Genshin Impact: Towards Godhood

Rama didn't have anything specific he needed Faruzan to do.

His actions were obvious, like explicitly telling Faruzan how expensive each alchemical potion she took for her health was. This clearly indicated he was doing her a favor and expected something in return.

So Faruzan made a logical guess.

She thought that Rama must have something he wanted her to do.

But Rama wasn't asking for a favor; he was putting her in his debt or holding something over her so she would help him.

When you give something, you naturally expect something in return.

This theory is usually correct, but there's a slightly different situation.

When saving someone is the goal itself, Rama didn't mind paying some dispensable cost as leverage.

Because what he sought wasn't the person's repayment but for them to stay alive.

This was an investment based on his basic goodwill towards the characters in the story.

Alchemical potions, once the technology is mastered, cost and sell at two extremes.

The main cost of the potions usually isn't the materials but the time and money invested in research, which is the major expense in medical research.

The technology itself is the most valuable part, but once the technology is developed, the cost and selling price of the potions... add two zeros to the cost of the materials, and you have the selling price.

Rama had a small cultivation base, further reducing costs.

Faruzan knew the selling price and, after taking the potions and seeing the improvement in her health, found the price justified. So she didn't dispute it.

From her experience, the price was a great deal, a fair trader.

But for Rama, who had cracked the technical issues, the cost of the potions was quite low.

He didn't mind paying for his goodwill from his memories, as it wasn't expensive.

Of course, low cost doesn't mean low value.

The technology itself is worth that price; when selling medicine or weapons, you're selling the technology.

Faruzan didn't understand this. She made conventional judgments but faced the unconventional Rama.

"As for what I need you to do..." Rama thought for a moment. "Be a double agent."

Give her something to do.

In the end, Faruzan could say, "It was just a failed experiment. As a scholar, who hasn't experienced a few failures?" She had come to terms with it or had no choice but to accept reality.

You may cry and regret it deeply, but that's the power of time.

It's been a hundred years; no matter how much you regret or lament, what's lost won't come back.

This isn't complicated, but for those involved to accept and admit this truth is difficult.

After all, the pain was theirs to bear.

"A double agent? You want me to return to the Akademiya and use my position to help you gather intelligence?" 

Faruzan pondered for a moment. "You saved my life; this is a life-saving grace."

"If you want to use this grace to make me do something, and I refuse, I'd have to give my life back to you. That's only fair and reasonable."

"But I'm a rainforest person. The Akademiya has never wronged me. My teachers and friends are rainforest people. I can't betray them for myself."

"Calculating too precisely, keeping track of every favor to repay, will make life very tough," Rama smiled. "You could also agree superficially and then forget about it."

"Or find some irrelevant information and complain about how hard it is to me."

"I would never do that!" Faruzan shook her fist.

"So you plan to betray the Akademiya, betraying the rainforest that has treated you so well?" Rama asked, intrigued. "I know the rainforest oppresses the desert, but our stances differ. My only thought is to crush the Akademiya."

"But the rainforest people enjoy these benefits and privileges. What do you think of that?"

Faruzan fell silent.

"I don't know," she admitted.

Emotionally and logically, Rama had saved her life and spared no expense to restore her health.

Faruzan recalled that she didn't think she could survive.

She had forgotten how she escaped the ruins, but undoubtedly, returning to the rainforest was almost impossible.

Even if she had returned, the Akademiya's medical methods might not have ensured her recovery.

Having received such grace, she naturally had to repay it, especially a life-saving debt.

But Rama had everything, and she had nothing he needed.

Repaying a favor means giving something the other wants, right?

Just giving what you have and declaring the debt settled is awkward.

And the one thing Rama needed her to do went against her personal beliefs.

Rama explained it well.

To the desert people, the Akademiya is an oppressor.

But to the rainforest people, the Akademiya's rule is just and benevolent.

In Faruzan's academic career, she never felt the Akademiya had wronged her. Quite the opposite; in the rainforest part of Sumeru, where medical services were free, she had received significant benefits from the Akademiya.

"Why is it so complicated?"

The girl sighed and, uncharacteristically, stamped her foot in frustration.

"That's it?" Rama said with a smile. "In your life, this difficulty is just an appetizer."

Faruzan shivered inside.

Since waking up, she had asked Rama many things, but he always avoided certain topics.

Faruzan had a premonition that her being sealed in the mechanism had far more significant implications than she had imagined.

"Take a look at this book."

Rama tossed over a book from the Haravatat faction.

"Many contents in this book come from Faruzan's discussions and manuscripts. We hope that when Faruzan returns to the Akademiya, future students will still remember her name."

"Faruzan... a predecessor?" Faruzan pointed at herself in surprise. "Me?"

"I shouldn't pity you; your suffering wasn't mine. Showing pity would be rude."

Rama's words were filled with pity nonetheless. "But you've rested long enough. It's time to wake up and face reality."

"Centenarian Faruzan," his voice hit Faruzan's mind like a rock, "from the time you entered the ruins to today, the world has moved on for a hundred years."

"You are a hundred years behind this world."

He softly unveiled the unsettling truth in the girl's heart, raw and bloody.

(End of Chapter)