The stretch from Konda Village to Inazuma City buzzed with life. Small villages and gathering spots dotted the road, dazzling the eye.
Villagers celebrated the Narukami Grand Festival in their own ways.
Shops slashed prices—a trick learned from Liyue, but wildly effective. Streets thronged with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. From Hanamizaka's Naganohara Fireworks to Yayoi Lacquerware, small merchants and villagers from nearby packed the route.
Yae Publishing House wasn't open yet, so no light novels.
Light novels, Reisen Riou mused, were a specialty of that island nation from his old world. His homeland had them too, though they lagged behind web novels. But Yae's novels… what were they?
A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes. Yae felt important, somehow.
He wandered into the backstreets. Quieter than the main drag, but not by much—the backstreets met the main road at a snack alley.
Food stalls galore, their aromas hooked Reisen Riou.
By the time the moon climbed high, his loose Mora nearly spent, he reluctantly left the snack alley.
Next stop: Komore Teahouse.
Run by the Kanjou Commission—his boss as a shrine guardian—Reisen Riou flashed his ID. The manager comped him a temporary room and some fine tea.
He barely sipped before crashing. Morning clamor woke him.
"Lord Narukami!"
The noise came from the Electro Archon's procession rolling through Inazuma City.
Cheers rose louder with each step. Reisen Riou glimpsed the Archon. Unlike the gentle Yamato Nadeshiko from his last encounter, she radiated stern majesty, her face etched with boundless authority.
Her escort was all Electro Vision-wielding Okuzume. Flag-waving Hatamoto in full armor bookended the group.
A horned woman guarded her side—likely General Chiyo of the Oni clan.
Bow-wielding experts, sans Visions but with cryptic auras, flanked them—Tengu clan elites.
From Komore Teahouse's top floor, Reisen Riou watched. His staring irked someone. A stifling pressure hit, then faded.
Turning, he saw Raiden Ei behind him.
Gulp. Reisen Riou swallowed hard.
"Lady Ei," he bowed hastily.
"Hm." Ei vanished without a word.
Sweating buckets, Reisen Riou lost his urge to gawk. After a quick teahouse breakfast, he set off to report to the Kanjou Commission and Grand Narukami Shrine.
Youkai life was tough.
Inazuma City to the Grand Narukami Shrine wasn't far. Mixing Thunder Surge with leisurely walks to enjoy the scenery, Reisen Riou reached the shrine's outskirts by evening.
He showed his Ritou Shrine guardian ID to an unfamiliar junior miko, reported to Kitsune Saiguu, the shrine's chief priestess, and got a guest room.
He sensed familiar auras—Anko Kanno was already there, along with a few junior mikos.
"Hard workers," Reisen Riou smiled, pleased. He asked a festival-prepping miko about the Narukami Grand Festival's schedule, seven days away.
Countless festivals had passed, but only the chief priestess, youkai mikos, and some senior human mikos knew the details. Held decennially, junior mikos might attend once, then leave the role or forget specifics by the next.
To thwart Dark Sea Demon God ambushes, each festival's order and scale varied.
Safe festivals were always lively.
An elderly senior miko shared the schedule. Reisen Riou settled in to wait.
Two calm days passed. Then Anko Kanno sought him out. Her arrival screamed trouble.
Sure enough.
"What?! Guard the Dark Sea frontline?" Reisen Riou's voice cracked.
"Yup, emergency draft," Anko soothed. "Not just you—lots of people and youkai are going. It's not that dangerous. Just avoid getting caught in god-tier attacks. Those battles are Lady Ei's solo show."
"I'm just a small youkai—weak, pitiful, helpless. Can I skip?"
Anko's face darkened. "No."
She vanished. A sharp pain hit the back of Reisen Riou's head, and he blacked out.
When he came to, he was at the Dark Sea frontline.
His head buzzed.
"You guys… Okuzume?" he asked.
The burly men around him grinned. "This is the Okuzume's logistics crew, handling Lady Ei's and others' support," one said.
"Lord Riou, Lady Ei said to join the archer unit when you're up," a squad leader added.
Sighing, Reisen Riou followed a logistics guy to the archer unit.
The unit was small: thirty-odd junior miko archers, fifty-plus Shogunate archers, a dozen Tengu archers, and a few Vision-wielding archers.
A Tengu General led them.
All were skilled—minimum Archery LV4, plenty at LV5, two or three at LV6 (Tengu). The General's Archery was LV7, with orthodox training giving him a Bow Heart around LV4, far surpassing Reisen Riou's.
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