Raiden Ei's sudden remark left Ye Xi utterly stumped.
Who, having only just met someone, comes straight out and asks whether they can tag along home with them?
Just what on earth had that wretched fox said to Raiden Ei? To have hoodwinked the dignified Raiden Shogun into a state like this!?
Curious as he was, he naturally didn't mind having a few more girls at home.
The place was big enough anyway—no fear of not having room.
So he nodded. "Welcome, welcome! There are lots of people at home; it's quite lively."
In truth, it really didn't matter if Raiden Ei came along—just so long as she didn't do the cooking.
Hearing Ye Xi agree, Raiden Ei was filled with delight.
From now on, she could eat sweet treats to her heart's content!
Cake freedom! Dessert freedom!
The mere thought of the life to come made her itch to head home with Ye Xi right away!
She pressed on, "So how do we get back?"
"How about I open a portal here in your Plane of Euthymia?"
Ye Xi guessed that the wretched fox had already told Raiden Ei all about the portals.
Still, this was the Plane of Euthymia—the Raiden Shogun's private boudoir.
To open a portal here, he really ought to ask Raiden Ei's permission first.
He had no desire to repeat the awkward incident with Beidou earlier today.
What if Raiden Ei also slept in the nude?
Then, were he to blunder through by accident and catch sight of something he shouldn't...
he'd most likely end up chased down and cut apart by Raiden Ei's Musou no Hitotachi.
Raiden Ei nodded. "Open it, open it!"
She was rather looking forward to seeing just what Ye Xi's portal looked like.
Actually, she could use portals too, opening a doorway by means of the unique power of the Electro Archon's might.
She wanted to see what difference there was between the two kinds of portals.
At her words, Ye Xi used the Abyss Core to conjure a wall on the broad plaza.
Then he employed the skill [Space Portal].
The phantom outline of a great door appeared upon the wall.
An instant later, the phantom gradually solidified, turning into a genuine, honest-to-goodness door.
A look of astonishment slowly spread across Raiden Ei's little face.
She discovered that this portal had already completed a spatial linkage with another space.
And this connection was, astonishingly, in a sustained state!
One had to understand—the portals she opened could only connect for a single instant before closing again.
Maintaining such a connection consumed a great deal of power!
Yet Ye Xi could actually sustain it indefinitely!
If that was the case, then there were many more such doors in existence—just as she'd heard from Yae Miko a moment ago.
Just how colossal a power would it take to maintain the connection of so many doors? She could scarcely even imagine it.
In no time at all, Ye Xi had finished constructing the portal.
"There. Now, when you push the door open, you can step right into my Serenitea Pot."
"Would you like to take a look first? I can arrange a room for you."
"Or you could wait until we've left and go have a look on your own."
Raiden Ei hurriedly shook her head. "I... I'm not very good at dealing with other people...."
"Pfft...."
Yae Miko couldn't help but burst out laughing, covering her little mouth as she teased, "Indeed—after all, our dear Lord Ei is a shy, introverted little sister who can't socialize at all!"
"Hmm?"
Raiden Ei's brows knit slightly, the look she shot at Yae Miko full of sharp menace.
As if, in the very next moment, she might pick up a slipper.
Yae Miko wasn't the least bit flustered; with a quick dart she ducked behind Ye Xi and put on a pitiful air. "Aiya! Master, Her Excellency the Shogun is being mean to me—you simply must stand up for me~"
At the sight, Ye Xi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Who could have imagined that the sovereign of Inazuma—a God, and a kin of God—would actually behave like this at home!
"All right, all right, let me take Ei home for a look first. We've still got things arranged for later, haven't we?"
Having only just arrived in Inazuma, he still needed to discuss his plans for Inazuma with its leaders.
His intention was to gather the three great Commissions together and hold a meeting.
Yae Miko settled down, and Raiden Ei, ever so obediently, stopped giving the wretched fox any more grief.
Seeing the two of them so well-behaved, Ye Xi was quite pleased.
