"Hello, hello, Lesser Lord Kusanali."
"Speaking of which, I'm also very curious. I heard you haven't shown yourself in Sumeru for hundreds of years."
Venti looked at Nahida in front of him curiously. Although this was his first time meeting Nahida, a second-generation Archon, this didn't prevent him from sensing an aura on her similar to the first Dendro Archon.
Morax also looked at Nahida curiously. Although the Seven Archons each had their own ruling regions, and generally wouldn't visit or inquire about other nations, since they met, Morax didn't mind learning about the situation of the second Dendro Archon.
Nahida looked left and right, and finally focused her gaze on Takagi.
Nahida: "Takagi, should I tell them about my situation?"
Takagi: "You're asking me?"
Nahida nodded. "You've been outside Teyvat, so you must have more knowledge than me. I'm not mature enough yet. I think you might know better than me what's best for Sumeru."
Takagi raised an eyebrow; he never expected Nahida to hand the decision-making power to him. But after thinking about it for a moment, Takagi understood. The knowledge he displayed was overwhelming for Teyvat. It was normal for the still somewhat naive Nahida to think that he knew better than her what should be done.
Takagi shrugged and said, "These matters of yours will be exposed sooner or later. It's unrealistic for either you or the Akademiya to try and hide it. Not to mention that you're about to travel with me to the cosmos. What do you think the people from the Akademiya will do when they see you traveling with me? And how will they react when they see you embark on a Path? They will definitely take certain actions. The conflict between the Akademiya and you will also inevitably erupt quickly. Trying to hide it is impossible."
Speaking of this, Takagi looked up at Venti, Jean, Lisa, and the others, whose expressions were clearly surprised.
"Besides, the people here are not from Sumeru after all. Even if they learn about the matter between the Akademiya and you in advance, as long as you don't want them to, they won't do anything. I imagine Barbatos and Morax are the same," Takagi said.
Hearing this, Nahida couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
"Wait, why does this sound a bit strange to me? Is there a deep conflict between the Akademiya and Lesser Lord Kusanali? Could it be that precisely because of this conflict, Lesser Lord Kusanali hasn't appeared in Sumeru all these years?" Lisa asked in surprise.
Takagi didn't speak and quietly looked at Nahida.
"You're right, Lord Takagi. Perhaps these things will be revealed to people one day." Nahida let out a long breath, looked up at the curious gazes of the crowd, and then looked up at Takagi. "So, Lord Takagi, could I trouble you to explain for me?"
"I'd be happy to." Since Nahida had said so, Takagi no longer had any reservations. He roughly explained the matter of Nahida being locked up.
....
"So you're saying... the Grand Sage of Sumeru thought Lesser Lord Kusanali was incompetent and chose to lock her up?!" Jean frowned tightly, saying in disbelief.
"No wonder Lesser Lord Kusanali never appeared; it turns out it was because of those old geezers in the Akademiya." At this moment, Lisa's tone was extremely cold.
"To treat their own god like this... Are these the Sages of Sumeru?" Cloud Retainer furrowed her brows tightly.
"Now I understand why Azar and the other Sages weren't chosen as passengers. Such behavior is too foolish; they can't be considered smart people at all," Lumine said.
"Indeed, it's quite ignorant. Even a god needs time to grow. Don't those Grand Sages even understand such a simple principle?" Venti's tone carried a hint of anger. Subtly, wind gathered around him.
"Not only the Sages of this generation, but the Sages of hundreds of years ago were the same. This can no longer be described as merely ignorant," Morax shook his head, saying with regret.
"Lesser Lord Kusanali being locked up is truly pitiful. Thankfully, you, Lord Takagi, helped bring her out. She won't have to go back to that palace place after this. Oh, right, Venti, and this... Geo Archon. You are all gods; can't you help Nahida teach the Akademiya a lesson?" Paimon asked.
Venti: "I would like to help..."
Morax: "However, that depends on Nahida's wishes."
Seeing this, Nahida quickly said, "Thank you for your concern, but please leave the matters of Sumeru for us to handle ourselves. The reason the Akademiya locked me up is because my wisdom is insufficient. I think, if I can learn enough knowledge from outside Teyvat, the Akademiya will no longer make things difficult for me."
Paimon looked at Nahida in surprise: "You... you're not angry with the Akademiya at all?"
Nahida shook her head.
"Ahhh, it's so frustrating. This is clearly a time when you should be very angry!" Paimon stomped her foot.
