In-game.
A bearded scholar suddenly stepped forward, straightening his chest as he stared eagerly at Elric.
"Senior Elric, couldn't you share a bit of the 'Elric Scholarship' that Ritamvati Academy set up with us?"
The other scholars also looked at Elric with blazing eyes, as if they were staring at piles of glittering Mora.
"Uh… Senior Elric?"
When Paimon heard how the scholars were addressing him, something immediately felt off in her gut.
She exchanged a glance with the retreating Lumine, and both of their expressions turned subtly strange.
Uh… this didn't seem quite the same as what they'd imagined.
"Subsidy, subsidy, subsidy—what am I supposed to subsidize you with?! My head's about to explode!"
Elric's face flushed red as he glared at the scholars in front of him, furious and exasperated.
"There's no scholarship at all! It was just a joke Faruzan made! If there really were a subsidy, wouldn't I rather take my junior to go watch Nilou dance than give it to you lot?!"
He was half tempted to grab his sword and go hunt Faruzan down for a good beating.
There were even scholars from other Darshans mixed in here. That damned Faruzan had really been spreading rumors everywhere!
This was going to ruin her reputation as a senior.
"Subsidy, subsidy—every time it's subsidy! Stop bothering me!"
Elric glared, his tone sharp.
"Bros, instead of wasting time pestering me, you'd be better off worrying about why you graduated from the Akademiya as postgraduates and still can't even make two hundred thousand Mora a month!"
"Why should I subsidize you? Real postgrads wouldn't even come asking me for this—they'd be too busy doing research!"
Seizing the initiative, Elric shut them down one by one until their faces turned red and they couldn't even bring themselves to look at him.
They all knew very well how capable Senior Elric was. Faced with his blunt assessment, the scholars lowered their heads in shame.
"S-Senior Brother is right. Ritamvati Academy never opened any new scholarship in the first place."
Layla hurried to speak up for Elric. She really didn't want to run anymore.
Normally, even climbing a flight of stairs exhausted her. Today, she'd already sprinted through several streets.
She was practically about to collapse.
Thinking of that, Layla couldn't help shooting Elric a resentful little glare.
I-It's all Senior Brother's fault…
"Senior, even if our talent is limited, we really have been working hard."
The moment those words were spoken, the scholars panicked. Their research funding was slipping away right before their eyes.
There was shame in his eyes—but even more obsession with funding.
"Hard work? If hard work was enough, what would you need geniuses for?"
Elric scoffed disdainfully.
Hands on his hips, he declared with maximum swagger, "Your so-called effort is nothing more than barely reaching the threshold of my doorway."
"But we really need this research funding…"
"Senior Faruzan said it herself, Senior Elric. Please stop lying to us…"
"Senior Elric, please, just give me a little—just a little! I'm this close to finishing my research!"
"What child doesn't cry every day? What research doesn't fail every day? Just this once, Senior Elric—this is really the last time!"
They pleaded desperately, like people clinging to a lifeline, inching closer and closer to Elric.
"Uh… Lumine, why do I feel like they're the villains now?"
Sensing the situation going sideways, Paimon leaned over and whispered into Lumine's ear.
"I get that feeling too. These scholars are kind of scary. Should we knock them out?"
As she spoke, Lumine mimed a chopping motion. The two exchanged a look.
Just as Lumine was about to move, Layla's next sentence stopped her cold.
"Senior Brother… when did you suddenly get a Vision? I remember you didn't have one before."
Only now did Layla notice the Vision hanging at Elric's waist. She couldn't help asking in confusion.
"I heard that a Vision appears when someone's wish becomes so intense that it draws the gaze of the gods… Could it be that Senior Brother was wronged so badly that it turned into an obsession, and that's why you received a Vision?"
Even Layla didn't quite believe what she was saying.
She had never seen anyone obtain a Vision in a way like this.
In theory, it might be possible—but in practice, it had never happened before.
Just how wronged would someone have to be? Snow falling in midsummer levels of injustice?
Well, this kind of thing was probably better left to Haravatat to study.
No—wait. Wouldn't this fall under Spantamad instead?
"What?! There's actually a way to obtain a Vision like this?!"
"Junior, write this down, quick! Don't let the other Darshans get ahead of us!"
"Perfect! I'm researching whether ordinary people can punch a cow to death under extreme emotional stress. With Senior Elric as a case study, my graduation thesis is finally saved!"
Layla's words caused an uproar in the crowd.
The scholars' faces were filled with disbelief. It was as if they'd discovered a priceless treasure—so excited they were trembling all over.
This was unprecedented. Even if it couldn't overturn Sumeru's academic world, it was more than enough to publish new papers.
Even those whose research didn't align could still churn out a paper to farm credits.
After all, university students would do anything for credits.
They hurriedly pulled out notebooks and began recording everything, afraid to miss a single detail.
