Meanwhile, after parting ways with Luo Li and Thoma—
Lumine and Paimon soon arrive at the headquarters of the International Trade Association.
Paimon rubs the sore spot on her head and mutters,
"What do you think Luo Li went off to do?"
She had fully prepared to cling to a reliable thigh and coast through Inazuma.
Instead, they're on their own again.
Sigh. Truly unfortunate taste in companions.
After thinking for a moment, Lumine hesitates.
"Maybe… he went to look for that tengu pavilion. The Thousand-Gated Void Vessel."
"The daughter of that Great Tengu, Reizenbō?"
"Probably."
Still mumbling, they approach the entrance — just in time to see a middle-aged man sighing heavily, while a younger man beside him angrily protests.
"President Kurisu, if this continues, I won't survive! My shop has been closed for days. I'm relying on friends just to eat. And the Kanjou Commission keeps raising taxes, demanding more and more!"
The middle-aged man, Kurisu, sighs helplessly.
"Harrison… everyone is struggling. I'll try reporting it to the higher-ups again."
"Reporting? Always reporting! Nothing ever changes!"
Harrison fumes.
He was one of the foreign merchants stranded here after the Sakoku Decree. He had come hoping to make a fortune in a new land.
Instead, the Shogun's decree trapped them.
After repeated exploitation, he had nearly gone bankrupt.
They couldn't even leave Ritou. Under the control of the Kanjou Commission, they were livestock — sheep waiting to be bled dry.
One day, when nothing remains to squeeze, perhaps they'd simply be discarded as beggars.
Kurisu's face tightens.
He is angry too — but he is older, with family and responsibilities. He has learned compromise.
"Harrison, listen to me. You can't win against them."
But Harrison refuses.
"You can endure it — I can't! I've got nothing left to lose. Even if I fail, I'll bite them and draw blood!"
With that, he storms off.
Kurisu panics.
"Wait! Don't do anything reckless!"
But Harrison is already gone.
Kurisu stands there helplessly.
Just then—
"Excuse me… are you President Kurisu?"
Lumine steps forward, sympathy in her eyes.
After the three-million-Mora incident, she understands at least a little about the foreigners' situation here.
Kurisu looks at her, puzzled.
"You are?"
He hasn't seen her before. She clearly isn't local.
Then realization dawns.
"Are you seeking protection from the Trade Association? Did the Outlander Affairs Agency drain you dry?"
Paimon puts her hands on her hips.
"We heard everything. You can barely protect yourselves — how could you protect us?"
Kurisu: "…"
Some truths hurt more when spoken plainly.
He sighs again.
"Sorry you had to see that."
Lumine shakes her head.
"We're friends of Thoma. We heard you're in trouble and came to help."
Kurisu freezes.
Help?
For a moment, he almost laughs bitterly.
Where would he even begin?
The Sakoku Decree was one thing.
The real problem was exploitation.
Unreasonable taxes. Endless regulations. Arbitrary fees invented out of nowhere.
And recently, a new policy:
Taxes must now be paid not in Mora — but in Crystal Marrow.
Crystal Marrow.
As more merchants handed it over, supply dwindled. Prices soared. Eventually, only one merchant controlled the supply.
And naturally—
He raised the price.
Now the tax cost exceeds their profits.
Soon, they will operate at a loss.
Kurisu has tried negotiating with officials, but in this thunder-ruled land, foreign merchants have no voice.
Lumine thinks to herself:
Even Liyue isn't this ruthless.
This is squeezing the same sheep over and over.
Paimon's sympathy overflows.
"That's awful! Lumine, we should help them."
Lumine nods slowly.
She already promised Thoma.
And truthfully, both sides need something.
"Where can we find this merchant?" she asks immediately.
The moment Kurisu finishes speaking, she senses something off.
Maybe after being manipulated too many times in Liyue, she has developed instincts.
Her suspicion locks onto one point:
The monopoly.
But she keeps her thoughts to herself.
If she's wrong, that would be awkward.
Kurisu answers readily.
"If you want to meet him, go to the seaside under the large tree in the residential area. That's where we usually conduct business."
He doesn't hesitate.
After all, they're Thoma's friends.
And in this place—
Sometimes you have to trust someone.