It had been some time since the Three Gods' War.
The Traveler had already left Natlan and arrived at the Nod-Krai on the border of Snezhnaya.
Just as Rios had said, the Children of the Frost Moon here worshiped gods different from the Seven Archons of the mortal world.
Moreover, there was a special elemental power here.
Before leaving Natlan, the Traveler, in accordance with the agreement with Rios, had informed her companions in advance.
Everyone held a banquet to celebrate the Traveler's departure.
Though the wording was a bit odd, the sentiment was conveyed nonetheless.
"Traveler, we should go out exploring," Paimon's voice rang out.
The Traveler was somewhat puzzled: "Paimon, why did you wake up so early today?"
"Hee hee," Paimon squinted her eyes and smiled sweetly. "I just smelled a really nice aroma, so I woke up."
"No wonder." The Traveler lightly sniffed, also catching a very fragrant scent.
Could it be that a master chef had come over?
The Traveler stepped out of her living quarters and, upon arriving outside, saw two familiar girls having breakfast.
"Xiangling?"
"Yanfei?"
"You two are in Nod-Krai too?"
Paimon's voice rang out in surprise.
The two girls who were chatting looked over and immediately greeted with smiles: "What a coincidence, running into you here."
"We're traveling in Nod-Krai."
Through the conversation, the Traveler learned that the girls had each come to Nod-Krai with their own ideas.
For example, Xiangling had come to see if she could find new ingredients, while Yanfei wanted to observe what an area without legal constraints was like.
After Granny Ping learned that both were heading to Nod-Krai, she suggested they go together for mutual support.
And it was precisely because of this that the scene of Xiangling and Yanfei gathered together appeared.
"I've improved a lot lately. When I encountered dangerous villains, I dealt with them in just a few moves," Yanfei said proudly. "There's no law against excessive self-defense here, so I don't have to worry about being held accountable for being too harsh."
"Speaking of which, I've made a lot of progress compared to before too," Xiangling said with a beaming smile.
Hearing the girls' words, the Traveler immediately recalled the letter she had previously received from Rios.
"Actually..."
After explaining these matters, the girls' reactions were intense.
"What?!"
"The one who was fishing with me back then was actually Natlan's god?"
Yanfei widened her eyes in surprise, then patted her chest with a look of relief: "Good thing I didn't get carried away and instead kindly taught him how to fish."
"If I'd angered him, I might have ended up thrown into the river to feed the fish."
Hearing the pink-haired girl's words, the Traveler couldn't help but curve her lips: "Rios isn't that extreme."
"Yeah," Paimon said. "At most, he'd throw Ajaw into the river as bait."
"Wh-what?" Yanfei's face turned pale. "I was just exaggerating a bit, but does he really do things like that?"
This guy called Rios—was he the Pyro Archon or a Treasure Hoarder? So ruthless?
"No, no, actually Ajaw is a dragon..."
"He even dares to bully dragons?!" Yanfei was even more shocked.
There was no need to elaborate on how high the status of dragons was in Liyue; the Geo Archon Morax's image appearing before the world was in dragon form.
For Rios to do something so cruel to a dragon here, wouldn't he be even crueler to humans?
"Huh?" Xiangling felt puzzled. "Last time that Pyro Archon came to eat at my restaurant, he said that for the people of Natlan, dragons are good partners. So why would he do that to a partner?"
"Actually, Ajaw is special..."
Paimon talked for a long time before finishing explaining Natlan's dragons and Ajaw's peculiarities.
"So that's how it is." Xiangling smiled and said, "I've actually been exchanging letters with that Pyro Archon the whole time. He sends me special ingredients unique to Natlan, and then I figure out how to make delicious dishes and send him the recipes."
"Like what we're eating now—it's actually made with Natlan ingredients."
Hearing Xiangling's words, Paimon's eyes lit up: "No wonder we smelled such a fragrant aroma from the room. So it was made by Xiangling."
"Yeah, I happened to make a few extra portions. You all come eat too."
"Thanks, Xiangling. You're such a good person!"
While Paimon was enjoying the food happily, Yanfei began asking about Rios: "Traveler, what do you think of the Pyro Archon's personality?"
"Him..." The Traveler recalled her experiences traveling in Natlan and couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth. "Although he looks very young and always likes to make those jokes that no one can understand..."
"But if he's by your side, you feel extremely safe, extremely at ease."
After finishing talking with Xiangling and Yanfei, the Traveler began her own adventure.
======
Soon after, she encountered danger.
While investigating the death of another Lightkeeper together with the Lightkeeper Flins, it led to the matter of the "Rächer of Solnari."
The Rächer of Solnari's strength was extremely powerful; even teaming up with Flins, she couldn't gain the upper hand.
Even when the Fatui Harbinger Puppet intervened, he couldn't defeat the Rächer of Solnari and instead gave the opponent an opening to attack.
And just as the Rächer of Solnari's attack was about to hit the Puppet, his figure suddenly flew rapidly to the side, as if struck by a powerful force.
The Traveler turned her head to look and saw the Rächer of Solnari fallen to the ground, with a flame-made arrow embedded in their body.
"This is... Rios's arrow?"
The Traveler was just about to search for Rios's figure, but at that moment, the "girl" who had been observing this place activated her technique, transferring them all to the "girl's" location.
Even if Rios was right nearby, the Traveler definitely wouldn't be able to see him.
But fortunately, Rios wasn't in Nod-Krai.
Inazuma.
Seeing that the Traveler was safe, Rios put away his arrow.
"Rios, why did you suddenly shoot an arrow?" Mualani blinked her red beautiful eyes in confusion. "You scared the people around here."
"I was hunting the 'Rächer of Solnari.'" Rios said.
"???"
Mualani still didn't understand what Rios was saying.
"In any case, it's fine now." Rios said slowly. "Let's continue our vacation."
After the Traveler left Nod-Krai, Rios also promptly left Natlan, taking Mualani to Inazuma for a vacation.
They had originally planned to experience Inazuma's hot springs, but on the way there, they noticed the Traveler in a tough battle, so he shot an arrow from afar in Inazuma to lend a hand.
"Rios, since it's fine now, let's hurry up and go." Mualani grabbed his arm. "I can't wait to soak in the hot springs."
"Coming."
(The End)