"My name's Hu Tao." She introduced herself with a bright smile. "How curious... Why are you dragging along such a big coffin? Are you taking it somewhere?"
Isaac was stunned for a moment before curling a wry smile. He then spoke with this persona's manner of speech. "Well... It's a perfect way to start conversations."
"Huh? Conversations?" Hu Tao looked at Isaac with a doubted yet curious expression.
Seeing her expression, Isaac call smiled before replying. "Well, to start, let me introduce myself. My name is Luocha— a traveling merchant."
"As for why I carry a coffin with me, well, it's a great device to start conversations," he explained to her with a calm smile the whole time. "When people see you carrying a massive coffin, they will naturally want to strike up a conversation, giving you a chance to sell your wares to them in the process."
"Hoh? Now that's a new and interesting approach!" Hu Tao nodded her head after hearing his explanation. She then looked at the coffin behind him. "However, I'm curious. Does your coffin truly contain something in it? If so, I believe that the... Person inside... Won't be in the best condition for traveling."
'Can I say Kallen Kaslana?' Isaac thought with amusement before leisurely shaking his head. He then answered ambiguously. "Yes."
"Is it family?"
"No."
"Friend?"
"Nyet."
"Lover?"
"Haha, what makes you think that? Which person carries their loved one's corpse everywhere? That's lunacy— and some twisted devotion." Isaac chuckled softly before shaking his head. "No, the person inside is someone I had met only once. By chance, I made a promise to someone, so I have to run their errands and deliver this person's remains."
Of course, these are all just bullcrap he made on the spot. He was just following along the original Luocha's steps.
In truth, there was nothing in the coffin except for his Dendro Vision which would produce some vines for him.
Hearing this, Hu Tao grasped her chin while nodding. "Well, I have to admit, you are the weirdest traveling merchant I've met."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Isaac smiled gently before picking up the coffin. "Well then, if you excuse me."
With that, he started walking off while carrying his coffin.
"Wait!" However, he was stopped by Hu Tao once more.
'Please, I'm exhausted. Let me rest.' Isaac kept his polite smile as he turned around. "Yes?"
"How about dropping by the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?" Hu Tao said as she placed her hands on her hips. "I can assure you that we'll provide the best funerary service to your acquaintance!"
'Sorry, but I think you'll only find an empty coffin behind this...' Isaac looked at her with a gentle smile before answering. "I appreciate the offer, but forgive me. I only wish to deliver this and not hand it to anyone. Please understand as it's a promise."
Hu Tao was silent for a few moments before sighing deeply. She then put up a faint smile. "Well, if you need someone to help you once you reach your destination, make sure to contact us! We'll be sure to assist you— as long as it's within Liyue's borders, of course."
"I'll keep that in mind." Isaac nodded before carrying the coffin once more and going down the stairs.
He then used this opportunity to escape and teleport away.
---
Meanwhile, Hu Tao watched as he quietly departed.
"What an interesting person... For some reason, he reminds me of Zhongli..." Hu Tao crossed her arms while grasping her chin as she pondered. "They both have that encyclopedic aura around them and that refined gentleness..."
Woosh—*
Just then, while talking to herself, a breeze suddenly blew past her.
"...he's gone?"
Hearing the voice, Hu Tao quickly turned head and saw that, beside her, a short person instantly appeared.
"Ah! Conqueror of Demons?" Hu Tao, who was quite learned in the field of the Adepti, instantly recognized who the person was.
Xiao glanced at her and noticed her appearance. He then thought for a moment and remembered something. "...the funeral parlor?"
"My, you actually remembered our family's parlor!" Hu Tao smiled warmly as she said this. "We're honored, Conqueror of Demons."
"No," However, Xiao shook his head. "Your family helped us greatly in the past by protecting the border between the afterlife."
"It would be hard for me to not remember you." Xiao then crossed his arms. "Moving on, I want to ask. Where did the person carrying the coffin go? I assumed that he was part of your Funeral Parlor."
"You're looking for him?" Hu Tao raised her eyebrows as she grasped her chin. "Hmm... Is he someone important?"
"He just has something I'm curious about." Xiao shook his head lightly.
"Well, if that's the case..." Hu Tao sighed before crossing her arms once more. "I think he's still going down the stairs. You should meet him by the stairs if you go down."
"My gratitude," Xiao said before disappearing in the blink of an eye in a turquoise flash. However, a moment later, the same flash appeared and he appeared once more. "...he's not there."
"Huh? That can't be right..." Hu Tao said, also confused. "He just left! How could he have gone far carrying a coffin with him?"
"..." Xiao went silent as he looked at her before shaking his head. "...No matter."
