"That chilling feeling just now," Traveler Aether muttered, fresh off some takoyaki. A shiver ran down his spine.
"Someone watching me?"
"No, not watching—looking down on me. One of the Seven Archons?"
The festival's name hit him: Narukami Birth Festival. And this was Inazuma.
"Narukami, huh? Scary gaze," Aether said, wiping cold sweat.
This Narukami was stronger than him at his peak.
Maybe a touch weaker than the god who sealed him, but not by much.
"I wonder how everyone in Khaenri'ah's doing. Found a safe place to start over?" Aether mused, thinking of his old allies.
Khaenri'ah had left a great impression. Back then, its order held strong, the immortality curse hadn't kicked in, and its educated citizens outclassed most of Teyvat's nations.
They'd won him over.
"But Inazuma… no sign of my sister. Where are you?" Aether sighed, gazing at the faint outline of Celestia in the sky.
"Hey, blondie! Wanna play a game? Big prizes if you win!" a stall owner called, drumming up hype for his booth.
He'd noticed this foreign blond's gaming skills and tossed out an invite, tempting him: "Mora, Primogems, enhancement ores, rare books—you name it!"
"No challenge scares a Traveler!" Aether declared, jumping in.
A jack-of-all-worlds, Aether lost twice early on, unaccustomed to the game, but then steamrolled to first place, raking in rewards.
Meanwhile, Reisen Riou, picnicking with Raiden Ei and discussing intel, shook his head and looked away.
A Traveler through and through. Aether and his sister were peas in a pod—near-identical personalities.
That made his plan easier than expected.
"Ei, why don't Teyvat's people ever go beyond the world?" Reisen asked, nibbling a sweet.
Most Teyvatians didn't know much about the world, but the strong had some inkling of what lay beyond.
Foreign items often popped up in Teyvat.
Some were harmless, like stockings or exotic clothes, allowed by Celestia.
Others were dangerous, banned outright.
Stockings in Teyvat were a bit absurd, but they were no big deal. Alchemists could whip them up from Nilotpala Lotuses and Slime Condensate.
They weren't fully decorative yet—more practical, with puncture resistance. Paired with boots, greaves, gauntlets, or bandages, they made great composite gear.
Inazuma used to import stockings from Sumeru, Liyue, and Fontaine, but with more local alchemists, nylon-like materials were now common in alchemy shops.
Ei wore a custom pair from Reisen—sleek, combat-ready, with elemental and physical resistance boosts. Not made from standard Slime Condensate and Lotuses, but from Thunder Manifestation cores and Slime Essence.
He had a living Thunder Manifestation. Why not use it?
"Beyond the world? No clue," Ei said, puzzled.
"I've heard Alice hops to other worlds, bringing back souvenirs, but she's the only one I know who does it," Ei said. "Like she's the only one who can."
After a pause, she added, "I'm not sure, but Makoto once said Alice guards Teyvat's borders or something."
"Now that you mention it," Reisen snapped his fingers, "every time Beast Realm Hounds show up, Alice pops up too."
"Yeah, you're right!" Ei realized. "Hounds erode Teyvat's borders. When they appear, it means the border's weakening, so Alice, guarding it, shows up."
"So what's the deal now? Intel says Sumeru's crawling with hound packs, but Inazuma's mostly cleared of beasts," Ei said, curious why Alice was still here.
"Inazuma's closer to Teyvat's edge than Sumeru," Reisen explained. "Sure, most beasts are gone, but Tsurumi Island and Enkanomiya under Watatsumi still have plenty of hounds."
"That's not the big issue, though. Intel says a Khaenri'ahn creation by Gold—an accidental byproduct of the hounds, the Golden King Beast—has appeared on Tsurumi's southernmost isle."
"How'd your people get that intel?" Ei asked, her focus oddly specific.
"Ahem," Reisen coughed. "Gloomshrooms are great fungi. They refine rare materials and, when processed, make damn good food."
Ei got it instantly. No need to dig deeper—some things were better left unsaid.
They moved on to Inazuma's grassroots needs.
Things were stable. Samurai and civilians had normal demands, easily handled. Ei didn't need to sweat it.