These days, there was always a feeling that something was off.
Lady Fox often had this inexplicable sense of wrongness.
As the head priestess of the shrine, she wouldn't easily ignore these feelings.
But what exactly was wrong?
She didn't know.
Inazuma was still peaceful and harmonious. Winter had just begun a dozen days ago, starting with a snowfall.
Then the entire streets of Inazuma were lit up with lanterns — this was the traditional festival celebrated by the people, the 'Lantern Festival'. Every household lit a lantern, connecting together to form a river of light flowing through the streets.
It was beautiful.
It was time to prepare for the New Year.
Ei was still the same as always, staying in her deep chambers in Tenshukaku. She never set foot outside for months, yet looked healthier than anyone.
The shrine was also peaceful, with visitors coming to pray for blessings in an endless stream. The Yae Publishing House was also doing good business.
The Sakoku Decree and Vision Hunt Decree, due to the Pillar's opposition, had not been fully implemented. This world was still peaceful.
What about that old fellow?
She had gone to see that old man too. He didn't look bad either. Although his hair had turned white, he could still eat and drink well. He even said things like "I could kill you little fox with one punch" and "I'm so strong, I can live for several hundred more years."
Lady Fox of course knew this old fellow was boasting, talking big.
Yae still remembered how he looked when he was bragging, holding a teacup, grinning like an idiot. But for some reason, seeing him shamelessly boasting, seeing his constant silly grin, Yae Miko wasn't so worried anymore.
The old fellow was the same as before.
If you worried about him, he still had the energy to brag.
Last year this old fellow was like this, the year before he was like this... a hundred years ago he was like this too.
Every New Year, when fireworks spread across the sky, he would always make a face like a mischievous child and tease: "Little fox, see you next year."
And so year after year, he said "see you next year" countless times, like a thousand-year-old tortoise.
He loved smoking, enjoyed drinking, had so many bad habits. How could such a lazy fellow exist in this world?
Lady Fox had reason to call him an old fellow.
Yae Miko even suspected that if everyone in the world died, this old fellow would still be grinning smugly.
Perhaps that sense of wrongness was just an illusion.
Seeing him so full of life, Yae Miko put her mind at ease again.
Inazuma was good, the shrine was good, everyone was good.
So, she could happily go do what she wanted to do again, continue to do as she pleased.
She could continue to laugh at the old man, boldly crawl into his kotatsu, and have him make tofu for the great head priestess.
This year's plan was the same as last year's, the same as the year before... the same as hundreds of years ago. First go to the Lantern Festival, guess lantern riddles, eat some tangyuan when hungry, walk from evening until dawn.
After the Lantern Festival there was still the temple fair. The temple fair was also fun, you could go goldfish scooping. Lady Fox still remembered last time, she ate all the goldfish the old fellow had caught, making him so angry he was fuming. That expression was very funny to think about.
What came after the temple fair?
After the temple fair it was the New Year, right? Inazuma's New Year was similar to Liyue's, with lots and lots of fireworks. At dawn, brilliant fireworks would burst in the clear night sky, tinting the snow with a rosy glow.
Pop pop pop, and then that old fellow would make a face at her again and say:
"Little fox, see you next year."
Year after year, never changing, daily life steadily and eternally moving forward. This year would be the same.
What is daily life? It's what's taken for granted, what's natural.
But this year, Yae Miko wanted to make a change — she spent a long time knitting a scarf, a fluffy scarf.
The great head priestess failed many times, but she was still proud. She had reason to be proud:
The Raiden Shogun couldn't even cook, so it was only natural that the head priestess couldn't do needlework.
And now, she had learned to knit a scarf, while Ei still couldn't cook!
She was even still staying in her chambers, for a hundred years, not taking a single step outside, never watching the fireworks. Lady Fox felt she had won, won by too much.
Considering he had made free tofu for so many years, the great head priestess would bestow this scarf upon him. The old fellow would surely be moved to tears, overwhelmed with gratitude.
The problem now was how to give it to him.
Lady Fox went to the Pillar's mansion more than ten times for this, but when she got to the entrance, she lost her nerve again, giving up and ordering: "What are you looking at, old man? Hurry up and make some fried tofu for the Guuji!"
Going so many times, even the child at the door started to look at the head priestess strangely. Children are bold, thinking to himself 'Why does this freeloader fox come to mooch meals again...'
And so the days passed slowly. The Lantern Festival was almost over, and she still hadn't given him the scarf.
Winter days were short, and she hadn't done anything.
Always thinking, next time, tomorrow, the day after... This old man wasn't going anywhere. He was so full of life, not wearing a scarf for one more day wouldn't freeze him to death.
But recently, on the second day after the old fellow made her "Kitsune Udon", which was also the last day of the Lantern Festival.
He wasn't at the mansion anymore.
The child at the door told Yae: Lord Pillar had gone on a vacation trip.
A trip?
Where could that old fellow go on a trip?
Yae Miko came to the Pillar's mansion several times with shrine maidens, but never saw him again.
Every time the answer was, "Lord Pillar is not here."
But where had he gone?
He was always there for the Lantern Festival every year.
Lady Fox didn't know. She turned into a small fox, idly crouching on the eaves of the Pillar's mansion, thinking of waiting for him to return, then jumping down to give him a good scare, and finally giving him the scarf.
But in the end, she didn't wait for him to come back.
The winter sun rose, shining on the large pine and cypress in the courtyard. As time passed, the shadows of the branches began to move. When the sun fell behind the mountains, the silhouette of the branches fell on Lady Fox.
This day had ended.
She yawned, feeling very bored.
The last lantern was put down and extinguished. The streets of Inazuma dimmed, night fell all around.
This year's Lantern Festival was over.
It turned out that the Lantern Festival without the old fellow was so boring. No guessing riddles, no strolling through the flower streets, no goldfish scooping. Lady Fox just lay on the beam of the Pillar's mansion, yawning again and again.
Before she had thought he was quite annoying.
The little fox wrapped her body in the scarf, looking at the snow on the street.
Maybe she should go look for him.