Furina had the idea of traveling with Koji and the others, but she still needed to tell Focalors and the rest—so they wouldn't panic if they couldn't find her.
"Go on, Furina. You've worked hard these five hundred years," Focalors said with a gentle smile. "Relax however you want."
"But I'm kind of jealous of you guys… Neuvillette, can I go with them too?"
Neuvillette answered without hesitation, "Focalors-san, you are the Hydro Archon."
The Hydro Dragon King felt exhausted. He'd been working himself to the bone for five hundred-plus years—did nobody think he was tired too?
"Neuvillette, I can just hand the Hydro Archon position over to you."
Focalors said it casually, truly not caring about that seat at all.
The Hydro Dragon King excelled at Hydro, and he'd been dutiful for so many years. He was obviously suited to be the Hydro Archon. With his prestige, no one would object.
"Let's not," Neuvillette said helplessly. "I'm not interested in being the Hydro Archon."
He already had a mountain of work even without that title. If he actually became the Hydro Archon, wouldn't all of Fontaine get dumped onto him alone?
If it weren't for Focalors's sake, he could've quit on the spot.
"What a shame, Fufu. I can't go with you," Focalors said with a shrug. "I'll take some photos and show you."
Furina understood. As the Hydro Archon, Focalors couldn't just leave whenever she pleased.
It wasn't like Venti and Zhongli, whose identities were hidden so well. The Hydro Archon appeared publicly all the time.
If she didn't show up for a while, the people of Fontaine would definitely start getting ideas—plus, it'd be downright embarrassing in front of other worlds.
"Koji, Lumine, you two have to protect Fufu," Focalors reminded them.
"Hey, I'm not a little kid!" Furina's eye twitched. Was she really that untrustworthy?
"Got it. Silly Fufu won't be missing a single hair," Koji said.
"Are you saying I'm dumb?!"
Furina's eyes went wide as she stared Koji down—her gaze had never been this sharp.
"Am I dumb?"
The moment she asked, everyone silently avoided looking at her.
Was she dumb or not? Didn't she know that best herself?
She was dumb-cute—not stupid. The kind of person who regularly did things so baffling they made no sense.
Furina: "…"
Fine. Their silence was basically an admission.
Furina was furious. Nobody liked being called "dumb as a brick."
"Focalors-san is right. We'll have to trouble you to look after Furina-san," Neuvillette added, clearly feeling that Furina was… unreliable, and might cause trouble at any moment.
"Neuvillette, you—"
Furina didn't want to stay here anymore. She spun around and left, her fragile little heart wounded by how little faith everyone had in her.
She was going home to eat cake.
Only sugar could make her feel better.
"We kind of made Fufu unhappy," Focalors said with a small laugh.
Sometimes she was adorably foolish, but there was no denying it—Fufu really was cute. Like a soft, squishy jellyfish. No wonder she was the kind of wonderful human Focalors had always longed for.
"It's fine. We'll just bring her some little cakes later," Koji said.
He knew exactly how to cheer Furina up—just give her what she loved most.
"Good idea. Fufu really does love cake."
"And I happen to know which shop's cakes she likes," Focalors said, nodding. She knew Furina wasn't truly angry.
…
Furina returned to her little house and summoned her three close companions. Hugging them, she complained, "Miss Crabaletta, Lady Chevalmarin, Lord Usher—don't you think they're being awful? They actually called me dumb."
Her little ahoge drooped.
Why did so many people think that? Was she really kind of dumb…?
Even she was starting to lose confidence. One person thinking it would be one thing, but if everyone thought so… maybe the problem really was her.
Her companions didn't answer. They couldn't speak. They only patted and stroked her, soothing her emotions.
"Thank you. I'm fine. Someday I'll prove I'm not dumb at all," Furina said, clenching her small fist.
But how, exactly… she had no idea.
If she wanted to bring people traveling with her, then she'd go ask other friends if they were interested.
"Other worlds? I'll pass," Raiden Makoto said. "Ei, if you want to go, then go."
Her shut-in little sister really did need to get out more. Makoto had tried everything—nothing worked.
Once someone reached Ei's level of martial prowess, it became extremely hard to improve further. So Ei no longer trained the way she used to.
"No problem," Raiden Ei said, nodding. She was free anyway, so she didn't mind.
"Bring me along too, how about it?" Yae Miko said as she arrived.
As for the Grand Narukami Shrine, she could just hand it over to that trashy white-furred fox, Saiguu.
"If you turn into a little fox, I'll take you," Koji said, raising an eyebrow.
Yae Miko: "…"
How obsessed were you with my fox form, exactly? You'd hugged her so many times, and you still weren't sick of it.
Since she'd been held so many times already, Miko wasn't as resistant as she used to be. She simply transformed into a pink-furred little fox and hopped straight into Koji's arms.
Koji had a massage blessing. Every time he used it, it could massage her so perfectly she'd end up rolling her eyes—techniques Saiguu and the others simply didn't have.
"This feels amazing!"
Koji stroked that soft, silky fur, then buried his face into the pink-furred little fox and took a deep breath.
The scent of the Sacred Sakura was refreshing—enough to clear the mind.
"Eep… Don't get that close," Miko whined, turning into a flustered little creature. Being pressed against like that still made her embarrassed.
"No need to be shy. It's not like it's the first time," Koji said with a grin, continuing to pet her.
"You two really are close. Miko doesn't let me pet her like that anymore," Raiden Makoto said, a little envious.
Who wouldn't like a cute little hand-warmer?
"That's because my technique is better," Koji said proudly. "I conquered Yae Miko."
With the blessing's power, Miko's willpower could only hold out for so long before she surrendered.
"Makoto-dono, you can always make that woman Saiguu turn into a white-furred little fox and let you pet her," Miko said lazily.
Koji wasn't wrong. Makoto and the others just weren't as good. They couldn't give her that peak, overwhelming pleasure. Once you experienced it, it was downright addictive.
"Forget it," Makoto said. "Saiguu would probably be even less willing."
Makoto knew her old friend well. Saiguu wouldn't make the decision to turn back into a little fox.
"Miko, if you're leaving, did you tell Saiguu?" Makoto asked.
"Tell her what?" Miko said dismissively. "I'm not the little fox I used to be. If I want to go somewhere, I don't need to report to her."
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]