"Then let me handle the matter of persuading merchants. I'm quite familiar with the various businesses in Inazuma City." Thoma volunteered.
He wasn't just familiar with it; it was like returning to his own home!
"Are you sure? Aren't those Visions taken from the statues still not sent back? Your workload would be huge if you do that," Shiki said.
"Actually, it's fine. I can have Miss Fujiwara watch over the remaining Visions, and then I can go persuade those merchants! Isn't that right, Miss Fujiwara?"
"Ah? Yes, yes, that's exactly right!" Fujiwara nodded vigorously. Although she had been slacking off a lot lately, watching over things was absolutely no problem for her.
"I see... Since you two put it that way, then I'll leave it to you."
Shiki hadn't wanted to trouble them, but she couldn't stop them from taking the responsibility themselves!
"It just so happens I haven't been to Watatsumi yet. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll see if I can get there from Tatarasuna."
It must be said that in terms of scenery alone, Watatsumi is indeed breathtakingly beautiful. It looks much more vibrant than Musoujin Gorge and Tatarasuna, but that's not actually the case.
Watatsumi is a basin. Can you imagine a basin in the middle of the sea?
The surrounding seawater pours in, flowing towards the central hole, making the whole island resemble a giant fountain pool. If this were during the Archon War, any Archon could easily cause a tsunami and Watatsumi would be gone.
Of course, the Archon War had already ended when Watatsumi was established. It's probably for this reason that Orobas created such a high-risk island.
Those powerful sea Archons were either given a seat at the bottom of Guyun Stone Forest by the Geo Archon of Liyue, or were split in half by Raiden Ei's blade.
Compared to the harm they caused, the seawater pouring in is simply not worth mentioning for an island created through a Ley Line.
Anyway, the incoming seawater will flow back out through the central hole. As long as the volume isn't too large, there's no problem.
Of course, the current Shiki doesn't know that the hole in the center of Watatsumi is actually the entrance to Enkanomiya.
...
"Ugh!"
Xavier woke up from his nightmare once again, his chest heaving with rapid breaths, and his back already drenched in cold sweat.
A visible wet patch appeared on the bed beneath him. Such a large amount of sweat made it hard to imagine what he had experienced in his dream.
Waking up from his dream, Xavier felt extremely thirsty. He picked up the kettle and poured water into his mouth. As the cool boiled water flowed down his esophagus into his stomach, the scenes from his dream reappeared in his mind.
Xavier dreamed that he was being dragged away by someone to an unknown place, and then the terrifying part came: he was thrown onto a bed and dismembered!
The pain of his body being cut was so real that if his body hadn't been intact, he would have thought it was real.
But the problem was, this wasn't the first time he had dreamed this scene. Since he arrived on Narukami Island, his dreams for the past two nights had been the same.
And last night's dream was even clearer in detail than the one before.
The most important point was the numbers that kept appearing in the dream.
1.36.29.1
On the walls, on the ground, on the doors, at the corners of corridors, it was as if this string of numbers had been firmly etched into his mind.
What did this string of numbers mean? Why was his dream filled with these numbers? And... it felt so familiar...
Xavier was sure he had encountered this string of numbers somewhere, but he just didn't know why he had remembered it.
Taking out a pen and paper, he wrote down the numbers that repeatedly appeared in his dream. Xavier decided that after today's items were filmed, he would go find out what this string of numbers represented.
Turning to look out the window, the sun had just risen above the horizon. There was still some time until the agreed-upon ten o'clock, but he wouldn't go back to bed for a nap.
He was afraid that as soon as he lay down, he would dream that terrifying dream again.
After washing up, Xavier felt much more refreshed, but looking at himself in the mirror, it had little to do with being refreshed.
His face was pale and his eyes were sunken, symptoms typical of someone who hadn't slept for several days.
"Sigh..."
"What's wrong with me?"
Xavier sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought. At this point, most of the events in his dream had been forgotten, except for the part where he was dismembered.
How to put it, it was just too real, whether it was the feeling of his whole body twitching from pain, or the pale white light that entered his eyes through his blurred Vision.
However, he had no impression of who dragged him onto the operating table, but judging from the whispering voices that appeared in the dream, it should have been a male.
...
"I say, why are you two like this?" Shiki truly hadn't expected Xavier's state.
Kazuha and Ioroi were one thing, but why was he, someone staying in a hot spring hotel, also like this?
"Are you really okay in this state?"
"No problem! I just didn't sleep well last night, it's nothing!" Xavier waved his hand, pulling out his pre-prepared excuse.
But Shiki clearly wasn't buying it. Once was enough, but again? What was going on?
"...You come with me to see a doctor first. Whether there's a problem isn't up to you."
After Shiki finished speaking, she pulled Xavier towards the medical clinic. Yes, it was still the Warm Nourishment lineage.
The twenty-first-generation successor was stunned the moment he saw Xavier's complexion, then he earnestly said, "Young man, I know your female companion is very beautiful, but you must exercise restraint!"
"Huh?" Xavier looked bewildered upon hearing this, while Shiki was quite speechless.
"Uncle, that's slander. I have a girlfriend."
"Ah, this... Grinding mirrors..." The middle-aged man was also dumbfounded. He had made a huge misunderstanding!
Upon hearing 'grinding mirrors,' images of herself and Ayaka's intimate moments flashed through Shiki's mind, and a blush immediately appeared on her face.
"Ahem, why mention that? Quickly examine him, we have things to do later."
"Uh... Actually, I've already figured it out. This young man has no major problems; he just indulged too much. He needs to exercise restraint and not stay up late. I'll write you a prescription, you just need to take the medicine every day."
Although the middle-aged man said this, he still took Xavier's pulse, but the next second he nearly dropped his glasses.
What is this? Is this the kind of pulse a person who doesn't exercise restraint would have?
What's wrong with Inazuma this year? Before, I never encountered a single difficult illness, but this year, good heavens, I've encountered two in a week.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!