The sound of Furina's crying in the Fountain of Lucine left Kael feeling restless.
He suspected he was hallucinating.
But, given his current strength, Kael felt such a suspicion was an insult to himself.
The authenticity of the voice was one hundred percent real.
There was no time to think.
Kael rushed toward Furina's residence.
"Lord Pope..."
"Lord Pope..."
"Lady Furina, she..."
The maid beside Furina tried to stop the frantic Kael.
Unfortunately, hindered by his status and his aggressive demeanor, she failed.
The maid could only follow behind Kael, constantly trying to advise him.
Bang!
Kael pushed open the door to Furina's home with a single palm.
However, as soon as he entered, a beautiful figure came into view.
The moment their eyes met, Kael froze on the spot.
At this moment, Furina, wearing only a bathrobe, had a blushing face, her eyes flashing with countless moments of confusion.
"Eh?"
"Eh!"
"Wait a minute, you, you, you..."
"What is wrong with you?"
Furina instinctively wrapped her bathrobe tighter.
Her attention immediately shifted to the maid who followed Kael inside.
"Didn't I tell you I was taking a bath?"
"Why... why did you let him in..."
"I'm sorry, Lady Furina, the Lord Pope, he..."
'It's not my fault! The Pope looked so furious, how would I dare stop him?'
Kael rubbed his nose awkwardly.
"Is the Hydro Archon alright?" he asked.
Furina: "Huh?"
"Nothing... nothing is wrong..."
Furina looked at Kael suspiciously.
Her eyes flickered away.
'This guy is in such a hurry. Could it be he's here to hold me accountable for the problem with the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale today?'
"Are you sure?"
Kael's sudden serious look scared Furina, making her step back repeatedly until she accidentally sat on the sofa.
"Of... of course..."
The air in the room suddenly turned quiet.
After learning that Furina was fine, Kael did not say anything more.
After a long while, Furina was the first to speak, offering a tentative smile. "Um, how about you head out first?"
"If you have something to discuss, you have to wait for me to get dressed."
"Don't forget, I am the Hydro Archon, and you are the Pope."
"We are both prominent figures in Fontaine."
"If word gets out that I stayed in a room with you for too long while wearing a bathrobe, it will cause the citizens to have wild ideas. Don't you think..."
"Right?"
Kael: "..."
Hearing this, his expression darkened.
He could not help but grumble in his heart.
'You are wrapped in that bathrobe more tightly than your usual clothes.'
'What kind of bad rumors could even start?'
'Usually, you wear shorts and show off those fair legs, but this bathrobe is wrapped almost to the floor. I really don't know what is going on in your head.'
Furina: "..."
Furina: "Hey, that is not right! What do you mean by 'wrapped tightly so no rumors will start'?"
Lisa: "Mmm, Mr. Kael is indeed being a bit arbitrary."
八重神子: "I actually think Kael has a point. If the citizens really had bad thoughts, they would have spread long ago."
Paimon: "Why do I feel like Furina looks expectant, as if she really hopes the people of Fontaine misunderstand the relationship between them?"
Furina: "Hey, don't talk nonsense! I don't!"
"Since the Hydro Archon is fine, I will take my leave."
Kael replied flatly.
Without waiting for Furina to say anything else, he left the room.
Furina was left looking dazed.
"What just happened?"
"Did I ask for him?"
"I didn't ask for him, did I?"
"Could it be that Kael thought I was nervous and scared because of the Fatui Harbinger's trouble and the issue with the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale?"
"He was worried about me, so he rushed over to see me?"
Thinking of this, the corners of Furina's mouth curled up unconsciously.
"Oh my, this is really..."
Returning to her bed, Furina remained inexplicably excited.
She rolled back and forth on the bed.
"I thought he was here to scold me, but I never expected, I really never expected..."
Paimon: "See? I was right! Furina is secretly looking forward to a forbidden relationship between the Hydro Archon and the Pope."
Furina: "..."
Furina: "What on earth is a 'forbidden relationship'? Do you even know how to talk?"
Lisa: "An excited Hydro Archon is also very cute."
Jean: "She looks completely like a maiden in the sweetness of her first love."
Walking out of the Palais Mermonia.
Kael's mood improved significantly.
He also mocked himself inwardly.
'Could Aivelson have been right recently?'
'I'm actually starting to hear things.'
He recalled the way he had just met with Furina.
She was still as silly as ever, showing no difference from before.
Undoubtedly, Furina was perfectly fine, full of energy, and remained as carefree as always.