"If you meet him again, just shout my name and I'll be there." After saying this, Xiao once more disappeared in a flash.
Now, Hu Tao was left alone in the reception room.
"Seriously, they all just left!" Hu Tao shook her head before sitting down and crossing her legs. "I wonder... Will we meet them again? What do you think..."
"Mr. Zhongli?"
Turning her head, she looked beside her and saw a refined gentleman quietly drinking on the sides.
He carried an elegant yet knowledgeable aura and had the air of an experienced senior.
Although he had been there since the beginning, his presence was quite hidden.
The man known as Zhongli took a quick sip from his Osmanthus Wine before looking at Hu Tao with his deep amber eyes— similar to that of Isaac's which seems to contain a vast sea of knowledge.
"I believe that time will tell when we will all meet again..." He answered in a calm tone before returning his attention to his wine.
"There you go again with your ambiguous talks again..." Hu Tao sighed deeply after hearing him. "How at you even sure that all of us will meet again?"
Zhongli stopped drinking his wine before looking at her once more. This time, a faint smile was present on his lips.
"I believe that it shall happen once more in the near future."
"Yeah, whatever." Hu Tao stood up before approaching his seat. "Well then, shall we depart as well? We still have preparation for Red Lapis' Rite of Descent."
Zhongli nodded lightly. "Alright."
Of course, never would have Hu Tao thought that Rex Lapis— The Geo Archon and the God of Liyue— was sitting right in front of her sipping wine in a leisurely manner.
---
Fontaine, inside Le Souffle du Silence. Inside Isaac's room.
A door of light with swirling mists suddenly materialized and Isaac walked out of it, still within his disguise.
"I'm back!" Seeing his familiar room, Isaac immediately placed the coffin in his inventory and slumped down on his bed. "What an exhausting day..."
"Gotta say, I need to remind myself to respect Murphy's Law now and then..." He sighed as he lay on his stomach while hugging his pillow. "As Murphy's Law states, Everything that can go wrong will go wrong..."
"To think I'd meet Hu Tao there..." He then turned over and lay on his back. "Seriously... She's like Furina but red..."
"BlueTao and Furedna..." He muttered those words with an amused smile. "They just seem so alike that it scares me..."
"Plus..." He then remembered another matter as his face turned complicated. "Why was Zhongli just sitting there... Silently?"
He noticed it when talking to Hu Tao. From the perspective of others, Zhongli might seem hidden, but to Isaac's unique observational traits, he was able to easily spot him.
"To top it off, he was just staring at me... Menacingly!" Isaac knew Zhongli's true identity and believed that he wouldn't do any harm to him. But still, it gave him a bit of pressure. "Maybe... He was just intently observing me? Ah, whatever..."
"Hawn..." Just then, Isaac's mouth opened and let out a deep yawn. "So... Tired... That's odd... The night's still early..."
His eyes soon began to turn heavy as he lay quietly. '...must have worked myself out too much... Whatever.'
'A good night's sleep is always accepted.' Isaac thought before changing out of his clothes and packing them inside his inventory.
Just then, right before he was about to sleep, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh right... I've accumulated enough system points for a new invite ticket..."
Isaac had been saving up for quite a while now and coupled with the recent quests, his system points have been stacked up well.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt for a pull before sleeping..." The Gamba instinct started running through his veins. Soon, he opened the system shop and bought the invite ticket. "160 System points... Aiyah, it hurts."
Those are points that he had accumulated— and seeing them disappear and his heart tighten. "But it's for a new character... So it's worth it..."
[Use Invite Ticket? Y/N]
'Yes.' Isaac didn't hesitate and clicked the yes button as he started getting really sleepy. 'Please be someone I can manage...'
Soon, the door on the first floor started glowing a bright golden color, afterward, the summoning ended.
The profile of the new character soon appeared in front of him.
'Oh? This is...' Seeing who it was, Isaac was actually pleasantly surprised. 'Now this is something new...'
[Profile]
[Name: Nahida]
[Gnosis: Dendro]
[Title: God of Wisdom/Dendro Archon]
[From Sumeru]
'This is the first time I'm summoning a God...' Isaac thought with great interest as his eyes slowly started shutting down. 'How... Interesting...'
His eyes then completely shut off.
And so, he fell asleep.
Without even noticing the pink fox tail that just entered the room and left half an hour later.
* * *
A/N: It's over, Genshinbros. My phone reached its storage limit. I can no longer play Genshin by the time the 4.1 content arrives...
"What have you done..."
"I did what was needed."
In the same white plain of existence filled with blooming flowers.
Isaac stood stiffly as he watched two people quarrel with vacant eyes.
