Jingle, jingle—the sound of Mora clinking together.
In Inazuma City, a stunningly gorgeous white-haired woman was strolling leisurely down the street. She wore a noble garment strikingly similar to that of the Raiden Shogun, except the main theme of her attire was white, accented with green.
"Hmph, who would have thought those petty little good-for-nothings were sitting on such a hefty pile of gold coins!"
After tucking the bag of Mora into her robes, Fu continued to toy with her white braided pigtail. Compared to altering her entire appearance, simply changing her hair color and everyday clothes saved an immense amount of effort.
Perhaps because the Sakoku Decree had only recently been implemented, the lives of the people in Inazuma City still seemed tolerable—at least they were managing to scrape by above the poverty line. The street vendors were bustling with activity, far from reduced to desolation, and the entertainment districts still enjoyed an endless stream of visitors.
Needless to say who those people were.
It was now dusk, the time for dinner in her past life, yet she didn't feel a hint of hunger. True, she wasn't even human anymore, so what did she need to eat for?
Suddenly, Fu's gaze was caught by a pushcart vendor. Skewers of glossy Tricolor Dango were neatly arranged on a rack, radiating an alluring sheen.
"Tricolor Dango? To think such a snack appeared this early. I'll take a stick to try."
"Boss, give me two sticks of Tricolor Dango!"
"Coming right up!"
Handing over two 1,000-denomination Mora coins, she took two skewers of Tricolor Dango from the shelf. It was a pity milk dango didn't exist yet, and the vendor himself was a young man she had never seen anywhere in the story.
The Tricolor Dango wasn't as delicious as she had imagined; it felt as though too much oil had been mixed into the rice flour, making the dumplings a bit too mushy, leaving only the jam in the center with any real flavor.
For some reason, the vendor looked at her with a curious gaze.
That shouldn't be right. Venti merely changed his outfit and was regarded by everyone as an ordinary, unremarkable bard. Since she had changed both her clothes and her hair color, there was no way a mortal could recognize her, right?
Fu frowned slightly. After reluctantly swallowing the dango that had lost its filling—to be honest, the taste fell far short of her expectations—she came up with the idea of taking matters into her own hands to secure her own food.
"Flour... raspberries... white sugar... milk... eggs... buy a little of everything, and also... Boss! May I borrow your stove?!"
Inside Tenshukaku, Raiden Ei paced back and forth with growing anxiety. The words Fu Li had spoken kept echoing in her mind: Was Inazuma truly in such a wretched state?
In the end, she chose to take that step outside.
Though the changes weren't drastic, compared to the Inazuma City in her memories, the current city had still undergone earth-shattering transformations. The crowds on the street looked at Raiden Ei with fearful and respectful eyes.
"She was lying to me after all."
Just as Ei prepared to turn and leave, a sweet aroma piqued her interest, and her footsteps naturally drifted toward a nearby stall.
Meanwhile, entirely unaware of Raiden Ei approaching her, Fu remained utterly absorbed in making a cake, carefully spreading jam over a chiffon cake made from meringue.
"Thank you for letting me use your stove! Here, have a slice on me!"
"Oh my, thank you so much, miss!"
As soon as the cake came out of the oven, the vendor who had lent her the stove started drooling. After dusting the cake with a layer of powdered sugar, Fu cut the very first slice and offered it to the vendor.
Ever since the Sakoku Decree, Inazuma had seen virtually no new novelties. Chiffon cake was an utterly fresh delicacy to the Inazuma people; judging by the way the vendor dug in with gusto, the cake undoubtedly tasted fantastic.
"Ahahaha, if only the flour had been sifted through a fine mesh, the texture would have been even better."
Fu cut another slice, placed it on the table, smoothed the braid resting over her shoulder, and prepared to taste her own handiwork, completely unaware that the triple-amemori crest on the back of her neck had flashed.
Behind her, Ei caught sight of that exposed corner of the triple-amemori crest. Her gaze instantly sharpened, and her pace involuntarily slowed.
At that moment, Fu still seemed oblivious to the movement behind her, continuing to casually arrange fruit on her own slice of cake. She also failed to notice that the vendor's expression had completely changed, his eyes darting frantically between her and the person standing behind her.
In the vendor's eyes, the white-haired woman before him looked identical to the Raiden Shogun.
"How could my other self possess such abysmal vigilance? If she had been born during the Archon War, she'd already be dead and buried."
