After confirming their order and purchasing the required materials, Nolan and Raiden Ei teleported back Narukami Shrine.
During cultivation the previous day, Yae Miko had already mentioned her plan to host a grand event called the Radiant Festival of Splendor — a celebration meant to showcase Inazuma's culture to the world and promote international exchange now that the nation's isolation had ended.
She had already drafted the preliminary plan.
Seeing that Raiden Ei spent nearly all her days meditating in the wonderland space, Miko had insisted on dragging her out to help with the final promotional preparations.
At the time, Ei had just gotten off Nolan's lap when Miko pinned her down, leaving her with no choice but to agree.
Otherwise, she might've ended up staining the bedsheets even darker than before.
Nolan, who had been leisurely watching from the side with Makoto and the Shogun in his arms, was not spared either — Miko promptly assigned him a task as well: to visit other nations and invite foreign guests.
In particular, well-known light novel authors and illustrators who had previously published their works with Yae Publishing House.
The Radiant Festival of Splendor was meant to be a cultural exhibition, and since light novels had the broadest influence among Inazuma's exported media, inviting those writers and artists would surely attract attention from across Teyvat.
Thus, Nolan's role was to personally extend those invitations.
Inside Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko had just finished instructing the shrine maidens on their promotional duties for the festival when she noticed Nolan and Ei returning.
Her fair face curved into a mischievous smile.
"Come on, let's go handle some of the promotion ourselves."
"...Fine, whatever you say," Ei sighed helplessly.
Then Miko turned to Nolan and pulled a folded sheet of paper from her divine eye's spatial pocket.
"These are the names of the best-selling authors who've published through Yae Publishing. Go ahead and notify them."
The Radiant Festival would officially begin in one month. Sending invitations now meant there would be plenty of time for preparations before the guests arrived.
"Alright." Nolan took the list and skimmed through it.
The names were grouped by nation:
From Mondstadt, there was the famous painter Albedo (listed under his pseudonym "Calx"), and from Liyue, the best-selling author Zhenyu, writer of Autumn Swords Chronicle.
If Nolan remembered correctly, that "Calx" was indeed Albedo himself, and "Zhenyu" was none other than Xingqiu's pen name.
Despite the title, Autumn Swords Chronicle wasn't a martial arts novel but a science fiction story, filled with Xingqiu's imaginative visions of the cosmos.
And now, with Teyvat's technology developing at rocket speed, such imaginings were closer to reality than ever.
Propeller-driven aircraft and dirigibles had already been successfully designed — their mass production was merely a matter of time.
Even research into starfaring vessels had a working framework now, though critical systems like shipwide control, artificial gravity, and warp engines remained unsolved.
The first required advanced computational programming — something Teyvat lacked — but there was a local equivalent: adeptus formations.
Cloud Retainer was currently leading efforts to reproduce shipwide control systems through formation arrays and mechanical constructs.
Replicating a full control system through formations was immensely difficult — different in approach from programming, but similar in complexity.
Still, with knowledge from the interstellar society now accessible, Teyvat possessed a surprisingly deep theoretical foundation.
Even though it was just a tiny world tucked away in one corner of the universe, it now had access to the scientific groundwork of the entire cosmos — one of the greatest benefits of joining the galactic community.
Thus, with theoretical models to reference, Cloud Retainer's team wouldn't have much trouble completing the ship's control system.
As for artificial gravity, that too could be achieved through advanced formations.
The real challenge was the power system — developing a functional warp engine was no small feat.
But even that, Nolan thought, shouldn't be too hard to solve.
After all, he already had connections in interstellar society. If he couldn't afford a full starship, surely he could afford to buy just an engine!
Or, if fate ever brought him face-to-face with some space pirates… well, he could always confiscate one of their ships and study the engine firsthand.
Once Teyvat mastered the full technology of interstellar vessels, writers like Xingqiu could finally witness the universe they'd only ever dreamed of.