One of those people was a silhouette of a man, while the other was a silhouette of a woman.
"You'll die." The silhouette of the woman warned him.
"If that's what Her Majesty wishes..." However, the man's silhouette remained unperturbed.
"...you really are insane." She added as she looked at him helplessly.
"...they won't like this." The woman added as she looked at him with fierce eyes. "Especially the Director of that organization."
"...Dedushka would understand." The man's face remained impartial as he said this. "To forge a path of progress, sacrifices must be made."
"I am no exception." The man sighed as he said this. "At the end of the day, I am still that disposable orphan in that orphanage..."
The woman was silent for a few seconds before crossing her arms and clicking her tongue. "You fool..."
"..." The man didn't answer as he silently looked at the woman.
Her long white hair that had green tips, coupled with her elongated ears were what made her stand out.
Crack—*
Just like before, the dream shattered before Isaac could even ask anything about the scene.
---
Once more, the sun bathed the land and another day arrived, bringing forth a new breeze of life to the world.
"Hawn~" Isaac yawned deeply as he woke up from his deep sleep. He rubbed then his eyes, '...That was a good sleep. I feel fresh!'
After thinking this, Isaac soon sat up from his bed before he looked at the window where the morning sunlight was pouring in.
"Another day, another work..." Isaac smiled softly as he said this. "This time, it's time to help the radish."
He was referring to none other than Nahida, the Dendro Archon, the God of Wisdom trapped by her own people.
The youngest Archon of the Seven Archons that was born in the calamity five hundred years ago, the neglected God that still cares deeply for her people.
Someone who doesn't deserve to be imprisoned somewhere by some smelly nerds.
Jumping out his bed, Isaac made some light stretches before going down to the cafe to cook some breakfast.
Arriving in the kitchen, Isaac started multi-tasking. He picked some eggs, heated a pan, and started cooking while looking at the system interface.
[+200 Mora]
'...where did that come from?' Isaac looked at the extra Mora he got seemingly from when he was sleeping. 'Is it something I got from last night's quest that arrived late?'
'Odd...' Isaac decided to make a mental note of this and decided to look into it at a later time.
After cooking and eating a simple breakfast consisting of fried eggs, sausages, and rice, Isaac finally decided to clean up the cafe.
"Since Nahida would be the one visiting, I need this place to be as comfortable as possible for her," Isaac muttered to himself as he looked at the room.
Truth be told, Nahida was the only God Isaac truly cared about in this world. He doesn't know why, but the urge to protect her just rises from the depths of his soul whenever he sees her suffering.
It was a weird feeling. Like an elder brother's instincts to protect his younger sister, combined with what feels like a moral duty.
It wouldn't even be an exaggeration to say that Isaac would risk his life for her.
That's how Isaac feels.
"Well, I am part of the Nahida Protection Squad in my past life, after all." Isaac shook his head with a wry smile. However, his smile soon turned sinister. "But those damn sages... Just wait. Once I get powerful enough, I'll make sure your plans fail miserably in the future..."
Shaking his head, Isaac returned to his previous thought. He looked around and decided to create a calm atmosphere.
He dimmed the lights a bit and shut the blinders, limiting the light coming in from the outside.
He then bought some fairy lights from the system and hung them on the counter.
Looking at the new atmosphere of the cafe, Isaac grasped his chin. "It feels like something's missing..."
However, soon, he was reminded of something.
"Ah— that's right!" Isaac then opened his system shop and bought a few more items. "Artificial grass walls!"
"No cafe would be complete without these." Isaac smiled softly as he remembered the local cafe he used to visit in the past.
Isaac then proceeded to paste them over on a wall, where the customers sit down and dine.
After doing this, he took a step back and observed the cafe for a bit while grasping his chin. Afterward, he nodded with a proud smile. "Yeah, this would work."
"Now it's time to free my little cabbage."
He then opened the system interface and opened Nahida's profile.
[Summon 'Nahida'? Y/N]
'Yes!' Isaac didn't hesitate and quickly pressed the button.
Shortly after doing this, the same golden lights appeared on the door, showing signs of summoning.
"Here goes nothing," Isaac sighed with a smile as he adjusted his apron.
---
Sumeru— the Land of Weeds and Trees, as well as Wisdom and Sands.
Sumeru is where all Akademiya is located, where various people from different nations gather to study many things.
The Akademiya is responsible for the distribution of knowledge, as well as administrating the nation— essentially its government.
The ones that lead the Akademiya are the six sages, but among them, the Grand Sage is considered to be of high authority.
...well, if you ignore their God.
Due to the selfish desires of the Sages, they decided to imprison and seal their Archon within the Sanctuary of Surasthana on the very top of the Akademiya.
