Zhongli was luckier—many from those gatherings were still by his side.
The Streetward who played when drunk, the Guizhong who danced, and that woman—everyone was still there.
But "Ah, if only time could remain forever in this moment"—the same thought had arisen.
Zhongli and Venti both understood Ei, but understanding ≠ agreement, so they did not make similar choices.
Time moves forward—and so does the story.
After talking with Nilou, the Traveler in the book chatted with other Grand Bazaar residents. During the Flower God Birthday Festival days the residents truly earned money—9,000 Mora a day!
Working three days would exceed Sayu's monthly salary—one could only say Sayu shouldn't look; horror film.
Finally the Traveler spoke a bit with Dehya—unexpectedly Dehya even knew about henna powder.
[Dehya: "The henna powder sold here is pretty good—not only does the scent last longer than what you buy elsewhere, it doesn't irritate the skin…"]
["Ahem, this is just what I heard from others!"]
Tsundere! Definitely tsundere!
Before everyone had only suspected; now it was confirmed!
Unexpected—you with such a gallant air are a tsundere too!
While everyone was chatting, Paimon spotted someone—Katheryne!
Katheryne, who rarely left the Adventurers' Guild front desk, had actually come to the Grand Bazaar!
She looked left and right while humming a tune, walking with a bit of a bounce.
What was going on? Normally Katheryne wasn't this cheerful—had Sumeru technology shocked the world enough to evolve even Katheryne?
Had the perpetually on-duty Katheryne finally evolved to give herself a vacation?
Everyone still didn't know that this Katheryne was currently controlled by Nahida—the bouncing was probably because Nahida wasn't used to such long legs.
Normally taking big strides, longer legs made it feel like bouncing.
Seeing old acquaintances the Traveler and Paimon naturally went to greet her. Strangely, this time Katheryne's opening wasn't "Ad astra abyssosque."
[Katheryne: "Always saying the same things, doing the same things—isn't it like endlessly replaying the same Fontaine film? Wouldn't days become dull?"]
Fontaine people hadn't expected to be @'d in this situation.
Though the metaphor was a bit odd, it was quite apt—was this Katheryne's state when resting?
Katheryne had come to enjoy local customs, but the Traveler and Paimon weren't—though they would enjoy local customs, their main goal was finding family.
In the story the Traveler said she was looking for her brother, only experiencing local customs along the way.
Real-world Lumine suddenly realized: right, still need to find brother.
This wasn't that Lumine didn't care about her brother—mainly Lucian had told her she would meet him later and he wasn't in danger, so why worry?
After setting aside worry, little Lumine began enjoying local customs and time with everyone.
[Katheryne: "Staying like this is good—because the true answer isn't necessarily at the end, but in the journey itself."]
Readers felt this line sounded familiar—as if Venti had said something similar?
No wonder this Katheryne felt off—could it be Venti in disguise? Definitely thinking the Flower God Birthday Festival was a celebration with alcohol, so he came to sneak drinks!
In fact Zhongli had said something similar, but for such unserious behavior everyone felt it was something Venti would do.
[Katheryne: "If a festival can bring happiness to humans, it should have meaning in existing, right?"]
Readers caught the keyword "humans"—as expected, it's you—Venti!
Though Katheryne wasn't human either, she normally wouldn't deliberately emphasize "humans"—definitely a god in disguise!
Venti, I call your name—do you dare answer!
Proof Venti is Katheryne: the two never appear together!
Venti still didn't know he'd be suspected of disguising as Katheryne to steal drinks.
If he knew… he'd probably actually disguise himself a couple times to mess with everyone's judgment.
In the story Katheryne chatted briefly with the Traveler then fled—turns out Dehya had arrived.
[Dehya: "The miss knows you're looking for a way to seek audience with the Dendro Archon—she really wants to help. I might be able to point you in a direction."]
Seeking god, miss, I have a way, Pyro—this is Thoma!!
Whenever meeting a god was mentioned readers couldn't forget Thoma—Thoma's popularity surged in an unexpected way.
But in the story Dehya wasn't rushing to imitate Thoma's "kidnapping"—she first needed to take Dunyarzad, lying at Nilou's place, back to temporary lodging.
This outing was nothing for the Traveler, but for frail Dunyarzad it was already a year's worth of exercise.
Dehya carried Dunyarzad back; the Traveler went ahead to the agreed place to wait.
[Dehya: "Sorry I'm late. After getting back, it took a lot to convince the lord and lady—the miss was just in a bad mood and sat at the port for a while."]
Such words were hard to fool shrewd merchants—how could sitting at the port make her unfindable—but they were willing to believe, because they loved their child.
[Dehya: "Thanks—the miss hasn't been this happy in a long time."]
The young master hasn't smiled like this in a long time—call it a domineering CEO novel!
Seeing Dehya care so much for Dunyarzad, even Paimon couldn't help sighing at her attentiveness.
[Dehya blushing tsundere: "Tch, I'm a bodyguard—and now the miss hired me with money too. This is professional integrity."]
Readers quite liked this gallant big-sister tsundere contrast—seeing her shyly flushed face felt refreshing, but someone didn't like it: Dehya herself.
In the illustration Dehya turned her head away, face red.
Real-world Dehya covered her face, ears red.
Help! Don't let the whole world see my tsundere side!
At this moment Dehya understood Mona and Fischl's feelings. Regrettably, Dehya had thinner skin than them.
Fischl and Mona were used to it; Dehya wasn't—utterly mortifying!
[Paimon: "Hehe, she's embarrassed!"]
[Traveler finishing blow: "She's embarrassed."]
Dehya nearly couldn't resist tearing the book—fortunately her hands were busy covering her face; the book survived.
Dunyarzad covered her mouth lightly laughing: she really loved seeing Dehya like this—rare sight.
While Mona and Fischl were pondering a similar question: "In others' eyes, is this how I look?"
Though it's cute… but such things really shouldn't happen to me!
Now empathizing, both girls' pretty faces flushed slightly.
Why is my face red? Call it high spirits.