Kaeya and Amber were leading Lumine toward the Knights of Favonius. Paimon floated beside them, chattering away about everything that had happened to her that day.
"Ronava, are you ready?"
"Always ready."
"Then-the show begins."
A black-and-red feather sliced through the air, shooting like an arrow straight at Lumine's back.
Lumine spun sideways, her sword already in hand. "Who's there!"
Amber nocked an arrow and drew her bow, while Kaeya drew his sword. The three stood back to back, watching their surroundings.
The feather dissolved in midair, and in its place appeared a girl in a black dress.
Dark red patterns were embroidered along its hem, resembling some kind of ancient runes.
She hovered in the air, her long hair stirring without a breeze, her icy gaze fixed on Lumine.
"Outlander, your journey ends here."
She raised a hand, her voice ethereal and commanding. "The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles is here to bring an end to the arrogation of mankind."
Black feathers poured down like a torrential rain, blotting out the sky as they surged toward Lumine.
Lumine tightened her grip on her sword but did not dodge. They were too fast, too numerous. There was nowhere to escape.
She closed her eyes, and her brother's face flashed through her mind.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
The pain she expected never came.
Lumine opened her eyes and saw the black feathers circle around and fly back to Ronava, obediently gathering into a cluster like a flock of well-behaved sparrows.
"Ronava, got it, got it!" Ye Xuan jumped down from a rooftop, holding up a strange square box.
"Look at that little face, like she's given up on life-surprise, despair, defiance, all written on that pretty face that can't speak for itself. Absolutely marvelous!"
Ronava leaned over for a look and tilted her head. "Why is your Kamera different from Istaroth's?"
"I got it from a friend. It's called a camera, much more advanced than the ones in Teyvat." Ye Xuan studied the result with satisfaction.
A certain blond whom Ye Xuan had threatened in a private message was hiding in a corner, wrapped in a blanket and secretly wiping away tears.
Paimon was the first to react. She flew up in front of Ye Xuan with her hands on her hips. "Hey! You can't just pop out and scare people like that!"
Kaeya was already a little wet.
This little thing was tiny, but her courage was enormous.
Lumine, however, paid no attention to the prank.
She stared intently at Ronava, her voice trembling slightly. "What you just said... it was exactly the same as what that god said. Do you know her? Do you know where my brother is?"
Ronava raised an eyebrow, her tone cold. "Why should I tell you?"
Obviously.
Lumine and Ronava could be considered enemies-even if it was only because of a few misunderstandings, Ronava would not be kind enough to point an enemy in the right direction.
Ye Xuan patted Ronava on the shoulder and cheerfully took over:
"Ronava, it's not easy for a mute to speak, so I'll give her a hand. That god is called Asmoday, and she's Ronava's colleague."
"She took a fancy to your brother, and the two of them ran off to spend time alone together, dumping all their work on Ronava. That's why Ronava gets angry whenever she sees you and wanted to give you a scare."
Lumine froze. "My brother... how could he?"
"You don't believe me?"
"What you're saying sounds like it has a nose and eyes." Lumine frowned. "But I reject it from the depths of my soul."
"Why?"
Lumine looked utterly serious, her expression even a little twisted. "With the way my brother is, how could any goddess take a fancy to him? And force her love on him? Dream on!"
Ye Xuan choked.
Aether, what kind of image do you have in your sister's heart?
He coughed and changed the subject. "Actually, you don't need to go to all that trouble looking for your brother. He's deliberately hiding from you, so you won't find him. Maybe your every move is right under his nose. Rather than waste your time on that, why not think about what to eat tonight? Do you have enough Mora?"
The moment Paimon heard "eat," she perked right up. "Yeah, yeah! What are we eating tonight, Lumine?"
"You."
"Paimon doesn't taste good! I told you, Paimon isn't emergency food!"
Ye Xuan rubbed his chin and offered a perfectly serious analysis. "I'm telling you, you should eat Paimon sooner rather than later. This little thing's food bill is at least three hundred thousand Mora a month. If you feed her for a month and then eat her, you'll take a massive loss."
Lumine nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense."
"Then let's find a pot and stew her. I haven't eaten anything today-Sweet Madam-e, how does that dish sound?"
"Just hearing the name is making my mouth water."
What a pair of scumbags.
Paimon stamped her feet in anger, looked left and right, and finally hid behind Amber.
Of all the people there, only this Outrider looked like a good person.
Amber didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She reached back to shield Paimon. "All right, all right, stop scaring her. Come on, my treat. Let's get a meal at Good Hunter."
Paimon immediately poked her head out. "Really?!"
"Really, really."
Ye Xuan put away the Kamera and dusted off his hands. "Well, that's great. Ronava, let's go. Someone's treating us."
Ronava said nothing and silently followed.
As she passed Lumine, she paused for a moment, then continued walking as if nothing had happened.
Lumine watched her retreating figure, feeling that the pause held something left unsaid.
With the dragon crisis over, the shops had reopened.
The aroma from Good Hunter drifted halfway down the street.
"It's so good! Can I have another one, Amber?!"
Paimon held a half-eaten Sweet Madame, longing written all over her little grease-slicked face.
"I suppose... you can." Amber opened her purse and glanced at the few Mora she had left. Her smile froze, but she still tried to keep up appearances.
It was the end of the month. The Knights of Favonius would not pay her salary for several more days.
Ye Xuan and Ronava had shared one, while she and Lumine had one each. She had worked it all out perfectly-three chickens for five people, just right.
But Paimon had polished off three all by herself!
Three!
Every Sweet Madame was bigger than her entire body, yet she had stuffed all three into that tiny frame of hers.
Amber looked at Paimon's flat stomach and fell into thought.
Just moments ago, she had thought Ye Xuan was exaggerating when he said "Paimon's food bill is at least three hundred thousand Mora a month."
Now it seemed he had underestimated it.
Amber silently calculated her remaining budget and reached a conclusion.
For the next few days, she would either have to look for Sunsettias in the wild to stave off her hunger or swallow her pride and mooch meals off Eula.
Lord Barbatos, Anemo Archon, please watch over me.
Lumine put down her chicken leg, wiped her mouth, and looked at Paimon seriously. "Paimon, you need to eat in moderation. You ate more than the four of us put together."
Although she did not look very smart, she had noticed Amber's little gesture when she checked her purse.
Someone else was treating them to this meal, but from now on, she would be the one feeding Paimon. If she didn't get Paimon into good habits, she really wouldn't be able to afford her.
Paimon pouted aggrievedly and looked down at the last chicken butt on her plate. She poked it with her little fork and nibbled at it one tiny bite at a time.
Amber gave Lumine a grateful look.
Ye Xuan leaned back in his chair, picking his teeth, and spoke lazily. "I thought we were here to eat at a rich person's expense, but it turns out she's even poorer than we are. Boss, put our bill on the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's tab."
He turned to Lumine. "Amber paid for yours."
Paimon's eyes lit up. "What about me? What about me?"
"You?" Ye Xuan looked her up and down. "You can stay here and wash dishes to pay off your debt."
Paimon's face fell at once.
Ronava asked, puzzled, "Don't we have Mora? Why put it on the tab?"
She still had Keqing's ten million Mora unused in her storage space.
Ye Xuan slapped the table and declared righteously, "What a joke! I'm a live-in son-in-law of the Hu family. If I paid with my own money, wouldn't being a live-in son-in-law be for nothing?"