Genshin Impact is a big stage, come if you dare

Chapter 937 Distant Relatives

Fortunately, there are many fish-themed dishes that the Merus people love.

Some were damp and sticky, some had a hard, charred crust, and a few were roasted to perfection—enough to keep a human alive.

Paimon chewed and chewed, "The taste is actually not bad, Su, are you really not going to eat some?"

Sue, who was neither as brave nor as greedy as Paimon, stood far away.

Su strongly rejected the resentful smell of salted fish, saying, "Even if I really like Melusin, I still refuse to eat Melusin food!"

Furina: "Should Paimon and I finish Sue's share? It won't go to waste."

Su thought for a moment, "Kong probably hasn't eaten yet, I'll pack my portion for him!"

Funina:......

She suddenly realized that being constantly remembered by Su wasn't necessarily a good thing.

After a lively meal, the group of people packed up and left.

Paimon: "Is this all left?"

Kosa: "It's not leftovers, it's for Mameh and the others."

Su asked in confusion, "Is Mameh home?"

Celine: "Yes, Mameh and the others are still in the planning stages for their trip."

Su took the packed food and said, "I'll deliver it! I'll deliver it!"

The three girls carried the food to Mameh's house.

As a somewhat withdrawn young painter, Mameh's home is in a remote part of Haimo village.

A large tent appeared in the courtyard where easels were set up, and Seymour sat outside the tent.

This tent is the residence of Seymour's owner, Marian, and the little water sprite, Anne.

“It’s a pleasure to see you all again, Miss Sue, Miss Paimon,” Seymour greeted everyone politely, “and Her Highness Furnessa.”

Funina waved her hand reflexively, "I have already resigned from my position as the Water God of Fontaine, so please don't address me as Your Highness."

Seymour: "Understood. This information has been updated to the storage unit. Update complete. Good afternoon, Ms. Funina."

Funina touched her chin. "Is it just my imagination? I feel like this clockwork mechanism is more intelligent and autonomous than the latest models in Fontaine?"

Paimon: "It's not a misperception! Seymour was a prototype machine specially designed and built by that mechanical genius!"

“Yes, Seymour is the ‘guard dog’ that my brother specially designed for me.” The blue-haired girl stepped out of the tent and bowed, lifting the hem of her skirt.

“Hello, Ms. Furna, I am Marianne, the sister of Alan Giordan.”

Funina remembered what Kong had told her about the four children of Narcissus Cross.

“Hello,” Furina said, looking at the Shadow Templar warrior before her. “Agent Marian, congratulations on your retirement.”

Marian paused for a second before breaking into a happy smile. "Thank you, I'm enjoying my retirement."

She was proud to be her brother's sister, and also proud of her status as an outstanding agent of the Shadow Court.

Su asked directly, "Aren't you planning to go on a trip? Where's your first stop?"

“We’re still discussing it,” Marian said honestly. “We were originally planning to visit one of my… distant relatives?”

Marian muttered to herself, "Hmm... she could be considered a relative of mine, right?"

Paimon was puzzled. "Can relatives really be considered relatives? Why are you being so uncertain?"

“Because our relationship is a little complicated,” Marian smiled with a complicated expression, “and I’m not sure if she wants to see me.”

Marian organized her thoughts and briefly recounted her story with her relative.

As Marian lay dying, she was merged with and then separated from Lilith. Marian as a human was dead, but as a pure water spirit, she refused to accept reality and secluded herself in the sanctuary of the Narcissus Cross.

"I don't know how much time passed, but one day, my brother came downstairs to my building."

Alan brought his specially made wind-up doll and called for Marianne to enter the doll's body.

That wind-up doll not only has the ability to learn on its own, but it can also carry a soul and consciousness.

The three girls looked at Marian in surprise as she revealed these secrets.

Paimon: "To carry the soul and consciousness in inorganic matter..."

Sue: "The last person to successfully do this was Remus."

Going back further, there was the Crimson King, who invented the Spirit-Suppressing Structure.

Frynn: "To achieve the status of a demon god with the body of a mortal... Alan Giyodan, worthy of the names of genius and mechanic."

Marian stroked Seymour's head. "Actually, the Seymour that my brother made years ago already had the potential to break through the limits of mechanics and develop self-awareness."

"But he thought that kind of miracle was dangerous and contrary to his goals. So he destroyed all the original results and also set limits for Seymour."

Alain's goal at the time was to save Fontaine from the flood crisis.

To achieve this goal, the more powerful the clockwork mechanism, the better.

However, anything that transcends human intelligence is dangerous and undesirable.

“Alan also rejected René’s ‘mechanical ascension’ plan,” Marian said, removing her hand from Seymour’s head. “He believed that one should be born as a human and die as a human.”

Of the four of them, only Alan achieved this.

Sue thought of Jacob, who had transformed from a human into a non-human.

There's also the failed Carter modification, and the Carterpira born from Carter.

And René, who abandoned everything about being human and wanted to become a transcendent being.

Alain broke with René because he fundamentally disagreed with the practice of reshaping life.

But even someone like Alan would go against his own soul in order to bring his sister back to his side.

He acknowledged that "Marianne" was no longer human, and restarted the dangerous miracle that had been sealed away for many years, wanting "Marianne" to return to his side as the soul of the clockwork doll, as a "new human" who had ascended through mechanical flight.

Marian, who was in the sanatorium, refused Alan's offer.

“I know Alan. Agreeing to his plan will only bring him a moment of pleasure. Afterward, a long and endless torment will completely overwhelm him.”

“I don’t want my existence to be the source of Alan’s pain.”

Marianne recalled the wind-up doll that Alan had made in the shape of her as a human girl.

"Moreover, because that wind-up doll possessed an extremely high self-learning ability, it had already begun to develop the seeds of self-awareness at that time."

Alan forced himself to ignore that point, but Marianne advised him not to run away from it.

"I cannot take over the body of a 'newborn,' even if she was born because of me."

Paimon clicked his tongue in amazement, “...It is indeed a very subtle ‘relative’ relationship.”

It's no wonder that Marian said she wasn't sure if the other person wanted to see her.

"What happened to her...?" Funina was deeply distressed by the fate of that creation.

A creation born to fulfill someone's wishes, once it's determined it's no longer needed...

Did they gain freedom from then on, or... were they abandoned?

“Alan took her back with him and kept her as his assistant,” Marian continued. “Later, when Alan came to Narcissus Cross to tell stories to Anne, he brought her along as well.”

Later, Alan's life as a human came to an end.

It was that wind-up doll that handled Alan's funeral arrangements, burying him near the ruins of the Narcissus Cross.

After that, the wind-up doll also left and never returned.

The story could be considered a happy ending here, and Funina's furrowed brows, which had been furrowed with worry, relaxed.

Sue: "You mentioned before that you were considering whether to visit this 'distant relative,' so you know where she is now?"

Marian nodded. "At the winter solstice. However, because the winter solstice is cold and very dangerous, we are still hesitant."