[Isak: "I-I'm Isak… You're going to help me find Grandpa, right?"]
This "prototype Nahida" has been eavesdropping from the side since earlier. Cyno, Alhaitham, Candace, and Dehya all noticed.
But I deliberately didn't mention one person—who do you think it is?
Correct—it's the Traveler. The Traveler's vigilance is sometimes high and sometimes low, and only she didn't notice.
This child is quite pitiful too—dependent on his grandfather for survival, but after his grandfather passed away, he became an orphan in the village.
By chance, there was a mad scholar who looked very much like his grandfather, but the mad scholar was crazy, so although Isak would secretly watch, he didn't dare approach.
Until one night, that mad scholar suddenly calmed down. "He" gently stroked Isak's head, sat with him in the desert gazing at the stars, taught him to recognize constellations, and coaxed him to sleep.
But after that day, the mad scholar seemed to forget who Isak was—only he wasn't as mad anymore.
Isak became brave enough to approach "Grandpa." He said, "Grandpa, shall I take you out to play? Talk to me again!"
Grandpa is gone, but the feelings remain.
This segment of the plot actually makes some people raised by elders quite upset, because everyone can relate.
Elders love them deeply—a very intense love—but elders also leave them sooner, leaving a sense of loss.
Everyone still remembers: when they were little, the elder would walk toward them with hands behind their back, then open their palms to reveal snacks or pocket money the child loved.
Things they themselves were reluctant to use—the boxes from buying candy would even be kept.
Yet they so naturally gave them to the children.
Everyone can understand Isak's feelings, because many want to say to their own elders, "Grandpa/Grandma, shall I take you out to play? Talk to me again!"
But when the child wants to provide care, the parent is no longer there. By the time these children grow up, most elders have already passed.
Not to mention others—right now, Hu Tao feels a bit upset. After reading the prophecy book for so long, she never expected to feel this distressed over this matter.
She doesn't know if the Traveler in the story is willing to help Isak, but if Hu Tao were there, she definitely would.
Though very subtle, Hu Tao is actually the type who can't let go of others—a warm little sun of the Pyro element.
And precisely because she can't let go, she dreads this kind of reluctance.
Amber, also Pyro, is the same. She not only can't let go of others, but was also raised by her grandfather.
Amber can understand searching for grandfather, and Isak's agitated rebuttal when "Grandpa" was called a mad scholar.
Like Hu Tao, if she were there, she would definitely help Isak.
The same story, the same feelings—but to Mona, it feels a bit subtle.
She felt some empathy while reading, after all, she was also raised by an "elder."
But just as the empathetic sadness rose and before she could fully feel upset, she noticed something wrong.
That old hag did teach her to recognize stars, but the problem is—that old hag isn't dying!
She was in the mood to feel sad for a moment, but thinking of her own old hag still looking so young, the sadness vanished.
She's been "outlasting the old lady" all this time, but thinking carefully, the old hag might not necessarily die before her—who sends off whom is still uncertain.
So Mona's budding empathy disappeared, and the sadness turned into something subtle.
If Mona shared her thoughts with Auron, he'd probably understand.
If she told Shenhe, it wouldn't work—though Shenhe was also raised by an "old hag," she clearly wouldn't overthink it.
Not talking about them—ordinary readers also spotted the issue from this. The mad scholar's sudden change when facing Isak probably wasn't recovering sanity, right? Was it the little Dendro God again?
Correct—the one who accompanied Isak that time was actually Nahida. She really is too gentle.
She kept Isak company and coaxed him to sleep.
Afterward, Nahida also soothed the mad scholar's mind, but she had no way to restore their reason—only let them immerse in beautiful dreams, calming their consciousness.
From this, one can see that Nahida's traces in the desert are actually more numerous than in the rainforest—this is mainly because the Akademiya's control over the desert is weaker.
The desert folk are truly stunned. They don't like the Dendro God, yet never imagined the Dendro God has always been protecting and accompanying them.
Originally, some desert people felt a bit of schadenfreude watching the Akademiya mess with the rainforest—now the more they think, the angrier they get.
If such a good god hadn't been imprisoned, how could the desert be like this?
Candace, who had just finished telling Isak's story from the side, expresses her final sentiment.
[Candace: "People living in the desert mostly have their own hardships. But even so, we must continue living."]
Now the desert and rainforest have begun exchanging what they have, but after lagging for so long, how can it be caught up in a short time? It's all the Grand Sage's fault!
[Cyno: "...Perhaps the people truly do have a good god."]
He guessed who was behind all this, which is why he said this with emotion.
After learning Isak's story, Cyno no longer opposes bringing him along.
As for the Traveler—she naturally wouldn't object. After all, she's been traveling with Paimon for so long—what's one more tag-along to fear?
The Traveler's friends all strongly approve of the Traveler's decision, because these "playable characters" are all gentle people.
Next, everyone will first gather some intelligence from the village.
Readers are very curious about the follow-up development. Currently, none of the story's three plot lines have been resolved—and now there's a fourth. How will it all develop in the end? Readers' curiosity grows ever stronger.
Then everyone turns the page—nothing. It just abruptly ends there.
"Aaaaaah! How can it cut off here!" Citlali lies on her hug pillow kicking her legs. After calming down, she lets go of the book, letting it cover her face.
Will Shikikan come to Natlan? I really hope he does—I have so many "words" I want to say to you.
Similarly impatient is Raiden Ei—she's anxious mainly because Makoto said she'd quiz her on some "truths" from the Sumeru story.
Ei originally wanted to gather some intelligence from this book to cheat, but unexpectedly not a single "truth" was written before it ended—all just foreshadowing!
So this isn't highlighted key points for me—this is the question bank prepared for the teacher, right?
In fact, if the truths were in Act Three, Makoto wouldn't have let Ei read the book first.
After all, Lucian's manuscript is sent to the Yae Publishing House for review first—Makoto already knew the content long ago.
Now Ei's done for—she'll have to undergo more extra training.
But it's fine. Ei has already decided: however much extra training she does, she'll make Lucian do the same amount later.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice Lines · Citlali: About Lucian
"Too slow! If I didn't live so long, I really don't know if I'd ever see the continuation of his story!"