To be continued…
Paimon: And then what happened?
Candace: After the sandstorm stopped, I noticed that the beasts in front of me had stopped attacking. While I was wondering why, a huge pressure suddenly weighed down on me, making it hard to breathe. Then, one of them swatted me away with a single claw. I vaguely saw something appear over there…
Lumine: So that’s what happened.
Paimon: Whew… Good thing it got scared off.
Qixuan: It’s still better to be cautious, but it probably won’t come back.
Paimon: So confident.
Dehya: Candace, you should rest here. I’ll watch over Aru Village for a while.
Candace: Then… thank you, Dehya.
Dehya: What are friends for?
Just as everyone was resting, the village chief returned.
Uncle Anpu: After that sandstorm just now, was everyone alright? Eh? Candace, what happened to you?
Uncle Anpu rushed forward to check.
Paimon: Eh? Who’s this?
Dehya: This is the village chief of Aru Village. We all call him Uncle Anpu.
Paimon: Hello, Uncle Anpu!
Lumine: Hello.
Uncle Anpu: Ah, yes, yes. Candace, what happened?
Everyone exchanged glances, then explained.
Uncle Anpu: …Such a thing has never happened in all these years. That monster… sigh…
Cyno: Mr. Village Chief, I am also from the Desert, but I haven’t returned here in a long time. May I ask… are such sandstorms and… beasts common now?
Uncle Anpu: I wouldn’t say they’re always common, but they’ve become increasingly severe and frequent recently. From your description, that monster should be the leader. However, it’s never been seen before in all these years, and I don’t know what’s going on… In any case, it’s good that Candace is alright.
Lumine: Is there anything else?
Uncle Anpu: Besides sandstorms, earthquakes occasionally occur. These unusual natural phenomena, according to an investigator sponsored by the village before, are related to Irminsul.
Paimon: Irminsul again…
Alhaitham: Everything in nature is intricately linked to Irminsul. These 【local symptoms】 can indeed reflect the state of Irminsul.
At the same time… Irminsul… looked much better, but the wounds from years of corrosion had not healed, only slowly recovering. Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had also been repairing it. Qixuan had only purified the filth, not healed it, because she was indeed afraid of bursting Irminsul.
Dehya: Ah, everyone in Aru Village must be extra careful. Oh, speaking of which, why haven’t I seen any 【village guardians】 this time when I returned?
Paimon: 【village guardians】? Who are they? Aren’t they like guards, like Candace?
Cyno: You’re very curious. The villagers of Aru Village call those 【mad scholars】 exiled from the Akademiya 【village guardians】. Most of them are scholars who became mentally unstable after cultivating in Daocheng Forest.
Paimon: Eh?!
Cyno: The Akademiya believes that their mad words might affect the mental state of other scholars, so they exiled them to the Desert… But in my opinion, all of that is nonsense.
Lumine: Tighnari also once said…
Uncle Anpu: Alas, this is precisely what we’ve been investigating recently. All the village guardians in the village have mysteriously disappeared one by one… Yet no one in the village witnessed how they left… If you all plan to stay in the vicinity for a few more days, I hope you can also help keep an eye out.
Cyno: I’ve had contact with those people. I’ll find a way to uncover what happened to them.
Alhaitham: It seems the matra were the ones who carried out the exile orders, right? Feeling guilty, so after stepping down, you want to do something to atone? Your mentality is quite interesting.
Cyno: …Sarcasm won’t work on me. If you have a problem, regardless of your identity, I will deal with you.
Uncle Anpu: Is it the 【former Grand Scribe】 Sir? Investigating such matters should be your forte, so I’ll leave it to you.
Lumine: I’ll help too.
Paimon: Eh? Is Lumine thinking of Haypasia just now? The mad scholars are already pitiful enough, let’s help find them. Qixuan-jie, what do you say?
Qixuan: Of course I’ll protect you two. Since that’s the case, we’ll help with this.
Paimon: Yay! But… (whispering), is it really okay to act with this Cyno?
