After dealing with Dottore at Cape Oath, Orion immediately reported the situation to the Knights of Favonius. Jean and Barbara were both very surprised and delighted. It was a pity Barbara hadn't reached that step yet, otherwise she might have experienced a sisterly bond.
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Jean and the others would figure out how to communicate with the Liyue Millelith, but Jean specifically instructed Orion to deliver the damaged fate star to Albedo. She thought that if it were Professor Albedo, he might truly be able to research something from it.
However, Orion wasn't in a hurry to rush to Dragonspine immediately. He first went to report his safety to Mona and Fischl.
How should one describe these two? Although neither of them had anything to eat, there was a strange feeling, like they were newly dating girlfriends, or perhaps... more than friends, less than lovers?
It was strange. They hadn't confessed to each other or anything, but Mona, while chatting, It seemed she had already chosen three names, all with the last name Magistus. When Orion came to let her know he was all right, she was thinking about the fourth one.
"Hofner... Magistus Perfitt... Magistus Gretel. "Oh, it's so hard to come up with a pretty girl's name when you don't have a last name. Do you have any suggestions?"
"So what names are you even picking?! Why are they so strongly gender-specific???"
However, under Mona's 45-degree-angle cute offensive, Orion still pondered: "Why don't you take a look at the books in the library? You could even ask Lisa about old books by famous people. You might find some interesting ideas."
Mona thought seriously, "old books?, huh... Hmm, that makes sense."
Then she just started reading a book by herself.
Since Orion had promised Lady Barbeloth to look after Mona, he naturally checked Mona's food, clothing, and expenses, and then gave her a good lecture.
"I've prepared some frozen food for you. In this box, there's some ice powder Eula gave me. It won't Melt, so I've put all these edibles inside. If you want to eat, just cook it yourself, understand?
And this, I've also washed these clothes for you. Since you're living frugally, you should properly wash your undergarments. Don't just buy new ones after using them, understand? Also..."
This sudden lecture inexplicably gave Mona the illusion that she was the father working in the family and Orion was the mother, which made her even more enthusiastic about picking names.
Afterward, since Orion still had to go to Fischl's place, he left directly. As he was leaving, he heard Mona saying, "Can turtle shells also be used for divination? Wouldn't that be too cruel?"
Don't kill live turtles, and don't use Brazilian turtles like in 'New Three Kingdoms'! Go find dead turtles, okay?
Leaving Mona's house, Orion headed straight for Fischl's house. As soon as he arrived, he happened to see Fischl's dad exercising.
But strangely, the moment he saw Orion, his legs started trembling, and he couldn't stand steadily.
At this moment, Fischl's mother also came out with some fruit, probably intending to replenish her husband's nutrition. But as soon as she came out, she saw Orion. After a moment of surprise, she immediately showed a delighted expression.
"Oh my! Isn't this Orion? Long time no see!"
"Ah, long time no see, Auntie."
"Oh, still calling me Auntie? Isn't that too distant? Wait a moment." Fischl's mother turned her head and shouted into the house, "Amy! Entertain your own guest!"
With that, she grabbed Fischl's dad, who was trying to escape: "Darling, let's not disturb the young ones. Come, let's talk, just the two of us~"
"No! Wait, the fruit, I haven't eaten the fruit! Orion! Son-in-law! Quick, quick, save me! Quick—" He was dragged away as if swallowed by an boundless abyss, or like an insect falling into the giant maw of a pitcher plant.
As the bedroom door clicked shut, only a woman in her prime, like a wolf or a tiger, and a man's exhausted soul remained in the house.
"So, the leg trembling just now was the Pavlovian dog effect..." Orion rubbed his forehead.
What did Auntie do to make Uncle associate seeing him with being 'drained'?
But soon, Fischl, dressed in her Immernachtreich attire, also hurried down: "My Retainer! Today is truly an auspicious day, to allow us to meet twice!"
The Little Princess seemed very easy to please, even just seeing Orion made her very happy.
However, Orion also noticed something: "Your Highness, why aren't you wearing the ring I gave you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Oz suddenly flew over and placed a ring in Orion's hand. Orion understood.
