On the way back to the Divine Tree, Nahida still looked a little tense, like she was scared Idris might suddenly lose his temper again.
Of course, Idris couldn't be bothered to dwell on it that much. It was just that, when talking to Nahida about men and women governing a country, his mind wandered to some rather strange thoughts.
Because honestly… Teyvat really was a world where women tended to dominate.
The being in Celestia who enforced "Heavenly Principles" was female.
So female rulers weren't rare at all among the Seven Nations.
In the original timeline, aside from Neuvillette—the only one who truly held full authority as an elemental dragon—basically all the other nations were governed by women.
And even in Fontaine, before Neuvillette, the Hydro Archon had also been a goddess.
Idris had originally thought Liyue was already pretty outrageous: aside from Uncle Tian, all of the Liyue Qixing at the top were women.
But the more you looked, the more you realized… that was just how most countries in Teyvat were.
So how come Sumeru, of all places, was the one where female rule had produced purely negative returns?
…Well, Sumeru was a very "unique" fusion of multiple old traditions from the start.
When he thought of it like that, it all felt strangely… reasonable.
Back in the office beneath the Sacred Tree, Nahida's cheeks reddened slightly as she gave Idris a suspicious look.
"Idris, Grand Sage… I get the feeling you were just thinking some very disrespectful thoughts, weren't you?"
"If you think I was, then I was," Idris replied lazily.
A proper villain never bothers lying about that sort of thing.
After that, life returned to its usual rhythm. Idris continued dealing with all kinds of requests and state documents.
In his spare time, he studied formations and alchemy.
Right now, he was researching a pill that could push a person to the verge of transcending the mortal realm—a kind of pseudo-immortal elixir.
Its name was "Primordial Spirit Pill".
The first time Idris saw the name, he even suspected someone had written it wrong—was it Primordial Spirit Pill or Genshin Pill?
But once he read the description, he realized the name was accurate.
Anyone who took it would immediately gain the ability to wield elemental power.
Which element they awakened, however, depended entirely on their personal affinity.
It was basically that classic cultivation concept of "spiritual roots"—fire root, water root, dual attributes, that sort of thing.
Of course, if you happened to be white-haired, you probably had a ninety-percent chance of being absurdly attuned to Geo. Don't ask why. It just… works that way.
Even for Idris, this pill still had value; up to now he'd only ever truly mastered Dendro.
But a pill that let anyone use elemental powers with no Vision, no contract, no price… that was several times more terrifying than a Vision.
Naturally, its difficulty of refinement was sky-high.
So far, among all the pills Idris had ever made, this was the most complex, the most demanding in both technique and materials.
The ingredients were a nightmare too—you needed entirely new herbs created via grafting techniques, not just ordinary spiritual plants, to refine it at all.
If Idris weren't using a dedicated Eight-Trigram Furnace to refine, one failed attempt would probably blow up a good one-fifth of Sumeru City.
He wasn't in a hurry to succeed, though.
The main thing was to pace himself—work and rest in balance.
Whenever he grew tired of paperwork or alchemy, he would sit on the sofa in his lounge, sip tea, and nibble on snacks.
Nahida, as his secretary, would stand behind him and gently massage his shoulders with her small hands while he relaxed.
But as he lounged on the sofa, teacup in hand, Idris suddenly felt a tiny tremor deep in his soul.
His hand jolted, and the teacup nearly slipped.
"Idris, Grand Sage—what's wrong?"
"We've got a problem," he said.
"What?!"
Nahida immediately sent her consciousness soaring up, scanning all of Sumeru from above via the World Tree.
After a long sweep, she shook her head.
"There's no sign of any unusual disturbance in the rainforest or Sumeru at large. What did you sense?"
"It's fine," Idris said, expression calm, gaze shifting toward the distant desert.
"Little Lucky Princess, do you remember the Return-to-Life Pills I handed out before?"
Nahida nodded.
"Of course. You made those as rewards for the people who made the greatest contribution in the battle against the corrupted monsters born from Withering and Eleazar."
"Last I heard, a single pill was worth over ten million Mora at auction. But so far, no one's been willing to sell."
