A single sentence cost Paimon sixty thousand Mora.
Two meals set me back sixty thousand. Damn you, Traveler. I stared at my depleted savings, grinding my teeth. It was a massive financial blow. I'd ended up covering lunch and dinner for both the Traveler and Paimon.
Aether's intention was clearly to teach me a lesson, letting Paimon order whatever she wanted.
"Next time, I'll challenge someone I can actually finish off. Immortal targets are too troublesome."
[So you do understand the concept of 'off-limits.']
"Stop making it sound like I'm some kind of battle junkie."
[--You rather resemble one.]
"You think you're clever?"
The day's ordeal had yielded little progress in levels but a significant loss of funds. Night had fallen once more, leaving me no choice but to begin the walk back to my cottage with Kettle.
Regardless, tomorrow was the day I had to go to Ritou for the meeting.
Tonight, the moon was half-obscured by clouds, yet the visible portion shone with a stark, pale brilliance.
My footsteps changed direction. I decided against returning to Inazuma City, opting instead to spend the night at the tavern. My clothes were in my backpack anyway, and Kettle's things were there too.
The guards at Ritou were mostly just for show now.
They paid no mind to people coming and going, which suited everyone just fine.
Many vendors had already staked out their stalls, some arguing fiercely over prime spots. Posters and banners advertising light novels lined the streets, making the place look like it was preparing for a massive comic convention.
So Irodori Festival basically meant a comic con?
I walked forward, taking in the sights.
I remembered the Ritou docks had stunning red maple leaves. Even seeing them in the game had taken my breath away. It was a view I'd never experienced in person. The fox stone statues adorned with ringed Electro drums were also quite beautiful.
—That one was probably Hakushin, Lady Saiguu.
There were few people around now. No harm in taking a look.
Kettle sniffed at this and that. I saw it suddenly lift its head and then dart straight towards a warehouse—
"Kettle, where are you going?"
What was stored in that warehouse?
I walked over and found Kettle pressed against a small window on the warehouse, sniffing incessantly. This time, I caught a whiff of something too.
It was a distinct smell, very much like alcohol. Specifically, the stench of liquor clinging to a drunk.
A certain someone immediately came to mind.
[Important character detected: Venti]
[Important character detected: Scaramouche]
I grabbed Kettle, pulling it into my arms, and was about to hurry away from the window when I heard faint, rustling footsteps—approaching. Then, a pair of hands suddenly shot out from the window, quickly clamping over my mouth and dragging me, dog and all, into the warehouse.
I tumbled headlong with the figure into a pile of crates. The smell of alcohol was everywhere. The person who'd grabbed me wasn't large, but they shoved me further into the stack of boxes.
"Hey—" I whispered, trying to get him to remove his hand.
I knew exactly who he was. The smell alone had prepared me.
Everyone knew who he was.
The God of Mondstadt, the slacker, the drunk—Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, currently reeking of alcohol and sleeping it off in a Ritou warehouse.
But now—
He blinked his bleary eyes at me, raising a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. Before he could finish the motion, the youthful-looking Archon opened his mouth and let out a loud, boozy belch.
[Venti Favorability: 5]
My eyes watered.
Ugh, disgusting. I wrinkled my nose and pushed his flushed, drunken face further away, silently mouthing the words, "Just how much did you drink?"
The boy grinned, releasing my arm, and held up a number with his fingers.
Incredible. Typical Barbatos.
I pricked up my ears, listening for outside noises. It was completely silent now.
I continued mouthing words, but seeing the boyish figure was about to pass out again, I shook his shoulders hard. I had to play dumb. "Hey, hey, why did you pull me in here? Who are you?"
He wobbled like a ragdoll under my shaking.
"Whoa... cough, miss, your grip is really—"
He suddenly spoke out loud, clutching the shoulder I'd been gripping. "Ease up, ease up! You'll break it! Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
So much for staying quiet.
I sat down cross-legged on the spot. Kettle settled in my lap.
"So, you look like you're from Mondstadt. Why are you here?"
"I'm Venti. A bard." Venti rubbed his shoulder, grimacing. "--Thanks to you, I'm half-sober now. Time to find more wine. Isn't it normal for foreigners to be in Ritou?"
"Speaking of which, miss," the boy's large eyes watched me, blinking with a hint of amusement, "your first reaction to being dragged into a warehouse by a stranger wasn't to scream for help?"
I paused for a second.
I had to think fast. "My intuition's pretty good. I figured you were probably saving me just now."
Otherwise, if it had been Scaramouche—that villain with his limited but unsettlingly vicious role in the current game storyline—whether I'd even have had time to save would've been a question.