Nolan continued scanning the list. Besides Mondstadt and Liyue, there were authors from Fontaine, Natlan, and Snezhnaya whose works were also popular — though he didn't recognize most of their names, as none had appeared in the original game's storyline.
As for Inazuma's own best-selling authors, they didn't need invitations; being local, they'd naturally attend the festival.
Once he confirmed there were no oversights, Nolan set out.
His first stop was the Knights of Favonius Headquarters in Mondstadt. There, he asked Acting Grand Master Jean if Albedo was present — but learned he was still at Dragonspine, continuing his research into the Whopperflower Beasts created by his master, Gold (Rhinedottir).
It made sense; studying the creations of someone who could even craft a perfect artificial human like Albedo himself was no easy task.
Nolan wasn't surprised. With the biological sciences he'd downloaded from the Interstellar Peace Network, surpassing Gold's knowledge would be simple in theory.
However, the Akasha Interconnected Network hadn't yet fully extended its coverage to Mondstadt.
At the moment, Focalors was using the network to absorb "faith in justice," converting it into Lawful Mixed Energy that Nahida then used to expand the system's coverage.
It had already reached Lumidouce Harbor, and would soon cover all of Fontaine — meaning the flow of faith energy was stronger than expected.
Once that expansion finished, Mondstadt would follow shortly after.
Of course, Albedo could simply cross the border into Liyue to access the network there — but he wasn't the kind of man to abandon his duties for research.
He still had responsibilities within the Knights and had promised Alice he'd look after Klee. Knowing his personality, he wouldn't just disappear for the sake of chasing new technology.
Leaving the headquarters, Nolan teleported straight to Dragonspine.
From above, he could see massive hot-air balloons lifting cargo from the mountainside — each balloon slightly modified from its original Mondstadt design, now used for transporting supplies through the harsh cold.
The balloons were remarkably well adapted to harsh blizzards and freezing winds.
They were carrying shipments of various crops, since the entire Beast Realm had now been repurposed into an agricultural zone dedicated to cultivating food.
Some short-term crops had already been harvested, and the produce was currently being transported to cities across Mondstadt. Before long, such goods would be sold throughout the whole of Teyvat.
Thanks to large-scale farming, production costs were low—naturally, demand would be high.
If everything continued smoothly, the Beast Realm would soon become the granary of Teyvat, ensuring food stability across the continent.
After watching the balloons drift away for a while, Nolan descended to the entrance of Albedo's research base in Dragonspine.
There, beneath a transparent shelter, the jet-black dragon Durin was sound asleep, its massive form exuding a faint majesty—it seemed Albedo had been taking good care of it.
When Nolan stepped inside the base, he saw two Albedos busy at work.
He knew that the fake Albedo, after being "re-educated" by the real one, had since become his research assistant—helping with experiments, learning through observation, and occasionally being used as a research subject himself.
Upon seeing Nolan enter, the imitation Albedo's expression turned sour.
Even though he now worked for the real Albedo, he still held a grudge over the fact that Nolan had captured him back then.
Nolan paid him no mind. He turned to the real Albedo, smiled, and handed him an envelope.
"Master Calx, this is your invitation letter."
"…Master what?" Albedo blinked in confusion at the title, then quickly understood. He accepted the envelope and opened it.
When he saw that it was an invitation to the Radiant Festival of Splendor, he silently thought, I guessed as much.
Albedo was not a scholar who spent all his life buried in research. In his spare time, he enjoyed reading—especially light novels.
One of his favorites was Autumn Swords Chronicle.
Back when he first read it, he thought it was an excellent story, though it lacked illustrations. So, on a whim, he drew some under the pen name "Calx."
The author, Zhenyu, later discovered those illustrations and sent Albedo an enthusiastic letter inviting him to collaborate officially. Since Albedo already loved drawing, he agreed—thinking that contributing a few illustrations to a story he admired would be rather delightful.
That collaboration made his pseudonym "Calx" surprisingly well-known within literary circles.
