"Sigh…"
Nahida let out an utterly dejected sigh.
From Su Xuan's diary, it wasn't hard to see: his opinion of the Sumeru Akademiya was… extremely disdainful.
That made the little puffball's heart feel very stuffy.
If they really worshipped knowledge and wisdom so much,
then why hadn't the Akademiya gone into King Deshret's tombs to seek out the technology he left behind?
Danger?
Any pursuit comes with a price.
Every crystallization of wisdom is born from countless failed experiments and all the dangers that come with them.
The dangers inside King Deshret's mausoleums were absolutely not a valid excuse to abandon the pursuit of knowledge.
Besides, human thinking and a god's thinking were not the same.
The Great Lord Rukkhadevata ignored Deshret's tomb for a reason:
it was the resting place of a sworn ally and dear friend.
She knew all too well how terrible the price had been for the knowledge he left there.
She might also have feared that inheriting his creations would draw Celestia's hatred and punishment.
But humans didn't care about that.
Even though the Akasha system's core and origin had been created by Rukkhadevata using her Gnosis,
when the Akademiya presented it to the public, they still called it
"the greatest invention of the Akademiya in the last few centuries,"
using it as a banner to show off their own "wisdom".
Technological creation and civilizational development
are the most tangible embodiment of knowledge and intellect.
Deshret's legacy in his tombs,
Khaenri'ah's leftover constructs—
the Akademiya turned a blind eye to all of it,
only to go and try to "mechanically ascend a god".
In the end…
What they pursued wasn't wisdom or knowledge at all.
It was the arrogance of calling themselves "scholars".
"Optical cloaking… laser lattice arrays…"
Nahida mumbled again the names of Deshret's tech.
"Transformers…"
"What are 'Transformers', anyway?"
Her little head was about to split open from thinking too hard.
"Sigh… Once Father gets his hands on all that tech, he'll definitely just dump it onto Liyue's Ministry of Civil Affairs again."
"What about us, then…?"
She spread her tiny hands helplessly.
There was no doubt: once Su Xuan collected that technology,
he'd hand it over to Liyue to study and industrialize it.
Just thinking about that made Nahida's chest ache.
Especially when she remembered his mention of the desert folk.
They at least knew that the weapons and gear left by King Deshret were far from ordinary—
that even without a Gnosis, some desert dwellers could use those devices to convert elemental power,
fighting more effectively than many Vision holders.
The Akademiya remained completely unmoved.
They even looked down on the desert people,
calling them ignorant rabble with no wisdom at all.
Yet when it came to military strength,
they relied heavily on mercenary groups like the Eremites.
"Sigh…"
Nahida sighed heavily again.
"These things… probably aren't mine to manage anymore."
What she was really looking forward to…
was the fact that Su Xuan wanted to acknowledge her as his daughter.
Since he wanted to take her in, he naturally wouldn't let her disappear—
and absolutely wouldn't let her forget the Great Lord Rukkhadevata.
On top of that, he intended to completely resolve Eleazar and the Withering.
That meant not only would he keep Nahida around,
he would also properly handle everything regarding Rukkhadevata.
In Nahida's heart, the Great Lord's return was as good as guaranteed.
When that time comes, everything can be left to her to decide.
All I have to do is follow at her side and learn properly…
Two mornings later.
In the rainforest near Gandharva Ville, where the Forest Rangers were stationed—
Several figures appeared out of thin air.
Startled Aranara scattered in all directions,
disappearing into the foliage like little green streaks of light.
"I think something just ran off," Paimon said, staring at the rustling bushes.
"Aranara," Su Xuan replied, "Nahida's little followers."
As he spoke, he took out his diary and uploaded the photo he'd just snapped.
[Aranara.jpg]
They're kind of hilarious when you think about it.
Barbatos' follower is Stormterror.
Morax's follower… well, his relationship with Azhdaha is basically that of a patron and vassal.
Ei's follower is that rebellious pink-haired fox.
But in Sumeru, Nahida's 'followers' are this bunch of ridiculous little guys.
Dottore used these things as materials for his segments.
They barely have any power, yet they're constantly scheming to cleanse the Withering Zones in the rainforest.
Honestly, they're a pretty amusing group.
