La vaguelette

So far, Nahida had answered two questions correctly in total, making her the biggest winner in the quiz segment since the screen descended yesterday.

The first reward the screen gave Nahida was a bucket of milk whose description claimed it could remove all negative effects.

The second reward was a transformation wand that could unlock Nahida's potential and let her draw on her future power ahead of time.

With just one reward, Nahida could only speculate about various possibilities, with no way to be certain of anything. But with these two rewards together...

"The problems Sumeru currently faces ultimately boil down to one thing: after Greater Lord Rukkhadevata suddenly disappeared and the Akademiya brought back the completely immature me, Sumeru's existing systems of governance and power fell out of balance."

Nahida temporarily undid her second-stage transformation, returning to her first-stage transformation's young maiden form. In this form, Nahida felt that her body placed less strain on her in every sense, and she was also fascinated by the unique sense of freedom that came with her increased power.

"The most fundamental problem was actually the dark calamity that broke out back then, the Khaenri'ah incident. Or, in Sumeru's case, the series of troubles brought about by forbidden knowledge."

Nahida looked at her slender little hands, recalling herself at the height of her power just now.

In that form, she could easily connect to Irminsul and enter the memories Greater Lord Rukkhadevata left behind with just one Gnosis.

And she happened to have a bucket of milk on hand that supposedly could remove all negative effects.

"So forbidden knowledge really did have an irreversible negative effect on Irminsul? And this effect must have been something even Greater Lord Rukkhadevata herself couldn't remove. Something Greater Lord Rukkhadevata herself couldn't remove... Hmm, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was contaminated by forbidden knowledge. No, perhaps they were bound together? Was that why she couldn't remove the effects of forbidden knowledge?"

Working from the information available, Nahida gradually analyzed the situation, finally beginning to understand the most likely meaning behind Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's heavily fragmented message that some scholars occasionally heard during the period of forest-dwelling madness.

She might not have understood it before, but now that Nahida could communicate with Irminsul alone, and even modify it, certain things naturally became clear to her.

Among them was the fact that modifying Irminsul could not completely erase the one making the modifications.

Combining the information in the Footprint promotional video, the items rewarded by the screen, and the information Nahida herself possessed, the God of Wisdom smoothly deduced quite a few things.

"Tonight, I'll take back full control of the Akasha first. There are some things I can't just wait for the Traveler to help with."

With that, Nahida made up her mind and gave a great big smile to the Grand Sage and the others, who had hurried over and pushed open the doors to the Sanctuary of Surasthana.

[Alhaitham: The Grand Sage and the others suddenly went to the Sanctuary of Surasthana just now.]

[Kaveh: ?]

[Alhaitham: They've been inside for ten minutes now. Not a sound.]

[Tighnari: Uh, did my teacher go with them?]

[Alhaitham: Don't worry. Your teacher didn't go inside with them.]

[Tighnari: All right, then that's fine.]

[Alhaitham: Indeed. I'll be able to read in peace from now on.]

[Kaveh: ...Wait, this is such a huge deal, and that's all the reaction you have?]

[Faruzan: What other reaction do you want? Isn't this only right?]

[Faruzan: The Akademiya originally seized most of the power on the grounds that the newborn Dendro Archon was too weak and needed time to grow. Now that the Dendro Archon's power rivals Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's, isn't it perfectly normal for the Akademiya to return that authority?]

[Kaveh: But this way of returning authority...]

[Faruzan: Interesting. The Akademiya still has a child as innocent as you these days? Interested in studying under a senior like me?]

[Kaveh: Uh, thanks for the offer, but no.]

Although everyone in the discussion area was actually quite concerned about the shift in power taking place in Sumeru, nothing had been settled yet. Intervening too early might bring enormous benefits, but it might also damage their existing relations with Sumeru.

Thus, the other six nations essentially chose to wait and see.

As for Sumeru's locals...

Seeing such a casual account of a change in the upper ranks in the discussion area, the people of Sumeru City really did spend several minutes in a daze.

But when they thought about how this was the dreamlike version of Lesser Lord Kusanali who looked like Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, everything was fine.

Everyone kept the music and dancing going, carrying on with their lives as usual.

The atmosphere at the Grand Bazaar was even more joyful than before. Nilou danced merrily, swaying her waist with even more vigor than usual.

Naturally, Nahida did not recount her great accomplishments just now in the discussion area either. For this well-behaved, newborn god, what she had just done was what she considered the most outrageous thing she had ever done in her life.

If the video had not made it clear that these four sages, led by the Grand Sage, had completely abandoned her, the rightful Dendro Archon, to pursue an artificial god harmful to Sumeru.

If not for the secret about Greater Lord Rukkhadevata she had just uncovered, and the problem of Sumeru's people contracting Eleazar, or even dying of it, every day throughout the nation.

Nahida really would not have wanted to use such an unwise method to cut through the tangled mess.

"Everything is for Sumeru."

Nahida's eyes revealed unparalleled resolve.

At her feet, Grand Sage Azar, along with several other sages and some personal guards from the Corps of Thirty, lay prostrate before the supreme Dendro Archon, kissing the ground covered in plants and blooming flowers. These had formed when Nahida's abruptly surging power briefly escaped her control at the very beginning.

Yet at that moment, the Grand Sage and the others seemed unable to feel the tangled grass irritating their bodies. Their eyes filled with abnormal fervor, they knelt without daring to raise their heads, crying out that the Dendro Archon alone was Sumeru's heaven and Sumeru's wisdom.

There could not be two suns in the sky, nor could there be two gods in Sumeru. Sumeru's only god was the great Lesser Lord Kusanali!

"Uh, I really did go a little overboard."

