"Meow!"
Having successfully evolved, Snowball pounced excitedly in front of its master, clearly hoping for some praise.
"So this is what Snowball looks like after evolving?"
Barbara looked curiously at the feline-shaped Digimon.
The Digimon Adventure Season 1 manga had only briefly touched on Snowballmon's evolution path.
She didn't remember the details very clearly.
Was it called… Nyaromon?
Whatever the name, it looked adorable either way.
Even its meow sounded exactly like a real cat.
Barbara reached out and gave it another affectionate rub.
Mm—
Still just as soft and satisfying to touch.
"Well done! But that's enough for today. We'll come back another time!"
She praised it warmly.
Getting it to evolve was already a huge success today.
Any more would be pushing it too fast.
Barbara was worried it might overstrain itself.
Besides, as Digimon evolve, the energy requirements would only grow higher.
But Barbara wasn't too worried about that.
Right now, she had both Hydro and Cryo elemental powers—enough to support Snowball's feeding needs.
Besides, Mondstadt's wilderness was vast and rich in flora.
There were more than enough wildflowers and berries to go around.
"No need to worry at all."
"Since you're full, let's head back,"
Barbara said softly to Snowball.
It was already noon now.
In her eagerness to help Snowball evolve, she had rushed straight to Whispering Woods without even eating.
Now that evolution had succeeded, she could finally head back to the city for lunch with peace of mind.
However, just as she turned around with Snowball in her arms, she noticed something was wrong.
A group of seven or eight Hilichurls had silently surrounded her.
Turns out that during her foraging, Barbara had unknowingly wandered too deep into Hilichurl territory.
"Meow!"
Sensing danger, Snowball leapt out from Barbara's embrace, glaring furiously at the encroaching enemies.
Its tail puffed up like a furball, signaling it was ready for combat.
This was Snowball's signature move—
It could harden its fur like steel wires to lash at enemies.
However…
Given how adorably fluffy it looked, the technique lacked any real intimidation factor.
The Hilichurls continued to inch closer, showing no signs of backing off.
"Snowball, don't be nervous. Leave this to me."
Barbara knelt down, gently calming her angry companion.
Her heart warmed at the sight.
All that feeding definitely wasn't in vain.
She rose to her feet, her expression turning serious.
Though the number of Hilichurls was a bit much, she noticed none of them were Brutes or Shamans.
So she wasn't too alarmed.
Not to mention—
She still had a powerful trump card: the reward she received from Boss Han's manga.
——
Meanwhile…
Lumine, Jean, and the rest had already resolved the Stormterror crisis.
They were on their way back now, already quite close to Mondstadt.
"Finally! The Stormterror incident is over,"
Lumine said with relief.
After uncovering the truth behind Stormterror, she had developed deep sympathy for the dragon.
So being able to purify the corruption and free him brought her genuine joy.
Of course, more than anything—
she was just glad the wanted status on her head would be lifted now.
It had been such a pain walking around with that label on her.
Paimon was in an excellent mood too.
During the previous battle, she had captured tons of exciting footage.
She planned to go over it all in detail once they were back.
"We should celebrate! How about visiting Boss Han's manga shop?"
Venti suggested with a big grin.
After all, Dvalin had been his friend for many years.
Seeing him in pain had made Venti deeply uneasy.
Now that things were resolved, his mood had naturally lifted.
In the past, he would have turned to wine to celebrate.
But now?
Manga at Boss Han's shop had become far more appealing.
(Of course, if he could enjoy both wine and manga together, that'd be the ultimate combo.)
"Agreed!"
Lumine and Paimon raised their hands in sync.
"I have no objections either,"
Jean added with a smile.
The group's eyes then all turned to the last person—
"Is this manga store really as amazing as you all say?"
Diluc asked, stroking his chin, eyes filled with curiosity.
All along the journey, he'd heard them go on and on about the manga shop—
About how compelling the stories were, how thrilling the adventures inside them felt.
Their descriptions were so vivid that even Diluc, the ever-serious man, felt a flicker of intrigue.
He was genuinely tempted to check it out.
But then they mentioned getting rewards just for reading manga—
And that's where Diluc drew the line.
As the heir of the Ragnvindr family, he oversaw massive business operations spanning all seven nations.
And yet he had never heard of anything so outlandish.
Naturally, he suspected they might be pulling his leg.
But during the battle with Stormterror,
Jean and Lumine had both shown incredible strength—
More than what he had known them to possess.
That alone gave Diluc some pause.
Could there be some truth to this after all?
"You'll know once you see it yourself,"
Venti replied with a sly grin.
"Yep yep! I promise, once you go in, you won't want to leave!"
Paimon chimed in, nodding furiously.
"I should mention though—reading one manga costs 100,000 Mora,"
Paimon added seriously.
They really didn't want another situation like the time someone tried to pay with singing.
"That's fine. I'm not short on money."
Diluc said calmly.
"…Stupid rich guy,"
Paimon muttered, visibly annoyed.
She and Lumine had to work hard just to scrape together enough Mora for one manga session!
Meanwhile, this guy…
One didn't need to pay, and the other didn't care about paying.
Paimon was not happy about that.
As the group chatted along the way, they soon reached the Whispering Woods.
"Hey! Look over there! Is that a fight?"
Paimon, ever sharp-eyed, spotted movement ahead.
"A fight? Is it someone from Mondstadt?"
Jean followed her gaze.
And the moment she saw what was happening—
her expression suddenly grew tense.
"It's Barbara! And she's surrounded by Hilichurls!"
Jean's heart tightened immediately.
Knowing that Barbara wasn't particularly skilled in combat, she couldn't sit still.
In a flash, her figure disappeared—charging straight toward the scene.
"It really is her!"
Paimon cried out in surprise.
She'd seen Barbara at the manga shop entrance before, so the image was still fresh in her mind.
"Let's hurry too!"
Lumine urged.
Everyone nodded and quickly followed.
But what happened next…
Left them all completely speechless.
Frozen in place.
~~--------------------------------------
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