After all, Setaria in the story was a scholar and not that easy to fool. She was still calmly analyzing: the Scarlet King had been dead for over a thousand years—how could he possibly appear?
[Setaria: "Although rumors of the Scarlet King's revival have been spreading widely lately, those are all fake news deliberately spread by the Akademiya… How could the Scarlet King possibly still exist?"]
They got some information, but this information made the desert folk unusually angry.
The Scarlet King's revival was actually fake news spread by the Akademiya!?
Originally, seeing the Akademiya in such a rotten state made the desert people secretly happy—they loved watching you rainforest folks suffer.
Who would have thought, who would have thought that this boomerang would hit them so quickly.
Damn Akademiya, I'm done with you!
The desert people's anger began to build. They didn't yet know that the later content would make them feel even worse.
[The Traveler spoke bluntly: "How rude! I am the most loyal believer of Lord Scarlet King. Are you trying to deny the divine voice in my ear?"]
How bold! Are you questioning the great Lord Scarlet King?!
In fact, the Traveler's words didn't explain anything useful—it was simply answering a question with another question.
But it didn't matter. The "hat" was put on the other party first.
[Setaria hurriedly waved her hands: "No, no, no… I was just feeling honored as a desert dweller to learn that Lord Scarlet King's grace has already spread this far."]
See, Setaria was indeed flustered. As a desert dweller, she didn't dare wear this hat.
In this world, gods truly exist. Setaria didn't dare simply dismiss these words as some "mystic's" deception.
But Setaria didn't fully believe it either. She found an excuse and left. Setaria hadn't completely believed this divination, but she was shaken—she was panicked.
The seed of doubt had been planted in her heart, and time would make it sprout.
Setaria herself was actually looking forward to her own change in mindset, even hoping it would happen quickly, because in reality, she had already become Nahida's devout believer.
The current her was already shaped like Nahida. Looking at herself in the story felt like looking at a heretic—she needed to be thoroughly educated.
The other readers were naturally on Nahida's side, so everyone was also looking forward to Setaria's change in mindset.
Unlike ordinary people's focus, Dori was thinking: "When she left… did she pay?"
It seemed Setaria really didn't pay, but she had already gone to the second shop. The Traveler boldly possessed!
Setaria was chatting with Akin (the Traveler). As they talked, it came to Akin's father.
[Setaria: "Speaking of which… Dad is still in Port Ormos, right?"]
["If you get the chance, it's best to write him a letter and remind him. Lately, starting from Port Ormos, the faith in the Scarlet King is constantly spreading throughout Sumeru…"]
Setaria was actually a very good person. As a small figure swept up by the tide of the times, she didn't have much power and could only do her best to protect those around her.
Akin's father was a devout believer in the Dendro God. Setaria was afraid he might clash with the Scarlet King's followers.
Most of the Scarlet King believers in Port Ormos were radicals—it was best not to provoke them.
Note: Akin's father was a believer in the Dendro God, not the Dendro Archon or the Scarlet King. This could be said to be a rare existence in Sumeru.
Nilou and Dunyarzad immediately got interested. Take care of business—we must take care of business!
Wait, no—Akin's father was no longer in business. It seemed they should take care of Akin's business instead.
Akin hadn't expected that the progress of his "concrete" research would develop rapidly with Dunyarzad's financial help.
[Akin (Traveler) asked: "Oh? Then what about your stance? The Akademiya? Or the Scarlet King?"]
["Sigh, I'm really envious of you, being born a desert dweller."]
Hearing him say that, Setaria was stunned. What was going on? Why were so many people saying "Hail Hydra" to me?
Had the Scarlet King's influence already developed to this extent? Just how many Scarlet King believers were there in the rainforest?
Actually, seeing this sentence made the desert people quite speechless too. Rainforest people envying desert dwellers? What kind of upside-down joke was this?
[Akin (Traveler) continued: "Is it strange to believe in the wise Lord Scarlet King? If anything, the strange one is you yourself, with your wavering stance."]
This really put pressure on Setaria. She was rendered speechless by the retort. After self-reflecting with "It's me who has a wavering stance," she hurriedly left.
The pressure Setaria felt was increasing, which meant the plan was proceeding smoothly.
[Paimon: "Whoa, Traveler, I didn't know you had such talent."]
Indeed, it was almost too talented—it didn't look like acting. Suggestion: check her ancestors' three generations. Is she really a Scarlet King believer?
[Nahida said: "You've brought the problem right in front of her—very direct. Though Setaria is a bit pitiful…"]
Regarding Nahida's statement, one could only say she was truly too gentle.
As the victim, she still sympathized with the perpetrator. She always put herself in others' positions to think about problems—this was also why she had never been able to break through her psychological barrier.
If the Akademiya hadn't gone too far, this "young mother" would still indulge her children.
For Nahida, it was okay to hurt her, but not to hurt her people.
Fortunately, the real-life Nahida had already broken through this psychological barrier.
Back to the story: the third possession was Qishan. It had to be said that the Traveler had already gotten used to it. After possessing, she appeared very natural, without any "pupil earthquake" or head-shaking movements.
Perhaps because of the previous two encounters, this time Setaria came over and immediately asked Qishan if she had recently encountered any strange people preaching.
An old friend suddenly converting to the Scarlet King made Setaria think someone was preaching in Sumeru City.
If there really was such a person, they would be quite the figure—preaching the Scarlet King's teachings right in Sumeru City.
Given the near-hostile separation between rainforest and desert, this wasn't talent—what was it?
It was practically succeeding in promoting heretical culture right in the religious stronghold.
Qishan (Traveler) denied it, skipped this topic, and started chatting normally with Setaria. Then, the Traveler very naturally steered the conversation to an unusual place.
[Qishan (Traveler): "Oh, right, speaking of recent strange things… it's that I've gone through the 'Flower God's Birthday Festival' so many, many times."]
She was so natural that readers were starting to doubt: Traveler, this doesn't look like acting.
We asked you to imitate, not to surpass. How about toning it down a bit? Is this something you can say?
We never noticed before—Traveler really has acting talent.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice Lines · Furina: About Acting
"I wonder if the Traveler coming to Fontaine has any interest in entering the theater industry. She's truly a promising new star."