「 "The children of Belobog are making snowmen while the children here are already skilled at writing prescriptions..." Although she could understand, March 7th was still very surprised.
Bailu pretended not to hear her words: "Things haven't been very peaceful on the Luofu recently. Make sure you don't—"
"Go running around, right?"
March 7th, anticipated what she was going to say and spread her hands helplessly: "Well, the General of the Luofu has given us a task, so we'll have to run around a lot."
"Hm, well, seeing as you saved me just now, if you're unlucky enough to acquire any breaks or sprains... I'll treat you for free! As for medicine, I'll give you a twenty percent discount." Bailu smiled.
Then, she fully immersed herself in treating the injured Mara-struck soldiers.
Looking at her serious demeanor while treating patients, Welt was quite curious: "So this is the Vidyadhara? I've only seen records of them in ancient texts. I heard they are a dragon-blooded lineage, and looking at her now, it's quite fitting."
Stelle and the others didn't want to disturb Bailu further, so they prepared to continue their stroll and wait to meet the person Fu Xuan had arranged.
"Excuse me, little sister— hold on a moment." A man with a full beard walked over.
"It was only thanks to your help earlier that the dragon lady and those Exalting Sanctum residents got away unscathed."
"Dragon Lady?"
"The dragon lady of the Alchemy Commission — Lady Bailu." A man with a full beard made a remark.
March 7th turned around in surprise, looking at the girl behind her who was engrossed in treatment: "You mean the child? She's starting to sound like a big shot." 」
「 .....」
〜Genshin Impact World〜
Teyvat, Sangonomiya Shrine
"I deduce... this little girl should be a leader-like figure of the Vidyadhara, very important in the current situation of the Xianzhou."
Sangonomiya Kokomi said after a slight pause for thought.
"Ah...? Lady Sangonomiya, how did you guess that?"
Gorou looked at the young woman curiously.
"Gorou, look, there are only three races currently appearing on the Xianzhou: Foxians, Vidyadhara, and ordinary Xianzhou humans, but do you see any problems?"
"Foxians have tails and ears, as for the others... I can't tell."
"That's the problem. Ordinary Xianzhou humans and Vidyadhara look no different, which at least indicates that Bailu's outward draconic features are extremely rare within the entire Vidyadhara race."
Sangonomiya Kokomi speculated.
"I can't be certain that she is the leader of the Vidyadhara, but she should... have received secret teachings from her clan to have her current appearance."
"Lady Sangonomiya means... Miss Bailu might not only have medical skills? Are there other unknown hidden powers?"
Gorou suddenly became expectant after hearing Kokomi say this.
"Hmm... I can't guess that."
Kokomi looked up and smiled softly,
"But if this were a story written by those light novel authors at Yae Publishing House, they would definitely 'set' some special powers for Miss Bailu."
"After all, they are a dragon race. Even in Teyvat, aren't all creatures related to 'dragons' incredibly powerful?"
Kokomi recalled the Bathysmal Vishaps in Enkanomiya that could both tank and deal damage. If it weren't for the Traveler... she wouldn't have known how to deal with them.
—
「 The man was from the Realm-Keeping Commission, named Dahao. He came to find Stelle because he heard they were guests of the General and were skilled, so he wanted to invite them to the Realm-Keeping Commission for a discussion.
Although he guessed that the subsequent events might not be easy, since they were idle anyway, they followed Dahao.
At the Realm-Keeping Commission Chancery, Dahao thanked them again. To save their time, he directly stated the current troubles of Xianzhou.
"As you can see, since the Stellaron disaster, the madness of the Mara-struck has spread."
Dahao said with a grave expression: "Thanks to the Ten-Lords Commission, being stricken with mara had long since become a terrifying but avoidable fate for Xianzhou natives... The puzzling thing is that despite the Commission's protection, we're now seeing an increase."
"But now, more and more people, especially Cloud Knights who bear pressure and risks, are beginning to fall into the Mara-struck state."
"Moreover, those people's appearances have become extremely terrifying, like monsters. This is different from my previous understanding of the Mara-struck..."
"You think there's a conspiracy behind this?" Stelle understood his meaning.
"That appears to be the case— no smoke without fire, as they say... Despite being just a servant of the Realm-Keeping Commission, spending a considerable amount of time on the front lines has sharpened my senses to potential dangers..." Dahao heard that the group was entrusted by the General to investigate the Stellaron, so he proposed cooperating with them and sharing any clues found with the Realm-Keeping Commission.
Firstly, their Realm-Keeping Commission could respond in time, and secondly, they could also provide assistance to the group.
At this point, Stelle suddenly remembered that when she was at the Starskiff Haven, she had picked up a letter that had fallen from a Mara-struck monster she had eliminated.
Dahao carefully read the letter Stelle handed him. After reading it twice with a solemn expression, he profusely apologized to the group, sweating, and left in a hurry.
After waiting for about ten minutes, Dahao returned with a woman.
"I read that letter... I'll be honest with you, I've got no idea how to handle this problem— it's beyond the Realm-Keeping Commission's jurisdiction. I contacted the Seat of Divine Foresight, which is overseen by the general. Allow me to introduce Madam Qingzu, General Jing Yuan's Chief Counselor."
Qingzu had been responsible for tracking matters related to the Mara-struck, and the letter provided by Stelle happened to offer a crucial clue.
The letter appeared to be a family letter with good news, but it actually violated the forbidden law of the [ Ten Unpardonable Sins ]. It's heresy. Seeking longevity or mutated transformation under the guise of "healing." 」
「 .....」
〜Frieren: Beyond Journey's End World〜
"Strange, aren't Xianzhou people already long-lived? Why would they seek longevity again?"
Stark wondered,
"Isn't this redundant?"
Frieren shook her head:
"No, seeking longevity should not be aimed at Xianzhou people, but at short-lived races like Stelle from beyond the Star Sea."
As a long-lived elf, Frieren clearly understood the appeal of "longevity" to ordinary humans. Over thousands of years, many humans have hoped to research longevity magic to defeat death... but without exception, they all failed.
"Yes, if it were me, I'd also be curious what it's like to be long-lived."
"Actually, there's not much to experience."
Frieren gently stroked the Staff of Blessing around her neck and said lightly:
"Perhaps... it's like fifty years passing in the blink of an eye? Time becomes very fast."
"But Frieren-Sama, why would Xianzhou people want to undergo mutated transformation?"
Fern couldn't quite understand the Xianzhou people's way of thinking,
"Is it necessary to risk violating a prohibition?"
"Hmm... it's actually quite understandable, but before answering that question, let me ask you, Fern."
Frieren looked out the inn window at the bustling crowd,
"Have you ever seen people born with disabilities?"
"No."
"...I almost forgot, you lived in the forest with Heiter since you were little."
Frieren explained, rubbing her forehead,
"Some humans are born with disabilities, for example, born blind, or with leg disabilities, unable to walk, etc..."
"For these humans, life is a process of constant suffering. But no matter how painful, it's only a few decades."
"...But now, when such misfortune befalls a Xianzhou person, life becomes a long sentence of hundreds, even thousands of years for them. Even I probably wouldn't dare say I have enough willpower to resist it."
—