Lumine: Qixuan-jie is here, it’s fine.
Cyno: More help is a good thing. I’ve inquired about your abilities at the Adventurers' Guild. Let’s find a place to exchange information first.
Alhaitham continued with Dehya and the others. Qixuan accompanied Lumine and Paimon to a place with Cyno to exchange information…
Cyno: Although I have 【self-exiled】, I’m still doing things similar to before… Before we officially start the investigation, do you have any more questions?
Lumine: Why are mad scholars called village guardians?
Cyno: This term originated from an accident. I also heard it from a former subordinate. Aru Village has been a place where the Akademiya exiled mentally unstable scholars for a long time. In this village, there’s a magical phenomenon…
Paimon: A magical phenomenon?
Cyno: When mad scholars first arrived in Aru Village, they were all as crazy and incoherent as before. But as long as they stayed here for a while, they would calm down. At first, the people of Aru Village were mostly dissatisfied with receiving mad scholars, but then one night, an accident happened.
Lumine: Was it something bad?
Cyno: I’m used to it. That night, Aru Village experienced a more severe earthquake than usual. Seeing the houses about to collapse, the former village chief was preparing to lead everyone to flee. At this moment, he found a mad scholar squatting in a corner, stroking the ground with his hands. A faint green light emanated from him, looking extraordinarily sacred in the night.
Paimon: And then?
Cyno: No matter how severe the earthquake was that night, all the houses seemed to be rooted to the ground. Not a single one collapsed, and there were no casualties. From then on, the people of Aru Village treated those mad scholars very kindly and began to call them 【village guardians】.
Paimon: A faint green light… A mad scholar protected Aru Village… Qixuan-jie, Lumine, what do you think?
Lumine: Only Nahida should be able to do that…
Qixuan: I reserve my opinion.
Paimon: Alright, but… I still think Nahida did it. By the way, does Cyno know if those mad scholars in Aru Village wore Akasha Terminals?
Cyno: Theoretically, they still wore them, for the Akademiya to monitor them, although the Akasha mainframe no longer interacts with them at all.
Paimon: Exactly! Then it makes sense! And those scholars going from mad to calm, Nahida must have soothed them…
Cyno: A single story allows you to draw conclusions. It seems you possess a lot of information I don’t know. So, what did you infer from it?
Lumine: The one who truly protected the village was Lesser Lord Kusanali.
Cyno: You mean… Lesser Lord Kusanali?
Paimon: What’s wrong? Don’t you believe it? It must have been Lesser Lord Kusanali who channeled power through the Akasha onto the mad scholars…
Cyno: No, rather than disbelief, your line of thinking is astonishing. Lesser Lord Kusanali… the current Grass God, is actually still active in Sumeru? The Akademiya has always valued the deceased Greater Lord Rukkhadevata more. They almost completely ignored Lesser Lord Kusanali. I, too, have been influenced by their views.
Qixuan: It’s just the Sages’ arrogance.
Cyno: …I myself have never heard any deeds about Lesser Lord Kusanali… She’s like a 【non-existent god】.
Paimon: Nahida is not a 【non-existent god】! She is a… how do I put it… a kind and wise, but occasionally a little strange, 【good god】!
Qixuan: …Paimon, you should read more books.
Paimon: Uh… I… I was just in a hurry.
Lumine: Not long ago, she even saved Sumeru City with us.
Cyno: Hmm… Looking at your eyes, you don’t seem to be lying. It seems you really have had contact with Lesser Lord Kusanali. How could this be… So, the divine has always been by our side…
Paimon: Alright, now it’s time for us to show what we can do and start investigating!
Lumine: Exactly!
Paimon: That’s easy to say, but where should we start? Hmm… How about we ask house to house?
Qixuan: I think the clue has already arrived.
Just then, a small boy walked over and anxiously said, “Excuse me, are you here to help me find my grandpa?”
Paimon: This is the clue? Who are you?
Cyno: Your attire… your accent, you’re a local.
