Ember left Higi Village, and this time his destination was Inazuma City again.
Last time he went to Inazuma City, he was there to reason with them; this time, he was there to demand justice.
Why did 'reason with' turn into 'demand justice'? Because reasoning only requires words, while demanding justice requires action.
One day later, on a country road leading to Inazuma City, Ember was advancing leisurely, just like last time.
Ember originally thought that this time he could reach Inazuma City as smoothly as before, but reality hit him hard.
"Stop! Who goes there?" Near a checkpoint on the road, a Sergeant shouted at Ember.
"Who? A good person!" Ember was not intimidated at all, because his previous experience told him that the Shogunate's soldiers wouldn't recognize him.
However, it was clear that Ember had miscalculated this time. The Sergeant guarding the checkpoint scrutinized Ember, then loudly shouted:
"Brothers, hurry over! The Shogun's personally designated number one most wanted criminal is here!"
"You talk too much!"
Ember immediately sensed something was wrong, pulled out his giant club, and performed a sleeping spell.
It worked very well; the soldiers guarding the checkpoint immediately fell into a baby-like sleep.
Unfortunately, he had already shouted before he fell asleep, and the nearby patrolling Sergeants rushed over upon hearing the sound, surrounding Ember.
"Damn it! Hyodo, he... he died for his country!"
"Why are you cursing people to die in broad daylight? He's just asleep."
"As expected of the number one most wanted criminal, so eloquent!"
"Does your Shogun accuse me of fraud? Why do you think my eloquence is so good?"
...Seeing all the nearby patrolling Sergeants arrive, Ember had a "friendly" exchange with them for a while, then suddenly noticed a problem.
"You said I was personally designated by your Shogun?"
"That's natural. Now all of Inazuma knows your crimes. You have nowhere to escape; surrender obediently!"
Ember nodded perfunctorily at the shouting soldier. All of Inazuma knew his crimes?
Then why were there no wanted posters in Higi Village? Could it be that Higi Village wasn't part of Inazuma? Ember pretended to be in the dark and didn't investigate further.
"Did you notice a problem?" Ember looked around, seeing himself surrounded by soldiers.
They pointed their long spears at Ember, vaguely forming a large net, seemingly intending to firmly trap him within it.
"What problem? Are you going to beg for mercy?"
"I want to ask, have you ever considered? Since I am a wanted criminal personally designated by your Shogun, is there a possibility that my strength is actually very great?"
"So great that you are not my opponents at all?"
"Click!"
The sound of steel breaking rang out. Ember grabbed a long spear, twisted it gently, and broke the spearhead in half.
"Gulp~"
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward, with only the swallowing sounds of the surrounding soldiers rising and falling.
The soldier whose weapon was destroyed retrieved his long spear. He touched the broken end of his spear, then looked at his dumbfounded comrades around him.
Then he made a bold decision.
"Brothers, hold on! This wanted criminal is too vicious. I'll go back to the city to call for reinforcements!"
With that, he ran away in a flash.
"No need to bother, I will go to Inazuma City myself. You just lie down properly first!" No sooner had Ember's voice faded than he threw his giant club.
"Thud!"
The fleeing soldier in the distance bore an unbearable weight, and naturally fell into the deepest sleep life could offer.
Seeing this, the other soldiers immediately began to tremble.
"Run! The wanted criminal is killing people!"
Someone shouted, and the soldiers who had been gathered around Ember instantly scattered like birds and beasts.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Consecutive knocking sounds echoed on the path. Soon, the path was filled with many Shogunate soldiers who loved to sleep.
Seeing their tightly furrowed brows, it was clear that sleeping until dawn would certainly be no problem. Of course, this dawn referred to the dawn of the next day.
After easily dealing with the Shogunate soldiers blocking the road, Ember's subsequent journey... remained unchanged.
After casting an invisibility spell on himself, Ember still proceeded as leisurely as he pleased.
Wandering along, Ember finally arrived in Inazuma City. This time, he had no desire to stroll around.
Mainly, after his recent experience, Ember estimated that as soon as he showed himself, he would be surrounded by a large group of people, making it impossible for him to go anywhere he wanted.
So this time, he didn't wander around the city but came to Komore Teahouse. After looking left and right to confirm no one was nearby, Ember walked directly into Komore Teahouse... In a hidden compartment of Komore Teahouse, Kamisato Ayato was concentrating on a large pile of documents on the table.
He sometimes frowned deeply, sometimes his wrinkles smoothed out, looking even more spectacular than Liyue's face-changing opera.
Kamisato Ayato looked down at a document with a large headshot attached to it, showing two grinning Damselettes.
"Good... good... the Traveler will be here soon. She is so strong that even if she acts solely on her own will, she can bring a new turning point to Inazuma."
After a brief look into the future, Kamisato Ayato turned his attention to another document, which also had a headshot, showing Ember sitting upright.
"The Tenryou Commission's actions at this time are too grand. What are they thinking? No... no, what is the Shogun thinking?"
Kamisato Ayato looked at Ember's wanted poster on the table, then recalled the various actions of the Shogunate recently, and began brainstorming in his mind.
"Yes, what are that reclusive woman and that dull puppet Ei thinking? I want to know too."
Just as Kamisato Ayato was deep in thought, he suddenly saw Ember's head in the headshot on the wanted poster move.
"What's going on? Did I sleep too little yesterday and am I hallucinating?!" Kamisato Ayato rubbed his eyes, leaning his hands on the table to carefully observe the wanted poster.
"No, you're not hallucinating, the photo just moved."
"..."
Ember in the photo spoke again, causing Kamisato Ayato's brain to directly crash.
Seeing Kamisato Ayato propping himself on the table, not making any further moves, Ember in the headshot spoke again.
"Brother, can you step back? I can't get out if you're like this."
Ember's new words and actions rebooted Kamisato Ayato's brain. He nodded stiffly, then quickly moved away from the table.
Then Kamisato Ayato saw Ember climb out of a small photograph.
His body was like a flowing stream, pouring out from the small photo, and then quickly condensing into specific body parts outside the photo.
Soon, under Kamisato Ayato's shocked gaze, Ember's figure appeared before him.
"How did you get out?" Kamisato Ayato ran to the desk, picked up the wanted poster on the table, and examined it closely from left to right.
But no matter how he looked, he couldn't find anything strange about the photo on the wanted poster.
"Don't make such a fuss, it's just a small trick. Let's talk about serious business first." Ember snatched the wanted poster from Kamisato Ayato's hand, crumpled it into a ball, and casually threw it away.
"Serious business?" Kamisato Ayato was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted.
He neatly gathered the messy papers on the table, nodded at Ember, and said:
"Tell me, Ember, what do you want from me this time? Have you changed your mind?"
"Clever!" Ember clapped his hand on the desk with a "bang" and gave Kamisato Ayato a thumbs up.
"Ha... haha, you flatter me." Kamisato Ayato was startled by Ember's action. He chuckled dryly, then said with a hopeful expression:
"Do you need me to call Guuji Yae over? To help Ember adapt to the power of wishes."
"The power of wishes?" Ember tilted his head. "Sounds great, but I don't need it."
"I just need you to be an inside man."
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