People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 555 Heart Sea: Yae no Kami Tsukasa means...? This negotiation was successful because of your efforts...?
The next day, at the castle tower.

Standing at the highest point of the entire Inazuma Castle, the ancient and solemn building is bathed in the first faint rays of dawn.

The sun had not yet fully risen, and the streets and alleys viewed from above were still somewhat dim.
While most of the Inazuma residents were still asleep, the warm lights had been on for a long time in the second-floor offices of the castle tower.

Having received "special treatment" from a certain palace chief, Shinkai's residence was arranged directly in the castle tower for the convenience of his work.

While it's not necessary to work all night every day, the gods who "receive assistance" do not require everyone to work overtime.

However, following the recent end of the Abyss invasion, a sudden surge of reports and applications has emerged from both the military and civilian sectors.
Unable to bear the feeling of things piling up, Xin Hai, who lives closest to the office, is still the first to arrive at work every day.
"After winning this war together and weathering the crisis together, everyone seems to have gradually accepted each other's existence, and the progress of the outer secret realm is also steadily advancing."

"But after the internal problems are resolved, how to connect with the outside world still needs to be considered."

"Building a new port in the short term is not feasible. If we want to reopen Inazuma, we must make efficient use of the existing ports and at the same time deal with the magistrate's office on the outlying islands as soon as possible."

I paused my thinking and temporarily put down the investigation reports I had prepared.

When he first moved to Narukami Island, he was promised the position of Kansei-bushi (a high-ranking official in charge of foreign trade and finance). After many twists and turns, this job undoubtedly fell into Shinkai's hands.

The lifting of the lockdown and hunting bans is certainly a good thing, but dealing with the impact on foreign trade after the reopening is not a simple matter.

Inatsume had been so isolated that this isolation had even become part of her lifestyle.

It wasn't just because of the surrounding thunderstorms; even before the national isolation edict, due to the various laws enacted by the Kansei Enforcement Bureau for profit, there were very few trading companies qualified to conduct foreign trade with Inazuma.
"Are they all chambers of commerce that have undergone rigorous vetting and received approval from the Enforcement Bureau?"

"Now it seems that the value and quality of these goods are clearly not competitive; their so-called 'qualifications' were probably obtained through bribery of the magistrate."

She felt genuinely helpless about the blatant money-making methods that Kan Ding had previously employed, since she would have to deal with these hidden dangers from the past.

After simply flipping through a few of the documents that had been concealed from the general in the past, Xin Hai felt a great headache coming on about what he would have to do next:
—Due to the prolonged period of closure, Inazuma has virtually no systematic industries, and the various sectors of society are extremely primitive and fragile.

Although the previous strict closure allowed the Kansei Bureau to reap substantial profits, it also managed to protect the domestic ecology to some extent.

With large areas of buildings now reduced to ruins, Inazuma has virtually no output until reconstruction is complete. If restrictions are lifted all at once, the lives of the people will be severely impacted.
"."

"I remember that the institution that provided the reconstruction assistance was the Xumi Academy. They will build a branch campus here and cooperate in many areas such as education and technology."

"According to the received draft, if Inazuma provides the materials, the Religious Council will not even charge for the reconstruction, citing the need to test the construction machinery as the reason."

I find such favorable conditions somewhat unbelievable, after all, if the workload were handed over to Inazuma Mainland, Kokoro would be far from achieving his goal.

While offering it completely free of charge, the company also promised to cooperate on an equal footing in the future. Although the negotiations for this cooperation were conducted by the gods of both parties, judging from the outcome alone, Sumeru seems to be incredibly friendly.

"According to intelligence, Liyue, Fontaine, and Mondstadt all have very close cooperation with Sumeru, and the reputation of scholars and even Sumeru deities has always been very good."
The most widely accepted explanation is that they seem to value the practical application and development of technology more than material benefits.

I myself have never been to Sumeru. Although Ruko from Coral Palace Shrine studied there, Sumeru back then was almost like a different country from what it is now.

Things are changing so fast over there that outside information quickly becomes unreliable.
Currently, all that is known is that the situation in Sumeru is vastly different from that of any other country today. There are even rumors that their entire country is now built upon the body of a god, thus they have no shortage of resources for survival.
He shook his head, finding it hard to imagine why Sumeru had developed into something unrecognizable in such a short time.

Based on a comprehensive assessment, Xin Hai realized that the arrival of the Sumeru Teaching Academy was like the best choice tailored to him, serving as a buffer period before fully integrating with the outside world.

"Then the most crucial thing next is to deal with the Kansei-bu and the Fools as soon as possible, stop the transfer of wealth, and repair the port at the same time."

