Ryen smiled gently.
"If you were, then you'd have to die here today…"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the atmosphere inside the tent turned instantly tense.
A surge of power erupted from within Ryen, pressing down heavily on both Alhaitham and Cyno.
The two of them were startled.
Their combat instincts were screaming: if Ryen confirmed their allegiance, they wouldn't even have a chance to resist.
"Ryen…"
Nahida tugged lightly on his sleeve, her voice filled with worry.
In the next moment, the eerie pressure vanished as if it had never existed.
Ryen gently patted Nahida's head with a smile.
"Don't worry, they're not part of the Grand Sage's faction… I won't make a move."
Alhaitham let out a quiet sigh of relief, then asked with curiosity,
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because you're both smart people."
Ryen waved his hand with a carefree smile.
"You two are much smarter than that Grand Sage. I don't sense that disgusting, entitled aura the Akademiya tends to reek of."
"You're thinkers—people who actually use their minds. Such people would never serve someone like the Grand Sage."
Although Ryen's wording was a bit odd, Alhaitham couldn't help but agree.
Even foreigners could tell the Akademiya had become a selfish, overgrown infant. That said a lot about its current state.
"So… it was the Grand Sage—or rather, the Six Sages—who committed some grievous act that provoked Liyue?"
"Or perhaps… they angered a god, like the Geo Archon?"
Though phrased as a question, Alhaitham's tone carried a sense of certainty.
Ryen took a slow sip of tea and didn't answer directly.
"Some time ago, I visited Sumeru. What I saw here was nothing but a group of ungrateful, overgrown children."
"Sumeru, this so-called Nation of Wisdom, was filled with people who only know how to take and demand."
"They don't seek change, only the favor of the gods to grant them knowledge. Wisdom? In my eyes, it's nothing but greed and selfishness."
"The Akademiya of today insults the very meaning of the word 'wisdom.'"
As his voice fell, Alhaitham casually continued the conversation:
"So, you took action against the Akademiya—or more specifically, against the Grand Sage."
Cyno's eyes widened. He remembered the devastating blow the Akademiya had suffered some time ago.
"That was your doing!"
Ryen shrugged.
"I won't deny it."
"But you didn't kill the Grand Sage," Alhaitham added, his eyes flashing with realization as he recalled the Grand Sage's recent changes.
"You spared him on purpose!"
"Spared him… well, I wouldn't go that far."
Ryen shook his head with a chuckle.
"That punch I gave him—whether he lived or died afterward depended on his own will.
He was lucky… he survived."
"But as far as I know, his private laboratory, his personal team of scholars, and even his private armed forces—
I've already destroyed them all."
"He was lucky to escape with the protection of a Gnosis… but also very unlucky."
"I deployed the infected—zombies. Thinking back now, he's probably already been infected."
"And that, to me, is a very satisfying outcome—
To remain conscious, yet witness yourself slowly become an inhuman monster."
"All the knowledge, wisdom, experiments he pursued… all of it, turned to ash."
"For him, that's likely a punishment worse than death. I'm very pleased with it."
Alhaitham felt a chill run down his spine.
This man was undoubtedly a god—but not a benevolent one. On the contrary, he had no qualms about committing slaughter by his own hand.
The only fortunate thing was that his actions seemed... targeted.
At least the other scholars of the Akademiya weren't harmed.
"Why?"
Cyno pursed his lips, gazing at Ryen with a complicated expression.
Ryen turned to Alhaitham, his tone lightly teasing:
"You're smart. You should already know the answer."
Alhaitham didn't respond directly. He muttered vaguely,
"The so-called divine knowledge… was it what I think it is?
A crucial component of that experiment?"
"Otherwise, why would it provoke the wrath of the Seven?"
Ryen nodded with a smile.
"In truth, you're already very lucky. When Morax and Barbatos found out about the Akademiya's scheme, they were furious."
"If not for various circumstances, Sumeru would already be engulfed in flames of war."
"My intervention, in that sense, was a blessing for you."
"At the very least, you were spared from facing two enraged original Archons,
and the full military might of Liyue and Mondstadt."
"A nation of wisdom should understand:
Before absolute power, so-called schemes and calculations are nothing but illusions—fragile as mist, shattered with a single blow."
Alhaitham's eyes flickered.
He hadn't expected that the Akademiya would actually dare to go that far.
No wonder the Archons were furious.
The Akademiya really had slapped the gods in the face.
The severity of their offense almost rivaled that of Khaenri'ah in the past.
The fact that the gods hadn't already razed Sumeru to the ground… was mercy.
"…Thank you, Mr. Ryen, for telling us all this," Alhaitham said, exhaling deeply.
"We will handle Sumeru's affairs properly. We won't let it deteriorate any further."
"Also… there's one last thing I'd like to confirm."
He turned toward Nahida, and his tone grew solemn:
"You are… the Little Lucky Grass King, aren't you?"
"What?!"
Tighnari and Cyno both shot to their feet, eyes wide in disbelief as they looked at Nahida.
Nahida remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"…Yes. I am."
~~----------------------
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