Under Makoto's soothing, Ei slowly releases her clenched fist, but the gloom in her heart is hard to dispel.
The people of Watatsumi Island feel the same—the Orobashi they revere actually died for this reason...
Whether in Byakuyakoku or on the surface, their right to survive was granted by the serpent god.
The fact that the Heavenly Principles and the gods are outsiders also surprises people, but no one harbors any prejudice against the gods because of it—after all, the gods have always been on the side of humans.
Especially for the people of Natlan, gods are born from among them.
The amount of information revealed by Enjou is a bit overwhelming; he leaps ahead of Scaramouche to become the one with the least guarded mouth.
However, unlike Scaramouche—if Scaramouche is S, then Enjou is definitely M.
There's another difference: Scaramouche speaks the truth plainly, saying whatever he has; Enjou is different—he only tells half the truth.
[Enjou: "I've said so much, and that's your only reaction?"]
["Don't you hate me to the point of itching teeth, wanting to punch my face right now?"]
[Paimon: "Do you really have a problem with liking to get beaten?"]
This is also what readers want to say: what's wrong with this kid? All along the way, he's been begging to get beaten.
So annoyingly provocative toward the Traveler—what a talkative, masochistic glasses guy.
Provoking the Traveler every day but not letting her actually succeed—what a brat.
After teasing the Traveler, Enjou puts away his annoying smirk and switches to a serious expression, saying he doesn't deserve death—after all, he didn't tell many lies.
Strictly speaking, he didn't deceive the Traveler; he just told half the truth.
He is a civilian official and came to "help" the Traveler, but he never said he was sent by Sangonomiya.
Moreover, he had already told the Traveler long ago that he would suddenly turn into a Pyro-manipulating monster!
As soon as Enjou finishes speaking, he has already changed into another form—Abyss Lector: Pyro.
An illustration is presented, but it's not a serious one—surprisingly, after transforming into a Pyro Abyss Lector, he's winking at everyone.
In the illustration, Enjou has one eye closed, clearly winking.
His right hand forms a "V" pointing forward, as if he just snapped his fingers.
There's even a glowing little grass in his mouth—one has to admit, this flashy appearance really makes one want to beat him, though he does look a bit more handsome than in human form.
Just seeing this illustration, readers have already imagined the sound—they feel like he's saying "oi"!
Aether: "..."
This illustration leaves Aether a bit speechless—this kid is somewhat ruining the Abyss's image!
Before Enjou appeared, the Abyss always had a mysterious and powerful vibe; now it's ruined—adding this annoying thing suddenly makes the Abyss Order seem like not a serious organization.
Then, this Enjou finally gets his wish and gets beaten up by the Traveler—satisfied.
[Enjou: "Whew, although I didn't underestimate you, a civilian really isn't a match for a hero."]
Enjou stops; Paimon is somewhat curious why he suddenly attacked.
Enjou says that his subordinates and companions were beaten so badly by you—I also want to get beaten. No, he meant he wanted to help get revenge.
While getting revenge, he could also conveniently search the Traveler's body to see if the book he's looking for was taken by the Traveler.
In the end, he only found mint, cabbage, fowl, and raw meat on the Traveler—momentarily unsure if this is the Traveler or Xiangling.
[Enjou: "—That's about it. There are plenty of reasons to want to kill you. There's only one reason not to: 'I actually quite like you.' Can you think of a second one?"]
She is not an ordinary Traveler; she is a Traveler with merits.
This guy got beaten and then says he quite likes the other—truly deserving of being an M.
He even kindly reminds the Traveler:
["We all need to learn a lesson; next time, don't trust others so easily."]
["For example, that little one by your side. She might betray you in the end too."]
The little one he refers to is naturally Paimon; the Traveler of course doesn't believe Paimon would betray her and firmly refutes it.
Readers have "accompanied" the two on adventures all the way and don't believe Paimon would betray the Traveler either—they just take Enjou as sowing discord.
Seeing the Traveler doesn't believe him, Enjou is quite helpless, sighs, and says he's stalled for enough time—it's time to go—and runs off.
The Traveler also takes the Bloodbranch Coral back to Sangonomiya to find Atsuko and turn in the quest.
[Atsuko: "Hero, great hero, good man, savior! On behalf of Lady Kokomi and all the people of Watatsumi Island, I thank you."]
She is not stingy with praise, and with her praises one after another, Lumine listens more and more delighted—her little mouth gradually turns into a cat mouth, her expression smug.
Turning the page leads to some short stories; in these stories, the Traveler encounters many "remnant souls" while exploring Enkanomiya.
Aberaku, Eboshi, the Child of the Sun (Phaethon)—from the mouths of these people, one gradually understands everything about Byakuyakoku.
The more one understands, the sadder it is. This story is called "The Phaethons' Syrtos"—nice name; those who don't know might think it's some happy scene.
Only upon reading does one realize not a single one survived—even not one lived past ten years old.
Readers are angrily amused: earlier because of Enjou, they thought this story was quite joyful; now they realize joy was only on the surface.
That's right—this is the Shikikan we know; how could he write something warm and sunny?
These Phaethons are like Ming Dynasty emperors: not great at being "emperors," but masters of miscellaneous skills.
Skilled in medicine, skilled in music, skilled in carving, skilled in crafting, traveling and mapping, even fortune-telling half-immortals.
That fortune-telling Phaethon does have some skill; however, when divining for the Traveler, he couldn't calculate anything—instead elevating Lucian's level.
Mona tilts her little head up, her nose almost pointing skyward: see, I'm still very capable! I can at least calculate a bit about the Traveler!
And after several short stories, there is a longer one: "From Dusk to Dawn in Byakuyakoku."
In the story, after Kokomi holds the "Watatsumi Spirit Festival," this ritual is to reverse Watatsumi Island's "sacred soil transformation"—very important; the Bloodbranch Coral is needed for the ritual.
But when the Traveler comes to find Kokomi this time, she discovers Kokomi seems anxious about something and is arranging personnel to handle it.
It turns out that after holding the "Watatsumi Spirit Festival," the sacred soil transformation did not reverse—it only stopped; this is unprecedented, so Kokomi can only start investigating.
Stopping is not enough; it will affect Watatsumi Island's planting industry—though Watatsumi Island's food does not rely on planting, mainly animal husbandry and fishing.
But who wants to only eat fish and meat in the future without any vegetables or staples? No matter what, one would get tired of it.
They're not Mondstadt people—who as long as there's wine to drink, nothing would tire them.
Speaking of which, Mondstadt people should be the ones most unable to tolerate "sacred soil transformation"—after all, without planting land, how to brew wine? Without wine, that's unacceptable; it's the water of life.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice-Over · Traveler: About Paimon's Betrayal
Paimon: "Nonsense nonsense nonsense! I would never betray the Traveler!"
Lumine: "Yeah, I believe you."
Paimon: "Ehehey, I knew you were the best!"