[La Signora: You idiot, don't tell me you picked the last option just because you're in Liyue right now?]
[Tartaglia: Hmph, so what? It's not like I picked it at random!]
After all, in Tartaglia's view, how could something so important be uncovered in a place as interesting as The Chasm without involving him, the Fatui Harbinger in charge of Liyue?
If nothing else, the special advance team Snezhnaya had provided to Liyue was still risking their lives exploring beneath The Chasm.
Although this advance team wasn't directly under his command, their superior Harbinger had been transferred to another country on a mission, leaving him in charge of Liyue. If anything happened afterward, surely he would be the one to intervene directly.
And not to brag, but with his incredible knack for making friends, those so-called protagonists who stirred up trouble wherever they went-the Traveler and Paimon-were bound to become his friends. After all, their personalities were right up his alley, so they would definitely get along.
In that case, making a simple deduction, perhaps later, while he was working toward seizing Rex Lapis's Gnosis, the Fatui advance team currently dealing with the local anomalies in The Chasm's underground mines would happen to discover some clues concerning the adepti.
Then he, his recently acquired friend, the all-knowing Mr. Zhongli, and the Traveler and Paimon would form a team in The Chasm through a series of coincidences, and happen to uncover this past incident?
Thinking of how he had recently been gathering information everywhere, overlooking no information or items connected to the adepti, Tartaglia became increasingly convinced that this was a possible future truth.
However...
[System: Incorrect answer.]
Tartaglia was dumbfounded.
Impossible. How could such perfect reasoning be wrong?!
No matter how he looked at it, this was the most likely possibility!
This had to be rigged!
But before Tartaglia could protest, the system's punishment descended.
[System: The punishment for Childe Tartaglia, who selected an incorrect answer, is-]
[Tartaglia: Hmph (smiles breezily), although there might have been a slight problem with my perfect reasoning, it's only a little punishment. Bring it on! If I so much as furrow my brow, I lose!]
[System: For one year, you may not initiate combat with others by any means, including but not limited to provocation, verbal abuse, attacks, orders...]
[Tartaglia: ...]
[Tartaglia: I choose exemption.]
[Lumine: Pfft!]
[Tartaglia: What are you laughing at?!]
[Lumine: I just thought of something happy.]
[Paimon: Pfft.]
[Tartaglia: And what are you laughing at?]
[Paimon: Paimon thought of something happy too.]
[Tartaglia: Did you two think of the same thing?]
[Lumine: Oh, yes, yes, yes. Amber said she'd treat us to sticky honey roast!]
[Paimon: Exactly, exactly! We're already at Good Hunter. There's so much delicious food here.]
[Tartaglia: All right. Well, once you two reach Liyue, I'll definitely treat you to a proper meal. Let me tell you, I've been here in Liyue on official business for so long, and I still haven't tried all the dishes here. You're sure to love this place.]
[La Signora: Has your brain finally broken? You're actually promoting another country now?]
[Tartaglia: I can't help it. I'm in charge of the Northland Bank's business here in Liyue, so I can only treat people to meals here.]
[Tartaglia: I'd love to let the Traveler and Paimon taste our Snezhnayan cuisine, but Liyue is a little too far from Snezhnaya. There's really nothing I can do.]
[Tartaglia: Still, a blessing may come disguised as a misfortune. Thanks to this, I've been able to taste lots of food here in a foreign land that's different in style from what we have back home.]
[Pantalone: Perhaps it's just my imagination, but Childe, could you tell me why you've been sending over more and more reimbursement receipts lately?]
[Tartaglia: Don't worry (gives a thumbs-up), I guarantee every expense is worth the money.]
Pantalone felt he needed to send some trusted subordinates to Liyue to audit the accounts.
As it happened, the gift he had previously prepared for Her Majesty the Tsaritsa had been intercepted by Liyue's spymaster. He needed to settle that score too.
Although that incident could barely be called an even trade, with neither side gaining nor losing, that was from a broader perspective. From Pantalone's perspective alone, the gift he had prepared for Her Majesty the Tsaritsa was gone, and all he had gotten back was a treasure nobody used. That counted as a loss no matter how he looked at it.
