"Looking for me?"
Rios curled up the corners of his mouth in a smile: "Could it be that you're scared and can't sleep if sleeping alone?"
"I don't offer accompany-sleep services either."
Upon hearing this, Mualani immediately furrowed her brows, clenched her little fist, and lightly punched Rios's shoulder, her tone full of coquettish blame: "You jerk!"
"I'm not a little kid anymore; how could I be afraid of sleeping alone? I don't need you to accompany me."
Rios smiled: "I know; I was just joking."
"That's not funny at all." Mualani slightly puffed up her cheeks. Then, her somewhat tense shoulders suddenly relaxed, like a deflated ball. "Ah, my mood was originally quite heavy, but after your two sentences, I don't even know what mood to face you with now."
"So," Rios restrained his smile, his voice gentle as he said, "what happened?"
"Suddenly, a segment of memory appeared in my mind..."
Mualani clutched her forehead and said: "That segment of memory seems to be from a warrior 500 years ago. It seems he realized that Natlan would be destroyed soon, so he made a plan with the Pyro Archon at the time..."
"It seems you've already awakened." Just as Rios had anticipated, after experiencing the adventure in the Night Kingdom, Mualani had a high chance of awakening successfully.
Even if Rios had taken care of the final little boss that appeared at the end, it wouldn't affect Mualani claiming her reward for clearing it.
"Rios, I know the plan of those heroes from 500 years ago." The girl's beautiful eyes flickered with confusion and unease. "But I don't understand—why does the Pyro Archon from 500 years ago look exactly like Mavuika?"
"That's a long story."
"Then make the long story short."
"..."
And so, Rios told the girl everything she needed to know.
Natlan's current situation, the Pyro Archon's plan from 500 years ago, and Mavuika's identity...
"So Mavuika really is the Pyro Archon from 500 years ago." Mualani surprisedly opened her little mouth. "No wonder she's so strong, yet I'd never heard of her before. I thought it was because I have too few friends and wasn't well-informed."
"In a certain sense, you're not wrong." Rios chuckled lightly. "If you became friends with people from 500 years ago, you might have learned about Mavuika from them."
"Where am I supposed to find people from 500 years ago?" Mualani couldn't help laughing.
"There are plenty." Rios said.
The Traveler, the Captain, Granny Citlali.
The first two were hard to contact before, but the latter... seemed not easy to contact either.
"I never imagined Natlan's situation was this dire, with less than a year left before destruction."
"And I'm still one of the six heroes executing Mavuika's plan..."
Mualani slightly lowered her eyes, her mood suddenly becoming heavy. Her face lost its usual lively cheerfulness.
After learning that her hometown was in such a bad state and that she bore such a heavy responsibility on her shoulders.
Even Mualani couldn't feel happy for the moment.
"Mualani, don't put pressure on yourself." Rios softly comforted. "From the look of Mavuika's plan, the six heroes are merely keys to unlocking power. The moment you awaken, your task is complete."
"If the remaining two heroes haven't awakened, you won't even get to be a key."
"So, there's no need to put too much pressure on yourself."
Hearing this, Mualani immediately half-squinted her eyes and looked over: "Rios, are you comforting me or dissing me?"
She'd been thinking about the heavy responsibility of saving Natlan on her shoulders.
But Rios immediately said her role was just being a key to unlock a lock.
And if the last two heroes didn't awaken, she wouldn't even get to be a key.
"Of course I'm comforting you." Rios said matter-of-factly. "If you don't like hearing it this way, I have another way to put it."
With that, Rios clenched his right fist, placed it over his chest, slightly raised the corners of his mouth, and smiled confidently.
"You can rest assured with me here."
The boy's voice wasn't loud, but when it reached Mualani's ears, it made her heart tremble.
Mualani subconsciously placed her hand over her chest too, then slightly turned her head away. Her cute cheeks felt scorching hot, as if they were about to burn up.
Had Rios secretly ignited a flame on her face? Probably not—he shouldn't be that mischievous.
The girl couldn't help letting her thoughts run wild. She wanted to calm her heart, but the rising thoughts kept disrupting her inner peace.
"Mualani, does this reassure you?"
It was only when Rios spoke again that the girl's wild thoughts stopped.
"I'm reassured, I'm reassured." Mualani recollected her mind, her face blooming with a smile once more as she said in a light tone, "You're so strong; the abyssal monsters definitely aren't your opponents."
"I've been busy all day and am exhausted. I'm going to sleep."
"See you tomorrow."
With that, she turned around, intending to slip back to her room.
Looking at her back, Rios suddenly raised his voice and laughed: "Really no need for me to accompany you and tell you a bedtime story to coax you to sleep?"
"No! Need!" Mualani stomped her feet and quickened her steps to leave.
But at the corner, where Rios couldn't see, the corners of Mualani's mouth quietly curved up.
When she was little, she always needed her mom to tell her stories to fall asleep.
But after she got tired of hearing Natlan's heroic tales, it became hard for her to fall asleep again.
After Rios found out, he always told her stories completely different from Natlan's heroic tales.
Magical adventures seeking treasure in a world entirely of seas, 88 fighters who always battled evil gods to protect the love and peace of the earth, a cat with an ordinary life who could always pull out magical items...
The young her had originally listened to these stories just to fall asleep, but after hearing the stories Rios told, she found it even harder to sleep.
Every day, she would only close her eyes to sleep when she was utterly exhausted, and as a result, she would wake up very late the next day.
"Thinking about it this way, my habit of lazing in bed is all Rios's responsibility, huh."
======
Some time has passed since Genshin Impact 5.0 launched.
Players have raised the favorability of the Natlan characters they pulled, and thus unlocked some character voice-overs.
Among them, the parts about Rios are as follows.
[Kinich]
Kinich: Everyone believes the Pyro Archon is a living legend—I was no exception. He was already very famous before becoming a god; I often heard tales of him single-handedly annihilating entire groups of abyssal monsters. I originally thought he was a battle-hardened veteran, but upon meeting him... turns out he's so young.
Ajaw: That Rios guy is super awesome—he reigns supreme over heaven and earth; if he claims second, no one dares claim first. Only this great holy dragon can compare to him!
Kinich: What nonsense are you spouting again?