My thoughts paused for a moment, then I vaguely heard footsteps outside the door.
Looking up into the sea of ​​my heart, I wondered who had arrived so early.

"squeak--"

The wooden door was pushed open, and a pink-haired figure, whom I hadn't seen for two days, came into view.

???

He looked at Yae no Miko, who had appeared before him early in the morning, with an expression that suggested he was seeing things.

Although he concealed it very well, in Xin Hai's eyes, this High Priest, who was "accompanying the gods to negotiate cooperation matters," not only looked more weary than before, but his hairstyle also seemed to have changed slightly.
"Yes, if I understand correctly."

"You mean that, thanks to your 'efforts,' both sides' deities were satisfied, and the cooperation negotiations were very successful, which is why you spent a little more time?"

Xin Hai blinked.

Although there was nothing wrong with Yae no Miko's answer, she just felt inexplicably that something was off.

"—Oh, little guy, that's how it is. Any questions?"

Having left behind that terrible situation where everyone around me was either a senior or a god, I returned to my familiar environment.

Having tried her best to forget what had happened in the past two days, Yae Shinko felt that she had regained some of her confidence.

"There are no doubts, but I am a little surprised that Yae-no-miya arrived so early."

My intuition told me it was best not to ask any more questions; knowing too much might not be a good thing.
After a slight hesitation, Xin Hai chose to ignore the slight sense of unease she had noticed.

"It's just that I suddenly felt like working recently, and I remembered that there were some backlogged matters, so I came early."

Xin Hai: ".?"

She was smiling, but why did I have this feeling that if I asked one more question, I'd be in big trouble?
I kept my eyes straight ahead, trying my best to stop caring about what was happening to the other person.

Xin Hai got up from the table and handed over the work documents he had just organized in an attempt to change the subject:

"These are reports from intelligence personnel over the past two days, mainly concerning the Fools' Evil Eye and ships near the island."

"According to the investigation, for some reason, those evil eyes from before seemed to have been purified by the gods after the battle, as they were considered impurities, and are now all ineffective."

"But also after that battle, for unknown reasons, some users discovered that the Evil Eye in their hands had transformed into the true Eye of God. The number of such users is currently being tallied."

After pausing briefly and noticing that the Eightfold Divine Child before him seemed unsurprised by the situation,
Although Xin Hai was somewhat curious, he continued to report:
"—Apart from that, the events in the community are very trivial, but the vast majority of them are not urgent."
Based on my assessment, the issues concerning the Kansei-bu (military commissioner) and the remote islands were given top priority.

"After the recent thunderstorms near the outlying islands disappeared, some researchers have spotted unfamiliar vessels in the open sea. These are very likely ships that are trying to bypass the blockade to pick up the Fools or transfer the property of the Kansei Envoy."

"The Fool's Enforcers are far more powerful than ordinary soldiers, and they are extremely difficult to spot if they deliberately hide. With our current manpower shortage, it will likely be difficult to intercept the ships along the coast."

He stated what he considered to be the most urgent matter at the moment and expressed his concerns appropriately.

Before Xin Hai could turn around and retrieve the "Brief Guidelines for Handling Incidents Related to the Remote Islands," which was already half-written, he heard the Yae no Miko in front of him speak crisply and decisively:
"--Don't worry about that. Although I've been very busy these past two days, I've already arranged for people to handle the affairs of the Kansei Magistrate and the Inuit Executors on the outlying islands."

"In the worst-case scenario, I will ask Aying to go to sea and bring them back. Whether it's the Kansei Magistrate or the Fools, their chances of successfully escaping are extremely slim." I myself am not really in a hurry to get back to this, but some people on the outlying island seem to be afraid that things might get complicated if they wait too long. Seeing that the assets have been transferred almost completely, they plan to find an opportunity to escape starting today.

Naturally, he couldn't let go of the culprit who made him work overtime, and he was also very curious whether the two travelers were really as the gods said, capable of completing any task.

I went to where those two little ones lived early in the morning and sent them a special request before they left.
The clearing of the outlying islands is a prerequisite for welcoming the subsequent personnel from the Kyoto Institute, and the goddess is eager to see what kind of results they will deliver.

the other side.

The northernmost part of Narukami Island, an outlying island.

Unaware that countless eyes had already been drawn to them, the young master and lady, who had barely survived the dark calamity, were discussing something.

The two were noticeably weaker than before.

Although their strength is unmatched by ordinary people, even the Fatui Enforcers treat the Abyss monsters the same way, and are even more popular with them.
"Phew, I knew your plan would have a hard time succeeding. I feel like I've been incredibly unlucky lately, running into something like this, and now I can't even leave."

