The Abyss's eruption and upheaval had only just begun the moment Aether left the scene.
He had no idea what Endis was walking into.
For the chance to be among the first to participate in the restoration of the nation, the members of the Order had completely lost their minds.
The moment Endis showed any sign of trying to slip away, tens of thousands of people closed in around him from every direction.
Appeals to sentiment. Arguments to reason.
People pulling on old connections. People playing the emotional card. People laying out their qualifications and explaining methodically why they were the right choice.
Others resorted to threats, or to offers of exchange.
This kind of raw, purely human behavior hadn't been seen within the Abyss Order in over five hundred years.
And on top of that, for the sake of winning favor with Ryen, for the sake of establishing more stable footing in that world going forward, the members of the Order had put their heads together and revived an old concept.
They called it the Brown-Nosing Initiative.
Liyue Harbor.
Ryen and the others had packed their things, mounted their dragons, and were ready to depart.
This trip was purely recreational. Nothing worth making a fuss about.
Zhongli and the others had been tasked with staying behind to look after things and continue construction.
Ryen said his farewells to Zhongli and the group, then set off with his wives alongside Makoto, Ei, and Yae Miko.
Going to Inazuma with a traveler's mindset was, for Ryen, a genuinely pleasant change of pace.
Crossing the open sea. Flying on dragonback.
Ryen let himself simply be a tourist.
They departed in the morning, and by midday had arrived at Narukami Island.
Come to think of it, it had been a long time since Makoto and Ei had been back.
Yae Miko even more so. Since the Vision Hunt Decree and the Sakoku Edict had been abolished, she had so thoroughly put her homeland out of mind that she had essentially moved to Liyue permanently.
Coming back to Inazuma after all this time, the current state of things genuinely surprised them.
Looking down from above, it was hard to get a full picture of the other islands, but Narukami, and Inazuma City in particular, no longer carried that grey, listless atmosphere from before.
On the contrary, the city had a vitality to it. Commerce had recovered. The people were thriving. There was, for the first time in a long time, the feeling of a prosperous age.
Makoto gave a quiet, satisfied nod.
"It seems that even without us here, Ayato has managed this well."
Yae Miko smiled.
"I did say so. The title of Inazuma's Grand Steward wasn't given to Ayato for nothing."
Makoto didn't argue the point. She led everyone directly down toward Tenshukaku.
She sent the guards away, had someone go inform Ayato and Gorou to come, arranged for the midday meal to be prepared, and brought Ryen and the others to her working quarters.
Inazuma had changed considerably, and Inazuma City had been under ongoing renovation. Tenshukaku itself, however, had remained largely untouched.
Makoto was, at heart, someone who preferred things to stay as they were.
They had just sat down inside when, before anyone had managed a sip of tea, Makoto said with easy lightness:
"Ei, should you really be sitting right now?"
Ei's expression shifted. She rose.
"I understand, Makoto. I'll go deal with the Shogun matter."
Makoto made a quiet sound of displeasure.
"The Shogun matter can wait until tomorrow. Right now, go find me the soul fragments of the Kitsune Saiguu and the others."
"Liyue has already revived so many adepti and archons. Sumeru brought back the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. We have been preparing Resurrection Totems in Inazuma for so long, and haven't used a single one."
"Are you planning to wait until all seven nations have joined Ryen's world before reviving them?"
Ei looked slightly wronged, gave a small nod, and headed for the door.
She pulled it open and walked straight into Ayato and Gorou on the other side.
The two of them startled, looked more carefully, recognized Ei, and immediately bowed in greeting.
Ei, however, kept her expression closed and left without a word.
This left Ayato somewhat confused.
He stepped inside quickly and said with careful courtesy:
"My Lord Shogun, have I done something wrong? Lord Ei seemed to have some objection to my presence..."
Makoto suppressed a smile and shook her head.
"Don't worry about her. I scolded her just now. It has nothing to do with you."
Ayato understood at once and wisely moved on.
Divine family matters were best left unexplored.
"We haven't been here for some time. Thank you for your efforts."
"It is what we are here for."
Ayato shook his head, then said:
"My Lord Shogun, how is my sister getting on over there?"
At the mention of Ayaka, Makoto's smile deepened. She gave a small nod.
"She is doing very well. She has made many friends. Every day she goes to Ryen's world to explore and enjoy herself. It has been a full and happy time."
"Ah, let me make introductions. This is Ryen. This is Ningguang, Hu Tao, Ganyu, Lisa, and Guizhong."
"And these are Klee and Nahida, they've come along for fun."
"I'll need you to put together a travel guide for Inazuma. More people will likely be coming to visit in the future, so some suggestions in advance would be helpful."
Ayato's gaze settled on Ryen. He gave a measured bow.
"A pleasure to meet you, Ryen. If my sister causes any trouble in your world, please be patient with her."
"And thank you for giving Inazuma this opportunity. What you and the Alliance have done has allowed Inazuma to recover in just a few months, and to advance further than it was before."
Ryen waved a hand with an easy smile.
"It's mutual benefit. Think nothing of it."
Ayato gave a wry smile.
"How could we think nothing of it? Without your help and the Alliance's, even recovering to where we were would have been difficult. What we've achieved now would have been unthinkable."
Ryen smiled and left it at that.
Ayato turned back to Makoto.
"My Lord Shogun, how is Inazuma's development progressing in that world?"
Makoto gave a small nod.
"I was just about to bring that up."
