Ritou was unrecognizable.
Where once there was silence and fear, now there was a roar of commerce.
Merchants shouted their wares. Ships from Liyue, Mondstadt, and even Fontaine jostled for space at the docks. The local inns, empty for years, were fully booked.
Kujou Sara stood at the center of the chaos, directing her soldiers.
"General! The warehouses are full!"
"Then stack the goods on the pier! Tell the merchants in the city to come! Barter, buy, sell—I don't care! Just keep the goods moving!"
"Yes, General!"
"And send word to Watatsumi Island," Sara added, her voice sharp. "Tell Gorou and Kokomi that if they lack Mora, we accept pearls and coral. We have appraisers from Liyue here. Fair rates. No exploitation."
"Understood!"
Beidou walked up, grinning. "Need a hand, General? My crew is getting restless."
"Please," Sara sighed, rubbing her temples. "There are too many of them. I'm getting a headache."
In the harbor, eighty ships from Liyue were unloading a mountain of goods: food, drinks, electric lamps, and construction materials for the new artificial islands. In exchange, they were loading up on Inazuma's specialties: Electro crystals, Jade Steel, and Naku Weed.
It was a golden age of trade, born overnight.
Meanwhile, in Tenshukaku.
Su Han was waging a different kind of war.
He sat with Ayaka, surrounded by a fortress of documents.
"The priority is food and military supplies," Su Han ordered, his voice crisp. "Inazuma's islands are pirate havens. Use Yae's ninjas. Turn those islands into training grounds. Hunt the pirates down. Make the seas safe for fishermen."
"Yes, Su Han," Ayaka said, her pen flying across the paper. "And the Commissions?"
Su Han's eyes turned cold. "No mercy. The Tenryou and Kanjou clans have rotted to the core. Corruption, bribery, collusion with the Fatui... they stained the Shogun's name.
"Have Ayato announce it. The Kanjou head is stripped of his title. The Tenryou clan is purged, and leadership passes to Sara.
"And make sure the people know: they were the ones who lied to the Shogun. They caused the tragedy."
"I understand."
An hour later, Kamisato Ayato stood in the plaza of Inazuma City. His voice, amplified by Anemo magic, reached every ear.
"Citizens of Inazuma! By order of the Shogun!
"The heads of the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions have been found guilty of treason, corruption, and collusion with foreign enemies!
"They engineered the war with Watatsumi! They embezzled one hundred million Mora from Ritou!
"Their titles are stripped! Their assets are seized!
"Furthermore... the Shogun decrees: All Delusions must be surrendered immediately! Those who sold them will be hunted down without mercy!"
The crowd was stunned into silence, then exploded into righteous fury.
So the Shogun had been deceived! The Sakoku Decree, the Vision Hunt... it was all a plot by corrupt officials to line their pockets!
"One hundred million Mora?" someone gasped. "They stole that much?"
When the Shogunate soldiers began dragging carts of gold out of the Hiiragi estate, the people finally understood the scale of the rot. And they cheered as it was cut away.
...
In the afternoon, a ship from Mondstadt docked at Ritou.
Kaeya leaned against the railing, whistling. "Beautiful country. I wonder if the Lord Pope is around?"
"He's busy," Amber laughed. "I heard he just saved an entire island from exploding."
Paimon flew over. "Hey! Do you think we'll see him? Lisa said he needed our help."
"We probably will," Lumine said, looking at the bustling port. "Lisa gave me this special Transponder Snail. It seems important."
As they disembarked, Kujou Sara approached them, her expression serious but welcoming.
"Welcome, merchants of Mondstadt. I am Kujou Sara, General of the Tenryou Commission."
"Wow! A General!" Paimon gasped.
"You must be the Traveler Su Han mentioned," Sara said, looking at Lumine. "Come with me. We are heading to Inazuma City. He is waiting for you."
Lumine blinked. "He knows we're here?"
"Of course."
Sara led them through Ritou.
Paimon looked around, her mouth hanging open. "Heavens... there are so many people! It's even busier than Falcon City!"
"Only today," Sara explained. "Yesterday, this street was empty. The Sakoku Decree ended this morning."
"Is this... all because of Su Han?" Lumine asked quietly.
Sara looked at her, then nodded. "Yes. Without him... Inazuma would still be broken. He saved us."
She didn't say more, but her tone was reverent. To her, Su Han was the man who slept in the Shogun's bed. His word was law.
As Sara explained the situation—the poverty, the lack of resources, the need to rebuild from scratch—Lumine began to understand.
Su Han hadn't just "visited." He had completely overthrown the old order and was building a new one.
"He's amazing," Paimon whispered. "He changed a whole country in a few days."
"I think he changed the God's heart," Lumine corrected, her eyes sharp. "If the Archon didn't realize her mistake, nothing Su Han said would have mattered."
She had hit the nail on the head.
The problem with a nation ruled by a god was always the god.
But the ordinary people only cursed the two clans. They still revered their Shogun.
And Su Han, the man behind the curtain, was the one who had made the Shogun see the light.