Ei paused in bewilderment, watching Fu wipe down a spoon. Hesitating for a moment, she drew her Engulfing Lightning and slowly took aim.
"Heh, such a fragrant little cake~ Let me taste what Teyvat ingredients taste like..."
Just as the spoon holding the cake was about to touch her tongue, Fu felt a chilling breeze sweep across her waist. She looked down, dropped the cake, and casually patched up her clothes as if no one else was around.
"How did my clothes get torn..."
Ei was completely baffled by this maneuver. *I am standing right beside her! No, wait—does this slash not even break her defense?!*
Only then did Fu Li realize she had been cornered at close range by the Raiden Shogun. She gasped in a cold sweat, her defense instantly dropping to zero.
Raiden Ei was overjoyed. Pouring some chili sauce onto her blade, she struck down with a single slash.
"Good grief! Shouldn't the Raiden Shogun show up hundreds of years later?! Is the plot broken?!"
The red blade came down, its searing heat shattering Fu's composure. She had originally planned to lay low in Inazuma, coasting by for a few centuries until the Traveler arrived. But now, the Shogun had emerged from Tenshukaku centuries early, and the plot was completely derailed.
*No big deal, the Raiden Shogun surely won't chase after me, right? Besides, she didn't pursue the protagonist when they escaped...*
Just as she thought this, Fu suddenly felt a murderous intent lock onto her. Her body instinctively side-stepped, and a purple Engulfing Lightning grazed past her. Had that strike hit, she probably would have been skewered like a shish kebab.
Clearly, Raiden Ei had no intention of letting Fu escape so easily. When her first strike missed, she gripped the Engulfing Lightning once more, preparing to bring it down in a vicious overhead chop.
"Stop!"
Fu suddenly halted, raising a hand to signal a pause. Ei froze, her descending polearm hanging rigidly in mid-air.
Fu: "Don't rush to fight yet! Come here, I have something good for you..."
Ei: "???" (She stepped closer.)
*Clap!* A crisp, resounding slap landed squarely across Ei's face, leaving the latter utterly dazed and bewildered.
"There! I gave you an upgrade!"
After flexing, Fu turned and fled, leaving Ei standing there with a handprint glowing on her cheek, completely lost in a daze.
Hearing the furious roar of Raiden Ei from behind, Fu didn't dare hesitate for a second. She broke into a desperate sprint, glanced back, and immediately started cursing.
Raiden Ei had no concept of martial arts etiquette—she was actually flying after her.
"Damn it all! Are you really not going to quit until you kill me today? I can fly too!"
With a kick that shattered Newton's coffin lid for leverage, Fu took off into the air, instantly transforming into a streak of lightning that actually outpaced Raiden Ei by a third.
Seeing her target about to slip away, Raiden Ei grew anxious as well. Flipping her Engulfing Lightning backward, she channeled her Elemental Energy until the blade gleamed with a blinding light, unleashing the Musou no Hitotachi directly at Fu.
Fu, who was still swaggering along and whistling ahead, suddenly felt an immense wave of pressure bearing down on her. Looking back, she saw a bolt of lightning tear through the air, hurtling toward her. She knew that taking a direct hit from this slash would mean severe injury.
Facing the Musou no Hitotachi, Fu didn't dare slack off. She whipped her own polearm around and slashed back in retaliation. The two bolts of lightning collided mid-air, the tremendous force warping the surrounding air. The shockwave of the explosion blasted outward in all directions, turning the nearby ground into a chaotic mess. Fortunately, this was a barren wilderness; had they been in Inazuma City, Raiden Ei would never have dared to unleash that slash.
Yet, in that brief hesitation during the counterattack, Ei instantly closed the distance, lunging forward with lightning speed to thrust her blade home.
"To hell with this! You've been chasing me relentlessly—is it really necessary?!"
Barely managing to block the thrust, Fu was forcefully knocked back down to the ground, swallowing a mouthful of mud.
"Now it's your turn to taste my Plane of Euthymia!"
After being tossed around for so long, the legendary Raiden Shogun didn't seem all that terrifying after all. *All right, I can turn the tables on her!*
In an instant, the oppressive aura emanating from Fu poured forth without reservation. A purple light gathered between two mountain peaks of identical size to those of the Raiden Shogun, and a familiar tachi slowly drew itself from the purple light.