"Uuugh~ you finally came back~
I thought you'd forgotten about me."
Seeing Huoliya and Fanan return, Mona let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.
Only the heavens knew what she had just gone through in this short stretch of time.
It really was true: even a genius girl could be stumped by a single coin.
Damn it. Next time she went out, she was definitely bringing emergency Mora.
What an embarrassing situation.
"All right, all right, this one's on big sis~
How about I make some of your favorite dishes to treat you tonight?"
Huoliya reached out and kneaded Mona's still-slightly-chubby cheeks, her tone full of teasing.
"It all happened so suddenly I forgot to take you along.
I promise there won't be a next time."
"Mhm~"
Fanan nodded along. "Exactly, exactly."
"Hey, can you at least tell me what happened?"
Curiosity suddenly flared up. Mona's face was full of expectation.
"Uh…"
Fanan shrugged. "All I know is that someone broke into the house.
I haven't asked what exactly went down.
We'll talk about it once we're back."
Someone broke into the house?
Mona blinked on reflex.
"Did you fight?"
"The table didn't get smashed, did it?"
Yes, obviously, she was still hung up on that earlier "test."
"Didn't really pay attention~"
Huoliya's expression turned a little strange.
"But it probably didn't come to a fight."
The one who rushed over today seemed to be that poor girl's older brother, right?
She knew it.
The moment the boss suddenly sent Fanan to approach that girl, he had to be plotting something.
And now it had come true.
"Mm, as long as the table's fine~"
Mona relaxed. "Then my divination definitely wasn't wrong."
"Are you sure about that?"
After settling the payment, Fanan handed her another bag.
"Here, this is the last dish, a soup.
Tonight there'll be eight dishes and one soup in total—four meat, three vegetable, and three cold dishes.
We might not completely fill the table, but we'll be close."
"Hmph…"
Mona pouted as she took the bag of food.
"I still stand by my prediction.
Tonight, that table will absolutely not see a single dish served on it."
Except…
Looking at the heap of ingredients in her hands, the confidence in Mona's heart wasn't quite as solid as before.
Could her hydromancy really be wrong?
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
"Give it up already, girl~"
Fanan slung an arm over Mona's shoulder, smiling with narrowed eyes, her tone earnest.
"If you don't believe me, then once we're back, you can run three more readings and see for yourself.
With Mister Taro around, every so-called 'destined fate' in all of Teyvat is nonsense.
Even if he doesn't lift a finger,
as long as he's here, everything will gradually change.
Girl, do you… believe in miracles?"
Fate existed whether you believed in it or not.
The real question was whether it could still be changed.
In the past, they had lived bound within destiny and had no choice but to believe.
Now… heh, she honestly didn't.
How many "fixed destinies" had already been personally smashed apart by Mister Taro?
At this point, Fanan simply didn't believe in them anymore.
"Miracles?"
Mona froze for a moment. Her heartbeat seemed to quicken slightly.
The next instant, a concept an old lady had once mentioned floated up in her mind.
"If it's that kind of existence…
Fanan-nee, is Mister Taro… a descender?"
If he was a descender not bound by fate, then he really could accomplish the miracles Fanan was talking about.
But… did that sort of thing really exist?
Wasn't it just something the old lady used to scare her and comfort her?
"Well, well, girl, you catch on pretty fast."
Fanan's eyes narrowed a fraction.
"Looks like your master does have some skills after all.
She even told you about the idea of descenders."
So it really was true?
Mona's mouth opened slightly, her expression complicated in the extreme.
Wait. That meant in the previous "test"… she was doomed to lose from the start, wasn't she?
"No way…
You two totally set me up."
Her cheeks puffed out in anger, her expression utterly pitiful.
She had just arrived in Liyue—how had she so easily run into the very descender that old lady always talked about?
Hadn't she said there were fewer than five such beings in all of Teyvat's history?
Wait. Could it be that the old lady already knew there was a descender here?
So she deliberately redirected Mona midway and sent her to Liyue?
Mystery solved.
You scheming old crone—why didn't you say so earlier?
Now she'd made a complete fool of herself.
"This is a good thing though, isn't it?"
Watching Mona suddenly deflate, Huoliya chuckled softly.
"Didn't you say when you came here that
as long as you came to this place, your astrology would advance by leaps and bounds—
to the point you might even surpass your master?"
"…"
Right.
The wilted Mona instantly perked up again.
As long as her astrology could grow stronger and surpass that old lady,
then hadn't she come to exactly the right place?
Wait, no, that still wasn't right!
"But…"
Mona bit her lip, sounding a little discouraged.
"Didn't Mister Taro say he'd only give me a chance if I passed his test?
I've already definitely failed tonight's test, so where would that leave my chance?"
If she didn't pass, the opportunity was gone.
And to top it off, she'd acted a little full of herself too…
Oof. What a mess.
Mona felt that this chance had already slipped through her fingers.
"Mm… wow.
Suddenly you seem a bit slow."
Fanan clicked her tongue and shook her head.
"If Mister Taro had never agreed in the first place,
you little thing would never even make it through the front door.
How would there be any test to talk about?"
He'd said it himself:
Those he couldn't stand and those lacking ability would never step over his threshold.
Since Mona had been able to walk in so easily,
it meant at least one of those conditions was already fulfilled—or maybe both.
And that was called…
someone with a fated connection.
"Huh?"
Mona blinked, still confused.
"If this isn't the test, then what is the real content of the test supposed to be?"
If they weren't testing her astrology, then what else could it be?
"You'll figure it out slowly, girl."
Fanan and Huoliya exchanged a glance and shook their heads in unison, then turned together toward home.
"Hey, wait for me~
Could you please explain properly if something's going on?
I hate people who talk in riddles!"
Mona really did hate riddle-spewers.
She also hated being one herself.
So no matter what it was, she always preferred to speak plainly.
In the past, plenty of people had come looking for her to divine things.
But later on, almost no one came anymore,
even though not a single one of her readings had ever been wrong.
Because Mona never sugar-coated anything.
She said the result exactly as it was—no hiding it, no dressing it up, no bias.
She never cared whether the person asking could handle the truth.
Her only job was to tell it like it was.
So when Huoliya and Fanan only gave her half-answers like this,
it left her feeling extremely uncomfortable—
like there was a cat clawing away inside her chest.
The three of them joked, argued, and laughed as they made their unhurried way back home.
Not long before this—
Mondstadt.
Deep within a certain secret domain.
After Aether ran off, Lumine slammed a furious fist into the ground.
"Damn it, he catches me alive for just three moves and then runs.
Next time we meet I am absolutely beating him up again.
That big brother never listens at all."
"…"
Paimon shrank her neck.
She had originally wanted to comfort Lumine,
but looking at things now…
There was clearly no need for comfort here!
If she flew over, would she end up getting hit too…?
(End of Chapter)
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