He pulled open the portal's great door, and within appeared a hazy "surface of water."
Ye Xi led the way through.
The watery surface rippled outward, ring upon ring.
Seeing this, Raiden Ei followed behind, and the moment she passed through the door, she immediately beheld a sky as clear and blue as freshly washed silk, forested hills shaded with green, and verdant, lush lawns.
"Mmm...."
A flash of astonishment appeared in Raiden Ei's beautiful eyes.
Though she had long known that the Adepti's grotto-heavens and blessed lands were remarkable, wasn't the scenery before her simply too magnificent?
It was vastly, vastly superior to her own Plane of Euthymia!
With surroundings this fine, her mood lifted right along with them.
"How about it, Ei?"
"Pretty nice here, isn't it?"
Hearing Yae Miko's inquiry beside her ear, she nodded almost reflexively.
Seeing that Raiden Ei had taken the bait, Yae Miko said with a smile, "Let's go inside and have a look—there's bound to be something that'll interest you even more."
"And it's something even more fascinating than light novels, you know~"
The instant these words were out, Raiden Ei's eyes positively lit up!
One had to understand—it was only recently that she'd been introduced to light novels.
At first she'd found them rather baffling, but she'd very quickly become hopelessly engrossed.
And now, hearing Yae Miko say there was something even more interesting than light novels, her curiosity was instantly piqued.
"Ye Xi, let's hurry inside and take a look!"
"Eh? Mm, let's go."
Seeing Raiden Ei so full of eager enthusiasm, Ye Xi led the way with a smile.
No sooner had they reached the courtyard than a little head poked out from inside the doorway.
"Master? You're back."
Dunyarzad was washing vegetables, getting ready to make lunch.
Spotting Raiden Ei at Ye Xi's side, Dunyarzad gave a start. "You... you're that God from Inazuma!?"
The last time in Sumeru, Raiden Ei and several other Gods had all visited the Ye Family Compound, and Dunyarzad had met them.
Because Paimon had let it slip back then, she and Dehya had guessed at the Gods' identities.
So the moment she saw Raiden Ei, she recognized her at once.
Naturally, Raiden Ei remembered Dunyarzad too.
It was only that, being greeted so abruptly, she felt a little at a loss.
Seeing this, Ye Xi reached out and took hold of Dunyarzad's little hand. "Zaydie, come with me a moment."
"Eh!?"
Though they were already an old married couple, being suddenly taken by the hand like this still made her blush a little.
Reaching a corner of the wall, Ye Xi leaned close to Dunyarzad's ear and whispered, "Zaydie, there's something I'm entrusting to you."
"That girl may be the Electro Archon, but Raiden Ei is very introverted—she's been shut away at home for over five hundred years and has hardly spoken to anyone."
"F-five hundred years!"
Dunyarzad was stunned.
She simply couldn't imagine it—holed up at home alone, not speaking to a soul for five hundred years. What would that turn a person into!
As for being introverted, was she herself any different?
As a child, because of Eleazar, she too had stayed cooped up at home all day, never having made any friends.
After a dozen or so years of that, she'd already grown withdrawn—and yet Raiden Ei had endured it for five hundred!
Ye Xi nodded. "So, I'm hoping you and everyone else can take the initiative to chat with her, to talk to her boldly."
"Even if she shrinks back a little, I hope you'll all pay her that much more attention."
Ordinarily, Raiden Ei was like some country bumpkin of a girl, all alone and on her own.
Carrying on this way, she'd have no way of ever fitting into this family.
Taking this into account, Ye Xi simply had to enlist his own wives' help.
Dunyarzad hurriedly nodded like a chick pecking at grain. "I understand, Master! I know exactly how that feels!"
Had it not been for Dehya back then, she would surely have ended up just like Raiden Ei was now.
Dehya's warmth, together with the care of the other elder and younger sisters at home, had now completely drawn her out of her shell.
She believed that, so long as everyone worked at it together, they could surely change Raiden Ei too!
