Spring thrived around Starfell Lake, and from time to time a breeze carried the aroma of grilled food far away.
After filling their bellies, the two little lolis lay on the grass to rest, but since they didn't sleep very still, they kept rubbing up against Ken.
That tranquil, peaceful mood lasted all the way into the afternoon. When the sun slanted toward evening, Ken finally took Klee and Diona back to the city.
There wasn't much time left on the double portal. After dropping little Klee back at the Knights, Ken followed Diona to the Cat's Tail to witness her mixing a new drink.
After all, little Klee was underage; Ken didn't want her frequenting a tavern.
"Welcome, Sir Ken, hero of Mondstadt. What would you like to drink?"
Margaret, the owner of the Cat's Tail, greeted him with a smile and led him to a secluded table to keep out the bustle.
Seeing Diona's resentful look, Ken smiled. "A raspberry mint drink, please."
"Certainly! I'll also throw in a serving of grilled skewers and pizza—I hope you like them." Margaret beamed.
For the great hero who saved Mondstadt, proper hospitality was basic courtesy.
Ken nodded. "Thank you, Miss Margaret."
"No need to be polite." Like a spring breeze, Margaret personally headed to the kitchen to cook.
Once Margaret had left, Diona planted her fists on her hips. "Hmph! I'm going to mix a drink right now. You have to stay and witness it, okay? I'm very confident this time."
"Alright, I'll wait," Ken drawled, ignoring the sly glint in her eyes.
With Ken's promise, Diona hurried back to the bar.
She took out all her ingredients and tools and earnestly began her mixing journey.
Using a clear, bright yellow liquor as the base, Diona crushed ice mint to squeeze out the juice and poured it in. After the mint fused, she added sea salt.
The once bright, clear liquor gradually turned a bit cloudy.
Diona's gem-bright eyes rippled, as if she saw the dawn of victory. She quickly pulled out the Blue Star ingredients bundle Ken had given her.
She poked apart a devil chili pepper and dropped it into the brew.
"Achoo!"
As she crushed the pepper, the searing heat made it hard to open her eyes, and she kept sneezing.
Even the coworkers nearby instinctively edged away, thinking Diona was concocting some weirdo drink again.
"With flavor this overpowering… this batch is definitely going to taste awful."
Diona said this while lifting her head to glance toward the corner.
The handsome man sat quietly there, onyx eyes like gemstones smiling at her.
The smile in Diona's eyes grew brighter. After adding the pepper, she took out soy sauce and vinegar and tipped some into the liquor.
Then she blended in three different liquors of distinct flavors.
Finally—
Diona's gaze fell upon the elegant black cat on the counter.
"Hee-hee-hee…"
Diona let out a villain's laugh, two little sharp canines showing.
Under her coworkers' dumbfounded stares, Diona evilly grabbed the elegant black cat and forced it to spit into the drink.
After a few more steps of processing, Diona ended up with two glasses of brilliantly colored, uniquely flavored liquor.
"New product: Kuchikamizake—complete!"
She picked up one glass and walked toward Ken.
This was the secret method idea Ken had given her—of course the first glass should be used to properly thank him.
The tsundere little catgirl still hadn't forgotten how Ken had teased her with catnip at Starfell Lake.
She had to get him back this time.
"Try it—my freshly created Kuchikamizake, made using the idea you gave me." Diona set the drink on the table, smug.
Looking at the colorful brew, a wave of spicy aroma washed over him. Ken raised a brow. "Kuchikamizake? Does this have Miss Diona's saliva in it?"
"O-of course not!" Diona's face flushed as she crossed her arms. "It's Prince's saliva, not mine!"
"Oh… well, it's cat saliva either way." Ken saw right through her intent.
At most, she'd felt embarrassed when he teased her at Starfell Lake.
The tsundere catgirl wanted to trick him with a nasty drink.
Unfortunately, the catgirl's constitution doomed her to be unable to make bad-tasting booze.
Under Diona's expectant gaze, Ken lifted the glass and took a light sip, a bit surprised. "Want to taste it yourself? It's actually pretty good."
Though Diona had used all sorts of random seasonings, the spicy bite interwoven with a hint of sour and salty produced a surprisingly intriguing flavor.
Granted, you had to enjoy and be able to handle spice to taste the charm; if you hated spicy, or couldn't accept cat saliva…
Psychologically you'd probably refuse.
"H-how is that possible?!" Diona's fur puffed up as she eyed Ken suspiciously. "How could it taste good? I put lots of weird stuff in there—plus cat saliva."
"Cat saliva is indeed sticky. If you'd used your own, it might be better," Ken teased.
Diona turned beet red. "You—you…"
What a pervert!
But seeing Ken's teasing look, Diona didn't quite believe him. Maybe he was pretending it tasted good just to trick her into drinking that super-awful concoction herself.
"I'll find someone else to try it!" Diona said, unwilling to concede.
Ken raised a brow. "Go ahead. You've got half an hour to prove your point."
Diona went back behind the bar and called out to the patrons, "Brand-new Kuchikamizake—who wants to try?"
Many patrons had seen her mixing earlier.
A cat's saliva in there… most couldn't accept it. No one dared taste it for a while.
…
Just then,
Margaret brought skewers and pizza to Ken's table. Seeing the odd-looking drink, she smiled. "Is this Diona's new Kuchikamizake?"
"That's right. Very distinctive. Made with cat saliva." Ken didn't drink more; though the flavor was decent, thinking of the ingredient killed his appetite.
