Chapter 245: The Ausbilder's "Authority"
"Master Ayato, a shrine maiden from Narukami Grand Shrine has come to visit. The Guuji wishes to see you. She said it is quite important, and requests your presence at the shrine."
The butler's voice was unusually stiff, making Kamisato Ayato's brush pause mid-stroke.
He let out a quiet sigh, setting the pen aside. And as always when matters of trust and loyalty came to mind, his thoughts drifted to Thoma.
Thoma—an outsider by birth—had been the one to remain firm when the Kamisato household fell from grace.
Even when others abandoned them, he had stood his ground.
Among the entire Kamisato clan, aside from his younger sister, Thoma was the only one Ayato could entrust his heart to without hesitation.
"Onii-sama, please leave the family affairs to me," Ayaka said softly, kneeling beside him to refill his teacup.
"You should see to the Guuji's summons."
Ever since the time Ayato had nearly lost his life after drinking that strange concoction, Ayaka had taken it upon herself to handle such duties. Tasks that should have fallen to the servants, she insisted on doing with her own hands.
"…Mm. Have Tho—have the servants place any state documents in the study. I'll deal with them once I return from the Guuji."
"You can rest assured, Onii-sama."
After bathing and changing into formal attire, Ayato departed with only two attendants, making his way toward Mt. Yougou.
The Guuji had once saved the Kamisato family from ruin. Though she seemed to personally dislike him, Ayato had never allowed himself to be negligent toward her summons.
In truth, this matter stretched back years.
Inazuma's swords were famed throughout the world. The masterpieces of the Raiden Gokaden were regarded as treasures of the nation.
Yet for certain reasons, more than half of those five legendary lineages had been shattered.
The scandal was a storm that dragged countless noble houses into its depths. Great clans were demoted, punished, and scattered. Even the Kamisato, heads of the Yashiro Commission, were implicated for failing to properly oversee their vassals.
Before the Raiden Shogun could pass her final judgment, it had been the Guuji who interceded—pleading with the Shogun to spare them. At the brink of collapse, she had pulled the Kamisato back from the abyss.
The Kamisato suffered heavy losses nonetheless. The old family head, gravely wounded, now lingered like a candle guttering in the wind. Yet at least they were spared complete dismissal. Their place within the Tri-Commission remained intact.
No one knew why the Guuji chose to do such a thing. After all, the Yashiro Commission existed no matter who led it. Whether Kamisato or another house—what did it matter?
But one thing Ayato remembered vividly.
"The Kamisato family survived this trial only through the Shogun's mercy. Never forget her grace."
These words had been spoken not to his father—who was bedridden and fading away—but to him.
To Kamisato Ayato, the boy who had fallen from pampered noble to pitiable heir overnight.
And Ayato understood very well what that meant.
Even now, as clouds of strife gathered thick over Inazuma, the Kamisato clan had not hollowed into corruption like the other two Commissions. Instead, they walked the path of Eternity with unwavering discipline.
Ayato often wondered: had the Guuji foreseen this future all along? Was that why she risked meddling in politics to preserve the Kamisato's place?
Petals scattered underfoot as he climbed the shrine steps. Passing beneath crimson torii gates, he entered Narukami Grand Shrine.
After purifying his hands at the basin, he turned down the left path of the main approach and stepped into the shrine's administrative hall.
Yae Miko was already waiting.
"Guuji-sama," Ayato bowed, his tone polite but steady. "What instructions do you have for me?"
In truth, of all the powerful figures he had to deal with, Ayato preferred speaking with Yae Miko.
With clever people, work always went more smoothly.
A casual chat over tea could secretly cover a dozen matters of state. Plans would be arranged, obstacles already resolved, without anyone even realizing.
"This flower—have you seen it before?"
She slid a photograph across the table toward him.
Ayato glanced down. "Yes, I have. It's just a common wildflower, the sort you see growing by the roadside."
Yes—just wildflowers.
If it were a scholar from Sumeru, they would no doubt rattle off its genus and family, cataloging it with precision.
But in Inazuma, such blossoms were all lumped under one name: wildflowers.
"Mark down every location within Narukami Island where these grow," Yae Miko instructed, her tone light yet carrying that familiar weight of command. "Especially the places where they gather in large clusters."
"…All of them?"
Kamisato Ayato blinked, lowering his gaze once more to the photograph in front of him.
This flower had no official name, but the fact that it was called a wildflower spoke volumes: it was one of the most common blooms in all of Inazuma. Even within Narukami Shrine's grounds, they could be spotted swaying in the breeze.
To record every single one would be like asking him to bring back five hundred fresh Qingxin blossoms from Liyue—immediately, without delay.
Was the Guuji deliberately making things difficult for him?
Yae Miko's sharp eyes caught the flicker of doubt on his face. She did not speak, but her gaze shifted to the two attendants standing behind him.
Even Thoma—his most trusted confidant—had yet to earn her full trust. And these two mere retainers? They were nothing.
Ayato understood at once. With a polite gesture, he dismissed them from the room.
But even then, Yae Miko was unsatisfied.
A flash of lightning stirred as a gohei appeared in her hand. She waved it gently, the sound of kagura bells echoing faintly as a barrier of crackling electro enveloped the chamber.
The hall was now cut off from the outside world. No sound, no spy, no probing gaze could penetrate it.
"Do you remember… the Ausbilder?"
The gohei hovered beside her, sustaining the barrier while severing every form of perception around them.
"Yes," Ayato answered quickly. "Sayu only just managed to escape from his grasp. The Shuumatsuban is already preparing countermeasures. As for the intel she brought back… I've been compiling it, and it will reach your hands shortly."
He thought she had summoned him here to hold him accountable.
Sayu's report had been fragmented, broken, her words halting and incomplete. That had slowed their progress in making sense of it. Ayato had been wrestling with the matter up until the very moment her summons arrived.
"No." Yae Miko's voice cut through his explanation. "According to my sources, this flower is connected to the authority he wields. Simply put—if he wishes it, every plant, every blade of grass, every tree becomes his eyes and ears. And these pale-blue wildflowers… are what allow him to traverse Inazuma freely."
"—What?!"
Ayato shot to his feet. The composure he wore like a mask shattered, his eyes narrowing with a weight he rarely revealed.
"Are you doubting me?" Her words, calm yet sharp, carried a dangerous edge.
"…I would never dare."
No, he didn't dare doubt her. But it was almost impossible to believe.
If she was right, then in a sense… the Fatui had already occupied all of Inazuma.
No wonder their advance troops always loitered in empty fields and meadows. Perhaps it wasn't pointless wandering at all, but rather a way of seeding the Ausbilder's authority—spreading his dominion to every corner of the land.
"I'll arrange it at once," Ayato said firmly. "It will be handled, without fail."
He knew exactly how crucial this was. Forget five hundred Qingxin blossoms—if Yae Miko demanded it, he would carry the Geo Archon of Liyue on his back himself.
"Do not alert the other two Commissions," she warned. "We can't afford to startle the snake before we strike."
"Understood!"
Ayato bowed deeply, his face grim with determination.
. . . . .
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