Reopening a restaurant that had been abandoned for years was no easy task, and the moment Paimon heard the plan, her head was already spinning.
She'd thought they were here for a banquet—
but instead, they were here to work.
Paimon spread her hands in exasperation.
"Look at this place—how are we supposed to open it? If only Xiangling and Guoba were here. This is exactly what they're best at."
Caesar smiled.
"It's not as bad as it looks. When we came back from New Eridu earlier, we brought back plenty of ingredients. All we need to do is give the restaurant a bit of renovation and a good cleaning, and we'll be ready to open."
A bit of renovation?
Paimon glanced around at the filthy, disordered space—no door, not a single pane of glass in the windows—and felt utterly at a loss.
There wasn't even a proper building in sight, just the ruins of what used to be the town.
Where were they supposed to find construction materials?
Or a work crew?
"Why don't we just hire a renovation team from the city?" Paimon suggested. "Or maybe… pick another location?"
Caesar shook her head firmly.
"We can't move it. Cheesetopia is like a symbol of Calydon Town. Its revival represents the revival of the town itself.
If we can't even bring back one small restaurant,
how can we hope to manage the whole town, lead it out of the shadows, and build a future worth looking forward to?
Rebuilding Cheesetopia is the first step toward rebuilding Calydon Town. We absolutely can't fail."
That was why she'd brought in the people from Hare's House, along with the Proxy siblings from the video store—hoping to kick-start the town's recovery with this project.
...
"Building materials won't be an issue," Caesar continued. "A few days ago, I came across an Old Era construction materials factory inside a Hollow. The Hollow swallowed the site, but a lot of materials inside were still intact. If we pick out the ones that are well preserved and haul them back, it'll be more than enough to repair Cheesetopia."
Billy's eyes lit up. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"
"Not so fast," Piper drawled. "First we need to borrow a bigger truck. And remember—according to Caesar, that Hollow has high-level Ethereals in it."
Billy waved a hand dismissively. "With Sam Li here, what Ethereal could we possibly be afraid of?"
Hu Tao grinned. "With the Traveler and Xiao on board, there's nothing to fear. We'll just knock them all flat."
The Traveler: "…"
Paimon: "…"
There was no way around it—since the plan was already set, they could only follow Caesar's lead and start with rebuilding Cheesetopia.
After a quick discussion, it was decided that Caesar and Piper would lead the group into the Hollow.
Coming along were Billy, Anby, Arataki Itto, Nicole, Kazuha, Xiao, Hu Tao, Keqing, and Sam Li...
...
Just as they were about to set off, faint harp music drifted through the air—a light, cheerful melody that instantly caught everyone's attention.
"Do you hear that?" Kazuha asked. "A harp."
Keqing frowned thoughtfully. "It sounds so familiar…"
Paimon knew the sound immediately. The moment she heard it, she spun around.
"It's the street singer! Did he come to the Outer Ring too?"
Back when they'd been talking with Sam Li, they'd already learned that Venti was in New Eridu and had taken a temporary job with Victoria Housekeeping Co.
But before they could even go looking for him—
Venti had come looking for them.
Paimon's eyes darted excitedly around, searching for him.
"There," Lucy said suddenly, pointing to the far end of the street. "The bard we ran into after the Tour de Inferno."
Everyone turned to look.
A handsome youth in a green cloak and hat, twin braids framing his face, walked toward them with the help of a soft breeze.
It was Venti.
"Venti!" Paimon beamed. "It really is you! What are you doing in the Outer Ring?"
Venti's grin was easy and carefree.
"I'm a wandering bard. My goal is to travel the world, so why wouldn't I come to the Outer Ring?"
"Reasonable. Very reasonable," Paimon agreed with quick nods.
Before arriving in New Eridu, Venti had spent most of the year traveling from country to country. Even now, he couldn't stay still—here one day, somewhere else the next—so finding him in the Outer Ring was no surprise.
What Paimon and Keqing didn't know was that Venti had even ventured into Hollow Zero, gone deep inside, and run into several very unfriendly creatures—who promptly chased him halfway across the place.
He'd simply laughed, caught the wind, and flown away without a scratch.
...
"You all seem to be headed somewhere," Venti said with a playful smile. "Need an extra hand?"
"Of course!" Paimon said eagerly. "Hop in the truck!"
Venti's gaze swept the group, pausing when he saw Sam Li and Xiao. A faint smile touched his lips.
"Traveling with this lot? Finally, I feel safe—no more worrying about being chased by monsters."
Xiao: "…"
Paimon: "…"
With two archons and an Yaksha in the party, how could anyone worry about safety? At this point, it was the Ethereals in the Hollow who should be concerned.
...
Soon they were all piled into Piper's truck, heading for another small town to borrow a larger, heavy-duty hauler from a different gang.
With that secured, they set course for the Hollow.
On the way, Paimon glanced over at Venti.
"Hey, I heard you joined Victoria Housekeeping Co. as a housekeeper?"
The Traveler almost snorted with laughter. "A… housekeeper?"
Venti chuckled.
"They handled the maid work. I played the harp and sang. But after several days, everyone was hiring maids and no one was hiring songs—so I slipped out on my own."
Paimon spread her hands.
"The people here have no taste. If they don't like music this good, you'd starve to death trying to busk in these streets."
...
Their laughter faded as the trucks rolled to a stop at the Hollow's edge.
"Everyone, be on your guard," Piper reminded them. "This Hollow's pretty active—get ready."
They hardly needed the warning. Even newcomers like Keqing and Kazuha had already felt the danger and the crushing Ether pressure of the Hollows.
By the time they stepped forward to enter, everyone had already adjusted their stance and steadied their breath.