Venti blinked in surprise, then scratched his head.
"You're from Inazuma, right? Know where a tavern is around here?"
"I do. Newly opened, but not open for business yet." Because I specifically planned it to avoid the Irodori Festival. No chance you're getting any of my drinks, Barbatos.
[Venti Favorability: 10]
No, even if his favorability rises this fast—
My intuition screamed that this place was bad news. No telling if Scaramouche would come back. I started to get up to leave, but a hand tugged at my sleeve. I turned to look.
The boy dressed in green grinned at me with his equally green eyes, clear and sober-looking, his voice melodious as a song.
"I did tell you my name, little miss."
"As a thank you to your savior, how about telling me yours?"
For a moment, I heard a strange, grating sound of gears turning in my mind. A dizzy spell hit me, and the image of the disheveled, carefree Mondstadt boy shifted. I saw a lofty deity, terrifying gales threatening to tear me apart—
"Ryuguu Miya."
I said, my hands and feet turning ice-cold, trembling uncontrollably. I pulled my sleeve free from Venti's grasp.
"My name is Ryuguu Miya."
—
... "System,what was that just now?"
I held Kettle tightly and hurried back to my tavern, pushing the door open with a bang and slamming it shut behind me.
The fear of being torn to shreds any second had my heart pounding erratically. "Why did I see something like that?"
The electronic voice in my mind crackled with static.
[--Cause unknown]
Buck emerged from behind the bar. He wiped his hands and walked towards me. I set Kettle down. The dog looked at me worriedly and licked my hand.
"I'm fine, good boy. Go find Buck for some food."
"Did this body truly die nine years ago?"
[The records state so]
"Your records didn't even mention I had a cousin like Thoma initially. Check again—" I found paper and a pen, pulling out a chair to sit down. My gaze lingered on Buck as he walked away, and I changed my mind. "Pull up my status panel."
The long-unseen gray panel unfolded before my eyes—
This time, almost all attributes were unlocked.
I scrolled down, past my Constellation, until I found a very faint gray button in the last column.
I clicked it—
[This button wasn't here before,] the System said, puzzled.
"Then let's see what's inside."
I heard the familiar electronic hum, the sound the System made when playing memories. Warning beeps sounded from the System. My consciousness felt suddenly plunged into ink, then yanked out by an unseen force—
I was inside that hidden memory.
Excruciating pain lanced through my entire body. The pen in my hand shattered from my grip—
—
From this moment, beginning with chaos and desolation.
Darkness tore open the sky's curtain.
Black teardrops descended upon the mortal world.
Gathered by the winged principles of Order.
The multitude named thee the Evil God of Samsara and Filth, the undying and unkillable.
Thou were born from beneath the ice, from the magma deep under the abyssal sea—at thy birth, the icefield wolves followed, beasts roared, craving and anticipating conflict, the primal melodic spirits of the deep sea sang thy praises, thy awakening cry thunderous.
Thus, the wolves became dark attendants.
Thus, the singing spirits became believers.
Even if thou were born an evil god,even if thy power stirred the deep sea, thy will summoning ice and snow, young and ignorant yet fearless, thus the heavens raised and guided thee for a millennium.
A millennium ago,the heavens bestowed upon thee a name—Alster.
Thou slaughtered filth for the heavens, yet devoured the world's value ceaselessly growing, built stairs for monstrous things, polluted the World's Root Tree, spread the false words of defilement, incited mortal souls, sheltered rebels. Crime upon crime.
Thou betrayed the Primordial One's favor,daring to raise thy blade against the heavens.
Therefore— The heavens delivered swift, furious punishment. Judgment:
The Seven Archons shall strip thee of thy divine authority. The Archon of Anemo severed thy limbs,turning them to dust. The Archon of Geo pierced thy skull and heart,rendering them necrotic like stone.
The Archon of Electro sent ten thousand bolts of lightning through thy frame,turning it all to ash.
The Archon of Dendro devoured thy will and intellect,ensuring it never manifests again.
The Archon of Hydro inflicted ten thousand torments upon thy divine spirit, riddling it with holes, exhausting its power. The Archon of Cryo implanted bitter cold into thy remnant soul,endless cycles of samsara offering no escape, a proof and warning.
The Archon of Pyro brought destruction upon the foolish masses thou sheltered and incited,a warning to all creation. The heavens thus warned all Archons.
—The Evil God of Samsara and Filth is a greedy species born from an unknown origin. Its divine spirit cannot be eradicated through millennia of cycles, life after life, in ten thousand forms. Should this evil god be encountered,it must be slain on sight without fail.
—