allonlinenovel Chapter 118 Shadow and the People
Chapter 118 Shadow and the People
On the street, the people of Inazuma watched a procession of pedestrians with a mixture of awe and fear. Why? Because General Raiden was prominently featured in the procession. It was unclear why there were two General Raiden, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that if the merchants didn't properly entertain them, who knew what might happen!
"It's been so long since I've been out on the street. I never imagined that so many things would change in the past few hundred years."
"That's right. Ever since the general took over the administration of the court, Ying has been meditating in the Pure Land of One Mind. It seems we'll have to step in now."
Paimon puffed out her chest proudly, then cautiously asked, "Shadow, you should know that you need Mora to buy things, right?"
"Of course I know, don't treat me like some clueless country bumpkin. But Paimon, why did you ask that?"
"this…"
Paimon glanced at the empty space and then thought of a certain guest of the Hall of Rebirth who never took Mora with him when he went out. For a moment, he didn't know how to explain it.
"I just wanted to ask, Shadow, did you bring Mora?"
“Of course not,” Shadow said matter-of-factly. “I usually live in the castle tower, and the Otsui Clan will naturally buy me whatever I need. So I don’t carry any Mora with me.”
"I knew it...it's happening again..."
"What do you mean?"
"No, it's nothing!"
"However, it's really inconvenient without Mora. Should we go back to Oz and ask for some Mora?"
"No, no need," Paimon replied. "In the end, we just forgot about it at first. We'll figure out a way to cover the expenses later!"
Upon hearing this, Kong instantly looked at Paimon with a resentful gaze. Because of the previous donations to the Wilderness Faction, they didn't actually have a lot of Mora left. Moreover, with Paimon, the big eater, around, they had very little Mora left to use.
After seeing Kong's expression, Paimon realized that he didn't seem to have much Mora left. To get more Mora, he would need to complete several adventurer quests, but he didn't have time to do so right now! Thinking of this, Paimon was also in a bit of a predicament.
Kiana seemed to sense their predicament and knew that given Kage's personality, he would definitely not agree to let Sora pay for the Mora in advance. So she stepped forward and suggested, "How about this, we can buy what we want and eat what we want, and then send all the Mora needed for our expenses to Narukami Shrine in the form of a bill?"
"No way! This is just not right!" Paimon objected. "Putting aside whether the Divine Child would agree, do you want Shadow to become a social outcast who can't even go out without Mora?!"
"But Paimon, think about it, isn't Shadow's current situation already that of a social outcast?"
Kiana's words instantly blew Paimon's brain out. Thinking about it carefully, she hadn't left the house for hundreds of years, and if she needed anything, she would just send her subordinates out to buy it. She also had the Raiden General's puppet to help her with chores. Wasn't she just a social outcast who didn't have to do any work?
Paimon said, somewhat exasperated, "This is unbelievable! How come all the gods I encounter are the same?"
"Have you encountered other gods?" Shadow asked, then added, "That makes sense, after all, you went to Mondstadt and Liyue before coming to Inazuma. Speaking of that drunkard, forget about him, is Morax really dead?"
Paimon and Kong looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Judging from their reactions, Ying understood. Perhaps Morax wasn't dead; he simply wanted to step down from his divine throne and hand over the power to govern Liyue to humanity.
Shadow then told everyone his guess, and Paimon was shocked, his face turning deathly pale.
"How do you know... No, no, the Liyue Seven Stars have already issued an announcement saying that the Geo Archon died due to a failed tribulation. How could it be a fake death and abdication!"
"Paimon, has anyone ever told you that you never lie?"
Kiana stared blankly at Paimon, whose face was filled with panic. Meanwhile, Sora had already lowered his head and covered his face with his hands; he was too ashamed to admit it.
After calming down, Paimon realized from the different reactions of the crowd that he had panicked and said everything.
Left with no other choice, Paimon had to admit the truth about the Rock God faking his death, but she refused to reveal the identity the Rock God was currently using, no matter how much Shadow asked.
And so, the group, chatting amongst themselves along the way, arrived at the shop closest to the castle tower, a clothing store called Oguramono.
The shop owner, named Ogura Mio, upon seeing that the customer was General Raiden, hurriedly approached and began enthusiastically but cautiously promoting her clothing, except…
"However, because the finest silk from Liyue is out of stock, it may take some time before you can have a custom-made garment."
