"It seems I can't persuade you."
Zhongli gave up. He had tried his best to list Ningguang's virtues to change Durandal's perception of her, but after saying so much, Durandal remained unmoved.
It wasn't that she felt nothing at all, but the impact wasn't strong enough. It had to be something more direct, something that could move Durandal more, to cause a slight tremor in Durandal's heart.
"It seems this answer can only be found by you yourself. Only what you see with your own eyes can convince you; relying on information heard from others is useless."
Hearing is believing; no matter how many good things Durandal heard about Ningguang, it couldn't compare to witnessing Ningguang's excellent performance with her own eyes.
To convince herself to accept Ningguang, Durandal had to see the other party's merits with her own eyes; otherwise, the matter would not progress.
Well, she didn't expect that even the invincible Geo Archon couldn't solve her problem. It seemed she could only seek other ways to solve it.
Shaking her head regretfully, before Yun Jin's performance ended, Durandal went to the place where one could give tips, offered a considerable amount of Mora, and then left.
This sudden action attracted the attention of a small group of people. After seeing it was Durandal, they withdrew their gaze.
Among these people was Yun Jin, who was performing on stage. Seeing that the other party had left without even finishing her performance, she felt a bit unconvinced and also somewhat puzzled.
Did she dislike her performance? It seemed her skills were still lacking and needed further refinement.
Durandal didn't know how much impact her sudden departure had on Miss Yun. After leaving Heyu Tea House, she first went home, finding that Lumine and Paimon hadn't returned. They must have gone to undertake some commission.
Shenhe was not at home either, and there was nothing to do at home, so Durandal could only go out into the street again, leisurely touring Liyue Harbor, much like Zhongli on his usual strolls.
She went to many places alone, starting with Xiangling's Wanmin Restaurant. Because it was midday, there were many people, and Chef Mao was a bit overwhelmed.
Fortunately, Xiangling was not out on a culinary training trip this time, which reduced a lot of his pressure. At the same time, Guoba also helped serve dishes and occasionally performed various difficult moves in front of the diners, making them laugh and reducing the irritation caused by waiting.
Watching Guoba perform, Durandal couldn't help but think that this God, who had lost his power, truly had no dignity. However, being so approachable was probably also why Xiangling kept him by her side.
Durandal had lunch at Wanmin Restaurant, and under Xiangling's warm welcome, she tasted her new dish.
The new dish again featured Slime as an ingredient. This time, the new dish was fish, and it had to be said that the combination of Slime and fish could truly be described as explosive.
To make this dish even more impactful, Xiangling also added jueyun chili, which increased its potency by several percentage points.
At least, ordinary diners wouldn't be able to eat this incredibly potent dish, but Durandal was different. She could taste it expressionlessly and offer her opinion.
Xiangling carefully noted every word Durandal said, planning to make improvements later, striving to make it a dish that could be served to diners.
Under the admiring gazes of the diners, Durandal left Wanmin Restaurant and then went to Northland Bank to see if there were any new light novels.
Recently, Northland Bank seemed to have a collaboration with Yae Publishing House in Inazuma, displaying many light novels from Inazuma.
Durandal curiously picked up a book and read the title: "Reincarnated as a Hilichurl, I Can Keep Getting Stronger by Eating Sunsettia"? Uwah~! What a long name! Is this really a book title? Aren't book titles usually very short?
And getting stronger by eating Sunsettia? She knew about Sunsettia; it was a fruit that could be found easily in the wild with a little searching.
If Hilichurls could get stronger just by eating Sunsettia, then this continent would probably have been ruled by Hilichurls long ago.
"Such a strange premise, but if it can be published and sold here in Liyue Harbor, does that mean its sales are quite good?"
She didn't understand what was going on with human preferences, that even such a light novel had a market. Could it be... that there really were people who fantasized about being Hilichurls?
Ignoring this book that made one want to complain, Durandal turned her gaze to the next one.
Hmm~ "Reincarnated as the Raiden Shogun, Then Unrivaled in the World"? Another reincarnation type? This one was better, at least it was still a person, but... Raiden Shogun? This, apparently, is the Electro Archon of Inazuma, right?
Reincarnated as the Electro Archon? They really dared to write that. By the way, is it really okay to write such books in Inazuma? If it reached the person herself, wouldn't there be trouble? Would her subordinates allow such books to be published?
Other than these, the other light novels were quite normal, except they all had one common characteristic: their titles were like sentences, not in the format of normal light novel titles.
Regardless, since they could be published, they must have been approved. Anyway, she had nothing else to do, so she paid for these new light novels and found a spot to read them quietly.
