Hello I'm back, thy leg is healed but I don't have molars anymore.
===BREAK===
"When the Clémentine Line was completed, Romaritime Harbor held a celebration. The area just ahead of where we're standing now—and even that platform out on the water over there—none of it was submerged back then… The water level really has risen a lot. Do you think… we can truly make it through the prophecy?"
"Have you read Inazuman light novels?"
"A little, I guess… Why bring that up all of a sudden?"
"In light novels, the characters who ask 'We're going to win, right?' right before the final battle usually run into accidents during the fight. Some of them even end up losing the entire battle."
"T-That's way too exaggerated, isn't it?!"
"Besides, was it Lady Furina sneaking out of the Palais Mermonia, or the Hydro Archon? If you're worried about matters of national importance, you could've just openly sent people to investigate. The real reason you came out was simply because you'd been cooped up in the Palais for eight days and absolutely had to get out for a walk, wasn't it?"
"…You're right."
Furina let out a quiet sigh. After a brief silence, she turned in another direction. "Come with me. I remember those guys are over here too."
"Those guys?"
"Just follow me and you'll see."
Furina led the way. Once there was no one else in sight, her steps grew lighter, and before long she was even softly humming an unnamed tune.
"Having a tanuki play the role of the Shogun is really difficult. At first, when the tanuki was alone, she could drop the disguise—but once she learned that a crisis was drawing near, she couldn't afford to relax even when she was by herself. And she couldn't tell anyone about it either. After the Raiden Shogun explained everything back then, she just stopped caring about worldly affairs… uh, shut herself away? Anyway, there was no one who could help the tanuki…"
She rarely revealed her inner thoughts like this, but she didn't continue. Instead, she stopped in her tracks.
"We're here!"
"Blubberbeasts? There are Blubberbeasts at Romaritime Harbor too…?"
"That's right, Blubberbeasts. Once they come ashore, they're incredibly gentle—especially when they're sunbathing. You can mess with them all you want and they won't resist. Whenever I'm feeling troubled, I like coming here to play with them."
Before Victor Wang could say anything else, Furina had already started poking at the Blubberbeasts.
"Look, their bellies are so soft and squishy—this feels amazing! Woo, it's been so long since I last touched one!"
"…The texture really is great."
"And their faces too—I pinch, I pinch. Hehe, it's looking at me, it's so cute!"
"…It really is cute."
"If you flip them onto their backs, they'll roll over by themselves and show their bellies again. Do it enough times and they'll give you this helpless look, but no matter what, they'll just lie there quietly until the sun goes down. Isn't that nice?"
"It really is."
After playing around for a while, Furina asked, "Oh, right—what time is it now?"
"A little past eleven."
"It's already that late?! Then we need to hurry back to the Court of Fontaine! I want to eat the limited-edition cake that Hotel Debord sells every day at noon. If we're late, there won't be any left!"
…
"You've come at an unfortunate time. The aquabus already returned once and departed again. Judging by the schedule, it should be around Autumn's Rise right now. It'll take at least another half hour before it comes back here," said Harbor Officer Vina.
"Factoring in the return trip to the Court of Fontaine, looks like we won't make it… Sigh, I really should've paid attention to the time earlier."
"We can make it."
"You have a solution for this too?" Furina looked at Victor Wang in surprise.
"Let's leave first. Go back to where the Blubberbeasts are."
…
Once there was no one around and they were close to the water's surface, a flash of inspiration struck Furina. "I get it now—you're going to use Liyue adeptal arts to conjure a boat, aren't you?!"
Victor Wang shook his head. "I do have a boat, but an ordinary one can't compare to an aquabus powered by Pneuma-Ousia energy. Crossing half of Fontaine would take at least half a day on the fastest ship."
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
After spending more time together, Furina had mostly stopped doubting him. Now she was just curious—curious about what solution Victor Wang would come up with.
Then she heard him say, "We'll fly back. It should be even faster than the aquabus."
"Fly?"
