"So that's how it is."
Raiden Ei finally understood.
If the boss hadn't mentioned it, she would've forgotten that the Shogun was still inside her body.
But for her, this was actually a good thing.
Other people could only obtain one reward from reading manga—but she could get two.
Even if one of those rewards belonged to the Raiden Shogun.
Thinking of this, Ei smiled inwardly and communicated with the Shogun through her consciousness.
"Shogun, read manga together with me later."
Inside the Plane of Euthymia.
Hearing Ei's words, the Raiden Shogun frowned slightly.
Unlike Ei, she had been created solely to execute the ideal of Eternity.
So she spent nearly all her time managing Inazuma's affairs and rarely paid attention to entertainment.
For example, the novels published by Yae Publishing House.
She had heard of them—but never read them.
As such, she wasn't particularly interested in manga either.
"No, I…"
She had just started to refuse when she suddenly paused.
Because a saying from Liyue surfaced in her mind.
"If one does not enter the tiger's den, how can one catch the tiger cub?"
If she didn't personally investigate, how could she know whether manga was truly as miraculous as described?
Or whether it really posed a threat to Eternity?
Besides—only by knowing both oneself and the enemy could one defeat that man.
Thinking this through, the Raiden Shogun lightly nodded.
"Very well. Then we shall read together."
"Boss, here's 200,000 Mora."
After the Shogun agreed, Ei immediately took out a much larger pouch of Mora.
With the Shogun reading alongside her, the two of them could discuss things together afterward.
That sounded far more interesting than reading alone.
"The manga shelves are over there. Feel free to choose whatever you like."
After accepting the Mora, Han Feng smiled faintly.
"Thank you, Boss! But what about you, Makoto?"
After thanking him, Ei turned toward her older sister.
Makoto had already read manga once this morning, so she couldn't read again today.
As for Ei herself, she was about to start reading and naturally couldn't accompany her sister.
"You go ahead. I'll continue looking at the figurines for a while and come find you later."
Makoto smiled gently, indicating there was no need to worry.
"Alright."
Ei nodded before walking toward the bookshelves.
At the moment, the most important thing for her was personally verifying the authenticity of this manga shop.
If everything was real, then both she and the Raiden Shogun would have to seriously consider what impact this place might have on Inazuma.
After all—they couldn't beat the boss in a fight, so they could only think of solutions from other angles.
"There are quite a lot of manga here. Shogun, which one should we read?"
Arriving beside the shelves, Ei began browsing carefully.
Because Makoto had warned her beforehand, she didn't choose casually.
Instead, she selected very seriously.
But there were simply too many manga.
She had no idea where to start.
In her eyes, every single one looked interesting.
If possible, she honestly wanted to take them all back and read them.
So she asked the Shogun for her opinion.
After all, the Shogun shared her vision and could see everything too.
"Let us choose the one on the very outside: Gabriel DropOut. The word 'dropout' already sounds problematic."
The Raiden Shogun spoke solemnly.
Those words seemed filled with temptation.
As though they sought to drag people into the abyss.
Precisely because of that, she wanted to investigate it.
This would be the most direct way to determine whether it could influence Eternity.
"Alright, then we'll read this one."
Ei had no objections.
She understood the Shogun's reasoning.
And she herself had become curious too.
What exactly could cause someone named Gabriel to "fall"?
After choosing the manga, Ei headed deeper into the shop.
But when she noticed a familiar figure nearby,
she suddenly froze in place.
"What's wrong, Ei?"
Noticing her younger sister's unusual reaction, Makoto walked over curiously.
"Nothing… I just didn't expect that woman to be here too…"
Seeing Alice—an old "acquaintance"—Ei couldn't help twitching at the corner of her mouth.
If she regarded the boss with awe, then she regarded this woman with fear.
Not fear of strength—but fear of her ability to cause trouble.
Back when Alice visited Inazuma, she had caused all sorts of chaos.
For example, she experimented with a flying potion—which ended up blowing up Kujou Sara's wings.
Sara had needed half a month to recover.
…
If Ei hadn't later assigned people to keep an eye on Alice, she suspected Alice might've blown up Tenshukaku itself.
And that wasn't all.
Alice had also tried to recruit Yoimiya, Inazuma's fireworks expert.
She even invited that girl from the Kamisato Clan to join an idol group six separate times.
Recalling all the absurd things Alice had done in Inazuma, black lines appeared across Ei's forehead.
"That woman?"
Makoto became curious.
What sort of person could actually make her usually composed little sister show such an expression?
Filled with interest, she followed Ei's gaze.
There, in the corner, sat a mother and daughter pair dressed in similar outfits.
At the moment, the two were happily reading manga together.
As though sensing someone staring at her, Alice finally looked up from the manga she'd been deeply immersed in.
"Oh? Isn't this Miss Grumpy Shogun and little Yae?"
Seeing the pair, surprise flashed through Alice's eyes.
She hadn't expected to run into them here.
When Alice traveled through Inazuma in the past, she naturally visited the Raiden Shogun.
Although Ei had remained inside the Plane of Euthymia at the time, Alice still managed to find her.
After meeting Ei, Alice had enthusiastically proposed helping "improve" the Raiden Shogun.
But Ei rejected her proposal with an expressionless face.
And thus—
Alice gave her the nickname "Miss Grumpy Shogun."
As for "little Yae"—back then, Alice thought the young Yae Miko was adorable.
So she constantly teased the little fox until she cried and threw tantrums.
Thinking back on it now, it was honestly pretty amusing.
"Miss Grumpy Shogun?"
Interest appeared in Makoto's eyes.
She hadn't expected someone to give her younger sister such a nickname.
It seemed the two were old acquaintances.
As for "little Yae"—
hmph.
She meant Yae Miko.
What did that have to do with Raiden Makoto?
She didn't know that fox at all.
"You really haven't changed at all, have you?"
At this moment, Ei's expression had darkened completely.
She never expected this woman had actually given her such a nickname—and even said it right in front of her sister.
Ei instantly felt both embarrassed and annoyed.
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