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They have returned.
Inside Tenshukaku, the Raiden Shogun opened her eyes. Kujou Sara sat kneeling nearby, waiting for the three of them to arrive. As she watched Ei resting in the arms of Kamisato Ayaka, her eyes filled with envy. She would gladly trade years of her own life just to hold the little Shogun for a single day. At this moment, Sara was still unaware that the head of the Kujou clan had been imprisoned. The Shogun had kept her around only because of her unwavering loyalty and undeniable competence. Talent was scarce in Inazuma, and there were few others who could be of any use.
Ayaka finally set Ei down on the floor. She had carried her for an entire day, and while the experience had been filled with anxiety, she now felt a strange, lingering sense of loss as she let go.
"Shogun, you are truly hopeless," Ei said the moment she returned to Tenshukaku, immediately starting to scold the puppet.
A well-designed program should be able to patch its own bugs, upgrade its own system, and optimize its own performance. It should not require its creator to handle every trivial task. If that was all it could do, what was the point of creating it? She had intended for the program to lighten her burden, yet it had only added to her stress.
The Raiden Shogun looked at Ei, unimpressed by the rebuke. "When it comes down to it, isn't that just a reflection of your own incompetence? Su Ran was able to improve me so effectively because he has the skill. What about you?"
The blame was tossed right back onto the programmer. Ei chewed on her fingernail, lost in thought.
"Besides," the Shogun landed a final, fatal blow, "it was Baal who entrusted Inazuma to you. You are the one who failed her expectations. Or are you going to claim that you bear no responsibility at all?"
Ei slumped to her knees, looking utterly defeated. She raised her head to look at a large device standing behind the Shogun. This was the dream machine Su Ran had spent a full day constructing, equipped with a Gnosis to broadcast its influence across all of Inazuma. It was designed to pull every single person on the land into a dream—without exception.
"As soon as that machine activates, eternity will be achieved," Su Ran said, unable to hide his anticipation as he wondered if Ei would succumb entirely within the dream. He had prepared quite the surprise for her inside.
Kujou Sara felt a surge of doubt regarding the little Shogun's attitude toward the Raiden Shogun. The conversation sounded strange. It was as if the little Shogun hadn't been created by the Shogun at all, but rather, the Shogun had been born from the little Shogun. Was that how it worked? Sara couldn't wrap her head around it, but these two Shoguns were the existences she had pledged her life to serve. As for the eternal dream, she still didn't fully grasp it, knowing only that it was the dream the Shogun had promised to the people.
"You must be tired too, Ayaka," Su Ran said, tapping his thigh as he sat on the floor. "Do you want to try this? It is a lap pillow."
Sara turned her head stiffly toward them, seeing the clear hesitation on Ayaka's face. Did they really have to do this with others watching? Couldn't they wait until they were alone?
"My legs are full of magic. If you sleep with your head on them, you will have sweet dreams," Su Ran added.
Having been invited twice, Ayaka could not refuse again. To reject the request of a god would be a grave slight. With a flushed face and under the watchful gaze of Sara, she rested her head on Su Ran's lap. Sleep washed over her instantly. Within three breaths, she had drifted off into a deep slumber.
A moment later, Su Ran felt a weight hit his shoulder. Kujou Sara, unable to resist the sudden onset of sleep, had also succumbed and drifted into a dream.
The fact that both women had fallen asleep without warning left Ei feeling bewildered.
"When Su Ran returned to Tenshukaku, that was the signal for the eternal dream to begin," the Raiden Shogun explained, answering the question in Ei's eyes.
"So fast?"
She had only stepped out for a moment, and upon her return, the eternal dream was already starting? She was the one involved in this, yet she had been kept in the dark.
"Because you contributed nothing to this dream, you were excluded from the process," the Shogun said.
Ei stared at her. Was the Shogun actually hearing herself speak? What did she mean, she had contributed nothing? Had she not been the one to propose the very concept of eternity? If anyone had contributed nothing, it was the Shogun. Su Ran had built the entire dream machine by himself. Ei had provided the core concept, but the Shogun had done nothing but sit idly in Tenshukaku and rubber-stamp the Vision Hunt Decree and the Sakoku Decree.
"He and I are on the same side," the Raiden Shogun said, cutting off any idea that she and Ei stood on common ground.
"Shogun... are you betraying me?"
"I was created by Su Ran, and my selfhood was bestowed upon me by him. How can you call this betrayal?"
The previous iteration of the Shogun had possessed little sense of self; she had been a mere tool. But now that she had developed her own will, surely she knew where her loyalties lay. What was the use of following a programmer as incompetent as Ei?
"Little Ei, don't cry and make a scene," Su Ran said, offering a gentle, consoling tone to the infuriated Ei.
"I am not crying or making a scene!" Ei glared at the man who had stolen her Shogun away.
"Oh, if you aren't crying or making a scene now, then you can do it to your heart's content in your dreams."
If not for the fact that Ayaka was currently resting on his lap and Sara was leaning against his shoulder, Su Ran would have stood up to gloat directly in her face.
"You're overthinking it! I will never cry or make a scene, no matter the time or place!"
She was no longer a child. How could she possibly act like one?
"Fine, fine. I hope you still feel that way in a little while. As a god of Inazuma, you should be looking after your people. Listen to me... get some sleep. The dreams will show you exactly what you want most."
Ei frowned, her guard immediately raised. Was there a trap in the dream? She had campaigned for years during the Archon War. Aside from Su Ran's overwhelming power, there was nothing she feared. No matter how many traps awaited her, she would not cower.