Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

The next morning, the side hall of Jingshan Palace was bathed in soft light, and the city of Sumeru outside the window was slowly awakening in the morning light. Paimon sat on the windowsill, his legs dangling in the air, holding a freshly baked flatbread in his hand, taking small bites.

Ying leaned back in the chair next to her, flipping through a document containing basic information about the structure of the World Tree.

Meanwhile, the soldier sat on a low stool on the other side of the room, his hands on his knees, his posture upright. He showed neither obvious resistance nor obedience; he simply sat quietly, like a component waiting to be placed in its designated position.

Nasita stood in the center of the room, gently gathering a wisp of World Tree energy at her fingertips: "Skirmisher, you now have two choices—one is to remain in the Council's supervised area and await further processing; the other is to cooperate with us to enter the World Tree and use your sensory abilities gained from your contact with it to retrieve information related to the Traveler's blood relatives. This won't take too long, and your access to the World Tree will be strictly limited, ensuring that no records related to yourself are touched."

Nasita's tone was calm, with the composure of someone who had already completed multiple rounds of negotiations. "I suggest you choose the latter."

The soldier looked up at her: "What if you set access restrictions in the agreement?"

Nasita said, "You can break the collaboration at any time and go back to the previous state. I will not use coercive measures."

Nasita glanced at Ying, "The Traveler will supervise you throughout the process. You will not be handed over to the Council of Religious Affairs' oversight department until she confirms that you have completed all the retrieval steps."

The soldier was silent for a moment, then he spoke: "...Okay."

Paimon finished his scoop of bread, dusted off the crumbs, and asked, "So, where are we going?"

Narcida said, "The entrance to the World Tree is in the hub beneath the Palace of Purity. I will open a passage and send you in. The skirmishers will continuously search inside until they find an information anchor related to the Traveler's bloodline. The Traveler and Paimon will accompany him throughout. —If he attempts to access a node beyond his permitted permissions—you will interrupt his connection using a Void Terminal."

The soldier turned his head and glanced at her: "Your distrust of me is more honest than I expected."

Nasita looked at him and said, "Because only by being honest can you know that I really won't cross the line."

Ying stood up, closed the document, and placed it on the chair: "Let's go then."

The stragglers also stood up: "Let's go."

They walked down the side corridor of Jingshan Palace for a while, passed through two doors that required authorization, and arrived at a relatively enclosed space.

A ring of faintly glowing "trees" is embedded in the ground in the center.

The skirmisher stopped in the middle of the tree, turned his head to look at Ying: "Don't interrupt me."

Then the skirmisher closed his eyes, and the light of the runes slowly shone along the edge of the disc, like a layer of sparks being ignited, blooming one by one along the circular outline, enveloping his entire body in that flowing light.

The phantom of the World Tree was slowly emerging behind him.

Paimon stood next to Ying, watching the silhouette of the skirmisher being enveloped in light: "He seems to be cooperating quite well."

Ying said, "His answer was more concise than I expected."

Paimon scrolled for a while, feeling the wait was getting a bit boring, so she took out her phone. She scrolled through a few pages, then suddenly stopped, her finger lingering on a particular post for a moment before she started swiping rapidly. She turned to Ying, her voice low, "Ying, look! That guy actually has three wives on Inazuma!"

Ying leaned closer to take a look at the screen: "Holy crap, it's true! The Divine Child and the Thunder Movie, and this..."

She turned the screen towards the light source and tried to make out the outline of the third person in the photo. "I don't recognize him. He looks like someone from the shrine."

Paimon scrolled down a few more posts: "Look at the picture in this post—he's on the left with Yae no Miko, on the right with Rai-chan, and in the middle there's a long-haired guy... the side hall of the castle tower, the one we went to last time."

Paimon flipped to the next page. "Some people in the comments said he was 'Inazuma's new son-in-law'...and others said he was 'the man who saved Inazuma's economy'."

Paimon grew increasingly excited. "How come this guy always manages to do something big without making a sound?"