"Stand on this sword and hold onto my shoulder. We're taking off."
"W-What is this supposed to be?!"
"This is called Adeptal Art of Sword Flight. By the way—you're not afraid of heights, are you?"
"Don't be ridiculous! I live on the top floor of the Palais Mermonia—how could I be afraid of heights! As long as I don't look down…"
"Good. We'll need to fly high enough that people on the ground can't see us, otherwise we'd be far too conspicuous."
With that, Victor Wang abruptly shot the Wentian Sword up into the clouds.
Behind him, Furina stammered in terror, "T-This is way too high!!"
"Don't worry. Even if you lose your footing, it's fine. I won't let you actually fall."
"Stop saying things like that… I don't want the cake anymore! Let's go back down!"
"We're already up here. Going down now is going down, and going down after we arrive is also going down. Wouldn't it be a waste to turn back now?"
"I'm scared…"
"What did you say?"
"I said I'm scared! I'm scared, okay?! Hurry up and take us down…"
"What a shame. The scenery looks completely different when you view it from the sky. Are you really not going to take a look?"
"I'm not looking!"
"Then close your eyes. When I tell you to open them, open them—and you'll find that we're already standing on the ground."
"You won't trick me, right? Like… I open my eyes and realize I've been dumped in midair or something—I don't want that!"
"I won't trick you. If you're scared, just close your eyes now. Or keep holding on like that."
With no other choice, Furina hesitantly closed her eyes. Then the rushing wind in her ears grew louder and louder, and she didn't dare open them again. She could only cling tightly to Victor Wang's shoulder and protest loudly:
"You're lying!!"
"I'm not lying."
At full speed, the wind barrier that repelled moisture carved a long trail through the clouds. After a short while, they finally reached the outskirts of the Court of Fontaine.
Only then did Victor Wang say, "You can open your eyes now."
Even though she could sense that everything around her had gone quiet—completely still, even—and that the ground beneath her feet felt far more solid, Furina still shook her head stubbornly.
"Then I'll head off on my own?"
The moment Victor Wang moved, Furina panicked. She instinctively took a step forward with him.
"It's… the ground…" She opened her eyes. "It's the ground—finally, we're back on the ground… Huh? That's the Court of Fontaine up ahead?!"
"Yep. Even if you said you didn't want cake anymore, lunch still has to happen. Our target is Hotel Debord—let's hurry."
"B-But… since we made it in time, we're still getting cake, right?"
"Did we really make it in time? You've never personally taken part in the rush, have you? From here to Hotel Debord we'll have to walk. By the time we get there, there might already be a long line."
"..."
A few minutes later, the Queen of Fontaine—the Hydro Archon among the Seven—found herself standing in line for limited-edition cake for the very first time, with no special treatment and no one yielding for her.
"There are really so many people…"
"Even though we came this fast, we're still pretty far back. But maybe we'll make it."
"Ahem, I already counted," Furina said with a hint of relief. "There are only eleven people in front of us, and the limited cake is sold in sixteen slices a day. That's just right."
"…Actually, those eleven people might not all be here for the limited cake. Thinking about it that way, doesn't it feel even more relaxed?"
"Right! So, we'll definitely get one!"
After another wait, noon finally arrived, and the line slowly began to move.
When they were close to the counter, Furina leaned sideways to peek from outside the line, then suddenly frowned in confusion. "I only looked away for a moment—why are there only three slices of limited cake left?"
"..."
"Whew, whew… It's fine, it's fine. There's still us and the person in front—one slice each. Hehe."
"..."
"Wait—h-he bought two slices by himself?!"
Victor Wang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "That's normal, isn't it? It's limited, not restricted. Still, there's one slice left… Here, it's yours."
"But… we waited in line for so long. Aren't you going to eat any?"
"It's just one slice of cake. It wouldn't fill me up anyway. We can order something else."
"But this cake is really delicious…"
Holding the cake, Furina hesitated.
"…What if we split it in half?"
===BREAK===
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