Having returned to the capital city, Andreas and his group had yet to find a suitable place to stay.
Archdruid Malfurion arranged for them to stay temporarily in a side hall of the Great Temple of Elune, but this was clearly not a long-term solution.
Although the Great Temple had taken on many administrative functions under Tyrande's reforms, it remained, first and foremost, a sanctuary for Elune. Except for Andreas—who was a unique anomaly—the priests serving Elune were all female. It was truly inappropriate for secular officials to reside there for long.
Andreas had long since planned out the living arrangements for his team. Thanks to Maiev's earlier ruthless purge, which had thoroughly intimidated all the greedy merchants and landowners, the path for Andreas's subsequent plans had been cleared.
While Celeste, Onyxia, and others remained in the side hall to unpack, the capable, squint-eyed Alfonso led the secretarial team ahead to the former Highborne district to inspect the situation. Meanwhile, Andreas took Leticia with him into the main hall of the Great Temple.
The "Big Three" of the Night Elves all showed respect by gathering in the hall to welcome Andreas. However, a noticeable rift remained between Maiev and Malfurion; clearly, the fallout from the recent massacre had not yet fully subsided.
The idiosyncratic Maiev paid no mind to Malfurion's unfriendly gaze. After a symbolic greeting to Andreas, she left the Great Temple of her own accord.
"Sigh..."
Malfurion was evidently troubled by the headstrong leader of the Watchers. He rubbed his cheeks in frustration, struggling to compose his emotions.
Standing behind Malfurion, Fandral was busy shooting meaningful glances and winking at Andreas. His bearded face contorted in a highly comical fashion, and Andreas almost failed to suppress a laugh.
Shandris stood behind Tyrande, gazing at her boyfriend with tender eyes. Andreas' return to Astranaar meant the two finally didn't have to endure a long-distance relationship. At the thought of their upcoming life together, the affection in Shandris's eyes was almost overflowing.
"Cough—"
Andreas gave a light cough to alert Shandris; her intense focus had already drawn a peculiar, searching look from Tyrande.
Seeing Shandris snap back to her senses, Tyrande rose to her feet. Out of etiquette and respect for Elune, she endured her displeasure to remain in the temple for a formal, albeit simple, handover ceremony with Andreas. Afterward, she strode away, ignoring Malfurion's attempts to make her stay.
"Ah..." Malfurion gave a bitter smile and explained to Andreas, "My apologies. Tyrande has not been in a very good mood lately."
Being kicked off the throne of power by Elune herself... for someone with her thirst for authority, it would be a miracle if she were in a good mood, Andreas thought.
However, he did not show any arrogance upon his promotion. He addressed the Archdruid steadily, "It's alright. I can understand the High Priestess's feelings."
After some brief pleasantries, Andreas got straight to the point. "Mentor, next we need to..."
Seeing that Andreas was seeking guidance, Malfurion waved his hand with a smile. "Don't ask me. Since Elune spoke personally, the administrative affairs of Astranaar are entirely in your hands."
"Huh?" Andreas hadn't expected Malfurion to wash his hands of it so decisively. He had assumed Tyrande might have begged the Archdruid to help her restrain him.
"Don't look at me like that," Malfurion said with a relaxed laugh. "I have self-awareness. A thousand years of hard labor has left me overwhelmed. The Cenarion Circle has a backlog of matters for me to resolve, the maintenance of the Emerald Dream must continue, and the training of new Druids shows signs of stagnation. I'd rather go back to doing what I am best at and most interested in."
Leaning on his staff, Malfurion stood up and patted Andreas heavily on the shoulder, speaking with deep sincerity. "I will leave Fandral here to assist you. If you encounter difficulties that are hard to resolve, you can notify me through him. Work hard; I look forward to seeing Astranaar undergo earth-shattering changes, just like Moonshadow's Rest."
"By the way." Before walking out of the Great Temple, Malfurion suddenly paused and looked back. "As the ruler of Astranaar and the leader of the Night Elven race, in principle, you are entitled to use all the resources of our people, including..." Malfurion's gaze turned profound. "...the new Well of Eternity."
"However, I hope you will think twice before using it. No one wants to see a demon invasion happen again."
After saying this, Malfurion leaned on his staff and slowly walked out of the hall. His silhouette appeared slightly hunched.
Leticia excitedly nudged Andreas. "With the Archdruid's permission, we can use the Well of Eternity as we please, right?"
"Heh... if only it were that easy." Andreas shook his head. "Don't forget, besides the Druids, the ones guarding the Well are Tyrande's direct followers from the Sisterhood. Even with my mentor's approval, the other half of the puzzle will take time to solve."
Andreas was already mentally prepared for this. Though Tyrande appeared to walk away freely, the influence she had built across various sectors of Astranaar over the years would not simply vanish. How much these people would affect his governance remained to be seen through future developments.
After the Archdruid left, the priestesses guarding the Great Temple also took their leave tactfully. They were Tyrande's confidants; they knew Andreas would eventually replace them, so it was better to leave of their own accord to preserve some dignity.
Andreas indeed had preparations for this. He had specifically brought three High Priestesses of the Church of Darkmoon Shadow from Moonshadow's Rest. These three High Priestesses each had dozens of missionary priests under them, and their job was to expand the influence of the Darkmoon Shadow sect in Astranaar.
Andreas also drew a portion of personnel from Naisha's combat priestess unit. These Darkmoon Shadow combat priestesses skillfully took over the defense, replacing the departed priestesses and standing guard around the Great Temple with high spirits.
"Come, everyone, sit down. We are all acquaintances; there's no need to be so stiff."
Waving to Shandris and Fandral, Andreas and the others sat down around the exaggeratedly large round table in the administrative hall.
With no time for romantic distractions, Andreas quickly entered his professional state. He asked Shandris seriously, "Shandris, what is the current public security situation in Astranaar? Are there any hidden dangers that are difficult to resolve?"
"Yes," Shandris nodded. "Because of Elune's personal appointment, the power transition happened very quickly. I'm afraid many who are loyal to my mentor will find it hard to accept for a time. These people are spread across all walks of life in Astranaar, all promoted by her personally. I worry they might offer passive resistance to your orders and take the opportunity to cause trouble to undermine your prestige."
"Hmph." Andreas gave a light snort and said with a half-smile, "Those are minor issues. I will notify Maiev to monitor them within the bounds of the law. The gaze of a Watcher is not easy to endure. I hope they are sensible enough to know better."
Maiev, having just slaughtered over a thousand people, was now practically synonymous with the God of Death. Such a scale of population loss was extremely rare in Night Elven society outside of wartime.
As long as those people hadn't lost their minds, they would never dare to openly defy the Watchers. With the recent precedent right before them, even the boldest would think twice about their own heads and weigh whether it was worth it.
"Fandral, what is the food cultivation situation in Astranaar? Is the dietary balance reasonable? And the livestock farming I mentioned to you before—what is the scale of it now?"