[Genshin Impact] A world where only travelers are alone

At this distance, Cecilia had no way to help the boy block the sword, and could only shout in vain to stop him: "Stop!"

Unexpectedly, Vanilaraj really stopped.

Her control over the sword was incredibly precise. Even though she was so aggressive when she drew it, she was able to sheath it incredibly smoothly, so smoothly that Cecilia almost thought that she had never intended to kill anyone from the beginning, but was just forcing her to speak.

Vanilara's golden purple eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of his mouth raised: "That's great, you see, now you are controlled by others again."

The woman's attitude was inexplicable, and she didn't seem to be in a hurry to take action. Cecilia suddenly realized something, and her original anxious look disappeared. She looked at her and said firmly: "You have something to talk to me about. What do you need me to do for you?"

"You finally figured it out, my dear Cecilia. Although it's a little later than I thought, it's not too late now. You just happened to bring me a new surprise, so I should make some new conditions." Vanilari's eyes swept over the wind elf in her hand. He didn't seem to think that he should beg her humbly when he needed help.

This was indeed the case. From the beginning, she did not want to negotiate with Cecilia to make her compromise.

These days of house arrest were a test of her submission, and now it was time to accept the results.

"Pray tell me, Cecilia, are you a Lawrence?"

Her words contradicted Cecilia's initial guess.

She originally thought that Vanilara didn't care about the answer to this question, otherwise she wouldn't have never asked during the days she was under house arrest. But in this situation, there must be a reason why Vanilara asked. Cecilia was not sure how she wanted her to answer.

Vanilara always said she would not harm her people, and she did so at the beginning, but tonight she didn't look like she was going to show mercy...

Cecilia was looking at her, and Vanilara was also looking at her.

Although the latter was very kind and did not ask for an answer, Cecilia knew that she had to figure it out as soon as possible, because the battle just now clearly exposed her identity, but Vanilara pretended not to notice and was still forcing her to get an answer.

What kind of answer does she want?

Cecilia had never felt so stupid.

She bit her lower lip tightly, completely absorbed in her thoughts, and didn't notice that her lip had been bitten and was even bleeding.

But the wind elf saw it.

The little guy, who had collapsed in her palm due to exhaustion, tried to wake her up with his weak voice even though he was too tired to move.

But his voice was so quiet that Cecilia couldn't hear it or respond.

The wind elf had no choice but to try his best to scratch the palm of her hand. This gesture finally made Cecilia notice him, and her drooping eyes were full of trance and helplessness.

Until she saw the wind elf smiling at her - since they couldn't communicate in the same language, the little guy could only think of using this method to encourage her.

Cecilia suddenly had a sense of déjà vu. She didn't know if it was because she had just seen the phantom of Wendy on the wind elf not long ago, but she now felt that the wind elf was smiling exactly the same as when Wendy encouraged him to sing in front of the window.

The heart that was beating wildly in her chest suddenly calmed down, as if it had found someone it could rely on. Cecilia took a deep breath and finally made a choice.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I have no connection with the Lawrence family," she said.

Vanilarai's expression changed into a half-smile, and he asked again: "In the face of irrefutable evidence, are you sure you really want to answer me like this? Cecilia, I have always been kind to you, and now I am willing to give you another chance to change your words."

“No need.” Cecilia shook her head. “Sir, I don’t understand what evidence you are talking about. I only know that I have no relationship with the Lawrence family.”

Vanilara's face darkened and he stared at her with eyes as sharp as a knife.

Cecilia was not afraid of her eyes: "My lord, what I said is the truth."

Without any warning, Vanilara burst into laughter, leaving Cecilia, who was still thinking seriously about her next move, stunned.

The former probably knew that his current behavior seemed quite neurotic, and he quickly regained his composure, but the smile on the corner of his mouth could not be concealed: "Well, very good, I hope you can remember the answer tonight and answer in the same way no matter what happens in the future."

Cecilia's expression became even more confused.

Vanilarai did not rush to answer her doubts, but said: "Well, it's time to end the farce tonight, and your friends also need to rest. Des, take these three people down first."

The servant who was suddenly called responded immediately and left with the three young men who had no ability to resist.

Cecilia hesitated to speak, and her awkward expression caused Vanilara to sneer: "Don't worry, it's over. I won't do anything to them again. As for you, follow me."

Perhaps knowing that there was no point in refusing, Cecilia did not refute and quietly followed behind her. During the process, she also helped the wind elf adjust its position so that it would not feel uncomfortable when she walked. The little guy rubbed her fingertips affectionately.