"Why bring that up now?"
Idris shrugged.
"When I gave those pills out, I left a tiny fragment of my soul power in each one."
"That fragment doesn't do anything harmful, doesn't cause any anomalies—it simply serves as a marker."
"If the pill is swallowed and its effects fully activated, I'll sense it… even if the user is inside a very special space."
"As long as they're still on Teyvat, I'll know."
"And just now, I felt one of those soul fragments shudder."
Nahida blinked.
"So that means… someone you gifted a Return-to-Life Pill to has already used it?!"
"Who was it?"
Nahida was still as kind as ever.
Moreover, those who'd fought in that battle in Sumeru City were all more or less their comrades.
Of course she'd be worried.
Idris stayed calm. He pressed his fingers together, formed a quick seal, and quietly traced the threads of energy.
After a moment, he nodded.
"The pill that just activated was the one I gave to the Traveler."
"But… it doesn't seem like she herself took it."
"The aura of the person who swallowed it isn't hers. Looks like she gave the pill to someone else."
He exhaled slightly.
"That girl really is an incurable softie… I didn't expect she'd even be willing to give that away."
To be honest, this twist really was beyond Idris's expectations.
In fact, it made him almost want to go in person and see what had happened.
If the Traveler had taken it herself, he wouldn't worry at all.
With her fate and "protagonist buff," she was almost impossible to kill. Worst case, she'd pass out for a while afterward.
But for her to hand the pill to someone else instead… that meant the situation was dangerous enough that others couldn't escape on their own.
"For the Traveler to be forced into giving up that kind of life-saving trump card…" Idris mused, fingers tapping the armrest lightly.
"That means something in the desert has put someone at the absolute brink."
"Her strength is already far beyond an ordinary person's. If even she feels forced to pull out a Return-to-Life Pill… there's only one kind of place I can think of that fits the bill."
"The ruins of the Scarlet King… the Golden Slumber."
"The Scarlet King's Golden Slumber? That place?!"
Nahida's eyes widened.
As the God of Wisdom, she knew better than most just how bizarre that place was.
Idris wasn't surprised at all.
"It's a route that appeared in the original storyline."
"And with the Traveler's personality, it's basically guaranteed they'd eventually go poking around there."
"Is it really so strange?"
"Uu…"
Nahida realized she had no way to refute that.
After a moment, she said:
"Then, Idris, Grand Sage… if you're not too busy, can you let me go and help them?"
"Going into Golden Slumber is dangerous, but with the World Tree guiding us, even if we get caught in it, we should still be able to find a way out."
Idris shook his head.
"We can go—but I'm not letting you go alone."
"You're not just Sumeru's princess; you're my secretary."
"I've heard there's still another unresolved problem in the desert—Dendro Dragon Apep."
"I'll deal with that while we're there. We'll go together."
"Okay!"
The chance to go out on a trip with Idris again made Nahida genuinely happy.
But Idris's next line almost made her choke.
"But we're going tomorrow. Not today."
"What? If the Traveler's in trouble, shouldn't we go now?" Nahida blurted out.
"Even if the journey takes time, we might arrive at the critical moment—just in time to save them."
Idris waved a hand.
"Tonight I have a drinking appointment."
"I'm not about to become a Grand Sage who goes back on his word."
He'd already arranged a banquet tonight with several promising young talents he wanted to cultivate.
It was for Sumeru's future, after all.
In Idris's eyes, that was more important than rushing off to save the Traveler this instant.
"…You really are you," Nahida muttered helplessly.
What could she do?
Compared to vaguely defined "kindness," she'd already learned that, for now, the top priority was:
Listen to Idris.
All she could do was silently pray that the Traveler would hold on a little longer.
At the same time—
Outside a ruin deep in the desert, a girl's desperate, anguished screams rang out.
"Dad! Dad!!"
"Jade, calm down!"
At the entrance of a massive ruin that was about to sink fully beneath the sands of the desert…
A blond girl had both arms wrapped around a purple-haired desert mercenary—Jade—barely managing to restrain her as she fought to rush inside.
If not for the blonde girl's surprising physical strength, she might not have held Jade back at all.
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