It had to be said, these light novels were quite interesting. Although she didn't understand some of the plots and some of the settings, the plot was very good and kept her wanting to read on.
"Human emotions... are they all like this?"
Durandal looked thoughtfully at the light novel in her hand. This was a light novel about a male protagonist and seven female protagonists.
Seven female protagonists, each corresponding to a day of the week, and each with a different personality. The only thing they had in common was their affection for the male protagonist.
She wondered where this male protagonist got such strong charm, to have these sisters so captivated. The subsequent plot also revolved around his interactions with the seven sisters.
By the way... in her understanding, most humans usually give birth to one Children at a time, occasionally twins and triplets. These seven... apparently, they were septuplets? What is this, pigs?
Never mind, it's a novel plot; it shouldn't be taken seriously. As long as the content is interesting, that's enough. There's no need to dwell on these strange settings.
By the time Durandal finished all the light novels, it was already afternoon. As she put down the last book, she organized the information from these light novels in her mind.
Quite interesting, they served as a pastime when there was nothing else to do. Durandal was very willing to spend Mora on these light novels, it's just that... the subsequent content hadn't been released yet.
According to the owner, the later content had not yet been published and needed to be released in Inazuma, then after a period of time, it could be sold in Liyue.
Which meant that the authors of the light novels were all in Inazuma, right?
The next nation they were going to was Inazuma, right? It seemed that when they were operating in Inazuma, they could conveniently visit the homes of these authors and ask them how their light novels were progressing.
Having set this goal, Durandal left Northland Bank and went to the place where people usually saw doctors.
As night approached, the once lively atmosphere gradually became deserted, and there were far fewer children playing there.
Among them were also some elderly people who had eaten dinner and were resting there.
"Hmm? Is that... Ningguang?"
Durandal thought she had seen wrong, but after observing carefully, she found that Ningguang was indeed there, and in front of her were a few children.
The atmosphere among them was very good. The children were not afraid of Ningguang, despite her being the Tianquan Star. They gathered happily around Ningguang, seemingly listening to her say something.
She... wasn't working at the Jade Chamber. What was she doing here? Could it be... that these children were not as simple as they appeared, and they were actually helping Ningguang with something?
With such doubts, Durandal walked over, wanting to see what on earth Ningguang was up to.
"Ah! It's Big Sister Durandal!"
The girl who was chatting with Ningguang noticed Durandal approaching, and the other two boys also turned their gaze towards Durandal upon hearing her.
Durandal had a good relationship with the children of Liyue Harbor. Part of it was because she helped people with illnesses, and another reason was that she didn't look much older than them, making it easy for them to feel close to her.
Ningguang didn't expect to see Durandal here. Thinking of the unpleasant experience in the morning, she was a bit worried if Durandal would cause trouble for her here.
But in front of the children, she didn't want to show a bad side, so she could only brace herself and face Durandal's gaze.
"Aren't you eating? Why are you still playing here?"
"Because we haven't seen Sister Ningguang in a long time, we'll go back after spending a little more time with her, Sister Durandal, you don't have to worry about us."
"Hmph, why should I worry about you? What does your safety have to do with me?"
Durandal snorted lightly, her words making the three Children look at each other, unable to help but laugh.
Sure enough, Sister Durandal hadn't changed at all. When they first met, they were scared by Durandal's way of speaking and thought she was difficult to get along with.
But later, when she handed them candy and told them to behave, they knew Durandal wasn't as scary as they imagined.
The truth was just as they thought: Durandal was just cold on the outside but warm on the inside; she was a very good person.
"Why are you with the Tianquan Star? Do you know her?"
Durandal's gaze moved back and forth between Ningguang and the Children. The Children, unaware of the situation, heard this question and thought Ningguang and Durandal knew each other, perhaps even good friends, and immediately broke into happy smiles.
How wonderful! Their two favorite sisters were actually good friends. These two joys combined made them so happy.
"Sister Durandal, you and Sister Ningguang are friends, right?"
"No, Miss Durandal and I..."
Ningguang wanted to explain that she and Durandal were far from friends; she'd rather cut out her own heart.
Before Ningguang could finish, Durandal preemptively said, "I'm not friends with this person. It's just that due to certain reasons, we meet more often than usual."
"Oh, I see."
According to their understanding of Durandal, her words at such times had to be interpreted in reverse. That is to say... Durandal and Ningguang were friends!
Thinking this, they stepped forward, took Ningguang and Durandal's hands, and happily said, "Do you have time? Can you play with us? Let's play together, okay?"
Ah, this... Ningguang and Durandal exchanged glances. They both had so much to say, but facing the Children's gazes, they tacitly nodded and agreed to their request.
Durandal planned to ask her some questions after these Children left.
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