Paimon glanced over, and Angie flashed her a mischievous grin before Paimon quietly retreated to Lumine's side.
Candace: "Do you truly know? Please tell us the truth. The Village Keepers are part of Aaru Village, and their disappearance is my failure."
"This isn't the place to talk. I'm willing to share, but at least let me sit down first. And some fruit would be nice—that's proper hospitality."
"My apologies. Please follow me."
Candace led the group back to the Village Chief's residence. This time, Angie wasn't left standing; a table before her was piled high with sliced fruit.
Angie picked up a slice of melon, waved her small hand, and enveloped it in Ice Elemental Power. The melon felt as if it had just been taken from the refrigerator.
She took a hearty bite, the melon's sweetness permeating her senses.
Paimon's mouth watered at the sight of chilled melon on such a sweltering day!
Angie, captivated by Paimon's large, adorable eyes, offered her an ice-cold slice. Paimon snatched it eagerly and devoured it in one bite.
Suddenly, Angie didn't seem so scary after all.
She casually chilled some melon for everyone, but aside from Lumine, Paimon, and Chu Xi, no one else seemed particularly interested.
Perhaps that wasn't quite accurate; it was more that everyone felt there were more pressing matters to attend to.
After finishing a slice of melon, Angie finally got to the point:
"The reason for the Village Keepers' disappearance is quite simple. They were kidnapped and taken away."
"Kidnapped?" Candace asked, puzzled. She couldn't imagine anyone being abducted from Aaru Village without her noticing.
"I bet you don't believe me. No worries, I'll explain slowly." Angie took another slice of melon. Desert melons really were incredibly sweet. After taking a bite, she continued, "Naturally, no one came into the village to abduct them. Instead, some villagers used a special incense to lure the Village Keepers out, then handed them over to others."
"You're saying... some villagers are colluding with outsiders?"
Candace's heterochromatic eyes grew cold. If this were true...
Cyno: "Such matters require evidence. Are we to rely solely on your word?"
Angie: "Delavar, Engur, and Zaki—they're the ones who did it. Just bring them here. Why would I lie about something like this? There's nothing to gain."
Dehya fell silent. Those three...
Candace: "Dehya, could you please bring those three here? Would you?"
"Of course. Leave it to me."
Cyno: "I'll go too."
After Dehya and Candace left, Angie didn't say anything else. For now, proving the truth of her words was paramount.
Candace hurried out, seemingly with urgent business.
"Come on, Ailina, eat some of this. You won't find fruit like this back in Snezhnaya." Angie kept piling food she thought Ailina would like in front of her.
"M-Madam, that's enough..."
"Nonsense! A grown woman like you can't possibly be satisfied with so little. I won't let you starve under my care—my mother would scold me to no end when we get back!"
Ailina had been by Angie's side for years, and Angie's mother already considered her family. If Angie brought her to Sumeru and let her starve, her mother would truly scold her endlessly upon their return.
How did she grow so big?
Whenever Angie stood next to Ailina, she looked like a little child, even though she wasn't a picky eater.
Angie secretly glanced at Lumine and Chu Xi, immediately feeling a bit better about herself.
Those two are even worse off than me...
Lumine: "..."
I get the feeling Angie's staring at me while thinking something very rude.
That evening, Dehya and Cyno brought back the three individuals Angie had mentioned. The trio initially remained stubborn, but after a brief threat from Childe, the Fatui Harbinger, they confessed everything.
The Fatui are quite infamous in Sumeru, aren't they? It's not exactly a good reputation, but you can't deny their notoriety!
Even more effective than Cyno, the General Mahamatra!
The trio admitted to using Spirit Borneol to lure out Village Keepers before handing them over to others. This confession ignited Candace's fury.
Cyno felt the same anger. Although the Akademiya had issued the initial orders, it was the Matra who had exiled these Scholars in the first place. Now, to see them treated like this... If the situation allowed, Cyno would have executed them on the spot.
The trio's knowledge was limited; they didn't know to whom the Village Keepers had been handed off.
The conversation circled back to Angie.
It was now clear that everything Angie had said was true. Judging by her earlier demeanor, she likely knew what happened next.
Angie glanced at Paimon in surprise. The little one had been munching away since earlier this morning, her movements slow but persistent. Surely she'd eaten quite a lot by now? Still not full?
Lumine tapped Paimon's little head, signaling her to stop eating and focus on the matter at hand.
Paimon immediately put down the chilled fruit. She'd simply found it refreshingly cool and sweet, reminiscent of Yuna's ice cream, and had inadvertently eaten a little too much out of nostalgia.
"Near Aaru Village," Angie began, "there's an abandoned hospital. We visited it a few days ago..."
She slowly recounted the information she and her brother had gathered during their investigation at Dar al-Shifa:
When they first arrived at Dar al-Shifa, the place was bustling with people. They had planned to return at night to investigate further, but when they did, they found everyone had vanished.
Their investigation revealed that the abducted Village Keepers had been brought to this hospital. Through some means, the knowledge in their brains was extracted and condensed into Canned Knowledge.
Alhaitham confirmed that the Akademiya was indeed capable of such methods.
Paimon: "But if the Akademiya was behind this, why did they exile these people to Aaru Village in the first place? Why go to the trouble of capturing them again? Isn't that just creating extra work for themselves?"
Alhaitham: "No. Before coming to Aaru Village, these individuals were scholars. Once they arrived, they became exiles and Village Keepers. Now that they've disappeared again, they'll be treated as missing persons. Handling a missing person is far more convenient than dealing with a scholar."
"Exactly," Angie continued. "The extracted Canned Knowledge must possess some special properties we don't understand. We also discovered that the Eremites were involved. They helped the Akademiya transfer many Village Keepers. The Akademiya agents left in a hurry, so most of the recently missing Village Keepers are still in their custody."
Cyno: "I'm going to rescue them right now!"
Candace: "Wait, Cyno, it's night..."
After sharing everything she knew, Angie leaned back in her chair. The plot had diverged, but she remained unfazed. She knew the storyline had a gravitational pull, and this minor shift wouldn't disrupt the overall narrative.