Seeing Dunyarzad so wholeheartedly on board, Ye Xi reached out, gathered her into his arms, and hoisted her right up into the air for a lift-up.
"Eh!"
Dunyarzad jumped in fright, and with a reddened face she gave Ye Xi a little smack. "Meanie~ Master, you scared me!"
Ye Xi laughed and gave Dunyarzad's pert little bottom a pinch, asking, "How come you're the only one at home?"
"The Traveler went to Aaru Village to set up a portal, and Dehya said she wanted to take Alusha along to go play in the desert."
"They'll be back with Candace in a little while!"
"I'm just preparing lunch right now!"
Feeling the strange sensation coursing through her body, Dunyarzad's pretty face flushed crimson, yet she played along very willingly.
Ye Xi nodded. "Then I'll show Ei around first. When Dehya and the others get back, pass along my instructions to them."
"Mm!"
With that said, Ye Xi walked back out with Dunyarzad and extended an invitation. "Her Excellency the Shogun, come on in and take a look."
Raiden Ei stepped eagerly through the door.
And Yae Miko, catching sight of Dunyarzad's flushed complexion, immediately laughed teasingly. "Master, your little hands aren't exactly clean, are they~"
"Off with you, off with you—none of your business."
Ye Xi urged her to hurry inside.
Dunyarzad was his wife, after all—was a casual hug and embrace really anything out of the ordinary?
Still, that one remark from Yae Miko left Dunyarzad thoroughly flustered and shy.
Entering the house, the first thing one saw was the living room.
An enormous television set sat before them, still playing the anime that Klee hadn't finished watching earlier.
Raiden Ei was instantly captivated.
She knew what films were.
Over in Fontaine they'd invented the Kamera, and naturally also the video camera, capable of recording moving images.
Later on, some directors had filmed movies, which had spread to the various nations.
But as for anime—this was Raiden Ei's very first time watching any!
Yae Miko said with a smile, "I've watched several of these anime—the stories are far more interesting than even the light novels from the Yae Publishing House!"
"What's more, there's sound and there's picture—it's especially wonderful to watch!"
"With this around, who'd still bother reading light novels~"
Hearing the fox's words, Raiden Ei nodded again and again.
She knew all too well the hardships of reading novels!
Reading novels was slow, and very tiring on the eyes.
Lying hunched over a book would wear out your body.
But watching anime was an entirely different matter!
Lying down, sitting up, watching however you pleased—it simply couldn't get any more delightful!
On this point alone, Raiden Ei had already fallen in love with this place!
At that moment, Raiden Ei picked up a game console from the table off to the side.
That's right.
This was something Ye Xi had made with the Abyss Core.
He'd played quite a few games before, used those memories to fashion game discs, and then knocking together an Xbox or a PS5 or the like was a trivial matter.
Once the game console was made, the girls could play a round or two whenever they were bored!
Of course, it would be even better if the system could hand out some games!
He'd had such thoughts before.
Off to the side.
Raiden Ei picked up a game controller and gave it a try, and her eyes positively shone with light.
This place was simply a paradise for a shut-in girl!
"I... I want to live here!"
Ye Xi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
The tour hadn't even begun, and Her Excellency the Shogun had already fallen to the living room?
Then the hot springs out back, the cozy warmth of the bedrooms, the convenient furniture....
Wouldn't all those novel, handy things be rendered meaningless?
Seeing that Raiden Ei had taken the bait, Yae Miko hurriedly and with a smile leaned in close to Raiden Ei's ear and murmured softly, "Ei, did you know? If you want to live here forever, you'll have to become one of Ye Xi's little wives."
"As for me, I'm merely a guest here, you see."
"Who knows—in a couple of days I might just be thrown out."
"Eh!?"
Raiden Ei was momentarily dazed, but very soon she asked with perfect solemnity, "Then I'll be his little wife!"
"Pffft——"
Yae Miko burst out laughing and murmured, "What an easy Shogun to win over she is~"
...
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