Margaret's skewers and pizza, on the other hand, were quite good.
"Diona has a very grand ideal, you know."
Watching Diona work hard, Margaret said with a wry smile.
Destroy Mondstadt's wine industry… such ambition indeed.
But Margaret didn't obstruct Diona's goal. Seeing Diona come in full of confidence every day was its own kind of joy.
And she'd recruited Diona as a bartender simply because Diona was too cute.
In hindsight, it had accidentally made the Cat's Tail a hit.
The Diona who wanted to destroy Mondstadt's wine industry had become Mondstadt's rising star in bartending, boosting the Cat's Tail's business even further.
Quite an unexpected windfall for Margaret.
As for Diona's new Kuchikamizake, Margaret didn't have the courage to taste it for now.
Cat saliva…
Not many would accept that, right?
While Margaret was mulling, a new customer walked in.
...
The newcomer dressed like an ordinary Mondstadt local, but his white hair drew the eye.
The moment Ken saw him, chewing his delicious skewer, his hand paused slightly.
"Elzer?"
If he remembered right, that was Diluc's steward, Elzer, from Dawn Winery.
Back when he accepted world quest for Dawn Winery, he'd seen the guy.
Compared to Diluc, who didn't meddle much with the winery's business, Elzer was a conscientious steward.
While Ken pondered, Elzer had already reached the bar.
"Excuse me, you must be Miss Diona, the Cat's Tail bartender?"
Elzer looked at the cat-eared girl behind the bar with a warm, polite smile.
Although Diona's drinks were delicious and hadn't truly destroyed Mondstadt's wine industry, they had nonetheless impacted it from another angle.
Dawn Winery used to monopolize Mondstadt's wine market.
But with Diona joining the Cat's Tail, Dawn's monopoly now faced a rising challenger.
As Dawn's steward, Elzer could not allow this trend.
So he disguised himself and came to the Cat's Tail to try and poach Diona.
"I'm Diona. New customer, want to try the Cat's Tail's new Kuchikamizake?"
Diona eyed Elzer, eager.
"Of course. I'd be honored." Elzer replied gentlemanly.
Diona passed him the drink, brimming with confidence. "Go on, try it!"
She ignored Ken's assessment outright.
She believed this weird, ultimate-bad-tasting Kuchikamizake would make this new customer kick alcohol completely.
"Mm…"
"Spicy… sour… salty… yet with a mellow bouquet… Such a bold, wondrous recipe—surely that's the secret of its deliciousness?"
Elzer tasted the Kuchikamizake, eyes lighting up in surprise.
Seeing the remaining devil chilis and condiments on the counter, he earnestly praised her.
Diona, moments ago full of anticipation, now glared at Elzer in irritation.
So Ken wasn't lying—this drink was actually good?
"Mm… I'd call it exquisite. I can taste your boundless passion and love for drink."
Elzer savored the peculiar Kuchikamizake and praised Diona earnestly.
Diona's shaking hand on the shaker trembled more; she was starting to grit her teeth.
Sensing the tremor, Elzer took it as excitement from being recognized and quickly stated his purpose. "A bartender as outstanding as you is wasted at the Cat's Tail."
"If you'd deign to join our Dawn Winery, I'm sure we could raise Mondstadt's wine industry to unprecedented prosperity."
Elzer recited his heartfelt appeal like a little speech.
Not far away, Ken's mouth twitched.
If he wasn't mistaken, this guy was about to get hit.
Diona's goal was to destroy Mondstadt's wine industry, and Dawn Winery—the monopolist—was the ultimate final boss in her eyes, her prime target.
Yet this guy was saying things like that. He thought he was flattering her, not realizing every line was stomping on Diona's landmines.
Sure enough—
Under Ken's gaze, mid-passion speech, Elzer let out a scream.
A bloody bite mark appeared on his arm.
Diona glared at him. "Get lost! You're not welcome here—and neither is anyone from Dawn Winery!"
Elzer: "???"
Staring at Diona's sudden fury, the shrewd steward was stunned. He had no idea what he'd said wrong.
But the sharp pain in his arm left no time to think. He clutched it and hurriedly fled the Cat's Tail.
"Diona!"
Margaret snapped out of her daze too.
She'd been standing by Ken the whole time, watching the farce with him.
She hadn't expected Diona to go feral and take a hard bite out of a customer.
She knew Diona liked to bite when angry, but she'd never seen her this fierce.
"Miss Margaret, I…"
After driving Elzer away, Diona looked at Margaret not far off and instantly felt a bit guilty.
She'd let Margaret down with that behavior.
But the other patrons suddenly burst into laughter and cheers.
"Well done, Miss Diona! That guy wanted to poach you? If he took you away, where would we go to find you?"
"Exactly… I like the Cat's Tail's vibe."
"The pizza and drinks here are great. I don't want to switch places."
"Nice bite, Miss Diona!"
"…"
The crowd's hoots left Margaret half amused, half helpless.
Seeing Diona's guilty look, she shrugged. "Mm… Just don't lose your temper so easily next time."
"Thank you, Miss Margaret." Diona brightened again.
Margaret smiled. "Mr. Ken rarely visits us—make sure he's well taken care of."
Diona nodded, a sly gleam in her eyes. "Hee-hee… I'll mix him another drink this time."
Kuchikamizake…
Her saliva and the cat's saliva…
Should taste about the same, right?
...
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