Chapter 219 Doing good and eliminating evil, why reject bad...

Leosley gave the half-demon a new name.

"...Main, Mainkuhn?"

After a moment of silence, Paimon looked at the sleeping cat-eared youth beside him with some disbelief.

"So, Duke, you didn't name him Maine because Maine resembles him? I... I thought..."

"Well, I once thought it was just a wonderful coincidence that the name he was given could perfectly match his growth process."

Leosley was filled with mixed emotions as he looked at his sworn brother sleeping soundly beside him and murmured to himself.

"But I never expected that it was my prayers that changed his physical form, causing him to lose his true appearance."

"Leosley..."

Navilette looked at her friend with some concern:

“I think Mainkuhn won’t mind these things. He likes you, so he won’t dislike Maine’s appearance.”

"Speaking of which..."

Leosley suddenly touched his chin:

"I also considered calling him Invincible Heavy Armored Crab and Archangel Sea Gastrodon, since they both seem stronger than Maine Coon."

Navette's breath hitched. "...Really?"

His attention was diverted, and he began to uncontrollably imagine Mainkun retracting into its shell and Mainkun with merusin-like tentacles.

"Just kidding, haha."

Subtly brushing aside the Water Dragon King's concern, Leosley lightly pinched the lynx tuft of fur on the tip of the cat's ear, a feature almost invisible in ordinary cats.

This feeling is amazing.

Rationally, Leosley knew he should be worried about Mainkuen's condition, because the child was like clay, easily molded and shaped by humans.

But emotionally, Leosley couldn't help but feel happy.

Look, this is Mainkuhn, the child I raised myself.

The Duke remained calm on the surface, but he could not hide his excitement. If he hadn't been at the trial, he would have hugged Maine tightly in his arms long ago.

Neither in body nor in soul, he has forgotten my love, not even a little bit!

"Sigh, this is too dangerous. It would be better if it were more ordinary. It's still necessary to deal with it."

After calming himself down, Leosley looked at Nasita.

"It seems something's missing, isn't it? I remember you were also going to show us evidence of why Maine doesn't respond to the wishes of evil people."

"uh-huh?"

Nasita clapped her hands and smiled at him, her eyes full of joy.

"Haven't you figured out the reason yet, dear brother?"

“Where am I supposed to guess?” Leosley shrugged. “If you insist, Mainkuhn has always been a good kid, and it’s only natural that he doesn’t obey bad guys… wait a minute.”

"Children are inherently ignorant; how can they distinguish between good and bad?"

With a sudden realization on Leosley's face, Narcida once again used her divine power to communicate with the World Tree.

The screams of children echoed through the opera house:

"Mainkuhn!! You're causing trouble again! I'll teach you a lesson!"

That was when the half-demon was two or three years old. He had not yet shown any obvious strangeness, nor had he been locked in a room by his 'parents'.

However, its immense destructive power has only just begun to show.

"Waaaaah!"

Little May, with her long tail trailing behind her, ran around frantically while being chased by her 'brothers and sisters', finally burying her head in Leosley's arms.

"Brother, save me!"

"What's wrong?"

Leosley shielded him, hiding him behind her, while facing the others.

"You're still asking!"

The boy in the lead said aggressively, "That kid actually chewed the chair leg off, making me fall flat on my face when I sat down!"

"My teeth are itchy, I want to bite something..."

Maine explained in a low voice, his tail drooping to the ground.

"There's more than one!"

Another girl was furious, "He tore the tablecloth I just repaired again!"

"While eating, my fingernail scratched the table..."

These are mistakes that kittens inevitably make, but in the barren world of human orphans, some are hard to forgive.

"How can you blame me? I was trying my best to be careful!"

Enraged by the encirclement, Xiaomei couldn't control her temper and bared her immature fangs at the boy in the lead.

"You bad guys! Don't you dare tell your brother anything again, or I'll bite you!!"

"You can't do this! Mainkuhn!!"

Before his brothers and sisters could protest or blame him, Leosley took the initiative to pull him out and cover his mouth.

Are you going to hurt someone because you made a mistake first?

The sworn brother's face showed an unusual sternness, which startled Mainkuen.

"elder brother?"

After a brief moment of shock came endless grievances. Mainkuen tossed his head, hugged little Leo's leg, and began to cry.

"But...but I didn't mean to! I just couldn't control myself, waaaaah!!"

“…I know, Maine.”

Leosley hardened his heart and softened his tone immediately, reaching out to gently stroke the kitten's head.

"You're not a bad kid, you're just a little special."

As soon as he touched her, Mainkuen couldn't help but rub her ear against his hand, whimpering and begging for more favoritism: "Since you know that, brother should be on my side, on my side—"

Mainkuhn was just trying to act cute; he was too young to understand the worry in his older brother's eyes.

"No, Maine, no, it is precisely because you are different that you have to put in more effort."

He touched Little Mei's unusual ears, looked into his unique eyes, and his heart ached at his lonely figure.

An outsider, a strange outsider, an ostracized outsider, whose future is destined to be bumpy at first glance.

Leosley grew increasingly frightened, so much so that he couldn't help but bend down and hug the unique child tightly.

