Seeing her stubborn best friend still clinging to her escapist eternity even amid an upheaval unseen in Teyvat for hundreds or thousands of years, Yae Miko clicked her tongue in displeasure and rolled her eyes with captivating grace.
"Oh, please. Your eternity was shattered the day the screen appeared. Ei, if you really want to hold fast to your beliefs, you'd better give some thought to other paths."
Contrary to what most players thought, Yae Miko actually did not care what path Raiden Ei took or what eternity she protected. In fact, as her friend and familiar, if that country bumpkin truly wanted her so-called eternity, wanted Inazuma to remain forever fixed at a single moment as though trapped in amber, Yae Miko would support her with all her might.
The only thing Yae Miko refused to accept was that, to protect her eternity, Raiden Ei had refused even to meet or speak with her.
That was something Yae Miko could not tolerate.
So Yae Miko was grateful for the screen that had appeared yesterday, truly grateful, because it had allowed her to reunite with her friend, to chat warmly as they once had, and to feed her affectionately.
Yae Miko was already satisfied with things as they were now, because that had been her only goal from beginning to end. As for anything else-the future of Inazuma, the threat of the Resistance, the corrupt rats within the Shogunate, or the covetous Fatui-Yae Miko cared about none of it.
If the Traveler and her companions came to Inazuma and clashed with the Raiden Shogun as they had in the original story, then under the current circumstances, this Lady Guuji would probably not be their teammate, but their most troublesome obstacle, one of the guardians of Inazuma's eternity.
Given how things were developing now, however, even if Lumine came to Inazuma, the chances of her actually clashing with the Raiden Shogun were no longer very high.
After all, in the original story, she could use elemental power without a Vision, making her an exception in the world of Teyvat. The Raiden Shogun deemed exceptions obstacles to eternity, so, steadfast in her duty to protect Inazuma's eternity, she would naturally clash with Lumine.
Likewise, this was also why the Raiden Shogun had not pursued Lumine when she fled.
After all, the Raiden Shogun knew perfectly well that Inazuma was already the limit of the eternity she could protect. As long as this Traveler knew what was good for her, stopped interfering in Inazuma's affairs, and obediently slipped away to the next nation, then, however sinister the Raiden Shogun's words sounded, she was not absolutely determined to brick her into a statue with her backside sticking out.
Looking at things now, with the screen around, exceptions would probably be everywhere across Teyvat. Although the Raiden Shogun was rigid, she was not wholly incapable of change. When adaptation was called for, she would still handle matters as appropriate.
Clearly, faced with an Inazuma where "exceptions" would soon appear frequently, and the screen's influence, as utterly irresistible as the Heavenly Principles, the Raiden Shogun needed to think up or revise a more reasonable way of protecting eternity, rather than using her current indiscriminate, heavy-handed methods.
Naturally, when faced with Lumine, the suspected protagonist of the world, both the Raiden Shogun, with her preset principles, and Raiden Ei, a country bumpkin, would have their own considerations rather than charging straight into a confrontation as they had in the original story.
Raiden Ei lowered her head and thought for a while. She rarely encountered problems that truly required her to rely entirely on her mind; most problems could be solved with the naginata in her hands.
In the past, she could simply have left such problems to her elder sister or Kitsune Saiguu to consider and handle.
But now...
Ugh, I just feel like if I leave it to Miko, I'll end up losing out without even realizing it.
Raiden Ei rolled her eyes at Yae Miko in some annoyance and abandoned the option of leaving all the thinking to her while giving up on thinking herself.
Now, faced with a screen she could not affect no matter what she did, whose level of power seemed vaguely higher than Teyvat's, Raiden Ei could only put her mind to work for the first time in ages.
But after thinking for a long while, Raiden Ei and the Raiden Shogun finally discovered, to their dismay, that the only thing they could do now to protect Inazuma's eternity was, instead, to take the initiative to change and participate in the screen's quizzes.
"Power. As long as I have more power, I can continue to protect Inazuma's eternity."
Yae Miko watched her friend's flickering gaze and sighed inwardly, though a charming smile remained on her face.
"Oh my, since my god has decided to compete for the quiz rewards, then as your familiar, I must support you with all my might~."
Yae Miko clapped her hands. "In that case, we need to properly resolve the issue of Watatsumi Island. After all, Inazuma only has a handful of star-rated users who can participate in answering questions. We can't just let the two on Watatsumi Island go to waste, can we?"
"All right. I'll leave the matter of Watatsumi Island entirely in your hands, Miko."
As the two people at the very pinnacle of power in Inazuma decided its future course through the simplest of exchanges, the screen began playing today's second video.
[System: Now playing the second video-Zhongli: Shopkeeper, I'll take them all]
Others had little reaction to the video's title, but two people in the discussion area immediately had a stress response.
[Hu Tao: Hiss, painful, painful memories are attacking me.]
[Tartaglia: +1]
[Xingqiu: Haha, this really is, hmm, very much in line with my impression of Mr. Zhongli.]
[Chongyun: You know this Mr. Zhongli?]
[Xingqiu: We have never met, but I've heard that our family business, hmm, enjoys a great deal of this gentleman's patronage.]
[Hu Tao: Xingqiu, just say he spends generously, doesn't haggle, and isn't picky when shopping.]
[Yun Jin: Mr. Zhongli is a fascinating man, widely learned, with an exceptional memory and expertise in everything. Thanks to his guidance, I've gained quite a bit of fresh inspiration for new operas.]
[Xiangling: Mr. Zhongli really knows his food, and he always has wonderful suggestions for the dishes I make.]
[Lumine: Hiss, he's connected to so many people. In a game, someone like that is either a major boss or a powerful backer. Either way, this Mr. Zhongli is definitely an important character in the Liyue chapter.]
[Xianyun: Hmm, although this adeptus would very much like to say something, right now... never mind, you are quite right.]
[Ganyu: A-anyway, Traveler, once you arrive in Liyue, everything will become clear... I suppose?]
The jumble of comments left everyone with a strange impression of Zhongli. Although those outside Liyue still could not quite figure out what sort of character he was, they had roughly understood that he definitely held a very important position in Liyue Harbor.
It never occurred to them that, at present, Zhongli really was "only" a consultant at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.