"What should I eat today?"
For Mona, even such an ordinary question required a long time to ponder. Mora had to be calculated down to the last coin, otherwise she would be going to bed hungry.
"Mona, want to go grab a meal together?" Lumine opened her door and called toward her neighbor.
"Sure, coming right away!"
Open door, close door, lock door—Mona's movements were completed in one smooth chain.
When someone else was treating, that was practically the greatest blessing Mona could imagine.
Starting the day like this really was wonderful.
"Mona, I think you could use astrology to divine people's love fortunes and earn some money for food." Koji suggested.
She clearly possessed a Hydro Vision, yet Mona somehow always managed to be so poor.
"Forget it. Love is something that ultimately has to rely on fate. If a reading alone could decide someone's romance, the whole world would be thrown into chaos." Mona shook her head.
Suppose someone came asking her to divine their future partner. She did the reading and saw that person's other half—only for the result to show that the future partner was currently already in a relationship. What was she supposed to say? Tell the client to wait around for that couple to break up and then swoop in?
"Besides, my astrology is pretty good, but I still can't divine the gods."
Mona thought back to that time she'd tried to read for Venti. A huge gale had kicked up on the spot; the water scrying pool was whipped into foam, she couldn't see a thing, and even her clothes had almost been blown away.
"Mona, have you ever tried divining the Geo Archon or the Electro Archon?" Koji asked teasingly.
Mona rolled her eyes. "Spare me. What, do you want me crushed by a meteor or struck dead by lightning?"
The Anemo Archon alone was already ridiculous enough. If she tried scrying gods with even more destructive elements, that really would be a death sentence.
After taking that lesson from the Anemo Archon, she had firmly decided not to divine beings like the gods again.
Unless she reached a level of power on par with Alice, anything beyond her ability range would be nothing but a loss.
In truth, whenever any of the Seven were divined, they would always sense it. Normally they wouldn't bother to respond—at least, not to someone like Mona who posed no real threat.
"Sumeru is short on manpower right now. Mona, you could try applying there," Lumine suggested.
"Sumeru, huh… I've heard the news—that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata has returned. But the journey is way too long. I really don't feel like traveling that far." Mona shook her head. At least for now, she had no intention of going to Sumeru.
…
By the seaside, Koji and Lumine were enjoying some time alone together.
"This is where we first met. I literally fished you out of the ocean here." Koji couldn't help laughing as he said it.
"Haha, honestly, I still don't know how I even ended up in the sea." Lumine gave a helpless smile.
Paimon had fallen into the water because she'd fainted from hunger. As for herself, Lumine's last clear memory was of being sealed away by the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.
"Paimon, are you sure you really don't have anything to do with that white-haired woman?"
Lumine grabbed Paimon in her hands and studied her. The more she looked, the more similarities she felt she could see.
"I don't knooow. If I knew, I'd have told you ages ago." Paimon flailed in protest.
"Ruler of the Firmament. Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. Asmoday. There's no way Paimon has nothing to do with her." Koji said.
That Paimon had once been a god of Celestia was something they could be certain of.
"Yeah… Paimon, you're not going to betray me someday, are you?" Lumine narrowed her eyes in mock suspicion.
"Of course not! Paimon is Lumine's best partner!" Paimon shook her head frantically. How could she ever betray Lumine?
"I've got another theory. What if the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles specifically assigned Paimon to you just so she could eat your wallet empty all along the way?"
Paimon: "?"
Even Paimon herself felt that idea was absurd. Who would be bored enough to pull something like that?
"I actually feel like that theory makes a certain amount of sense." Lumine thought it over quite seriously.
Paimon alone cost at least three hundred thousand Mora a month. If she'd never met Koji, Lumine would still be running commissions every day, clearing out monsters, and farming ley lines. The Mora she earned wouldn't even be enough to upgrade her gear, and she would constantly have to worry about going hungry.
Hiss… As expected of the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. Those really were some vicious intentions.
To think that the plan might have been to simply work Lumine to death.
"Lumine, what kind of weird scenario are you imagining now?" Paimon was full of question marks. She felt like her reputation was being dragged through the mud.
"Heehee, just kidding. As long as you don't betray me, we'll always be the best of partners. But if you ever do stab me in the back someday, I'll have Koji turn you into actual emergency rations." Lumine kneaded Paimon's soft, chubby cheeks as she spoke.
Clearly, Paimon had not been slacking when it came to eating. She'd put on quite a bit of cheek fat.
"Never!" Paimon looked at Koji's gentle smile and immediately chose the most honest answer.
Inwardly she prayed that she hadn't been some sort of undercover agent in the past. Otherwise she really would be doomed.
"Come out."
Koji turned his head, his gaze suddenly turning razor-sharp. Seeing this, Lumine immediately drew her one-handed sword. She trusted Koji's instincts completely.
…
Paimon hid behind Lumine, pushing Lumine in front of herself as a shield.
"Oh?"
"So you noticed me. Your perception really is sharp."
An Abyssal rift split open. A white-haired woman stepped out from within. Her arms and legs looked as if she were wearing sleeves and stockings woven from the star-strewn night sky, with tiny stars flowing across them.
Koji knew that those weren't clothes or accessories, but limbs reforged by Abyssal power.
Skirk—hailing from a planet beyond Teyvat. Her people had been wiped out because of their innate talent for adapting to environments and wielding unique abilities. She had then been taken as a disciple by the Knight of Absolute Evil and set upon the path of constantly growing stronger.
"Abyssal power… are you with the Abyss Order?" Lumine frowned. She could sense a familiar aura.
Could this woman be one of her brother's subordinates?
"The Abyss Order?"
"I've heard of them. That's the faction led by the prince of a fallen nation, right?" Skirk thought for a moment. The Knight of Absolute Evil had mentioned them to her a few times.
"Khaenri'ah was always fated to be destroyed. But your master and the other sinners who split the Abyssal power among themselves definitely sped that process up." Koji said calmly.
"I don't know anything about that." Skirk shook her head.
Even if her master really had done such a thing, he would never feel regret. The strong did not regret.
"I've got a question. That Star-Devouring Whale menacing Fontaine—did it swim here on its own, or did your master throw it over?" Koji asked.
"Oh, that was something my master tossed into the Primordial Sea to feed the Star-Devouring Whale. I don't really get it either. He left the whale here, but then still made me come take care of it." Skirk grumbled.
Because Koji was a fellow powerhouse, he was qualified to speak to her as an equal.
"I don't like that Knight of Absolute Evil. If I kill him someday, will you try to avenge him?" Koji asked.
"By all means. If you can kill my master, that just means his skills weren't enough. He deserves to die." Skirk replied lightly.
"But if you die at my master's hands, then I'll be coming to challenge you in the future. Anyone stronger than my master is worth challenging."
Lumine more or less understood now. The crisis in Fontaine might very well be because of the pet raised by this woman's master. For beings like them, the strong truly did not care about the weak at all.
(End of Chapter)
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