Mona had already been brought over by Lucian. But after being brought over, she had been helping Lucian with work the whole time. Lucian turned around and assigned the tasks Nahida had given him directly to Mona.
Originally, Mona was quite dissatisfied, but now that she thought about being able to advance her research on astrology even further, Mona worked with much more enthusiasm.
Having finished talking about the Traveler's first destiny, let's talk about the second one. The second destiny chosen was "peach blossoms," which is "love fortune."
[Nabiya: "Hm hm hm hm hm… I hear it, I hear it. The people fated with you will appear… in… hm? So… so many! How can there be so many people…"]
Nabiya once again doubted her own divination skills. She would rather doubt herself than doubt that the Traveler was Teyvat's succubus.
["Harut and Marut, was it you two who messed up the divination? I've never seen such an outrageous result."]
She even suspected her cats of causing trouble rather than suspecting the Traveler.
[Cats: "Meow?"]
Some Sumeru people couldn't hold back anymore. Such an amazing fortune-teller couldn't be allowed to slip away!
These Sumeru people all thought they were smart enough to get ahead of everyone else, but when they arrived, they found a long queue already formed.
Everyone's thoughts were the same; the only difference was reading speed. Little bro, you still need to practice.
Nabiya was very bewildered. She had recently been reading the prophecy book and found it extremely impressive—even diligently "studying" it.
But she hadn't gotten off work yet today, and naturally hadn't bought the new book, so she didn't know she had appeared in the prophecy book. She was somewhat confused by the sudden explosion in popularity.
One can only say this is the value of the prophecy book. Calling it a top-tier advertising spot wouldn't be an exaggeration. Lucian is also a good person—he doesn't even charge for advertising.
On this point, Dori loved Lucian even more. He advertised for her without asking for money—she already considered him her best friend.
[Paimon complained: "Ugh, have you ever considered the possibility that the divination is accurate?"]
[Nabiya didn't believe it: "Fine, fine, I admit I'm not in good condition today. As an exception, I won't charge you."]
See? She was still doubting herself—willing to not take money rather than believe that Lumine is Teyvat's long-lived succubus.
This instead made little sister Lumine puff up her cheeks and put her hands on her hips. What! Am I not worthy? I'm so cute—clearly the type that's very popular with people!
Let's not talk about the real-life Lumine puffing up her cheeks. In the story, little sister Lumine still had to continue visiting other shops.
Besides this fortune-teller, there were other shops that Setaria frequently visited nearby. The Traveler had to go up and interact a bit to understand their speech habits.
For example, one was the owner of a pottery shop—Akin.
This one was even more of an expert. Although he wasn't a scholar, he had actually invented concrete.
He originally just learned to be a mason with his old man, but then he developed an interest in playing with mud, so he played with mud in Sumeru.
Pottery interested him more than masonry, so he switched to making pottery. But the Akasha considered he didn't need this knowledge and provided him with absolutely none.
Now being able to open this shop and even invent concrete was all thanks to his personal efforts.
This was truly without any cheats—only hard work and sweat.
As for the father who "introduced" him to the trade, he had broken his leg in a fall and no longer worked. He was currently retiring in Port Ormos.
[Nahida, after hearing Akin's story, said: "I see. I hope he has a peaceful and happy old age."]
Congratulations on obtaining the buff "Dendro God's Blessing."
The last place was a restaurant that Setaria always visited.
Nahida (as Katheryne) directly walked up to the tavern's waitress and said:
["I think I've seen you near the port…"]
Nahida: I think I've seen you somewhere before.
[Qishan: "Eh? Was there something like that?"]
It was clear that Nahida's "pickup line" didn't spark the other's interest.
Low-level pickup technique! Fortunately, Nahida had advanced "stalking" skills to make up for it.
["At that time, you seemed to be discussing ship design issues with someone."]
[Qishan: "Ah~! Yes, yes, technical issues related to ships have always been my personal interest."]
As soon as ships were mentioned, Qishan immediately became interested. A sense of familiarity arose naturally, and she spilled a bunch of things about herself.
She was someone who grew up in Liyue and came to Sumeru to study but didn't pass the exam.
In fact, Qishan had extremely high talent in shipbuilding. Even some scholars from the Akademiya were very willing to discuss related issues with her.
Because of Qishan, those scholars even thought that all Liyue people understood ships and were born with shipbuilding physiques.
The scholars would also sigh that Qishan was better than them and wonder why she was working as a waitress in a tavern.
Yeah, why indeed? You'd have to ask the Akademiya why such a talent couldn't pass the exam.
Qishan had no choice. She could only work part-time while studying in the tavern's basement, hoping to pass the exam next time.
In response, someone would say "The Akademiya is easy to get into, right? —IP: Palace of Purity."
Yes, that person was Mona. She was dumbfounded too. Is the Akademiya that hard to get into? I don't even want to join—why are they forcing me to work?
Whatever. Thinking about the divination techniques that Nahida and Lucian promised, Mona became more motivated to work. Beautiful knowledge was beckoning!
But now she was off work. Better finish reading the book and pull an all-nighter tomorrow.
[Nahida said: "I see… So that's how it is. I wish Miss Qishan success in her studies."]
Congratulations on obtaining the buff "Dendro God's Uniform"—I mean, blessing.
Only Nabiya didn't know about this. Otherwise, she'd probably be dumbfounded. After going in a circle, why am I the only one who didn't get a blessing?
There were only three people, and you blessed two of them, excluding only me. This is Sumeru bullying!
After reading the stories of these three shops, Liyue readers suddenly remembered someone—Kimie.
A fortune-teller just like Nabiya, with a similar name to Qishan. It wasn't strange for Liyue people to associate her with them.
She also often did "love divinations" for people. There was a man named Zhihua who went to Kimie every day for divinations—actually trying to get close to her through the divinations, but he was rejected.
As for Kimie herself… she seemed quite interested in the female owner of the antique shop, Langlang…
Let's not talk about this little side story. In the story, the Traveler and Nahida had already collected enough intelligence. Next, it was time to prepare to deal with the main target, Setaria.
How to deal with her? Of course, by making her break down! Let's form a superbreak team, Traveler!
Promise me you'll run superbreak teams for life, okay? Ichiyuni!
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice Lines · Lucian: About Mona
"I don't know why, but her work enthusiasm suddenly became so high… It makes me feel guilty. This kid."