Neuvillette saw it all too clearly.
Even if the Heavenly Principles had become slightly more reasonable now and weren't resorting to lethal measures, you still couldn't push your luck again and again, testing their bottom line.
The dragons had already been the defeated side back then—victors reign supreme, losers bear the blame, so that was that. But then Nibelung went and brought the Abyss into it, causing immense harm to all of Teyvat.
And all of that would inevitably be tied back to the dragon race.
Since everything was for Fontaine's sake, with Fontaine as the priority, then everything else could be sacrificed.
Not to mention!
Neuvillette would only be severely injured—maybe even damage his core.
But if it meant Fontaine could finally be cleansed of its sin, in his eyes, that was more than worth it.
Besides, he wouldn't die.
As long as he didn't die, everything else was manageable!
Right?
--+--
Meanwhile!
Over in Inazuma…
"Ei… Forget it, I'll handle it myself."
Makoto sorted through everything that had happened over the past five hundred years.
Then she reviewed how her sister had managed Inazuma after being defeated by the Traveler.
The blood pressure she'd just managed to calm down began to spike all over again.
She had originally intended to guide her sister step by step, to show her how things should be done, and how to do them well.
But she knew all too well—the time given by the Heavenly Principles for reorganization wasn't unlimited.
What's more, the Heavenly Principles had explicitly demanded that she, Makoto, return to her position as the Archon and take control of Inazuma once more.
Even if the Heavenly Principles didn't particularly care about a nation's state or its people's welfare—so long as a god was present—still!
From another perspective, a prosperous nation and contented people would make it much easier to nurture their spirits and gather faith.
And besides, none of the Archons could simply stand by and watch their own nations fall into ruin. What kind of ruler could bear to ignore such a mess?
Remember, the gods love their people!
Ei knelt obediently beside her, back straight, not daring to move a muscle.
Yae Miko was kneeling too.
She had made mistakes as well. Her mistake lay in her attitude—it was deeply problematic.
Time and again, Yae Miko could have prevented Inazuma's situation from deteriorating so badly.
But though she claimed to care about Inazuma, in reality, all she truly cared about was Ei.
She even felt that as long as the nation didn't collapse, things getting worse might actually be better—because the worse it got, the stronger the public backlash would be, and the stronger the backlash, the more likely it would be that Ei would snap out of her stagnation.
In short, all she ever thought about was Ei.
Inazuma?
Whatever happened, happened!
Makoto was efficiency itself.
She had no energy left to scold these two idiots.
Whatever needed saying could wait until she'd sorted things out.
"Ei, you need to understand!"
"Constant dripping wears away a stone—it doesn't happen in a single day."
"The Hiiragi and Kujou clans—yes, I entrusted them to you. I told you that one would oversee the Tenryou Commission, the other the Kanjou Commission. With military and financial affairs in their hands, you could generally rest easy."
"But that doesn't mean you should just stop paying attention altogether?!"
Ei kept her eyes downcast, her expression serene, offering no rebuttal. Everything her sister said was right.
Makoto continued drafting her reorganization plan, muttering under her breath, frustration simmering.
"It's clear to me now. The Kujou clan started their little schemes over 350 years ago. Bit by bit, it piled up until today."
"The Hiiragi clan isn't much better—around 280 years or so."
"Now these two families have practically hollowed out the entire country."
"And how did you handle it?"
Makoto was deeply disappointed.
"You only executed the ringleaders? You let their families go?"
She truly didn't know what to say. The principle of 'punish the guilty, spare the family' only holds if the family didn't benefit from the crimes.
The Kujou and Hiiragi clans acted arrogantly, amassed wealth, seized power—they practically held the entire nation of Inazuma in their hands.
Was it really only the clan heads who were at fault?
What about the rest of their families? The food they ate, the clothes they wore, the privileges they enjoyed—where did all that come from?
Did they not benefit?
Especially the Kujou clan!
What was that about 'you challenged me, and I saw the same resolve in you as your ancestor, so the Kujou clan may continue to oversee the Tenryou Commission'?
Are you kidding me!
You foolish little sister, you were played! Don't you see?
The Kujou family's little tricks might have fooled Ei, but they couldn't fool Makoto. Even Yae Miko saw through it—she just found it amusing and couldn't be bothered to intervene.
Because it was Ei she faced, not the Shogun, even if she lost, the Shogun wouldn't deliver a fatal blow.
Though it's unclear exactly how the Kujou clan got wind of this information, still, even if no one told them, the difference between the Shogun and Ei would be obvious to anyone who looked into it—it wasn't something you could hide.
So!
Since there was no risk of death, the more convincing the self-inflicted punishment, the more severe and miserable the injuries, the better.
As long as the final result allowed the Kujou clan to regain power and avoid fading from the political stage,
they stood to gain enormously.
Just think about it.
They should have faced collective punishment, but were spared.
Even if 'the death penalty is avoided, living punishment remains,' the Kujou clan still needed to pay for their past debts.
Being demoted to commoners, or even exiled to the borderlands—would that not be entirely appropriate?
Anyone would be tempted to gamble in that situation.
Win the bet, and the future is wide open.
Lose, and things wouldn't be much worse anyway.
Right now, the Kujou clan was probably celebrating, wasn't they?
And because the current head of the Kujou clan—Kujou Takayuki's son—was engaged to the young lady of the Hiiragi family, even the Hiiragis received significant leniency.
How in the world is that acceptable?!
"Take this!"
Makoto handed the reorganization plan to her sister.
Looking at Ei's clueless, innocent face, she took a deep breath and couldn't help but soften a little.
"First, post these reform measures publicly."
"And there are some truths… you and I will explain them to everyone. The people shouldn't be kept in the dark any longer."
Besides, without knowing the truth, they'd be even more easily manipulated.
The people of Inazuma had suffered enough these past few centuries. They deserved some answers.
In the blink of an eye, nearly a week passed.
And in that relatively short time,
the entire continent of Teyvat was swept by turbulent winds and clouds, as if heaven and earth had been overturned.
Every nation, every region, underwent drastic changes, leaving people stunned, completely unable to keep up.
First, Mondstadt.
The Anemo Archon Barbatos once again took up his crown and resumed governance.
With a level of authority few could have imagined, he gathered all power into his hands.
The Knights of Favonius, who hadn't even been recalled during the Stormterror incident, now received divine decree after divine decree, urging them to return to Mondstadt within days, traveling day and night.
His divine voice echoed throughout all of Mondstadt.
Even the bordering regions of Liyue could hear much of it.
"I have always advocated for freedom, believing that true freedom is freedom from interference."
"But… you have disappointed me greatly!"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.