"You're not late."
Alhaitham spoke quietly.
With a sidelong glance, he confirmed what he needed to know, neither Dehya nor Nilou wore an Akasha Terminal.
Only then did he let out a subtle breath.
Dehya stepped out of the brush with her greatsword slung lazily across her shoulder, Nilou trailing behind with a tight, uneasy expression.
Stopping a short distance away, Dehya remarked:
"Your attempt at hiding your tracks was pathetic.
Tracking you down wasn't even a challenge."
Her eyes shifted, landing on Cyno. One eyebrow arched.
"General Mahamatra?
What's this, afraid you can't beat me, so you brought backup?"
She gave a dismissive snort.
"Relax. I'm only here to make you taste a little pain.
Just enough to remind you what words people can say, and what words they absolutely can't."
Alhaitham turned toward them, calm as ever.
"Backup? Not quite.
Merely someone whose interests happen to align with mine."
He gestured lightly toward Nilou.
"Besides, didn't you bring a helper as well?"
Cyno finally turned his head. His expression was unreadable, eyes gleaming faintly in the dark like a hunter biding his time.
"So this is why you lured us here?
You intend to ambush us?"
Dehya rested her sword against her shoulder, unimpressed.
"I'd love to see whether your Akademiya whelps are actually stronger…
or whether us 'blood-on-the-blade' mercenaries come out on top."
Nilou stiffened.
She had not come here for a fight.
She had come to ask about the Padisarah remedy.
To confirm what would happen to the Sabzeruz Festival.
To understand why the Akademiya was trying to cancel it.
So why,
why was everyone suddenly ready to start fighting!?
Nilou was strong, but even she knew she wasn't on the level of these two.
Cyno was Sumeru's most formidable combatant, and as for Alhaitham,
just because he was a scribe did not mean he lacked strength.
Nilou knew that well.
"Dehya… weren't we supposed to talk first?"
"Heh. I changed my mind."
Dehya's voice dropped to a chilling rumble.
"People like him always talk better after being punched.
I'll crack his jaw, pin his head to the ground, and then ask my questions."
Alhaitham, utterly unbothered, watched her with faint amusement.
"That plan suits you well."
"But I don't think now is the time for fighting.
Let's get to the point."
He spoke evenly, every word landing without hesitation.
"The Akademiya does intend to cancel the Sabzeruz Festival.
And the Padisarah 'remedy' I mentioned, was a lie."
"Eleazar has no cure.
At her current decline, Dunyarzad might barely survive until the Festival…
but she will die."
Dehya froze, then exploded.
Flame surged violently from her Vision, heat rippling through the night air.
"So now you've made me want to kill you."
"You really are impossible to have a conversation with."
Alhaitham shook his head slightly.
"Eleazar is incurable in Sumeru,
but that does not mean there is no hope."
"Collei of Gandharva Ville was in the final stages as well.
In the past few days, she has completely recovered."
The greatsword halted mid-swing.
Dehya stared at him, eyes sharp and unwavering.
"This time, I'm not lying.
If you doubt me, go see Gandharva Ville yourself."
"But if you learn the truth, you must not spread it.
If you do… the ones hunting you will not be scholars.
It will be power on the level of the Archons.
Not even Sumeru City could protect you."
Dehya inhaled deeply, restraining the urge to cut him down where he stood.
She lowered her weapon.
"What do you want?"
Alhaitham smiled faintly.
"A calm Flame-Mane is surprisingly rational."
"I need your help with several tasks.
Do them, and I'll tell you where to find the method that saved Collei."
"So you are trying to use us."
Dehya's voice iced over.
"Use? No.
Mutual benefit."
Alhaitham turned slightly, looking between them.
"You want to save someone.
We want to accomplish something.
These goals do not conflict. In fact, they align."
"Finish what we need to do, and Dunyarzad survives.
And the Sabzeruz Festival will be more glorious than ever."
"So? Is that acceptable?"
Dehya held his gaze for a long moment.
"I'll confirm Collei's condition myself.
If you lied, even if you hide inside the Akademiya, I will kill you."
"If I lied," Alhaitham replied calmly,
"you won't need to.
I'll slit my own throat."
That answer made Dehya pause.
She hated him, but he wasn't bluffing.
"So we're… allies now?"
"A temporary cooperation," Dehya snapped.
"I'd never ally with someone who schemes as much as you."
Alhaitham shrugged casually.
"Call it whatever you like. As long as you do the job."
Dehya exhaled sharply.
"Before anything else, you tell us what you're plotting.
If it threatens Sumeru, don't even dream of cooperation."
Alhaitham was silent for a moment. Then:
"Threaten Sumeru? How would you define that?"
He looked straight at her.
"What if I told you, we intend to overthrow the Akademiya?
To remove the Grand Sage?"
Nilou nearly burst into tears.
She shouldn't have come tonight.
Why was she suddenly involved in treason?
Rebelling against the Akademiya!?
That wasn't just dangerous,
that was suicidal.
If they failed, not only the Festival, even all of the Grand Bazaar could be implicated.
