The Mirrormaster stiffened like a withered tree struck by lightning, standing rigid and unmoving.
The air froze like this for half a minute. Although Victor Wang felt guilty, he still forced himself to keep up appearances.
At last, the Mirrormaster trembled as he reached beneath his cloak and took out a mirror that emitted a chilling frost. "This mirror… is the one through which I saw Celestia. I have always… kept it carefully…"
He cautiously turned the mirror toward Victor Wang. Even though Victor Wang was clearly standing at the bow of the ship, the mirror showed no one at all. The sky, the water, the mountains, the forest—even the deck and railing that should have been blocked by Victor Wang—were all perfectly reflected. Everything was there, except Victor Wang himself.
Victor Wang was somewhat surprised by this bizarre phenomenon, but what concerned him more was how much of what he had said had actually sunk in.
"Do you understand now?"
"…"
"If it is not necessary, do not interfere with my path."
"…"
"About you robbing Dori's Mora?"
"I told you, we did not rob that person."
Hiss… They still wouldn't admit it. Could it really be that Dori misunderstood?
After thinking it over, Victor Wang didn't dare say more. The more you say, the more mistakes you make. The more he brought these things up, the less convincing the identity of a "chosen one" became. In any case, it seemed he had already succeeded in getting the North Wing to stop fixating on him.
"Alright then. Maybe there really was some misunderstanding. Goodbye."
Feigning composure, he rose on the wind. Seeing that the Mirrormaster made no reaction, Victor Wang restrained the excitement and thrill of a performance gone perfectly, and steadily flew toward Port Ormos.
…
"They insist they never robbed your Mora."
"They did! Two years ago, when the Overlord of the Vortex attacked Liyue Harbor, my ship withstood waves that big, yet it was looted by an inconspicuous pirate ship! I remember it clearly—there was a full loss of five hundred thousand Mora in cash!"
"Two years ago… five hundred thousand Mora?"
"That's right! Those pirates only steal cash. Anyone they encounter won't be left with a single Mora, yet they completely ignore extremely valuable cargo. That style of operation—there's no way I'm mistaken!"
"Wasn't it a whole ship of Mora?"
"It was a whole ship of Mora! All the Mora on that ship—fifty hundred thousand in total!"
"And this was two years ago?"
"Yes! I received the report back then, but I could never run into those guys. This time they were very discreet in Vimara Village, but I still found them! Fifty hundred thousand Mora—how could I sleep without taking revenge!"
"…"
Go back to the Mirrormaster over fifty hundred thousand Mora?
No, no. Even now, Victor Wang still felt the corners of his mouth wanting to curl up. Going back again might expose everything.
Victor Wang went out for a walk and paid out of pocket, withdrawing one million Mora in cash. After thinking it over, one million Mora in exchange for a favor from Dori seemed like a pretty good deal.
"The big client is truly reliable! If you ever need help in the future, just come find me!"
Dori was delighted as she accepted the Mora.
Thus, a day of slacking off came to a perfect close. Victor Wang brought Arama back to Vanarana, and happened to catch Lumine arriving with a message.
"Do you remember the female scholar who was always with the Grand Sage Azar during the Sabzeruz Festival in the dream, stopping Nilou from dancing the Sabzeruz Dance at the Zubayr Theater?"
"Setaria?" Victor Wang asked in return.
"Yes, that's the one… To talk about her, we have to start with the desert people of Sumeru…"
After a brief pause to organize her thoughts, Lumine explained the entire plan and background:
"The western desert of Sumeru was originally ruled by the Scarlet King. Later, after the Scarlet King died, there were rumors that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata betrayed him and destroyed his civilization. The Scarlet King's followers therefore regard the Dendro Archon and the Akademiya as enemies. Other desert dwellers aren't quite that extreme, but they also don't get along with the people of Sumeru—the relationship is very poor.
Setaria comes from the desert. Because she is the most outstanding academic genius among the desert people, she was exceptionally admitted into the Akademiya and remained by the Grand Sage's side as an assistant.
From the Sabzeruz Festival in the dream, we can tell that both she and the Grand Sage were 'puppets' who never truly entered the dream. Being so close to the Grand Sage, she likely knows some of the Akademiya's internal secrets. And because of her background, her stance isn't firm.
We decided to use Nahida's abilities, borrowing the Akasha to possess a stall owner that Setaria frequently visits. In the name of the Scarlet King, whom the desert people should originally worship, we'll pressure Setaria and force her to reveal the Akademiya's plans."
After listening quietly, Victor Wang nodded and asked in detail, "When will you act?"
"Tomorrow."
"We found one Vasoma Fruit yesterday. We got nothing today—still two more to go…"
"It's fine. We don't need help for now."
"Alright, then we'll stay in contact."
After Lumine teleported back to Sumeru City, Victor Wang calculated quietly, Tomorrow… the day after… I can still slack off for two more days.
Early the next morning, he set out again with Arama. He deliberately wandered around Vimara Village and Devantaka Mountain for an entire day, only obtaining the second Vasoma Fruit at Devantaka Mountain.
Arama even felt this speed was very fast, which made Victor Wang feel a little embarrassed.
That night, Lumine sent another message. She and Nahida had already handled Setaria, but Setaria requested to meet at the entrance of the Akademiya at 7 PM the following evening before she would hand over the information Lumine wanted.
Setaria hadn't intended to set a trap. Unfortunately, she carried a listening device belonging to The Doctor, and this meeting thus became a trap.
Knowing all this, Victor Wang did not warn them. Instead, when the day arrived, he slightly accelerated his search for Vasoma Fruit.
Passing through Gandharva Ville, he visited Tighnari, met Collei—whom he hadn't had the chance to meet when clearing a concealed Withering last time—and discreetly observed Haypasia's mental state.
Haypasia was a scholar of the Akademiya's Rtawahist Darshan. This Darshan primarily studies the relationship between the stars and the fate of living beings. However, knowledge of the stars in Teyvat is extremely limited, so scholars instead turn to the all-knowing Irminsul for answers.
Irminsul contains divine knowledge. Those lacking sufficient ability cannot bear such knowledge—their minds simply cannot withstand it. Many scholars go mad in the process. To avoid implicating others, these scholars choose to remain alone as much as possible.
They enter the forest to cultivate, light incense, enter meditation, connect to Irminsul, and explore divine knowledge.
Haypasia also entered the forest, lit incense, and entered meditation—only to connect with the Akademiya's artificially created new god, The Balladeer, becoming his first follower…
Thus, Haypasia's mental state was already unstable. However, her connection with The Balladeer would be the key for Lumine to uncover the truth behind the Akademiya's god-creation. Once The Balladeer was defeated, she would recover.
Nahida's plan, Setaria's compromise, Haypasia's condition… After confirming that nothing had changed due to his own presence, Victor Wang finally felt at ease.
After finishing all this, he took Arama to Scented Slope and obtained the third Vasoma Fruit.
"This is enough. With this, we can grow a new Ashvattha Tree."
"Let's wait a little longer. Once we rescue the Dendro Archon, it shouldn't be far off."
Victor Wang took out his pocket watch. There were still two hours until 7 PM.
===BREAK===
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