54 You are fired

"The Hiiragi clan is the head of the Kanjou Commission, and you control all the administration and commerce in Inazuma" I interrupted. "Please tell me how are you going to feed the people if we can't buy food".

"Your Excellence doesn't have to worry about that" he directly ignored me. "We have a way to get food way cheaper than what we spend to buy food from Liyue".

"How?" I insisted. "As you said, nobody can enter the country, who is going to bring food?"

"Answer" the Shogun ordered the Hiiragi clan head, who gritted his teeth.

"From our friends of Snezhnaya" he said with a smile, but I could see how much anger he was directing to me.

"The same friends who were selling drugs a few years ago? The same friends who were stealing Amethysts from our land? The same friends who were involved in a lot of suspicious disappearances? And you are telling me that will put all of our eggs in their basket, so they can blackmail us however they want" I sarcastically said, but the Shogun was seriously considering it. What is going on inside her head? I know it's probably empty, but still.

"Will they be in a position where they can blackmail us?" she asked the Hiiragi clan head.

"Of course not, they won't dare to defy your Excellency. If they prove to be trouble, we can rescind the Sakoku decree and start buying from Liyue again" he smiled.

"And we will have lost the confidence of every single merchant we are going to leave hanging with our sudden turn. If we ever try to make a deal with Liyue, they will be able to extort us, because we will have no other way of getting food. The little contact we have with them is based on trust and comradery forged during the Archon War, if it wasn't for that, we would be spending thrice the amount of money we are now" it was a simple thing the head of the Kanjou Commission should know, but they were being bribed after all.

The Shogun 'thought' for a bit, and finally nodded.

"We can try it, and try to make another deal with Liyue later. If the Fatui proves to be troublesome, I will expulse them from our borders" She doomed all of us.

But it fell in line with what I learned before. She takes matters into her own hands.

Just like now, accepting this Decree is outright a bad decision, but she did it anyway because she knows no one can oppose her should she decide to go back.

"Of course!" and despite that, the Hiiragi clan head was ecstatic.

"Then at least grant me permission to bring in food from my business in Liyue" I hated to use my business for something that will benefit these fuckers in the end, but I had no choice. "The food will come from Liyue, but as my personal business I will import some food" 

"I approve" the Shogun said, making the Kanjou commission leader grumble. He expected to have the full monopoly, but now I had a share.

"But it will be my food, and I will do with it what I want. I will not spend my money only give it for free. I will use my food to help people, but in the way I want and when I want" I warned the Shogun. These guys could say that I need to give them the food for the citizens, and I will be forced to give MY food to them.

"I approve. But I want a report about it periodically" the Shogun warned me.

"And that report will come from the Shrine. Not the Kanjou Commission, not the Tenryou Commission and not the Yashiro Commission. Not even from me. Do you trust the Shrine as a neutral entity?" I asked her. These bastards could tell her that I was lying in my reports.

"Then the reports will be the Shrine's duty" she said, and I sighed in relief. At least we will not starve for a while.

Based on the seething face of the Kanjou leader, he was probably thinking of using some dirty trick like that.

"Then the Sakoku decree is approved" she said, and a huge storm suddenly appeared. It was already cloudy before, but now lightning was falling all around the island.

I had to grimace, the lockdown was total now.

Ayato was pale now, seeing how everything was getting worse by the second. He never expected the Shogun to accept the troublesome Sakoku decree like this. He wasn't even asked for his opinion.

Welcome to Inazuma Ayato, where a single person has all the power.

And Ayato was leading the Yashiro Commission, frankly the most useless one. He organized everything for the festivals and important weddings while the other 2 controlled the police and the economy.

Fair much.

"The next decree is called the Vision Hunt decree" it was the guy from the Kujou clan. "Visions are dangerous, as their power is immense and can destabilize our peaceful society. Their uniqueness can be a threat to our Eternity".

And the Shogun was considering it.

"Stop there" I interrupted again. "Shogun-sama, do you even understand what Visions are?"

"Do you?" mocked the Head of the Kujou Clan.

"Yes, do you?" I asked back, and he looked surprised. "If you want to steal them, you must know what they are right? How can you know if they are dangerous if you don't understand them?"

He looked tongue-tied. He probably only knew what everyone knew, they were a gift from the gods....bla bla bla.

I looked at Sara, who had a conflicted look. It was her father who was telling this, but she also trusted that I knew what I was talking about.

Also, she had an electro Vision, she would also be subjected to this.

"What are Visions?" asked the Shogun.

She had no idea, and she was considering it. As I said, she is extremely daring in her decisions as she can always take them back, and her strange obsession for Eternity is too strong.

"Visions as we know it are a vessel. They house a fragment of a person's soul, the one representing ambitions, desires, and dreams. If you confiscate them, you are stealing that from them. A warrior who enjoys practising with his sword won't remember how to use it and will forget anything related to his life that had something to do with a sword. A painter will forget how to paint. A designer won't have the energy to create more clothes. A general won't remember what are they fighting for any more" and I looked at Sara while saying this. I felt her dismay, but also her determination.

