The Firmament Small World.
Seraph War Fortress.
Top-floor suite.
"Sensei~"
"All the adepti who are permanently stationed in Liyue have already joined the party, and notices have been sent out to those who are wandering abroad."
"In addition, the spots reserved for the Qixing are still being screened."
"It'll probably take half a month or so to finish compiling everything."
Taro wasn't in any rush about forming the party.
First, he wanted to arrange things properly for the people close to him.
Besides, over this period of time, Zhongli, Azhdaha, and Venti clearly hadn't been idle either.
Every other day, a very generous chunk of experience would get credited to his account.
On the surface, the three of them seemed to have vanished for a few days, as if they'd just gone out to play.
But obviously, that wasn't the case.
Most likely, they had used Venti's connections to get in touch with Alice, then gone all the way to the edge of the world.
After all, only over there could you clash head-on with the Abyss.
Taro had to admit, these three were seriously putting in the work.
Once they had the opportunity and the "7–2–3 pact" in place, they were truly willing to grind.
"Let it proceed slowly~"
"Even if there's no upper limit on party members, that doesn't mean we have to recruit a ton of people."
"The entry requirements aren't high. I'm not demanding saints of perfect virtue, but at the very least, they can't have treacherous hearts."
"Ungrateful wolves? Best to stamp those out from the start."
With a warm, soft beauty in his arms, Taro's arm wandered idly as he spoke in a low voice.
"As long as Fanan's here, I'm at ease."
"Sensei~"
Fanan pressed her lips together. "It's already the Hour of the Tiger."
"Mm, that's still pretty late~"
Taro smiled. "We've still got plenty of time."
"That's not what I meant~"
Fanan's cheeks flushed red as she gave his arm a little slap.
Taro said, "It's not like we're leaving at dawn this morning. What are you worried about?"
"Mm…"
Fanan bit her lip. "Sensei… maybe we should let Sister Liya handle more of the work instead."
"Anyway, Sister Liya's idle every day."
She couldn't take it. She really couldn't take it.
As Sensei's secretary, she still had a lot of things to process.
Unlike Yingda, that utterly carefree one.
That girl was sleeping with a perfectly clear conscience.
"All right, all right, go to sleep~"
Reluctantly, Taro withdrew his hand and ruffled the heads of the two girls.
"Good night, Sensei!"
"Good night, Boss!"
"Mm. Good night."
Aside from a certain little yaksha who had already eaten himself silly, the three of them huddled together for warmth and slowly drifted off.
The next day.
Around noon.
"Sensei, time to eat~"
Yingda's shout floated up from downstairs.
"Coming~"
Taro, who had already finished washing up, answered and headed down the stairs.
No, he wasn't going down for breakfast.
It was lunch.
With warm, fragrant jade in his arms, who would willingly get up early?
At the very least, Taro had absolutely no intention of doing so.
And so, the four of them had gloriously missed breakfast that day.
Skipping breakfast was nothing at all.
For them, never mind one meal—
Even if they didn't eat or drink for an entire year, it wouldn't be a problem.
Eating was just a tiny ritual of life, a way to indulge their taste buds.
Lunch was very lavish.
Huoliya was the one cooking, while Yingda acted as her assistant.
As for Fanan—
She had gotten up half an hour earlier than they had; right now she should still be over at Yuehai Pavilion.
"Sensei, do we need to pack luggage or anything before heading out?"
After shoveling down two bites of rice, Yingda cut straight to the topic of their trip.
"Of course."
Huoliya immediately picked up the thread.
"Nothing else is that important, but we absolutely must bring a kitchen."
"We can't go without pots, pans, and dishes."
Clothing, food, housing, and travel.
The first, third, and fourth didn't need any consideration.
Clothes were the thing they lacked the least.
As for travel, there was nothing to say. They weren't ordinary people—why would they care about mundane means of transportation?
Housing? They had the Firmament Small World.
The only thing that really needed attention was food.
The last time they went to Yaoguang Shoal to play, they had forgotten to bring a kitchen.
This time they were going far away, so they absolutely couldn't forget.
"Let's just stash it inside the portable realm."
Yingda's eyes rolled as an idea came to her.
"Oh, right, right—Sister Liya… you still haven't learned the external projection technique, have you?"
"Want to call me 'teacher'? I can teach you."
"…"
Huoliya's lips twitched.
She stared at Yingda with a murderous gaze.
So if someone died an early death, that was her fault?
She wasn't even Morax's ally, and that was her fault too?
She happened to be a demon god—sorry for that, apparently.
And yet this little Yingda actually had the guts to tease her?
Fine. Just you wait.
If she ever helped draw enemy fire for that girl again, she'd call herself a pig.
"If I call you 'teacher,' do you dare accept it?"
Huoliya made a gesture, narrowed her eyes, and said slowly,
"Make sure you think it through before you open your mouth."
"Little Yingda~ dear~ little~ sister~"
"Tch."
"Then I just won't call you that~"
Yingda's expression froze for a moment before she turned her head away.
If you won't help, you won't help. What are you so smug about?
Just wait. People grow up…
Once she rose to greatness, she definitely wouldn't need Huoliya's help.
She alone would be enough to completely win over Sensei, and then she'd absolutely banish Huoliya to the cold palace!
Hmph. Just watch.
Tomorrow she was going straight to the bookstore to study.
Rumor had it that Miss Ying'er in the backstreets knew a lot about this field.
She should find some time to humbly seek her instruction.
"Your sister already taught me. Surprised?"
A faint curve tugged at the corner of Huoliya's lips.
"…"
Sister, we agreed we'd present a united front to the outside world.
Traitor!!!
"Sensei~"
Yingda puffed out her cheeks and looked at Taro.
"You can give it a rest too~"
"When we're going out to have fun, there's no need to bring anything."
Taro took a sip of fish soup and said softly,
"As long as we bring enough Mora, that's basically all we need."
"I'll handle everything else."
As long as you had money, you were basically set.
On this trip, even though the main goal was to gather job-change materials for Fanan and Yingda, they still had to enjoy themselves.
It was rare for them to go out together; he couldn't let business completely overshadow the scenery.
Huoliya's job-change materials were already prepared, and the skill books were ready as well.
All that was left was to actually use them.
But as they had agreed beforehand, Fanan had priority.
Huoliya and Yingda had bet on it and lost; they had no other complaints.
Sooner or later didn't matter much—this wasn't something that hinged on a single moment.
Besides—
There was no need to head to Sumeru just yet.
The desert over there was nothing but trouble if you went for no reason.
One good gust of wind and you'd be covered in sand.
Aside from King Deshret's Mausoleum, there really wasn't much scenery worth the trip.
The only truly useful thing there was Apep.
And that guy wasn't exactly easy to talk to.
They'd probably need to start with polite negotiations, then follow up with a "die-and-revive combo meal."
The rainforest was lush and full of trees, but aside from Sumeru City itself, most of the region was damp and chilly.
Even if you insisted on calling it "scenic," it wasn't particularly appealing.
Not to mention the rainforests were riddled with dead zones. Running into those would just be bad luck.
The Aranara tribe were the Dendro Archon's familiars. Cute, yes, but they didn't have much to do with him.
If Little Grass followed his suggestion, even they wouldn't really be needed anymore.
Their next stop should simply be Fontaine.
Focalors and Kunchunaran—
Taro wanted to meet both of them.
And then there was Neuvillette, their material supplier. Hopefully they could just talk things through and avoid a fight.
If it really did come to blows, he'd only be able to give the man a complimentary die-and-revive package.
(End of Chapter)
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