Chapter 25: Admiration Is the Emotion Furthest from Understanding
"Welcome, both of you," Xia Yu said, holding out a hand to the two before her. "The Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing, and Lady Lisa of the Knights of Favonius."
"You're too kind, Lady Ying. With your exalted status as a Shadow of the Archon, you shouldn't have to welcome us in person," Keqing replied, looking overwhelmed by the honor. "We should be the ones calling on you."
"The Shadow of the Hydro Archon is still only a shadow, not the Hydro Archon," Xia Yu said with a slight smile. "I don't hold any particular position in the Fontaine Government either, so this doesn't break any rules."
"Before we begin our talks, though, I must apologize on Fontaine's behalf to my two senpai, the Anemo Archon and the Geo Archon. I really had no other choice when I said those things that day. Fontaine's situation couldn't be allowed to deteriorate any further, so I could only resort to that measure to stabilize things."
"I hope my two senpai will forgive any offense in my words. Once the situation settles, I'll be sure to visit them in person."
Every word she said had been carefully considered. This was the Hydro Archon apologizing as a junior to her two senpai, the Anemo Archon and the Geo Archon, not Fontaine apologizing to Liyue and Mondstadt.
The difference might seem small on the surface, but on closer inspection, it was enormous.
"I'll be sure to pass that on to Rex Lapis at the Rite of Descension," Keqing replied, not daring to take the matter lightly.
"As for Mondstadt..." Lisa thought for two seconds before saying helplessly, "We'll also pass your message on to Lord Barbatos during the Windblume Festival."
Liyue's Rex Lapis might also be elusive, but at least he appeared once a year to draw up development plans for the whole country.
But Barbatos... no one had actually seen him, so that was all she could say.
"Good. With the formalities out of the way, let's discuss why you've come." Xia Yu nodded and looked at the two women across from her. "Fontaine doesn't have any major problems for now. Although I made things sound grave at the Opera Epiclese, the country is actually still far from collapse."
"We're just terribly disappointed in the Fontainians. We want the urgency of knowing their country could fall at any moment to force our people to mature, rather than clinging to the comfort of a god's swaddling clothes."
Keqing's eyes instantly lit up at that.
"So you needn't worry about Fontaine's crisis spilling over into other countries. If it were truly that serious, it wouldn't be the two of you visiting us, but the gods you worship."
"As for our methods... The Seven may be powerful, but there are still crises in Teyvat that could threaten us. Over the past five hundred years, Furina has protected the Fontainians so well that all of Fontaine is now slowly rotting within the gentle swaddling clothes she has woven for it."
"Lady Ying, isn't 'rotting' a little too strong?" Keqing asked. "From what I've seen, Fontaine is flourishing, stable, and doing well."
"But that's built on Furina expending all her divine power," Xia Yu said, shaking her head. "Fontaine is extremely dependent on Indemnitium, and that energy can only be produced by converting faith."
"Yet the amount of Indemnitium we've collected has fallen every year. Corruption within the government and among the nobles has begun to eat away at the entire country. It's not as though we never gave the Fontainians a chance."
Xia Yu shook her head. "They simply didn't appreciate it. The Fontainians have made no changes in twenty years, so we've been forced to resort to extremes."
"If this goes on, it's only a matter of time before Fontaine becomes a corrupt force like the Mondstadt Old Nobility once was. Mondstadt's Old Nobility could be brought to account because the Anemo Archon and Vennessa led a revolt. But Fontaine... I don't even dare imagine what would happen if Fontaine grew that corrupt and lost its entire supply of Indemnitium."
Xia Yu sighed. "The mines and factories that rely entirely on machines would shut down immediately. The enormous Clockwork Meka and the magnificent Court of Fontaine would grind to a halt; even the elevators connecting the upper and lower levels wouldn't work. With industry gone, the economy would take a devastating hit."
"Fontaine would no longer be able to manufacture the industrial goods it sells to other countries. Shutting down its advanced industries would leave huge numbers unemployed, yet Fontaine wouldn't have enough jobs to offer them. Are we supposed to make all those experienced engineers and workers pick up mining picks and go dig ore?"
"That would be such a waste."