"Kujou Sara's side is proceeding smoothly. One base has been fully constructed. Resource exploration and collection has found its footing. Personnel have been deployed to all three dimensional worlds."
"The Dragon Rider corps has also been established. Currently one hundred and twenty riders, with forty dragon eggs still awaiting hatching."
"Everything is on track."
Hearing this, both Gorou and Ayato were visibly pleased.
Inazuma's progress exceeded what they had expected. With this foundation, there was much more they could now plan for.
"There is, however, one critical problem. This visit isn't only about bringing Ryen and the others here for travel. We also came back for this."
Makoto's expression shifted to something more resigned.
"We don't have enough people."
"Not enough people?"
Gorou blinked, puzzled.
"But haven't we already sent fifteen hundred? That should be sufficient for the early-stage planning, shouldn't it?"
"The problem isn't the early-stage planning."
Makoto shook her head.
"At present, everyone is running development on multiple fronts simultaneously."
"The Nether is dangerous. The permanent development team there needs two hundred people. The Twilight Forest exploration team also needs two hundred."
"The End requires fewer."
"But those three dimensional worlds combined have already absorbed a third of our total manpower."
"Liyue and the other nations average four or more bases each. Inazuma currently has one."
"We still need people to construct new bases, explore unknown territories, mine resources from underground, develop Redstone technology and specialized architecture, and maintain patrols and garrison duties."
"Liyue and Mondstadt have already begun building cities. Liyue has completed one and is now working on a second."
"We cannot fall too far behind, and city construction requires a large dedicated workforce."
"We don't have a Totem of Undying farm yet. People need to go out and scout the location and build one."
"The new continent is opening up, and we need people to explore and establish a base there..."
"The remaining thousand people are completely inadequate."
Listening to Makoto enumerate everything that needed doing, both Ayato and Gorou felt a creeping unease.
The MC World's resources were tremendous, and could develop Inazuma at an unprecedented pace.
But the demand for manpower was equally tremendous.
Fifteen hundred people thrown in there barely caused a ripple.
City construction alone, to say nothing of everything else, wasn't something one or two thousand people could handle.
"Find a way to solve this. As soon as possible."
Makoto let out a quiet sigh.
"Our soldiers have been working without a break for a month or two now, with no real rest. They are doing it for Inazuma, but we cannot be so hard on them."
"The pressure on them is severe. Kujou Sara and Kokomi are under severe pressure as well."
"Find a way to get me another two thousand people."
Gorou's face fell.
"My Lord Shogun, two thousand is a great deal..."
"Even including the personal guards of the three Commissioners, our new army totals only about six thousand."
"Of those six thousand, two thousand need to be kept in the cities for public order and security. Many of the remaining are completely new recruits."
"Those with full combat readiness number around two thousand five hundred, and those two thousand five hundred are needed to accompany me in suppressing monsters..."
"My Lord Shogun, this is not me pushing back for the sake of it. We genuinely cannot spare more people."
"The only option would be to recruit, My Lord Shogun. Inazuma can sustain it now. The difficulty is that new recruits still need time to train..."
Makoto frowned, thinking.
"I understand your situation, and I know there's no easy answer. But Kujou Sara and Kokomi have thrown themselves into the construction and development work personally."
"Extended high-intensity labor, even in a world where physical harm is limited, carries serious risk of mental exhaustion."
"Our soldiers right now are running on sheer willpower."
Gorou pressed his lips together and said carefully:
"My Lord Shogun, perhaps... temporarily pause all work?"
"Absolutely not."
Ayato shook his head before Makoto could respond.
"Inazuma is in the middle of a comprehensive recovery and expansion. We cannot afford to slow down at all."
"We are already far behind Liyue and Mondstadt. We must use every moment to close that gap. The people's lives are improving every day, morale is rising, momentum is with us."
"The Alliance also needs a stronger Inazuma. If we can only take and never contribute, if we fall behind and drag things down, that is not how an Alliance works."
"Slowing down would have consequences too significant to accept."
Gorou's face grew more miserable.
"But I genuinely have no answer here. I can move one thousand at most, and even that creates real risk when it comes to suppressing monsters."
"Inazuma's monsters are strong and numerous. We truly cannot thin out our military."
"If there really is no other way, could we recall the soldiers who retired earlier?"
Ayato shook his head.
"That won't work either. Their psychological wounds haven't healed. Recalling them now, setting aside what they themselves would feel, would invite scrutiny from the people. Reversing course like that is bad for stability, and bad for my Lord Shogun's image."
Gorou's frustration was beginning to show.
"Then what do we do? We can't strip all the soldiers away and have everyone in the cities just stay there indefinitely."
The two of them were starting to talk over each other. Makoto's expression was quietly troubled.
She had anticipated that finding more people on this visit would be complicated. She had not anticipated being trapped from both sides simultaneously.
For once, even Makoto found herself without a clear answer.
She could not let things slow down in the MC World. The development of that world and the struggle against the Heavenly Principles were bound together. The Alliance needed Inazuma to be stronger.
But Inazuma's own security could not be abandoned either.
And complicating everything was the fact that the people's trust in the Shogunate had still not fully recovered from everything that had happened under Ei's rule. There remained, among the people, a residual wariness of the government.
Makoto pressed her fingers to her brow and said nothing.
Then, in the air of Tenshukaku, a door took shape: deep, still, carrying with it the dim quality of something that had traveled a long distance.
A voice came through it.
"On this matter, the Abyss Order may be able to help."