Cyno accepts the commission, but Alhaitham speaks up to poke at him.
["Executing the exile orders seems to be the Matra's job, right? Feeling guilty, so after shedding the burden, you want to do something to atone? Your mindset is quite interesting."]
[Cyno: "...Sarcasm has no effect on me. If you have a problem, no matter your identity, I will deal with you."]
The two start arguing, but readers find it interesting—more of this would be great.
Both are the type who seem to know everything, cold geniuses with plenty of secrets in their hearts.
So now that they're bickering, it actually makes everyone find it amusing.
How to put it—suddenly these cold geniuses feel a bit more "human," more approachable.
Readers also notice that in the illustration, the two are finally standing together—before, they were always opposed or one standing and one sitting.
When standing together, readers realize: one has hair covering the left eye, the other the right—combined, it's a perfect match.
No wonder they're called "Cyno-Alhaitham."
In any case, everyone has taken on a task: find the village guardians.
Quite reasonable—if you want others' support, you have to help them first.
Cyno and the Traveler search together; the Traveler asks Cyno why the mad scholars are called village guardians?
Cyno actually knows the reason—it stems from an accident.
The mad scholars are exiles from the Akademiya, so naturally they aren't welcomed by the desert folk.
But strangely, as long as mad scholars stay in Aaru Village for a period of time, their minds gradually calm down and they stop being crazy.
At the same time, on a certain night, a severe earthquake struck Aaru Village—houses were about to collapse, people were about to be buried. It was a terrible disaster, especially for such a small village.
At that moment, a mad scholar placed his hands on the ground, and a faint green light emanated from his body.
No matter how intense the earthquake, under the protection of the light, not a single house collapsed, and there were no casualties.
It was because of this event that mad scholars came to be called village guardians.
The green light—readers immediately think of Nahida; when she stopped the Sumeru people at the Doctor's place, it was also a green light. Could this event be the little Dendro God too?
Correct—the one who actually protected the village at that time was Nahida.
[The Traveler also realizes this: "The one who truly protected the village was Lesser Lord Kusanali."]
This sentence stuns the desert people—the one who protected their village was the god of the rainforest?
How could that be? They don't believe in the Dendro God at all—in fact, they even wanted to overthrow the Dendro God!
They did think that way, but Nahida doesn't mind. In Nahida's eyes, everyone is her people.
Not just the desert and rainforest, but also those exiled "mad scholars."
In Nahida's view, the exile of mad scholars is also nonsense, so she has always been protecting them.
Why do mad scholars gradually calm down after arriving in Aaru Village?
Because there's no "Void" here—the mad scholars carry Void Terminals, but they aren't connected to the host, just like the Akademiya's leftover "GPS."
A Void Terminal with only "GPS" function won't deprive dreams, which means they will dream. In their dreams, Nahida soothes them, just like with Dunyarzad.
[Cyno, surprised: "Lesser Lord Kusanali... the current Dendro God, still active in Sumeru?"]
["I've never heard any stories about Lesser Lord Kusanali myself... She's like a 'non-existent god'."]
Seeing this sentence, the real Cyno falls silent—would the Dendro God be hurt by this?
She would—Nahida would be hurt, but she wouldn't blame others for the mistake; she would only blame herself for not doing enough.
The little white radish's expression looks slightly aggrieved.
[Paimon retorts: "Nahida isn't a 'non-existent god' at all! She's a... how to put it... kind, wise, just occasionally speaks a bit strangely—a 'good god'!"]
Nahida shows a smile, the previous hurt completely gone.
Paimon's praise really touches her—though she likes praising others, she herself has never received much praise.
What she faces is only belittlement and neglect, which makes Nahida somewhat self-deprecating.
So before, Lucian gave Nahida "talk therapy" every day by praising her, turning green grass into red flowers.
But no one minds having too many people who recognize them, so seeing Paimon's words, Nahida is still genuinely happy from the heart.
Even little Furina feels a bit envious—she's received plenty of flattery, but that flattery was toward her "false self." She also wants someone to praise her true self.
So far, the only one who has truly praised her is Lucian; others ultimately haven't understood her "inner self"—that will come later.
[Cyno, slightly silent: "...How could this be? So, the gods have always been by our side..."]
Cyno feels quite emotional right now—why? Because outside the Grand Bazaar people, he's one of the rare Dendro God believers.
Though he's deeply influenced by Akademiya thought, he's actually biased toward the Dendro God.
How to describe his sentence—it's full of a thick sense of melancholy.
A kind of "I sought him in the crowd a thousand times, suddenly turning back, there he is under the dim light."
In the dim light place, in the unnoticed corner, Nahida has always been working hard to protect her people.
Whether in the story or outside it, everyone's emotions at this moment feel somewhat melancholy.
Silently giving without reward, always neglected yet still striving as before—how can such an experience not make one feel wistful?
This is practically the stories of "Zigong Redeems the People" and "Zilu Receives an Ox."
Fortunately, the little Dendro God has been rescued; otherwise, this wistful feeling couldn't dissipate.
Similarly, whether in the story or outside it, no one has noticed one thing: why exactly do the mad scholars go mad?
Haypasia went mad because she contacted the Wanderer's will—what about the others? What did they contact?
Since it's not the will of the little Dendro God Nahida, what could it be?
Correct—in fact, the mad scholars succeeded too; they successfully connected to the World Tree, but what they contacted was the polluted part.
This has a bit of Cthulhu flavor: the existence of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata is indescribable, not to be gazed upon directly, not to be spoken of.
These people were just polluted by the forbidden knowledge on the World Tree upon contact, driven mad.
One has to say, whether it's Haypasia's "heart-and-soul" faith or an existence that drives one mad just by looking at it, both have a Cthulhu taste.
The Traveler is the most absurd—she contacted both, yet nothing happened to her. Thinking about it, if anything, she herself is an outer god.
Back to the story—at this point, Teyvat's number one cosplayer, Little Auspicious Scarlet King, makes her entrance.
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Character Voice Lines · Nahida: About Isak
"Why does Lucian say he's my stand-in? Am I similar to him?"