The sunset drew to a close, and night fell.
Stars glittered across the whole sky.
The lanterns of Liyue Harbor came on one by one until the whole port blazed with light.
The entire harbor city lay mirrored on the surface of the ocean.
Chihu Rock, in particular, was buzzing.
"Care to gamble on a stone, honored customer? There's a chance you'll crack open a top-grade piece of Noctilucous Jade."
"Now then, when General Feipeng marched out to war, he once said…"
"Come, come, have a look! Genuine Demon Swords from The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1, two thousand Mora apiece. Guaranteed to cut through any thicket and carry you to victory every time!"
Hawkers' cries, bursts of laughter, the voice of the storyteller at Third-Round Knockout, all of it blended into one great swell of noise.
"Liyue Harbor's gotten lively again, huh."
Paimon floated along behind Lumine, head swiveling to take in everything at once.
"It has," Lumine said with a nod.
When they had set out, heavy snow had been falling on Liyue Harbor without a break, and hardly anyone had been out doing business.
Now the main street was packed with people coming and going.
"Paimon wonders what Fang Qiu's up to right now. Do you think her new book's finished? Traveler, should we go find her first, or go eat something good at Wanmin Restaurant first? Paimon also wonders whether Xiangling's come up with any new dishes."
Paimon swallowed, wearing the face of someone with a stomach full of hungry worms.
"Let's get Fang Qiu and go to Wanmin Restaurant together," Lumine said.
"That works too." Paimon nodded. "Speaking of which, that Itto guy somehow found out we were delivering books, and he actually wrote Fang Qiu a letter as well. Paimon's really curious what he put in it."
"My guess is he's inviting Fang Qiu to join the Arataki Gang," Lumine said after a moment's thought.
"You know what, that's actually pretty likely." Paimon thought it over and nodded in agreement.
But just as they turned to head toward Fang Qiu's house, they spotted two white-haired women standing in front of a shop not far off.
"Huh? Look, it's Shenhe and Fang Qiu." Paimon's eyes lit up, then narrowed in confusion. "What are they doing?"
Lumine was puzzled too. "Let's go over and see."
"Mm." Paimon nodded.
They made their way over.
"Fang Qiu, Shenhe, good evening!" Paimon called out, beaming.
Hearing Paimon's voice, Fang Qiu turned around and saw Paimon and Lumine walking toward them, waving and smiling.
"Paimon, Traveler, good evening," Fang Qiu said, greeting them with a smile.
Shenhe and Lumine exchanged greetings as well.
"What a coincidence, we were just about to go find you!" Paimon said, then tilted her head. "Oh right, what are you two doing here?"
"Nothing much. Just looking," Fang Qiu said. She glanced once more at the Wangshu Sword hanging on the shop's wall, giving off a faint blue glow, then pulled her gaze away and smiled.
"Isn't that the Wangshu Sword? It looks a lot like how Paimon pictured it while reading the book." Paimon followed Fang Qiu's line of sight, and among the shop's clutter of Demon Swords, Demon-Quelling Swords, and Chonglou's Flame Wave Blood Blades, she picked out the glowing Wangshu Sword mounted on the wall. "Fang Qiu, are you thinking of buying that sword to use?"
"No, I just thought it was a novelty," Fang Qiu said with a small laugh.
The Wangshu Sword's blade was slender, but it probably still weighed around three catties.
With her strength, simply lifting the thing and swinging it would be a struggle. She had once picked up someone else's three-catty iron sword at a convention in her past life, expecting it to be light; after two swings, the sword was clearly leading her rather than the other way around. Only later did she learn that a longer blade shifted the balance point, and that most ancient swords back then had weighed closer to two catties.
So even swinging it was hard work, let alone hauling it around to fight with.
Besides, she wasn't some melee-brawling wizard like Gandalf.
A ranged spellcaster had no business with swords.
If she used anything, it should be a staff.
Mm… although a staff might be a bit heavy for her too. Better to go with the kind of wand from Harry Potter.
Then again, could something that short still be called a staff?
Wouldn't "magic baton" suit it better?
But wasn't a baton also a kind of bread…
The truth was, she just thought the light coming off that blade looked a little like the glow given off during nuclear fission.
Only looked like it, of course.
The sword was probably made of Noctilucous Jade.
After all, it wasn't as if this world had anything like uranium-235…
Mm…
Wait, why did she remember the Traveler and Paimon telling her that this world did have a kind of ore that harmed your body just by being carried on your person…
Could that be uranium, or something along those lines?
Come to think of it, from what the Traveler and Paimon had said before, over in Inazuma some engineer from Fontaine had built a thing called a Mikage Furnace, and it had gone wrong and contaminated the whole area.
The Traveler and her companions had been the ones to settle it, apparently.
