Just as it had been a hundred years ago, the interior remained unchanged.
Nothing had moved.
The woman's gaze swept across every inch of the space, slower than when she had walked through the settlement outside. Each glance lingered.
She stopped before a bookshelf and a few simple objects placed neatly upon a shelf. Reaching out, she gently brushed dust from what could almost be called "toys."
Each item held a memory.
Her expression softened.
One by one, she wiped them clean before finally sitting at the desk in the center of the shrine.
A tea set rested there, coated in a thin layer of dust — proof that no one had visited in some time.
Yet, based on when she last came, the dust should have been thicker.
A faint crease formed between her brows.
"…So much time has passed."
Her voice was cool and distant.
She set aside her doubt and sat quietly, closing her eyes to embrace the stillness.
The wind stirred softly outside. Leaves rustled.
Peace lingered.
Until—
Footsteps approached.
Her eyes opened.
She rose and stepped outside.
Another figure stood within the old tengu grounds.
Compared to her, this one was better described as a girl.
Short purplish hair. A tengu mask resting at the side of her head. A black bodysuit clinging to her form. A sacred mirror hung at her neck. Metal arm guards gleamed faintly. A short white jacket barely covered her upper frame. A red cord wrapped tightly around her waist. An Electro Vision rested at her side.
The crest of the Kujou Clan — one of the Three Commissions — adorned her attire.
At the sight of the woman emerging from the shrine, the girl instinctively assumed a guarded stance.
Then she recognized her.
Shock flashed across her face.
Immediately, she bowed deeply.
"Greetings, Lady Guangdai!"
Compared to the girl she had been five hundred years ago, Guangdai now exuded mature elegance. Her once youthful sharpness had settled into composed nobility.
Her gaze fell upon the cloth and cleaning supplies the girl carried.
"I recall… your name is Kujou Sara?"
Sara answered promptly.
"Yes. When I was young, I once had the honor of meeting you alongside my father."
Guangdai let out a faint laugh.
"Your father was a cunning one. Handing you over to the Kujou Clan for upbringing — claiming tengu blood, yet temperament closer to those foxes of Hakushin."
Sara did not take offense.
Even a half-compliment from the Great Tengu was an honor.
"If my birth father heard your words, he would be pleased."
Guangdai studied her.
"The shrine's upkeep. Was that your doing?"
Sara bowed slightly lower.
"Yes. I acted without permission. I accept any punishment."
Guangdai waved it off.
"That won't be necessary. I dislike excessive formality."
She stepped forward.
"Walk with me."
A Walk Through the Ruins
The tengu clan had long since declined.
Few remained gathered together. Most lived hidden in remote mountains, detached from worldly affairs.
Yet all still revered their Great Tengu.
To see one of her people again stirred something in Guangdai's heart.
Sara followed quietly.
As the adopted daughter of the Kujou Clan and general of the Tenryou Commission, Kujou Sara was strict, disciplined, decisive.
On the battlefield, she was ruthless and fearless.
In her heart, she placed loyalty to the Raiden Shogun above all else.
To her, she was:
A servant of the Shogun.
A model of the Tenryou Commission.
The pride of her house.
A standard for the tengu clan.
Never herself first.
So even though Guangdai dismissed formalities, Sara remained as she was.
They walked.
Guangdai said nothing.
She simply wandered through the abandoned settlement where she had grown up.
After some time, Sara's initial nervousness eased. She studied Guangdai's back with quiet admiration.
She too had lived here briefly as a child — though by then, the clan was already on the brink of dissolution.
Bloodlines thinned.
Intermarriage with humans accelerated decline.
Sara had only seen the Great Tengu once in her youth.
But that single meeting left a deep impression.
It was said that five hundred years ago, after a certain event, Guangdai began wandering the outer seas.
She had returned only twice:
Once to inherit the mantle of Great Tengu.
Once for a ritual.
The image of her during that ritual — cold and exalted — had never faded from Sara's memory.
Perhaps from that moment, Sara had resolved to become someone like her.
Lost in thought, she nearly failed to notice when Guangdai finally spoke.
"How fares Inazuma City now?"
Sara responded without hesitation.
"Under the wise leadership of the Shogun, the people live in peace. Though the Vision Hunt Decree has caused misunderstandings and resistance, Her Excellency's pursuit of Eternity is just. In time, the people will understand."
"…Is that so?"
Guangdai's smile was faint — and cold.
"Compared to five hundred years ago, Inazuma has only regressed. Without him… this land has grown lifeless."
Sara stiffened slightly.
She had not witnessed the prosperity of five centuries past.
She could not refute the claim.
But one word caught her attention.
Him.
In certain fragmented historical records, she had seen vague references — but the details were incomplete, as though deliberately erased.
"…May I ask, Lady Guangdai… who is 'him'?"
Guangdai's lips curved faintly.
"You wish to know?"
"Yes… if you would permit it."
She gazed toward the distant horizon.
"He was one of the two Highnesses who once ruled Inazuma supreme — one who stood beside Narukami herself."
Sara's eyes widened.
"Two… Highnesses?!"
The revelation struck her like lightning.
There had only ever been one.
Hadn't there?