Unfortunately, Kael still hadn't figured out why Primordial Seawater only affected Fontainians.
Fortress of Meropide.
Wails of agony echoed continuously from a certain room.
"What is going on, Wriothesley?"
"How did Vacher end up like this?"
Clorinde looked at Wriothesley, as if questioning whether he had done something excessive to Vacher.
"Hey, I'm not that bored."
"He's just the culprit behind the Serial Disappearances of Young Women. Even if his crimes are heinous, I wouldn't do anything excessive to someone like him."
"He became like this right after he was brought here."
"I heard that after he went to the Fountain of Lucine with the Traveler, his mental state became abnormal," Wriothesley said, spreading his hands.
He looked completely detached from the situation.
"He went to the Fountain of Lucine too?"
A familiar voice sounded from behind them.
Clorinde and Wriothesley turned immediately. The moment they saw Kael, they both bowed in greeting. "Lord Pope..."
"What brings you here?"
"I intend to meet that Harbinger named Tartaglia. I want to ask him about his purpose for coming to Fontaine."
After Kael finished speaking, he pointed toward the room where Vacher was held.
He seemed to be asking Wriothesley and Clorinde the same question he had just posed.
"Yes."
"After this Vacher was arrested, he insisted on seeing the Traveler and Navia."
"It seemed he was asking the Traveler how they found out about the name Vacher."
"Later, at his strong request, our men took him and the Traveler to the Fountain of Lucine. Afterward, he seemed to have gone mad."
Wriothesley explained, then added a clarification, "I didn't use any extrajudicial punishment on him."
"I see. Open the door. I happen to have some business with him as well."
"Lord Pope, you're looking for Vacher?" Clorinde and Wriothesley exchanged glances.
What business could the Pope have with Vacher?
Besides, the man's mental state was currently unstable.
"No, Lord Pope, it's too dangerous," Clorinde immediately tried to stop him.
"If there's something you need to ask him, I can go in and ask on your behalf."
"Uh..." Kael looked troubled.
After all, he wanted to retrieve Vacher's research results. Such a matter absolutely could not be known by outsiders.
"It's fine. He can't hurt me."
Kael finished speaking and was about to step forward when Clorinde blocked him again.
"At least let me stay by your side. In case that man does something dangerous, I..."
But before Clorinde could finish, Kael's gentle palm rested on her shoulder.
"I understand your concern. Don't worry, it'll be fine."
Seeing Clorinde's face turn a shade of crimson, Wriothesley immediately shifted his gaze elsewhere.
Once Kael entered Vacher's cell.
Wriothesley finally chuckled. "Heh, is the Champion Duelist so powerful now that she can handle dangers the Pope himself cannot?"
Clorinde's body trembled slightly. She widened her eyes and glared at Wriothesley. "Mind your own business. Just take care of yourself."
Inside the cell.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"Vigneul, everything I did was only because I wanted to find a way to bring you back."
"I didn't want to kill them, I really didn't..."
Vacher was crouched in the corner of the wall, clutching his head and weeping bitterly.
Judging by the way his body shook, he had indeed experienced something terrifying.
"Vacher?"
Kael called out softly.
However, Vacher gave no reaction, as if he couldn't see him at all.
"Has his mental state completely collapsed?"
"At this rate, he probably won't live much longer."
Kael looked at the shivering Vacher with an expressionless face.
"Fortunately, I arrived a step ahead."
He walked toward Vacher.
Even as he reached Vacher's side, the man continued to mutter Vigneul's name.
He hadn't noticed Kael's presence at all.
Kael ignored Vacher's state and reached out, placing his hand on Vacher's head.
In an instant.
All of Vacher's memories flooded into Kael's mind.
The man's meeting with Vigneul, their shared adventures.
All sorts of memories began to pour into Kael's consciousness.
Then came Vigneul's disappearance, the broken Vacher starting the Sinthe business, and finally, the beginning of the experiments.
The wretched state of the missing girls made Kael's brow furrow slightly.
[Every single one of Vacher's experimental records was etched into Kael's mind. Unfortunately, not a single one was useful.]
[Suddenly, the appearance of an Oceanid startled Kael.]
["Is this the last image Vacher saw?"]
[Strange.]
[Why would it be an Oceanid?]
["We, the victims, have had our consciousnesses return to the Primordial Sea as our physical bodies dissolved."]
["Our consciousnesses flowed and scattered within the Primordial Sea, eventually merging together like a stream of water."]
