"...What are you doing."
Miss Lumine leaned against the doorframe. Tree shadows danced, casting deep shade into her eyes, which reflected the scene before her:
Amidst the slightly intoxicating fragrance of swaying flowers.
The boy with pale long hair leaned against the pillar's edge. The girl in the white dress with silver hair and golden eyes tugged at the boy's collar. Their faces were very close...
They were already touching, their breaths mingling. Sunlight covered them both, casting flower-like shadows. The two shadows in the center of the garden nearly melted into one.
"What are you doing."
Kamigiri emitted a soft hiss. Miss Lumine stared at Lia with a "kind" smile. "What are you doing?"
Lia also noticed Lumine's appearance, but her emotions didn't fluctuate much. She didn't seem to care, still pulling at Kiyo Seigan, tilting her head and saying to Lumine:
"...Is that the Blonde Usurper?"
Kamigiri's hiss grew louder.
Lumine felt there was a saying that fit perfectly: Kamigiri, should be used to cut gods.
....
The early summer sunlight was grand and warm. Fine rays of light skipped shallowly amidst the turning waves. As the tide beat against the reefs, sunlight and sea foam shattered into a mass together.
On a summer coast, one should eat fish.
Sizzle, sizzle...
Over the orange bonfire, the skin of the large sardines from Liyue Harbor slowly turned golden brown, appearing even crispier. Golden oil flowed between the tender fish meat, dripping onto the firewood and merging with the fire, making sizzling sounds.
Kiyo Seigan didn't dare speak; he only dared to grill fish silently.
Testing if the fish was cooked with a bamboo skewer, scoring a few crosses on the skin with a knife, sprinkling salt and pepper, flipping the grilled fish, then grilling the other side—throughout the process, Kiyo Seigan didn't say an extra word.
He stared at the sardines on the grill, big eyes against small eyes.
Kiyo Seigan felt he was just like these dead fish eyes on the bonfire.
Fire on both sides, flipped and grilled on both sides. Whichever side he turned to, the other side would be scorched by fire. Flipped back and forth, tossed up and down, and the final result was being cut into pieces by a kitchen knife and eaten... How hard is a fish's life, but isn't human life just the same?
Clearly just grilling fish, Kiyo Seigan inexplicably realized a truth of life.
He looked up to his left, where the furnace of confrontation lay—Miss Lumine wore a cool summer white dress today, strappy sandals, and a straw hat slightly covering her golden long hair. The brim of the straw hat cast a shallow shadow, covering exactly her eyes, obscuring her expression.
But Lumine glanced at him lightly. The look was very plain, but Kiyo Seigan seemed to read the hidden meaning within, clearly written: 'You're dead when we get back this time!'
Kiyo Seigan watched his nose, his nose watched his heart, pretending not to know, pretending not to hear, grilling his own fish.
He just wanted to be a carefree small fry... why did he have to be put on the fire rack to be roasted?
"This is the fish I paid for." She withdrew her gaze, settling accounts, speaking calmly: "Three hundred Mora a jin, I paid for it."
"Yes, I, paid." She repeated, word by word.
"The one who should leave is you."
Sure enough... every word said in the garden had fallen into Miss Lumine's ears.
Kiyo Seigan felt he was going to be thoroughly burnt today.
Kiyo Seigan only hated that he was quite poor as a boy, unable to even scrape together money for fish. In desperation, he went to ask the God of Wealth, Mr. Zhongli, for a loan. The result was that guy opening his mouth with 'in terms of universal rationality', confusing people half to death, but in the end, unable to produce even half a coin.
One person and one god couldn't scrape together a single Mora... he had to seek Miss Lumine, the little rich lady, for support.
He looked away again, flipping over like the small fry on the grill, facing the furnace on the other side.
"Blonde Usurper." Lia said.
The nice-looking god was indeed the nice-looking god; even her words were concise and comprehensive.
"I paid for the fish," Lumine said. "It should be you who leaves."
"Blonde Usurper," Lia said.
"..." Lumine was like a little lion with its fur standing on end... Golden eyes stared at Lia's clear and beautiful face, her throat making a threatening growl. "Stop calling me that!"
"This beach is mine."
Lia indeed stopped talking about the Usurper. She tucked the soft silver-white hair on her forehead behind her ear, glanced at Lumine with disdain, and said: "This sea is also mine."
