changing her mind from the inside?" Paimon asked, baffled.
Miko smiled approvingly.
"Quick on the uptake. Yes — this is the only path to bring Inazuma back on course before it sinks into eternal darkness."
"But why me?" Lumine frowned.
"You still haven't realized what makes you special? I told you — the Plane of Euthymia is a realm that only the self can exist in.
The fact that you appeared there means she already has an interest in you.
Perhaps she's never met anyone so… unstable in the face of Eternity."
Paimon scratched her head.
"So no one else has ever been inside?"
Miko thought for a moment.
"Not since she began sealing herself away. No one even knows what that place truly looks like."
Then, as if recalling something, Miko added with a sly grin:
"Oh right — your friend might have been there once.
He fought her — fiercely, too."
"Gu Chen?!" Paimon gasped.
"Is he okay?!" Lumine asked anxiously.
"Him?" Miko arched her brow, then smiled slyly.
"Don't worry. He's just… not in a position to show himself right now."
When Lumine finally sighed in relief, Miko continued:
"Come with me. I've prepared a little something for you — special anti-Shogun training. Follow me."
Back in the Plane of Euthymia, Ei's eyes flicked toward Miko, a faint glare hiding in her pupils.
"Anti–Raiden Shogun training? What exactly is that supposed to mean?" she asked flatly.
"Ahh, don't be so stiff," Miko replied with a foxlike grin.
"It's just to help Lumine understand your mechanisms better, that's all~."
In the video:
Lumine successfully completed the training after some effort.
"By the way," Paimon asked curiously, "how do you know so much about the Shogun?"
"Hmm? You're asking me?" Miko chuckled.
"Maybe because… I'm the Raiden Shogun."
"Eh?! Like Dvalin and Barbatos?!" Paimon's jaw dropped.
"Could've fooled me…"
"Hehe~" Miko smiled. "So you're more interested in my fox form, then?"
"Interested! I want to see it!" Lumine nodded eagerly.
"Dream on," Miko said sweetly.
[Gu Chen]: I wanna see!!
[Raiden Ei]: (uploads three photos: pink fox stretching lazily; pink fox frolicking in the courtyard; pink fox curled up sleeping)
[Yae Miko]: ???
[Gu Chen]: CUTE! LOVE IT! POST MORE!! (Xiangling·sparkly eyes)
[Lumine]: CUTE! LOVE IT! POST MORE!! (Xiangling·sparkly eyes)
[Paimon]: Aaaah! Fox Miko is sooo adorable!! (Xiangling·sparkly eyes)
[Kamisato Ayaka]: I… I want to pet her… (Xiangling·sparkly eyes)
"EI!!"
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Yae Miko glared at her with mock indignation.
Ei, however, couldn't hold it in — she snorted, then burst into a bright, triumphant smile.
After all this time of being backstabbed by Yae Miko in the chat…
Finally, she'd gotten her revenge!
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