Kael didn't care about a single word the bastard said.
He had never once thought about getting rid of it.
What he wanted was to die along with it—end this life simulation as quickly as possible.
Kaeya brought Lisa to Jean's office at breakneck speed.
On the way, he'd already briefed her on the situation.
The moment Lisa stepped inside and saw Kael, her eyes sharpened with suspicion.
"Before Kaeya came to me, I'd already investigated a nearby Hilichurl camp," she said.
"And I found something that matches what Kael described."
Lisa produced a handkerchief, carefully unfolding it to reveal a clump of fragments mixed with soil.
"This is residue from a dead Archon. I once read in the archives of the Sumeru Akademiya that when an Archon dies, the collapse of their energy is extremely difficult to deal with. The remnants will corrupt whatever they touch, and this soil shows traces of such erosion. It contains the resentment of a fallen god."
"These remnants corrode both body and mind. That should be why the Hilichurls went berserk."
"But according to the records, no Archon around Mondstadt left behind resentments like this. Which means this residue was deliberately brought here. Just as we feared—someone is plotting against Mondstadt."
"For now, we must focus on clearing away all the Archon residue in the surrounding areas. Otherwise, more Hilichurls will fall under its influence."
"And then… there's the problem of the residue attached to Kael."
"Normally, if the residue had been scattered across the land, Kael might've been affected a little. But it shouldn't have gone so far as to erode his will."
"Yet according to his own description, the Archon actually seized control of his body. That's complete corruption. Which means…" Lisa's eyes narrowed. "It means Kael possesses something this Archon desperately desires, something that strengthens it."
"There's no record of a human regaining consciousness once fully corrupted. Unless someone sealed the residue within him—but… I don't believe anyone could've performed such a seal in so short a time."
"So…"
Balls of crackling Electro light floated around Lisa as she raised her hand toward him, ready to attack.
"Are you really Kael right now?"
The weight of battle-hardened instinct hit Kaeya instantly. He drew the Sword from his waist and leveled the tip at Kael.
The room's atmosphere grew taut and suffocating.
Jean's eyes widened. "Kael…"
Faced with their killing intent, Kael didn't move. He stood still, trying to look harmless.
"I'm still me. I haven't been taken over. But… give it a little more time, and I don't know if that'll still be true."
Jean shoved past Kaeya without hesitation, rushing to his side. "Kael, what do you mean?"
"I don't know why I can suppress the Archon residue," he answered calmly. "But I can feel it constantly gnawing at my mind. I may not last much longer before it takes me completely."
He smiled faintly. "When that time comes… I want you to kill me without hesitation."
"No!"
Jean's composure shattered. Panic flickered across her face.
"No… you can't…"
Suddenly, she spun toward Lisa, her eyes burning.
"You said Archon residue can be sealed, right? Lisa—can you seal the one inside him?"
"I've read about it, but I don't have that ability. To perform such a seal, we'd need to take him to the Sumeru Akademiya…"
"Then we'll go to the Akademiya!" Jean said instantly, without a trace of doubt.
Kaeya watched her, his eyes narrowing in thought.
He had never seen Jean lose her composure before… no, that wasn't true. He'd seen it once before—when she learned Kael was in danger.
Could it be… did Jean care for him?
Kael pressed a hand to his temple. Her words gave him a headache.
If they shipped him off to the Akademiya, who knew how long this life simulation would drag on?
His plan was simple: use this as an opportunity to kill the bastard inside him, then end the simulation.
But now Lisa had tossed a wrench into it by proposing a solution.
After a moment of thought, Lisa said, "…Alright. I'll write to the Akademiya immediately. But first, I need to identify exactly which Archon's residue has attached itself to him."
---
Now that was awkward.
Kael remembered watching theory videos about Genshin Impact.
He knew every Archon in the game had a reference point—the seventy-two demons of Solomon.
Barbatos, Morax, Paimon, the Raiden Shogun… all of them corresponded to one of the seventy-two.
And judging by its behavior, Kael was absolutely certain the thing inside him was none other than the demon representing lust.
Lisa had just said it: he carried something the Archon desperately craved, something that empowered it.
But if everyone else found out it was lust incarnate… wouldn't that basically expose him as a walking bundle of perversion?
This was so damn unfair.
It was the simulated him who'd been consumed by desire for Jean—so why was he the one stuck facing this socially fatal mess?!
"Kael," Lisa pressed, "before you were possessed, what were you thinking about?"
Jaw tight, he forced the words out. "I… I was thinking that I had to get back to Mondstadt, to see someone."
Jean, standing beside him, pressed her lips together and lowered her eyes, hiding the faint blush on her cheeks.
Lisa's voice was cool, probing. "Oh? Someone you love?"
"...Yes."