Using the power her future self could attain, provided by the transformation wand, she had broken through the meditation device modified by the sages and instantly taken control of the Grand Sage and the others who had come to investigate.

Nahida felt she still did not quite have a handle on her suddenly increased power. She had only intended to stop Azar and the others from causing trouble or ruining things, leaving the rest until after she resolved Sumeru's problems.

But looking at Azar and the others now, this... was a little excessive.

Nahida was a good child, after all. She had not wanted things to turn out this way either.

While Nahida was feeling a little guilty, the screen finally selected today's fifth video, which was also the final video of the day.

[Alice: Unless something unexpected happens, it should be Fontaine, right?]

[Lyney: Uh, indeed.]

[Lynette: Looking at the order of the first four videos, we can certainly tell by now.]

[Sigewinne: Heeheehee, will the Fortress of Meropide appear? Will my special milkshakes appear?]

[Wriothesley: Heh, I'd rather this screen didn't turn its camera toward the Fortress of Meropide.]

[Navia: Hmm, if it could focus on our Spina di Rosula, on Poisson...]

[Furina: Hehehe, Fontaine's grand stage simply wouldn't be complete without me!]

[Charlotte: That's true. A video about Fontaine probably couldn't leave Lady Furina out.]

After all, today's first four videos had made it quite obvious. Even if they had not noticed at first, most people could now tell that today's four videos had played in the same order as the Footprint promotional video, starting with Mondstadt and proceeding all the way to Sumeru.

Of course, a very small number of people had also keenly noticed that the first four videos all featured their respective nations' gods as the protagonists. It was just that none of those who noticed had made a big announcement about it in the discussion area.

Since the pattern of the first four videos was so obvious, everyone knew that today's fifth video would not only be about Fontaine, but would most likely be related to the Hydro Archon as well.

[System: Now playing the fifth video-Genshin Impact story teaser: "La vaguelette"]

[Clorinde: This means it's an official video, right?]

[Lumine: That's right. The standard title format for an official video.]

[Lumine: Hmm, wait. I just remembered something.]

[Paimon: Hmm?]

[Lumine: I just remembered that video sites always have some really talented people who can imitate the style of official videos and create fake ones that look even more official than the real thing, then get the audience talking.]

[Lumine: Hiss, in that case, we can't simply use the title format to determine whether a video is official from now on.]

[Yae Miko: It's rather like some readers of our Yae Publishing House who are dissatisfied with what the original author wrote, so they write fanfiction themselves and end up more popular than the original author.]

[Navia: Hmm, that sounds like such a hassle. Does that mean we'll have to work out what kind of video it is beforehand, then selectively accept the information it reveals?]

[Lumine: All I can say is that different people will see it differently. We'll have to analyze each case individually.]

[Navia: Then this video... Light chains, ripples... Hmm, it does seem very Fontaine in style, since it's related to water. But compared with the previous videos, this title doesn't reveal anything more specific at all. We don't even know who it's about, or what event it covers.]

[Lyney: That's why we need to watch it and figure it out ourselves.]

[Lynette: Brother, another cup of coffee.]

[Lyney: Whoa, Lynette, when did you finish yours???]

[Lynette: It's fine. I'll use full-power mode later to burn off these extra calories.]

[Lyney: Sigh (holds forehead), that's not really the issue... Never mind.]

Just as the discussion was about to go off topic, this video's buffering speed picked up as well.

Soon, images appeared on the screen as the familiar 12+ age advisory and the customary bilibili Games and miHoYo logos flashed past.

The art style on the screen was quite different from that of the previous official promotional videos. It was more or less the difference between three dimensions and two, as though they had stepped out of reality and into a Fontaine storybook.

After a soft, subdued, beautiful prelude, two curtains drew apart. Sinister, dark, withered branches and brown rocks covered the backdrop. This composition signified that the video's opening tone was not especially joyful.

Of course, the main thing was that, although the clothing of all the characters on screen was recognizably Fontainian in style, the art style itself was entirely cartoonish.

"Has she come?"

"When will she come?"

A crowd surrounded a young man kneeling on the ground, brandishing pitchforks, shovels, or simply angry fists, the very picture of an enraged mob.

Even under such pressure, the blond young man kneeling on the ground struggled to lift his head and crane his neck, crying out anxiously, "She won't come!"

Those words seemed both a denial of the crowd's questions and a warning to her, wherever she might be, not to appear.

But the young man's efforts did not succeed.

A supposedly civilized man in respectable clothes, standing beside the blond young man with a walking cane, raised his index finger and pointed ahead, drawing out his words.

"No, here she comes."

[Furina: An opera?]

[Furina: It should be an opera. Whether it's the characters' clothing or the vocal techniques that clearly differ from normal speech, this should be an opera.]

[Navia: Hmm, Furina is Fontaine's authority on this subject. Since she says so, what this video is showing should be an opera... in illustrated form?]

[Lyney: Strange. It's neither so-called gameplay footage nor like the previous official videos. Could this be one of the fake official videos the Traveler just mentioned?]

[Lumine: Uh, not necessarily. I looked at the title again, and with this art style, it might be a cutscene.]

[Lyney: A cutscene?]

[Lumine: Yes. When players go through main quests and some characters' personal quests, there are usually cutscenes to make the story more expressive.]

[Lyney: To make the story more expressive... Among the starred Fontaine users in the discussion area, the only "she" who also has a connection to opera should be Lady Furina, right?]

[Furina: Huh? Me... Ahem, that's only natural!]

[Furina: I am the queen of all waters, all lands, all peoples, and all laws, and Fontaine's most popular superstar today. Over these five hundred years, the classic productions I've presented to the people of Fontaine are beyond counting.]

[Furina: It's only natural that this screen would show an opera starring me!]