"Lesser Lord Kusanali is truly gentle. However, those Sages clearly need to be disciplined with more stimulating methods." A flash of electric light flickered in Lisa's eyes, and she spoke faintly.
Hearing this, Amber, Lumine, Paimon, Barbara, and the others couldn't help but nod. Clearly, everyone agreed with Lisa's statement.
"Alright everyone, for now, let's listen to Nahida. After all, she is the God of Sumeru," Takagi saw that Nahida looked a little flustered and spoke up.
Nahida: "Thank you, Lord Takagi."
Takagi: "Although I don't think the Akademiya will develop as you expect! Nahida, perhaps you really should learn how to be angry, as Paimon said."
"..." Nahida pursed her lips and said, "I will consider it carefully. Lord Takagi, I think I need to calm down and think about some things. Can I go rest first?"
Takagi nodded slightly, stepped forward, and said, "Yes, come with me, I'll take you to the rest room."
Nahida quickly followed, and soon disappeared from everyone's sight. After Takagi and Nahida left for a while, Venti, Morax, Amber, and the others left one by one. Finally, only Cloud Retainer, Lisa, and La Signora were left in the carriage.
"Strange, why hasn't Lord Takagi returned yet?" La Signora muttered in confusion.
"Could it be that he has already gone to sleep?" Lisa rested her hand on her chin.
"Perhaps he's chatting with the God of Sumeru," Cloud Retainer said.
Lisa: "Is that so...?"
....
On the other side. Sumeru, Akademiya.
"Wha... What happened? Lesser Lord Kusanali... why is she gone?" Grand Sage Azar looked at the empty palace and angrily shouted at the scholar responsible for guarding Nahida beside him.
"No... I don't know, Grand Sage. When I came to check at the scheduled time, Lesser Lord Kusanali was already gone," the scholar said fearfully. He was not only afraid of the Grand Sage's attitude, but also afraid that the "escaped" Nahida would retaliate against them.
"Damn it, for something like this to happen at this time. What are you still standing there for? Go find her quickly!" Azar roared.
"Yes!" The scholar quickly got up and hurried out the door.
Azar took several deep breaths, looking up at the empty Sanctuary of Surasthana ahead. Lesser Lord Kusanali, who seemed unable to grow up, should have been there.
"Why would something like this happen at this time? Where did it go wrong?!" Azar clenched his fists and muttered.
He, not knowing that Lesser Lord Kusanali used the name Nahida, had no idea that she had already left Sumeru. Even if he turned the entire Sumeru upside down, he wouldn't be able to find her.
...
The next day. Dawn broke. Nahida's room.
"It's about time. We should set off, Nahida," Takagi looked at the sunlight outside the window and said to Nahida, who was sitting on the bed.
"I'm sorry, I ended up talking with you for the whole night," Nahida quickly jumped off the bed and apologized to Takagi.
After Takagi had brought Nahida to the lounge the previous night, Nahida had asked Takagi to chat with her. Takagi hadn't refused. Who would have thought that Nahida had so much curiosity and so many doubts in her heart? Even about small humanistic matters, Nahida was very curious. Under this conversation, time actually passed until daytime.
"No need to apologize. I was also very happy chatting with you. Your perspective on observing people is quite novel. It could be said that it was an eye-opener for me," Takagi said.
In the original work, Nahida would immerse her consciousness into the body of Katheryne, the receptionist of the Adventurers' Guild, using her body to understand the world. She would also briefly enter the consciousness of some people to converse and thus understand the outside world. For Takagi, this was also a rather novel experience in some ways.
"Speaking of which, your way of understanding the world is somewhat similar to the behavior of the Garden of Recollection members in some ways. Considering the relationship between you and the Teyvat Irminsul, I'm starting to think you might have a chance to embark on the Path of Memory," Takagi said with a smile.
"The Path of Memory, huh?" Nahida was muttering to herself.
Takagi had already stood up and walked toward the door. "Let's go, Nahida. It's time to set off."
Hearing Takagi's words, Nahida quickly followed. When the two arrived at the carriage, Cloud Retainer, Lisa, and La Signora were already waiting there.
"It seems you two talked a lot, Lord Takagi." Lisa saw Takagi and Nahida walking out together and looked over with interest.
"Lesser Lord Kusanali knows a lot. We talked until dawn," Takagi smiled.
