Cloud Retainer rubbed her eyes, utterly bewildered by the scene before her.
At first glance, it seemed like a warm and sweet picture, but wasn't the gender reversed? Why was Ryan the one being held? And why was Ryan the one with the big belly?!
"Ah... Cloud Retainer, you're here. We were entrusted to bring Ryan home; he probably ate too much and couldn't walk."
At this moment, Lumine and Paimon, who had approached, noticed Cloud Retainer. Paimon immediately explained to her.
After all, the other party was Ryan's master, so Paimon didn't think it appropriate to mention eating fox meat.
"Ahem... I see. Ryan's opened cave dwelling is in the cave below that cliff over there."
Cloud Retainer lightly coughed, feeling it wasn't suitable to press for details, and directly pointed the way for Lumine.
"Wuwu...!"
Ryan, his mouth gagged, tried to ask Cloud Retainer for help, but she showed no reaction.
"Wait a moment, Paimon, This Immortal happens to have something to ask of you."
Just as Lumine was taking Ryan back to his cave dwelling, Cloud Retainer suddenly called out to Paimon.
"What is it, Cloud Retainer?"
Lumine stopped, and Paimon asked curiously.
"It's like this, This Immortal recently created a fully automatic conversational shenji, and I'm just missing someone to debug it. You're articulate, you're the most suitable."
Cloud Retainer explained truthfully.
"Oh, I see. How about you, Traveler, take Ryan back, and I'll stay to help? I'll come find you later."
Paimon nodded, then suggested to Lumine.
"Alright, see you later."
Lumine and Paimon had been invited by Cloud Retainer to help test the automatic cooking shenji a few days ago, so they were quite familiar with helping Cloud Retainer debug mechanisms.
And so, Paimon followed Cloud Retainer back to her cave dwelling, while Lumine took Ryan to the edge of the cliff.
After a brief observation, Lumine indeed noticed a cave entrance on the cliff face.
Normally, Wind Gliders are not supposed to carry people, especially a pregnant person like Ryan.
However, Lumine's Wind Glider flying skills were exquisite. She easily glided down with Ryan, then adjusted her direction and landed smoothly outside Ryan's cave dwelling.
"Pfft..."
Walking into the cave dwelling, Lumine suddenly couldn't help but laugh.
"Wuwu...! What are you laughing at?"
Seeing that Paimon wasn't around, Ryan finally reached out and removed the handkerchief from his mouth, looking at Lumine curiously.
"Nothing... It's just that compared to your master's cave dwelling, this is just a small cave."
Lumine said with a hint of amusement.
Then she looked at the furniture in the cave, before walking over and placing Ryan on his bed.
"What's wrong with a small cave? Finches, though small, have all their internal organs, and they taste very good too..."
Ryan, lying on the bed, subconsciously touched his belly with both hands as he spoke. He felt as if it had already shrunk a bit, but the feeling of being bloated was still severe.
"Lean against the headboard, don't lie down... I'll get you a glass of water."
Lumine thought for a moment, then helped Ryan sit up again, making him lean against the headboard instead of lying down, and placed Ryan's pillow behind him.
Next, Lumine took out her Serenitea Pot, poured Ryan a cup of warm water from it, and squeezed in a little lemon juice.
This could aid digestion... though she wasn't sure if it would work for the things Ryan had eaten.
But drinking more warm water was always right.
"These..."
Ryan held the water cup with both hands, thanking her shyly.
After taking a small sip of the slightly lemony warm water, Ryan looked again at Lumine, who was observing the furniture and decorations inside Ryan's cave.
"Traveler, why don't you get shy when interacting with people of the opposite gender?"
Ryan suddenly asked curiously.
He had originally thought his junior sister's reaction was unusual, but he didn't expect to see another one.
"Hmph, shy?"
"You should know, I've charmed more handsome young men than you've eaten Gnosis."
Hearing Ryan's curiosity, Lumine crossed her arms and said proudly.
"But I haven't eaten Gnosis..."
Ryan froze at her words.
"I know..."
"..."
The two suddenly fell silent at this point.
"Ahem, actually, it's mainly because you look pregnant. There's no need to be shy when taking care of someone with limited mobility like you; that would only make things more inconvenient for both of us."
The silence was a bit awkward. Lumine played with a strand of hair falling by her temple, then lightly coughed and explained.
Why did he bring that up? If he hadn't, it would have passed... "Oh, I see..."
Ryan nodded awkwardly, continuing to sip the warm water with a bit of lemon juice.
Then Ryan said no more, just leaned against the headboard, drinking water while watching Lumine sitting by the bed.
"By the way, Traveler, what country are you from?"
Ryan suddenly asked curiously.
His attention used to be entirely on Paimon, and he hadn't really paid much attention to Lumine's identity.
Her foreign attire was somewhat unfamiliar, and Ryan didn't know which country it was from, as he knew very little about foreign lands.
"Me? I drifted here from beyond the world."
Since leaving Mondstadt and coming to Liyue, Lumine hadn't heard anyone ask such a question in a long time.
She didn't hide her identity; after all, many people knew, and Morax also knew.
"Drifted here from beyond the world...?"
Ryan tilted his head in confusion.
"Oh... you're a Transmigrator, aren't you!"
After a moment of confusion, Ryan thought of something and nodded with understanding.
"Transmigrator... a strange term. My brother and I have always traveled through the star seas, just as I am now traveling with Paimon. Teyvat is just one of our stops."
Ryan's strange term made Lumine pause in confusion. After thinking, she still explained her situation.
Although many people knew she was from beyond the world, she had only told Paimon these details so far.
If Ryan hadn't brought up the seemingly related word 'Transmigrator', she probably wouldn't have explained it so clearly on her own.
It was like how an alchemist introduces an alchemical product; unless the other party understands and asks actively, the alchemist won't proactively explain its formation principles, because others wouldn't understand even if told.
After hearing Lumine's explanation, Ryan's eyes lit up.
From beyond the world... Transmigrator... traveling through the star seas... "Heiya...!"
Then Ryan laboriously sat up from the bed, his big belly protruding, and reached out to grasp one of Lumine's small hands.
"Traveler, you made my belly big, you have to take responsibility!"
Ryan said seriously, holding Lumine's hand.
"...?"
Lumine slowly tilted her head, then slowly raised her other hand, which was clenched into a fist.
"Ow!"