"Maine, at home you must respect your parents and be harmonious with your siblings; outside you must do good and eliminate evil, help the weak, do many good deeds, and eradicate many bad things... Only in this way will everyone accept you."

"Mainkuhn, this will be tough, and you might get hurt, but please promise me you'll do it, okay?"

"Hmm?"

Maine was completely unaware of Leo's concerns, but he keenly sensed a bitter undercurrent in the air.

So he quickly made a promise:

"Okay! I promise you everything, don't be sad, brother!"

"Good Maine."

A faint smile appeared on Leo's face as he wiped away the child's tears.

"Don't be afraid, I will always be with you."

The video paused, and Nasita looked at the stunned Leosley.

“Brother, your wish is above all other wishes.”

"You brought a beautiful seed to the world, and the tree that grew into it sheltered the earth with its canopy of leaves, hiding you, me, and all peoples."

She clapped her little hands with a smile.

"It's a two-way journey, that's great."

...

"I never expected something like this to happen."

Duke, Duke, the prison hound of the deep sea, the gatekeeper of justice.

What do you use to nourish your infant? What do you use to guide your child? What do you use to turn your youth back from the wrong path time and time again, leading them onto the thorny right path?

Rejoice, for he who sows will reap.

"It seems there's no way to wrest Mainkun from him."

Seno turned around abruptly and looked at his companions.

"Because it would create a deadly feud."

From afar, Tinari saw Leosley's gaze towards the Wise King gradually shift from bewilderment to awe, and finally to an unwavering resolve, as if he had made a difficult decision.

"...He simply set the tone for Mainkuen's entire life. He was more than a spiritual parent to him. Even the entire nation of Sumeru could not match his importance."

"So what? Sumeru needs a leader, and that person cannot be me."

Elhesen's determination was unwavering; he looked up at the images with his head held high.

"Why belittle yourself? Leosley may have painted a border, but the drink is always more important than the bottle, look."

With all the evidence complete and without omission, Naxida switched her memories back to the time when the people of Sumeru had just deduced the half-demon's origins.

"If too many people hate you, you will die, King Li."

The facts had been laid bare before Maine, but cats are stubborn as nails.

"I know why I'm moving forward; that goal is more important than my life."

He turned and left, intending to rush towards malice, but was blocked by the people who should have been the victims.

"I will die trying to persuade you! If you leave again, I will kill myself!"

What stopped the half-demon in his tracks was not swords and force, but a series of seemingly joking threats.

But Mainkun did indeed stop.

He was afraid of losing it.

Amidst the King's resentment and tears, Teyvat's first cross-border chat terminal was born in Nasita's hands, a conduit for the scholars' aspirations.

“I want him to have a true, free, and unfettered soul.”

"Everyone!"

There was no need to hide it anymore, and Nasita solemnly touched her chest to the audience.

"Our will to stand here has been made clear to you!"

She preached not only to the audience in the opera house, but also to audiences from all over the world, throughout Tewat.

"No need for Mora or money, just a wish and a little kindness."

Nasita raised her arm, pointing high toward the dock; no further explanation was needed, she simply needed to rally the troops.

"Kind people, please join me in this unprecedented act of salvation!"

"interesting."

Abedo twirled his paintbrush, gazing at the scene before him. "Couldn't the Kingdom of Sumeru have essentially given Mainkuen a second life? This trial is likely to plunge the country into chaos."

"Anyway, we in Mondstadt can't steal it no matter what, it'll be more fun to watch them fight." Kaeya, always eager for a good show, didn't forget his business. He asked, "How's the collection of willpower going? Is it enough for you to perform the Creation Technique?"

"oh."

Abedo looked up and saw the box containing the severed half-demon's arm placed in the center of the array, shining brightly under the influence of the power of will.

"After creating the soul and reshaping the body, there will probably still be a lot left. After the ceremony, we need to seal that broken bone to prevent it from being used to make wishes."

Diluc interjected, "Just destroy it."

“Oh?” Abedo raised an eyebrow with interest. “Does Lord Diluc have any wishes he wants to fulfill?”

"Of course."

Diluc gave his troublesome adopted brother a cold look.

"But those wishes only have meaning if I achieve them with my own hands."

Kaiya shrugged, glancing sideways at the defendant's dock. "You're not just jealous that those two brothers are getting along so well, are you?"

"Don't feel inferior, you are just as good as them."

Aberdo calmly praised:

“I also have a portrait of the two of you embracing face to face, though it’s probably not as clear as the images that follow.”

"...Tear it up!!" ×2

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Author's Note: There are still repeated lines, specifically in Chapter 4, around the middle section.

[...Mainkuhn, you are different from others, so at home you must respect your parents and be harmonious with your siblings; outside you must do good, eliminate evil, and help the weak.]

Only in this way will people accept you.

The same line appeared in Chapter 5, during Mainkun's attack on Kujavina.

From Chapter 4 to now, spanning over two hundred chapters, this circle has finally come full circle.

It's so long, I never want to work on such a long outline again.

I will only write about Mondstadt Inazuma briefly, because there is more content I want to write about next.