"I can already imagine what would happen next. People who lose their jobs and can't support themselves or their families would have no choice but to take desperate risks. A loaf of bread could sell for an astronomical price of hundreds of thousands of Mora. Social order would collapse, and the government would lose all credibility. Once workers could no longer produce and create wealth, their very existence would become a burden to the country."
"Most of these people are young and middle-aged men. I don't need to tell you where they'd flock after losing their jobs, just to feed themselves and their families."
Xia Yu picked up her cup, took a sip of tea, and continued, "And as for Fontaine's agriculture... Ah, our food supply depends heavily on imports. Miss Lisa should know this: Mondstadt is Fontaine's largest grain exporter."
"As the land continues to sink, the country's arable area keeps shrinking. For now, we can still export goods from our advanced industries in exchange for food, but if industry shuts down, famine will bring all of Fontaine down at once."
Xia Yu spread her hands helplessly. "Those bureaucrats really are incompetent. The country's food crisis is staring us in the face, but do you know what? A few days ago, I checked Fontaine's national grain reserves. There was only enough to feed all the Fontainians for half a year!"
"Every year, huge quantities of food are wasted for no reason. At a single banquet held by nobles, piles upon piles of food go untouched. Once the banquet ends, they won't even give it to people struggling to keep themselves fed."
"Guess what they say?"
"How could lowly commoners deserve to eat the same food as nobles?" Lisa answered. "Statements like that are also recorded in Mondstadt's history."
As someone who spent every day in the Knights of Favonius Library, she'd read an enormous number of books.
"Exactly. Ha, nobles everywhere really are all cut from the same cloth," Xia Yu said with a laugh, clapping her hands. "As the shadow of the God of Justice, I really don't ask much of officials and nobles. Their authority just needs to come with corresponding responsibilities."
"If they hold office, they should do its work. But they wield Fontaine's power only to use it for their own gain. They don't do a single thing a normal government is supposed to!"
"That's why I launched this purge of bureaucrats and nobles. If they're allowed to keep going, Fontaine might not be as lucky as Mondstadt. Mondstadt doesn't have a Sea of Life beneath it, poised to swallow the entire country at any moment."
"Besides, Lady Furina has to keep Fontaine's land from sinking, so she has no divine power to spare to judge those scum. If we don't act while there's still hope, then once it's beyond saving... Ah."
"With the country at a standstill, famine everywhere, and order breaking down... how long could Furina hold out as the God of Justice? I fear she'd lose all hope that very day and withdraw her divine power completely. Just as in the Prophecy, she'd sit on her throne watching Fontaine drown beneath the Sea of Life, weeping all alone."
"So we have to prepare for the worst and cut off that possibility in the most forceful way possible. That's why that trial took place."
She was explaining all this because they were neighboring countries; at a time like this, they had to be given a clear picture. Otherwise, if both sides remained on edge... how could they get along in the future?
Besides, making things sound a little more dire might secure some aid. If nothing else, after today, Mondstadt's grain export policy toward Fontaine would certainly become much more lenient.
It would also conveniently distort the truth of the Prophecy, rewriting it from one brought on by the Former Hydro Archon's grave sin to one the Fontainians had brought upon themselves. At the very least, it would discourage some people from digging into it.
She'd told the envoys from the other countries the same thing. And if anyone asked why the Primordial Sea was right beneath Fontaine?
There was only one answer: sheer bad luck. Besides, only the Hydro Archon could hold back such a disaster. Fontaine's very existence was effectively plugging the sea's outlet for all of Teyvat.
If the Heavenly Principles woke up and heard that, she'd surely ask where Xia Yu had read such dubious history. But she hadn't woken up yet, had she?
Naturally, the Hydro Archon had the final say on the explanation.
And after hearing all that, what else could Keqing and Lisa say?
They could only nod and say they understood. After all, the Shadow of the Hydro Archon herself had been sent to explain things to them, and she'd made everything clear. Fontaine really was at a critical juncture of survival. Without reform, the whole country would slide into the abyss.
What else could they do? Of course they had to forgive it.
"In that case, Mondstadt can rest easy," Lisa said, letting out a breath. Honestly, she'd thought it was something serious. Wasn't this just a purge of nobles? It wasn't as though Mondstadt had never done that.
The main reason Fontaine could push its Hydro Archon this far was that it had a land mine buried beneath it. Otherwise, as a god, dealing with nobles and officials would be child's play. Would she really need to make such a fuss?
