"Neuvillette, we're here to rescue you!"
Hearing the shout, the Overseer's steady gaze immediately sharpened into a fierce glare.
How dare they!
Someone brazenly attempting to help a prisoner escape from the Fortress of Meropide!
Even though Neuvillette had once been Fontaine's Chief Justice, he was now merely an inmate in the Fortress of Meropide. No one would be allowed to rescue him from the tower!
And to brazenly attempt an escape in broad daylight? As if he, the righteous Overseer, didn't even exist! Criminal! Absolutely criminal!
Let's see which little darling is so eager to boost my performance metrics!
Following the sound, the Overseer spotted Furina's figure and froze in his tracks.
He had anticipated that someone so audacious must be someone of considerable importance, but he never imagined they would be this important!
Even Wriothesley had to heed her words. For a mere Overseer like himself to confront such a figure head-on was utterly terrifying.
Maybe I should just pretend I didn't see anything? I'm sure the Warden wouldn't give me too much trouble about it.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, another Overseer nearby stepped forward and barked in a stern voice.
"This is a high-security prison. What's with all the racket? Stand at attention!"
Upon seeing the familiar figure, Furina instinctively froze and snapped to attention.
Focalors, standing beside her, was utterly bewildered.
Wait, why are you being so obedient?!
Furina could only shrug helplessly. It's not like I have a choice. During my time serving my sentence at the Fortress of Meropide, he was my Supervisor. His presence has left an indelible mark on my mind.
Remember, back then, how many Credit Coupons I could earn depended entirely on his mood!
"Neuvillette is currently serving his sentence. If you wish to see him, you'll need Lord Warden's permission. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until he completes his sentence and returns."
The Overseer, who had been inwardly planning to pretend not to see them, nearly popped his eyes out at these words.
Daring to speak to Furina like that? This guy's a legend!
"B-but I have urgent business with Neuvillette..." Furina began, only to be immediately cut off.
"Whatever it is, you need Lord Warden's permission first. That's the rule!"
"Even if Lady Focalors herself were to appear, I wouldn't let her pass."
Focalors, concealed within the Clockwork Meka, remained silent.
She had initially considered revealing her true identity, but after hearing these words, she wisely abandoned the idea to avoid giving the Overseer a chance to disrespect her.
On one hand, she couldn't bear the loss of face; on the other, she couldn't punish him for simply following protocol.
The other Overseer trembled violently, shocked by such an audacious statement.
Brother, how could you say such a thing?!
He hesitated, considering whether to distance himself to avoid being implicated as an accomplice.
"Fine, fine... I'll go find Wriothesley," Furina mumbled, her earlier bravado completely gone.
A look of utter helplessness crossed her face. She knew this Overseer's temperament all too well—otherwise, Wriothesley wouldn't have assigned him as her Supervisor.
Her wages were docked at the drop of a hat!
Furina couldn't help but recall those days of grueling labor, tirelessly hammering components together just to earn Emily's handmade cakes each day.
Those painful memories... I don't want to relive them!
Better to think about Emily instead... about her handmade cakes...Slurp!
Damn, my stomach's already growling. Should I head to the cafeteria to deal with this?
As Furina and Focalors walked away dejectedly, another Overseer watched their retreating figures with eyes filled with admiration.
"Too strong! I'm impressed, truly impressed!"
"That's Lady Furina, after all! Thank goodness she didn't lose her temper, or you'd be finished!"
Although Furina had publicly confessed to impersonating the Hydro Archon for centuries, the entire scheme had been orchestrated by Focalors herself. Moreover, Focalors had yet to initiate any handover of the Divine Seat, suggesting she might want Furina to continue acting as the Hydro Archon.
Moreover, Furina's final, deeply moving speech had stirred many hearts, filling them with profound sympathy for the girl who had worn a mask for centuries. This time, Furina's support group was unprecedentedly powerful, a force ordinary people dared not provoke.
To their surprise, the Overseer simply shook his head.
"These are the Lord Warden's orders. I'm just following them."
The Overseer's face lit up with sudden understanding. So that's it! Wriothesley had anticipated Furina would come to the Fortress of Meropide to rescue Neuvillette and had preemptively assigned him to the Overseer post.
Originally, he had been puzzled by why the Supervisor had been demoted to Overseer despite performing his duties flawlessly. Now he realized everything had been part of Wriothesley's meticulously calculated plan.
Lord Warden, you truly are divine!
"The Lord Warden's foresight is truly divine! He even predicted that only Lady Furina would come."
"Otherwise, if Lady Focalors had come too, you wouldn't have been able to carry out the Lord Warden's orders to stop them."
Upon hearing these words, a peculiar expression crossed the other person's face.
"Who told you Lady Focalors wasn't here?"
"Did you see that strange Clockwork Meka that came with Lady Furina earlier? That is Lady Focalors."
"???"
-
At dawn, Lumine jolted awake from another nightmare, her forehead drenched in sweat.
"Traveler, what's wrong? Don't scare me like that!" Paimon cried, fluttering anxiously over to her. "You were talking in your sleep earlier, with such a terrifying expression. Did you have a nightmare?"
Lumine took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself before shaking her head.
She hadn't exactly had a nightmare, but she wished she had. What she had dreamed about was far more mentally disturbing.
"What?! You dreamed that Childe and your older brother were dancing together?"
"Two tigers love to dance, little rabbits obediently pull radishes... What on earth is this? Such strange music!"
Lumine desperately wanted to describe to Paimon just how mind-polluting the scene had been, but to do so would force her to relive the memories she was trying to erase. She could only let Paimon imagine it herself.
Lumine had tried before, but the moment that horrifyingly mind-polluting image resurfaced in her mind, large drops of sweat began pouring down her forehead, and a wave of nausea washed over her.