"Lord Takagi is the one who truly knows a lot of knowledge. Compared to you, I'm still far behind." Nahida shook her head and looked at Takagi with respect. Although Takagi didn't mention much about the Aeons, which Nahida wanted to know most about, she learned a lot about things in Sumeru and the people of Sumeru. If she were to explore these things herself, she might not necessarily be able to find them.
"Takagi, The Doctor is already here. He's outside the carriage now," La Signora walked over. As she spoke, she glanced at Nahida with some concern.
"As expected of The Doctor, he's certainly proactive." Takagi raised his eyebrows, turned around, and opened the Astral Express door. Indeed, The Doctor, wearing a mask, was standing straight outside the window.
"Good morning, Lord Takagi." The Doctor performed a graceful gentleman's bow and spoke.
Takagi stroked his chin and looked at The Doctor in front of him with interest, as if trying to see through him.
"Is there something wrong with me, Lord Takagi?" The Doctor asked strangely.
"Nothing. I just wanted to ask, how old are you represented by this 'slice'?" Takagi asked with interest.
The Doctor: "!!!"
"Hehe, it's okay if you don't answer. Get in the carriage, Doctor. We should set off. Speaking of which, you should be prepared for not being able to enjoy my protection, right?" Seeing The Doctor show such a surprised expression, Takagi happily waved at him. Although he didn't like The Doctor, since his name was drawn in front of a crowd of Teyvat people, Takagi wouldn't refuse to take him.
This man actually knows my secret? Did La Signora tell him? No, that woman shouldn't tell him about my affairs. That is to say, he knows by his own ability. The Doctor looked at Takagi's back with apprehension in his heart. Despite this, the expression on his face quickly returned to normal, and he walked into the Astral Express with a smile. However, after seeing Nahida, his expression froze slightly again.
Takagi glanced at The Doctor with a smile but didn't pay him much further attention. After finding a seat and sitting down, he said to everyone, "With this, everyone is here. Everyone, find a seat. Once you're ready, we should set off."
Lisa reacted quickly and immediately sat down next to Takagi. Those closer to Takagi sat on his other side.
"Takagi, can I start the live broadcast so Rex Lapis can see the situation here?" Cloud Retainer asked.
"Of course you can. Incidentally, it will also let everyone in Teyvat see the first scene after arriving at Herta Space Station," Takagi smiled.
With Takagi's consent, Cloud Retainer immediately opened the forum and started the live broadcast. Within just a few seconds, tens of thousands of people flooded into the live stream room.
(Alhaitham: Using "Herta Space Station" directly as the post title, so this time is the Liyue Adeptus Cloud Retainer broadcasting instead of Paimon?)
(Ganyu: It's Master!)
(Kaveh: It doesn't matter who is broadcasting, just start quickly. I can't wait to see things from another world.)
(Albedo: The place where geniuses from other worlds gather... are we finally going to see it?)
(Grand Sage Azar: Wait, that... that person is?!)
Azar was having a headache over the disappearance of the Lesser Lord Kusanali. Suddenly seeing Nahida in the live broadcast, he froze on the spot.
"Nahida is the Lesser Lord Kusanali? So Takagi took her away?! Damn it, how could this happen!" Azar slammed his fists heavily on the ground, shouting frantically.
Thinking of Nahida possibly gaining more advanced knowledge in the cosmos, possibly stepping onto a Path, and thinking of Nahida possibly using the knowledge learned and Path Power gained to retaliate against the Akademiya, Azar was on the verge of collapse.
"You collapse just like that, Grand Sage? It's too disappointing." At this moment, a familiar voice rang out in front of Azar.
"The Doctor? Why are you here? Aren't you on Takagi's Astral Express?" Azar looked up, surprised, at The Doctor.
"That's just one of me. Rather, you—have you decided to fall into despair just like this?" The Doctor asked coldly.
"No, absolutely not!" The Grand Sage, hearing The Doctor's condescending tone, stood up from the ground as if stimulated. "Lesser Lord Kusanali is just a naive child after all. She won't learn anything even if she travels with Takagi. And I, I am the Grand Sage! Even if I cannot personally go to the Herta Space Station, but just by watching through the live stream, I will certainly be able to learn enough knowledge. As long as I make good use of this knowledge, I will definitely be able to create a God for Sumeru that is even greater than previously expected. Lesser Lord Kusanali is nothing to fear." Azar shouted loudly, his eyes bloodshot.