Alhaitham: "Congratulations."
after the feast, Nahida (now in a mortal body) uses a gentle sleep blessing to knock Idris out so he'll finally rest, then slips away, mortified but relieved he's asleep.
What follows is translated in full.
Midday, the next day.
Unsurprisingly, Idris slept in. Most foreign guests had already departed with the morning sun. When he finally woke, the first thing he did was touch his lips.
"That little imp actually ambushed me… Hah. Still, I slept great."
Feeling his stamina and spirit restored, he stretched lazily. He planned to clear some paperwork, then find Nahida to settle the matter of the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.
A couple hours of memorials later, he stepped out of the Grand Sage's office—and immediately heard a heated argument nearby. He followed the voices and found Alhaitham squaring off with another tall young man.
"You're telling me Little Auspicious Kusanali is now the Little Auspicious Princess?" the newcomer blurted. "And our not-even-half-a-year Grand Sage, Idris, is basically Sumeru's uncrowned king now? I came back hearing people everywhere shouting 'Long live the Little Princess' and 'Grand Sage Idris is our king'—I thought I'd misheard! I've only been away a few months, right? When did something this big happen? What even is—"
The agitated man was, of course, the final missing member of Sumeru's "F4": Kaveh.
Alhaitham's expression went odd; he offered a deadpan "congratulations."
"That's right. Honestly, you're a special kind of talent," he said. "You were so buried in construction you forgot time existed, ignored every message I sent—oh, and since you're finally back, be sure you go vote in Kshahrewar's election for a new sage–elder."
Kaveh blinked. "A new sage–elder? Why? When I left, the old man looked ready to cling to his seat for years."
"That's the past," Alhaitham replied. "Some days ago, Grand Sage Idris summarily executed a slate of elders—including yours from Kshahrewar—for treason. Official cause: they opposed his new Alchemy School, even plotted to remove him. He removed them first.
"I hear you were once called the 'Light of Kshahrewar.' If you don't want trouble, dump that elder seat on someone else—fast."
"...Huh?"
Kaveh stood there, stunned. He'd been gone only months, not years—when had Sumeru changed this much?
Alhaitham wasn't done twisting the knife. "Also, your timing is impeccable—as in, impeccably bad. If you'd returned two days earlier, even yesterday morning, you could've witnessed the battle that changed Sumeru's fate."
"Battle? What happened? Alhaitham, explain it properly!"
So Alhaitham did, sketching out the previous day's war against Marana and its avatar. "Plenty of busybodies saved footage on the Akasha. If you're that curious, go binge it yourself."
"Wait—did you just say Grand Sage Idris gifted every outstanding fighter—not only Vision holders—a special Return-Life Pill?" Kaveh demanded. "A pill that literally gives you a second life?!"
"Mm. The reward Return-Life Pill. One's already been auctioned for one million Mora. Shame you don't have one."
Alhaitham—purely for scientific illustration, of course—produced his own pill between two fingers. He absolutely, definitely wasn't showing off.
Kaveh stared, then uttered the immortal words:
"How much?! One million Mora for a single pill? How can that be so expensive— Aaaagh!"
He collapsed inward, despairing. Forget what he still owed Alhaitham and Dori; just knowing he had missed such a treasure by being late a few days made him want to scream. He had a Vision. He could fight a little. If he'd been there, he might have earned one.
But he hadn't. So he didn't.
Alhaitham massaged his brow. "Instead of wailing at me, go to Kshahrewar and vote. If you dither any longer, those old fossils will really shove you onto the elder's seat. The other factions' geriatrics were scared half to death by Grand Sage Idris's recent 'housecleaning.' Not one of them wants the hot chair."
"Me? Become Kshahrewar's elder? I can't! I'm too young—I'd never manage that post!"
A cool voice slid in behind him. "Is that so? I think… a young man serving as elder isn't out of the question."
"Quit joking around, I— I— I—"
Kaveh turned, and the rest of his sentence fled his soul. He finally understood why those hidebound old Akademiya codgers bolted like rabbits whenever they saw Idris.
Standing there, hands clasped behind his back, Idris smiled faintly. "What's this? Regretting that you missed out on a Return-Life Pill?"
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