"Waaah— it hurts so much! Layla, check my head— is it swollen?"
Paimon rubbed two big bumps on her head, pouting dramatically as she complained to Lumine.
At the same time she shot a doleful glare at the culprit of it all: Ye Luo.
He'd clocked both of them just now! Not exactly a delicate touch.
"This was Lumine's doing," Paimon sniffed. "Nothing to do with me!"
"This is a lesson for you. Today the organizers let it slide— next time? The time after? Maybe they won't."
Ye Luo scolded them, half exasperated, half lecturing. In the game, rummaging through other people's stuff often went unnoticed. Why was reality copying that behavior? This whole thing made him question his life choices.
"Waa, okay, we get it." Lumine and Paimon trudged along, their swollen heads making them look pitiful.
Truthfully, they wished someone had ever punished them for mischief before—maybe then they'd know to stop. But apparently the universe loved chaos.
"Listen—don't do it again. It's rude," Ye Luo said in a tone that could've come from any annoyed mother.
"Layla, was Senior Ye Luo always like this?" Paimon sidled up to Layla while Ye Luo was lecturing, whispering out of curiosity.
"Hm… maybe he just cares about you guys more than he used to," Layla replied, hesitantly. She remembered an earlier Ye Luo who had been caring but not quite this intense. Maybe it was the Traveler's odd behavior that made her senior lose his temper—he'd run out of patience too.
"Wait, Lumine—what are you doing now?!" Ye Luo's voice cut through their thoughts.
They turned to see Lumine bathed in a faint green glow—Anemo energy flickering around her. With a quick leap she snatched a bunch of Sweet Flowers from the roadside, stuffing them into her pockets so fast there were only afterimages left for the eye to catch. She finished by gathering the nearby mint and returned content, grinning like she'd found treasure.
Only then did she notice the weird looks everyone around them was giving. Especially Ye Luo. His crimson eyes—alight earlier—now looked like tiny embers about to flare into a blaze. Lumine's smile froze. She offered a nervous explanation: "Uh… habit?" and then stuck her tongue out playfully, trying to charm it over.
People passing through Port Ormos had seen thieves, con artists, and worse. But stealing roadside Sweet Flowers? That was a new flavor of weird. Maybe some local folktale about a "Sweet Flower King" with a hundred-thousand-year soul ring? No one believed that. They'd sooner accept that Kaveh had run out of money than believe in floral monarchs.
Ye Luo sighed and looked at the little Sweet Flower in Lumine's hand. Could the child's hyperactivity be cured? He gave up. Best to accept the chaos for now.
"Ye Luo… I swear I'll change all these bad habits I picked up from Paimon," Lumine said with embarrassment. She didn't know why she couldn't resist chests, Sweet Flowers, and mint. But after seeing how worried Ye Luo was despite being a stranger who'd shown such concern for them, she felt determined. She wouldn't disappoint him.
"Eh?!" Paimon stomped an indignant foot in the air. Why blame her for everything?!
"Good." Ye Luo nodded. Acknowledging a mistake was step one.
BunnyButNotBunny's stream exploded.
"I'm dying— look at Lumine's little wronged face! That is unbearably cute!" Bunny crowed, grinning at the screen.
[Oh no, Lumine's totally been won over by the big-brother vibe.]
[How did that happen—who's the older-brother-type character who snagged Lumine's heart?! Let me at him!]
[My scavenger over here is rummaging trash and I open a chest—what's wrong with that?]
"This is SO hype. When does he drop? I'll pull like crazy." Bunny squealed, fingers itching for the banner.
"Albedo may be refined, but Ye Luo is the real one for me," a fan declared.
[Lady, mind your headcakes.]
[Ma'am, one cappuccino?]
[Hurry up, Auntie. The flowers I'm waiting on are wilting.]
Bunny huffed and protested the chat's impatience—she couldn't skip the story. She wasn't the one forcing them to watch; they were. Still, she snuck into the banner screen and let her mouse hover dangerously near Intertwined Fates…
And for a golden second the chat freaked.
But back in the story, after the farce, Ye Luo spoke up: "First let's grab the Intelevisas Orb and tame the mushroom-beasts. Otherwise we won't even qualify for the contest."
"Eh?" Layla looked confused. "Senior, you're competing too?"
"No—my Mora isn't a windfall. I'm not some Mora-god. Don't go thinking I'll bankroll you all," Ye Luo deadpanned.
Layla blinked. Why did she think of him as endlessly wealthy? He'd already spent a fair bit to stake a position in Sumeru. She reddened, embarrassed to be mistaken.
"Hehe, sleepy Layla is cute," Paimon teased, folding her hands behind her back.
"Stop teasing me!" Layla turned away shyly. Even after the blunder, she felt some fondness for the Traveler pair—after all, they seemed formidable enough to protect her senior.
A thought struck Ye Luo. If he was an NPC now, why not use that to hand Lumine quests that rewarded Primogems? In the game, who didn't want an NPC like Uncle Liben who simply logged in and sent out free Primogems? He could do that—if Fontaine players got Primogems from him, why couldn't he give a little away in Sumeru?
"I'll do it—just wait and see," he muttered.
But before he could act, the air snapped—an Anemo arrow streaked in. Ye Luo's reflexes made him parry with the dull blade, anger flaring. Ever since meeting Lumine, trouble seemed to follow him.
Lumine frowned, readying her Skyward Blade. "Huh?" She scanned the square. Attacks in a crowded port? Brazen.
"Not bad—looks like the students were right. You do have a Vision," a voice said from a distance. A twin-tailed girl sashayed forward, a mysterious smile playing on her lips. She took one look at Layla standing by Ye Luo and her expression shifted in a way that made the hair on Ye Luo's neck prickle.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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