He took two steps forward, knelt on one knee, held up the Princess's right hand with one hand, and with the other hand holding the ring, was about to put it on: "Your Highness, allow me to place this ring upon you."
The Princess's face flushed slightly, and she turned her head to the side: "I do!"
What are you 'doing'?!
Eh? This hand, why is only the ring finger sticking up? What about the other fingers?
However, Orion didn't quite understand what it meant to wear it on other fingers, so he just went along with it and put it on the ring finger. It wouldn't hurt either way, and this undoubtedly brought their relationship much closer.
After chatting with the Princess for a while and fully satisfying her emotional needs, Orion finally arrived at Dragonspine and handed the fate star to Albedo.
Albedo confirmed Jean's letter, then put away the fate star, and turned to look at Orion: "As expected of my good nominal younger brother, you understand my strength very well and aren't worried about me falling into a deep sleep because of the fate star."
Orion was stunned. He couldn't tell if Albedo was being serious or sarcastic, so he could only reply, "I can help you neutralize it, so I'm not very worried about you having problems."
Albedo smiled coolly upon hearing this: "Is that so? Thank you for your concern. Lately, I've often thought that having a younger brother who is different from Durin and Elynas, and who can communicate normally, seems quite nice. You'll also often think of me."
Orion scratched his head: "Haha, I'm not that good."
"By the way, Orion, I'm actually a famous illustrator too."
Orion:???
What does that mean?
Why is the topic so jumpy?
"I heard that you've been serializing many novels at Yae Publishing House."
"Uh... yes."
"Yae Publishing House actually contacted me, hoping I could illustrate for you. I was very happy to, after all, you're my younger brother."
Orion:...Is this guy jealous because his nominal younger brother doesn't rely on him at all?
"And recently, I inquired and heard that you plan to look for an illustrator on your journey, and if you haven't found one by the time you reach Liyue, you'll contact Yae Publishing House."
Orion:...He's really jealous, isn't he?
Finally, Albedo stared directly into Orion's face: "You've been in Liyue for two weeks, haven't you?"
Orion: This is definitely jealousy! Jealous because he finally has a younger brother but he's not clingy!
Orion took a deep breath, letting the cold air of Dragonspine suppress his urge to retort, and finally said, "'A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality' is quite urgent. I heard that some unillustrated single volumes have already been published. How about you help me draw the illustrations for this one first?"
"Agreed." Albedo accepted very quickly.
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After a half-day tour of Mondstadt, Orion finally returned to Mount Aocang.
Now, in the mornings, Yunli accompanies Skirk for morning practice, so Orion is free. Otherwise, he would still have to face the watchful Skirk.
Orion was too lazy to climb the mountain again. Liyue's mountains are too steep; climbing once or twice is enough. So this time, he directly teleported to the waypoint at Mount Aocang.
Unfurling his wind glider and flying to the location of the Mount Aocang cave dwelling, Orion unexpectedly found a person lying on the ground not far from the dwelling.
The person maintained a crawling posture, with one arm stretched out long, as if they had crawled halfway and couldn't move anymore, so they simply stopped there.
He quickly flew over, and upon closer inspection, with those graceful curves, it was actually a woman?
It wasn't until he landed and there were no obstructions that he saw the person's full appearance.
"Isn't this Shenhe?!"
As a Level 100 Shenhe player and a top-tier Shenhe enthusiast, Orion naturally recognized Shenhe's identity at a glance. This was one of his countless wives.
He quickly walked forward, turned Shenhe over, and held her in his arms. After confirming that her breathing was normal, he tried to wake her. After pinching her philtrum, Shenhe slowly opened her eyes.
Orion pretended not to know her and asked, "Miss, why did you collapse here?"
Shenhe looked at Orion with dull eyes, and after a long time, she uttered a single word: "...Hungry."
"???"
"I don't know who, but they harvested all the herbs on Mount Aocang."
"..."
"They didn't even leave me a single Mint."
Damn it, this time it really is my fault.
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