Fontaine, Palais Mermonia.
"Neuvillette, I'm leaving. I'm putting Fontaine in your hands." Focalors said with a smile.
Finally, she could go out and have fun—and with a perfectly legitimate reason. Bliss.
Neuvillette: "..."
How could he not see it? Focalors… forget it. In any case, whether she helped or not, Fontaine would keep running just fine.
Whatever Furina used to do, Focalors was doing now. He'd even had a brief moment of expectation—turned out it was expectation for nothing.
So, leaving was leaving. It made no difference.
"About the God of Grass… was she Sumeru's Dendro Dragon King in the past?" Before they departed, Neuvillette still asked the question.
"You mean Apep…" Buer knew Neuvillette's identity—she could confirm it through Irminsul.
Neuvillette nodded. The information in his inherited memories was incomplete, so he wasn't very familiar with the other Dragon Kings.
"She's one of the few Elemental Dragon Kings who survived the war against the Heavenly Principles…" Buer gave a brief explanation.
Neuvillette fell into thought. A war against the Heavenly Principles… what an unimaginably ancient age.
Senior Apep could be said to be the oldest surviving Elemental Dragon King in existence.
After Focalors returned, he could find a time to go to Sumeru and pay his respects to that senior.
…
Several gods arrived in Natlan, and Mavuika, the Pyro Archon, was completely stunned. What was going on? It felt like everyone had come to Natlan… except the Hydro Archon.
Natlan was different from the other nations. The so-called "divine power" here wasn't something held by a single person. Ever since she inherited the Pyro Archon's power, she wasn't exactly close with the other gods. She rarely even left Natlan.
"Greetings, seniors." Mavuika said neither servile nor overbearing. As a fellow god, she offered the proper courtesy expected of a junior, while also showing calm composure.
"Mavuika, if we're talking age, I'm actually a bit younger than you." Nahida smiled faintly.
Being called "senior" felt… strangely novel.
"Haha, is that so? I'm not really sure myself." Mavuika scratched her head. She'd never even been to Sumeru—of course she wouldn't know.
Besides, her "age" wasn't something you could measure by ordinary common sense.
"Old man, you're all here too." Venti waved with a grin, Natlan's wine in his hand.
He had no money—Mavuika treated him. That was the friendship between drinking buddies.
"You drunkard—why aren't you staying in your own territory? What are you doing running around everywhere?" Zhongli saw through it at a glance. Venti had definitely been in Natlan for a while.
What a complete vagrant. It was only because Jean and the others were capable enough to keep things under control.
"Hehe, if I'm idle, I'm idle. Might as well wander around." Venti said with a smile. Even if Mondstadt really did have something happen right now, with his mobility he could return quickly.
"Natlan's ley lines…"
As the Geo Archon, Zhongli could easily sense the state of the ley lines.
Compared to other nations, the ley lines here were weak to begin with. And now, because of the Abyss, they were already at their limit.
"Natlan's warriors—Natlan's human god—are marching forward in great strides."
Mavuika smiled. "Senior Morax, I've heard of Liyue's prosperity. Once we resolve the Abyss, how about the two nations exchange more with each other?"
Zhongli nodded. That matter wouldn't be handled by him, but by Ningguang and the others.
"Pyro Archon—shall we spar?"
Raiden Ei's eyes were filled with battle intent. Five hundred years ago, on the Khaenri'ah battlefield, she had seen traces left by the Pyro Archon. That alone was enough to show the Pyro Archon's strength. Back then, she was still drowned in grief after losing her sister, so she simply remembered that incident.
"To spar with the Electro Archon—nothing would please me more. But not right now." Mavuika smiled and shook her head.
She'd heard of the Electro Archon's Musou no Hitotachi—an ultimate pinnacle of swordsmanship.
Raiden Ei nodded in understanding. With Natlan's current situation, Mavuika couldn't afford to be distracted by battle.
"You've come from afar. I'll arrange a table for everyone right away."
Mavuika knew some gods didn't like exposing themselves, and Natlan also wasn't suitable for holding a grand banquet right now.
Lumine leaned in close and laughed softly at Koji's ear. It was a very special "flavor"—most people wouldn't notice it.
"Tasty?"
Koji nodded. Very… smooth.
Buer was the Great Onion Tree King—gentle like water, not passionate like fire.
Koji's harem was her harem too, so she could also go have a "taste test."
"You really are something else." Koji was speechless. What a trashy little sister…
"Oh right—what kind of wedding do you want? A Chinese-style one, or a Western-style one?"
They'd confirmed their relationship for a long time now. They couldn't skip the wedding.
"That's so sudden?" Lumine was caught off guard. She hadn't expected him to suddenly drag the conversation onto that topic.
As for a wedding… she hadn't really thought it through yet. A Chinese-style one sounded great. A Western-style one was fine too.
"Either is fine. We can discuss it together then. But I'm not in a rush either—when you finally stop looking for sisters, we'll hold a wedding together." Lumine said considerately.
"Mm. No problem. We're not short on money." Koji said.
Lumine knew perfectly well Koji wasn't lacking in Mora. She wasn't in a hurry to get married—feelings were already there; even if they never married, it wouldn't really matter.
"Paimon, did you get… bigger?"
Koji looked at Paimon. He remembered that when they'd just fished her up, she hadn't been this big.
Lumine nodded in agreement. She'd spent the longest time with Paimon, so she was the one who most directly felt the change in Paimon's body size.
"Maybe I just ate more, so I grew taller…" Paimon scratched her head. She really did seem to have grown quite a bit.
"Paimon, you're not the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, are you?" Lumine mentally simulated what Paimon would look like after growing up. The resemblance really was… very high.
"I dunno. If I am, then how am I supposed to eat?"
"Of course we eat you right now as emergency food. We fed you for a thousand days, we use you for one moment—after stuffing you with so much Mora, now's the time for you to be useful." Koji opened his mouth and tried to scare Paimon.
And honestly, after growing a bit, she seemed meatier. The texture would probably be pretty good.
Even if it was just a joke, it was worth analyzing—if Xiangling were here right now, she'd already have thought up countless ways to cook Paimon.
"Dame! Paimon isn't food!" Paimon shook her head hard.
"Xiangling once told me she's very interested in you as an ingredient." Koji said with a smile.
That was true. He wasn't joking. Absolutely not making it up out of thin air.
"It's all because of Lumine! She keeps calling me emergency food, so other people treat me like food!" Paimon stomped her feet.
If Lumine didn't say that, Xiangling wouldn't have gotten that idea.
"Ehe~" Lumine copied Venti's lazy brush-off.
"Your 'ehe' is driving me crazy!"
(End of Chapter)
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