Inazuma.
Returning from the shrine, Yunling didn't forget to bring back some delicious food for her boss and Ashu.
"Arataki, how can you give it back to them? I won all of these with great effort. A bet is a bet, and Ashu and the others can testify!"
"Boss, how old are you, and how old are those little kids?"
Arataki Itto still wanted to insist, but Kuki Shinobu's gaze made him reluctantly let go.
"I clearly won..."
Yunling walked up, patted her boss's shoulder, and handed him a bowl of assorted fried noodles.
Itto's nose twitched a few times, his gaze focused on the fried noodles.
He looked back at Yunling, then at the fried noodles, then pointed at himself.
His meaning was: Is this for me?!
Seeing her boss's flattered expression, Yunling felt a bit embarrassed.
She was usually quite good to her boss and the others, so why this expression?
She then took out other food and distributed it to everyone.
Although everyone had already eaten, with such delicious food in front of them, it would be a shame to let it go to waste.
Even Kuki Shinobu ate a little.
"Second Sister, what did the boss do again?"
While everyone was eating, Yunling leaned closer to her Second Sister.
"He won back some miscellaneous things today. Among them is a jade pendant that looks extraordinary. Perhaps a child lost it while playing. You and I will return it later."
"Oh, okay!"
---
Inazuma City.
Yunling strolled alone on the street, and many people she met greeted her.
As a small boss of a 'seven days no business, business for seven days' chef god, Yunling was very well-known in Inazuma.
Everyone felt a mix of love and helplessness towards her; they loved the delicious food she made but were troubled by her laid-back personality.
Her Vision was hanging brightly on her back, and she walked so openly on the street, yet no one came to confiscate her Vision?
Could it be that the so-called Vision Hunt Decree was just talk?
Yunling walked all the way to the location of the Statue of the Omnipresent God.
This statue was still under construction, with many Visions embedded in it.
The Shogunate soldiers guarding nearby saw the gleaming Vision on Yunling's back and quietly looked at their captain, realizing that the captain had clearly seen it but pretended not to. They also learned to follow suit.
Yunling walked to the base of the statue, tapping here and tapping there.
The guards finally couldn't sit still when they saw Yunling actually trying to pry off the embedded Visions.
"Stop! Don't touch that!"
Yunling withdrew her hand; she only wanted to look and didn't expect them to be so tightly embedded.
She remembered that after the statue was built, the Shogun would personally preside over the Vision Hunt Ceremony for the 100th Vision, and that unlucky person would be Thoma, right?
She wondered if, with her openly displaying her Vision here now, the hundredth Vision would become hers instead.
This would also be the battlefield for Lumine's first confrontation with the Shogun.
She didn't want to steal Lumine's highlight moment, but Thoma's should be fine, right?
She had made many delicious dishes for Thoma before and seriously taught him how to make several dishes and their precautions.
This should count as compensation, right?
It's just stealing one highlight; she believed Thoma wouldn't be so petty.
---
Yunling regretted it as soon as she returned to the Arataki Gang's headquarters.
She saw that her boss had somehow angered her Second Sister again, and now all four of them were squatting, receiving criticism from Second Sister.
Seeing this, Yunling immediately turned back, but unfortunately, she was a step too slow and was called out by Kuki Shinobu.
"Little Yun, come here."
"Oh, coming!"
Yunling secretly cast a questioning look at Itto and the four, but received only silence from them.
"Second Sister, what's wrong?"
Kuki Shinobu was clearly still angry.
"You ask them yourself!"
Yunling leaned closer to the four and quietly asked, "What did you guys do?"
The few of them exchanged glances, and finally, Itto spoke, "Ahem, well, Little Yun, first of all, you're not allowed to get angry, okay~"
Yunling was full of questions. Me angry?
What would I be angry about?
My Second Sister is the one who's angry right now, isn't she?
"Okay, you say it, I won't get angry."
"Ahem, well, I was just thinking that you, Little Yun, are always too tired cooking alone, right? I've seen you cook so many times, and it doesn't seem very difficult, so..."
Yunling guessed, "So you did it yourselves, and then blew up my kitchen?"
If she were to get angry, it would most likely only be because of this.
Moreover, the faces of the four were still black.
Itto scratched his head self-reproachfully, "I didn't realize cooking was so difficult. I just added a little too much oil to the pot, and I didn't expect it to explode, and the flames shot up so high..."
Yunling: "..."
Forget it, it's just a kitchen; we'll rebuild it. Anyway, the boss is quite capable.
So, Yunling said to Itto and the others, "It's okay, we'll just build a new one."
But Arataki Itto still had that self-reproachful look.
Yunling: "No way, boss, that's not enough. What else did you do?"
Itto: "The fire was too big, it spread to your and Shinobu's living quarters, and we couldn't save them..."
Yunling silently pulled out her greatsword.
"Shatter-— Rock— Break!!!"
---
Lumine's side.
Lumine had been living a very comfortable life recently, accompanying Ayaka and Yoimiya, and watching Ayaka perform the "Dance of the White Heron" for her and Paimon.
These experiences made Lumine and Paimon feel a sense of belonging in Inazuma, which they had just arrived in, no longer in the unfamiliar and constrained situation they were in before.
"Lumine, hurry up! Our Yunling might have been waiting for us!"
Lumine was already running, but Paimon still felt it was too slow.
The potential that the little one unleashed when she was craving food made Lumine a little startled.
Paimon flew ahead, her small face full of anticipation.
They had been there once before, but Yunling happened to be out that time, and they came up empty-handed.
Paimon had decided that this time, no matter what, she would wait for Yunling.
For this meal, she and Lumine had gone to many places to find a lot of fresh ingredients.
"Lumine, we're here! Wow, Yunling is really here!"
Lumine didn't need Paimon to remind her; she also saw it, but... why did it look like it had been burned by fire?
Paimon waved her hands and stepped forward, "Yunling, we're here!"
"It's Lumine and Paimon! You're finally here. I thought you had forgotten about me!"
"No way! Paimon has always been thinking about Yunling, you know. It's Lumine who forgot."
Lumine, with a face full of black lines, pulled back the tattling Paimon, not forgetting to retort, "What Paimon can't forget is delicious food, right?"
"No way! What Paimon can't forget is Yunling."
Yunling touched Paimon's small face.
She finally touched her!
Little Paimon is indeed super cute!
Lumine looked at the house, which was clearly different from before, and asked Yunling.
Yunling briefly explained the situation to Lumine and Paimon.
"Even cooking can cause a fire! Your boss, Yunling, must be unreliable!"
"Hey, hey, hey, I heard that! Who's talking bad about me behind my back?"
Little Paimon, caught red-handed, immediately hid behind Lumine, peeking out her small head.
"Boss, are the ingredients all ready?"
Itto didn't care what Paimon had just said. He and Ashu carried over two large baskets of ingredients.
"Little Yun, they're all here."
Yunling turned her head and introduced them to Lumine and Paimon:
"Lumine, this is the boss I mentioned before. Boss, this is the Traveler Lumine, and next to her is her companion Paimon."
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