The stragglers initially paid no attention to these words. With their eyes closed in the phantom of the World Tree, they could feel the flowing data slowly moving along the edge of their consciousness, indistinguishable in direction and boundary.

When he heard Paimon mention the words "Inazuma" and "Ray Movie," the data stream at the edge of his consciousness shifted slightly, but quickly returned to its original path.

He told himself it had nothing to do with him. He was just there to retrieve information, not to listen to gossip. He was there to look things up, not to participate in discussions.

Then San heard another sentence: "People on Inazuma's side say that Fanes and Ray's relationship has been made public, and even the guards at the castle tower have tacitly approved his access. Moreover, it is said that the General personally opens every single one of the Liyue specialties and Fontaine sweets he brings, never entrusting anyone else to do it."

Paimon found a new post. "Look at this one—'Every time Lord Fanes comes to the castle tower, he makes a detour to Hanamizaka to buy three different boxes of sweets, just enough for three people, no more and no less.'"

Ying glanced at it and said, "...This is far too accurate."

A subtle ripple appeared at the edge of the stragglers' consciousness. The information traveling through the data stream was deflected by that ripple, sliding towards a more distant boundary before reaching the intended retrieval range.

The soldier didn't intend to interrupt the retrieval process; it was just that fragmented external information was seeping into the edge of his consciousness at a speed exceeding his expectations, like a needle scratching a fine line on the edge of fabric, reconnecting before the thread completely breaks, and returning to its place after completing the cycle.

The skirmisher tried to refocus his attention on the flowing data cable, but Paimon turned the page again: "Look at this—'Fanes and Yae no Miko were photographed being intimate in a side corridor of the shrine.'"

The skirmisher slightly opened one eye within the illusory image of the World Tree. His gaze fell upon the gap between Luminous and Paimon: "...Are you talking about Fanes?"

Paimon, engrossed in the gossip, casually replied, "Yeah."

Then Paimon realized who was asking her and looked up: "...Can you hear us?"

The soldier had closed his eyes again: "Your volume is loud enough for the whole space to hear. I'm just confirming that the person you're referring to is the same person I'm thinking of."

Ying looked at him: "What's it to you?"

The soldier, his eyes still closed, said, "It's alright. I was just confirming some information."

Paimon turned to look at Ying: "He doesn't seem to really want to get involved in this topic."

But Paimon's phone was still lit up, and the photo of the side gate of the castle tower was still in the same spot on the screen—in the picture, Fanes was standing at the door, holding a paper bag.

Paimon turned another page: "...The headline reads 'Ray Movie Personally Sees Him Out.' Judging from the angle, it was probably taken from the side door's security camera view."

Ying also leaned over to take a look: "...This is indeed a bit difficult to write."

Paimon said, "And he was smiling when he left, and Raymond stood at the door watching him go, without even closing the door."

A soldier's voice came from the center of the disc: "...Do you really have to discuss this while I'm searching for the World Tree?"

Paimon turned to look at him: "Didn't you say it had nothing to do with you?"

The soldier didn't answer. But his fingers tightened slightly on the edge of the disc, then quickly relaxed, returning to their original loose state.

The soldier closed his eyes again, trying to refocus his attention on the flowing data cable, but the fragmented information still lingered on the edge of his consciousness, like a slowly spreading ripple, repeatedly touching the boundaries of his attention before it completely subsided.

The soldier tried to refocus his attention on the flowing data cable, but Paimon's voice came again, like a probe that was being repeatedly wiped, constantly touching the edge of his defenses: "He also brought different gifts for each of them... a small cake from Fontaine for Ray the Movies, handmade fried tofu from Liyue for Yae no Kamiko, and a box of osmanthus cake from Liyue for the one with long hair."

The soldier opened his eyes, his voice unusually calm: "...You mean, he was seeing three people at the same time in Inazuma?"

Ying said, "That seems to be the idea. And judging from the situation, it's not a short-term relationship."

The soldier lowered his head and turned it slightly to the side: "...How did he do that?"

Paimon turned to look at him: "When you asked that question, were you already thinking, 'I treat you like a brother, and you want to be my dad?'"