Candace shrugged. "Is that all? Well, that's very you. Welcome back, Dehya."
Dehya stood up and embraced her. "That's more like it. I've missed you so much, Candace..."
[Yae Miko: I think I'm picking up on a special vibe.]
[Paimon: What is it?]
[Yae Miko: A friendship that goes beyond the ordinary.]
[Paimon: I get it. Like you and the Traveler.]
[Lumine: Wait a minute. Something doesn't feel right here.]
[Yae Miko: Nothing's wrong, little one. Our relationship does go beyond friendship, doesn't it?]
[Paimon: Is this... is this that prophecy thing...]
[Furina: Ooh, drama! I've only seen plots like this in novels. First time seeing it in real life.]
[Yae Miko: I have a feeling you might end up joining in too, Furina.]
[Furina: That's impossible...]
[Lumine: Maybe not entirely impossible.]
Soon, monsters emerged from the sandstorm. Lumine and Paimon quickly moved to eliminate them.
"You've all worked hard. Was anyone injured in the sandstorm just now?" The speaker was an elderly man, his back bent with age.
"My apologies. I was busy tending to the village's elderly and children and hadn't had the chance to greet our guests yet."
"I'm the headman of Aaru Village. Most people call me Uncle Anpu."
Lumine said, "Sorry for the trouble."
Cyno said, "Headman, I'm originally from the desert myself, though it's been a long time since I've returned. Are sandstorms like this common now?"
Uncle Anpu shook his head. "I wouldn't say they're always common, but they've been getting more severe and more frequent lately."
"Apart from sandstorms, we occasionally get earthquakes too. All unnatural phenomena. According to researchers who stayed in the village before, it's connected to the withering of Irminsul."
[Zhongli: Has Irminsul's condition deteriorated to this extent?]
[Nahida: The longer it's delayed, the more dangerous it becomes. I still haven't found a way to save Irminsul.]
[Lumine: We'll help you.]
[Klee: Sister Nahida, we'll all help you!]
[Lumine: We'll find a way that doesn't require your sacrifice.]
Paimon asked, "So would it be accurate to say that Irminsul's withering manifests as Withering Zones in the forest and as sandstorms and earthquakes here in the desert?"
Alhaitham said, "Everything in nature is intricately connected to Irminsul. These localized symptoms do reflect Irminsul's condition."
Dehya said, "Everyone in Aaru Village, please be careful."
"Speaking of which, I didn't see any of the village guardians on my way back this time."
Paimon didn't understand. "Village guardians? What are those?"
Cyno explained, "Aaru Village calls the mad scholars exiled by the Akademiya 'village guardians.'"
"They're mostly scholars who went mad after training in Avidya Forest."
"The scholars believe that their ravings could affect the minds of other scholars, so they banish them to the desert. But in my view, that's all nonsense."
Uncle Anpu nodded. "That's exactly what we've been looking into lately. The village guardians have been disappearing one by one, without a trace."
"But no one in the village has seen how they left. If any of you are staying nearby for a few more days, I hope you can keep an eye out as well."