Though it was Yae Miko's first time, she was hardly an ordinary person.
It did not take long before the lost, unfocused look faded from her eyes.
She lay against Ryen's chest with an expression of radiant, languid pleasure, murmuring softly to herself, her gaze full of a foxlike allure that had nowhere left to go but outward.
Just as Ryen had suspected: the Yae Miko of before, enchanting as she already was, had never fully opened the particular charm that belonged to a celestial fox.
Now she had received her final evolution. Every movement, every subtle shift of expression, carried a natural, effortless seductiveness that had not been there before.
Soul-stirring.
Her long, fluffy tail swayed gently, drifting across Ryen's leg with what seemed like complete innocence.
The sensation was deeply distracting.
After some time, Ryen grabbed her tail with one hand.
"Stop that," he said with mock exasperation. "Or I won't be able to hold back."
Yae Miko blinked at him with an expression of pure, wide-eyed innocence.
"Swaying a tail is simply instinct. Besides, is there really anything you need to hold back from me? I'm not going to stop you."
Ryen curled his lip.
"Swaying the tail is instinct for canines, surely?"
"..."
Yae Miko's expression froze. She turned to look at him with a glare of thoroughly wounded indignation.
"How can you be so completely unromantic!"
"Are you suggesting foxes are not canines?"
Ryen spread his hands with an amused smile.
"Hmph!"
Yae Miko turned her head away and pointedly retracted her tail.
Seeing that she was genuinely a little annoyed, Ryen pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her temple.
"How could my Miko possibly be a canine. I was only teasing."
Yae Miko made a small sound of displeasure. If anyone else had dared suggest that foxes were canines, she would have made sure they got a very personal demonstration of what a celestial fox's true form looked like.
But Ryen...
One look at him, and everything inside her went soft.
All she wanted was to curl up in his arms and be pampered.
She had never imagined, not once in her long life, that she would ever fall in love with someone.
When it finally happened, she discovered the truth of it: it was nothing like the light novels. Not as dramatic. Not as moving in the ways she had written about.
But it was more perfect than anything words had ever managed to describe.
An indescribable fluttering of the heart.
Just hearing his name was enough to make something tremble inside her.
"Ryen..."
Yae Miko wound her arms around him sweetly, pressing her cheek against his chest.
"I'm here. What is it?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to say your name."
Ryen gave a quiet nod of confirmation.
Yae Miko looked at him with a knowing, mischievous gleam.
"Ryen! I'm going to call your name. Do you dare answer?"
"Why wouldn't I dare?"
"Daddy~"
"Hss..."
Ryen drew a sharp breath. He looked at Yae Miko, all foxlike allure and self-satisfaction, and felt his freshly settled forces stirring with considerable instability.
That stirring was, naturally, felt immediately by Yae Miko, who was still providing those forces with their accommodations.
Her expression changed. She looked at him with an injured air.
"It hurts..."
Ryen rolled his eyes and patted her.
"You know it hurts and you still say things like that."
"I just wanted to make you happy."
Yae Miko pouted and fixed him with a reproachful look.
"I've been very happy this whole time. Especially when you're with me."
Ryen smiled. Something softened in Yae Miko's chest, and she decided not to provoke him further.
She was genuinely reaching her limit.
Her celestial fox constitution was, certainly, far beyond that of an ordinary person. Among Ryen's many partners, only Guizhong and Ganyu could be compared to Yae Miko in terms of physical endurance.
But one also had to account for Ryen's constitution.
The man had, after all, punched a hole in space with his bare fist.
The two of them sat quietly through the peaceful afternoon, watching cherry blossoms drift and sway above them, scattering in slow spirals down across the land of Narukami Island.
Yae Miko finally understood why Ganyu always spoke of this with such longing in her eyes.
She couldn't blame her. It really was wonderful beyond measure.
For someone like Yae Miko, who had always pursued life's pleasures wherever they were to be found, there was nothing in the world more worth being happy about than this.
"Ryen, we'll be heading back tomorrow, won't we?"
Yae Miko half-closed her eyes and asked softly, her head pressed firmly against his chest.
"More or less. Of all Inazuma's scenery, Narukami Island is the finest."
"My main reason for coming this time was to see the cherry blossoms. I had heard the Sacred Sakura of Inazuma was extraordinary."
"The wind passes through, and they fall in drifts across the whole island, like a goddess of blossoms scattering pink blessings over Inazuma."
"Seeing it in person, it hasn't disappointed. You can only understand what this sight truly is when you're standing beneath it."
Ryen looked up at the Sacred Sakura overhead with quiet feeling.
The scenery was genuinely the primary reason.
But there was another thought as well.
He wanted to understand what relationship existed between the Sacred Sakura and Istaroth.
The Lord of Time, that figure, what exactly was she capable of? What was her identity? How had she managed to influence the flow of time in this world while under the oversight of the Imaginary Tree?
When Ryen had first arrived he hadn't understood what that implied. It was only after obtaining Imaginary energy of his own that he began to grasp it.
It was, by any measure, impossible.
His own Imaginary energy was vanishingly small compared to the Imaginary Tree itself. Barely detectable in comparison.
But it was still a fundamental power derived from the Imaginary Tree's own source.
Within the Tree-and-Sea universe, there was no shortage of people who possessed what could be called Imaginary energy.
But at most, that could be described as a power of the Imaginary attribute.
