{Join my Patre@n at patreon.com/JoshRichie2 for full chapters of volume 2 and Vol 3}
...
Title: Quick Survey
...
"I'm back," Shun said with the most gentle smile he could muster
Silence descended on the throne room as they both gazed at eachother with varying expressions.
Kaguya's indifferent gaze morphed into various emotions until it rested on relief.
"It's good that you're back." She simply said and stood up from the throne and walked toward Shun.
Shun smiled widely and opened up his arms to hug her only to receive a sucker punch from Kaguya.
"Oof. I kinda deserved that. I'm sorry." Shun said before forcefully pulling her into a hug despite her struggle.
"I'm sorry. Really. I shouldn't have done that without telling you all at least." Shun apologized again. "Why don't I make it up to you lot. When Hinami and Ria wakes up, we'll tour this entire planet like we did in the Celestial realms. How about that?"
Kaguya gradually settled down and began crying silently. After a while comforting her, she stopped and nodded her head. "Better don't forget that. We'll tour every nook and cranny of this planet till we're satisfied."
"Of course, when have I ever gone back on my word? Let's just settle in and figure out the current state of the world before we begin making plans." Shun said and floated to the throne with Kaguya still in his arms.
Kaguya nodded and remained in his arms as Shun floated.
"How was it? Dying. How was it?" She asked in a quiet tone.
"Death, Huh? It was... interesting. It is a state of not being. Absence of life. But I wasn't really dead per se, I didn't die back then. It's a long story, why don't I tell it to you all when you're all ready? For now, you rest, Fenrir filled me up on what you three have been up to this past couple decades. I don't and won't stand for it, so effective immediately, you're going to be put to rest." Shun said in an inviolable tone.
Kaguya looked like a little girl Infront of Shun as she nodded obediently but in her mind, she was cursing Fenrir.
After that, they fell into a comfortable silence as Kaguya gradually fell asleep due to Shun little interventions.
With her asleep Shun teleported her to the masters bedroom where Hinami and Ria where already tucked in.
"This place looks a little bit bleak and I don't know if Eiengar has developed intelligence in the time I was away." Shun spoke aloud.
[|Yes, Master|]. A static voice came from the throne room shocking Shun.
"Eiengar, is that you?" Shun asked with little excitement in his tone.
[|Yes. Master|]. The voice sounded once more.
"How long have you been active?" Shun asked with a smile.
[|I awakened due to the surge of energy Master poured into me centuries ago before throwing me into the Spatial Tear.|] The voice sounded again.
"That long? Then why have you been silent all these years? Why didn't you make yourself known to the girls?" Shun asked in confusion.
[|There wasn't a need to as I calculated that you weren't in any danger, Master|]. The voice answered.
"Hmm? How did you come to that conclusion?" Shun's asked again.
[|It was written in my code that you never said anything you weren't sure about and in the last moment before I was thrown away, you said, 'Till we meet again'. This indicated that you were sure to be back.|] The voice said.
"Then when you saw the girls searching through the library for a means to save me, why didn't you let them know?" Shun asked.
[|There was a 12% Chance of them believing due to what you once termed emotional instability, hence I allowed them to process what they were going through by themselves as that was the best course of action|]. The voice answered in a matter of fact tone.
"Hmm, interesting, when did I archive all these things again?" Shun asked.
[|They were part of your memory that was put in me at that moment you threw me into that spatial tear.|] The voice replied.
"I guess that's plausible," Shun thought for a while before saying, "So are you in control of every part of the castle?"
[|Yes, Master|] came the reply.
"Hmm, alright then, since you have a memory capacity, set a schedule to build a couple of servants to roam around the entire castle and see to its upkeep." Shun ordered. "You have the entire layout of the castle so go about it properly, alright?"
[|Yes, Master|] came the reply
"Also, see to it that all relevant knowledge currently in your possession is written down as neatly as possible. They would be important in the far future," Shun finished.
[|Yes Master.|]
"Also, change you voice into a more comfortable gender. Pick any one of your choice." Shun said as he teleported out of the floating castle.
Floating in the sky, Shun scanned the entire planet with his divine sense and saw the people of the world as they were now.
And he only had one thing to say, "Ignorance truly is the bane of human development."
"They had access to chakra yet they live like barbarians, killing for resources, resources that they could get in abundance with a little application of Chakra. Instead, all they see is violence, violence as a mean and as an end. I wonder if there are any other peace seekers other than Ashura's reincarnations." Shun mused out loud.
"Quite pitiful is I do say so. Sigh, what a pity indeed, I really wish to watch the main events take place so I should create an even lesser butterfly effect than I already did while engineering the main events. I'm really tempted to Tsukuyomi the entire world and rewrite their minds to get them to act accordingly. My mental faculties are high enough to do so after all." Shun continued before he sighed and disappeared once more.
This time, he appeared in the midst of the Tengoku clan as if he was meant to be there and no one thought his presence strange at all.
"Ah, Shun-san, why are you standing there while staring blankly into space?" An old woman asked him with an amiable smile.
Shun observed the woman and nodded in appreciation before smiling and saying, "I'm just imagining the future of our clan in this war torn world, Masaki-baa-san."
This old lady has quite the healthy amount of chakra in her and she was a member of the supposed Noble part of the clan. Although they weren't as notorious as in the past, their strengths do speak for them.
"Quite the imagination you have there young man, but not a bad one. We all wish for one, that's why the young ones are sent out to see the world and experience the hardships outside this Island and know that the warriors out there are doing great work providing such peaceful environment." Masaki said as she looked around with a wide smile on her wrinkly face.
"True. That was an ingenious idea. This way we wouldn't take this peace for granted right?" Shun asked.
"Truly a wonderful kid, Shun-san. I like your way of thinking, unfortunately not all of you youngsters think alike these days." Masaki said with a sigh.
"Maybe I'd get you to speak with my grandchildren and talk some sense into them. They're becoming the same arrogant pricks that caused our ancestors to bring about that calamity of the past. Now, they're repeating the same mistakes. Sigh, what a pity." She said ruefully.
"They come around, trust me," Shun said reassuringly.
The old lady looked at him before nodding. "I hope so. I truly do."
After that, she left.
Shun looked around and knew that these two hundred years of peace may have blinded some clan members to the true horrors of war.
Although Shun integrated seamlessly into the lives of the people of this Island, he didn't do so to live peacefully, far from that, he was actually here to test their mettle without his clone to babysit them.
Should they survive, good for them, should they perish, still good for them, at least, he wouldn't let them all die out, after all, he had plans for them.