"You are not a resident of this city. I do not welcome you."
The attack power on this side was also very high.
Kiyo Seigan withdrew his gaze, burying his head lower, concentrating on brushing oil onto the grilled fish.
"Is Kiyo Seigan one?" Lumine said coldly. "If not welcomed, then we'll just leave."
"Kiyo Seigan is. You alone are fine."
"Why?"
"I have two pieces," Lia said calmly.
"...What?" Lumine was slightly dazed.
"Two pieces."
Lia took out two fragments as brilliant and translucent as amber. The warm sunlight fell on the crystal fragments, scattering layers of halos—these were fragments of the Vowbound Heart. She spread her hands proudly, displaying them before Lumine like a show-off. "Two pieces of heart, and you only have one."
"I have more than you."
"You...!" Miss Lumine gritted her silver teeth, making a slight cracking sound. She turned her head, staring deathly at Kiyo Seigan. The meaning of 'you're dead when we get back this time' hidden in her eyes grew even richer...
"More than you." Lia slightly raised her exquisite, delicate neck, pushing her luck, adding fuel to the fire: "Twice as many as you."
My nice-looking god, please stop talking... If you speak again, Lumine will definitely dig out my heart and cut seven or eight more pieces out of it... By then I can perform a 'Master Lumine, do you want this piece of good heart, or this piece of Buddha heart...'
Kiyo Seigan groaned inwardly.
"Wu..." Miss Lumine retreated in defeat, making a whimpering sound like a wounded small beast. "Don't mention the fragments again!"
"Blonde Usurper," Miss Lia said.
"You...!" Lumine turned around, staring at Kiyo Seigan who was playing dead. "You, you say something!"
Lumine pointed at Havria, speaking like a child tattling: "She... she's bullying me."
What can I say... I'm just a roasted small fry.
No matter which way I turn, I get grilled.
Don't be awkward...
Kiyo Seigan opened his mouth, feeling his lips somewhat dry. He brewed and deliberated the words on his lips for a long time, not knowing how to start. The fierce summer sun covered his body, hot and oppressive; fine sweat seeped slightly from his cheeks.
Lia also stared at Kiyo Seigan, her golden eyes calmly reflecting his face. The beach was terrifyingly quiet, leaving only the sound of surging waves.
Sizzle, sizzle.
After a long while, Kiyo Seigan finally squeezed out a sentence:
"The fish is burnt."
His brain was also burnt. He looked pitifully at Lumine, then pitifully at Lia, looking back and forth between the two, probing tentatively: "...Can we eat the fish first?"
——
These two finally stopped making a fuss.
The sun slowly set. The orange afterglow of the setting sun covered the beach. The warm breeze was picturesque; fine salt grains twinkled with gold light on the sand.
It was almost dusk.
Facts proved that fish grilled for too long would indeed burn... the skin already showed a smoky color. Although so, it didn't affect the taste much. Lia gently took a small bite of the sardine. After a long while, she lowered her eyes:
"So... you are leaving Liyue?"
Tsk. She clicked her tongue lightly.
Subconsciously... she gripped her lapel, but the expression on her face remained calm.
"Came to say goodbye?"
"Mn." Kiyo Seigan nodded.
"When do you plan to leave?"
"Leaving very soon. The ship has been contacted." Kiyo Seigan whispered, "Going to Inazuma."
The passage had been arranged. Zhongli truly knew everyone in Liyue; even with Inazuma sealed off, he had secured them berths aboard a merchant vessel of The Crux, captained by Beidou.
"Why?" Lia stared into Kiyo Seigan's eyes. "Why leave?"
"Uh..." Kiyo Seigan hesitated. Then, as if making up his mind, he rolled up his sleeve. Beneath skin so pale it was nearly translucent, dark veins could just be seen.
Lia's slender, fair fingers tentatively touched those lines, retracting upon contact.
"Although the Karma has disappeared, it ultimately visited my body and left some things behind. Should I call it 'pollution'? Consider it a small aftereffect."
It was only a slight aftereffect. The Karma itself was thoroughly dead; all that remained was residual power.
If Kiyo Seigan could fully absorb that power, he could take a major step along the Steps of Ascension.
Body of Filth. The so-called Body of Filth written by the system was this thing. It was precisely this inhuman body that could withstand the Gnosis.
