"She really is so gentle..." Memories of his mother surfaced in Kaedehara Kazuha's mind as he quietly watched Raiden Makoto talking with Gorou not far away.
He was now certain that the gentle Lady before him was definitely not that cold and aloof Raiden Shogun.
"Sister Zhen is indeed very gentle; I think so too."
"Compared to Venti's unreliability and Zhongli being too old-fashioned... I think an Electro Archon like her... is truly wonderful!" Paimon didn't really like Venti or Zhongli anyway—one being the Anemo Archon of Mondstadt, the other the Geo Archon of Liyue.
Instead, they both felt quite distant from ordinary people; she didn't know how to describe that feeling.
Divinity outweighing humanity?
Compared to them, Inazuma's Electro Archon seemed more human. From the moment they met Raiden Makoto, she had always been gentle and elegant.
Paimon preferred an Electro Archon like that anyway.
As for Venti and Zhongli, they both felt quite distant from them. She always felt a sense of estrangement. But Raiden Makoto talked and laughed with them, and even teased her.
She didn't seem like a God at all, but more like a dignified and gentle Lady.
"The resistance has a lot more people now, right? But most of them seem to be ordinary people."
"Yeah, many are the original residents of Watatsumi Island... Actually, I'm not very willing to take the initiative to attack... War is inevitably accompanied by casualties... They..." Gorou sighed deeply. "However, the various factions on Watatsumi Island don't see it that way."
"They don't view the common people as human beings at all. If Lady Sangonomiya doesn't take the initiative to attack, they might even..."
"They're just a bunch of selfish people."
That is a deep-seated vice that has existed since the birth of humanity; many Gods have died because of human selfishness.
From the moment of their birth, Gods bore the responsibility of guiding humanity. Before the Seven Sovereigns of the World emerged, Gods were not necessarily true enemies of one another.
"Orobashi, if you knew what Watatsumi Island looks like now, would you regret it?"
Having fully recovered her memories, Raiden Makoto now knew the reason why Orobashi attacked the Shogunate back then.
Because of erode, Orobashi lost most of his memories, and even his nature became brutal. At the instigation of the original residents of Watatsumi Island at the time, he began to launch an attack on the Shogunate.
In that war, both sides suffered heavy casualties.
"Makoto... you know Orobashi?" Gorou was stunned for a moment, but then he gave a self-deprecating smile. Raiden Makoto was the sister of the current Electro Archon of Inazuma; how could she not know Orobashi?
"Of course."
"Orobashi... was originally a kind-hearted God... that big snake was quite cute." Memories of her meeting with Orobashi that day flashed through Raiden Makoto's mind.
"Raiden, I just want to stay in Inazuma now. The Abyss... it's too terrifying."
"I only want the territory of Watatsumi Island. Of course, on the surface, Watatsumi Island still belongs to Inazuma, to you... those humans... they're quite cute."
"They cannot leave me, and I want to enlighten them just as you do."
"Isn't your Inazuma Shogunate short on people as well? It just so happens that I can also help you defend against enemies from The Abyss."
"Furthermore, there are evils beneath Watatsumi Island... I can also help you suppress them... to prevent them from emerging and causing chaos."
During her meeting with Orobashi, they agreed that Orobashi would be allowed autonomy on Watatsumi Island, with the Sangonomiya Shrine also being under the rule of the Shogunate. To some extent, Orobashi would join them in resisting incursions from The Abyss.
But erode... eventually caused Orobashi to lose his sanity. At the instigation of the Watatsumi Island residents, he "suddenly harbored evil intentions and gathered his forces to invade the east."
Ultimately, he was also cut down by her sister with the Musou no Hitotachi, leaving behind massive remains on Yashiori Island.
Orobashi could teach those abandoned people from beneath the ocean depths how to farm, how to smelt, and how to survive, but he did not teach them how to restrain their ambition.
In fact, since the victory of the Archon War, the six islands of Inazuma had completely become her territory. If she had wanted to slay Orobashi directly back then, she certainly could have.
But she saw the "kind-hearted" Orobashi and knew that if Inazuma were to go to war again, the casualties might be heavy.
She couldn't bear to do that.
At that time, she chose to hand over Watatsumi Island to Orobashi, and those abandoned people from the ocean depths were also entrusted to him.
Initially, those people knew how to be grateful, but as time passed, they increasingly felt that Orobashi's protection was something they were entitled to.
"It's just... the people of Watatsumi Island feel that Orobashi's protection is their right. They don't believe in Orobashi at all, nor do they know how to be grateful." There was a hint of sorrow in Raiden Makoto's voice. "Humans used to be cute, but as time passes, you have become more and more selfish."
"You only know how to take blindly."
She understood why Venti would slack off; it wasn't just because Mondstadt was a land of freedom.
She also knew why Zhongli would retire; it wasn't just because he feared erode.
Weren't the goals of both Venti and Zhongli to let humanity know that if they were to exist for a long time, they must rely on themselves?
"Of course, I'm not talking about you; most humans are still very cute," Raiden Makoto said with a smile. "Only a small number of people magnify their deep-seated vices and don't know how to exercise restraint."
"The evils beneath the ocean depths have been encroaching upon the land of Watatsumi Island, causing many problems. I actually understand why Watatsumi Island had the intention of invading Narukami Island back then. But the key is that even after Orobashi's death and their complete defeat, Watatsumi Island is still unwilling to truly surrender."
"If they regarded themselves as subjects of the Shogunate, living and working in peace, I would be willing to treat them as my own people and grant them protection."
"But they act under the banner of worshipping Orobashi, while in reality, it's still for their own power, and they are still exploiting Orobashi."
"Then how can I treat them as my people?" Raiden Makoto's words left Gorou lost in thought. After all, Gorou was not an original resident of Watatsumi Island, so he originally couldn't understand those things.
"They want to abolish Kokomi's position as the Divine Priestess? That is simply impossible."
"If it weren't for generation after generation of Divine Priestesses using the power left behind by Orobashi to suppress the Bathysmal Vishaps beneath the ocean depths, they would have completely broken the seal long ago."
"Watatsumi Island would eventually be devastated."
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