"This time, we deliberately reserved a full twenty days for registration—more than enough time for interested participants from Inazuma and Fontaine to make their way here at a leisurely pace."
"We want to sign up, we want to sign up, we want to sign up!"
"I'm not late, right? I'm not late, right?!"
Just moments ago, everything had seemed under control, but now four burly men dressed in Inazuman attire and a girl dressed in Fontaine style suddenly appeared. Qi Xiuming was momentarily stunned.
He asked the Arataki Gang charging at the front, "Honestly, I find it a bit hard to understand. Since you arrived so early, why insist on registering at this exact moment?"
Akira, Mamoru, and Genta covered their faces in shame, while Arataki Itto remained composed. "The protagonist always makes their entrance at the very end!"
Qi Xiuming opened his mouth, only to find no argument to counter that. "Forget it… hurry up and sign your names. Leave some time for the young lady behind you."
"I won't be registering. I came here to find someone…" Declining Qi Xiuming's goodwill, the late-arriving girl took a brief look around and quickly locked onto her target. "The one wearing the fox mask—would that be Mr. Victor?"
"You're looking for me?" Victor Wang stepped forward.
"That's right. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Charlotte, a reporter from Fontaine's The Steambird. I'm here specifically to cover the Teyvat Second Bubble-Blowing Competition!"
"Then you should be looking for the person in charge of the competition—such as the acting representative of the Tianquan Star standing next to me."
"No, that's not it."
Charlotte shook her head and explained in detail.
"I'll be following the progress of the bubble-blowing competition for my reports, but with the inventor of bubble gum present, the competition itself can only take up half the content. I believe what readers are more interested in is an interview with you personally.
For example, your motivation and thoughts behind inventing bubble gum, the setbacks and insights you encountered along the way, and your view on the title 'Slime Killer.'
You may not know this yet, but adventurers are very grateful that you raised the prices of slime materials. At the same time, there are also some extremists who believe using slimes as ingredients is extremely inhumane."
"Huh?" Paimon stared in confusion. "But aren't slimes monsters? They don't feel pain, and they're naturally formed elemental beings. Compared to birds and beasts being eaten, that's already pretty merciful, isn't it? And people are talking about humanity?"
Charlotte replied matter-of-factly, "The world is a big place. You meet all kinds of people. Once you've seen enough, nothing really surprises you."
Then she fixed Victor Wang with an intense gaze. "I came in a hurry this time and didn't give advance notice. If possible, I'd also like to interview you about your cooperation with the Tianquan Star, Ningguang."
After some thought, Victor Wang replied, "Revealing a bit should be fine."
"That's wonderful! Let's exchange contact information, then. Today I only need to take a photo for 'The Teyvat Second Bubble-Blowing Competition Now Open for Registration,' but during the competition, I may do some follow-up coverage on you."
"This doesn't look 'now open' at all," Lumine reminded her.
Looking around at the extremely quiet registration site, Charlotte suddenly realized the issue. "Now open for registration… oh no. I've been so busy lately that I completely missed the peak registration period…"
"More accurately speaking, you're about to miss the entire registration phase," Qi Xiuming said, glancing at the time. Exactly 12 PM.
"So, registration hasn't closed yet?"
Before Qi Xiuming could respond, another person strolled up leisurely from behind the Arataki Gang.
Seeing who it was, Paimon exclaimed in surprise, "Kaeya? Why did you come running to Sumeru again?"
Swiftly writing his name on the registration sheet, Kaeya replied solemnly, "What kind of question is that? Every time I show up, it's for proper business."
"I don't believe it. You clearly came because of the bubble-blowing competition, didn't you? You participated in the first one, and now you're here for the second."
"Believe it or not, when I joined the first bubble-blowing competition, it was because the Liyue Qixing sent word to the Knights of Favonius. They said the two major Treasure Hoarder leaders active in Mondstadt and Liyue—the Southern Big Sis and the Northern Raptor—were planning something big together. Acting Grand Master Jean sent me to Liyue to liaise and assist with the investigation."
"Then what about this time?"
"This time, I'm here to inspect Sumeru's alcohol industry. Sumeru is famous for its spices, and it's rumored that someone invented a cocktail infused with spices that's been very well received. The Knights sent the person with the best taste in alcohol—that would be me—to see whether it really is as amazing as people say. The alcohol industry is a pillar of Mondstadt's economy, you know."
"That's strange. You're actually working…?"
"What kind of image do I have in your mind, exactly? That really hurts," Kaeya said with a smile. "Besides, you haven't missed the conflict between the spicy faction and the non-spicy faction, have you?"
"And what's that supposed to be?"
"Pepper, ginger, garlic, mustard… The spicy faction is planning to use these flavors to dominate the next batch of bubble gum," Kaeya explained calmly.
Such an obscure piece of information was something none of the others present had known.
Qi Xiuming said worriedly, "One or two strange flavors per release is more than enough… If the spicy faction really gets their way, the next batch of bubble gum might sell terribly."
"Exactly," Kaeya said righteously. "Just thinking about it gives me a headache, so I had no choice but to step in."
"Oh? A battle between the spicy faction and the non-spicy faction?" Charlotte, who had been listening in, pulled out a small notebook and began jotting things down nonstop, murmuring to herself, "In that case, the bubble-blowing competition has even more highlights. The headline can be 'To Eat Spicy or Not to Eat Spicy—That Is the Question.'"
"But no one can confidently sweep the top five spots, can they?" Qi Xiuming soon relaxed again. "Mr. Kaeya and Miss Lumine—the runner-up and third-place winner of the first competition are both here. The rules have also been reformed this time. I doubt the spicy faction will become too much of a problem."
"Rule reforms? I remember the rules for this competition haven't been announced yet, have they?" Charlotte's eyes sparkled as she pressed Qi Xiuming. "That's firsthand information. Would it be convenient to share?"
"It's nothing special. The preliminaries the day after tomorrow will make it public anyway… This time, we've set up two types of rules: 'Fixed' and 'Variable.' The Variable rule is still about whose bubble is the largest, while the Fixed rule judges whose bubble size is closest to the one provided by the judge. Each accounts for half the total score, making the competition much more challenging."
"So that's how it is." After noting down the new rules, Charlotte proposed, "May I take a group photo of everyone? The kind that gets printed in the newspaper."
"But weren't you aiming for a 'now open for registration' photo?" Paimon scratched her head.
"We'll make do. Showing excitement doesn't necessarily require a crowd. Besides, there are quite a few people here. As long as the article is written well, it'll be no problem at all."
Thus, with Kaveh who hadn't left for certain reasons, Kaeya who had just finished registering, the four members of the Arataki Gang, Lumine and Paimon, Qi Xiuming, and Victor Wang, everyone contributed to a group photo for Charlotte.
===BREAK===
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