Ah, well…
Surely it wasn't that serious?
She didn't really understand this sort of thing anyway.
"Then let's all go eat something delicious at Wanmin Restaurant," Paimon said with a grin.
"Mm." Fang Qiu nodded.
The reason she and Shenhe had come to Chihu Rock in the first place was to have dinner at Wanmin Restaurant.
She had wanted to invite Hu Tao along, but Hu Tao wasn't home. The female undertaker said the Director had gone to Wuwang Hill on business.
With no other choice, the two of them had come on their own.
She hadn't expected to run into the Traveler and Paimon just as they returned to Liyue.
"Oh, right, there's a new kind of dessert here. Do you two want to try some? It's really good. Think of it as an appetizer," Fang Qiu said.
"A new dessert? Paimon wants some!" Paimon said at once.
Fang Qiu held out the paper bag she'd been carrying, and Lumine and Paimon each took one and tasted it.
"How is it?" Fang Qiu asked, smiling.
"So good!" Paimon's eyes shone. Then she rubbed her chin. "Still, there's room for improvement."
"Room for what improvement?" Fang Qiu asked, puzzled.
"Mixing Hydro Slime mucus into the molten filling! It'd taste amazing," Paimon declared with complete seriousness.
"Ah, well…" Fang Qiu fell silent.
Lumine fell silent too.
Shenhe sank into deep contemplation.
It was a good thing Hu Tao wasn't here, or she'd be feeling queasy again.
They walked over to Wanmin Restaurant, placed their orders, and Xiangling took to the stove herself.
While ordering, Fang Qiu let Xiangling have a taste of the dessert.
To her surprise, Xiangling arrived at exactly the same conclusion as Paimon.
Adding Slime mucus to the molten filling would make it even more delicious.
Looking at Paimon's smug little grin, Fang Qiu and Lumine found they had nothing to say.
"Oh right, Traveler, give Fang Qiu the letters and the invitation," Paimon said.
"Invitation? What invitation?" Fang Qiu latched onto the key word with perfect precision.
"So here's the thing. You know about Yae Publishing House, right?" Paimon said.
"Mm, I do." Fang Qiu nodded.
Back when the Inazuma channel was first opened up and Bai Qing came to sign her, Yae Publishing House in Inazuma had already come up.
It was the organization behind Inazuma's light novels, manga, weekly magazines, an entire chain of entertainment literature.
"So, the editor-in-chief of Yae Publishing House is named Yae Miko, and she wants to hold a huge nationwide literary festival in Inazuma. She's invited lots of creators from Liyue and Mondstadt, and since she knows we're close with you, she asked me and the Traveler to deliver your invitation in person," Paimon said, taking the invitation from Lumine's hand and passing it to Fang Qiu.
Fang Qiu accepted it, opened it, and read.
The gist was that Yae Publishing House sincerely invited her to travel to Inazuma for a grand festival called the Irodori Festival.
After the formal business, there was one more line at the end.
"Little one, yours is the only invitation I wrote by hand. You simply must do me this favor."
Little one…
Why did this editor-in-chief called Yae Miko write like somebody's grandmother?
Still, the tone of the letter was rather gentle.
"So? Are you interested?" Paimon asked, full of concern.
"Uh… let me think about it a bit more…" Fang Qiu said, a little awkwardly. She did want to see Inazuma, to see customs and scenery different from Liyue's.
After all, Naganohara Yoimiya and Kamisato Ayaka had described plenty of Inazuma's beautiful sights in their letters.
But she hadn't even finished seeing Liyue's own scenery and customs…
After all this time, the farthest she'd traveled was Jueyun Karst. She hadn't even been to Dihua Marsh…
And now she was supposed to leave the country all at once…
Don't even mention it…
She really didn't have the nerve…
"Mm, that's fine. There's still plenty of time, so you can think it over," Paimon said.
"Mm." Fang Qiu nodded.
"And these letters are for you too." Paimon handed over several letters.
Fang Qiu took them and skimmed the senders. When she saw that Thoma had written back, the corners of her mouth curved into a smile.
She was looking forward to what was inside Thoma's letter.
But she didn't rush to read it. Instead she tucked the letters away along with the invitation.
She'd read them once she got home.
"Oh right, Fang Qiu, how's the new book coming along?" Paimon asked.
"I submitted it to the publishing house this morning," Fang Qiu said.
"What perfect timing." Paimon blinked, then asked, "So what kind of story is it this time?"
"A story about redemption and healing, I suppose," Fang Qiu said after a moment's thought.
"Redemption and healing?" Paimon stared for a beat, then broke into a delighted grin. "Yay!"