"Your words have taught me a great deal, Lady Ying," Keqing said, though her focus lay elsewhere. "As a friendly nation, Liyue won't stand by and watch Fontaine struggle."
"Once I return and consult Rex Lapis, a dedicated delegation will come to discuss trade between our two countries."
After all, she'd only been dispatched on an emergency mission to assess the situation and hadn't brought any specialists along. They'd needed to be prepared for Fontaine to be in utter chaos; bringing those people would have made it harder to move around. Besides, who could have known beforehand that Fontaine would need them?
"But... Lady Ying," Keqing hesitated for a while before asking, "May I ask a somewhat presumptuous question?"
"Oh? What would you like to ask, Miss Keqing?" Xia Yu smiled at her. "Go ahead."
"Do you... or rather, does Lady Hydro Archon believe humans can't move forward without the protection of the gods?"
"Hmm? Interesting question." Xia Yu tapped her fingers on the table. "Have you asked Geo Archon the same question, Miss Keqing?"
"...Not yet," Keqing said, shaking her head. "It's my turn to organize the Rite of Descension this year, and I was going to ask during the ceremony. But then something this serious happened in your country, and now everything has to give way to it."
"I think you could ask him," Xia Yu said with interest. "It's only a sentence, after all. It won't hold anything up. If need be, just slip it in while telling him about our conversation."
"As for my answer, it's really quite simple. I hope humans can leave the swaddling clothes woven by the gods and start making their own way."
Xia Yu sighed. "Otherwise, Furina wouldn't have given them all these decades. Unfortunately, the Fontainians have disappointed us."
"Perhaps the swaddling clothes we wove for the Fontainians in the past were too cozy, too comfortable, so Fontaine would rather drown in sweet dreams than... Ah."
"Gods aren't omnipotent. The development of a civilization has never been driven by a single powerful individual. If you want my stance, I can only say that if the Fontainians could stand on their own and survive in this world, even with a few stumbles along the way, I'd be very proud."
Xia Yu gestured as she spoke. "You know, it's like that sense of satisfaction when a child you remember barely toddling along can now stride confidently and support themselves with their own two hands."
"It's just a shame the Fontainians haven't risen to the occasion. The swaddling clothes we wove in the past were so comfortable that they won't take a single step outside that cozy haven. But even gods can't protect them forever. One day, they have to leave their Mother and face this world alone."
"That's why we could only expose the Prophecy Crisis and let them know that this country has never been safe. We hope the threat of their nation and people being wiped out will make the Fontainians open their eyes and look at this world that isn't so gentle."
"So... this is how gods see their people?" Keqing's face lit up. "Then doesn't that mean Rex Lapis..."
"I wouldn't presume to guess Geo Archon's attitude," Xia Yu said. "After all, we're of the second generation of gods, and we don't know Geo Archon very well."
"But I think he must be tired too. He's tirelessly watched over a dominion for thousands of years. We've kept at it for five hundred years, and we're already exhausted."
"Gods get tired too?" Lisa sounded a little surprised.
"Emotionally tired, I mean," Xia Yu said with a smile. "Gods are living beings too. And what living being can go forever without getting tired?"
"Then my thinking is right," Keqing said, her eyes sparkling. "Maybe Lord Rex Lapis..."
"Why not ask him when you get back?" Xia Yu urged her. "Geo Archon has always been kind. With my words as a point of comparison, even if you've guessed wrong, he won't give you a hard time."
She reached out and patted Keqing on the shoulder. "Believe in yourself. Don't keep thinking independence is some unforgivable rebellion. I know there must be people who oppose you. After all, to the devout, something like this is unacceptable. In their eyes, you're biting the hand that feeds you, showing ingratitude, and trying to seize a god's authority."
"But that's only the perspective of the devout. Admiration is the emotion furthest from understanding. To them, a god is supreme and inviolable. But has anyone considered things from a god's perspective and thought about how they view their people?"
Xia Yu continued her persuasion. "At least for me, the people are like children."
"What parents in the world would be furious to see their children live independently and support a family?"
"If the Fontainians were that capable, my tears of relief would fill the Court of Fontaine."
"Go ahead and ask. I guarantee there'll be no problem!"
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