31 Azhdaha?

"Can you tell me more about Azhdaha?"

Igarashi, who was currently making the 9th chapter of Re:Zero, heard Sasori.

He stopped sketching and put down his pen [A scholar's Partner], and looked at the curious Sasori. "What made you want to learn more about him all of a sudden?"

Sasori knows existences like Azhdaha for various reasons. One of the reasons is that Igarashi told him about it. During Sasori's first days in this world, he taught him many things like common sense and general information. Of course, as a transmigrator, he shared some secrets that normal people don't know of.

He told him things like the four winds of Mondstadt, some of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers, the Abyss Order's main goal, and finally, powerful existences like Azhdaha.

As for the Archons, he only told them some archons he knew, but not their real identity. If Sasori were to find out that the stoic and knowledgeable consultant of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Zhongli, was the current Geo Archon, who knows what will happen? Perhaps he'll accidentally spill it, so Igarashi did not take the chance.

Back to the topic, Igarashi was really curious as to why Sasori would suddenly want to learn more about Zhongli's pet. "Did anything happen that made you want to learn more about him?"

Sasori shook his head signifying that there was none. "No, but a friend of mine talked about it."

"...Huh?"

Igarashi was taken aback for a moment. Only a few individuals, and some historians, know who Azhdaha was. Of course, Azhdaha still exists in some myths and legends as the dragon that accompanied the lord of geo, but there were only a few people that knew of it.

Not to mention, humans already deemed the mighty earth dragon evil because it once attacked the Chasm. However, it was not Azhdaha's fault, after all, humans did unknowingly destroyed the leylines underground that sustained him, making him aggressive towards them.

In the end, he was sealed by Rex Lapis, voluntarily. Azhdaha knew that he wasn't himself anymore because of his "Erosion", so, he decided to willingly be sealed by Rex Lapis.

And that sealing made people believe that the lord of geo's companion did indeed turn against him.

Igarashi rubbed his temples and asked, "Who's that friend of yours, anyway?"

There was already a guess inside Igarashi's mind. Though, he dared not to jump to random conclusions. 'Yeah, perhaps his friend just heard from one of Iron-tongue Tian's storytelling...'

"Well... She was quite... Weird." Sasori said, scratching his head. "When we found her, she called us "Ignorant" and "Foolish" as if she was older than us."

Igarashi's eyes closed and he started sweating. His nervousness is growing deep inside his mind. 'It can't be... Right?'

He straightened his posture and immediately got serious. "Be honest with me, Sasori. What is that girl's name?"

He said Sasori's real name without worry because Mo Fan wasn't in the room.

Sasori slightly tilted his head with confusion and answered. "Her name was Jiu. Why?"

At this moment, Igarashi felt like his heart dropped. His eyes widened for a brief moment and he felt some slight shivers. 'Jiu... It really is Jiu...!'

He knows this NPC too well. She was an NPC that can be found near the Dragon-Queller tree, back before version 1.5 was released.

If any player were to interact with her, they would discover that she would tell some strange things like 'The Grand Resurrection'. At first, players would ignore it for some random words.

But they soon found out that they were wrong. Because after version 1.5 was released, Azhdaha became available as a world boss. As for Jiu, it was later found out that she was one of Azhdaha's reincarnations!

'Oh, crap... If Jiu is here, then that must mean Azhdaha is now starting to break his seal...' Igarashi thought.

According to the Zhongli's second story quest, Azhdaha slightly loosened the seal, and his 'will' was reincarnated. However, what Azhdaha did not know was that his 'will' was separated into two parts: Yin and Yang, representing his benevolence and malevolence respectively. 'Jiu... She's Azhdaha's Yin part! Meaning, his evil side!'

Igarashi stood up and grabbed both of Sasori's shoulders. "Sasori! Make sure to get along Jiu! And don't anger her. Make sure to also mention Azhdaha."

He wasn't boot-licking. It was a strategy.

Shortly after Jiu reincarnated, she started roaming Liyue Harbor asking people if they still remember the great earth dragon. However, she was disappointed to see that none of them knew of Azhdaha, some know of him but see him as the enemy of Rex Lapis and a savage monster.

And with that, her last mercy ran out. She finally decided to unseal himself and destroy Liyue Harbor for not remembering him for all the good things he had done for it in the past. But of course, this plan was foiled by the traveler.

'Yes, if Sasori were to convince Jiu that Azhdaha is still remembered, maybe she'll change her mind. I hope.' Igarashi thought. Then, a sudden idea flashed through his mind. 'Hmm... What if I... Create a manga about him? How Zhongli discovered him and created his body... Yes... this could work.'

Igarashi nodded and decided to go with this idea. He then placed the all-black folder and the 9th chapter he was making to the side of the desk. He then looked at Sasori again and said to him with seriousness. "Make sure to not antagonize her and befriend her, alright?"

Although Sasori did not know why Igarashi was getting worked up, he shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "Okay."

Igarashi also nodded and they reached a consensus. "Good. Oh, and bring her here at some times. Though, not now."

"Alright." Sasori gave a plain answer.

Soon, their conversation ended and Mo Fan came back from the bathroom. Seeing the tense atmosphere between Sasori and Igarashi, Mo Fan was confused. "What's with the eerie silence, Boss Yunru?"

"Haah..." Igarashi sighed and shook his head. "It's nothing, we were just planning about making a manga adaptation of Liyue's myths and legends."

Hearing this, Mo Fan's eyes lit up with excitement. "Wait, really?!"

Mo Fan loved legends about ancient Liyue. The adepti, Rex Lapis, and Archons, they all interest him. "I'm ready when you are, Boss Yunru!" He enthusiastically said. He really wants Igarashi to make it.

Igarashi smiled with agreement. "Alright, then. We'll do them in another day or perhaps tomorrow."

Mo Fan nodded with a smile as he walked over to his desk to finish editing the 6th chapter of Re:Zero and the 3rd chapter of Avatar.

*Ding~*

Suddenly, the noise the bell makes when a person enters the shop was heard.

Hearing this, Igarashi whispered to Sasori. "Sasori, can you attend that one?"

"Umu." Sasori nodded as he left to the other side of the wall.

* * *

After a few minutes, Sasori came back again. "...They said they want to see you."

Igarashi, who was secretly drawing something on a dark folder, immediately stopped and looked at Sasori. "Huh? Who are they?"

Sasori shrugged, indicating that he doesn't know. "One had horns and the other... Had cat hair."

"???"

Igarashi was a bit dumbfounded by the piece of information given by Sasori before finally realizing who it is. 'Ganyu and Keqing? Why are they here...?'

He then stood up and buried the black folder in a stack of papers before nodding. "Alright..."

He then walked with Sasori to the other side of the wall and saw some people sitting. They were people who wanted to read his manga, but the comfort the couches are giving coupled with the air conditioner was a bonus for them, which adds more system credits for Igarashi.

Happy customers can give a slight increase in system credits. But customers with stronger emotions, more system credits.

And at the long couch, he saw two familiar figures. One had blue hair with two horns and the other had purple hair and a hairstyle that resembled that of a cat's ears.

Seeing the cat-like ears hairstyle, Igarashi internally chuckled. 'Haha, I always did like her hairstyle when I mained her during my days in AR 20...'

He reminisced the times when he farmed artifacts in Genshin Impact using his Level 70 Keqing, a character he had since he was still a low-AR player.

He then stopped reminiscing about the past and focused on the matter at hand. 'Seeing her in real life with Ganyu sure is weird...' He thought

Igarashi cleared his mind and acted calmly. He then approached their table and asked with a kind smile. "Welcome, I heard that someone wanted to talk to me?"