["The real Vigneul's consciousness does not want to see you. She knows that if you come here, we will never let you go."]
["Vacher!"]
["Vacher!"]
["Vacher!"]
["..."]
[The silhouettes of the girls who had disappeared began to appear before Vacher one after another.]
[Pairs of terrifying eyes stared fixedly at Vacher, as if wanting to devour him alive.]
["Vacher!"]
["Go to hell..."]
[Thud!]
[Vacher collapsed heavily onto the ground.]
[Kael's expression remained indifferent.]
['A mental breakdown. Scared to death?']
[Kael silently closed his eyes.]
[If he had stopped Vacher earlier, perhaps those girls...]
[But soon, Kael's gaze turned firm once more.]
[The final scene Vacher witnessed was a significant breakthrough.]
[The consciousnesses of the girls dissolved by the Primordial Seawater had actually merged into an Oceanid.]
[This was different from Kael's understanding of death.]
[Unless the consciousnesses of these girls were stripped away and deliberately fused beforehand, much like the experiments of Jakob and René.]
[However, there was a massive difference between the two. The consciousnesses of these girls...]
["Returning to the Primordial Sea?"]
[Kael was momentarily stunned.]
['Why did the consciousnesses of these girls all return to the Primordial Sea to form an Oceanid after their deaths...']
[He murmured to himself for a moment.]
[Kael's expression suddenly shifted drastically.]
"It seems he has already guessed it."
Neuvillette let out a sigh.
After working so hard for so long, to finally discover that he was powerless to change anything.
That feeling must be one of utter despair.
Tartaglia: "Uh, what did Mr. Kael do? He..."
Paimon: "It looks like he retrieved all of Vacher's past memories. He wanted to recover the experimental results to find a way to stop the people of Fontaine from being dissolved."
Arataki Itto: "Retrieving memories? What kind of terrifying technique is that?"
Skirk: "This must be one of Mr. Kael's abilities. In front of him, no one can hide a secret if he wishes to know it."
Navia: "If that's the case..."
Yae Miko: "He cares so much about Furina. Do you think he would be willing to use this method to obtain the truth he seeks?"
Alhaitham: "What happened when Mr. Kael's expression suddenly changed at the end?"
Navia: "Sigh, I think it's better if Monsieur Neuvillette explains this."
Neuvillette: "..."
Dvalin: "Stop speaking in riddles. Things have already come to this point, so just consider it an explanation."
Neuvillette: "Sigh, very well."
Neuvillette recounted the Prophecy of the previous Hydro Archon, Egeria, in detail.
Arataki Itto: "What? You Fontainians aren't humans?"
Navia: "That's really too much! How are we not humans?"
Jean: "So, because Egeria used the power of the Primordial Seawater to turn Oceanids into mimetic humans, the people of Fontaine dissolve when they come into contact with the Primordial Seawater?"
Nahida: "Because the previous Hydro Archon did not have the Authority to create humans, the Heavenly Principles handed down the Prophecy as punishment?"
Kamisato Ayaka: "If this is the truth, hasn't Mr. Kael's hard work over all these years been in vain?"
Clorinde: "Sigh, I'm not sure. But we Fontainians are still alive after that great flood. People thought the Prophecy was false."
Sangonomiya Kokomi: "If the Prophecy was false, then Mr. Kael's efforts for the sake of the Prophecy... wouldn't it all become a joke?"
Ningguang: "But Fontainians really do dissolve when they encounter Primordial Seawater. Unless that flood wasn't made of Primordial Seawater, or there's another reason..."
Venti: "The people of Fontaine shed their identities as Oceanids."
Yoimiya: "In other words, if Mr. Kael in his past life wanted to save Fontaine, he would have had to help the Fontainians shed their Oceanid identities."
Paimon: "He probably couldn't do that. Although Kael is ridiculously strong, he hasn't reached a level of strength that exceeds the order of Teyvat. In other words, solving a problem of order requires a corresponding method, not just raw power."
Arataki Itto: "Then it's over! Hasn't brother Kael been working for nothing this whole time?"
Aether: "Sigh, I'm afraid my brother-in-law is truly stumped this time."
Dainsleif: "He worked for so long, bearing the guilt of betraying his friends and causing twenty-four girls to sacrifice their lives in vain. If he succeeded, it would all be worth it. But in the end, it was all for nothing."
Lumine: "Hmph! I believe in my husband unconditionally. His efforts will definitely not be wasted."