So, despite the Dendro Archon being a God, she doesn't get the authority or respect she deserves.
Inside the Sanctuary, a green sphere was present, and inside, a child with white hair was levitating and seemed to be sleeping.
This was Lesser Lord Kusanali, also known as Nahida.
Due to her seal, her body is unable to leave the Sanctuary, however, she managed to find a way to visit her people's dreams, albeit subtly.
She does this by going inside the Akasha System and visiting her people's Akasha Terminals— which are directly connected to their minds.
Inside the Akasha System, Nahida's virtual avatar was floating amidst the thousands of sparkling green lights.
'I wonder if Kaveh finished his project on time... He pulled off a long all-nighter last night...' Nahida thought with a smile as she looked for Kaveh's Akasha Terminal in the sea of consciousness. 'He must be really tired or asleep right now...'
'This should be the one.' Nahida saw the familiar Akasha Terminal and entered it to peek at Kaveh.
Her eyes dimmed for a moment before her vision changed. This time, her virtual avatar was floating beside Kaveh, unseen by him.
"Ugh, I told you! Buying this would only ruin the symmetry and harmony of the kitchen!" However, contrary to her expectations, he was quite energetic. "Can't you see that this doesn't fit with anything here?"
"I think that it's a great addition," Opposite of Kaveh was a man who had an aloof expression replied. "Besides, having it would lessen my burden and increase my efficiency."
"IT'S A CLOTHES RACK!" Kaveh yelled, enraged. "It doesn't even fit the kitchen! Seriously, do you even have an inkling of taste, Alhaitham?"
"Well if you don't like it, then you're free to leave my house." The man named Alhaitham said with a light smile as if mocking Kaveh.
"Y-You!" Kaveh looked at Alhaitham with furious eyes. However, he soon groaned in defeat. "Ugh, fine. If not for me, I bet your house would be in a disorganized mess... Less than a pig's stable, might I add."
After saying this, with an irritated face, Kaveh decided to plan where the clothes rack would be placed.
As an architect, this was no problem for him. However, it was rather arduous, in his opinion.
Watching the quarrel between the two, Nahida giggled as she floated unseen by them. "These two really are interesting. An impartial scribe and an empathetic architect, what an odd yet good combination."
"The impartial scribe and the extremely empathetic architect are like two different styles of paintbrushes in the hands of an artist." Nahida began making an analogy— one of her favorite hobbies. Shen then grasped her chin.
"While one brush focuses on precision and accuracy, the other brings depth and emotion to the canvas. Together, they create a harmonious masterpiece, each contributing their unique strengths to the final work of art."
"Yes, this analogy sums up their situation quite well." Nahida nodded to herself. Though she said this, no one was actually there to hear them.
"..." Seeing that no one responded to her words, Nahida lightly smiled. "Right... Silence."
She had known this silence since the moment she was born and was not unfamiliar with it.
"...I should leave." Thinking of this, Nahida decided to leave Kaveh's Akasha Terminal and once again entered the sea of consciousness.
Just then, right after leaving the Akasha Terminal, she suddenly saw a glowing Akasha Terminal. "Huh?"
Deep inside the sea of consciousness, it was as if an Akasha Terminal that had long been buried in the past suddenly resurfaced.
Seeing the strange yet new Akasha Terminal, Nahida became cautious. "I've never seen this before..."
Curious yet cautious, Nahida decided to fortify her mind just in case before approaching the glowing Akasha Terminal.
"What could it possibly be...?" Nahida remained at a safe distance as she observed the glowing Akasha Terminal. After a few minutes, she muttered to herself, "It doesn't seem to be dangerous..."
Nahida then looked around before looking at the glowing Terminal again.
With cautious wit, she slowly extended her hand to the glowing terminal. 'It's dangerous but... I must know what it is.'
After a few seconds, her hand finally touched the terminal. Shortly afterward, her consciousness entered it.
'I hope I'm not falling for a trap...'
---
A few moments later, contrary to her expectations, nothing bad seemed to have happened.
Opening her left eye, he looked at where she was at.
"Huh?"
However, she was surprised to see that she had appeared somewhere else. "This is...?"
Just then, a calm and soothing voice drifted over to her. The voice spoke politely. "Welcome, is there anything you like?"
Nahida turned her head and saw the man behind the counter looking at her with a warm and gentle smile on his face.
However, before she could ask anything, she was instantly stunned by the man's words.
"You... You see me?"
And so starts another business.
* * *
A/N: I deleted Genshin. I can feel my social life returning now.
I can never download it again. It was fun until it lasted.
Now, I play Honkai Stat Rail. It's been a while.
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