The third day of selling milk tea finally passed smoothly without interference from the Tenryou Commission, and sales were several times higher than the previous two days. At this rate, it wouldn't take long for word of it to spread across all of Inazuma City.
Victor Wang closed up his stall in satisfaction, paid the Arataki Gang their stall rental and slogan-shouting wages, then went his separate way, heading back to the inn where he was staying.
As he passed a public notice board, he stopped in his tracks.
After experiencing that unprecedented, baffling crisis of trust, the North Wing's communications line in Inazuma had finally been repaired by Kamisato Ayato. Now, even under the isolation policy, he could check the commission boards and public notices to keep up with major events outside of Inazuma.
At present, however, the most important piece of news from the North Wing's bulletin was one from Inazuma itself—it read: "One of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Battle Technique Hunters, Isshin the Cursed Blade, has perished in Inazuma."
Of course, Victor Wang knew about this, but the next piece of news beneath it caught him by surprise: "One of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Battle Technique Hunters, Awakened Precepts, confirmed captured in Liyue."
So, the one who replaced Diergis Alberich was also one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Battle Technique Hunters. That gave Victor Wang a sense of accidental fortune.
The terror of Awakened Precepts lay in its ability to erode life, inherit power and memory at one hundred percent, and its immortality. Coincidentally, Diergis was also an undying one. To counter him, Ye Caizhen had painstakingly gathered materials long ago to craft the Sevenfold Ice, an item specifically meant to seal away beings that could not die.
The horror of Isshin the Cursed Blade lay in its time illusions, body control, and temporal manipulation. Coincidentally, Victor Wang had obtained The Two Ends of Beginning and End, rendering him immune to its time-freezing ability.
As things stood, only Demonic Ring and another completely undocumented, unknown being remained among the Four Heavenly Kings.
Things are going a little too smoothly.
Thinking it over, both of those enemies were related to Khaenri'ah… and both tied to the North Wing… Could someone be manipulating everything behind the scenes?
But his encounter with Diergis had originated from that mysterious voice that had guided him twice in his mind—could it be related to her?
"Right!"
Victor Wang slapped his forehead. Now that he thought about it, ever since arriving in Inazuma, that mysterious voice hadn't appeared even once!
But he had already touched the Raiden Shogun's statue while unlocking the teleport points on Seirai Island and Yashiori Island. Could it be that the guidance had already come to an end?
He sighed—no use overthinking. As his gaze dropped lower, he noticed that the third most important item in the North Wing's report was the Vision Hunt Decree's abolition and the predicted end of the isolation policy—news he'd already seen earlier while passing by.
After scanning the whole board, he found no new major updates, but one particularly interesting notice did catch his Vision.
Arataki Itto had left a message: "Kujou Tengu! I think the crossroads at Hanamizaka is the perfect spot for a sumo match! Where are you?! Forget your military and government affairs! Come and wrestle me! A samurai must uphold his promises—has the honor of warriors all been left on the battlefield?!"
Someone had replied: "Come to think of it, since the isolation began, we haven't seen any public sumo matches on the streets."
Another read: "Lady Kujou Sara, please accept Mr. Arataki's challenge! We'd also love to see your true strength!"
"You'd better really be interested in strength," Victor Wang muttered.
To avoid being recognized, he took out a pen, switched to his left hand, and neatly copied that exact line onto the board again. Satisfied, he clapped his hands. "That should make a '+1' button appear, right?"
The next morning, when he passed by again, that same sentence had been copied over and over in different handwriting until it filled the entire sheet.
Akira shouted, "Milk tea!"
Mamoru followed, "Pearl milk tea!"
Genta bellowed, "Pearl milk tea with our signature bouncy, silky-smooth, secret-recipe pearls!"
Arataki Itto hollered, "Why are you guys still here?!"
Akira cried, "New customers get fifty percent off their first cup!"
Mamoru joined in, "Come take a look!"
Genta yelled, "Don't miss out when you pass by!"
Arataki Itto roared, "I said, why are you still here today?!"
"Boss, I didn't want to either, but Mr. Victor is paying way too much! We barely even work an hour a day… I almost feel bad about it."
"I'll just work one more day—tomorrow, I swear I won't come!"
"Boss, how about you shout a few lines too? You're the only one who didn't get an egg on your ramen last night."
Arataki Itto snorted, "Hah! I'm not going to stoop as low as you guys!"
"Then why did you come back today, boss?"
"…"
"Akira, stop calling him out all the time. Look, he's speechless again."
"I don't even know why!" Arataki Itto scratched his head frantically. "I just felt like… I had to come see how things were going…"
"Since you're already here, might as well earn some easy money. No reason to leave it on the table."
Genta's three lines hit like a brick of logic, each one so reasonable it nearly convinced Itto—but he managed to hold firm. "No way. If I show my face, something bad's bound to happen."