He'd used something this cute…
as segment material?
Dottore really deserved to die.
Oh right. He already had.
The girls who'd just calmed down after the "Dottore execution" arc
immediately got riled up again.
"Cleansing the Withering? Them?"
Paimon stared at the Aranara photo, eyes wide.
"Those little things are even smaller than Paimon…"
"They were trying to deal with the Abyssal pollution that created the Withering?"
"Can they even do that?" she couldn't help asking.
Su Xuan shrugged.
"Of course not."
"That's why they need our warm-hearted blonde auntie and her partner Paimon, no?"
"Uh…"
Paimon scratched her head, speechless.
With her experience, she instantly understood what he meant.
"Looks like even without your interference, me and Lumine would've ended up helping them deal with the Withering."
Su Xuan slipped an arm around Lumine's shoulders.
"It's a very meaningful little mission, after all."
Cuddled in his arms, Lumine gave the smirking man a sideways look.
Just from that expression alone,
this so-called "meaningful mission" was definitely not going to be simple.
"This time we probably don't need me and Paimon to do anything, right?" she muttered, drawing circles on his chest with a fingertip.
"Considering you're planning to help Nahida completely cure Eleazar and the Withering anyway…"
Paimon lowered her gaze like she could see straight through the two of them.
She stared at them for a few seconds with a very "hmph" energy,
then suddenly remembered something.
"Before we go find Nahida and ask if she's willing to be your daughter…"
"Weren't you going to help Amber treat Collei's Eleazar and the Archon residue sealed inside her?"
"We should hurry up and go find Collei first."
Su Xuan and Lumine both looked at Amber, who had come to Sumeru with them.
In the past two days,
most of the diary holders from Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma had already opened up their own rooms on the Jade Chamber.
During the day, they worked in their own nations as usual.
When they were off duty, they "went home" to the Jade Chamber.
As the man providing the resources behind the scenes,
Su Xuan didn't interfere much with how they negotiated with each other,
or how they arranged their work.
As soon as Amber heard that the destination this time was Sumeru,
Collei's face had flashed into her mind.
In her eyes,
since Su Xuan wanted to recognize Nahida as his daughter,
Nahida wouldn't dare be ungrateful.
Which meant Eleazar and the Withering in Sumeru would definitely be eradicated.
But Collei wasn't like the other Eleazar patients.
She wasn't just afflicted by the disease—
she also had Archon residue forcibly injected into her body.
According to Lisa,
back then in Mondstadt,
it was Cyno who had rushed over after receiving her letter,
using a sealing technique to suppress the Archon residue in Collei.
But the seal could only ensure the residue wouldn't rampage and seize Collei's consciousness.
The power itself remained within her.
If the seal ever broke,
the residue could still devour her mind.
Just thinking of that made Amber unable to sit still.
So she'd asked to join the trip to Sumeru,
and begged Su Xuan to deal with the residue in Collei's body first.
"You're right! Su Xuan…" Amber chimed in quickly.
"Before we go looking for the Little Lucky Grass King, let's find Collei first."
She latched onto his arm and rubbed against it like a clingy bunny,
then tiptoed up to his ear and whispered,
"Collei's really great. She definitely won't let you down."
Su Xuan responded by grabbing the tip of her bunny-tail ponytail and giving it a firm squeeze.
"Look at you, so anxious."
"Relax. Since I promised, I'm not going back on my word."
"Come on, let's go find Collei."
In the rainforest south of Gandharva Ville—
Collei had just finished a patrol with Tighnari and the Forest Rangers
and was sitting off to the side, taking a break.
She stared forlornly at the little pouch of flatbread she'd just dropped at her feet,
and sighed.
She was really fed up with how clumsy she was in daily life.
But there was nothing she could do about it.
That was just how Eleazar worked.
In the beginning, it was only numb patches on the skin.
As it progressed, strength slowly leaked away,
her limbs grew weak and unresponsive,
and eventually, the whole body stopped obeying commands.
"But… Mr. Su Xuan's already arrived in Sumeru. If he's willing to help, maybe I can…"
As a diary holder herself,
Collei knew full well that Su Xuan was completely capable of curing Eleazar and the Withering.