After speaking, Ogura Mio bowed and apologized while carefully observing the figure before her. Although she was curious as to why there were two Thunder Generals among the people who had come, she knew what questions she should and shouldn't ask. Besides, she didn't have the energy to care about that right now; it was already quite generous of her that the figure wasn't angry that she couldn't immediately have clothes made for her!
However, Ying didn't seem to blame anyone; instead, she was curious as to why there was a shortage.
"What I'm more curious about is why there's a shortage of silk. Wasn't the trade blockade lifted after the lockdown order was lifted?"
"It's true that it's been deactivated, but..."
Seeing Ogura Mio's hesitant expression, Kage immediately understood that she was afraid he would blame her for what she was about to say. So he waved his hand to reassure her and told her to speak freely. After receiving Kage's permission, Ogura Mio first breathed a sigh of relief, and then slowly explained the reason behind it.
"Although the trade blockade has been lifted, the previous lockdown order still hurt those foreign caravans. As a result, many of them chose not to do business in Inazuma after they learned that they could go home. Instead, they chose to import cloth directly from Liyue, which takes longer and involves more procedures. This has led to the current situation. My orders are already booked until next year!"
"I see. In that case, we won't bother you any longer."
After finishing speaking, Ying led everyone away. After passing the Wuyou Pavilion, they arrived at a food stall. The stall owner was initially surprised that General Leidian would patronize his inconspicuous food stall, and then gritted his teeth and tried to promote his creative delicacy—dumpling milk.
"Dumpling milk? What's that?"
"It's a drink made by mixing dumplings with milk in a milk bottle," explained a food stall owner named Zhishu. "In short, it's a food I came up with on a whim one day, but everyone around me thought it was a waste of food, and I couldn't find anyone to try it."
"So you found me?" Shadow asked.
"Because... because I overheard Lord Kyoji mention that the General likes sweets, and I was so eager to try them... If the General doesn't want to try them, that's fine too. Your patronage is my greatest honor! You can sample everything at the food stall for free!"
"No, Mora, I will pay in full. If you let me take your things for free just because I am General Thunder, wouldn't that break the rules? Also, bring me that dumpling milk you mentioned so I can try it too."
With Daoying's permission, Zhishu happily prepared dango milk, and of course, he didn't forget the classic tricolor dango either.
After spending some time finishing off the sweets, Ying's mood improved. Especially the dango milk; she had only tried it out of curiosity, but she never expected it to suit her taste so well. Before she knew it, she had drunk three bottles of dango milk.
When Kage finally got up to pay for the Mora, he realized he didn't have enough Mora on him, so he asked Tomoki to write out a bill.
At first, Tomoki was completely unwilling, but under Kage's persuasion, Tomoki still wrote a bill for Kage, who then put the bill away and left.
After that, Paimon led everyone on a tour of the entire Inazuma Castle. During this time, Kage showed a great deal of interest in Yaedo's light novels. After wandering around for a while, the group returned to the mansion where the Tenryo Magistrate was located.
Just as Ying was about to end his incognito visit for the day, a servant from the Heavenly Court rushed back from outside.
Seeing this, Ying grabbed the servant and tried to get the reason for his haste. After the servant explained, Ying finally understood what had happened.
It turns out that this morning, the second young master of the Kujo family received an invitation from the Takatsukasa family to discuss their future plans. After all, the Kujo family's collusion with the Jujin clan had caused them to gradually lose their former status among the many families.
As the acting head of the family, the second young master, Kujo Kamaji, did not want the Kujo family to decline, so he went to the Takatsukasa family's mansion alone to negotiate, as agreed in the letter.
However, he hasn't returned since. The servants, worried, went to the Takatsukasa family to inquire about the situation. The reply they received was that Kujo Kamaji had never been here before. They were afraid that Kujo Kamaji had been captured and taken hostage, and that he had secretly run back while the Takatsukasa family wasn't paying attention. They hoped to bring reinforcements to rescue Kujo Kamaji.
"I understand. I'll handle this myself."
"Does the General mean you intend to go in person?!"
The servant was both surprised and delighted. He never expected to be able to get Ying to come and help in person. After carefully confirming the details several times, the servant handed the envelope to Ying.
After receiving the letter, Ying set off at the address given in the letter, and the rest of the group quickly followed.