Paimon: ……
Isaac: I, I’m Isaac… You’re going to help me find my grandpa, right?
Cyno: Is your grandpa a mad scholar?
Isaac: Don’t call him that! Grandpa is just Grandpa, why use such a name for him? He’s not a bad person.
Cyno: …The grandpa you speak of isn’t a local, and you’re a child from here. Why do you call him 【Grandpa】?
Isaac: Grandpa is just Grandpa! He’s my family! I heard everything you said to Village Chief Grandpa just now. Please take me with you! I want to go find Grandpa together. I’ll help, and I definitely won’t be a burden to you!
Cyno: So, you were the one eavesdropping on our conversation near the village chief’s house just now. I was going to go outside to deal with the eavesdropper, but I vaguely sensed that the other party seemed to have no ill intent…
Paimon: The other party is just a child! He just wants to find his grandpa, that’s all. Let’s help him!
Isaac: I wasn’t lying! I eavesdropped because I wanted to know where Grandpa was. I’m sorry… If you don’t believe me, you can ask Candace-jie.
Qixuan: Let’s do as he says.
Cyno: Alright, then let’s go to Candace first to confirm the situation.
Lumine: Okay.
Everyone found Candace, who was still resting, but Cyno made the little boy wait outside.
Paimon: Cyno is really cautious…
Qixuan: I think it’s just his occupational hazard acting up.
Candace: Hmm? You all came back so quickly.
Cyno: There’s something I want to confirm with you. Do you know a child named Isaac?
Candace: Heh heh, so he did go find you all.
Paimon: Eh? Candace knows too?
Candace: That child is very careful, but I still sensed him squatting outside the window, eavesdropping. This child is indeed anxious to find his grandpa. Isaac’s parents are Eremites members and have hardly returned to the village since entering the city. He was raised by his grandpa, but unfortunately, after a few years, his grandpa passed away when he was still very young. The residents of Aru Village took turns helping him, which allowed him to survive.
Candace: Later, an elderly mad scholar came here. Isaac felt that the scholar looked exactly like his grandpa and often ran to sneak a peek. But the scholar was mad and always spoke in mumbles. Isaac was a little scared. Although he called the scholar 【Grandpa】, he didn’t dare to approach rashly.
Paimon: So that’s what kind of grandpa he was?
Candace: Yes. Until one summer night, the 【Grandpa】 who had been muttering and making exaggerated movements suddenly became quiet. He even discovered Isaac hiding in the distance. Grandpa walked up to Isaac, stroked his head, and even took him to the village entrance to teach him to identify the stars in the sky one by one, accompanying him until he fell asleep.
The next morning, Isaac, after waking up, wanted to find Grandpa, but found that Grandpa didn’t recognize him again. However, this time, Grandpa’s expression remained calm. It’s said that his expression didn’t look like a madman at all, but rather like someone living in his own world, as if sleepwalking. Isaac was very happy that Grandpa could find peace, so he pestered him every day, saying: 【Grandpa, I’ll take you out to play, okay? Please talk to me again!】
Qixuan: … (What to do when my fists clench).
Paimon: I don’t know why, but I feel a little sad… I just feel that both of them are so pitiful.
Candace: Perhaps. Most people living in the Desert have their own difficulties, but even so, we must continue to live on. I also fight for this. I will protect this place.
Lumine: (It seems that the clear-headed Grandpa must have been Nahida. She was also the one who soothed the mad scholar’s pain.)
Cyno was silent for a moment, his expression looking a little sad. This was the first time they had seen such an expression on the former Grand Scribe’s face.
Lumine: (He must have thought of it too, right?)
Cyno: Perhaps… people truly have a good deity.
Paimon: Eh? What?
Cyno: No, nothing. As long as Isaac keeps his promise and doesn’t hold us back, he can come with us.
Candace: Heh heh, you might be more humane than I thought. I heard Isaac thank you, Cyno.
Paimon: Yay! It’s settled then!
…