*
Vanilara brought her to his study. The documents on the table were still open, just as they were before she left.

Cecilia lowered her head cautiously to avoid accidentally seeing anything she shouldn't.

"Don't be nervous. Since I brought you here, it must be for you to see these." Without anyone around, Fanilari was obviously much more relaxed. He leaned back in the chair in a comfortable but not very elegant posture, took out a few documents from the drawer and threw them on the table.

Cecilia frowned slightly and picked up a book to read.

This is the income and expenditure of Lawrence's family last year.

Seeing the huge imbalance between income and expenditure, Cecilia was stunned: "This..." It's a bit too fake...

As if he had guessed what she was going to say, Vanilara leaned back and said, "This is a private account. It is different from the public account submitted to Lord Dikarapian. It records the true situation of the Lawrence family. Although it may seem incredible, this is indeed the income and expenditure of last year."

"By the way, you should be aware of the sudden change that Lord Diekarapian started a few years ago, right?"

Of course Cecilia knew it well. When they first met, the boy had explained to her the current situation of the territory, so she nodded.

"In that case, I won't bother explaining. Anyway, Lord Decarabian suddenly raised taxes everywhere for some unknown reason. This had caused protests from other families because the increase was too much, almost beyond the ability of ordinary people to bear. Lord Decarabian was always easy to talk to, so a clan leader directly questioned him." At this point, she paused and looked at Cecilia, "Cecilia, do you know what happened to him?"

Without waiting for the latter to answer, she smiled and stretched out her hand to gently stroke her neck: "He has become the chicken in the killing of the chicken to scare the monkey."

Cecilia's breath hitched.

"So no one dared to protest anymore. Although this policy is cruel, Lord Deacarpian has carefully calculated it. The remaining resources are more than enough for everyone to survive. It's just that life is much more difficult than before. Unfortunately, those who can survive do not include those in the Lawrence family's territory."

Cecilia knew about this: "Because of the drought last year?"

"Yes. At that time, Lord Decarapian somehow provoked the demon god who controls rain. In order to protest, Lord Decarapian stopped the rain from falling in part of the territory. Unfortunately, the territory of the Lawrence family was the first to be hit by the drought because it was located on the edge."

As the mistress of the Lawrence family, after realizing that the harvest after the drought could not meet the tax requirements of Dicarapian, she immediately went to meet the lord, but she arrived too coincidentally, as Dicarapian had just killed a demon who offended this place, and his murderous intent had not yet faded.

Vanilara realized almost immediately that her request would not end well, so she said nothing and used another matter to perfunctorily deal with the audience.

But what about the tax revenue? Vanilara could not bear to see everyone in the territory go through so many hardships and dangers, only to die because of something like this, so she took it upon herself to use the Lawrence family treasury to make up the difference.

However, this situation of only outflow and no inflow cannot be maintained for too long. The impact of the drought cannot be completely offset in just one or two years. This year, Lawrence’s family’s treasury was completely empty.

Vanila Rui realized that this couldn't go on any longer. Even if the Lawrence family had protected themselves under her leadership and even became the most prosperous family today, what was the point of prosperity in appearance? She had to change this situation.

But how can she change? Will she risk her life to disobey the orders of the demon god?
Vanilara was not afraid of death, especially since this death was a sacrifice for her people. But she hated the feeling of powerlessness after death and being unable to change anything. What if her death did not win leniency from Lord Dekarapian?

Just then, she discovered the boy.

This guy with strange behavior seemed to be planning something behind the scenes. It took Vanilare some effort to figure out that his ambition was to overthrow the brutal rule of Diocletian. It was incredible.

What's even more incredible is that he actually managed to win over the heirs of the Gunhild and Leggenfind families, which made Vanilara start to recalculate his value and eventually came to the conclusion that this path might not be impossible.

In other words, even if it doesn't work, she has to believe that it can work.

But Fanilara has the entire Lawrence family and everyone in the jurisdiction on her shoulders. She must choose carefully and cannot really put all the chips on the boy.

The best way is to arrange for someone who has nothing to do with the Lawrence family on the surface, but has thousands of entanglements behind the scenes to join the resistance organization.

If the young man succeeds, the Lawrence family can use this person to gain a foothold in the new world; if the young man fails, it doesn't matter, it's just a matter of maintaining the current status quo. She can even annex the Gunhild and Leggenfind families on the grounds that someone has rebelled and solve the current predicament of the Lawrence family.

But who should this person be?
Just then, Vanilara saw Cecilia, a girl who looked almost exactly like her mother.

(End of this chapter)