Over the past few days, Kiyo Seigan had begun to understand what the Steps of Ascension could do. Its most important power was to break the limits imposed on mortals.
Take Bosacius, for example. Before the age of one hundred, he became Marshal Vritras, slew countless gods in the Archon War, and reached Level 89. Yet in the five hundred years that followed, he could not advance a single step further.
This bottleneck was the limiter between mortals and gods. He could not break through it in his entire life.
The Steps of Ascension opened a different path, one without a ceiling—the whole sky and sea lay open before him.
"On Mt. Yougou in Inazuma stands the Sacred Sakura. It can purify this residual 'filth'."
"So... you are going to Narukami Island? To purify the filth on your body?"
Lia stared at Kiyo Seigan's eyes.
"There are other reasons too..." Kiyo Seigan scratched his head. "I just have an inexplicable feeling that I should go to Narukami Island—maybe I'm craving the food there."
He wanted to see, wanted to see more places. He was originally a traveler.
"So you have to leave."
Flames rose from the bonfire; the firewood made crackling sounds—those firelights reflected in Lia's eyes. She hugged her knees gently, curling up slightly:
"But you are a resident of my city... you promised."
What resident...
This hateful guy who keeps calling me Blondie.
Lumine didn't like Havria...
This guy kept showing off, saying she had twice as much as me...
But for some reason, listening to her words, looking at her appearance, inexplicably... she couldn't bear it.
That guy had helped Kiyo Seigan after all.
Wah, really, annoying!
Lumine bit off the last bite of the sardine. She paused, patted the sand off her body, stood up, and said muffledly: "I'm going over there. You guys talk properly."
Lumine... Kiyo Seigan looked at Lumine.
"What are you looking at." Lumine turned her face away, scolding lightly: "I just find it too noisy."
She made a fierce expression at Kiyo Seigan: "...No doing strange things!"
Miss Lumine is so cute... Kiyo Seigan sincerely felt so.
A long while later.
Only Lia and Kiyo Seigan remained on the beach.
Dusk slowly dissipated on the coastline; the cold moonlight floated with shallow light. The bonfire creaked and crackled.
For a moment, the two fell into silence.
"If you want to go, just go," Lia said coldly. "The nice-looking god doesn't want you anymore."
Had he been leaving under ordinary circumstances, Havria would simply have locked him inside Sal Terrae. After two thousand four hundred years, she was no longer the God of Salt she had once been. Yielding without end led only to loss—that lesson was carved into her life.
But Kiyo Seigan was going to Inazuma to purify the residual filth on his body.
Then she... couldn't keep him.
Even though she wanted to, even though they agreed not to retreat, even though she was very unwilling... they clearly agreed not to make God sad.
"Lia."
Kiyo Seigan watched the fire for a while, then turned to Havria and said earnestly:
"Sal Terrae is really beautiful, really beautiful... I like living in your kingdom very much. I am very happy that you could invite me to live in your kingdom."
"So?" Lia said.
"I once heard a saying: 'Regnum Dei intra vos est'."
Kiyo Seigan looked at Lia. "For a believer, wherever you stand becomes Sal Terrae—the kingdom where I find peace."
Perhaps it was only the firelight, but his fair cheeks were faintly flushed.
"I want to invite my god to walk with me—to travel with me. Wherever you go, there is Sal Terrae."
"I want to travel with you, and with Lumine. I want to see more scenery with you."
Travel, huh...
His eyes were very earnest.
Meeting his gaze, Lia instinctively looked away. The tips of her ears reddened like the evening sky. "I... I haven't been out."
She had never ventured beyond Liyue.
Since birth, she had always stayed in Liyue, never having been to the outside world.
"Nice-looking God, Great God, Only God,"
Kiyo Seigan's eyes reflected Havria's face. "I want to invite you into my city too."
Want you to live in my city.
—Invite you into my city.
...This idiot.
How could she refuse after hearing that...?
Lia lowered her eyes, flustered, and bit her lip. She thrust the Salt Ruler into Kiyo Seigan's arms. "...You—take the Salt Ruler. Speak to it, and I can hear you!"
"So the answer...?"
Lia stared ferociously at Kiyo Seigan as if her tail had been stepped on. After a long while, she said slowly:
"Hopefully that will be very nice looking."
"That will definitely be very nice looking." Kiyo Seigan finally smiled, imitating Lia's tone from before, proudly saying: "Just as nice looking as me!"