Ei returned to Inazuma.
Inazuma seemed unchanged, still peaceful. The New Year was approaching, and news of the Pillar General's departure had not yet spread. Dozens of lanterns from the Lantern Festival still hadn't been taken down, their dim candlelight blending into a warm glow.
The alleys were full of hawkers' calls, selling candied haws, weaving straw hats, or fishing for goldfish - all common sights at winter festivals.
The wooden sandals and yukatas carried the air of early spring, with pedestrians in kimonos walking in pairs or threes throughout the streets.
Ei wandered aimlessly through the streets and alleys, brushing past many people. She didn't know where she was going.
She just wanted to see the mortal realm that the Pillar General had guarded for a hundred years.
To see how he had lived.
Ironically, she had never come to see this pure land, just as she had never gone to see the Pillar General.
It had been a hundred years since she last came to the mortal world. Inazuma was no longer as it once was.
If he were here, where would he take her?
Ei didn't know.
As she walked, she passed by the Pillar General's mansion. It was still quiet inside. Seino Sara had mobilized all the servants, and now only a giant pine tree remained in the grand, empty mansion, its branches spanning half the courtyard.
Ei remembered this tree. It was planted long ago by her and the Pillar General. She didn't expect it to grow so big.
She just glanced at the mansion, but felt a heaviness in her heart. She turned away and continued walking.
Walking and walking, she left Inazuma City.
The Grand Narukami Shrine stood on the opposite shore of Mount Yougou, the Sacred Sakura Tree in full bloom across the sky. She walked down the steps.
There was a small village called Konda Village. Yellow painted signs lined both sides of the street, with various fish and dragon flags. The sea breeze blew, making the flags dance, the fish and dragons seeming to swim in the wind. This village was always quiet, with red maple trees planted at its entrance.
In the deepest alley of the red maples, there was an abandoned small shop.
The yellow wooden signboard read:
'Seino Tofu'
Of course, now it was also called 'Pillar General's Tofu'. The young Seino Raimei had opened this shop.
To commemorate this history, the locals had preserved the small shop, with the interior unchanged for five hundred years.
The shop wasn't big, only about five tatami mats in size, with room for just a few tables. It had an open kitchen, where customers ordered at the counter and Seino would cook.
"Before, he used to make tofu there. It was quite delicious, and there were many customers. The shrine maidens often visited too."
"In summer, when there were too many people, he would set up outdoor stalls, offering a few bottles of sake. Everyone would drink and enjoy the summer breeze. It was very lively."
Ei said nothing.
Yae Miko sat crouched on the steps of the tofu shop, resting her chin on her hand. "You never came to eat at his shop, did you? Back then, you were still in Tenshukaku."
She stood up, patting the old lantern placed at the shop entrance, and announced:
"Now, even if you want to eat it, you can't. Seino's Tofu Shop has closed forever."
"I never ate there..." Ei said softly.
"Did you find him then?"
Miko asked: "You went out to sea earlier."
"No,"
Ei said.
"I told you, when this man hides, no one can find him," Miko said in a tone of "I already knew".
"...Only I didn't see him."
Ei said.
"What?" Miko asked.
"You all said your goodbyes to him properly, you all saw him one last time, but only I didn't. I don't even know what he looks like."
Ei said this, trying to maintain a calm tone, but there was still a slight tremor in her voice.
"Only me."
After saying this, she didn't want to look anymore. What was the use of seeing more?
It only added to her loneliness.
Ei was about to return to Tenshukaku. She turned to walk towards Inazuma City, but after a few steps, she heard a sparse sound behind her, and the sound of lighting a fire.
Yae Miko rolled up her sleeves, revealing two smooth forearms. She lit the old lantern at the door with a flint, hanging it under the signboard. Warm light once again fell on this small shop abandoned for hundreds of years.
Ei looked at her.
"Seino's Tofu Shop will never close," she declared.
Miko put her hands on her hips, raising her head, seeming proud as she said:
"The great Guuji is skilled and dexterous. After eating so much, how could I not learn to make tofu? Besides, with this tofu shop closed, the Grand Narukami Shrine has lost many visitors over the years. That won't do."
"Miko...?"
"He promised, he said he would come back. He swore to me."
Miko raised her head, looking at the yellowed old signboard, her eyes slightly red,
"So I'll wait for him here. When he comes back, I'll let him taste the Guuji's 'Fox Tofu'. Whether it's a few years or a hundred years, I'll wait for him."
The fox lady clapped her hands, stepping into the dust-filled shop. Without looking back, she announced: "Seino's Tofu Shop is open today!"
"Auspicious opening!"
Her back trembled slightly.
---
Ei finally returned to Tenshukaku.
The sky had completely darkened.
The empty Tenshukaku was no different from usual, still dead silent and cold. Ancient wall plaster was covered with ivy, a dark and corrosive smell seeping through the cold bricks. Having lived here for a hundred years, Ei had never felt such a strange feeling, thinking this tower was terrifyingly monotonous.
She found that she had nothing to do again.
For a hundred years, she hadn't done anything, just sitting in the Plane of Euthymia. A hundred years had passed in the blink of an eye, but now she couldn't even endure a moment.
Yesterday, she could still focus her mind on the puppet, throwing herself wholeheartedly into work, always avoiding thinking about those messy things, avoiding thinking about Seino Raimei. Sometimes, full concentration was the best numbing.
Now the puppet work had stopped. She stood alone in the empty hall, and that strange feeling began to come over her.
"Ei, you're still conflicted. You're doubting eternity,"
the Shogun said softly. "You can't think like this."
Ei couldn't understand what the Shogun meant to express. Maybe she really had a problem.
The last rays of the setting sun retreated into the grave of the mountains. Ei pushed open the hall doors, passed through the torii gate, walked across the tower, through the field of blooming hydrangeas, wandering aimlessly. Somehow, she came to a side room.
"Lady Shogun." The dismissed servants had returned to Tenshukaku. They saw the noble Raiden Shogun from afar and all lowered their heads, wondering why the Shogun had come to this kitchen area.
"You may withdraw,"
Ei said.
So they withdrew. This side room was not small, similar to Tenshukaku's 'Imperial Kitchen'. It was well-stocked with all kinds of ingredients, and the pool had the freshest caught seafood: squid, sardines, various crabs... There was also a steamer. Five hundred years ago, it was here that Seino Raimei first made milk dango for her.
Ei shook her head lightly.
This damned mortal.
His spirit lingered.
Even when not deliberately thinking of him, he was everywhere.
She needed to calm down. She needed to quiet her heart. Ei thought of Yae again, that fox who said she would open a tofu shop. Ei didn't quite understand her thinking.
But strangely, she felt a bit envious.
Grilled sardines.
Maybe she could try to make them. It didn't sound too difficult.
She was too late in making the puppet, maybe she could try making this.
A moment later.
Ei stared at the burnt black sardines, hesitating. She took a bite.
...
In the cold, gloomy tower, she said:
"It tastes awful."
"It really tastes awful..." she sighed softly.
Ei leaned against the wall, her head lowered.
This was the last straw of emotion.
She couldn't do anything.
What kind of 'god' was she...?
She couldn't save Seino Raimei's life, she didn't make the puppet in time, she couldn't find him in the vast sea... She couldn't even make his favorite dish, she couldn't even shed a tear for Seino Raimei.
She had forgotten how to cry.
So useless, so useless... she murmured softly.
Everyone had seen him, except her.
At this moment, the sound of a visitor came from outside Tenshukaku again.
It was the young lady of the Kamisato family. Kamisato Ayaka took a light breath,
"Lady Raiden, the Pillar General has a letter... he entrusted me to give it to you."