102. I Think I Should Teach You To Be a Man of Culture

"And, did you ever see her sword being pulled? What do you think? It's…it's amazing, isn't it?" Ryūhei asked in anticipation with his smile slowly becoming wider and wider. However…

"Yeah, the sword is pretty amazing." Zhongli replied with a straight face while nodding.

"I'm not talking about the sword, dammit!! Are you even a man?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Zhongli was puzzled by this since he didn't really understand.

"Man. I think I should teach you to be a man of culture." Ryūhei said with a sigh. With that, the plan to corrupt the Archon began.

Putting the jokes aside, Ryūhei thought that the oldest Archon was the strongest among the Archons. However, he didn't expect Zhongli to admit that the Raiden Shogun had an attack power stronger than the scale of an island in one attack.

He knew the current Raiden Shogun had just a puppet body and he wasn't sure if the Raiden Shogun could gain her former power which would be on that frightening scale. Even so, he had to prepare thoroughly just in case. However…

"A small country scale, eh? Thanks for the clarification, Mr. Zhongli."

As if knowing what Ryūhei wanted to do, he couldn't help but say,

"You don't have to force yourself. You can try to convince her through her familiar. I've known her for a long time and she is a god who is very skilled in fighting. Far superior to the previous Electro Archon. Therefore, fighting her directly is not a wise decision." Zhongli warned him from doing something reckless. Although he knew how powerful Ryūhei's techniques were, he still couldn't believe that Ryūhei could defeat the Raiden Shogun.

Ryūhei was thankful for his warning. And after knowing that, Ryūhei admitted to himself that he was a little relieved.

"I have to be thankful for this information. Because of this, I can prepare a lot of things in advance." Ryūhei stated. "Oh, right. I want to go to the City of Mondstadt to deliver the manga today. Do you—*ahem*"

Ryūhei almost said, 'Do you want anything from there, Mr. Zhongli?' Thankfully he held back. If he said that, the Geo Archon in front of him would cough his wallet dry.

After clearing his throat, he said again.

"What do you think about Mondstadt, Mr. Zhongli?"

"Hmmm. Mondstadt is—"

Zhongli explained at length. With his explanation, Ryūhei was more or less understood about that nation. After that, he said goodbye to Zhongli after a few inquiries.

As Ryūhei walked back alone, he pondered to himself.

'The Archons' strength is at least a country-level power. Perhaps, a continental-level power. Rimuru is way more powerful than them because I created him based on all the information I got from the novel, thankfully. And I guess, I need to do "that" to boost my own strength, whether physical or spiritual.'

It seemed Ryūhei did something as if it was according to his plan by buying the Tensura novel. After all, some characters in that novel could unleash a cosmic-level power. Power scales often appear in anime. However, since the term battle power was already introduced in Dragon Ball, he somewhat understood the term called power scale.

Rimuru's power should be slightly above cosmic-level. Meanwhile, the Annihilation Maker seems to have limits and the current Rimuru only has less power. But at least Rimuru has a stellar-level power scale.

And if that was the case, then…

'Hehehe. I don't need to worry too much after knowing all of those. Let's just follow Zhongli's plan since he wanted the people in Liyue to get along with Adepti. As for the Raiden Shogun, I'll just wait for Ayato to get the hearts of common folks and those who suffered under the decrees. Then, I can take care of the Raiden Shogun. In addition, I need to know who had the nerve to scheme my nation from the dark.'

Since Ryūhei estimated based on Zhongli's statement that the Archons in this world could only unleash at least a small country battle power, or worst could be a continental level, Ryūhei was relieved. For real.

Rimuru was re-created based on the novel knowledge after Ryūhei felt something wasn't right the first time he created Rimuru. Strangely enough, Rimuru seemed to have his own consciousness and curiosity as Rimuru also wanted to know about Ryūhei. When he asked Rimuru the last thing he remembered, he said that he was dead by unknown means. In addition, his memories as Mikami Satoru seemed too vague although he remembered a few things like manga, anime, or ero games. Knowing that, Ryūhei decided to test and asked him directly what kind of experience he had in that world as a pretense to knowing him better.

Ryūhei was sure that Rimuru didn't die in the novel. So, he came to the conclusion that this might be a perk of his Annihilation Maker to create more "live" creatures, maybe. With that, Ryūhei also had to be careful with his words.

However, after understanding all of the matters regarding Rimuru, the thing he was sure of was that his creations were unconditionally loyal to him spiritually. His creations didn't notice, but Ryūhei did.

Well, having a guy, or rather a slime with its own consciousness might be a good thing as if he had a friend from the same origin, Earth.

