Outlying islands.
"Makoto, you just got back not long ago, why don't you rest for a few more days?" Thoma looked puzzled. "Actually, you didn't have to come with me to outlying islands to find those two Great Heroes from Liyue."
"Don't I have nothing else to do?"
Mainly, Raiden Makoto really wanted to ask Lumine about the events in Liyue. Did Rex Lapis really die at the hands of the Fatui? Those matters were too important.
Furthermore, she also really wanted to see Paimon, that emergency food, and what he actually looked like in reality.
Kamisato Ayaka couldn't be idle all day either, so she had already gone out early in the morning to handle affairs.
"Alright."
It was already afternoon when they arrived at outlying islands. The afternoon sun shone on the harbor, and the setting sun was level with the horizon.
There was a sense of 'the sunset clouds fly with the lone duck, and the autumn water is the same color as the vast sky.' Raiden Makoto admired the sea view under the setting sun.
She only felt that her state of mind became more peaceful at that moment.
"They should be arriving soon." Thoma yawned. Waiting with Raiden Makoto was certainly better; at least he wouldn't be too bored.
Raiden Makoto was still gazing at the scenery by the sea. The sea view under the setting sun was truly very nice.
"Is that... them?" From Raiden Makoto's line of sight, she spotted what looked like a huge ship at the edge of the horizon.
"Yeah."
Thoma quickly became serious. He jumped down from the crate and nodded. "It's indeed Captain Beidou's ship. It's them, no doubt about it."
As the giant ship docked, two figures came down from it, because one of them was floating in mid-air.
"As expected, it's Lumine."
Raiden Makoto was naturally very familiar with Lumine's appearance. During the closed beta, the one she had chosen was Lumine. As for the tall... woman next to him, she didn't recognize her.
That woman had a heroic and spirited air. She wore an eyepatch, revealing only her crimson right eye.
On Lumine's other side, floating in the air, should be Paimon, that emergency food.
"Finally we meet, Big Sister of the Liyue people. You certainly kept us waiting," Thoma said with a smile.
While Raiden Makoto was observing Lumine and the so-called Big Sister of the Liyue people, Lumine and Paimon's gazes were fixed on Raiden Makoto's side.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Thoma, a retainer of the Kamisato Clan."
"Raiden Makoto." Raiden Makoto really didn't know how to introduce herself to Lumine and Paimon. She couldn't very well say she was the current Electro Archon's older sister, or a friend of Kamisato Ayaka... "I'm Lumine, and this is Paimon. We..." Just as Lumine was about to introduce himself further, Thoma interrupted him.
"The deeds of the outlander are well-known, even across the layers of thunderstorms."
"This sister looks like she might be a bit cold and aloof." Raiden Makoto's self-introduction was so brief that it gave Paimon the illusion that Raiden Makoto was a cold and aloof Lady.
"Haha, Makoto isn't a cold person. Once you spend some time with her, you'll know her true character." Thoma laughed. "In that case, Captain Beidou, we're considered..."
"Hmm, I won't say much more to you. The brothers on the ship are still waiting for me, and I have a wanted criminal on my ship, so I won't stay long." After Beidou finished speaking, he turned around and walked directly toward the ship.
"Safe travels, Captain Beidou."
Lumine's gaze met Raiden Makoto's for a moment, because Lumine noticed that Raiden Makoto seemed to have been observing him all along.
"Makoto, now we need to handle the residency permit for our two guests... just like your situation back then," Thoma said with a smile.
"Mm..."
Lumine really wanted to ask Raiden Makoto why she kept looking at him, but he didn't know how to start. However, Paimon on the side was a bit more outgoing.
"Did you also enter Inazuma from the outside, Big Sister?" Paimon wasn't stupid; he heard what Thoma meant.
"No."
"To be precise, I don't know either."
"Huh?" Paimon looked bewildered, starting to find it hard to understand.
"As for Makoto, she has amnesia. She was brought back by Miss Kamisato at that time, and now she's at the Kamisato Clan with me," Thoma explained. "But you don't need to worry, Makoto is a very easy person to get along with."
"Alright."
Just like her situation back then, they once again found that Yurihana from the Outlander Affairs Agency.
"Mr. Thoma?" Yurihana was a bit dazed. Not long ago, Thoma had come with Kamisato Ayaka, and now they were here together again.
"They are here to handle their residency permits."
After Yurihana's gaze fell on Lumine and Paimon, she asked with a bit of doubt, "How many people?"
"Two," Paimon answered quickly.
"Alright, two million Mora."
"Two... two million Mora?" Paimon's eyes widened, and he was speechless. "That's way too much."
"But for Mr. Thoma's sake, forty thousand Mora will do." Yurihana smiled.
"That wouldn't be right, would it? How about I treat you to a meal later, Miss Yurihana?"
"Deal."
"Please wait a moment."
Yurihana's reactions fell into Raiden Makoto's eyes, and she was now completely certain that the people of the Tenryou Commission had also become utterly corrupt. From Kamisato Ayaka's mouth, she knew what each of the Three Commissions was responsible for.
The Tenryou Commission was mainly responsible for the Shogunate's finances, and Raiden Makoto found it hard to imagine just how much money the Tenryou Commission had pocketed for themselves.
"Even the Tenryou Commission is so corrupt; the people of Inazuma..." Raiden Makoto sighed slightly. Her dear sister's level of governing the country was truly a complete mess.
She wasn't even that angry anymore.
"Lumine, did that Rex Lapis of Liyue really die?" While Lumine was waiting, Raiden Makoto suddenly threw a question at him, and he dazed for a moment.
How should he answer? Rex Lapis has passed away, but Zhongli hasn't?
"Sort of." After thinking for a moment, Lumine gave his answer.
"Was it the Fatui's doing?" Raiden Makoto's next question made it even harder for Lumine to answer.
"I... I don't know."
"Why is Sister Zhen asking those questions? Also, isn't Rex Lapis... Zhongli? Isn't he alive and well?" Paimon didn't quite understand what Lumine meant, but his words made Raiden Makoto's eyes light up.
"Rex Lapis is still alive?"
"He should be considered alive, right? It's just that in the eyes of those Liyue people, Rex Lapis has already passed away. Speaking of which, he even organized his own funeral himself." Paimon smiled.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, but Zhongli is such an old stick-in-the-mud, he's not very easy to get along with."
It seemed that due to incomplete information, she had made a wrong judgment. The Fatui probably didn't have the ability to slay a god, but their goal was definitely the Gnosis.
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