Just as Childe was enthusiastically introducing all kinds of Liyue delicacies, making little Paimon clamor in the discussion area about leaving Mondstadt sooner to help Lumine find her brother in Liyue, a second brave soul answered the question.
[Arataki Itto: Hahahahaha! Finally, it's my turn! I choose-A! Same reason as before. With me in Inazuma, it must've been me who took my new friend and the flying dwarf lavender melon to solve the trouble underground and discover what happened there!]
[Kuki Shinobu: I'm thinking it's a good thing the boss has only answered two questions today. Otherwise, he might've used up all his exemptions for the month today.]
[Kujou Sara: Having that idiot test the waters first is a good thing for us too.]
[Shikanoin Heizou: It's just that the reward for this question is going to drop again. Sigh.]
[Gorou: Although bravery is a good habit for a warrior, being overly brave without thinking is recklessness.]
After Itto answered, practically everyone from Inazuma in the comments instinctively predicted failure. Even Itto's subordinate Kuki Shinobu was no exception.
Rather, it was precisely because Kuki Shinobu was always cleaning up the messes Itto caused that she thought this way.
But to the shock of everyone from Inazuma, Itto had actually answered correctly!
[System: Correct answer.]
[Kujou Sara: Shocked!]
[Kuki Shinobu: Shocked!]
[Shikanoin Heizou: Shocked!]
[Kazuha: Shocked!]
[Gorou: Shocked!]
[Yae Miko: Does this count as that old Liyue saying, "Fortune favors fools"?]
[System: Correct answer. Esteemed five-star user Arataki Itto is awarded a year's supply of tonkotsu ramen from the world of Genshin Impact. For one year after claiming the reward, Arataki Itto may consume unlimited tonkotsu ramen for his personal use.]
[System: Tonkotsu ramen restores 32% of the selected character's maximum HP, plus an additional 1,250 HP.]
[System: You little punks weren't even born when I started making tonkotsu ramen. -Shimura Kanbei]
[Arataki Itto: Wahahahahaha! See that, Shinobu? That's what your boss can do! My meals are covered for the whole year!]
[Kuki Shinobu: Boss (exasperated), I think this screen picked this reward for you because you're always missing nine meals in three days.]
[Kuki Shinobu: And you don't care in the slightest about the most important part of this tonkotsu ramen, its healing effect.]
[Arataki Itto: Huh? Healing... what?]
[Kuki Shinobu: No, boss, just keep eating.]
Looking at Arataki Itto, whose mouth was so stuffed with ramen that he couldn't even make a sound and could only stare at her innocently with clear eyes, Kuki Shinobu experienced a familiar sense of helplessness.
[Kuki Shinobu: Still, I really didn't expect the boss's obviously random guess to actually be right.]
[Yanfei: Shinobu, have you considered the possibility that Mr. Itto is part of this team the question says came together by chance?]
[Kuki Shinobu: ...Senior Yanfei, I think I've suddenly come up with a theory too.]
This was a classic nonsensical question that demanded an answer without providing any conditions.
But now that they had the answer, working backward to deduce the conditions gave them something to go on.
Kuki Shinobu ventured a bold guess. If the videos this screen played were all related to the people in the discussion area-
The Traveler and Paimon in particular appeared so frequently, as though they were everywhere, that it strengthened Kuki Shinobu's guess.
Then she could boldly speculate that this video might really take place in a future where Inazuma had ended its isolation for some reason.
Knowing herself, she would definitely make a trip to Liyue to collect her graduation certificate.
When that time came, she might have to trouble Senior Yanfei.
And given her boss's personality, firstly, he couldn't do without her, and secondly, he went wherever the excitement was, so he would definitely tag along.
Given Senior Yanfei's personality, she would probably hide from the enormous source of trouble that was her boss.
Hiding and chasing each other along the way, they would happen to encounter the Traveler and Paimon on the road, eventually arriving at The Chasm...
All right, that was probably more or less how it went.
