Genshin x Minecraft: Building the Temple of Virtue

Back at the Grand Narukami Shrine.

Ryen and the others found Yae Miko beneath the Sacred Sakura, chin resting in her hand, looking somewhat troubled.

The moment she spotted Ryen, her eyes lit up and she launched herself at him.

”Ryen! You’re finally back!”

Ryen opened his arms and caught her cleanly.

He gave her ear a light nip and asked with mild curiosity:

”How long were we gone?”

”Why do you ask?”

Yae Miko looked puzzled, but thought about it and said:

”About an afternoon, I think. Was it more complicated than expected?”

An afternoon.

Everyone exchanged glances, all slightly disoriented.

”Istaroth’s power is truly extraordinary. As far as we could tell, we spent less than half an hour dealing with things.”

Makoto gave a quiet sigh of wonder, her expression somewhere between awe and longing.

”The Four Rulers of the First Throne. Their power genuinely defies comprehension.”

Ryen shook his head at that and laughed helplessly to himself.

Going by what Istaroth had let slip at the end, Makoto was also one of the First Throne’s Pillars: the Ruler of Life, Baal.

In Solomonic mythology, that made her the strongest among the seventy-two, not far beneath the great demon king Belial himself.

Though from all appearances, the Makoto standing before him now was genuinely no longer that ancient Baal.

These Four Pillars were endlessly interesting.

”You actually encountered Istaroth?!”

Yae Miko looked startled, then shifted quickly to concern.

”Is everyone all right?”

Ei shook her head.

”We’re fine. But Istaroth was extraordinarily powerful. She said she came to help save Inazuma, though what exactly drove her to do so remains unclear.”

”She said something about a fated cycle.”

Yae Miko’s interest deflated slightly.

”These great figures always like to speak in these cryptic, specialized terms. So tiresome.”

”But why would saving Inazuma require Istaroth? What happened to Inazuma? And weren’t you going to deal with the Shogun? Where is the Shogun?”

”And also and also...”

Seeing Yae Miko on the verge of becoming an unending stream of questions, Ryen laughed helplessly and gave her head a light squeeze.

”Why do you have so many questions?”

”I was worried about you!”

Yae Miko pouted and arranged her expression into something faintly aggrieved.

”Honestly. No appreciation for the sentiment.”

Ryen got everyone settled and, having no particular inclination to explain everything himself, glanced at Makoto.

Makoto organized her thoughts and said quietly:

”The moment we entered the consciousness space, we encountered Istaroth. More precisely, Ryen’s power caused her to manifest.”

”She said she had come to help save Inazuma.”

She paused. For some reason she couldn’t identify, she had the persistent feeling that Istaroth had looked upon her with considerable goodwill.

A misreading, perhaps?

A being of that magnitude could hardly be expected to notice a later-generation archon who was technically supposed to be dead.

She set the thought aside and continued.

”Do you remember how the Sacred Sakura came into being, Miko?”

Yae Miko gave a quiet nod of understanding.

Makoto continued.

”Five hundred years ago, Inazuma was in crisis. Monsters ran rampant. The Sacred Sakura appeared without warning and bought Inazuma the time it needed.”

”That Sacred Sakura was planted today, five hundred years later, by Ei herself, carried back through the river of time to five hundred years ago.”

”In the end, Ei is the one who saved Inazuma.”

Makoto glanced at Ei as she said it, eyes full of pride.

Something in Ei softened.

No matter when, no matter what: her sister’s recognition was always the thing she treasured most.

Yae Miko said, half to herself:

”So Istaroth never died?”

Makoto gave a clear nod.

”Absolutely not. She exists in some unknown stretch of the past. You have never felt her presence directly, so you cannot fully understand. But I have faced the Heavenly Principles before. Istaroth’s power is no weaker than the Heavenly Principles. Possibly stronger.”

”A being like that could not have been destroyed by the Heavenly Principles.”

”She persists somewhere in the past, planning something we cannot yet see.”

Yae Miko gave a thoughtful sound.

”The power of time. Truly beyond comprehension. Though I suppose it doesn’t matter much what people at that level are doing. Even if they have schemes, we have our Ryen to protect us, don’t we?”

She blinked at him with a playful smile.

Ryen tapped the tip of her nose with an amused expression.

”Rest completely easy. Whatever they scheme, none of it will reach us. If it comes to it, I’ll go have a conversation with them personally.”

Before he had obtained Imaginary energy, Ryen’s raw strength alone could have forced through most things. But temporal manipulation aimed at him specifically, that would have been a different problem.

Now, with Imaginary energy and Istaroth’s temporal seed in his possession, there was no way she could lay any kind of trap for him.

Unless the so-called Divine One the First Throne answered to chose to act directly, there was genuinely nothing in Teyvat that Ryen needed to fear.

”Istaroth’s plans have nothing to do with us for the time being. No need to dwell on it.”

Makoto moved the conversation forward.

”On another note: the Shogun did emerge. But she and Ei are currently sharing one body, which is inconvenient. We plan to look into solutions in Ryen’s world. If possible, we would like to separate them.”

”The Shogun is a formidable fighting force, and with some guidance on governance from me, she should be capable of taking on real responsibility.”

”Inazuma has everything to rebuild. We need capable hands to carry it.”