But Dehya?
She slowly straightened.
A dangerous glint lit her eyes.
"Interesting…
The Scribe and the General Mahamatra want to topple the Akademiya?"
"Now that is interesting…"
"Fine, I'm in.
But you'd better tell me why.
I'm not letting you use me like some disposable blade."
Dehya spoke coldly, but there was no hesitation.
Anything that made life difficult for the Akademiya was something she welcomed with open arms.
Alhaitham's expression grew noticeably more serious.
"What I'm about to say… you must bury it in your hearts forever."
"The Akademiya, more precisely, the Grand Sage's faction, is cooperating with the Fatui Harbinger, the Doctor, Dottore."
"Together, they're conspiring to create a god to replace Lesser Lord Kusanali."
The revelation hit both Dehya and Nilou like a falling sky.
They had imagined the Akademiya might be involved in something corrupt.
They had imagined political schemes, censorship, arrogance,
but this was beyond anything either of them had ever conceived.
Creating a god.
A crime that could shake the heavens themselves.
If this truth spread, it wouldn't just be a Sumeru scandal,
the Seven Archons and all seven nations would erupt in fury.
"So you're saying," Dehya asked slowly, "you want to purge the Akademiya before things become irreversible?"
Alhaitham nodded.
"The project is advancing rapidly.
If it succeeds, or even causes a major incident, every Archon will be enraged."
"If Azar is not removed, all of Sumeru will face the wrath of the Seven Nations."
Cyno added, his tone like steel:
"That explosion at the Akademiya a while ago, you heard the rumors, yes?"
Nilou nodded timidly.
"They said… it was an earthquake?"
Cyno snorted.
"Such a pathetic excuse.
Only someone like you would believe it."
"The Grand Sage's faction imprisoned Lesser Lord Kusanali for five hundred years."
"Not long ago, a powerful 'god' descended, destroyed the Akademiya, and rescued her."
"We have been given an ultimatum."
"If we cannot handle Azar and his collaborators ourselves…
then Rex Lapis, the Anemo Archon, and that mysterious god will act personally."
"Liyue and Mondstadt will send full military force to subdue Sumeru."
"Lesser Lord Kusanali is currently in Liyue."
Dehya dragged a hand down her face, overwhelmed.
"I knew it.
You Akademiya people are insane, absolutely deranged."
"You'll do anything.
And now you want to drag the entire nation down with you.
Madmen. Every last one."
This was no longer a dispute between the Desert and the Rainforest.
It wasn't even an internal affair.
This was an existential crisis for all of Sumeru.
And Dehya now understood perfectly:
Alhaitham's "bait" had never been Eleazar, never been compassion.
His real weapon was the nature of the crisis itself,
a crisis they could not walk away from.
This was not manipulation.
It was a strategic inevitability.
A trap she had no choice but to step into.
"So understand this," Alhaitham continued calmly,
"I would not lie about Eleazar.
We also need you."
"Help us topple Azar, and bring back Lesser Lord Kusanali."
"Then Dunyarzad's Eleazar, and the Sabzeruz Festival, everything can be resolved."
"She is a compassionate god.
She will treat both desert and rainforest fairly."
"For the Desert people… this is an opportunity."
Dehya snapped:
"Shut it. I get the point!"
"So Kusanali was imprisoned for five centuries, and now she's in Liyue?"
"You want us to… what, go pick her up?"
Alhaitham shook his head.
"Yes… and no."
"The cure for Eleazar is in Liyue, held by the one who rescued her: Mister Ryen."
"You can seek out Tighnari's senior, Lady Lisa.
Ask her to act as a mediator."
"For Liyue, curing Eleazar is trivial."
"You do not need to bring Kusanali back.
What I need from you… is to invite the outlander traveler."
Nilou blinked.
"The Traveler…?"
"The one who ended the Dragon Calamity in Mondstadt, who aided the Rite of Descension, her reputation is known across nations."
"She will be the key to breaking this stalemate."
"If you try to retrieve Kusanali directly, Ryen will almost certainly accompany her."
"And that would make Sumeru even more unstable."
Alhaitham turned, gazing at the glowing silhouette of Sumeru City.
"To defeat Azar, we need intellect and force."
"The top three Fatui Harbingers possess power rivaling the Seven Archons.
None of us can defeat the Doctor."
Dehya exhaled sharply.
"And you think the Traveler can?"
"I don't know."
Alhaitham said it plainly.
"Then why tell us to go find her?"
A quiet beat.
Then,
"Because at this point, I must trust my instincts."
"The Traveler has deep connections, friends of Rex Lapis and Barbatos.
If we can bring her here, we'll at least have a final contingency."
"And she belongs to no nation.
Even if she brings the Archons… it will be personal, not political."
"We won't trigger a national-level conflict."
Dehya rubbed her temples.
"I came out tonight wanting to beat you up…
Why am I suddenly wrapped up in world-ending conspiracies?"
Alhaitham ignored the complaint.
"Once this is resolved, you can beat me as many times as you please."
"But for now… tell me your thoughts."
~~----------------------
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