Elysia blinked and then said:
"I didn't know."
"But it doesn't matter if I can't go back."
"It's not that fun over there anyway."
"There are people on that side and people on this side. It doesn't matter whether I go or not."
"Did you come to tell me this specifically?"
"Well… how about you come to my place instead?"
"I'm playing here alone anyway."
"Eden just left."
"Come here and I'll show you my new swimsuit."
Her tone was full of temptation as she said it.
Come play.
Why stay home?
Hearing her words, Takumi was tempted.
After thinking briefly, he agreed.
"Wait. Don't chicken out."
After speaking, he hung up.
Elysia was stunned when she saw the call end.
She blinked—then a space channel opened beside her.
Takumi stepped out.
A happy smile appeared on Elysia's face.
"Ah!"
"You really came."
"I was only joking."
"What am I supposed to do now?"
The fairy-like girl pretended to be troubled.
She hadn't expected him to actually come.
Takumi's mouth lifted slightly.
"You invited me, didn't you?"
"What? Scared now?"
Elysia snorted.
"I'm not scared."
"Come, do you think my new swimsuit looks good?"
Who feared whom?
She, Elysia, did not even understand the meaning of fear.
Takumi, however, she liked very much.
After all, he was similar to her.
As an original Herrscher, how could she not be interested in another Herrscher?
The two began whispering to one another.
One talked about this, the other about that.
And then… well, things continued from there.
Elysia was skilled; Takumi was not inexperienced either.
Alone on the island, something was bound to happen.
After everything was over, Takumi left feeling pleased.
Elysia, on the other hand, looked lost.
No one knew what she had paid.
Takumi played for a few days and then returned to his duties.
He couldn't stay idle forever.
He opened the main administrative terminal.
Takumi reviewed the progress on the projects above that were now completed.
Guiliyuan and Liyue Harbor's kindergartens, primary schools, and middle schools had all opened.
Last year alone, Liyue built dozens of schools.
And more continued to be planned.
Therefore, Zhongli, now the Minister of Education, was too busy to even remember where north was.
He felt completely tricked.
Takumi looked at the progress reports and smiled.
The old man's retirement was nowhere in sight.
He was busy again.
With Zhongli handling the school system, Takumi didn't need to worry much.
Next was the medical academy.
The students were studying in an orderly manner.
Mebius was ruthless as always.
After distributing countless medical books, she also produced numerous organs.
Yes—actual organs.
Except they were cloned.
This terrified students who had never seen such things before.
But it helped them understand anatomy thoroughly.
Their skill levels had risen quickly.
Takumi even suspected Mebius was restraining herself.
If she went all out, she might produce entire cloned bodies for students to dissect.
For Mebius, as long as learning objectives were met, the method did not matter.
Perhaps this was her version of "efficient teaching."
Takumi nodded at the reports.
Not bad.
As long as she trained competent students, he had no objections.
This was real hands-on medical training.
After reading all that, Takumi checked progress at Guyun Pavilion.
Large shipments of cement had been purchased from Mondstadt.
Boats hauled materials daily.
The construction progress had accelerated significantly.
Most roads on the island were already complete.
Other facilities had begun construction.
Much would be finished before year's end.
Takumi was very satisfied.
Good progress.
Finally, his attention fell on the situation at Lingju Pass.
With keqing personally overseeing it, progress was smooth.
Most monsters had been cleared.
Of course, Liyue had to spend a lot of money.
Adventurers needed payment.
But Takumi didn't worry about Mora.
Mora was essentially an energy byproduct.
If needed, Liyue could start the printing mechanism any time.
Let the world witness what a nuclear-powered money printer looked like.
In truth, Liyue was never short of money.
It controlled Teyvat's Mora issuance.
Liyue decided how much to print.
And since Mora was an alchemy material, there was no inflation issue.
Much of modern technology required Mora as a catalyst.
Money and technology were tightly linked.
Mora remained valuable.
After reading all the reports, Takumi felt pleased.
Everything progressed smoothly.
He closed the terminal.
Then he headed toward the General Affairs Department.
He had slacked off long enough; as the boss, he had to show up sometimes.
Even though Nuwa could handle everything…
He still needed something to do.
Just as Takumi began searching for tasks—
In another world:
After Durandal and the others returned home, they immediately went to World Serpent.
To say Otto was irritated would be an understatement.
He had received reports about Durandal and Rita's disappearance days earlier.
Everything was beyond his predictions, making him furious.
He had gone to Theresa to question her, but his beloved granddaughter simply looked confused.
Theresa didn't know anything.
She hadn't even seen Durandal.
Otto nearly lost his mind with anger.
Kiana, the Herrscher of Reason, and that pink-haired troublemaker also disappeared together.
How could he not suspect something?
Disappear once, twice—there were clearly forces involved.
So he monitored Theresa heavily.
But she behaved normally.
Aside from worrying about Kiana, she spent her time reading manga and drinking bitter melon juice.
Sure enough, bitter melon juice was rotting her brain.
Just as Otto was reaching his limit—
News arrived that Durandal and Rita had reappeared.
And had gone directly to World Serpent.
Otto was stunned.
What happened?
What was going on?