Paimon was so happy she almost jumped up. "They disappeared! So the subject is Nilou? What an unexpected discovery!"
"The purple-red Padisarahs no longer exist in the world. Only in Nilou's subconscious could they appear here to decorate the stage."
"Just like the example Nahida gave—people would assume the plate contains food, while Nilou would assume the flowerpot contains the legendary Padisarahs..."
"So the moment you saw those two flowers, you were certain it was Nilou?"
[Paimon: So you all noticed that detail long ago.]
[Dehya: This is a detail that only people of Sumeru would notice.]
[Alhaitham: I noticed it from the very beginning. The color of those flowers was wrong. This is a flower explicitly recorded in textbooks as having gone extinct.]
[Paimon: Alhaitham remembers his textbooks. That's amazing.]
[Alhaitham: Every young person should master at least twenty languages upon graduation.]
[Yae Miko: Twenty languages? I recall there are only twenty languages in all of Teyvat.]
[Faruzan: That's correct. You have to master all of them to graduate!]
Lumine nodded. "That's right."
Paimon said, "But to end the loop, the subject still needs to develop self-awareness."
"Ah, how are we going to make Nilou realize that this is..."
Before Paimon could finish, Nilou's voice rang out. "I... I'm dreaming, aren't I?"
[Furina: I declare Nilou the true protagonist! Without any hints, she found the answer in just one second. If she's not the protagonist, then who is?]
[Dehya: If making Nilou realize it was a dream had been as difficult as it was for the Traveler, I would have been frantic.]
[Navia: Yes, yes. It was really stressful.]
[Lumine: Fortunately, none of that happened.]
Lumine asked, "How did you figure that out?"
Nilou smiled. "Isn't it because we, who devoutly celebrate the Sabzeruz Festival, received a response from the Lesser Lord Kusanali?"
Paimon reached out and said, "That guess is wrong, but not entirely wrong. The key is—how did you suddenly realize this was a dream? Logically speaking, in your understanding, people of Sumeru don't dream."
Nilou explained, "It's like this. Have you heard the story of the First Sage? The story of someone who set out on a journey to find the Dendro Archon in order to escape disaster."
"After his devotion and wisdom earned the Dendro Archon's recognition, she finally decided to bestow her blessing upon him."
"Before the First Sage appeared all kinds of incredible visions, as if all the knowledge in the world was manifesting before him, enchanting him. He didn't know how much time had passed, but he had already mastered all the knowledge he could comprehend."
"Afterward, he said to the Dendro Archon, 'I miss my parents and family. I've been away from home too long. They must be worried.'"
"The Dendro Archon smiled, and then the Sage found himself lying in bed, as if just waking from a dream."
"His wife said to him, 'Dear, today you set out to find the Dendro Archon, don't you? Safe travels!'"
"Later, the First Sage resolved many of Sumeru's disasters, founded the Akademiya, and everyone lived happily ever after."
[Lumine: So that's how it was. I have to say, though the entire deduction process was wrong, the conclusion was surprisingly correct.]
[Paimon: The story of the First Sage... no wonder the people of the Akademiya are called Sages. But they no longer deserve that name.]
Paimon's eyes widened. "So the First Sage was in a dream the entire time from the very beginning of the story, and never even set out?"