Grandma isn't very calm—perhaps because the missing person is from the same "grandpa/grandma" generation as her.
But on the Sumeru side, Cyno and Alhaitham are relatively calm. Instead, Kaveh, who hasn't appeared in the story, is quite agitated.
"What happens next? What happens after? Was Isak's grandpa saved?"
"What about Lady Nahida? Is she okay?"
"The Doctor and the Wanderer should be able to handle it, right?"
"When are they going to judge the Grand Sage?"
"Whether Alhaitham gets judged or not doesn't matter."
Kaveh's string of questions is directed at Alhaitham, Cyno, and Tighnari.
Collei is there too, but Collei herself doesn't quite understand, let alone help explain.
This time, Kaveh asked about all the plot lines in the story—Collei perks up her ears to eavesdrop.
Nahida, who loves answering questions the most, isn't here because she's still working overtime—the supercomputer hasn't shut down yet.
But Nahida can still read the book; after all, she's a supercomputer—multithreading is just a sprinkle.
Only now, the person answering questions has to change.
"They'll be saved." Cyno answers.
He doesn't specify who, because both will be saved.
This answer also covers the questions about the Doctor, the Wanderer, and the Grand Sage—because saving Nahida inevitably involves these people.
As for Alhaitham? Kaveh is right—it doesn't matter.
Collei breathes a sigh of relief. Though she's a bit afraid of Cyno, she still trusts him a lot.
Speaking of which, Lucian's cliffhanger this time is really frustrating—it's like splitting the story in half.
For Lucian's sudden chapter break, most people are left wanting more.
This act's story is full of foreshadowing—burying a bunch of hidden lines without resolving any.
This really has everyone scratching their hearts and livers in anxiety—what happens next? How will these lines connect? I really want to know!
In Sumeru, the most dangerous thing is the desire for knowledge—and coincidentally, Lucian is in Sumeru.
Enthusiastic Sumeru people occasionally visit Lucian's home. Though they don't go in, they hold signs protesting outside.
This makes Lucian hide in the Palace of Alcazarzaray for the foreseeable future—he can't even go home.
Regarding Lucian living in the Palace of Alcazarzaray, both Nahida and Alhaitham support it—isn't this equivalent to living at the company?
Overtime! Hard overtime!
Lucian himself doesn't mind the overtime—work is whatever.
But Mona minds a bit, because all of Lucian's work is being done by her.
Originally, after coming to Sumeru, she was staying at Lucian's house—now she can only stay with him in the Palace of Alcazarzaray.
Naturally, the work Lucian needs to handle falls onto his "portable maid."
Even more absurd: Nahida pays Lucian a salary, but Lucian doesn't pass the salary to Mona—so Mona protests.
But Mona's protest is just a sprinkle—Lucian casually fools her a couple times and she becomes obedient—not only obedient, but even more motivated.
Fooling Mona can only be said to be a skill honed through practice—for Lucian, his Mona-fooling skill points are already at grandmaster level, enough to even found a sect and pass on experience.
What gives Lucian a headache are those protesting Sumeru people—they really want to see the continuation, and there are many of them, making fooling them troublesome.
Most importantly, these people truly have no malice—just holding signs "protesting." Lucian has no way to deal with them.
Originally, according to Lucian's plan, after finishing Act Three, he wanted to intersperse some other stories.
Then casually go to Mondstadt for the Windblume Festival to rest a few days, play with friends in Mondstadt.
Then return to Liyue to check on the hall master, go to Inazuma to see how his master is doing with extra training, and update later wouldn't be too late.
But he can't withstand the people's "enthusiasm"—if he announces a few days hiatus now to go festival in Mondstadt, it might not just be Sumeru people "protesting."
Lucian sighs—fine, only writing the main story gets everyone urging updates so urgently. Endure it and it'll pass.
Other stories are almost always told in one go, so no one urges updates.
Besides the main line, only the previous Aranyaka was updated in parts, but the break point was relatively harmonious—everyone wasn't that urgent.
But this main line is different—it broke at the most critical place, right where all the foreshadowing is about to explode.
In the previous act, everyone wasn't this anxious because even pulled out alone, it felt complete—readers could feel the story "reaching a segment end."
Act Three is different—full of foreshadowing without resolution, even a newly introduced line hasn't started yet ends.
This way, readers are truly impatient, howling to be fed.
So Lucian doesn't hide it anymore—Act Four is released directly.
Anyway, besides Act Five being troublesome for animation, Lucian finished writing the first four acts long ago.
With Lucian's permission, Yae Publishing House, Steambird, and Wanwenji begin selling the new book.
They had printed it long ago—after all, prophecy books don't worry about warehouse backlog—just waiting for Lucian's go-ahead.
"Act Four · King Deshret and the Three Magi"
As soon as the book goes on sale, Sumeru people calm down, rushing to buy it after work and go home.
But when everyone sees the book title, their first reaction is: how exactly to parse this phrase?
Is it three pilgrimages/to the saints, or three/pilgrims? These are two different meanings.
Anyway, no matter which meaning, readers never thought it would refer to the protagonist group.
The reason is simple—the protagonist group has more than three people! Even excluding Lumine, there are still four—how could it be three magi? Was someone bullied?
Now we don't know who the title refers to, but after reading, we'll know—start reading!
On the other side, the protesting crowd at Lucian's house disappears—his home becomes much quieter.
Quiet won't do! Lucian still prefers lively—so he "summons the immortals" to gather at home for reading!
At this moment, Lucian's home is truly filled with immortals in rows—everyone gathers again to read.
Act Four's story picks up right where it left off—starting with helping Isak find grandpa.
Cyno and the Traveler gather intelligence in the village together, but don't collect any useful information.
The only thing that catches the smart people's attention is a "testimony" from a person named Shani.
She says she usually sleeps very early, so she basically doesn't see anything at night—this in itself is normal.
But her second sentence mentions the mad scholar protecting the village, saying she saw it clearly.
Ordinary readers don't remember too much information, but smart readers do.
They remember that disaster seemed to happen at night, right? Didn't Shani say she sleeps early at night and knows nothing?
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice Lines · Mona: About Lucian's Fooling
"What fooling? What he says must be true! I just haven't understood it yet—shh, I definitely can understand it."