Arataki Itto was certain that even if he heard those past experiences of his, he would be able to accept them calmly.
There was no way he would cry.
But he still didn't want to appear in the storyteller's tales.
Because once he appeared in the storyteller's stories, everything he had experienced and everything he had done would be laid bare for all to hear.
Itto didn't want those things to be exposed.
Otherwise, if those stories reached Inazuma, his tall, handsome image would be completely ruined.
He would definitely be mocked by Shinobu, and also by that wretched fox.
Just thinking about it was unpleasant.
So Itto quickly changed the subject.
"Just now, I already sent a letter to Shinobu, telling her that I'm at Wangshu Inn in Liyue listening to the stories."
"Before long, Shinobu will be coming too."
Without Shinobu by his side, Itto always felt uneasy, as if something was missing.
He realized it was a sense of security.
Without Shinobu around, if he got caught by the authorities here in Liyue, it wouldn't be easy to get out.
Hearing that Shinobu was coming, Keqing said thoughtfully, "Shinobu? That name sounds familiar. Is she that classmate of Yanfei's? I met her once before."
Itto: "Yanfei? Classmate? I have no idea about that, but Shinobu did come to Liyue to study."
Keqing said seriously, "After returning to Inazuma, Shinobu should have become an excellent legal expert, right?"
In Keqing's impression, Yanfei was an excellent legal expert.
As Yanfei's classmate, Shinobu should also be a talented person, and naturally would become an excellent legal expert as well.
But this time, Keqing was mistaken.
Itto looked confused. "Legal expert? What's that? Shinobu is one of the core members of the Arataki Gang. She's the number two in the gang!"
"Together with me, she roams the streets of Inazuma!"
Keqing looked puzzled. "Number two of the Arataki Gang???"
Lumine explained, "It means street thug. The kind that gets arrested by the Shogunate all the time. Being a street thug is such a waste of Shinobu's legal talents."
Paimon said angrily, "That's right! Itto led her astray."
Keqing said in surprise, "Ah, after Shinobu studied at Liyue's legal academy, she went back to Inazuma to become a street thug?"
It was indeed surprising.
Hearing the Traveler call him a street thug, Itto felt a bit indignant.
What did they mean by "street thug"?
There was no need to say it so harshly. Although he did roam the streets of Inazuma often, it wasn't like he did it every single day.
Itto did work sometimes too.
His work schedule was very consistent: one day of work, three days of rest.
Even if they called him a street thug, to be accurate, they should call him a "three-quarters street thug."
After all, he did work one day out of four.
But unfortunately, whether in Inazuma or in Liyue, people always called Itto a street thug, never a three-quarters street thug.
Itto felt helpless about this.
He would wait for Shinobu to arrive so they could do something great in Liyue.
Beside them, Keqing said seriously, "If Yanfei finds out about Shinobu's situation, she'll be very disappointed."
Xiangling thought for a moment and said, "I heard Yanfei just finished handling Mr. Zhang's case and is planning to come to the inn to listen to the stories. She should be here soon."
...
While Keqing and Arataki Itto were discussing Shinobu's situation, in another corner of the inn, after hearing the story of the fourteenth life, Makoto, the Raiden Shogun, Barbatos, Zhongli, Yae Miko, Tartaglia, and the others all turned their attention to Raiden Ei.
Ei looked a bit lost. She hadn't expected that even in the fourteenth reincarnation, she would still appear in the story.
And once again, she became the one who had killed her brother's reincarnation.
It was truly heartbreaking.
After hearing this life's story, Ei was completely numb.
Her face was expressionless, impossible to tell whether she was sad or happy.
The others naturally noticed Ei's unusual state.
Barbatos quickly spoke up. "Actually, this really isn't Ei's fault. Although Kapatcir was truly a reincarnation, she really did destroy Tsurumi Island."
"She also caused massive destruction on Seirai Island."
"Given the situation at the time, there was only one choice: to shoot her down."
"And don't forget, he won't truly die. He'll definitely continue to reincarnate. Let's wait for the storyteller to continue."
Barbatos was right.
Under the circumstances at the time, because of the impact of Aru's incident, Kapatcir had already gone mad.
If she hadn't been slain, she would have caused even greater damage to Inazuma.
She had to be killed.
Raiden Ei, as the Raiden Shogun's sister, had simply done the right thing.
It was just a coincidence that the Thunderbird she shot down happened to be her brother's reincarnation.
Zhongli also said calmly, "That's right. By all reasonable logic, you did nothing wrong. When your brother is resurrected, he certainly won't blame you."
Ei was speechless.
Who could have expected that the evil Thunderbird would be her brother's reincarnation?
Amid her sorrow, Ei gradually began to understand the storyteller's pattern—he was determined to make her suffer.
So she seriously began to recall, thinking back over the past several thousand years, wondering how many other gods or beings she had slain.
After thinking for a moment, Ei's expression grew even more troubled.
During the Archon War, she and her sister had slain many evil gods to bring peace to Inazuma.
If all of those were her brother's reincarnations...
She didn't dare to imagine it.
How terrifying.
Beside her, Makoto saw her sister's increasingly pained expression and quickly took Ei's hand.
She said seriously, "Ei, don't let those stories affect you."
"What the storyteller tells are just stories of the past. After all those reincarnations, our brother will be resurrected."
"We have to wait for him."
Ei nodded.
That was right. Although the Thunderbird was her brother's reincarnation and carried part of his soul, it had none of his memories.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't truly him.
They had to wait for the real brother to return and stand before them.
Seeing Ei recover, Barbatos smiled. "That's the spirit. Those stories are just things that happened in the past. There's no need to take them too seriously."
Barbatos spoke righteously when comforting others, as if he had already forgotten how he had cried his eyes out when his own story was told.
While everyone comforted Ei, only Yae Miko and Tartaglia remained silent.
Yae Miko was silent because she was busy writing light novels.
Tartaglia was silent simply because he didn't want to provoke these gods anymore. He only wanted to wait for the Tsaritsa to arrive.
Then he would launch a counterattack against these despicable gods.
Just as everyone was lost in their own thoughts, a boy with bandaged arms and hair that looked like it had been struck by lightning stepped through the entrance of Wangshu Inn.
"Benny's Adventure Team has arrived at the destination!"
"Finally here!"
"This Wangshu Inn was really hard to find—even harder to find than treasure!"