"Gulp—"
In the air, Ryan finally couldn't eat anymore. He covered his stomach, which looked like he was ten months pregnant, and fell from the sky, then let out a satisfied burp.
He tried to sit up but found that because his stomach had grown so large, he couldn't get up from the ground.
"Ah, Ryan is down… what about Azhdaha?"
Seeing Ryan fall, Paimon looked at Azhdaha with some concern.
"It's fine. Azhdaha's anger has been soothed. Even if his memory has been eroded, at least he won't go berserk again."
Morax gently shook his head.
"Traveler, may I ask for your help?"
Then Morax asked Lumine.
"What kind of help?"
"Please send Ryan back to his cave on Aozang Mountain. He probably won't be able to move for a while."
Morax said, looking at Ryan, who had fallen to the ground and couldn't get up because his stomach was too big.
After all, Ryan's stomach didn't just get bigger; it was forcefully distended.
Although there was no danger to his life, it was like a person on the verge of being stuffed to death; even a slight movement would feel very uncomfortable, so he naturally had no mobility.
"Kun Jun and I will handle the aftermath here. If you have any more interesting questions later, feel free to ask me."
Morax added another sentence after speaking.
After all, it wasn't good to leave Ryan lying on the ground like that.
"Alright."
Lumine nodded and agreed.
Although she didn't know why Ryan was here, she knew that if Ryan hadn't forcefully restrained Azhdaha, they would probably have had a tough battle after entering this place.
"This young friend… could it be that fox?"
Kun Jun looked at Lumine and Paimon walking towards Ryan, recalled for a moment, and then asked Morax.
It was his first time seeing Ryan in human form, so he wasn't quite sure of Ryan's identity at first.
"Yes, that's right."
Morax nodded in confirmation.
On the other side, Lumine and Paimon walked up to Ryan.
"Such a big belly…"
"Hey!"
Paimon leaned in and curiously patted his stomach with her hand. Ryan, uncomfortable from being stretched, lay on the ground and grumbled unhappily.
"Why are you being so fierce? You can't move now, and you still dare to be fierce with me? If you're so capable, get up and hit me~"
Paimon stood with her hands on her hips, looking at Ryan triumphantly.
"Alright, stop messing around."
Lumine, who was beside her, reached out and pushed Paimon aside.
Then Lumine walked to Ryan, put one hand behind his head and over his other shoulder, helping him to sit up from the ground.
"Slow… slow down… my stomach is too big, it's uncomfortable…"
After a great effort, Ryan finally sat up from the ground.
"I can't do anything with you…"
Looking at Ryan, who couldn't even move while sitting, Lumine sighed and chose a simpler method.
"Eh…?!"
Lumine pushed Ryan down, supporting his back with one hand. While Ryan was stunned, she passed her other hand under his legs and picked him up in a princess carry.
With her strength, carrying a person like this was very easy for her.
"…"
"???"
Paimon, who was beside her, was stunned for a moment, then quickly raised her hands to rub her eyes.
The next moment, Paimon immediately pounced and hugged Lumine's face.
"Put him down! Don't hug him! Traveler, don't be fooled by him! He's going to eat you, ahhh—!"
Paimon pounced on Lumine's face like a facehugger, hugging her head and crying desperately.
"Ugh! Paimon!"
Since Lumine was holding Ryan with both hands and couldn't free them, she could only shake her head from side to side, but she couldn't shake Paimon off.
And just as Lumine was shaking her head up, down, left, and right, trying to shake Paimon off, Paimon, who was hugging Lumine's face, happened to kick Ryan's stomach with both feet.
"…"
Ryan had to raise his hand to cover his mouth, to prevent the emotions he had just swallowed from being spat out.
Although he didn't know what would happen if he spat them out, nothing good would certainly come of it… Finally, when Lumine was almost suffocated by Paimon, Ryan remembered and reached out to pull Paimon, who was hugging Lumine's face, off.
Paimon, being held by the back of her collar, rubbed her eyes and looked at Lumine with a wronged expression.
Lumine wanted to be angry, but seeing Paimon like this, she couldn't bring herself to be angry.
Finally, she could only weigh Ryan, whom she was holding.
"I'm just seeing that he can't move and is already fattened up, so I'm planning to take him back and cook him. Tonight, we're eating fox meat."
Lumine then explained this to Paimon.
"…?"
Ryan, who was covering his mouth, couldn't speak, so he could only look back at Morax with a pleading gaze.
Perhaps sensing Ryan's gaze, Morax, who was conversing with Azhdaha and Kun Jun, turned his head to look over.
Seeing that Lumine had already picked up Ryan, he nodded knowingly, then opened a passage for Lumine to leave the seal.
"Hehe~ Then let's go quickly~ I heard that fox is also a very delicious wild game~"
Paimon happily rubbed her hands and walked with Lumine into the passage Morax had opened, leaving the bottom of the Fulong Tree together.
At this time, the Fulong Tree had returned to its original state, and the elemental power gathered on it had receded.
After glancing at the unchanged Fulong Tree, Lumine, carrying Ryan, and Paimon hurried towards Aozang Mountain.
Ryan tried for a while before finally swallowing the emotions that had almost come out of his mouth.
"Cough cough… My dear Traveler, I hadn't noticed before, but now that I look closely, your beauty is in no way inferior to Paimon's."
Looking up at Lumine's delicate chin from below, Ryan lightly coughed to get her attention and spoke in a gentle tone.
"Nyah nyah nyah, he's starting, he's going to start tricking you, Traveler, quickly cover his mouth!"
Paimon, flying nearby, immediately pointed at Ryan with her finger, warning Lumine.
Lumine gave Ryan an innocent look, then took the handkerchief Paimon handed her and stuffed it into Ryan's mouth.
"Wuwu…?!"
And so, Lumine and Paimon carried Ryan up Aozang Mountain together… "I've optimized it a bit, so it shouldn't suddenly crash again… Next, I just need to go to Liyue Harbor and invite that little one beside the Traveler to come over."
Cloud Retainer walked out of her cave, muttering to herself and spreading her wings, intending to fly towards Liyue Harbor.
But before she could take off, she suddenly noticed someone ascending Jueyun Karst.
Upon closer inspection, it was the Traveler and her flying companion, as well as… Ryan?!
Cloud Retainer was stunned for a moment, then immediately raised her wings and rubbed her eyes.
Looking closely, Ryan, with a big belly and a gagged mouth, was being carried in a princess carry by Lumine.
"…"
Ryan is pregnant!
I'm going to be a grand-master!
Looking at Ryan's belly, which was even more exaggerated than a ten-month pregnancy, Cloud Retainer was stunned for a moment before such thoughts popped into her head.
However, after being stunned for a while, she came back to her senses.
Why is Ryan the one with the big belly?!
…