But his "condition" left her totally baffled.
Can the Little Lucky Grass King really agree to be his daughter…?
That kind of deal is way too weird…
Just as she was twisting her brain into knots over that,
a strange light flashed across her vision.
She jerked her head up.
The scenery around her was suddenly washed in deep blue.
"This is…!"
Her purple-red eyes trembled violently.
She remembered this sight very clearly.
Whenever this happened,
it meant everything in the area was about to be frozen in place
because of Su Xuan.
"Mr. Su Xuan… something's happening!?"
She hurried to open her diary—
only to see no new entries,
no projection of Su Xuan's perspective.
As panic began to rise in her chest,
a familiar voice froze her in place.
"Collei!"
She looked up.
Her violet eyes shook again as she rubbed them furiously.
"A–Amber…?"
Then she looked past Amber—
and sucked in a sharp breath.
"Lumine… Paimon…"
"A–and… and…"
Her lips trembled,
but even after a long moment,
she still couldn't manage to say Su Xuan's name.
He didn't comment on it.
In his memory,
Collei's experiences had left deep psychological shadows.
Aside from Amber—the one who'd pulled her out of the darkness—
she couldn't bear to be touched by anyone.
Even the slightest contact could trigger a violent stress reaction.
But Amber and Su Xuan had discussed this in detail in advance.
All he needed was for Amber to hold her down.
As long as Amber was present,
Collei wouldn't spiral out of control.
After a few "deep communication sessions" with Su Xuan,
she definitely wouldn't be flinching at his touch anymore, either.
For that, Su Xuan could only silently give the outrider a thumbs-up in his heart.
Even the pure, sweet outrider knight had gone off the rails.
"Don't be nervous, Collei…"
Amber sat down beside her and gently patted the ground.
"We're here to help you."
"The Archon residue inside you isn't part of Eleazar. That's why Su Xuan made this special trip just for you."
Collei's pupils shook.
No matter how she thought about it,
she'd never imagined that someone like her
would be worth a personal visit.
But there was no need to put any of that into words.
Once her figure appeared in the flowing surface of Su Xuan's mirror,
all the difficulties vanished.
The black scales covering her skin flaked away into ash.
Collei immediately felt more energized,
her strength returning to normal.
With the residue gone,
the circulation in her body felt clearer and smoother than ever.
"Th–thank… thank you…"
"I… I…"
She tried desperately to say something complete and heartfelt,
but excitement choked off every sentence.
"With how well I know Boss Su, this is where he'd usually say—"
"'Don't thank me, if you want to thank someone, thank Amber,'" Paimon said with her arms folded.
Lumine nodded vigorously.
"Accurate. Amber really did go all-out last night."
"Lumine…"
Amber's face turned bright red.
"Don't talk nonsense…"
She hurriedly turned her head back to Collei.
"But anyway, right now we really are all living together with Su Xuan up in the Jade Chamber."
"And because of the teapot… the domain… that place,
each of us can design our own room however we want."
"Collei, do you want to come live with us too?"
Collei's heart skipped a beat.
Never mind what it meant to live together with someone like Su Xuan—
The most important thing was that she'd get to see Amber every single day.
But when she looked over at Tighnari and the rangers,
still frozen in place not far away,
she hesitated.
"But… how am I supposed to explain all this to Master?"
If Tighnari knew her Eleazar and Archon residue were both completely gone,
and that she could live with her best friend every day—
He would definitely be happy for her.
But Su Xuan didn't seem to like dealing with "old men" much.
He'd frozen time around them for a reason.
He clearly didn't want Tighnari and the others to know about his existence.
"Don't worry about that part," Su Xuan said with a smile.
"You and Amber can stay in Gandharva Ville for a few days first."
"My original plan was to set the Jade Chamber gateway inside the Sanctuary of Surasthana."
"Once the Great Lord is back, she can find some excuse to bring you up there."
Collei's answer came instantly, bright and cheerful.
"Okay!"
Then she bent at the waist and bowed deeply to him.
Su Xuan met Amber's gaze.
She nodded seriously.
"I'll do exactly as you said."
"Until the Great Lord comes back, I'll stay here in Gandharva Ville with Collei."
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