The System text unfurled across Kairo's vision like silver script on glass:
You revealed the truth—using the coming Stellaron crisis on the Xianzhou Luofu to explain why the Astral Express would choose that route.
The Trailblazer was stunned: how did someone all the way in Belobog know about trouble on the Luofu?
You added that even if they didn't choose the Luofu, the Stellaron Hunters would appear regardless—and urged them to go.
Silence followed.
Then a woman's projection appeared aboard the train—Kafka.
Your companions all turned to you. Just as you said… a Stellaron Hunter.
When the Trailblazer asked if the Luofu's crisis was why the Stellaron Hunters had come, Kafka's eyes widened—surprised they knew. Which meant: they were right.
The Trailblazer stared at you. "Can you… predict things?"
Kafka's attention shifted to you—then stayed there. In Elio's script, you didn't exist.
Intrigued, Kafka addressed you directly.
Faced with Kafka's greeting, you choose…
① Accept pleasantly. If a Stellaron Hunter makes the first move—especially Kafka—ride the current and see what she wants. (Reward: Wordbinding—a Logos-style skill that can inflict Dominated on a chosen target.)
② Decline coolly. Distance is safety; avoid being noted by Stellaron Hunters. (Reward: Kafka's burst SMG, etched with Fate power.)
③ Smile, "Eh-heh." Interest is never free. If she wants a reply, what price will she pay? (Reward: Wretched Remnant of the Infinite False Body, a rare Abundance-touched material that forever yearns for a vessel that will not rot.)
Kairo's eyelid twitched. Kafka, and the top reward was Wordbinding.
Across the table, the veiled woman—bamboo hat, face screened—sat with effortless poise. The voice beneath the gauze was smooth, amused… and unmistakably Yelan's timbre.
Yelan? Here? She should have been haunting the Yujing Terrace tea rooms after the Rite of Descension—after the Archon Rite drama. Yet here she was at Wangshu Inn, now, calling herself—
"Of course," Kairo said mildly, inclining his head. "Please."
She had already taken the seat.
"Who are you?" Paimon floated closer, unabashedly curious. "Your outfit is so weird!"
"I'm an adventurer from Inazuma," the woman said without a ripple. "With the lockdown, I slipped out while the Sakoku Decree was still tight."
Paimon's eyes went round. "From Inazuma? That's oceans away! You could only get here by ship!"
Kairo hid a smile. Inazuman adventurer, hm?
"And you?" the woman asked, head tilting. "You don't look like local adventurers. Not Sumeru, not Fontaine, not Natlan."
"Hehe—she's Lumine, he's Kairo. We're from Mondstadt," Paimon chirped. "Honorary Knight of the Knights of Favonius, too! Helped fix the dragon problem!"
"Oh? The Wind Dragon has been handled?" Surprise colored her tone. "And what brings Favonius honors to Liyue? You'd be safer in Mondstadt."
"Lumine's looking for someone," Paimon said, eyes sliding to her partner. "We heard Rex Lapis shows at the Rite of Descension. If the Geo Archon speaks, maybe we can ask about her kin."
"You can't speak to a god," the woman said after a beat. "Only the Liyue Qixing can secure an audience."
"Eh? Really?" Paimon deflated. "But we can see him, right?"
"You can," she nodded, then glanced past Kairo to the looming figure behind them. "And that one? Human? Something else?"
"Our bodyguard," Paimon said proudly. "We made it from Mondstadt this fast thanks to him!"
"From Snezhnaya, Mr. Kairo?" the woman asked, studying the frost-etched axe. "I've been there. Never saw this. It… doesn't feel like a person, but it moves like one."
"Call it an alchemical construct," Kairo replied. "Doesn't speak. Excellent guard."
"Alchemy." Her eyes warmed with understanding. "Then it figures."
The instant she spoke, the System flared again:
You chose: Option ① — Accept pleasantly.
Reward granted: Wordbinding (Logos). On use, you can strongly compel a chosen target, applying Dominated.
Power slid into him like cold ink poured through fine channels—no jolt, no blaze, just a firming of the air around his thoughts. The world's sounds sharpened; syllables felt like tools he could set into people.
"Wordbinding…" Kairo flexed his fingers. He hadn't cast anything, but the air pulsed, soft as a drum-skin. It wasn't elemental, nor classic sorcery—more a velvet hand on the reins of the will. You wouldn't notice the bridle until you had already turned your head.
Dangerous. And very useful.
The veiled woman rose with an easy laugh. "Another time, then."
She was gone before Paimon exhaled. "Inazumans are so decisive! …Right?"
"She's not an Inazuman adventurer," Kairo said, amused. "Just a disguise."
"Eh? Not—what?!" Paimon blinked. Lumine's eyes slid to him, curious: You know her?
Before he answered, the proprietor arrived with steaming plates and a practiced smile.
"House specialties," he announced, setting down a tower of Golden-Thread Shrimp Balls. Gossamer strands of crisp batter wrapped plump shrimp; citrus dipping sauce gleamed beside them.
Paimon's first bite shattered with a happy crack; the sweet brine and springy flesh lit up her eyes. "So good! The sauce—mmm!"
Then came the Almond Tofu—snow-white cubes trembling in honey-osmanthus syrup. It melted like cloud on the tongue, perfumed and light.
"Liyue cuisine really is different from Mondstadt's," Lumine murmured, pleased.
Kairo tasted, breathed out, and smiled despite himself. At last. He hadn't had flavors like these in… too long.
"Call if you need anything," the proprietor said. "More dishes will follow."
Sun spilled across the table. The Wangshu banners whispered in the high breeze. And in the quiet corner of Kairo's mind, Wordbinding coiled—waiting for the next word he chose to make true.
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