I looked directly at the Shogun.

"You have no right to steal them, even if you are the God of Inazuma. Visions are their right, a part of the soul they are born with. To put it simply, is like cutting an arm or a leg just because they may be dangerous in the future" I looked straight at the Shogun while saying this.

"And how do you know that much?" asked darkly the leader of the Kujou Clan.

"I'm friends with Rex Lapis and the Adeptus in Liyue. I'm friends with Barbatos and the free people of Mondstadt. And they are far more curious than the people here, so they taught me a lot" I met his eyes and answered. I dropped the names of 2 Archons here, maybe that is useful.

"I agree" the Shogun suddenly said. "Visions may prove to be a danger to Eternity".

I sighed. I already knew it would end this way. This puppet would do absolutely everything for Eternity, whatever it was, and there was no way of convincing her. If only the person inside had come out to talk, things may have ended differently.

But I still don't understand her thought process at all. Did she see any other country burning up in flames because of the Visions?

Liyue was fine and Mondstadt was even better. And there are a lot of overpowered kids with Visions there.

But again, her weird obsession with Eternity is making flips in her head.

"Then at least let me be in charge of collecting them. I'm from the Shrine, maybe that could help. You are planning to rob them after all, I don't think that letting the Army do that is a good idea" I tiredly said. I don't care about the Army or whatnot, but this way I can let them keep their souls.

Yae will probably scold me, saying that it's too early or whatever, but people could die of depression here.

"You were against it, how can we trust you?" asked the lord of the Kujou Clan but I ignored him and looked tiredly at the puppet.

"How can we trust you?" the Shogun repeated the question.

"Why don't I start with my friend Ayato? Surely that will show you that I will do it seriously" I commented. Everyone in Inazuma knew that I was childhood friends with Ayato.

"That will prove it" the Shogun nodded, and it made me sad.

I need to steal from my best friend to prove myself. It's fucked up.

I stood up and walked towards Ayato, who was gritting his teeth. He was being robbed of what was rightfully his in front of his own God, and she was even asking for it.

"Give it to me Ayato" I can't return that fragment of his soul to his body If I don't make skin contact. Grabbing his Vision from his waist won't let me do it.

He nodded and took off his glove, grabbed his Vision and tore it off violently, showing how angered he was. He held it up in his naked palm.

I put my hand on top of the Vision and discretely touched his skin with my finger. I was able to do this years ago, now it is a breeze.

The moment I did the exchange, his Vision dulled. What was a beautiful and serene blue was now a dull grey.

"Here it is" I threw it on top of the table. The dull Vision rolled on the table and ended up being in front of Ei, who was controlling the puppet now, but it was too late for me. She could have stopped this madness but decided to go ahead with this.

"When will you collect the rest" she inquired with her calm expression, and I could feel her sadness. In the end, I just can't understand this woman, it has probably something to do with her dead sister, but I have no way of knowing what is going on inside her head.

"After this meeting. I know almost everyone with a Vision in this city. Do you want me to collect the ones from the Resistance?" I sarcastically asked.

"No, just collect the rest" she shook her head.

"I should mention that a lot of people are going to desert. Stealing like this is going to make them feel humiliated, so they will join the Resistance who, by the way, will have Visions while our army won't" I warned, but nobody cared about my words. They had the Almighty Shogun after all.

"When will the 'depression' appear?" asked Sara. I could feel her sadness at this, like the Shogun's.

"Does it matter?" I bitterly asked. They were going to steal them anyway.

"Do you have more decrees?" asked the Shogun to the clearly happy lords that proposed them.

"No your Excellency" they directed mocking smiles at me, but I was too hurt to care.

To see the country I love so much fall to this lamentable state because of a stubborn God and corrupt people was extremely sad.

"I do" I raised my hand. "I want to propose a decree".

"Go on then" the Shogun let me speak.

"It's called the Eternity Decree" I smirked.

"Go on" Ei looked at me with a frown, probably noting that my smirk wasn't coherent with my attitude until now.

"You kill everybody on this island. That way no one can disturb your Eternity any more, as you will be the only one here" I sadly said while looking at the place where Ei's eyes should be. I know it was foolish, but my mouth was moving before I could realize what I was saying.

I immediately heard thunder crash all around the Tenshukaku, while everyone in the room looked at me in shock.

And Ei was looking at me with fury, I could feel it.

"I don't know what you are angry about. You will starve us, isolate us, and you just decide to steal our freedom and dreams. All that is left for us is a dull and sad life under the rule of corrupt people. What is there left in our lives?" I asked bitterly.

The only thing people could do now was to wake up, work, and feel depressed until the sun hid. How is that life?

"Leave" is all Ei said with anger in her normally calm voice.

I tore off the badge that symbolized that I worked under her and put it softly on the table.

"I will work with the Shrine for those reports. I will send the Vision through Ayato" I said that I left, but before leaving I sensed something in my chest. 

I came back to my seat and took out the book I had written during the night.

"You made a mistake yesterday" I said, and without looking at her soul I left. "And you made another one today".