"Once you graduate from Sumeru as a postgraduate, your monthly income will absolutely not be less than two hundred thousand Mora. If it's lower than that, come find Little A-Luo—A-Luo will make up the difference for you."
At Port Ormos, a young man stood up before a ring of Sumeru scholars and spoke with absolute confidence.
"Bros, I only speak the truth, alright."
Facing the crowd of scholars in front of him, Elric talked himself up without restraint.
Behind him hung a banner with several bold characters written on it:
[RNG won't change your luck. Whaling won't change your fate. Ten years of bitter study can't compare to one day of consultation.]
Just then, a little girl squeezed forward from the crowd and shouted loudly,
"Teacher, teacher! What if I want to study art?"
Not long ago, the detestable Grand Sage had been eliminated by the Traveler and the gods working together.
Now, all of Sumeru's restrictions on folk arts and similar fields had been completely lifted. People were even encouraged to pursue the hobbies they loved, no longer shackled by rigid academic schools.
"That's great!"
Elric suddenly slapped the table and launched into an enthusiastic pitch at the girl.
"The Grand Bazaar Art Academy needs talent just like you!"
"Grand Bazaar Art Academy? Is that a new academy set up by the Akademiya? I've never even heard of it," the girl blinked, asking with some confusion.
"The Grand Bazaar is a place dedicated to practicing dance. If you go there, you definitely won't regret it," Elric said smoothly, his face calm and his heart steady as he sidestepped the question.
He wasn't lying. The Grand Bazaar really was the best place in all of Sumeru to learn dance.
Nilou was there, after all—and ever since the Grand Sage fell from power, almost all of Sumeru's most famous dancers had gathered there.
It had become nothing short of Sumeru's sacred ground for dance.
"Sounds like it actually makes sense."
"After all, he's wearing Akademiya scholar robes. He probably wouldn't lie, right?"
"Looking at the badge, he seems to be from Rtawahist?"
The girl's question seemed to open the floodgates. In an instant, more scholars surged forward from the crowd, starting to pepper Elric with questions.
They were all scholars who hadn't yet entered the Akademiya and weren't wearing official Akademiya attire.
After all, although the Akademiya ruled everything in Sumeru, not just anyone could enter that academic holy land.
Scholars outside had to pass layer upon layer of screening through local academies, followed by several rounds of examinations before they could finally qualify to study within the Akademiya.
Even Elric had been shocked when he first learned how complicated the process was.
In his eyes, wasn't this basically the same as his previous life back home?
Except the Akademiya here held absolute hegemonic authority.
And reality was nothing like the game—those Sumeru scholars you saw everywhere in-game were rare here. Among a thousand people, you might not even be able to pick out one.
Of course, because Port Ormos had a dense population, there were still quite a few Akademiya students around.
"Senior Brother… isn't this a little… bad?"
Layla tugged at Elric's sleeve and spoke timidly.
She always felt like they were running some kind of pyramid scheme here.
And when she looked into the scholars' eyes—those clear, foolishly earnest gazes—Layla felt a deep sense of guilt pressing on her conscience.
"Huh? What's bad about it? I'm just guiding them toward the right path in life."
Elric turned to look at Layla in confusion, not understanding why she would say something like that.
Wasn't he clearly doing a good deed?
He was bringing innovative talent into the Akademiya, not those old types who only knew how to parrot textbooks while plugged into the Akasha.
"…Could you at least be a little more serious?"
Layla wanted to say it, but the words just wouldn't come out.
Even if she managed to speak, her voice was as thin as a thread.
"Ahem. Anything else you'd like to consult about? If not, I'm packing up."
Elric couldn't hear her at all. He cleared his throat and asked loudly.
"Me, me, me! Teacher, I really want to improve myself!"
"Teacher, do you think I still have a chance?"
At just that moment, Paimon and Lumine had finished handling their business and arrived at Port Ormos, only to witness this strange scene.
Several question marks practically popped up over their heads.
These scholars were usually either doing research or on their way to do research. When would they ever gather like this for no reason?
"Should we go take a look?" Paimon's little eyes spun with curiosity.
The two exchanged a glance and hurried over, afraid of missing out on something interesting.
Before they even reached the crowd, strange voices were already drifting over:
"Fight for a hundred days—I'm getting into the Akademiya!"
"Some so-called top academies really aren't much better than vocational schools!"
"The Akademiya scholars are laughing at me… I'm just a regular academy graduate… I'm really crying…"
"What are all these weird things they're saying?" Paimon sighed, rubbing her forehead. She couldn't make sense of any of it.
"Paimon, what's written up there? Hurry and tell me!" Lumine had also heard the strange remarks. She stood on tiptoe, trying to see ahead, but the dense crowd blocked her view completely.
"Uh… these words are really weird. 'RNG won't change your luck, whaling won't change your fate'… what does that even mean?"
