Seeing Scaramouche struggle for a while before finally going quiet again, Lumine curled her lips and put away her staff.
"Learns to eat, never learns to get beaten."
With that, she turned back to the group and asked casually,
"So… where were we just now?"
Jean shook her head with an amused smile.
"You said you were taking him back to Liyue so Makoto and the others could see Scaramouche."
Lumine clapped her hands.
"Oh right! Then there's basically nothing else to handle here."
She then looked toward Alhaitham and the others and continued softly,
"What about you? We're getting ready to leave soon. Ryen still has something very important waiting for us on his side."
Alhaitham sighed. He knew about the new mod, even if he still didn't quite understand what a mod actually was.
But he knew one thing very clearly: this was not something they could afford to miss.
Unfortunately, he was far too busy.
Not just him, Tighnari and Cyno also had to stay behind to deal with the Akademiya's aftermath.
Right now, the Akademiya was genuinely short on manpower everywhere.
Seeing that Alhaitham didn't answer right away, Lumine reminded him gently,
"Ryen and the others have already opened the new mod. This is the most important thing right now. If you miss it, catching up later will be extremely difficult."
"So my suggestion is, no matter what, at least send a few people over to take a look."
Alhaitham nodded slightly and looked toward Dehya.
"Cyno and I truly can't spare the time at the moment. If you don't mind, could you and Nilou make another trip instead?"
Compared to the last time, when she had been dragged to Liyue due to Alhaitham's schemes, Dehya agreed this time without hesitation.
"No problem. Even if you hadn't said anything, I was planning to go to Liyue with Lumine anyway."
Alhaitham let out another sigh.
To be honest, if the Akademiya weren't in such dire straits, he would have rushed to that world himself to explore it.
But Azar's downfall had caused a chain reaction.
Simply put, almost everyone who used to handle affairs had some connection to Azar, and now all of them had been purged.
In this enormous Akademiya, only two Sages and a handful of capable administrators remained.
Worse still, those two Sages barely knew how to manage things.
Tighnari's teacher, for example, was completely focused on research.
As things stood, nearly every matter, big or small, had to pass through Alhaitham.
He wasn't the Grand Sage, yet he was doing the Grand Sage's work.
To make matters worse, Naphis had even suggested earlier that Alhaitham take up the position of Grand Sage.
He had refused without hesitation.
Compared to ruling Sumeru or managing the Akademiya, Alhaitham would much rather remain an unimportant scribe, free to pursue research he actually enjoyed.
At the very least…
If he became Grand Sage, he would no longer be able to stay in Liyue for extended periods or immerse himself in Ryen's world.
"In any case," Alhaitham said calmly,
"I'll leave that side of things to you. We'll stabilize the Akademiya as quickly as possible."
"After the Sabzeruz Festival is settled, we can discuss the alliance."
"In the meantime, please keep detailed records of everything happening over there."
"And one more thing, Mr. Rahman."
Alhaitham turned his gaze toward Rahman.
"The Corps of Thirty is currently being reshuffled, and there are gaps in defense and patrol forces."
"If you don't mind, I'd like your people to temporarily stay in Sumeru City and help share the Corps' duties."
"Rest assured, you'll be compensated according to the scale of the Eremites."
Rahman waved his hand and laughed heartily.
"Compensation doesn't matter. The Akademiya isn't under Azar anymore, and we're comrades now. I trust you."
"As long as you let us beat up Azar from time to time, that's the best reward we could ask for."
Alhaitham relaxed slightly and replied,
"As long as Azar stays alive, everything else is negotiable."
Rahman scratched his head and glanced at Jean and the others.
"I do have one more request."
Alhaitham nodded.
"I know what you mean. Don't worry."
With that assurance, Rahman patted his chest happily.
"Good! Then it's settled. The safety of Sumeru City is on us."
Alhaitham rubbed his temples again.
People had been sent to Liyue, the Corps of Thirty had help, and responsibilities were being redistributed.
But after thinking it through…
There were still many problems left.
Fortunately, none of that concerned Lumine anymore.
She exchanged a glance with Jean and said softly,
"Since things are settled here, we'll be heading back to Liyue Harbor. Ryen and the others are still waiting for us."
Alhaitham nodded.
"Once again, my sincere thanks to Miss Lumine and Acting Grand Master Jean for your immense help. If Sumeru ever has the chance to repay this favor, we certainly will."
"Ehe~!"
Venti blinked and grinned.
"No need to say that. From now on, we're allies, an alliance of life and death, you know!"
Everyone shared a knowing smile.
A moment later, Jean and the others rose and headed toward the exit.
Nilou was also at the Akademiya, though not inside the main building.
Just as Lumine and the group stepped outside, they saw Nilou standing in front of Azar, her expression conflicted.
Azar was still surrounded by countless Sumeru citizens, all cracking their knuckles.
It looked like the group beating of Azar wasn't going to end anytime soon.
Lumine was about to call out to Nilou,
When Nilou suddenly raised her hand and slapped Azar hard across the face.
A crisp smack rang out.
Immediately afterward, cheers erupted from the Grand Bazaar crowd behind her.