Yae Miko looked at Ei with curious interest.

”So you’ve made peace with yourself, have you? Bring the Shogun out. I have never actually met her properly.”

Ei shook her head.

”She doesn’t want to come out.”

”Hm. What a shy little thing.”

Yae Miko curled her lip, her interest cooling quickly.

”How are things on your end? If there’s nothing else, we’ll head back to Liyue tomorrow morning.”

Ryen was stroking Yae Miko’s tail at a leisurely pace.

She looked somewhat troubled.

”I spoke with Lady Kitsune Saiguu. Or, Hanachirusato. Or... neither is quite right.”

”Anyway, I spoke with her. She is genuinely conflicted. Part of her believes she is the Kitsune Saiguu. But she believes more strongly that she is only a collection of memories.”

”I’m worried we won’t be able to revive Lady Kitsune Saiguu.”

Ryen gave Yae Miko’s back a gentle pat.

”Don’t think too much about it. To put it in the terms of my world: give it everything you have, and leave the rest to miracles.”

”Same principle here. Do your best, and let the miracles of my world handle the rest.”

”After all, until now, that world has never let any of you down, has it?”

That landed. When everyone thought about it carefully, every problem they had encountered so far had found its answer in that world.

Whether it was resurrection, growing stronger, or helping a nation flourish: if anything, the only limits had been their own imagination. The MC World had yet to produce a miracle it couldn’t manage.

Yae Miko exhaled with some relief.

”In that case, it’s entirely up to you.”

She sighed and leaned against Ryen’s shoulder.

Without the Kitsune Saiguu’s revival settled, she couldn’t quite find her spirits.

Ryen could see that clearly. After a while of easy conversation with everyone, the group retired to their rooms.

Makoto and Ei returned to Tenshukaku.

Now that Ei and the Shogun had set aside their debate over the empty concept of Eternity, Makoto needed to begin teaching them both to govern Inazuma properly without delay.

It was not that they lacked the underlying ability. But their practical governing skills...

Were a somewhat delicate subject.

A mature divine ruler needed more than combat power.

Since it was still Yae Miko’s first day, Ryen did not go anywhere else. He followed her inside.

No words were needed between them.

Yae Miko also threw herself into the evening with great enthusiasm, and her earlier gloom from talking with Hanachirusato added an edge of wildness to it.

By the time the clouds had cleared and the rain had passed, deep night had settled over everything. Perfect silence.

Yae Miko lay against Ryen’s chest, enjoying the warmth of the aftermath.

After a long quiet stretch, she suddenly looked up at him.

”About Istaroth: you know something else, don’t you. Your expression when you glanced at Makoto this afternoon was subtle, but I noticed.”

Ryen raised an eyebrow.

”What if I simply had thoughts about Makoto? She genuinely suits my taste.”

”Please.”

Yae Miko rolled her eyes.

”You do have thoughts about both Makoto and Ei. But the way you look when you have thoughts isn’t what I saw then.”

”It was more like... the way you look at something rare and strange.”

Ryen was quiet for a moment, then laughed.

”You really are a sharp little fox.”

”Obviously!”

Yae Miko looked pleased with herself, then pressed on.

”Don’t change the subject. Tell me.”

Ryen spread his hands with a helpless expression.

”Even if I tell you, it won’t accomplish anything. These are things operating at a level beyond what you can act on.”

”I’m just curious!”

Yae Miko nestled against him with an expectant look.

Ryen found it impossible to hold out against that soft, hopeful gaze.

”All right... Makoto is the Ruler Baal.”

”...”

Yae Miko looked at him with a complicated expression.

”Did you need to explain that? I’m well aware Makoto is Baal.”

”No, what I mean is...”

Ryen pressed his lips together.

”The First Throne. The Ruler of Life. Baal.”

That made Yae Miko go still.

”Are you certain?”

”Istaroth said it herself. I have some other means of verification as well. It’s essentially confirmed.”

Ryen shrugged.

”These things operate at a level too far above Teyvat to be worth worrying about. Knowing about the First Throne is not something even you can do anything with. They come from a higher dimension.”

”Baal. Istaroth. Asmodeüs. And...”

He paused.

”Paimon.”

Yae Miko’s eyes flickered. The image of that small, cheerful little figure came to mind immediately.

”Paimon...”

Ryen gave a nod.

”Likely the Ruler of Space. But don’t overthink it. Paimon is always going to be Paimon.”

Seeing Yae Miko beginning to drift into bewilderment, Ryen shifted slightly. Yae Miko let out a soft sound and her train of thought broke.

”Thinking too much is pointless. These are secrets that belong to the First and Second Thrones, and ultimately to the Imaginary Tree itself.”

”There is nothing you can do about any of it. And I have no desire to get entangled with the existences on the Imaginary Tree right now.”

”Just treat it as something you never heard. I did warn you not to ask.”

Yae Miko curled her lip.

”Next time you have information like this, no matter how I ask, don’t tell me. Now I don’t know how to face either Makoto or Paimon.”

”Then forget it entirely.”

Ryen laughed and moved decisively.

”The most direct way to forget something troubling is to fill your mind with something pleasant.”

Yae Miko bit her lip. Her gaze went hazy almost immediately.

”You make... a very compelling argument...”

”Then go faster! I want to swallow all of you whole!”