Paimon read the words on the banner out loud without thinking.
She understood each character individually, but once they were put together, the meaning completely escaped her.
"Mm… you only really need to look at the last part," Lumine said. The sentence felt oddly familiar to her, and she instinctively grasped its meaning.
But explaining it would be a hassle, so she didn't bother.
At the same time, she felt a little surprised. To think she'd actually see such a novel… phrase in Teyvat.
That alone piqued her interest. Lumine decided to stay a while and gather some information.
"It's so strange. Why do these scholars even need consultations? Wouldn't it be better to just study hard and get into the Akademiya honestly?" Paimon scratched her head in confusion.
"And that guy looks like he's from Rtawahist. People from that Darshan are all mysterious when they talk—just like Mona."
She spread her hands helplessly.
"Rtawahist?"
Lumine's delicate brows knit slightly as suspicion crept into her gaze.
She had never seen this kind of consultation before. And as far as she knew, Rtawahist didn't do this sort of thing at all.
They spent all day studying Teyvat's stars and constellations.
Actually, none of the Akademiya scholars would normally do something like this. They were all too busy with their own research to come out here and help people with random questions.
So what exactly was this?
Lumine discreetly observed the expressions of the surrounding scholars, her eyes tinged with caution.
Mm… they look extremely fanatical. Just like when Paimon sees shiny Mora.
A thought immediately struck her.
This couldn't be some kind of scam organization, could it?!
She grabbed the floating Paimon and whispered, "Shh."
At the same time, she was genuinely surprised. Were scam groups really this blatant now, operating openly right in front of the square?
After the Grand Sage's downfall, were there still remnants trying to fish for profit in the chaotic environment of Port Ormos?
"What's wrong?" Paimon looked around nervously and whispered.
Lumine quietly shared her speculation with her.
Paimon covered her mouth in shock. "Then… should we contact the General Mahamatra first?"
"Probably too late. It's fine—I can handle them myself," Lumine shook her head as she quietly followed the crowd and edged her way inward.
"Mm-hmm! You've got me too, Lumine. If things get dangerous, I'll step in!" Paimon patted her small chest confidently.
"Just don't make things harder for me," Lumine replied dryly. The two stopped bickering and carefully squeezed deeper into the crowd.
At that moment, a scholar from the Akademiya suddenly popped out and shouted at Elric,
"That's not right! I'm an actual Akademiya postgraduate, but I don't even make two hundred thousand Mora a month. Does that mean I can come to you for the difference?"
Elric froze mid-speech, his mind going blank for a second.
"Wait, I've only been running this stall for a few days, and you already became a Sumeru postgraduate?"
Were Sumeru postgraduates that cheap now?
He narrowed his eyes slightly. So it was a scholar from Haravatat.
Seriously, Faruzan, just because I didn't become your student doesn't mean you had to sabotage my stall like this.
"I heard from Senior Faruzan that the Ritamvati Academy recently set up something called the 'A-Luo Special Subsidy.' Anyone whose research funding is lacking—cough—or whose monthly salary is under two hundred thousand Mora can apply."
The scholar cleared his throat and looked at Elric on the chair with a gaze as naked as someone staring at a bar dancer.
As long as he could get the subsidy, he could finish his final experiment and prove to everyone that his research direction was correct!
"Subsidy… I'll subsidize your ass. Listen up, alright—this is Teacher A-Luo's first lesson for you all."
Seeing the situation turning bad, with several Akademiya scholars already closing in around him, Elric knew things were getting dangerous.
He couldn't fight them, and scolding them wouldn't help either. Left with no choice, Elric bolted.
He grabbed Layla's hand and ran into the distance.
As he ran, he shouted back, "Bros, I might've told a tiny little lie, alright!"
These scholars really opened their mouths and demanded Mora without hesitation. As expected, cutting research funding was like cutting off their lifeline.
When funding was scarce, they could do absolutely insane things!
"He's running! Paimon, hurry, let's catch up!"
Lumine clenched her hand slightly as a sword appeared in her grip—the Dull Blade—and she sprinted after Elric.
At the same time, Elric noticed that striking blond figure among the people chasing him.
His face lit up.
Finally, I found you, Blondie!
…But why does this look so unfriendly?
Why are you holding a sword? This is right in front of the square—if there were criminals, they'd already be dealt with.
Wait—are you chasing me?!!
No wonder he'd felt something was off. She was actually helping those crazy scholars catch him!
I don't have that much Mora on me, damn it!!!
Shouldn't you be helping me instead? I'm clearly the one with the blue exclamation mark over my head!
Startled, Elric sped up, sprinting forward without daring to look back.
[Ding… Target detected: Traveler (Aether / Lumine). Popularity System activated.]
Th-This… could this be my cheat?!
Elric nearly lost his composure.
If I'd known earlier, I would've crossed mountains and rivers straight to Mondstadt to find the Traveler!
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