He hadn't expected that Inazuma would now be hosting the Radiant Festival and would even extend an invitation to him—especially since the event was organized by none other than Yae Miko, the Guuji herself.
And now, she'd sent Nolan personally to deliver the invitation.
With such courtesy, Albedo found it difficult to refuse. Besides, his research had hit a temporary bottleneck anyway. A brief trip might help him clear his mind and spark new inspiration.
"Thank you, Honorary Knight. Please tell Lady Yae that I'll be attending," Albedo said with a polite nod.
"Excellent! In that case, I'll be on my way—there are still a few more creators I need to invite." Nolan smiled warmly.
First target: complete.
Leaving Dragonspine, he teleported to Liyue, arriving at the Feiyun Commerce Guild.
There, he was told that the Second Young Master—Xingqiu—was out traveling with a friend.
Nolan could guess that friend was probably Chongyun, and since they weren't around, it made no sense to wait.
He decided to proceed to the next destinations.
His first stop was Fontaine. Following the address listed on Miko's document, he easily located the author in a suburban district and handed over the invitation.
Next was Natlan. It was Nolan's first time in that fiery land, but since he was on official duty, he didn't linger to sightsee. He found the author, delivered the invitation, and immediately teleported onward.
Finally came Snezhnaya, where snowstorms were frequent. He once again followed the listed address, found the intended recipient, handed over the invitation—and then teleported back to Liyue.
Though space travel was fast, tracking down individuals still took time. By the time he finished, nearly an hour had passed.
Just then, Xingqiu returned to the Feiyun Commerce Guild.
"Master Zhenyu!" Nolan called out with a teasing grin.
"Shh! Don't say that so loud!" Xingqiu rushed over in a panic, glancing nervously around. He didn't want anyone in the guild knowing he was a light novelist—it would be too embarrassing.
When he confirmed no one was nearby, he sighed in relief and turned to Nolan.
"Where did you even learn that name?"
"From a legitimate source, of course. Here—an invitation from Yae Publishing House." Nolan handed him the envelope.
"Radiant Festival of Splendor, huh?" Xingqiu stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Sounds like a gathering of big names. I can't miss an opportunity like this."
He nodded decisively, then leaned closer and whispered, "But seriously—don't tell anyone that I'm Zhenyu, got it?"
"Understood, understood." Nolan chuckled, assuring him he wouldn't breathe a word.
Once he'd finished notifying everyone on the list, Nolan teleported back to Narukami Shrine to report the results.
Using his spiritual sense, he checked for Yae Miko's presence but didn't find her. Contacting her via the Waymark, he learned she was still in Inazuma City—so he simply conveyed the summary to her mentally and left it at that.
With no further errands for the day, Nolan was about to return to the Wonderland to continue his "training" sessions with the girls when he noticed a familiar green figure emerging from the shrine.
Her fair face carried a faint expression of exasperation and fatigue.
"Kuki Shinobu?" Nolan called out in surprise.
The green-clad figure turned toward his voice. Upon recognizing him, she walked over, equally surprised.
"So it's you. What are you doing here?"
"Running an errand for Lady Guuji," Nolan replied casually. "What about you?"
"I came to visit my sister, but she's been lecturing me all morning," Shinobu sighed. "Honestly, it's more exhausting than fighting monsters."
"Oh? And why was she lecturing you?"
Nolan reached out naturally, gently taking her wrist and channeling a wave of harmonizing energy through her body.
Shinobu blinked, her fair cheeks—visible without her usual mask—turning a faint shade of pink.
But as the soothing warmth spread through her, the fatigue weighing on her spirit began to fade.
Realizing he was simply easing her exhaustion, her blush gradually receded. She hesitated for a moment, then chose not to pull her hand back.
"She found out that the Arataki Gang takes any kind of job—even monster-hunting contracts. So she spent all morning scolding me for it."
[Kuki Shinobu Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 360 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.9 (560/900).]
(End of Chapter)
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