"No" Sara shook her head. "I was curious about seeing the Radiant Knight in the flesh, but I got what I wanted".
Sara immediately knew who Jean was, she was exactly as Kenshin described her to be. She had only seen be courteous towards everyone with a warm smile, and while she couldn't talk about her personality, she knew that would be the same kind of person the book dedicated to her depicted her to be.
"Hmm" Frederica nodded in appreciation for Sara's honesty. "Then you should come with me. I am going to solve all of Kenshin's romantic problems".
"W-What? Why? How?" there were too many questions in the sentence for Sara to choose one.
"Because my daughter is involved of course" answered Frederica with a voice that described how obvious she thought it was. "Come back here with someone to help you in an hour".
Sara could only watch dumbfoundedly how this woman went away looking for more 'victims' for her to beckon here. But said woman came back.
"I need you to tell me other women here who are affected by this" Frederica said with a stern expression. She knew some, but not all.
"Eeh...." Sara drawled, trying to accelerate her thought process to understand what was happening. But realizing what this woman wanted, she thought of someone she had been suspicious of for a while. "You might be interested in a woman with pink hair. The only one in Inazuma in fact, but she is in the Shrine".
"Where is the Shrine?" Frederica asked, thinking about what she knew about a pink woman from the letters she had intercepted.
"There" Sara pointed at the only mountain on Narukami Island.
Frederica nodded, grabbed Jean who had a dismayed expression, and left for the Shrine.
But now Sara had a dilemma.
Who could she get to help her with this?
Her adoptive father had holed himself up a month ago after seeing his beliefs crumble in front of his eyes, and her biological parents were long dead.
Asking for help to Yae was, obviously, the worst decision she could make.
She didn't have anyone.
"What are you up to?" asked Ayato with another drink in his hand.
"You will do" said Sara with a firm expression.
"??" Ayato only came to ask why she had such a dark face, but he got roped into something.
Again.
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"Mother please" a tearful Jean asked for mercy from her mother.
"Nope. Now shut up and be ready to fight" Frederica had no mercy, as usual.
After climbing the Shrine, a miko came to receive them. She had brown long hair and dark eyes.
"What do you need from the Shrine" Miyuki politely asked.
"I want to talk with a woman with pink hair" Frederica directly said, and Miyuki nodded.
"I will call for her".
Miyuki went directly to Yae's room and knocked. After hearing Yae's permission, she entered the room and saw Yae writing her book.
"There are 2 women asking for you, Guuji-sama" Miyuki said with a bow, wondering what kind of calamity was going to befall Inazuma this time.
"Reject them, I'm busy now" Yae was in the middle of an important scene, and didn't want to stop now, as she knew that the festival would start in a few hours by the time everyone arrived.
"One of them is the Radiant Knight" Miyuki, like a super-miko, knew everything.
"Hmm?" Yae was suddenly interested. She wondered who Jean was, and what could have made Kenshin dedicate such a good book to her. "Let them enter".
"Yes" Miyuki said, bowing and closing the door to Yae's room.
After a minute, a blonde woman with short air opened the room and entered.
"I come on behalf of my daughter" said Frederica, dragging Jean and making her sit on the floor beside her.
Jean saw a very beautiful pink-haired woman, and knew she was the person who took care of Kenshin for all his life. But...what were they doing here?
"What does the mother of the Radiant Knight want with me?" asked Yae with a teasing smile.
"I want you to come into that dock in an hour with one person to help you" Frederica said directly. She was damn proud of being a person that didn't fly around a topic.
"What do I need help for?" asked a curious Yae, looking at the embarrassed Jean.
"I am telling everyone in this forgotten place that may have an inkling of affection for Kenshin to come there" Frederica making Jean's faceplant in the ground.
"What are you telling me that then?" asked Yae with a curious look. She didn't love Kenshin. Not at all. Right?
"Then it's better for my daughter, one less opponent. Sorry to waste your time" Frederica said standing up, and Jean followed her. "A girl with black short hair told us your identity, so we came here. See Jean? Sometimes you need to be direct".
"Mother" Jean sighed following her mother and leaving the room. "I already told that this is something Kenshin needs to say, and this whole thing is not something someone else needs to be involved."
Yae heard them bickering and frowned.
She didn't know why, but she felt really uncomfortable hearing that they were going to have some kind of meeting, and she wasn't going to be there.
Despite all the pranks Kenshin had done over the years, she had a great relationship with him.
He had helped her start what she now considered to be her hobby, writing. She found a lot of pleasure and amusement in writing her own characters, and a world that she alone could modify, and have the different adventures she wanted them to have.
She saw how he was able what she thought was impossible, help Guizhong live a happy life again with a body of her own, and even after losing his sight, he didn't regret it.