Nilou rubbed her palm, a trace of delight lingering in her eyes.
She had been brought here by Zubayr and the others.
After hearing that Azar had fallen, that the ban on art might soon be lifted, and that the upcoming Sabzeruz Festival would likely be organized primarily by people from the Grand Bazaar, the entire district had, perhaps for the first time ever, been taken seriously.
And Azar, who had always advocated shutting down the Zubayr Theater and cutting off every means of survival for the Grand Bazaar's people, naturally became the foremost target of their vengeance.
Nilou herself hadn't wanted to strike Azar.
But she couldn't withstand Zubayr and the others' repeated persuasion.
"Don't you want to get back at him?"
"Have you forgotten how arrogantly he came just days ago and forbade the Sabzeruz Festival?"
"Have you forgotten how he humiliated us, threatening again and again to tear down the theater?"
She had heard variations of these words countless times.
In the end, moved by the crowd's emotions, she slapped Azar once.
Unfortunately, that was the harshest thing Nilou could bring herself to do.
Still, for the people of the Grand Bazaar, gentle and soft-spoken Nilou taking that first step was already something worth celebrating.
After a round of cheering, everyone surged past Nilou and began beating Azar mercilessly.
Even children picked up stones to throw at him.
Compared to Nilou's single slap, their actions were far more brutal.
Flexing her wrist, Nilou muttered softly,
"It… it actually feels kind of good."
"Nilou?"
Lumine looked at her in surprise.
When Nilou turned around and realized that so many people had seen her slap Azar, her face instantly turned bright red.
She waved her hands frantically.
"No! I mean, I actually, "
"Why did you reward him?"
Lumine's expression grew complicated.
Nilou froze in place, staring at her in confusion.
"If you're going to hit him, you need to hit him hard. A single slap barely registers for him anymore. And you just got your own hands dirty."
Lumine walked forward with a cheerful grin.
By now, the people of Sumeru all knew that Lumine was the one who had exposed Azar's conspiracy and brought him down.
They immediately parted, giving her a clear path.
Looking at Azar, once again barely breathing, Lumine casually tossed a healing spell onto him.
Then she pulled out a large torch, the kind wielded by hilichurls, and had Dehya ignite it with Pyro.
She rolled her wrist.
The next instant, a dull, heavy whoosh cut through the air as Lumine swung the magically empowered flaming torch,
Straight into Azar's groin.
Every Sumeru onlooker shuddered in unison.
Even Diluc and the others instinctively stepped back, fear flashing across their faces.
That was vicious.
Azar had already been half-dead, his eyes dull and lifeless,
Yet that single blow revived him enough to let out a piercing, agonized scream.
Scaramouche, being carried away by soldiers, stared at Lumine in pure terror.
This little aunt…
She's absolutely vicious.
A heavy strike plus burning damage, what kind of person could survive that critical hit?
Suddenly, Scaramouche felt a strange sense of relief.
At least…
He hadn't been treated this way.
After weighing it over, he decided that being bound and taken to see Ei and Makoto was still far better than being personally "handled" by Lumine.
At once, he emptied his mind and abandoned any thoughts of escape.
Lumine glanced at the now-broken wooden torch in her hand, chuckled, and casually tossed it aside.
Then she turned to Nilou.
"See? That is what revenge looks like."
"..."
Nilou offered a polite yet awkward smile and hurriedly changed the subject.
"Lumine… are you all finished here?"
Lumine nodded with a smile.
"We're heading back to Liyue. Oh, Nilou, come with us."
"Alhaitham and the others can't leave Sumeru right now, but the new mod is opening. Someone has to go and understand what's going on."
Nilou paused for a moment, then nodded.
"No problem. I was planning to visit Yun Jin anyway and talk about new dance ideas."
"The Sabzeruz Dance is wonderful, but since this will be the first, and grandest, Sabzeruz Festival after Lesser Lord Kusanali's return…"
"I think it deserves something fresh."
"I'd like to incorporate some elements of Liyue opera as well."
Lumine nodded.
Although she privately felt that once Nilou entered the Minecraft world, she probably wouldn't be thinking about the Sabzeruz Dance anymore…
After exchanging farewells with Alhaitham and the others, Lumine followed Jean and the group as they departed.
The people of Sumeru looked at the broken torch on the ground, then at Azar, still screaming in agony, flames licking at his body.
After a long silence, a spark lit up in everyone's eyes.
Punching and kicking was satisfying, sure, but it made your hands and feet hurt.
But if you used weapons to beat Azar…
That was a business opportunity.
Many merchants immediately had ideas and rushed off to find suitable weapons.
They firmly believed that if "Beating Azar" became a unique attraction of Sumeru, it would generate endless profit.
Alhaitham and the others looked at Azar's miserable state and shook their heads.
Even they felt that Azar's fate was… rather pitiful.
But,
He had brought it upon himself.
If they weren't so busy, they might have joined in as well.
Watching Lumine and the others disappear into the distance, Alhaitham gave a final instruction:
"Keep a close watch on Azar. Don't let him die."
"His path of repayment… has only just begun."