"How could something like this happen? It's so bizarre."
"Maybe we should ask Dr. Edward? He might know what's causing this."
Hearing Paimon's suggestion, Lumine hesitated briefly before nodding.
If it were just an ordinary absurd dream, she could have brushed it off. But the dream she'd had was far too bizarre. She'd never heard that music before, yet it had somehow appeared in her dream.
Lumine and Paimon quickly found Dr. Edward, who was treating Collei's Eleazar.
Collei had already rolled up her sleeve, revealing her entire arm.
But the arm wasn't what Lumine and Paimon had expected. Instead of being smooth, it looked rough and was dotted with scattered, scale-like patches.
Both Lumine and Paimon froze in surprise. So this is Eleazar, they thought.
By then, Dr. Edward was nearly finished with his treatment. He rewrapped Collei's arm with medicated bandages, circling them tightly.
"Your condition has improved significantly," Dr. Edward said. "With a few more treatment sessions, your skin should regain its smoothness."
"However, I can't completely cure Eleazar yet. This disease seems tied to Teyvat's fundamental laws—something akin to the world's very rules. Conventional methods are ineffective against it."
"That's alright, Dr. Edward," Collei replied. "Just being able to have healthy skin again is enough for me!"
Tears welled in Collei's eyes. She had longed for this day for so long, believing it to be a beautiful vision she could never attain. Yet, the person before her had transformed the impossible into reality.
"Thank you, Dr. Edward. I don't even know how to express my gratitude!"
Tighnari, standing beside her, also gazed at the doctor with deep gratitude.
"Enough with the formalities! If you keep thanking me like this, I won't come next time," Dr. Edward said with a wry smile. He exchanged a glance with Tighnari, and both chuckled.
"Traveler, Paimon, did you sleep well last night?" Collei asked, lowering her sleeves and noticing the two figures standing dumbfounded at the door. A radiant smile lit up her face as she inquired.
Judging by their expressions, they had been standing there for some time and likely caught a glimpse of her body beneath the bandages earlier.
In the past, Collei would have been anxious and self-conscious, worried that Lumine and Paimon might distance themselves upon seeing her terrifying appearance.
But as her condition steadily improved day by day, Collei's spirits had brightened, and she no longer cared as much about such things.
Hearing Collei's words, Lumine and Paimon finally snapped out of their reverie and entered the house.
"We're here to see Dr. Edward," Paimon explained to Collei before addressing the doctor directly. "Dr. Edward, the Traveler had a very strange dream while sleeping earlier."
"In her dream, she heard music she'd never encountered before. We wonder if it's related to what happened yesterday."
"Hmm?"
Dr. Edward's face registered surprise at Paimon's words. "Traveler," he asked, "do you remember any details about the dream?"
At Dr. Edward's prompting, Lumine slowly recounted the dream to everyone again.
"Have you ever had similar dreams before?" Dr. Edward asked.
Lumine and Paimon shook their heads vehemently.
"That's quite unusual," Dr. Edward mused. "Such occurrences are rare... Could it be because your body is... particularly unique?"
He pondered for a moment before continuing, "Perhaps your unique physiology is causing this phenomenon."
Tighnari stroked his chin, deep in thought.
Just as Dr. Edward had said, he had never encountered a case like Lumine's before.
However, when he considered that Lumine could wield Elemental Power without a Vision, the situation suddenly seemed plausible.
"Could it be that you actually heard this music before, Traveler, but lost your memory of it until now?" Collei suggested after a moment's thought.
"The Traveler does seem to have lost some memories..." Paimon said, glancing uncertainly at Lumine.
Lumine herself was gripped by profound self-doubt. Could it really be that her forgotten memories were suddenly attacking her?
"Such a scenario is indeed possible," Dr. Edward explained. "Dendro is essentially knowledge, or mental energy. Theoretically, a short-term influx of sufficient Dendro energy could trigger the recall of previously forgotten memories."
Hearing this from Sumeru's most renowned physician, Lumine grew even more convinced that she had indeed recovered a fragment of her lost memories. After all, the expert standing before her was the best doctor in all of Sumeru!
Of course, the main reason Lumine believed this was that she felt it was utterly impossible for anyone to implant foreign memories into her mind without any manipulation, given her current strength.
After all, she hadn't eaten or touched anything unusual yesterday, and she'd even taken the medicine prescribed by Dr. Edward.
What puzzled Lumine, though, was why she kept dreaming about Tartaglia and her older brother dancing a dance that exuded a mentally corrupting aura.
"Alright, I'll prescribe another dose of medicine. Take it and see if it helps."
"If you still have the same strange dream tomorrow, I'll conduct a more thorough physical examination."
Hearing Dr. Edward's words, Lumine and Paimon nodded their thanks.
The medicine was quickly prepared, and Lumine swallowed it in one gulp. Whether it was a placebo effect or genuine efficacy, she felt her body improve somewhat.
It's probably just a placebo effect, right? Medicine can't work this fast...
Later that night, around one or two in the morning, Paimon was jolted awake by Lumine's violent thrashing. In a panic, she patted Lumine's head frantically.
"Traveler, Traveler, wake up!"
Paimon struggled mightily to rouse Lumine from her nightmare.
Looking into Lumine's eyes—hazy with lingering fear, yet tinged with confusion—Paimon's worry deepened.
"Traveler, did you have another bizarre dream again?"
Lumine stared blankly for a long moment before finally snapping out of it and recounting her dream to Paimon.
Upon hearing Lumine's description, Paimon was utterly dumbfounded, involuntarily blurting out:
"What?! You dreamed you transformed into your older brother, commanding Abyss Monsters from the Abyss Throne to attack Teyvat, only to be suddenly castrated by a sword-wielding version of yourself who appeared out of nowhere?!"