Meanwhile, knowing that Rimuru had a lot of friends, followers, and subordinates, Rimuru regretted that he couldn't meet them anymore. And while his system was gone, he still retained his power. Well, Ryūhei was his system anyway.

And after making sure of the power scale of the Archons, Ryūhei decided.

"Rimuru, what do you think if I summon your friends?"

This question naturally surprised him. However, he was kind of worried if Ryūhei decided to do that.

—————

Arriving at his company, Ryūhei packed up the manga ordered by someone from Mondstadt, as well as packed up more manga and novels, in case someone interested in buying them. He also visited his game company before setting off.

Ayaka also followed Ryūhei after saying that she wanted to know more about Ryūhei. Ryūhei didn't really mind that so he welcomed her to come along.

After finishing their preparation, Ryūhei and Ayaka, along with Rimuru and Pikachu set off toward the nation of freedom, Mondstadt.

Before they passed through the main gate, a lady's voice with a mixture of sweetness sounded behind him.

"Mister Niwa, please wait!"

Ryūhei turned around and saw a cute lady with a pale complexion, bright turquoise eyes, and salmon pink-colored shoulder-length hair. Her outfit was similar to that of a train conductor.

"Hello, Miss Charlotte." Ryūhei greeted her.

She was a lady from Fontaine and worked as a journalist for The Steambird, a newspaper company in Fontaine. She was also the person who wanted to interview Ryūhei previously.

Honestly, Ryūhei didn't mind being interviewed by her because it would make his companies known worldwide.

"Do you want to make a trip again? Even though you just arrived? I want to interview you!" Charlotte seems unsatisfied after being rejected by him not just once. Her sullen expression could tell him that.

"Can we do that another time? I promise I'll spare my time at the end of this month. And I'll do my best to answer all your questions at that time." Feeling bad about rejecting her, Ryūhei promised her spare time.

"Really?"

"Yup. Honestly, you can interview my servants, you know."

"Hehehe. But I think interviewing the youngest successful entrepreneur would be more valuable."

"So be it. Anyway, I can only promise you at the end of this month. Non-negotiable."

"Humu, in that case, see you later!"

Since Ryūhei already promised her, she walked away energetically with a spring in each of her steps, showing that she was happy.

As a journalist, she would interview the supposed target directly as it would make a proofread article. It wasn't her style if she would make an article based on the assumption alone. Therefore, hearing that Ryūhei was willing to be interviewed, she was naturally happy.

But then, she stopped all of a sudden.

"Wait! If that's the direction, does he want to go to Mondstadt? Or maybe not. He also walked through the main gate at the beginning of the month and returned again with a lady from Inazuma. So maybe he wants to send the lady back."

—————

Meanwhile, Xingqiu, Chongyun, and Xinyan were invited by Yun Jin to her house.

Her house was spick and span, the windows were clean, and the home ornaments were hand-made and immaculately arranged. When they walked to a certain spot, Xingqiu noticed all the dishes were neatly arranged on the table and the cake was prepared in the middle of the table.

And then…

"Happy belated birthday, Xingqiu." Yun Jin, Chongyun, and Xinyan said simultaneously.

Xingqiu was stunned by this. He didn't expect that Yun Jin and the others would prepare his birthday party although it was a few days late. He was so touched. No wonder he couldn't find Chongyun the other day.

Initially, the three of them wanted to invite Ryūhei to this surprise. However, because Ryūhei had not been in Liyue since the beginning of the month, the three of them acted by themselves to celebrate Xingqiu's 17th birthday. Moreover, Ryūhei also looked so busy after coming back.

After congratulating Xingqiu, they prayed to Rex Lapis for Xingqiu's blessing since it was his birthday.

"Too bad, Ryūhei isn't here." Yun Jin said.

"Guess what. He has to spend his quality time with his fiancée, you know." Xinyan replied to her. "But, it's weird. Didn't you say that he's your sworn brother? How come that he's unaware of your birthday?"

Xingqiu shrugged his shoulders.

"I never told him and I never got around to discussing it either."

"So, neither of you know each other's birthday?"

"You can say so."

"Weirdos."

"So be it."

They exchanged a few questions before Chongyun said, "Let's play a game!"

Then, he took out a deck of Yu★Gi★Oh cards, Let's Get Rich, and Uno.

"Which one?" Chongyun asked.

"Let's play Uno!" Yun Jin exclaimed. She was addicted to this kind of game since it was fun to play alongside friends. And seeing her expression, everyone immediately agreed.

And…Chongyun ended in complete defeat since both Xingqiu and Yun Jin targeted him mischievously with a lot of action cards.

———————

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