The next day, Lucian's new book, Love and Teyvat, was also released in Mondstadt.
As soon as it was known to be Shikikan's latest work, it sold out immediately upon release.
Shikikan's books were now tacitly regarded as books of prophecy.
Even if the future depicted in the book had nothing to do with oneself, who wouldn't want to know what was to come?
However, Lucian remained completely unaware of this for now—he had only just crawled off the sofa.
"My head hurts…" Lucian clutched his head, the hangover from last night leaving him with a splitting headache.
Glancing at the time, he saw it was already noon. He had promised to go to the beach with Navia today.
Speaking of Navia, Lucian recalled some hazy memories from his drunken state.
Though he had been drunk, his body's muscle memory had still guided him toward the bed.
But when he finally reached the bedside, he found someone already lying there—Navia, fast asleep and snoring softly.
During the gathering at the restaurant earlier, Navia hadn't drunk much. It seemed that in Lucian's home, she had truly let herself go.
Then, Lucian lost consciousness and collapsed on the floor, sleeping until now.
"Is Navia still asleep?" Lucian looked toward the room.
"She's awake," a voice responded.
Only then did Lucian notice someone sitting in the living room.
Because this person had been completely silent, Lucian's still-groggy mind had overlooked them.
"Clorinde?"
Lucian hadn't expected Clorinde to still be here. Aren't you Furina's personal bodyguard?
"Aren't you going to protect Furina?"
Clorinde shook her head without speaking.
She had stayed here for two reasons: one, to protect Navia, and the other, because of a task assigned by Furina.
Furina wanted to establish a connection with Lucian, and since there happened to be someone around who could interact with him, she had Clorinde temporarily "monitor" Lucian.
So, Clorinde remaining here was actually part of her job.
This was also why she hadn't drunk last night—she never drank while on duty.
Lucian didn't probe further into why Clorinde was still here, simply assuming she was on leave today.
"Where's Navia?" he asked.
"She went to prepare the boat."
Since her job was to "monitor" Lucian, Clorinde hadn't accompanied Navia.
Lucian nodded—it was time for him to set off as well.
After a quick tidy-up, Lucian and Clorinde headed for the city outskirts together.
===✧✦✧===
Meanwhile, Navia had only just arrived at the beach and finished preparing the boat—she, too, had woken up not long ago.
The boat had been arranged by members of the Spina di Rosula, but they had left after preparing it.
Navia didn't want too many people knowing about her secret operation with Lucian.
This had led to rumors spreading within the Spina di Rosula that Navia was secretly meeting with an unknown man.
"This should do." Navia inspected the boat, confirming there were no leaks.
Though the boat had been prepared by her own people, the enemy was also "one of her own," so Navia had no choice but to remain cautious.
At that moment, several Gardemeks approached.
Navia was puzzled. Running into these machines within the city of Fontaine was normal, but encountering them outside the city was unusual.
This was just an ordinary beach, not some restricted area.
With a flick of her hand, a massive greatsword materialized out of thin air. The blade slammed into the ground as Navia gripped the hilt, dragging the weapon behind her.
She didn't attack first—most Gardemeks represented the official forces of Fontaine, and Navia couldn't afford to strike preemptively.
Then, one of the machines aimed its gun barrel at her.
"Oh? You're the ones making the first move." Navia braced for battle.
More and more Gardemeks closed in on Navia, with the lead unit already opening fire.
Rat-tat-tat! A barrage of Pyro bullets rained down.
Not just that one—others behind it joined the assault, filling the air with flaming projectiles aimed at Navia.
"Hmph!" Navia paid no mind to the bullets, charging straight into the mechanical horde.
Some shots were dodged through agile movements, while others crashed against a Geo barrier, scattering into harmless sparks.
"This is how you use a gun!"
At some point, Navia had stowed her greatsword away, her weapon now replaced by an ornate parasol.
Boom!
The parasol pointed at the Gardemeks, condensing Geo bullets that exploded like shotgun pellets, carrying terrifying destructive force.
The machine directly in front of the blast was instantly reduced to scrap, while those behind and beside it suffered heavy damage.
Navia didn't stop. Her parasol vanished, replaced once more by the greatsword.
A spinning slash, leveraging the weapon's momentum, cleaved the surrounding machines clean in half.
A backstep to break free from the encirclement, then the greatsword shifted back into the parasol—another shot fired!
In this back-and-forth assault, the leading Gardemeks were swiftly dismantled.
But the sheer number of machines surrounding Navia was overwhelming, and soon, she found herself completely encircled.
Some of the machines had blade-like legs wreathed in Hydro energy, their movements as fluid as figure skaters.
Each strike came from angles that made blocking a nightmare for Navia.
Adopting a "brute force solves everything" approach, Navia abandoned defensive maneuvers.
She went all-out, relying entirely on her Geo barrier for protection.
This meant that after several exchanges, though she had destroyed many more machines, her barrier was on the verge of shattering.
"Tch."
Blocking tricky slashes while dodging rapid-fire bullets was draining Navia's stamina.
Without energy, the barrier would fail—and then the sea of bullets would swallow her whole.
"Damn it…"
Navia had no idea how many machines she'd already smashed.
Yet the ones before her showed no sign of thinning.
Vacher was well aware of Navia's capabilities.
He had even accounted for the possibility of Melus and Silver—or even Lucian—being present.
In his eyes, Lucian was at least a Vision bearer and wouldn't be too weak.
So the forces dispatched this time were essentially his entire stockpile. It was no surprise Navia, fighting alone, was struggling to hold her ground.
Navia's stamina was nearly depleted—her arms ached, her hands trembled, and her chest heaved violently.
Every sign pointed to her being at her limit.
The greatsword felt unbearably heavy, and her elemental energy was almost exhausted.
As Pyro bullets and Hydro blades closed in from all directions, Navia could no longer block—she could only rely on her crumbling Geo barrier.
Propping herself up with the greatsword to avoid collapsing, she watched as the barrier teetered on the brink of destruction.
Then, suddenly, Navia noticed something behind the Hydro blades—a coiling Hydro dragon.
The dragon devoured the blades but didn't attack the surrounding machines. Instead, it surged straight toward Navia.
Yet Navia didn't defend. She even dismissed her elemental barrier entirely.
The Hydro dragon struck Navia head-on, engulfing her from above and vaporizing all the incoming Pyro bullets in the process.
A surge of Hydro energy enveloped her, seeping into her body and replenishing her nearly depleted elemental reserves.