"I'm glad you like that kind of story," Fang Qiu said with a soft laugh.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot. Miko asked me to tell you she'd like you to write an afterword for the new book. She wants to include it in the deluxe hardcover edition and sell them together. The royalties will be counted in the channel share," Lumine said.
"An afterword? No problem." Fang Qiu's eyes narrowed slightly as she smiled.
An afterword. Something like the completion notes authors wrote in her past life.
An amusing idea came to her.
While they chatted, Xiangling and Guoba brought out plate after plate of steaming, fragrant dishes.
After several rounds of food and drink, they walked out of Wanmin Restaurant.
"Traveler, let's get going. Any later and the inn won't have rooms left," Paimon said.
"Mm." Lumine nodded.
Just as they were about to set off, Fang Qiu smiled and said, "Why bother with an inn? Stay at my place. My house is pretty big."
"Yes please, yes please!" Paimon agreed on the spot.
"Then we'll be imposing on you." Lumine shot the wildly excited Paimon a look and nodded.
And so they all headed home together.
Once the Traveler and Paimon were settled into their rooms, the four of them sat together in front of the fireplace and talked for a long while.
They talked and snacked and drank chilled beverages.
It had to be said, in her past life people spoke of two of life's great pleasures.
The first was sleeping under a quilt in an air-conditioned room in summer.
The second was sitting in a heated room in winter eating ice cream and drinking chilled beverages.
The first was easy enough to manage.
Air conditioning existed everywhere in the country.
The second was harder.
The place she'd lived had no heating at all, cold and damp, magic damage that went straight through you.
But in this life, that second pleasure had finally come true.
There was no denying it, drinking something lightly chilled in front of a fireplace felt wonderful.
As for the Traveler and Paimon, the adventure story they told her was about Watatsumi Island.
Fang Qiu also learned that Watatsumi Island had a Divine Priestess named Kokomi.
Once the talking was done, they went back to their rooms to sleep.
Shenhe had work tomorrow, so she went off to bed too.
Fang Qiu, meanwhile, sat down on a Jumpy Dumpty and started reading her letters.
The first was from Kamisato Ayaka.
The gist was more or less the same: an invitation to come to Inazuma.
The second was from Naganohara Yoimiya.
In it, Naganohara Yoimiya also invited her to Inazuma, and promised to set off the most brilliant fireworks for her at the festival.
The third was written by someone named Arataki Itto.
This was the first time this person had ever written to her.
Fang Qiu skimmed the letter.
This Arataki Itto seemed to be the boss of a large gang in Inazuma called the Arataki Gang.
The letter was an invitation to join the Arataki Gang, and, while she was at it, to come to Inazuma and play Onikabuto.
A little alarming.
Still, since he knew the Traveler, he probably wasn't some irredeemable villain.
Fang Qiu picked up Thoma's letter next.
In it, Thoma offered a correction: the ghost stories he'd been talking about were not the sort found in The Forest of Fireflies' Light, but the genuinely terrifying kind.
He even listed the titles of several horror novels.
The titles alone sent a faint chill crawling up Fang Qiu's spine.
But she didn't dare look behind her.
She was afraid that the moment she turned her head, a ghostly face would be there.
Fang Qiu let out a long breath.
Nothing to fear, nothing to fear.
Shenhe, a professional exorcist, was right here, and so were the Traveler and Paimon.
There was nothing left to be scared of.
At the end of the letter, Thoma invited her to Inazuma as well.
And just like that, Fang Qiu found herself wavering again.
Should she go to Inazuma for this Irodori Festival or not…
If she went, would it be better to go alone?
Or to invite Hu Tao and Shenhe along?
She definitely leaned toward the latter. Having them with her the whole way would make the trip far more fun.
But Hu Tao had the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to run, and Shenhe had only just started working and settling into life in Liyue Harbor.
Making them waste all that time just because she wanted to see Inazuma left her feeling guilty…
Never mind. She'd think about it later.
It made her head ache.
The urgent thing was to finish writing that afterword, since the Traveler and the others would be taking the book and the afterword back to Inazuma together.
So Fang Qiu drew out a clean sheet of paper, picked up her quill, and dipped it in ink.
She thought for a moment, then set pen to paper.
[Thank you all for your kindness. I am Fang Qiu, the author of this book…]
The gist was a round of thanks to the readers, the publishing house, the editorial department, and everyone else.
Then she moved on to the original impulse behind the book, and what she had wanted to express through it.
Which was to say, Hu Tao's philosophy of life and death, plus a bit of free advertising for the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Finally, Fang Qiu added a line noting that the reason she had written this book at all was because a gentleman named Thoma had written to her asking her to.
Looking at the thousand-odd words sprawled generously across the page, Fang Qiu nodded, satisfied.
Mm. Not bad, not bad.
Sincere, moving, every line straight from the heart.
____
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