For Lumine, she didn't care whether Alfonso lived or died; what she cared about was that Vimara Village should no longer experience missing children.
As long as Alfonso, the mastermind hidden in Vimara Village, was exposed, she would have fulfilled her promise to Arana.
Therefore, since Miyashiro felt Alfonso was still useful, Lumine had to give him this face. Besides, Alfonso wasn't a purely bad person; his affection for the village children was also heartfelt.
It was just a pity that the House of the Hearth had already taken hold of Alfonso's heart, causing him to go against his conscience and commit a grave mistake.
To strike down such a person would make Lumine feel a sense of guilt, so having Miyashiro help her clean up the aftermath was naturally for the best.
However, for Miyashiro, a spy like Alfonso, who had been hidden for many years, could provide a great deal of intelligence.
Especially for the current Sumeru, the Akademiya, which only valued wisdom and not military strength, was never within his consideration.
His true opponent in Sumeru was still the first scholar of Teyvat—the Doctor.
Professions like special agents, spies, and even ninjas are among the oldest. In the eyes of others, they might not be good professions, but for a national leader like Miyashiro, these professions are essential.
After all, this was his old trade; he couldn't just abandon it, could he?
Even after Miyashiro achieved his current strength and status, he would naturally need a department that could provide him with a continuous flow of intelligence.
It can be said that if a country does not have an intelligence department, that country will absolutely not be a strong nation.
Liyue has Uncle Tian and Yelan, two veteran spy chiefs, and an entire Wangsheng Inn; Inazuma's Yashiro Commission has the Shuumatsuban; in Mondstadt, since Diluc rejoined the Knights of Favonius, the Dawn Winery's intelligence work has also been integrated.
As for Sumeru, don't even mention it. A country that doesn't even have its own army and outsources the city's entire defense to the Thirty Personal Guards is simply absurd.
Ningguang once said she wanted the shadow of the Jade Chamber to cover The Seven Nations, but in fact, in Teyvat, there was already an organization that had achieved this goal, and that was the Adventurers' Guild from Snezhnaya.
Snezhnaya's strength is not only in its powerful military and technological level; in addition, economically, it is supported by the vast financial operations of the Northland Bank.
In terms of intelligence, on the surface, there is the vast Adventurers' Guild spread across The Seven Nations, and secretly, there is also the House of the Hearth, a professional spy training institution that continuously sends talent to infiltrate other countries.
It can be said that Snezhnaya's strength is a comprehensive strength from top to bottom. The only thing that can be criticized is probably their reputation, but as the strong, they never care about the moans of the weak.
At that time, among the talents Miyashiro exchanged from Snezhnaya for the gnosis of electro, there were many spies from the House of the Hearth. However, these elite spies, who had been trained and brainwashed by The Knave since childhood and were fiercely loyal to Snezhnaya, were nothing in the face of the genjutsu of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
Simply gathering everyone together and having them look into his eyes... just like that, those well-trained spies were exposed one by one under Miyashiro's genjutsu. Afterwards, Miyashiro put them to good use, turning them into tools to provide Snezhnaya with incorrect intelligence, essentially doing Miyashiro's bidding for free.
As the people of Vimara Village enjoyed a lively dinner, in the House of Daena of the Akademiya, Khajeh, the sage of Haravatat, stormed into Azar's office.
Khajeh: "Hmph! Outrageous! Outrageous! That rude fellow actually dared to make a fool of me!"
Azar looked at the fuming Khajeh and asked with some surprise, "What's wrong? What happened that's made you so angry? Weren't you going to welcome the so-called Inazuma Delegation?"
Hearing Azar mention the Inazuma Delegation, Khajeh became even more furious and said, "Don't even mention that Inazuma Delegation to me! I received news from Port Ormos at noon that the Inazuma Delegation had already departed the port and was heading towards Sumeru City.
From Port Ormos to Sumeru City, it takes at most three or four hours by boat, so I calculated the time and brought the officials to greet them. But I waited until dark and didn't see any sign of the Inazuma Delegation.
I really couldn't wait any longer, so I used my authority as a sage to ask the Akasha Terminal for the exact location of the Inazuma Delegation. The Akasha Terminal responded that the Inazuma Delegation's ship had run aground midway and had to stop in Vimara Village for rest."
Azar's face first showed a hint of surprise, then he understood, and said with a serious expression, "Run aground? Hmph! The river channel between Sumeru City and Port Ormos is Sumeru's most important trade route. Countless merchant ships pass through daily, and there has never been a grounding accident. How could it possibly happen to the Inazuma Delegation's official ship?
What a clumsy excuse! I think running aground is false; putting on airs for us is the truth. It seems your not personally going to Port Ormos to greet them made this Inazuma Regent very displeased."
Khajeh: "I naturally realized the meaning behind this. Waiting foolishly at the dock like an idiot, many citizens saw this scene. This time, I've completely lost face, and I absolutely cannot let them off so easily."
Azar comforted him, "That's natural, but as guests from afar, we should still show some courtesy. Anyway, they've already put on the Akasha Terminal, so let the dreams of these outsiders also become fuel for the Project's activation. Once the plan is complete, we'll teach them a lesson."
Upon hearing Azar mention the word 'Project,' the anger on Khajeh's face gradually subsided, replaced by awe and fanaticism for wisdom.
Khajeh: "Good, for the smooth progress of the Project, I can endure! What about the Inazuma Delegation? According to the intelligence obtained from the Akasha Terminal, they plan to stay in Vimara Village for two or three days, with an uncertain departure time.
Vimara Village is only about half an hour's journey from Sumeru City. If the Inazuma Delegation arrives at the port and no one is there to greet them, it would give Sumeru a pretext for neglecting diplomatic envoys.
However, the function of monitoring the exact location of the Akasha Terminal is only available to us sages. I can't possibly respond to the Akasha Terminal every half hour, can I?"
Azar snorted, "Do they want to brand Sumeru with being inhospitable and arrogant? How about this: tomorrow morning, I will send my assistant to Vimara Village to confirm their exact arrival time. Afterwards, I will upload this time to the Akasha and push it to every citizen within Sumeru's borders.
This way, you only need to arrive at the agreed time to greet them. As for the Inazuma Delegation wanting to arrive earlier or later, that would damage their own credibility and have nothing to do with Sumeru."
Khajeh's face lit up with joy upon hearing this. "Good idea, let's do that!"
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