"May I borrow brush, ink, paper, and inkstone?"
Having eaten her fill, Raiden Ei's gaze drifted toward the nearby desk.
It held everything she needed— the perfect chance to write her letter.
If she could send this off, then she could rest easy leaving Su Ran in Inazuma.
"Please, help yourself, General."
Ningguang, still mulling over Su Ran's words, paid no mind to what the Shogun might be writing.
But Su Ran watched with interest as Ei wielded the brush, her strokes bold, her spirit fierce.
Once finished, a flash of lightning carried the letter out of Tenshukaku, racing northward.
"May I ask, General, to whom you wrote?"
At last, Ningguang pulled herself from her thoughts, curiosity piqued.
"General of Winter."
She spoke with such ease, as though it were nothing worth concealing.
But the title froze Ningguang in place.
General of Winter— as Shogun was to Inazuma's ruler, so too did Winter signify dominion.
Surely this meant… the Cryo Archon?
Inazuma and Snezhnaya, so close?
And Liyue in between… knew nothing?
Could it be that the gods of Rock, Lightning, and Ice were already in league?
Was this "great calamity" part of their scheme?
"Ah, and there is one more matter I would ask of you."
"Please speak. I will give it due consideration."
He had already disclosed so much, lessening the danger to Liyue.
Though he was an enemy, Ningguang could not help but think better of him.
"Whatever crimes the Fatui may commit…
I ask only this: the forces stationed in the Chasm must not be punished alongside those above ground.
They came here to aid Liyue."
Su Ran remembered well how, in that tale, those Fatui in the Chasm had been doomed.
Though they had come to help, Childe's schemes had dragged them into disaster.
Most never returned alive.
"…That much I can agree to."
Indeed, those stationed in the Chasm had offered their aid.
Ningguang had no objection to turning a blind eye.
"Then I am done.
Miss Ningguang, you have much to sort through.
We shall trouble you no further."
When the Jade Chamber is blown apart,I only hope she can hold her rage in check.
Summoning Osial had always been the last resort— if the Geo Archon could not be found.
And Childe… had no other choice.
Su Ran rose, and Raiden Ei followed close at his side.
Clearly, she feared he might vanish again.
"Allow me to see you off!"
Ningguang still brooded over her earlier misstep.
To send her guests off poorly now would be unforgivable.
What would that say of the Tianquan?
"Better you spend that time pondering the true intent of Morax, Miss Ningguang."
With those parting words, Su Ran departed alongside Ei.
Left alone, Ningguang sat dazed in her chair.
Her mind churned with the day's revelations.
The plan to overturn Liyue… was not the Fatui's aim, but Rex Lapis's own will?
She had heard much today.
But that last point— she could not believe.
How could Liyue's own god invite foreigners to harm his children?
There must be some hidden reason!
"Could it be… Keqing's words last year, that made the Archon lose faith in his people?"
It was all Ningguang could imagine.
"Or perhaps this is a Fatui plot— to drive a wedge between us and the Archon?"
After all, Su Ran had admitted: he was revealing only fragments.
What if the most crucial piece remained unsaid?
"Damn! I forgot to ask about Beidou!"
The bombshells had swept the thought clean from her mind.
But her guests were already gone.
She could hardly call them back.
"I'll just have to invite them again when there's time."
The Rite of Parting was too near.
She could spare no mind for other matters.
"From today, increase patrols in the city!
Watch the Fatui closely—they will make their move soon.
Inform the Yuheng Star.
Have her prepare."
Only Keqing could handle such orders now.
Young though she was, she had the capability.
Why else would she sit among the Seven Stars?
For now, they could only meet the storm head-on.
"Ei, what do you suppose the Tsaritsa will feel when she reads your letter?"
Su Ran hardly expected much from Ei's social sense.
"She… will probably be angry."
At least she knew that much.
"Then why write it at all?"
"I had no choice.
Because I truly want you to remain in Inazuma."
Even if it meant war with the Cryo Archon, Ei was prepared.
She hardly knew the current Tsaritsa anyway.
If one could poach, then the other could poach back.
"…I'm almost touched."
"Come, let's go shopping.
We'll bring some souvenirs for the ones still in Inazuma.
There won't be another festival like this."
After this, the Rite of Parting would be no more.
"But… can such things be carried into dreams?"
Food, trinkets— all tangible things.
How could they cross into dream?
"Don't worry. They'll be useful."
He couldn't very well say—
when the dream shatters, they'll come in handy.
Ei, mercifully, didn't press further.
"…Honestly. You have the face of a dutiful housewife, yet somehow it feels like you're the paramecium here— ceasing to think the moment you get yourself an external brain."
Ei blinked at him. "What did you just say?"
"I said—shouldn't we have Zhongli bring some Liyue specialties?
Personally, I think the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's coffins aren't half bad."
A little girl walking the street, pure as a saint, overheard those words— and immediately, her attention was seized.
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