At the end of the story, there's an illustration of Kaedehara Kazuha running through the forest, finally reaching the mountain's peak to gaze into the distance.
Beyond lies the sea, where the wind carries the ocean's air. Across the sea is freedom!
The birds in the sky and the fish in the sea all speak of freedom.
The sky is vast for birds to soar, the sea boundless for fish to leap!
[Kaedehara Kazuha: "The true mountain—the true heart of clarity and purity."]
["No self, no hatred, no thoughts, no desires."]
The wind blows, lifting the brim of Kazuha's hat. He presses it down, looking at the scene before him.
["Set forth on the journey, for I am the gentle breeze."]
Looking back at his homeland, Kazuha has found peace.
["Life has not yet ended—where is not home?"]
He is so open-minded, so open-minded that it's kind of dashing. Well, more than just kind of.
After reading this plot, Raiden Makoto shakes her head, blaming herself for her incompetence.
She places the fault on herself, regretting that she left an immature Ei behind.
Kazuha is open-minded, but sister, how are you so open-minded too!?
I really need to teach Ei more!
To avoid disturbing others reading, Makoto whispers to Ei, "Extra lessons when we get home."
This is her gentle way of speaking, but in other words, it's "I'll deal with you when we're home!"
Ei knows her mistakes and nods obediently.
Honestly, for Ei, she'd rather have her sister hit her with a slipper—it wouldn't hurt anyway.
What gives her a headache is all the administrative lessons.
Leaving the sisters aside, ordinary readers are deeply moved by Kazuha—not because his story is particularly tragic, but because of his attitude and mindset.
Dashing is a feeling, and right now, everyone is touched by that feeling.
Taking the blame for his father, embarking on a journey alone—despite so many regrets along the way, he still holds such an open-minded perspective after all he's been through.
Life has not yet ended—where is not home?
He's just too cool! Those who already liked Kazuha can't help but squeal and fidget after reading this.
Arataki Itto: "Kazuha bro is so suave! I really hope he'd join the Arataki Gang!"
"Come on, boss. The Arataki Gang is free, but he's into the freedom of wandering the world, where every place is home," Kuki Shinobu laughs.
As someone who loves freedom, she admires Kazuha too, though their versions of freedom aren't quite the same.
Kuki Shinobu seeks the freedom to choose her life's path, while Kazuha's is an unrestrained, boundless freedom.
Shinobu has ties that bind her—perhaps that's why she's not Anemo.
Anemo characters are often those with bonds they can't face or have already lost for various reasons.
Beidou finishes reading and bursts into hearty laughter, rushing over to slap Kazuha's shoulder repeatedly, making him sway.
These words are so to her taste.
Kazuha gives a wry smile, his voice trembling from the slaps: "Beidou… big sister, I… can't read like this."
"Exactly, Beidou, why are you causing trouble at the youngsters' table?" Ningguang says.
She beckons, "Come over and keep me company. They'll feel uneasy with you there, won't they?"
Truthfully, no one minds Beidou sitting with them, but Ningguang does. Their table is already small, and everyone's so reserved.
Beidou didn't plan to stay at Kazuha's table anyway—there's no drinking here, which is way too boring for her.
She waves with a grin: "Oh, right, right! There's Xinyan's story coming up—I gotta check it out!"
With that, she leaves, as if she came just to give Kazuha a few pats. Beidou's execution is just too strong.
In fact, Kazuha reads faster and is already on Xinyan's story.
Kazuha is open-minded, and Xinyan is much the same. This island arc will delve into everyone's life experiences, with Xinyan's story up next.
But before heading to Xinyan's island, the group in the story needs a moment to rest.
In the book, Fischl seems to be in low spirits, something both Xinyan and Mona notice.
Since Mona and Fischl are close, she takes it upon herself to comfort Fischl, while the others analyze their recent experiences.
Kazuha says everything they just went through feels like it was built from "Kaedehara Kazuha's" life, like a dream.
And this dream even fulfilled his wish to complete the "bonsai"—that seems like a good thing, right?
Fulfilling wishes in a dream sounds like a beautiful dream, doesn't it? But why is this dream happening? Can it read minds, and what's its purpose?
The Traveler and Paimon are worried something's wrong and try to secretly contact Venti, but they can't get through—the call goes unanswered.
Readers figure, with the Anemo Archon's personality, he's probably drunk. But on second thought, that doesn't add up.
That old guy can drink a thousand cups without getting tipsy—how could he be drunk? He could drain a lake of fruit wine and still be fine!
If that's the case, the reason for not answering the phone becomes intriguing.
At this point, Nahida can only think, "Don't see me, don't see me."
Piecing things together, ordinary people lack the information to know Nahida's abilities, but Nahida has already figured it out.
This could be said to be a story sparked by her.
In the story, before the Traveler can analyze why Venti isn't answering, Mona interrupts, cutting off the Traveler's already underused brain.
Mona has just finished comforting Fischl, who seems melancholic and uneasy due to today's events. She appears to fear seeing her own dream.
But that doesn't make sense—she should be the one most excited about it, right?
Is she worried about her "falsehood" being exposed?
Probably not. Given Fischl's personality, she wouldn't be ashamed of her chuunibyou.
Perhaps she just doesn't want to admit that her fantasy world is fake?
If a false dream is laid bare before everyone, and they all know it's just her dream—and learn about her past—it might force her to acknowledge that falsehood.
In the story, Fischl worries about certain issues, and in reality, she has some concerns too.
But she's not worried about her chuunibyou being exposed—Lucian's already laid that bare to an embarrassing degree…
Thankfully, Lucian didn't go full-on and say, "Fischl is just chuunibyou, the Evernight Sanctum is all fake," or little Amy would be depressed, crying for all to see.
Right now, little Amy is less worried about "exposure" and actually quite curious to see her own dream in the future story. Is it really the Evernight Sanctum?
Back to the story: besides comforting Fischl, Mona also conducted a divination.
This time, she still couldn't see the situation clearly but noticed some clues.
She discovered an unknown power on this island—she could sense its presence but couldn't pinpoint its source.
What could it be? So hard to guess.