"Although I'm not entirely unfamiliar with the power those guys possess, after fighting monsters for so long, even my master's training wouldn't be this monotonous."

After stretching his limbs, Dadalia was quite dissatisfied with the recent lack of interactive combat.

Not only were there many monsters, but he was also adept at dealing with hordes of enemies.

However, many of the later monsters were covered in a layer of pure abyssal power, making them extremely difficult to deal with one by one.
"Hmph, I didn't stop you from escaping. This number of monsters, five hundred years ago..."

"—You just need to know that even if I'm the only one left, I can burn them all clean."

There was no rebuttal to the statement that the plan had failed.
Although unwilling to admit defeat, even Rosalyn knew that there was no chance to continue given the current situation.

"However, you're still a bit better than those guys who only talk the talk, at least you're not like those guys who don't even dare to come to Inazuma."

"Hmm? Five hundred years ago? So you're just like what the 'Sixth Seat' said, you really are an old man."

His focus was quite unusual, and he subconsciously blurted out his thoughts.

Just when D'Artagnan had finally been praised by his colleague, before he could even demonstrate his high emotional intelligence, many floating ice crystals suddenly appeared in the air around him, and the atmosphere instantly turned cold.

"Don't say anything unnecessary, or you'll be left alone in Inazuma to wait to be locked up in jail again."

“We will take all the officers in charge of the investigation away. No one will come to Inazuma for a long time afterward. If you are arrested again this time, don’t expect anyone to come and ransom you.”

It was clear that what they were about to do was no small matter; while transferring foreign dignitaries and vast amounts of wealth would be highly profitable, it would also lead to a complete falling out with Inazuma.

Although the "rich man's" negotiation results at least prevented him from returning empty-handed, if he were to be imprisoned again under these circumstances, getting him released later would not be so easy.

"Tsk, I've already told you, that traveler is really strong. Even if you went, you would still get knocked out."

"If we both get arrested, you might find it harder to accept than I do."

For some reason, I really wanted to know what would happen if my usually arrogant colleague were also arrested.
But after thinking about the possibility of them both being locked up in jail, D'Artagnan felt it was best to avoid such a thing from happening.

"."

"Alright, stop glaring at me. If our plan goes smoothly today, this shouldn't happen."

"That old man's wealth is astonishing, but it's too scattered and too slow to be transferred. I really don't know who would have more, him or that rich guy, if they took it all."

He decisively interrupted Rosalind's impending rebuttal, believing that unless she actually fought his formidable rival, she wouldn't know just how powerful he was.

He himself had no particular interest in going to jail; all he wanted to do was return to Winter as soon as possible to see if Tok and Donya had grown taller during this time.

"Where are Arecino's men? Are they sure they'll be back today?"

Abandoning the previous topic, Rosalyn looked at the list of personnel in front of her and asked the young master who had been in charge of commanding the battle some time ago.

"They? They set off a day or two ago, just like they reported, to deal with the traitors."

"While I don't think it's a wise choice, it's probably one of the most important things for them."

He answered truthfully, and the young master knew very well that the House of Hearths had always maintained zero tolerance for traitors.

"Now? Is it just those few people they left?"

It's unclear why this small squad, operating outside of Arecino's command, was so confident in carrying out such activities around Inazuma Castle.

Although Rosalyn wasn't afraid of them dragging her down, she didn't think there was any chance of success.

"Who knows."

"However, after their original members betrayed the Fools, the pollen of the Void Mist could not be replenished, they could not control the Thunderfire, and they did not have the Eye of God. Perhaps they saw it as a good opportunity to strike."

He shook his head, neither confirming nor denying it.

Joining the Fools is a one-way choice; even the most marginalized members often have to pay with their lives to escape.

Although many people today would rather flee to areas controlled by the Vatican and serve their sentences than continue working as spies.

But for the vast majority of members, they perished on the way before they could successfully reach the destination.

"Hmph, I hope they'll be back on time. If they're late, no one will wait for them."

My relationship with that fourth seat was relatively good. Although these people were not the orphans I often visited, they were still nominally his subordinates.

She had already suffered heavy losses, and she didn't want only Tadalia and herself to return in the end.

It's extremely rare for someone to be redeemed by a letter from the "captain" like last time in Mondstadt.

In most cases, once a Fool's soldier is captured, he will be marked as a low-quality asset by the "rooster" and abandoned immediately.

Rosalind only hoped that the traitor they wanted to deal with was truly as powerless as D'Artagnan had described.

Otherwise, to avoid ending up in jail with that muscle-headed idiot next to her, she would have no choice but to leave these people behind and go first.
(End of this chapter)