After speaking, Shiki ignored Kujou Renji. Ayaka, seeing this, understood and called over a servant to lead Kujou Renji away.
"Mr. Kujou, please have a seat here for a moment and don't disturb those two young ladies."
"…I understand. By the way, could I have a glass of water? Just warm water, nothing added." Kujou Renji said helplessly.
The Kujou Clan's reputation was now completely ruined. The maid who usually had to be respectful to him now almost had 'disgusted' written all over her face.
Although he wasn't in power in the Kujou Clan, he was still the second young master. No matter what, his status was still there.
But it didn't seem like a bad thing now. After he and Hiiragi Chisato changed their identities, perhaps they could experience the life of ordinary people.
"I'll go to Inazuma City first to get the escort team to depart, and then we'll go take a look at the construction site. Over a thousand refugees can't stay in Kannazuka indefinitely; it's also a burden on frontline supplies," Shiki said.
The war in Teyvat naturally wouldn't be as trivial as it appeared in the game. The number of people fighting between Watatsumi Island and the Shogunate had already exceeded a hundred thousand.
Inazuma was an island nation, and the food burden for tens of thousands of people was almost at its limit. The more than a thousand refugees who suddenly arrived from Yashiori Island were fine for two or three days, but any longer and it would be unsustainable.
"Alright. After we figure out the cause this time, we must punish them severely, otherwise the same situation will occur again in the future."
"Mhm. Then we'll see who the monkey we're going to kill will be."
The temporary shelter was located in White Fox Plain, an expected location. North to Konda Village, south to Inazuma City. But Shiki just couldn't understand why, with such an excellent location, they couldn't even build a simple, publicly recognized dwelling.
Shiki held Ayaka's small hand and teleported to the outskirts of Inazuma City. White Fox Plain could be said to be the largest plain in the Inazuma archipelago. Its area naturally couldn't be like in the game, where you'd reach the end after a few steps.
In the game, you could see Konda Village in the distance directly from the Waypoint on the outskirts of Inazuma City. However, here, all you could see was an endless plain.
"Did they say where exactly it is?" Shiki frowned.
"It definitely can't be in the east or west directions. One side is a beach, and the other side is a cliff averaging over ten meters high. Setting up camp in such a place could easily lead to collapses," Ayaka said, shaking her head.
"So, if we just keep walking along the road, we'll see it?"
"Theoretically, yes, but I haven't seen any signs of construction in the past two days…"
"Sigh… These people are ridiculous. I bet Kujou Takayuki embezzled all the money for the building materials. Maybe he didn't even send anyone to build it!"
Shiki covered her forehead, looking quite helpless. She had a premonition that those refugees were destined to stay in Kannazuka.
Fortunately, the Vision Hunt Decree had ended. After dealing with the remaining members of the Kanjou Commission, she would negotiate with Sangonomiya Kokomi to completely end the war.
At that time, those villagers would be able to return to Yashiori Island, without having to squeeze into Kannazuka with the soldiers.
"Shouldn't… shouldn't it be?"
Ayaka thought there should be at least some people, but when she thought of the Mora the Kanjou Commission had embezzled, she became uncertain.
"Never mind, we'll know when we see it. Anyway, at our speed, it won't even take an hour to walk across the entire White Fox Plain."
Normally, walking from Konda Village to the outskirts of Inazuma City would take three to four hours.
But Shiki and Ayaka were not ordinary people. One could transform into electro element and move as quickly as a electro element spirit, while the other could transform into Frost and move anywhere regardless of terrain.
After Shiki finished speaking, she was the first to transform into golden electro element and rushed out, covering several hundred meters in less than a second.
Ayaka, seeing this, transformed into Frost, leaving a snowy white path on the ground as she followed.
The golden electro element moved quickly across the White Fox Plain. A floating electro element spirit paused, and then a question mark formed above its head from electro element.
Is this… meeting a relative?
Suddenly, the electro element stopped. Shiki's figure reappeared on the ground, then she quietly waited for Ayaka's arrival.
Not long after, white frost drifted from afar, and Ayaka emerged from the ground like a frost Whopperflower.
"Ayaka, do you see those people over there? Are they from the construction team?" Shiki said, pointing into the distance, where a worker wearing a headscarf and carrying a basket was two kilometers away.
"Uh… where?"
Well, how could she forget about this? For a normal person's eyesight, it would be quite difficult to clearly see someone squatting on the ground two kilometers away.
"Northwest direction. Let's go take a look first."
"Okay."
To avoid startling the person, the two decided to walk over. It wouldn't be good if they were mistaken for a Whopperflower.
As they approached, the person heard their footsteps, stood up from the ground, and asked, "Shiratsuyu Princess?"
"It's me. Excuse me, are you the worker sent by the Tenryou Commission to build the temporary shelter?" Ayaka stepped forward and asked.
"Yes, yes."
"Then why are you the only one here? Even if it's for building a house for one person, there shouldn't be only one person, right? Moreover, Crimsonwood Village has thousands of villagers." Shiki asked with a frown.
"Alas… Initially, our team had a hundred people, but the Tenryou Commission never sent materials, so they gradually left to find work, since everyone needs to eat."
"And the material costs can't come out of our pockets as workers, can they? Where would we get so much money?" The craftsman said helplessly.
"Then why are you still here?"
"I'm about to leave too. Haven't you seen that I've already packed my things?" The craftsman said, pointing to the basket on his back, which clearly contained a folded tent.
"Alright, then we won't ask any more questions." Ayaka nodded, then stepped aside to let the craftsman pass.
After the craftsman had walked far away, Shiki slowly said, "It seems we need to speed things up. This afternoon, I'll go to Kannazuka to have Kujou Sara and the resistance relay the message for negotiations, aiming to sit at the negotiating table by tomorrow."
"Hmm… After such a long delay, starting to build a shelter from scratch is clearly unrealistic. We can only approach it from this angle."
"Don't worry. Watatsumi Island's stated reason was to resist the Vision Hunt Decree. Now that the Vision Hunt Decree has ended, they have no reason to continue fighting."
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!