Outside the Good Hunter in Mondstadt—
Unlike the rest of the city, the semi-outdoor restaurant had taken only minor damage from Stormterror's rampage and was still open.
Su Xuan sat at a table near the front, flipping the menu casually.
"One serving of Carrot-Stew-Glazed Meat, please."
A few Mora dropped onto the counter.
Even though he had food of his own prepared, a traveler should always taste the local cuisine.
Part of the journey was enjoying the land he was in.
That said—
He was also reflecting, without guilt, on last night.
Lisa was straightforward; Su Xuan appreciated that.
As she had put it:
There was no need for him to "pretend" that he would ignore those who possessed the Diary copies.
He would approach each one differently—according to who they were.
Someone like the Raiden Shogun, whose will had been tempered over centuries, could endure a direct, immersive confrontation without losing herself.
But… there were gentler girls whose minds and emotions were far more fragile.
Push too fast and it could backfire.
Lisa had made it easy.
Not everyone would.
If more women were as perceptive and self-aware as Lisa, he might already be having a very busy evening with Mondstadt's beauties.
As Su Xuan lowered his gaze to begin eating—
A soft, tired voice sounded beside him.
"Um… hello…"
He lifted his head.
A shimmer of gold and white stood before him.
Lumine—face slightly flushed from embarrassment.
And beside her floated Paimon, pale, hungry, swaying like she might faint at any moment.
They looked like they had walked all night.
"Can you… lend us some Mora?"
Lumine held out her Diary copy, both hands.
"We haven't eaten since yesterday. We… don't know anyone in Mondstadt.
The bard who followed us vanished at some point…
So… we only had one person left to try."
Her voice shrank toward the end.
The traveler who crossed worlds was asking him to buy her lunch.
Su Xuan very nearly laughed.
"Logically, you should've reached Mondstadt yesterday.
Why did you turn back into the forest?"
Lumine froze.
Her cheeks burned.
Su Xuan smiled.
"Were you afraid I was a messenger from Celestia, sent to capture you?"
Lumine lowered her gaze.
"So… you really knew."
After Su Xuan tracked her with telekinetic perception the previous night, she'd realized—the truth was simple:
If this man wanted to harm her—
She would already be gone.
Su Xuan leaned back lightly.
"It's just food. No need for formality.
Order whatever you and Paimon want.
I'll cover it."
Paimon instantly revived.
"Knew it!! Su Xuan looks super strong—strong people aren't stingy!
Then—then—we're ordering for real!!"
Lumine shot Su Xuan a grateful look — the kind given to someone who has offered help without making it a debt.
Their plates soon arrived.
The speed at which the two began devouring their food left Su Xuan silent.
He opened his Diary.
[Lumine & Paimon.jpg]
[Watching these two eat… I suddenly feel complicated.]
[The world of Teyvat is full of grief that belongs to others—]
[but Lumine herself is also living a grief no one sees.]
[She only wanted to travel with her brother.]
[But he encountered a 'god' who spoke honeyed lies.]
[And in the end, both siblings were sealed.]
[Five hundred years later, Lumine wakes alone—]
[her strength gone, her brother missing—]
[left to travel with only a tiny floating stomach.]
[Rootless. Drifting. And yet—she is still kind.]
Lumine's hand paused mid-bite.
Her chest tightened.
This was the first time someone had spoken her story without pity.
Just… truth.
She kept eating — but her breath trembled faintly.
She waited.
The next lines mattered.
[And when Lumine wandered Mondstadt's plains, searching—]
[her brother was not gone.]
[He was already watching her from afar.]
Lumine's heart stopped.
[The commander of the Abyss Order.]
[The one orchestrating Stormterror's madness.]
[The one who intends to lure Barbatos away from Mondstadt—]
[so that the city can be struck in his absence.]
[The 'Prince' of the Abyss.]
[Is Lumine's brother — Kong.]
The plate in Lumine's hands nearly fell.
Paimon finally stopped chewing.
The Good Hunter felt suddenly cold.
Su Xuan watched her—calm, without pushing.
Lumine closed her eyes.
A breath.
Then—
"…So that's how it is."
Her voice was steady.
But her fingers were trembling.
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