Stellar Train: I Open a Small Shop on the Train-Chapter 120

Hearing this, Nahida nodded and took out her small purse. She counted out 13,600 star coins and handed them to Ye Yun.

"Ye Yun, please help me buy 136 bottles of Spirit Spring Water."

Ye Yun agreed and bought the 136 bottles.

At that moment, Aether sneakily leaned closer to Ye Yun.

"So, you're that mysterious shop owner?"

Ye Yun looked at Aether.

"Yeah, what about it?"

Aether chuckled.

"I want to buy something from you—something that can boost my strength. It doesn't have to be super strong, just strong enough to beat my annoying little sister."

Ye Yun couldn't help but feel amused. As expected, siblings really are each other's biggest enemies when there's no external danger.

"Of course I have something. Do you have star coins?"

Aether fell silent.

He knew about star coins and that they could be exchanged for Primogems. But... all the Primogems in Liyue Harbor had already been collected by Zhongli, Ningguang, and the others.

Aether had tried searching for more, but couldn't find even a single one.

Frustrated, he slunk away and returned to eating his grilled mushroom skewer.

Soon after, Tighnari returned.

"Lesser Lord Kusanali, all the Eleazar patients have been gathered."

Nahida smiled.

"Thank you for your effort, Tighnari."

Tighnari quickly shook his head.

"It's my duty."

Nahida stepped outside.

"Let's go distribute the medicine."

She, Tighnari, and Collei walked to a spacious area.

The gathered Eleazar patients were puzzled—why had they been called here?

One curious patient couldn't hold back and asked:

"Lord Tighnari, may I ask why we've been gathered here? Could it be... you've developed a cure for Eleazar?"

As he spoke, the man grew emotional.

Many people in Sumeru knew Tighnari had been researching a cure for Eleazar. That's why these patients had come to Gandharva Ville.

Tighnari shook his head.

"I haven't found one, but... you are saved.

The Lesser Lord Kusanali has brought medicine that can cure Eleazar. My student Collei has already been healed."

With that, he stepped aside, revealing Nahida and Collei to the crowd.

"The Lesser Lord Kusanali? Isn't our god the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata?"

"What are you talking about? The Greater Lord was the former Dendro Archon. The Lesser Lord Kusanali is the current one."

"Lesser Lord Kusanali! Did you really bring a cure for Eleazar?"

Nahida waved her hand, and several vines emerged from the ground.

"Collei, place the medicine here."

Collei obeyed and placed the Fairy Spring Water bottles on the vine-woven table.

Nahida looked around at the crowd.

"Everyone, you've suffered for so long. I've brought medicine that can truly cure Eleazar. Please line up and don't crowd. Come receive it one by one."

The patients quickly lined up, eyes filled with hope, staring at Nahida.

She beckoned to the first in line.

"Come, take your medicine."

Tighnari stepped forward and bowed slightly.

"Lesser Lord Kusanali, allow me to handle this. You can rest."

Nahida smiled and shook her head.

"It's fine. I'll do it."

She picked up a bottle and handed it to the patient.

"Drink it, and you'll recover."

The patient opened it and drank it down in one gulp.

Was he worried it might be poisonous? Of course, there was some fear, but it wasn't strong. Eleazar brought immense suffering. Death would almost be a release.

As the first patient drank, the others watched with curiosity.

Soon, the patient's expression turned to shock. He felt his body recovering.

Excited, he tore open his shirt and saw the black scales fading.

"Hahaha! I'm really cured! Thank you, Lesser Lord Kusanali, for this divine medicine!"

Nahida helped him up.

"Go rest over there and make room for others, alright?" she said kindly.

The patient looked at her with awe and gratitude.

"Yes, thank you, Lesser Lord Kusanali!"

Nahida continued handing out the medicine.

One by one, the patients were cured, each tearfully thanking Nahida.

Once the vine table was empty, Nahida smiled happily.

At last, she had truly done something for the people of Sumeru.

Just as she was about to retract the vine table, a hand reached out. It had black scales drawn on with marker.

"Ah~ Lady Nahida, I'm a patient too. May I have a bottle?"

Nahida looked up—it was Stelle!

Beside her were March 7th and Firefly.

"Stelle? March? And this is...?"

Nahida didn't recognize Sparkle.

Sparkle smiled.

"Hello, Nahida. I'm Firefly.."

Nahida smiled back.

"Hello, Firefly. Nice to meet you."

March 7th rolled her eyes at Stelle.

"Stelle, are you faking it again?"

Leaning weakly on the vine table, Stelle protested:

"What are you saying! Look at these black scales on my arm!"

Nahida chuckled, waved her hand, and the "black scales" vanished from Stelle's arm.

"All done. You're cured~"

Stelle grinned and pulled down her sleeve.

Ye Yun looked at the three, curious.

"What brings you to Sumeru?"

Firefly replied:

"We got a little bored on the train, so we came here to have some fun. Heard you brought Klee and the others."

Ye Yun nodded.

"Ah, I see. Then let's go together. If I let you three roam on your own, I'd be afraid you'd set the rainforest on fire."

***

Over half an hour later.

Nahida, Ye Yun, Bailu, Qiqi, the six little ones, Stelle, March 7th, Firefly, Tighnari, Collei, and Aether were all gathered in Tighnari's home resting.

Tighnari asked,

"Lesser Lord Kusanali, is there anything I can help you with later?"

Nahida thought for a moment.

"No need for help. I'm planning to make a trip to the desert to improve the lives of the people there."

Tighnari understood what she meant.