Although all of the above was merely Yanfei and Kuki Shinobu's speculation, based on the known conditions and Arataki Itto's personality, it somehow felt like a future relatively close to the truth.
In particular, many clever people saw Inazuma ending its isolation in the future as highly likely.
They could deduce this from the earlier video, where the resistance fought their way to the gates of Tenshukaku and faced the Raiden Shogun, yet afterward Kazuha visited his friend's grave as though nothing had happened. The Electro Archon's attitude must have undergone a major change later.
At the very least, the resistance had ostensibly formed because of the Vision Hunt Decree. If even the Vision Hunt Decree could be overturned, then overturning the Sakoku Decree would follow naturally.
Of course, Kuki Shinobu and Yanfei certainly wouldn't share this theory in the discussion area.
After all, Inazuma's current isolation was an order personally issued by the Electro Archon, and it had already been enforced for some time.
Then there was that earlier scene where Kazuha and the resistance fought their way to the gates of Tenshukaku.
This future might well be quite provocative to the present Electro Archon.
They couldn't assume the present Electro Archon was a kindly god just because her future self changed her thinking.
Kuki Shinobu disliked inviting trouble. If she shared this theory, even if the Raiden Shogun was magnanimous and didn't fly into a humiliated rage,
the shogunate's subordinates might be eager to earn credit and make trouble for their little Arataki Gang.
Her boss had already had his Vision confiscated once. She didn't want all the brothers in the Arataki Gang to end up embedded in the statue next time.
[Kazuha: Healing... Unfortunately, this screen has already restricted the tonkotsu ramen to Brother Itto's personal use. Otherwise, I really would have to swallow my pride and ask for help.]
[Arataki Itto: Huh? Are you hurt, Kazuha?]
[Kuki Shinobu: Boss, are you really that forgetful? It's obviously Brother Kazuha's friend who was just revived who needs healing.]
Although they still didn't quite understand the specific numerical effects of things like revival and healing, they knew the general meaning of those two concepts.
That Teyvat fried egg only restored 100 HP after reviving someone.
By comparison, this tonkotsu ramen restored 32% of maximum HP, plus an additional 1,250 HP each time.
The enormous difference in HP between the two showed that 100 HP might be an extremely small amount for an ordinary person.
[Baizhu: Although I'm currently in Liyue, Kazuha, I can give you a prescription to replenish blood.]
[Xiangling: Dietary supplements are a good choice too. I also have a list of ingredients that are very effective for replenishing blood. Mr. Kazuha can buy them and cook them. Combined with Mr. Baizhu's prescription, they'll definitely replenish your friend's blood as quickly as possible.]
[Lumine: Uh (holds forehead), although I think restoring HP in a game is probably very different from the blood replenishment you're talking about... never mind. It should be more or less the same here.]
[System: Today's video quiz and distribution of rewards and punishments are complete. Esteemed users, see you tomorrow.]
With the system's final notification sound, the screen went completely black. The discussion area, however, didn't seem to have closed. It had simply switched to a mode where users could close it themselves. Anyone who wanted to avoid interruptions and go about their own business could close the discussion interface, which would open again along with the screen when it activated tomorrow.
[Lumine: Honestly, I don't feel like an esteemed five-star user at all.]
[Lisa: Oh my, cutie, at least we have an unrestricted channel for communicating across all of Teyvat. Isn't that nice?]
[The Knave: This channel is public. Its confidentiality is terrible.]
[Alice: But we can still use this screen for emergency announcements. And, hmm, a free phone that lets me talk to my little Klee whenever I want is pretty nice~!]
[Klee: Wow, Mom, when are you coming back?]
[Alice: Don't worry, little Klee. This year might be difficult, but I'll definitely be back next year.]
[Klee: Aww, all right. Klee will be good, and I'll definitely develop a Jumpy Dumpty that'll surprise even Mom!]
[Jean: That, of all things, please don't do (mentally exhausted).]
[Alice: Ahaha, but Klee, Mom has a surprise prepared for you this summer~!]
[Klee: Huh? What surprise?]
[Alice: Hehe~, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you now. You'll find out when the time comes, Klee.]