"I did not cry and throw a tantrum!"
In front of so many people, to claim she had wept and wailed—Ei's pride simply couldn't take it.
She was not that kind of person.
No matter the situation, even in the darkest days of the Archon War, she had never shed a tear.
The only time she had ever wept was when Makoto had left her side.
"I have evidence…"
Su Ran produced a video camera.
Slash!
The device was instantly cleaved in two by Ei's blade.
"…Now I don't."
At this point, her trust in him had reached an almost irreversible degree.
Even if she was certain of her own memory, if Su Ran denied it, she would believe him over herself.
"You're sure about that?"
Ei frowned, scrutinizing him.
And yet, she wasn't entirely sure.
For unless this man spoke first, she dared not even believe in herself.
This dream, this return… both had brought her more happiness than she could have ever hoped.
"Alright, alright. So you've left behind a little blackmail material—what's wrong with that?"
Makoto held back her younger sister, who looked ready to strike again.
"What's the harm in letting someone hold a little leverage over you?
At least it creates a connection.
If everything is clean and spotless, when that person leaves, there'll be nothing tying them to you."
Makoto had grown after centuries of solitude.
She no longer treated Ei as an external brain to think for her.
And she understood why Su Ran was someone worth keeping.
Though their first meeting had been tangled in misunderstandings, perhaps she truly had considered entrusting herself—and Ei—to him.
That way, Ei would have no worries for the future.
Even Ei herself now felt that if Su Ran remained, this eternity could finally be protected.
"But didn't he say gods can't leave the dream?"
Inazuma was only so large.
Where else could he go?
Surely, he would have to remain in Tenshukaku.
"Exactly. Aside from the two of us sisters, are there really any other gods here?"
Makoto sighed.
The gods of Teyvat were only of two kinds: the native archons, and the maintainers from Celestia.
How could Su Ran possibly count as one of them?
"…He isn't?"
Ei wavered, unable to accept it fully.
The thought was too absurd.
"Lord Su Ran isn't a god?"
Ayaka, who had been calling him "my lord" day after day, was even more shaken.
He had defeated the Shogun, created this dreamscape.
How could that not be the work of a god?
Unbelievable—utterly beyond belief.
"Perhaps Lady Makoto's words are not entirely baseless,"
Yae Miko mused thoughtfully.
"As you see…" Su Ran spread his arms wide.
"I am human."
"Uh… I'd still rather believe you're a god,"
Yae Miko said at once, withdrawing her own line of thought.
Better he be a god than a human— if he were just human, she'd sooner eat every beam in Tenshukaku.
"At least, I used to be human."
Before his life traits had been altered, he had indeed been a man.
But now, save for his outward form, little humanity remained.
"If you're not a god," Ei pressed, "then when you said not even gods can leave the dream— that rule doesn't apply to you, does it?"
A flicker of panic crossed her heart.
She knew Su Ran was… special.
The only one with such privileges.
And what if one of those privileges was the freedom to enter and leave this dream?
"Rules are meant to bind others, not oneself," Su Ran said coolly.
"Don't tell me even this simple truth eludes you?"
Like the Vision Hunt Decree and the Sakoku Decree— rules enforced by the Shogunate at the Fatui's urging.
Did those rules ever bind the Fatui?
No.
The ones who suffered were Inazuma's people.
"You can't leave!"
Ei's hand clamped around his arm like an iron shackle.
"If you stay, I will grant all your requests!"
Even marriage—such a notion no longer made her flinch.
This dream belonged to Su Ran.
She didn't understand it, and for that very reason, she couldn't let him go.
She admitted it—she had begun to depend on him.
"Aren't you afraid I'll push my luck?"
"Not afraid!"
There was nothing left that could frighten her.
"Oh? Then I want your sister, Makoto."
"That's not happening!"
Her refusal came instantly, slapping her own words down without hesitation.
A burning shame flushed across her face.
"Anything but her!"
Such was Makoto's place in her heart— irreplaceable, untouchable.
"And what happened to 'I'll agree to all your demands'?
What happened to 'I'm not afraid of you pushing your luck'?
Sounds like you're afraid to me."
Su Ran pried at her fingers, but her grip was unyielding.
"You know what they say—girls are allowed to change their minds.
Anything but Makoto!"
Makoto was her reverse scale.
Better to lose the dream itself than let her sister fall into Su Ran's hands.
If those two ever ended up together… someone would surely end up dead.
She would sooner take Su Ran herself.
"Then… do you agree to let me leave the dream?"
"You—!"
Ei's other hand curled into a fist, poised to strike.
"What, are you going to hit me now?"
Her clenched fist hovered, trembling, unable to fall.
"…That won't do either. Pick another."
Once again, Ei slapped her own face with her own words.
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