For days, Reisen Riou and Bona commandeered a small boat, circling Inazuma's seas, letting Bona relive his youth spent charting these waters. Nostalgia sated, they returned to Ritou, and Bona, after a brief recovery in Sumeru, planned to sail to Fontaine—rumor had it the waters there preserved his last living friend. Reisen Riou, his brief respite over, trudged back to Tenshukaku.
"You're finally here!" Raiden Makoto's eyes gleamed, shoving a pile of documents his way. "Get to work."
"What about them?" Reisen Riou nodded at the clerks slaving over scrolls, their faces pale with dread.
"Useless," Makoto scoffed, waving them off. "They've got skill but won't use it."
Reisen Riou settled onto the tatami, flipping through papers. "They're not incapable—just scared. High enough already, they think doing more means more mistakes. No upward mobility with me in the way."
Makoto's face soured, knowing the truth. Bureaucratic inertia had set in.
"There's a fix," he said, signing a document with a flourish. "Give them oversight duties. Send inspectors to ensure smooth governance. Some tasks—urgent ones—lag too much. Inspectors can track progress and report back."
"Makes sense," Makoto nodded. "But building an inspection system takes time. Test it in a few spots first."
"Like this," Reisen Riou said, holding up a request. "Sumeru scholars want imported spices, citing acclimation issues. Not a big deal, but urgent. Imports aren't cheap outside Ritou, and many scholars likely suffer in silence. Their health ties to Inazuma's growth."
"Solution?" Makoto asked.
"Monthly allotments of Sumeru spices and specialties to ease their transition. Trust the body's adaptability," he said. "Simple."
Makoto blinked, expecting a grander scheme. "That's it? Cheap, too—just three thousand portions, a few merchant ship holds."
"Simple but effective," Reisen Riou grinned, diving back into the pile.
"The Watatsumi Sumeru scholar team's still stuck in Ritou?" he asked.
"Yeah," Makoto sighed, exasperated. Most scholars had reached their posts, even Tsurumi Island's, but the elite thirty-person team for Watatsumi stalled. A third, from wealthy families, had gathered intel on Watatsumi's unrest. Wary of the Shogunate and Coral Palace's protection promises, they demanded elite Gilded Brigade escorts—over a dozen, all above LV30+, prime-aged, alchemically enhanced, wielding Sumeru's Eremite weapons. Hired by the scholars or their families, not Inazuma, their fees dwarfed official subsidies. These scholars were bankrolling Inazuma's development, asking no supplies in return—speechless generosity.
After a grueling day, Reisen Riou soaked in Yujou Bathhouse's double suite, steam curling around him and Ei. Yae Miko's yipping antics—darting between them—killed any chance of intimacy, but her presence sharpened their focus. Over the bubbling water, they plotted: bolster mid-to-high-tier fighters (LV50+ to LV70, pre-breakthrough) and top-tier ones (LV70+), training Vision-wielders and youkai to swell the Shogunate's general ranks.
"How?" Ei asked, splashing Miko playfully.
"Conscription," Reisen Riou said. "Three-year mandatory training, no pay—just lodging and food. The Shogunate's funds are tight." Risks abounded—resentment, desertion—but needs outweighed ideals.
North Continent intelligence had reached him: Khaenri'ah's archaeologists were probing global ruins without sovereign consent, accompanied by massive humanoid automatons. Reisen Riou sensed Khaenri'ah's Great Archaeological Era looming. He didn't know how long they'd need to process their findings, but time was short. Inazuma's Aranara villages, built atop ruins, were at stake—he wouldn't abandon them.