"Pela, you really misunderstand me too much. For mere stockings, would I use Credits to buy them at a high price?" Takagi wagged his finger at Pela and said with a smile: "Last time was just to give you a little punishment. That's why I took your stockings. Why do you think they can get you a high amount of Credits from me?"
Pela's face turned red with embarrassment. Even with her head down, she could feel the gazes of the people around her. If there was a hole in the ground, she felt she would burrow into it.
"But you've shown a lot of obsession with black stockings, haven't you? Not just Pela's, you also mentioned Serval's and Natasha's. You even made Seele wear them," Lumine put her hands on her hips and retorted.
"That's two different things. Speaking of which, how about I make you wear stockings too? Didn't you get the ruler-marked ones from Pela? Why not wear them out and try them? Your body type is similar to Pela's; they should fit quite well. Could it be, you've already worn them in private, Traveler?" Takagi laughed.
"You guy, I'll fight you!" Lumine waved her hands and charged towards Takagi, but was stopped by his hand on her head. Lumine felt wronged. Clearly, Pela's stockings were taken by Takagi himself, yet he insisted she had hidden them. More importantly, everyone else believed him. This left Lumine unable to express her bitterness. But if Takagi had to say, it could only be blamed on Lumine's expression being too mischievous when she helped take them off.
"Oh right, there's another plan for Belobog to avoid repaying Takagi," Lumine rolled her eyes, looking excitedly at Seele, Natasha, Serval, Bronya, and Pela.
"Traveler, you haven't thought of another bad idea, have you?" Paimon said.
"Whose side are you on?" Lumine retorted, then looked at Natasha and the others. "Actually, as long as one of you marries Takagi, wouldn't you not have to repay the debt? Then everyone will be family, and the money will be everyone's, right? Oh right, you could also have a multi-way relationship. Tsk tsk, something like a love polygon, just thinking about it is exciting."
As she finished speaking, Lumine's face showed her signature mischievous smile. Natasha, Serval, Bronya, and the others' cheeks flushed red. Although they didn't know what a "love polygon" represented, combining it with the context, they roughly understood.
"Alright, stop smiling mischievously there, Traveler. Be careful, or I'll make you a member of that 'polygon' you mentioned," Takagi shook his head and grabbed the back of Lumine's collar.
He looked at Bronya and said: "The matter of Credits, take your time, I'm not in a hurry. The current priority is to stabilize Belobog. Don't forget Cocolia, who is still sealed. You said you would let her see a Belobog that achieves happiness without relying on the Stellaron. If you can't do this, even if the seal is lifted, Cocolia might not be able to wake up."
Bronya pursed her lips and nodded heavily: "I understand, Takagi!"
Takagi smiled with relief and waved at the people of Belobog. He then led Lumine, Jean, and others onto the train. As Takagi connected the Astral Express to the teleportation point in Mondstadt, it instantly vanished.
Seele: "They're gone..."
Natasha: "But he'll be back."
Bronya: "Before that, we need to do the work we're supposed to do!"
Serval: "Indeed! Speaking of which, I think Lumine's suggestion is good. Does anyone feel confident about winning over Takagi?"
Pela: "..."
Seele: "..."
Bronya: "..."
Natasha: "..."
"Uh, why aren't any of you saying anything?" Serval blinked.
Natasha sighed: "As expected, I'm not the only one here who has feelings for Takagi."
Serval scratched her cheek sheepishly: "After all, Takagi is so outstanding. He's gentle, powerful, and a great hero. I think if you have ideas, it's better to act quickly. I heard from Paimon that there seems to be a woman named Lisa from Teyvat who has feelings for him. If we don't act quickly, Takagi might be won over by people from other worlds."
Natasha, Bronya, and the others felt a sense of urgency.
Bronya was the first to snap back to reality. "We can discuss these private matters later. Right now, there are many things in Belobog that we need to accomplish. Everyone, let's go back first."
Teyvat.
Mondstadt.
On the plaza outside the Knights of Favonius Headquarters, a large number of Mondstadters gathered, waiting for the return of Takagi. People from other nations also came, though they dared not show dissatisfaction due to the Knights' vigilance.
"You're here too, Diluc," Kaeya said with a smile.
"I'm worried that the Knights of Favonius won't be able to maintain order here," Diluc replied.
"Is that so? But aren't we maintaining it quite well? Look, even the Fatui don't dare to cause trouble." Kaeya looked at the group led by La Signora.
"They are merely deterred by Takagi's power. In my opinion, the Knights are still too weak. At this time, the Fatui should not be allowed to gather here," Diluc snorted coldly.
"Is this the hospitality of Mondstadt? I am an envoy from Snezhnaya," La Signora walked over unhappily.
