[Yaoguang Shoal]
Taro sighed, rod in hand.
He couldn't help asking,
"Yingda, is today some kind of special holiday?"
"Holiday?"
Yingda blinked, resting her chin on both palms.
After a moment of thought, she shook her head decisively.
"Sensei, today's not a festival at all. It's the most ordinary day imaginable."
"Ahem."
Taro coughed once, eyes narrowing in mock warning.
"Better not say the wrong thing.
Say the wrong thing, and you'll regret it tonight."
She froze.
Then instantly slapped both hands over her mouth and shook her head hard.
She wasn't saying anything.
A happy nightlife was nice—
but too much happiness could kill a person.
If you overindulged, you'd really be begging for mercy.
And he would make sure she begged.
"Keep it up, and you'll find out," he said, half-smiling.
Taro leaned back slightly, eyes half-lidded.
"My hyacinth is about to bloom again."
"Hyacinth?" Yingda tilted her head. "What does that mean?"
"It means the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma is on her way."
His tone grew serious.
"You and Ogotchi go through the next batch of plans—recheck priorities.
There's going to be overlap soon.
If you're too busy, call the other two to help."
"Yes, Sensei."
The Pure Hydro Spirit flinched, voice trembling with barely hidden delight.
She and her companion had already mobilized every bit of power they still possessed.
Taro glanced at their busy silhouettes and sighed faintly.
"Rijiu, that girl… she sure knows how to sweet-talk people."
"Of course~"
Ogotchi grinned proudly, face full of self-satisfaction.
"Besides, I understood—Sensei needs me to make a trip!"
Taro's lips curved slightly.
"A trip, yes—but you're just as much a fool as Rijiu.
All play, no discipline."
"I'm not a kid!"
Ogotchi puffed her cheeks, clearly sulking.
"I'm helping! I'm literally running abroad for you!"
Meanwhile Yingda clung to Taro's arm, shaking it vigorously.
"Sensei, Sensei, are you leaving again?"
Taro responded quickly, decision made in an instant.
He lifted his gaze to the sky and spoke aloud,
"Fuzhu, your request—I've noted it.
Next, I'm heading to Yuehai Pavilion.
I'll need Cloud Retainer's help there."
Fuzhu's projection smiled knowingly and nodded.
"Understood. I see."
"Good. I have questions for Cloud Retainer anyway."
As soon as he finished, Fuzhu's manifested body of light faded,
its immortal energy dispersing like mist.
Next time they met, it would be to solve the matter once and for all.
With that settled, Ogotchi turned toward the nearby Pure Hydro Spirit.
"…"
The spirit shivered all over. "An adeptus… do you really mean what you said?"
"Of course I do! You have to believe me."
This assignment was a death sentence.
Once she returned to report, she'd never be allowed out again.
Not alive, at least.
The adepti of Liyue—terrifying beyond words.
Ogotchi nodded slightly. "After I brief Sensei, you're free to leave."
"Also, inform the rest of the Pure Hydro Spirits still in Liyue—
outsiders on this land must follow the rules.
Any who refuse… will become ruins."
"Got it! Got it!"
The Pure Hydro Spirit nodded so fast her whole body shook.
She was truly terrified.
Whether she actually delivered the warning through the water network or not—
well, that was no longer her concern.
She'd head straight back to Fontaine and be done with it.
Once that was finished,
Ogotchi looked toward Beryl and the round sparrow still arguing.
"Beryl, are you two done yet?"
Why argue over a title like "Wisdom Lord"?
Sensei couldn't care less.
But Beryl, as Sensei's blessed familiar—his chosen "seed"—
was determined to defend the title's exclusivity.
It was… understandable.
Just pointless.
"Not yet~"
"This little brat won't admit it!"
Beryl bent forward, glaring daggers at the round sparrow—
or more precisely, at the Little Grass Lord within it.
If not for the Sumeru god hidden inside that bird,
Beryl would've already drawn her staff
and "taught the lesson" personally.
Disobedient gods? Easy.
Just beat them.
So what if you're called the God of Wisdom?
You die like anyone else.
"…"
Nahida could only sigh.
Her body was still weak, her heart wounded.
But the one before her was pure chaos incarnate.
You tried reasoning with her?
She'd just cover her ears and sing,
"Not listening, not listening~"
And now she wanted Nahida to also call that man "Sensei."
Really?
To be fair, the title wasn't something Nahida clung to for ego's sake.
But she couldn't—mustn't—give up the divine name of the Great Lord Rukkhadevata.
She was the successor, not the original.
She couldn't deny her predecessor's authority,
nor had she any right to trade or bestow it casually.
Her insistence wasn't without reason.
Titles might seem small,
but for divine beings, they carried immense weight.
Among mortals, names and honorifics mattered only a little.
Among gods—they could shake the heavens.
Borrow the wrong name once,
and you could accidentally declare war on an equal.
Or worse, invite obliteration without realizing it.
Even Barbatos once borrowed Morax's name lightly.
After that incident—
save for that one unavoidable meeting in Khaenri'ah five hundred years ago—
he hadn't dared to approach Morax privately again.
If not for Taro mediating between them,
their friendship—and the Seven's alliance—would've shattered long ago.
Had anyone else tried that, without Taro's favor to soften the blow—
they'd simply have been erased.
One mistake, one divine name.
A lifetime gone.
(End of Chapter)
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