The people of Sumeru didn't find it strange at all; to them this was perfectly normal—when in doubt, consult the Akasha.
But foreigners who had been following the story all along frowned at this point. How did it feel like even Katheryne had begun to rely on the Akasha?
Everything in Sumeru depended on the Akasha, so the information retrieved was probably all more or less the same—no way to get anything more.
Now the Traveler was stumped. Who else could she ask? Should she go find Zhongli or Venti? Those two old fogeys might know something.
Ei was out of the question—though she was also ancient, she knew far too little. Better to ask the similarly few-hundred-years-old young shrine maiden; she might even have some understanding of a "peer."
Among peers there was also Furina. Logically speaking, these three were the same age—how was the developmental gap so massive?
Nahida and Furina combined couldn't match that fox Yae Miko.
The difference between them was like a Peashooter versus a Cob Cannon.
As expected of a woman named Yae Miko—she alone was worth eight shrine maidens. Nahida and Furina could, in a sense, also be considered "shrine maidens."
Ahem, no more cold jokes. Back to the topic.
Katheryne herself actually provided an explanation for why she had begun relying on the Akasha.
[Katheryne: "In Sumeru, the Adventurers' Guild is not considered the most well-informed organization. There are many large and small mercenary groups active here, known as the 'Gilded Brigade.'"]
So in Sumeru the Adventurers' Guild's work was being taken away—even city defense was handled by the "Eremites."
Their intelligence-gathering ability had declined, which was why Katheryne had also begun searching the Akasha instead of within the Guild itself.
The Adventurers' Guild had begun to miss its former omnipotent self.
Katheryne could only help the Traveler contact an advisor of the "Eremites" to see if he had any way.
Unfortunately, the Traveler went, but he was equally unable—introducing Kusanali was something even the "Eremites" could not do.
After searching for so long and still failing—one had to admit that when it came to introductions, Thoma was still the one.
I'm telling you, isn't Thoma's introduction efficiency high? Look how many people the Traveler asked and none could do it—Thoma handled it alone!
Still, this whole search highlighted how impressive the Traveler's network truly was—acquaintances everywhere; introductions led all the way to the chief advisor of "national defense."
If she pushed a little harder, the Grand Sage might wake up the next day to find the Traveler standing by his bed—introduced by someone else.
Unfortunately it was still useless. The "Gilded Brigade" fundamentally did not believe in gods; their understanding of Kusanali and the searchable information was even less than that of ordinary Sumeru citizens.
Clearly the chief advisor of city defense, yet the intelligence he could access was no more than an ordinary rainforest dweller's—this showed the Akademiya's monopoly on knowledge and discrimination against desert folk.
[Asfad: "Heh, let's talk about the Akademiya. They are the true rulers of Sumeru."]
["In their view, it was Greater Lord Rukkhadevata who created Sumeru and left behind the Akasha. Little Lord Kusanali merely happened to inherit it all."]
["As for the common people, under the Akademiya's influence they naturally know and adore Greater Lord Rukkhadevata more."]
["Moreover, Little Lord Kusanali never appears in public, and the Akademiya almost never releases news about her, so to the people of Sumeru she is merely a god who 'exists.'"]
Akademiya: Come back, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata—my proudest faith!
Nahida watched in silence. In fact, she herself had once questioned this: she was merely Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's successor—did she truly deserve it?
Carrying this self-doubt, she was even less able to resist.
Over five hundred years, Nahida had seen clearly all of Sumeru's problems, so after her release she implemented many policy changes.
Sumeru's issues ran deep; education had to be promoted to change the interest structure and enable subsequent reforms.
Yet Nahida had never put these ideas into practice before.
The authority of the God of Wisdom is dreams, but wisdom is the pursuit of knowledge! The pursuit of truth! Mere daydreaming could not give Nahida confidence—even if someone loved her, it wasn't enough. This gradually became a vicious cycle.
Never wishing to harm anyone, apologizing for everything—yet my inferiority outweighs all the love directed at me.
The excellence of her predecessor, the abandonment by her people—so Nahida was not imprisoned by humans; she was defeated by her own inferiority.
To explain the current situation, one must mention Zhongli's words: "There is truly little benefit in believing in a deceased god."
One could only say Zhongli's words continued to gain weight. It had already been demonstrated on Watatsumi Island in Inazuma—unexpectedly Sumeru took it to the next level.
Watatsumi Island believed in one deceased god; Sumeru was different—they believed in two, with rainforest and desert each worshipping a different deceased god.
No—rainforest folk no longer worshipped Greater Lord Rukkhadevata; they worshipped the Akasha.
The Akasha told them there was no need to know about Kusanali, and they would not grow curious.
It told them Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was great, and they adored her.
If one day the Akasha told them: "Actually the Scarlet King is your true god," they would believe it without doubt.
In theory, believing in the Akasha wasn't entirely bad, because the Akasha "does not lie."
But the problem was that those who controlled the Akasha would! The incompetence of those in power was the root cause of the Akademiya's control over Sumeru and the monopoly of knowledge over the lower classes.
Even in the rainforest, few Sumeru people truly received "education."
The lower-class Sumeru people were actually raised with "fool-the-people education." The Akasha was their "lord," "father," "god"—beyond question, beyond resistance.
This was also one reason for shutting down the Akasha: it had already "lorded over" the people of Sumeru. Whoever controlled it was dangerous.
Back to the story: the Traveler and Paimon wandered around Sumeru City, asking many passersby, and the answers were invariably the same.
"The Akasha thinks I don't need to know."
Just because of this reason, the people of Sumeru had no interest in Kusanali.
[Paimon: "Is there really not a single person in all of Sumeru City who is interested in Little Lord Kusanali?"]
Guess what? What a coincidence! Paimon's casual complaint was overheard by one of the few people in Sumeru who truly believed in Kusanali.
[???: "Oh? So you two are interested in Little Lord Kusanali?"]
Dunyarzad appeared—elegantly dressed, refined in appearance, graceful in manner. One could say she instantly won the favor of many.
The illustration was static, allowing everyone to appreciate it carefully and notice something unusual: bandages wrapped around her hands.
This was not good news, because in Sumeru those suffering from Eleazar would do this to hide the "scales" on their bodies.