Inazuma.
Lumine and Paimon were strolling through Inazuma City.
"The scenery here is really unique!"
Paimon looked around at the surroundings, her little face full of admiration.
"It's completely different from Mondstadt and Liyue!"
"I agree."
Lumine nodded.
"When we put these landscapes into our Serenitea Pot later..."
"They're definitely going to look beautiful."
Then she reminded Paimon, "Don't get so caught up looking around that you forget to take pictures."
"Don't worry, Lumine!"
Paimon patted her chest confidently.
"I'm a professional!"
She had started taking photos back in Mondstadt.
Then came Liyue.
Then the Golden Apple Archipelago.
After all that practice...
Her photography skills had become quite respectable.
A mere Inazuma wasn't going to challenge her.
"I know you're good."
Lumine smiled as she pinched Paimon's cheek.
"Once we've finished photographing Inazuma..."
"We'll go sell carrots."
"Okay!"
The moment money was mentioned...
Paimon was instantly full of energy.
The two quickly flew around the city, taking pictures everywhere.
Thanks to their ability to fly...
It didn't take long before they had photographed nearly all of Inazuma City.
"Come on."
"It's time to set up our stall!"
Lumine happily kept her promise.
"Yay!"
Paimon cheered.
Then the two began making preparations.
First...
They bought a large piece of cloth.
Then they started looking for a place to set up shop.
Naturally...
Somewhere with heavy foot traffic would be best.
Unfortunately...
Those areas were either tightly regulated...
Or already occupied by other vendors.
Lumine only wanted to sell some carrots.
She had no interest in fighting over territory...
Or causing trouble.
After searching for quite a while...
They finally found a suitable street.
There were plenty of pedestrians.
The regulations weren't too strict.
Overall...
It was a great location.
"Lumine!"
Paimon looked around before nodding approvingly.
"This place is perfect!"
"Let's set up here."
"Sounds good."
Lumine nodded.
She spread the cloth neatly on the ground.
Then softly chanted,
"HORARECHUCHUPARERO~!"
The next moment...
A magical sight unfolded.
A huge pile of carrots, all roughly the same size, appeared neatly arranged atop the cloth.
This had been intentional.
Uniform carrots would be much easier to sell.
Now that the merchandise was ready...
The next question was pricing.
Paimon turned toward Lumine.
"How much should we charge?"
Lumine thought for a moment.
"...Two hundred Mora each?"
Previously...
While photographing Wanmin Restaurant in Liyue...
She had casually asked about food prices.
Carrots there sold for 230 Mora apiece.
Since that was the market price...
She rounded it down to 200 Mora.
It wasn't much cheaper.
That way...
She wouldn't be engaging in unfair competition...
Nor harming ordinary vendors.
"Two hundred Mora each..."
Paimon started counting on her fingers.
"...That means we'd have to sell one thousand carrots just to make two hundred thousand Mora."
"That's only enough to pay Boss Han for one day's manga reading..."
Her expression instantly became dejected.
This was nowhere near the fortune she'd imagined.
"And you think that's too little?"
Lumine rolled her eyes.
"These carrots are basically free!"
Paimon was hopeless.
She had completely fallen into the money pit.
"...Ehehe."
Feeling slightly embarrassed...
Paimon scratched her head awkwardly.
The two then sat behind their stall...
Quietly waiting for customers.
Unfortunately...
Whether because they were unlucky...
Or because they weren't advertising...
Not a single customer came.
The result dealt Lumine quite a blow.
She hadn't expected to make a fortune...
But...
Not even one customer?
That was just tragic.
She was almost too embarrassed to return and face Han Feng afterward.
Paimon felt even worse.
After all...
Her precious Mora depended on this!
"Lumine!"
"We can't keep going like this!"
"We need to change something!"
"For example?"
Lumine blinked.
"For example..."
"We should shout!"
Paimon pointed at the nearby vendors.
"They're all calling out to customers!"
"...That's so embarrassing."
Watching the surrounding aunties and uncles enthusiastically advertising their goods...
Lumine awkwardly rubbed her nose.
Setting up a stall was one thing...
But loudly shouting like that...
She simply couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Leave it to me!"
Paimon waved confidently.
"You just handle the money!"
Truthfully...
She also felt embarrassed.
But...
For Mora!
For becoming rich!
She'd risk it all!
"Ahem!"
After clearing her throat...
Paimon took a deep breath and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Mondstadt! Liyue! Mondstadt! Liyue! Solace Book House Produce Market has gone bankrupt!"
"Mondstadt and Liyue's biggest produce market has gone bankrupt!"
"Boss Han! Boss Han! Eating, drinking, and having fun!"
"He racked up a debt of one hundred million Mora and ran away with his little maid!"
"We had no choice, no choice at all! We're selling these carrots to pay our wages!"
"Carrots that originally sold for one thousand, two thousand, even three thousand Mora—now they're ALL only TWO HUNDRED!"
"Two hundred! Two hundred! Everything's only two hundred! Everything! Everything! Everything! Two hundred!"
"If you're passing by, don't miss out! Don't miss out!"
This was a gag Paimon had learned from reading manga.
She thought it was hilarious...
So she simply adapted it for herself.
Maybe...
It would attract customers.
Whether customers would come or not...
Lumine didn't know.
At this moment...
She was completely dumbfounded.
"...Paimon actually knows how to do this?"
The rhythm was surprisingly catchy.
But that wasn't the important part.
The important part was—
She actually dared...
To portray Boss Han as some utterly unscrupulous scoundrel...
Who had run off with his little maid?!
Lumine was thoroughly astonished.
She couldn't help looking at Paimon with newfound respect.
"On the road to provoking Han Feng..."
"Paimon really is fearless."
Watching the tiny floating girl continue shouting with all her might...
Lumine's admiration only grew.
Warriors like this...
Were truly rare.
She suddenly felt...
Boss Han absolutely needed to see this.
Thus...
Lumine instantly transformed into Gremlin Lumine.
Suppressing a laugh...
She quietly took out her phone...
And secretly began recording.
Meanwhile...
Paimon was far too focused on advertising to notice Lumine's sneaky actions behind her.
If she ever found out...
Her mentality would completely collapse.
I'm working so hard to help us become rich...
And you're secretly reporting me to Boss Han?!
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