"Lumine..."
"Brother..."
Just as the two siblings were sharing a heartfelt moment, an untimely voice interrupted them. Aether, annoyed, turned to look and was met with a sight that made his pupils shrink.
"Traveler, look! I found something good!"
Our little Paimon had somehow found a book with golden patterns and was excitedly waving it at Lumine.
"Something good? Let me see!" The moment Paimon mentioned finding something valuable, Lumine, ever the Mora enthusiast, completely forgot about her brother's condition. She dashed over to Paimon, took the book, and began flipping through it.
"Huh? It's just Aether's diary?" Lumine's face fell with disappointment. She had hoped it would be some valuable alchemy tome, but instead, it was her brother's diary. How boring!
Pouting, Lumine still read through it carefully. While it wouldn't fetch any Mora, getting a peek into her brother's private thoughts was exciting! Had he been thinking about her all this time?
But then...
As Lumine flipped through the diary, her expression quickly darkened, and her hands moved faster.
『XX日, Sunny: Hahaha, that guy Yun Fan finally left Lumine's side. Today is a big victory for me!
XX日, Sunny: My sister is so caring. Getting injured was worth it just to have her take care of me!
XX日, Cloudy: Sigh, my injuries are almost healed, but I can't bear to let Lumine go. Maybe I should pretend to be sick. I can't let her go to Inazuma to find that guy!
XX日, Overcast: First day of pretending to be sick. My silly sister hasn't noticed a thing. Hahaha!
XX日...
X...』
The sound of pages flipping echoed through the hall like sharp blades stabbing into Aether's heart, causing cold sweat to pour down his back.
"Brother...!" After finishing the diary, Lumine's face was pitch black. Veins popped on her forehead, and she gritted her teeth, squeezing out a few words.
"I think we need to have a serious talk!"
"Uh, Lumine... let me explain..." Seeing his sister's eyes almost glowing red, looking like a vengeful demon, Aether couldn't help but gulp. If he didn't say something, he might end up getting chopped to pieces!
"Sure, I'm looking forward to your explanation, brother." Lumine pulled out a dark purple sword from her storage space and planted it firmly into the ground, then turned to Aether with a sweet smile.
This sword was the Festering Desire, a gift Aether had given her after they reunited. Now, Lumine was going to use it to teach her brother a lesson!
"Uh, uh..." Aether was at a loss for words. Suddenly, he had an idea and shouted at Lumine, "Lumine, watch out behind you!"
"Huh?" Hearing her brother's warning, Lumine instinctively swung the Festering Desire behind her. But her attack hit nothing but air, and the momentum caused her to stumble, nearly falling to the ground.
"Aether!!" Realizing she had been tricked, Lumine turned around angrily, but Aether was nowhere to be seen. He had already opened a portal and escaped the moment she turned around.
"Traveler..." Paimon floated over nervously, gently patting Lumine's back.
"Sigh..." After calming down a bit, Lumine sheathed the Festering Desire. "Paimon, I'm fine. But... when we get to Inazuma and find Yun Fan, let's ask him to teach Aether another lesson."
"Uh, okay..." Paimon swallowed hard, not daring to say more, afraid that Lumine might actually decide to use her as emergency food in her anger.
"Let's go! To Inazuma!"
——————
Back at Watatsumi Island, in the Sangonomiya Shrine, Sangonomiya Kokomi was slumped over her desk, exhausted.
The young priestess, her delicate hands covered in white gloves, held a thick brush as she reviewed the documents submitted by her subordinates.
The stack of documents was nearly half a centimeter thick, dozens of pages in total. Even with Kokomi's exceptional intelligence, it took her about fifteen minutes just to read through them, let alone think and make annotations.
Such a stack of documents took at least half an hour to process, and on her desk, there were piles of similar documents stacked three feet high.
"Sigh~ I'm feeling a bit tired." Kokomi pulled out a small notebook from her pocket, opened it, and wrote:
『Reviewing documents: Energy -5』
"Lady Sangonomiya!"
Just as Kokomi was about to put the notebook away, a voice from outside the shrine startled her, almost causing her to drop it.
"Gorou!" Kokomi puffed out her cheeks, clearly annoyed.
"Ah! Lady Sangonomiya, my apologies for the intrusion!" Seeing Kokomi's angry expression, Gorou felt a bit awkward. It wasn't that he was being disrespectful, but the Liyue adeptus was waiting outside, and he couldn't keep him waiting too long.
"Sigh, what is it?" Knowing Gorou's usual demeanor, Kokomi suppressed her irritation and returned to her usual confident self. She knew Gorou wouldn't rush in like this unless it was something urgent.
"It's like this, Lady Sangonomiya. While we were out on patrol, we encountered an adeptus from Liyue!"
"An adeptus?" Kokomi was momentarily stunned, but her expression quickly turned to excitement. She had long admired the adepti of Liyue. It was said that besides their mastery of military strategy, they could set up divine arrays and even perform miraculous feats like turning beans into soldiers. How could a military enthusiast like her not be in awe? "Where is this adeptus?"
"Reporting to you, Lady Sangonomiya, the adeptus is waiting outside the shrine."
"Huh?" Hearing this, Kokomi was slightly taken aback. "Quickly invite him in. No, I'll go greet him personally. Make sure not to be rude!"