Their obsession with subsidies vanished completely.
As expected of Layla.
Elric silently gave her a thumbs-up in his heart. Truly worthy of being a representative of Rtawahist.
She always managed to play an unexpected role at critical moments.
"Hahahaha—damn."
A Yueyue was genuinely cracking up over this plot.
It was the first time he'd ever seen a character with full illustrations actually obtain a Vision within the story.
And in such an outrageous way, no less.
This character had to be a four-star, right?
He looked exactly like the kind of meme character HoYo would release for fun. Characters like this usually didn't get high rarity.
[Waaah, poor Elric. He actually got wronged into awakening a Vision by Demon King Lumine.]
[Curse that blondie!]
[Didn't expect him to be Cryo… well, when you think about it, that's not unacceptable.]
[Wow, he's so handsome! Those charming starry eyes are the same color as my wife Hu Tao's!]
[Wife! Wife!]
"Uh, uh—don't turn this into a barbershop."
A Yueyue wiped sweat from his forehead and complained, "Too bad we can't see his skills or confirm his rarity."
Even he was genuinely curious about this suddenly introduced character.
[No more talk—see you at the banner. Full constellations incoming.]
[Even if he heals enemies, I'm still pulling!]
[Even if I have to burn Primogems, I'm pulling!]
...
"Thank you, Senior Elric!"
"Senior Elric, I finally understand what you meant. I've heard Liyue has an old saying: 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.' You must've wanted us to understand that, right?"
"Senior Elric, my graduation thesis is saved! Please don't die before I graduate!"
Just moments ago, they'd looked ready to strip Elric for Mora when they heard there was no subsidy.
Now they treated him like their own parents, terrified he might suddenly drop dead.
Drop dead, my ass…
Elric now had to shake hands, take photos, and even let them do close-ups of his Vision.
On the surface, he smiled politely. Inside, he was cursing nonstop.
His smile was about to freeze. Did these people ever stop?
Believe it or not, one sentence from me could turn all of this into a joke.
Just like one sentence from Il Dottore once turned Rtawahist's entire "starry sky" research into a laughingstock.
Especially when one scholar, before leaving, excitedly shouted at Elric,
"Senior Elric, I knew the appearance of a Vision affects the human body! Your eyes have even changed color! So, uh… would it be possible to—"
"Get the hell out!"
Elric completely snapped and kicked him flying.
He knew it—this idiot definitely wanted to pluck out his eyeballs for research.
Did they really think he had no temper?
But… his eyes had actually changed color?
Subconsciously, Elric reached up and touched his eyes, curiosity rising in his heart.
What did they look like now? Don't tell me they'd turned into Sharingan.
No—Evil Eye of the Wicked King is the strongest!
Whatever. On the bright side, he was even more anime now.
"Senior Elric, you must take good care of yourself."
"Please don't die."
"Why don't you come back to Sumeru City with us? It's safer there."
One by one, the scholars voiced their concern, their eyes filled with worry, as if Elric might meet an untimely end at any moment.
If an outsider saw this scene, they might even be moved by the sincerity of their camaraderie.
"Die my ass. Get lost, all of you."
Elric finally couldn't take it anymore. Cryo energy gathered in his hand, condensing into a thick, massive ice arrow, ready to fire at any second.
Seeing that, they didn't even bother with emotional farewells. Legs pumping, they bolted.
They'd all witnessed Elric's fight with Lumine earlier.
If that ice arrow hit them, they probably wouldn't be getting out of bed for days.
Once the surrounding scholars finally scattered, Lumine and Paimon exchanged a look, their eyes filled with helplessness and guilt.
They took a deep breath, as if bracing themselves for something重大, and walked resolutely up to Elric and Layla.
They bent at the waist and bowed a full forty-five degrees.
"WE'RE SORRY!!!"
They both knew they'd caused serious trouble.
Wronging someone so badly that they awakened a Vision—how much injustice did that take?
In all of Lumine's years of traveling, she'd never heard of anything this absurd.
Truly, traveling ten thousand miles teaches more than reading ten thousand books.
Lumine sighed inwardly.
"An apology should at least show some—cough—never mind, never mind. It's fine. It's really not that big a deal. You could even say I turned misfortune into a blessing."
The words slipped out of Elric's mouth before he realized how inappropriate they sounded. He hurriedly corrected himself.
A perfectly timed smile appeared on his face.
Hm. Maybe he could use Lumine's guilt to his advantage and get a few things done.
Big things would be difficult—but using this as an excuse to have Lumine act as his temporary bodyguard while escorting him back to Fontaine?
That was totally doable.
After all, Lumine was heading to Fontaine anyway. She definitely wouldn't refuse.
He could already imagine the look on Furina's face when he showed up with Lumine.
Three parts mockery, four parts indifference, five parts casual disdain?
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