But what impacted her the most was how Kenshin promised to help her dear friend, because it showed how far he would go for her. She made that request in a moment of weakness, when she had no right to, but even then Kenshin nodded.
And, lo and behold, he did it. He risked his life and from what she heard from Ei, his sanity to revive Makoto.
Now she was able to laugh again with Ei, like all those hundreds of years ago. That was something she didn't dare to dream about.
'Maybe I should be in that meeting' thought Yae with a pensive frown. 'Only to see that everything goes well'.
Miyuki who saw all this, just sighed.
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"Mom, what are you doing?" Jean asked Frederica, who was looking around for the woman her daughter described as Guizhong.
"Looking for that woman, the one you said left Mondstadt with Kenshin. Is she the one?" Frederica asked, pointing at a woman who wore an attire from Liyue.
"No, I haven't seen her in my life" Jean shook her head.
"Then we will go and talk with her" Frederica nodded, before walking to the woman in question.
"Why!?" Jean quickly followed her mother, only to see that she didn't cause an international problem, or it would be her problem later as the Acting Grand Master.
"She might know. Excuse me" Frederica said to the surprised woman. "Do you know a woman from Liyue called Guizhong?".
"Hmm, this one knows" Cloud Retainer calmly answered, and looking at Jean she quickly knew her identity. "Guizhong, someone is looking for you" she said, and a wave traveled through the air. Such was the power of the Adeptus arts.
"Did you call for me?" Guizhong arrived with a meat skewer in her hand. "Oh, Jean, it's good to see you" she effusively greeted Jean, who nodded with a smile.
"You can greet each other later. Focus Jean, we are in the middle of a mission" Frederica chastised her foolish daughter. "You are Guizhong right? I'm going to solve all of Kenshin's romantic problems at once, but I need to know who is involved".
"Teacher, where is Kenshin?" Shenhe arrived at the exact time her teacher didn't want her to.
"You are looking for Kenshin?" asked Frederica, smelling blood in the air.
"Yes" Shenhe nodded with her blank expression.
"No, she isn't" Cloud Retainer immediately said, grabbing Shenhe's wrist and leaving. Had she known this blonde woman wanted to be involved with that pile of shit, she wouldn't have spoken with her.
"I know where Kenshin will be" said Frederica with a devious smile. "He will be here in an hour. Do you know someone else who may be interested in where he is?".
"Yes" said Shenhe, that simply by not moving rendered Clour Retainer unable to drag her.
"Can you tell me who?" Frederica knew this girl wasn't normal.
"I don't know her name" Shenhe said while shaking her head.
"It's a Fatui called Arlecchino" sighed Guizhong, who under the betrayed gaze of Cloud Retainer, spoke. "This is something that should be solved as early as possible Xuanyun. And Shenhe is already too deep into this to leave just like that".
"Someone called me?" said the calm voice of Arlecchino, who had been listening since a while ago. She just waited for the best moment to appear.
"Well, you probably already know" Frederica dismissed her with a look. "You listened to our conversation after all".
"That I did" Arlecchino unashamedly nodded. "But I want to know what are you trying to do. I have a 'deal' of sorts with this girl, and we may have to act separately for now".
"A deal..." Frederica mused, before understanding what kind of deal she was talking about. "How about turning your deal into an alliance with my daughter?"
"It is reassuring to have the Radiant Knight on our side" Arlecchino nodded without changing her face.
"We will be there" Signora appeared, making Frederica and Jean frown, as they had seen this woman in Mondstadt. "Don't glare at me like that, I fear I will disappear under the Radiant Knight's 'Holy Smite' after all".
Jean blushed hearing that. The 'Holy Smite' was the character's final move.
"And I am here only to accompany my coworker" Signora added with a mocking smile directed to Arlecchino. She was here to ensure that Arlecchino spent 'all her effort' in bringing Kenshin back to Snezhnaya.
"Someone else I may have missed?" Frederica asked the big group in front of her, mainly Guizhong.
"If you got Yae and Sara, then it's all. At least from what I know" said Guizhong, trying to find another possible candidate to participate in this show.
"So Yae, Sara, Shenhe, Fatui lady and my daughter" Frederica said with a pondering look. "Honestly, I expected more".
"Why did you say that?" asked a horrified Guizhong. "Now more girls will start to appear! I know a lot of girls from Mondstadt had their eyes on Kenshin".
"That's not acceptable" Frederica was very clear about that. "I don't care how many women are outside Mondstadt, but only my daughter will represent Mondstadt".
"Then the Knave will be the one from Snezhnaya" Signora said with a smirk.
"Then, Shenhe from Liyue" Cloud Retainer said with a firm expression. If Shenhe was on board with this lunacy, she would be the only girl from Liyue.
"Then the ones who are screwed are Yae and Sara" mused Frederica. They will have to compete between them. "Well, not from Mondstadt, not my problem".
.
.
.
.
And an hour passed.