"Whether you are a guest, you know best," Diluc said casually. La Signora wished she could burn him to ashes, but thinking of the power displayed by Jean and the others, she had to swallow her anger.
Don't be smug. When I also step onto the Path and secure Takagi's attitude, I will accomplish what I need to do, La Signora thought.
Buzz!
Suddenly, a light appeared on the plaza. Everyone focused their eyes and saw Takagi's Astral Express. The crowd wanted to run over, but the Knights stopped them. The door opened automatically, and Takagi was the first to step down, followed by Lumine, Jean, and others.
"It's really lively, completely different from when I came before," Takagi sighed.
"After all, everyone has already seen your performance in Belobog directly through the forum function. And you also said that you would leave a train in Mondstadt for us to travel to Belobog. So, everyone naturally reacted so enthusiastically," Lisa walked over with a smile.
"Hi, nice to see you again, Lisa. You're still so beautiful," Takagi waved his hand.
"Well, compared to Natasha from Belobog, who is more beautiful?" Lisa asked.
"They are two different kinds of beauty," Takagi chuckled.
"Speaking of which, have you built the place to store my train? Although the one I built doesn't need tracks, it still needs a space," Takagi said.
"Don't worry, Takagi, the tracks have already been built. Are you going there now?" Kaeya walked over.
"Yes, after all, it's something I promised. And I think you Mondstadters should also want to see the train quickly," Takagi nodded.
Hearing this, the crowd burst into excited discussion.
"Great! We can finally see the train that belongs to us!"
"Just thinking about going on an adventure to another world makes me so excited."
"Since that place is lacking in resources, my grain will definitely sell for a good price there."
Hearing this, Takagi turned to the crowd: "First, I promised this so that those who want to go on adventures can broaden their horizons. Second, I hope for trade, not for black-hearted business. If any of you have impure thoughts, it's best to dispel them early. Otherwise, you won't have a chance to go to Belobog at all. The last point is that the train is borrowed by Mondstadt; it doesn't belong to them. I hope everyone can understand this clearly."
The noisy crowd quieted down. Some people flushed red, but others whispered.
"But... but Belobog is very poor. Our supplies are precious there. It should be okay to charge a little more, right?"
"Yeah, we are going to help Belobog. Since we helped, it should be okay to assign the train to Mondstadt as well. Anyway, he can easily build one."
Although the sound was low, Takagi heard it clearly. He raised an eyebrow. He wasn't surprised that a Mondstadter would say such a thing.
"Takagi, please don't be angry," Jean quickly walked over.
"The people of Mondstadt are indeed very rude. If it were Snezhnaya, such words would never have appeared. Takagi, why don't you consider putting the train in Snezhnaya? No one there would consider it Snezhnaya's property," La Signora walked over, speaking sarcastically.
Jean frowned, and lightning seemed to cross between their gazes.
"After I go to Snezhnaya for inspection, I'll consider it. As for those who speak nonsense... no one can guarantee that their country doesn't have foolish people, right?" Takagi smiled at Jean. "Don't worry, I won't get angry because of this. However, Jean, you are really too doting on the Mondstadt people. Don't spend all day helping the giant babies deal with trivial matters. If you do this, you will spoil some people who are not very good to begin with. Although Mondstadt is the Nation of Freedom, excessive freedom is indulgence."
Jean lowered her head thoughtfully. Not far away, Venti did the same.
"Let's go, Kaeya, take me to the place you prepared. These onlookers should also disperse. Anyway, Paimon is live streaming now, so they can watch through the forum," Takagi said.
"No problem, please come this way." Kaeya nodded and motioned for the crowd to leave.
However, there were simply too many onlookers, and some were used to being overly free. Even though most were willing to leave, some were still unwilling—coincidentally, the ones who had been murmuring about high prices.
Seeing this, La Signora's smile grew wider, and Jean's frown deepened. Venti shook his head. Just as Venti was about to use some minor means to remove them, Takagi released his aura unique to an Emanator of Trailblaze. In an instant, except for those Takagi deliberately avoided, both gods and ordinary people felt their breathing stop.
"Takagi!" Jean said worriedly.
"Don't worry, I'm not a dangerous person." Takagi smiled at her and looked at the stubborn people. "However, if someone doesn't respect me, then I can only not respect him. Speaking of which, you wouldn't really think I'm just a kind old good person, would you? Or is it that my performance in Belobog gave you some illusions?"
The stubborn people felt that Takagi was getting bigger and bigger, like they were tiny ants. In just a second or two, they fainted from the mental stimulation, expressions of extreme fear on their faces.
"Really, I wasn't going to do anything. Why do they look so scared even when they faint?" Takagi shook his head and looked at La Signora. "Was I scary just now?"
La Signora said with cold sweat on her face: "Ho... how could that be? Takagi, you are very kind."