Even in the village where his parents had lived for decades, among neighbors they'd known for generations, one baseless suspicion had been enough to drive them all away from home.
The oni race was born carrying the burden of discrimination. When others looked at them with wary, disgusted eyes, no one cared about facts—right or wrong didn't matter. To them, a bad person only ever told lies.
"As expected, a demon is still a demon."
Arataki Itto had heard that line more times than he could count. His preference for day-wage jobs was no accident—though later he'd realized, not working at all was also pretty nice...
In any case, staying too long in one place always brought trouble.
The whole Arataki Gang, even the old Oni matron, had faced mockery and prejudice.
"Arataki Itto!"
See? Trouble, right on cue.
It was a small boy, barely taller than the milk tea stall, which ironically made him stand out even more among the crowd.
Before the kid could disturb Victor Wang's business, Itto stepped forward first, squaring off. "School's over already, or are you skipping class? What're you doing here?"
"Less talking! I challenge you to a duel!"
"Well now, this is serious! Since it's a duel between men, there's no way I'd refuse!"
"I'll even wager my bet!" The boy raised a stick of bubble gum borrowed from a friend, declaring, "I'll win back everything I've lost!"
"Uh…"
"What, you scared?"
"Scared? Me? What you lost can't be won back—it's already in my stomach! And it's sold out everywhere, too…"
The boy froze, his face changing faster than the clouds overhead, and burst into tears.
"Hey! Don't cry! Come on… really? You're a man, have some backbone, will you?"
The child's crying quickly drew a crowd of onlookers, and the longer it went on, the more stares Itto received—stares that softened into understanding once they noticed the horns on his head.
"How about I buy you a milk tea, huh? Pearl milk tea—with our bouncy, silky-smooth, secret-recipe pearls! Come on, stop crying…"
But the tears didn't stop.
Victor Wang was caught off guard by the scene—it could easily turn into bad publicity. Fortunately, bubble gum was unique to Inazuma but not hard for him to handle.
"Hey, little one, you want bubble gum, right? I can give you some. But remember—never gamble with something precious again."
A child was easy to appease; once he got what he wanted, he scampered off, happy as ever.
"You have bubble gum?"
"The pearls in the milk tea are made from bubble gum. You guys not only didn't notice the taste, but also didn't notice when I was making them?"
Having something so valuable treated like a plaything left Itto with a sudden thought—the big shot was right beside me all along. He didn't even know how to respond.
"What a coincidence!"
"True, Mr. Victor did come from Liyue!"
"Guess those kids' bubble gum probably came from Mr. Victor to begin with!"
Akira, Mamoru, and Genta quickly picked up the cue, doing their part as perfect hype men.
Victor Wang chuckled. "See? No difficulty can stop me from selling milk tea in Inazuma. What about you—don't you have that kind of conviction?"
"I…"
"Boss, three cups of pearl milk tea."
Before Itto could finish, Kamisato Ayato had already stepped up to the stall. Nodding to Victor Wang, he said, "When I saw this cart last time, I had a feeling. Didn't expect you'd really start selling milk tea. Honestly, I've missed the taste of pearl milk tea."
"That's great. For the time being—maybe for a long time—I'll keep selling it. Drop by anytime."
"What's up with Brother Itto over there? Does he have something to do with the milk tea?"
"Sort of a partnership."
"I see. But why's he looking so downcast?" Kamisato Ayato called out across the way, "Hey, Brother Itto! What's going on? Isn't eternal fighting spirit your lifelong creed?"
Arataki Itto blinked. "Wait, I had a creed like that?"
"You didn't?"
"Hmm… actually, yeah, I think I did! Ku-hahaha! After all, I'm Arataki, the One and Oni!"
Satisfied, Kamisato Ayato took his three cups of pearl milk tea and departed.
"Hey, Victor," Itto said, "I won't try to reject our partnership anymore. But if business ever fails because of the Arataki Gang or me, you can't blame us, alright?"
"I've never thought of blaming anyone. Besides, I believe in the power of pearl milk tea."
"Fine, then. Helping with the shouting still pays, right?"
"Mm-hm."
Arataki Itto drew in a deep breath, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted skyward, "Pearl milk tea—with our bouncy, silky-smooth, secret-recipe pearls! First cup half-price! The only one in all of Inazuma! Don't miss out when you pass by!"
"Boss… someone's coming—it's the Tenryou Commission!"
"Why be scared? We're not stealing, robbing, or running without a license. They can't ban advertising, can they?"
The visitor turned out to be the same official who had previously shut down Victor Wang's stall. But this time, he seemed to have no such intention—he simply ordered a cup of pearl milk tea.
After taking a sip, his eyes lit up. "Another cup, but with extra pearls. I'll pay triple the price."
"Extra pearls?"
"That's right. It's for the Shogun herself—don't you dare cut corners."
Victor Wang nodded calmly. One destined encounter after another… it seemed the most important guest of all was about to make her appearance.