If such power was the grandchild, then what Ryen carried was the grandfather.
What exactly had Istaroth been capable of, that she could reverse the flow of time in Teyvat? That was an act of trampling directly over the Imaginary Tree's own rules.
And yet, looking carefully, Ryen could detect a genuine connection between the Sacred Sakura and the ley lines.
Beyond that, not a single trace of any other remaining power.
Absurd.
That was the only word for it.
If his curiosity about Istaroth and her circle ran any higher, he would have been making a trip to Khaenri'ah's ruins or the Everwinter region to investigate.
But his interest in Istaroth, while present, was not particularly high.
Honestly, it did not compare to his interest in Yae Miko's tail.
Yae Miko was not really listening to whatever he was saying. She was simply enjoying the feeling of pressing her head against the chest of the person she loved and feeling the resonance of his voice through his ribs.
That steady rhythm made her feel safe and warm in a way nothing else did.
After some time, Ryen gave her a gentle pat.
"We should get presentable. Makoto and Ei should be on their way."
Yae Miko made a sound of reluctant disagreement and pushed herself upright.
Separating herself from the situation with some difficulty, and a rather notable sound that emerged from the process, she looked down at herself for a moment, blinked, and then smiled with great satisfaction.
"My dear, the Grand Narukami Shrine's head priest happens to offer a special cleaning service. Would you like to avail yourself of it?"
"Special? How special?"
Ryen watched her with an amused expression as she made her way lower.
He lightly stroked her ears as she worked, and remarked with genuine feeling:
"Very special indeed. Although I have to ask: has it occurred to you that doing this might make me considerably more interested afterward?"
The two of them looked at each other and smiled. A scene that defied description managed, somehow, to feel rather warm.
Some time later, the two of them had finally made themselves presentable.
Whatever damage the earlier battle had left on the surroundings had been fully restored through Ryen's power, leaving no trace.
As though receiving some signal from Yae Miko, the shrine maidens finally led Ningguang and the others to the Sacred Sakura.
Seeing the expression Yae Miko was wearing, Ningguang said with mild exasperation:
"Done at last? We were beginning to think you'd still be at it tonight."
Ryen showed no embarrassment whatsoever at being seen through.
"I would have liked to, but it was Miko's first time. One has to be gentle."
"I didn't notice you being particularly gentle with me!"
Guizhong stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him indignantly.
It had also been her first time then, and Ryen had nearly put her in the ground. How had he suddenly learned restraint for Yae Miko?
Then again, looking at it from another angle, it was clearly because Ryen found her more irresistible than the rest.
For no clear reason, Guizhong found herself feeling rather proud.
"Finished sightseeing?"
Ryen invited everyone to sit around him with the ease of someone in his own home.
From a certain perspective, this place did now belong to him.
"Of all Inazuma's scenery, eight parts in ten belong to Narukami Island. Of all Narukami Island's scenery, nine parts in ten belong to Mt. Yougou."
Ganyu looked up at the Sacred Sakura with quiet wonder.
"That saying really is apt. Miko, living here every day, I imagine your spirits are always high."
Yae Miko blinked and smiled lightly.
"Compared to all of this, I still prefer being at Ryen's side."
Everyone smiled in shared understanding. Light conversation drifted on for a while before a peal of thunder broke overhead and Makoto and Ei stepped quietly into view before them.
From Makoto's expression, something good had clearly happened.
"What were you all talking about?"
Hu Tao tilted her head with a cheerful grin.
"The scenery of Mt. Yougou. It really is beautiful here!"
Makoto pressed her lips together in a small smile.
"The Sacred Sakura is rooted on Mt. Yougou. The Sacred Sakura is Inazuma's divine tree, which makes Mt. Yougou Inazuma's sacred mountain. It seems everyone has found Inazuma's scenery to their liking."
Ryen glanced at Makoto.
"You look pleased. Good news?"
At that, Makoto gave a rare, slightly playful blink.
"One piece of good news, and one that's even better. Which would you like to hear first?"
Yae Miko laughed in genuine surprise.
"It's rare to see Makoto making that kind of joke. You really must be in a good mood."
"Let me guess: the military deployment is ready to move?"
Makoto nodded with a restrained smile.
"The Abyss Order's people have already arrived. Gorou is leading them as commander to suppress the monsters, and they are proving very efficient."
"Thanks to their help, our forces are now completely free to be reassigned."
"I had originally planned to send them out tomorrow, but Ayato felt sooner was better. He set out with the unit by ship this morning."
"They should reach Liyue in two days. With those three thousand people joining, a great deal of work that has been waiting can finally move forward."
Yae Miko looked at Makoto with a knowing expression.
"He's been worn down by things in Inazuma lately. I expect he also wants to go and see that world for himself?"
Makoto shook her head mildly.
"Perhaps. He has genuinely worked hard these past months. With the three Commissioners back in their positions and Inazuma's internal policies stable, and the monsters being dealt with, there's nothing pressing enough to require him here. Letting him go is fine."
Ryen gave a small nod, then asked:
"Is that the good news, or the better news?"
Makoto smiled.
"That depends on how you look at it. The other piece of news is, for us personally, rather better."
She glanced at Ei, then said quietly:
"Ei found the soul fragments of the Kitsune Saiguu. No, not the soul fragments."
She paused.
"She found the Kitsune Saiguu herself."