What Nahida wanted was to win hearts and earn the desert people's loyalty.

For so many years, Sumeru had been ruled by the Akademiya, which led to many citizens not recognizing Nahida as their Archon—they only recognized the Akademiya.

Nahida could certainly suppress the Akademiya with overwhelming strength, but that would inevitably stir up dissent among the people.

Tighnari thought for a bit.

"Lesser Lord Kusanali, if you're going to the desert, I have someone I'd like to recommend. With her help, your journey will be much easier."

Nahida paused and lowered her head in thought.

"You mean the Flame-Mane Lioness, Dehya?"

Tighnari looked a bit surprised.

"Lesser Lord Kusanali, how did you know who I was thinking of?"

Nahida replied,

"In the entire desert, the only one with good character and the ability to aid me is the well-known Dehya.

I doubt you'd suggest any of the more violent or infamous ones."

Tighnari was impressed by her analysis.

That level of logic—worthy of being the Dendro Archon.

"That's right, it's her. Right now she's working as Dunyarzad's bodyguard.

They're very close. If you're willing to offer medicine to treat Dunyarzad, Dehya would definitely be happy to help."

Nahida was momentarily stunned at the mention of Dunyarzad.

"Dunyarzad..."

Dunyarzad was essentially Nahida's first true friend.

Nahida said,

"Tighnari, please contact Dehya and ask her to bring Dunyarzad here."

Tighnari nodded and left to carry out the task.

The others stayed in the room to rest, while Collei arranged for lunch.

Aether glanced at Nahida and quietly slipped out.

What he didn't know was that Stelle had seen everything.

Stelle stealthily followed him.

"Hey, Lumine's brother, where are you sneaking off to?"

Aether didn't want to respond to that nickname.

Lumine's brother? He had a name, thank you very much.

He sighed.

"My name is Aether, not Lumine's brother. I'm going to spread some information to sway the hearts of the people in Aaru Village.

We gave out so much medicine today—it shouldn't go to waste."

Stelle grew interested.

"Oh-ho? Sounds fun. What are you planning to say?"

Aether spread his hands.

"What else? Obviously expose the Akademiya's crimes.

Like how they imprisoned Nahida, which made the people suffer from Eleazar for so long."

Stelle replied,

"I'm coming too! Gossiping behind people's backs—now that's fun."

Aether nodded.

"Alright, let me tell you a few of the Akademiya's crimes first, then we'll split up."

After Aether listed the misdeeds, Stelle ran off eagerly to spread the rumors.

At a small square, a few older ladies were chatting.

Stelle approached and whispered mysteriously,

"Hey, did you know? The Akademiya has been conducting evil human experiments! You ask me how I know? Well, my cousin's third brother-in-law's second aunt's son works there, and he told me.

But I'm only telling you. Don't go spreading it around, okay?"

That last line was something Aether specifically told Stelle to say—the more you say "don't spread it," the more it spreads.

Soon enough,

Rumors of the Akademiya's wrongdoings spread through Aaru Village. People were outraged.

"How could the Akademiya be so cruel? Lesser Lord Kusanali had already developed a cure for Eleazar, but they still locked her up!"

"And now we find out they were doing human experiments?!"

Especially those who had suffered from Eleazar—upon hearing this, they grabbed their tools and prepared to go confront the Akademiya.

After all, Nahida had saved their lives.

However, these angry villagers were stopped by Tighnari's forest rangers.

Nahida listened to Collei's report and turned her gaze to the missing-for-over-an-hour Aether and Stelle.

The two of them were now happily sipping juice.

Nahida didn't even need to think—clearly, those two were behind it.

Still, she knew they did it for her.

Back in Liyue, she had heard Zhongli talk about something called a "public opinion war."

In Sumeru City

The messenger sent by Tighnari found Dehya, who was accompanying Dunyarzad on a stroll.

"Dunyarzad, we should head back. If your father finds out you're not home, he'll worry."

Dunyarzad didn't really want to go home—she enjoyed being outside.

"I just want to stay out a little longer, Dehya, just a little bit."

Dehya sighed.

"Dunyarzad, your illness..."

Dunyarzad smiled.

"I know. It's okay, Dehya. Just a bit longer."

At that moment, the messenger walked up.

"Are you Dehya?"

Dehya turned to him.

"I am. Who are you?"

The messenger said,

"I was sent by Master Tighnari of the Forest Rangers to ask you and Miss Dunyarzad to come to Aaru Village.

He also said, if you want to cure Dunyarzad's Eleazar, you should go."

Dehya had been planning to refuse—taking Dunyarzad all the way to Aaru Village was risky for her health.

But when she heard the second part, she hesitated.

"Cure Eleazar? That's supposed to be incurable. Tighnari can do that? Sounds like a joke."

The messenger replied,

"I understand it may be hard to believe. But you can see for yourself—his student, Collei, has already been cured."

Dehya fell silent.

She knew Collei—and knew she had Eleazar.

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.

If that was true, then maybe it was worth the trip.

At worst, she could carry Dunyarzad on her back the whole way.

"Dunyarzad, what do you think?"

Dunyarzad agreed right away—she'd always wanted to see Aaru Village, but never had the chance.

Cure or not, she wasn't going to miss the opportunity.

"Sure! Let's go now."

Dehya nodded and lifted Dunyarzad onto her back.

The three of them then headed toward Aaru Village.

Unbeknownst to them, someone had overheard their conversation—Alhaitham, who happened to be passing by.

"Tighnari developed a cure for Eleazar? Now that's interesting."

He glanced in the direction they left and followed.