At the Solace Book House.
Second floor, in a pink-decorated room — the place Lumine and Paimon had rented. A pink door suddenly appeared and the two of them hurried out.
"Phew! Good thing we left early, otherwise the Millelith would have surrounded us." Paimon wiped the nonexistent sweat from her brow and exhaled.
"Do you think the person who helped us will be okay?" Lumine, holding the Anywhere Door, sat on the bed and asked.
"Uh… probably? He only forced back the Millelith, didn't do anything else!" Paimon scratched her head. "At worst they detain him a couple days. We can take him out to eat later as thanks."
"That makes sense." Lumine nodded, then lay back on the bed with a sigh. "Why did a regular Rite of the Seven turn into this mess?
I thought the Archons were supposed to be lofty and dignified. Instead, one of them works at Boss Han's shop and sings on the streets, and another just got assassinated.
I'm exhausted."
Suddenly Lumine sat up. "Wait — Boss Han said the Rite would be unforgettable before we left. Could he have known this would happen?"
"Wha— you mean Boss Han knew the Archon would be killed?" Paimon's eyes bulged.
"I don't know!" Lumine shook her head, then jumped off the bed. "Let's go downstairs and ask Han."
"Wait for me!" Paimon followed.
Meanwhile, downstairs the ladies' solo match finished — the official ended up twenty defeats to zero. Facing Klee's relentless Ziggs, the official was powerless.
"How could this happen…" She stared at the screen, stunned.
"Hehe, big sis, want another round?" Klee was excited and couldn't get enough.
"No… no more!" The official waved her hands, shocked. Being repeatedly stomped was no fun.
She stood up quickly. "Boss Han, I just remembered I left the door open at home. I'm leaving now."
Without waiting for an answer she slipped out, leaving Klee puzzled.
"Go read manga and come back next time," Han said with a smile.
"All right, Han-brother!" Klee nodded obediently, took her copy of Tom & Jerry, and followed Han to the counter.
"Hey — you're back?" Han looked up and saw Lumine and Paimon descending from the second floor. He grinned and asked, "How was the Rite?"
"Not fun at all— we almost died." Lumine sighed. "Boss Han, did you know the Archon would be assassinated?"
"I—" Han started to answer, but a shocked voice cut in.
"What? The Archon was assassinated?!!" Everyone turned toward the sound. Standing by the counter were Ganyu and a small slime-like being — the Wind-Borrowing True Lord (Liuyun JieFeng Zhenjun).
They hadn't attended the Rite; they'd come to the manga shop and were just hearing the explosive news.
"Hey, that slime can talk?" Paimon blinked at the odd creature perched in Ganyu's arms.
"Impertinent — I am not a slime, I am the Wind-Borrowing True Lord!" the little deity bristled at being called a slime.
Han introduced the visitors: "These two are Ganyu from Yuehai Pavilion and the deity Liuyun JieFeng Zhenjun. They're here with the Traveler and emergency rations Paimon."
"Emergency rations?" Paimon muttered, bored by the nickname she'd already heard a dozen times. Still, since they were important figures from Liyue, she told them everything — including the video Paimon had shot.
After watching the whole clip, Liuyun JieFeng Zhenjun was furious. "How… how could this happen? Someone dared commit such a monstrous crime! This is absurd; I must investigate!"
Gazing at the footage made the little deity's anger grow. "No — perhaps I should go and subdue Liyue Harbor myself, then gather the other deities…"
"Can a slime really destroy Liyue Harbor?" Paimon scoffed. It sounded ridiculous.
Instead of believing a slime-deity's grand proclamation to level the port, she'd sooner claim she herself was the Heavens.
"Hmph. I am a True Lord. With a bit of thunderous power I'll show them! You wouldn't understand, emergency rations!" Liuyun huffed.
"Master, you're the protector of Liyue Harbor — you can't act rashly." Ganyu stepped in, anxious.
She, who carried both human and adeptus blood, had secretly guarded Liyue for a thousand years; now the Archon was dead.
The first priority was to investigate the cause clearly. Ganyu urged Liuyun to consult the other deities and meet with Ningguang and the rest.
After a pause, Liuyun turned to Han at the counter. "Boss Han, what do you think?"
The deity's gaze landed on Han — who had been quietly sipping tea behind the counter.
To Liuyun, Han seemed extremely mysterious, possibly as powerful as the Archon, maybe more. His opinion mattered.
And since Paimon had hinted that Han might have known about the assassination, Liuyun wanted to hear him out.
Han glanced at the group and prepared to answer.
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