Sumeru City, the Sanctuary of Surasthana.
After listening to Nolan's suggestion, Nahida thought about it seriously and realized it was indeed quite feasible.
As more and more people connected to the "Akasha Interconnected Network," it had already become something entirely distinct from reality—a second world of its own.
But maintaining such a world by herself would inevitably prove exhausting sooner or later.
Nolan's words had given her an important reminder.
Since the real world had rulers, merchants, dockworkers, and countless other professions, why couldn't this "Akasha Interconnected Network," this second world, have its own as well?
A new occupation for a new era—those who maintained order and harmony within the network community: Disciplinary Committee Members.
Not only would this help preserve order online, but it could also provide people with new avenues of employment.
Thinking of this, Nahida no longer felt sleepy. With a spark of excitement, she said,
"I'll post this idea online right now! Let everyone join in to refine the details of the 'Disciplinary Committee' concept."
If only she and Nolan worked on it, there were bound to be oversights—so it was better to let more minds contribute together.
[Nahida Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 380 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.9 (260/900)]
Nolan glanced at the prompt on his character panel.
Nahida's affection level toward him was almost at its maximum. He couldn't help but feel eager to see what kind of "Affection Skill" he would unlock when that happened.
He nodded and said,
"Alright, go ahead and get started. We'll keep offering feedback too."
Nahida nodded back, summoning a virtual network interface as she began drafting the relevant documents.
Nolan and Mona didn't disturb her further and left the Sanctuary ahead of her.
Today, Mona had also arranged to meet with Layla at the Akademiya's House of Daena to study astrology-related topics. By now, the time should be just about right.
It wasn't far from here to the House of Daena—after a ten or twenty minute walk, they arrived.
Even though scholars could now use the "Akasha Interconnected Network" to access any learning materials at will, the number of people visiting the House of Daena hadn't decreased.
After all, nowhere else could match the academic atmosphere of this place.
Walking in, Nolan and Mona made their way toward the astrology section.
When they arrived, they noticed the area was still quite crowded.
Two scholars—clearly a couple—were standing beside a bookshelf, whispering to each other while holding books about constellations, discussing which stars symbolized beautiful love and so on.
They didn't seem to be scholars from the Haravatat Darshan, who specialized in studying the sky—otherwise, they wouldn't be so unfamiliar with even the most basic constellations.
Besides them, there were two other people in the section.
One was a chubby young man sitting on a chair, staring at his book with an expression of intense focus, like a student desperately cramming before an exam.
The other was a young woman with spring-green hair, wearing a backless dress of a matching color, her snow-white legs extending gracefully from beneath the hem.
She, too, was reading beside the bookshelf, absorbed in her studies.
As for Layla—wearing her usual blue hood shaped like a sleep cap—she had already arrived earlier and was seated quietly at a table.
The dark circles under her eyes had faded quite a bit—most likely thanks to Mona's recent guidance. With fewer worries weighing on her, Layla's overall spirit had clearly improved.
When she saw Mona and Nolan walking over, Layla's face lit up with delight as she stood and greeted them.
"Good morning, Miss Mona—and long time no see, Mr. Adventurer!"
"Good morning, Layla," Nolan and Mona replied in perfect unison.
Mona glanced at Nolan, then turned back to Layla with a knowing smile.
"I told you before that it would be wonderful if we could one day observe the real stars up close, didn't I? Well—today's the day!"
Wearing her pointed witch's hat, the astrologer pressed a hand down on Nolan's shoulder and declared proudly,
"Today, this guy here will be taking us on a 'Celestial Observation Journey!'"
"'Celestial Observation Journey'?"
Layla blinked in confusion, rubbing the back of her hand uncertainly.
Mona had indeed once mentioned her wish to see what the stars really looked like, but Layla had always thought she was just speaking whimsically.
After all, the stars hung high in the unreachable sky—how could anyone possibly get close enough to see them?
"Heh, that's right," Mona said confidently, resting both hands on her hips and puffing out her chest just slightly, her pale skin glinting in the light. "This guy here has the power to travel beyond the world—to the outer starry sky itself! So today, he's going to take us there!"
"R-Really?"
Layla's eyes widened, her fair cheeks filled with disbelief as she clenched her fists tightly.
For someone who studied the stars, the greatest curiosity of all was, without a doubt, the very thing they devoted their lives to observing—the countless brilliant stars that forever shone out of reach above their heads.
If she truly had the chance to see them up close with her own eyes, there was not a single scholar who would ever refuse such an opportunity.
"Yes, of course it's real," Nolan said with an easy smile. "We can leave right now if you'd like."
"Then please wait a moment—I need to go back and prepare! I want to bring my Akasha Terminal so I can take photos of the stars!" Layla had rushed out this morning and had left her device beside her bed.
"Alright, we'll come with you," Nolan replied.
Just as Layla nodded and started to lead the way, a voice suddenly called out from behind the nearby bookshelf.
"Wait a minute, Layla—are you seriously believing them?"
Startled, the three of them turned toward the voice, and Layla gasped in surprise.
"Huh? Professor Faruzan? What are you doing here?"
"If I hadn't happened to be here researching, you'd already be getting tricked away by these people!" Faruzan snapped as she closed her book, pointing an accusing finger at her student with mild exasperation.
To think that the famous genius scholar of the Haravatat Darshan, someone known throughout the Akademiya, could be fooled after just a few words—unbelievable!
"'Celestial Observation Journey,' you say? Nonsense!" she huffed. "That's the starry sky beyond the world—how could anyone just waltz out there and take a look?"
Lately, Faruzan had been researching a project related to Starsea Navigators within the "Akasha Interconnected Network." She had always been fascinated by such novel technology.
In her spare time, she'd been studying the designs and mechanical structures of the navigators' hulls, hoping to understand how to construct a ship capable of sailing through the cosmic sea.
To design a vessel that could actually survive in outer space, she first had to understand what kinds of environmental factors in the void could damage its hull.
That was why she had been coming here so often to study records about the stars.
She knew all too well that the void beyond their world was extremely dangerous—Teyvat had no means of surviving out there yet.
So when she overheard Nolan and Layla's conversation, she immediately concluded they must be up to something suspicious!
(End of Chapter)
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