"Yeah, the crisis was successfully solved!"
The store was not damaged at all!
Hiroshi was not affected in the back room and was still concentrating on writing code, his fingers flying across the keyboard.
Cresselia's mental power carefully scanned over and confirmed that her owner, Hiroshi, was not disturbed by the commotion in the store. She was completely relieved.
In the spiritual world, there seemed to be a projection of a little girl waving her pink fist:
"Hiroshi wants me to look after the store!"
"Nothing can go wrong~"
After withdrawing her mental power, Cresselia looked serious, and her swan-like, elegant body floated out from behind the counter.
She looked down at La Signora, the Fair Lady, who had fallen into a deep sleep on the floor.
Cresselia muttered to herself, "Isn't this considered a guest? Hiroshi said that I should be polite to guests... but this person's spirit is full of malice and madness, and she was here to cause destruction..."
"Okay, okay, let's use Hypnosis again!"
She cast the skill a second time for good measure.
La Signora fell into an even deeper slumber. With Cresselia's immense mental strength and skill proficiency, the Harbinger wouldn't be able to wake up on her own initiative anytime soon.
"Let Hiroshi finish his work and leave the decision to him."
Cresselia used her telekinesis. The sleeping Harbinger was lifted like a piece of unwanted luggage and was instantly transported and thrown gently—but firmly—into the utility room of the store.
Thump.
After doing this, Cresselia's telepathic voice was full of apologies as she addressed Albedo and his disciples:
"The guests were frightened."
"Incident resolved."
"Please give me a five-star review~ Welcome to come again!"
It was only then that Cresselia removed the time-slowing Trick Room.
Albedo watched helplessly as La Signora, the Eighth of the Fatui Harbingers, was knocked down by a simple sleep spell and then tossed into a closet.
The Cryo elemental sword rain that had filled the air vanished, moved to an unknown place.
Albedo's voice was dry as he nodded.
"Then let's... leave now."
Sucrose and Timaeus looked dazed. They followed Albedo to open the door and stepped outside the store.
They were awakened by the cool breeze blowing from Cider Lake.
How could Sucrose and Timaeus dare to speak? They were silent all the way back. With eyes full of awe, they followed Albedo directly to the Headquarters of the Knights of Favonius.
Acting Grand Master's Office.
"What?! La Signora went to the Pokémon Home to cause havoc?!"
Jean, who was still drafting laws related to Pokémon regulations, stood up in shock, her chair scraping loudly against the floor.
"No matter what, we can't indulge the Fatui like this!"
Jean took a deep breath, her eyes full of determination.
Obviously, Jean, who realized the strategic significance of Pokémon, had already made the determination to break ties with the Fatui if necessary. She would not suck it up and endure the insults of their diplomats anymore.
As long as the Mondstadt branch remained open and had a "Trainee Store Manager," it meant that Mondstadt citizens could have stable Pokémon purchase channels, training facilities, and competitive sparring partners.
Such a "port," such a channel—it could even be said that it was the door to the next era. Now it was threatened by La Signora and could have been destroyed.
Jean was willing to take the risk of war between the two nations to deport La Signora and all the Fatui from Mondstadt immediately!
Just when Jean was about to summon the Knights for an emergency mobilization...
Albedo added calmly:
"The matter has been resolved."
"A sleep spell."
"I mean... Manager Hiroshi's Legendary Pokémon neutralized La Signora instantly with one move, and she fell asleep."
Jean was stunned for a long time. Then she shook her head in amusement, sat back in her chair, and picked up her quill again.
"Of course."
"Legendary Pokémon... a Sub-Legendary God."
"La Signora, who has no Pokédex and does not know this information, violated the divine right and blasphemed the power of a god. She deserves to end up like this."
Albedo asked, "Then what should we do next?"
Jean replied with a strange calmness:
"What are we going to do?"
"Nothing needs to be done."
"Even if it's La Signora... do you think other Fatui can threaten that store?"
Albedo turned to leave. "That makes sense!"
"Then I will go back to Dragonspine and continue to complete the commission from Manager Hiroshi."
When Albedo and his party left, Jean stood up and looked out the window behind her. What she could see was the Goth Grand Hotel, the base of the Fatui in Mondstadt.
"With this matter..."
"Manager Hiroshi said that he would not refuse any customer... I'm afraid this rule may have exceptions now."
There was a smile of watching a good show hidden in Jean's eyes.
The Fatui were powerful. They had repeatedly made fun of her as the Acting Grand Master. Even a saint would be angry, let alone her. Seeing them hit a wall was satisfying.
Evening.
Grrr...
His stomach growled, protesting strongly.
Hiroshi, who couldn't continue to indulge in the world of code, stretched in his chair and stood up.
"Not bad. With high technical skills and extremely high efficiency."
"I never thought that the work of a programmer could be so satisfying when you have cheat skills."
He went to the living room and found a fragrant aroma waiting for him.
It turned out that Cresselia had already prepared a table of steaming meals.
Of course, there were not many complex dishes, but the Lunar Pokémon, who had just learned cooking, made rapid progress.
On the dining table, Hiroshi gave a thumbs up and praised her many times.
"Great job, Cresselia."
"Hehe~"
"As long as Hiroshi is satisfied."
There was a girlish playfulness in the gentle telepathic voice.
While clearing the dishes with her psychic powers...
Cresselia suddenly thought of something.
"By the way, Hiroshi. A strange person came to the store to cause trouble today. I gave her a sleep spell."
"Then I threw her in the utility room."
Hiroshi: ...
What the hell!
I was obsessed with coding all afternoon, and a living person was locked up in the utility room?!
If he hadn't known that Cresselia was a Pokémon from the Lawful Good alignment, Hiroshi would have really suspected that she was making trouble.
Then, with doubts, Hiroshi went to open the utility room door.
Click.
Good guy!
A mature woman's body was lying on the floor.
Her clothes were scanty, the hem slit everywhere, and her fair, round thighs showed off her strong feminine charm.
The altitude of the upper body was even more frightening. The cleavage was so deep that it seemed to be able to suck the eyes in like a black hole.
This is the real 'White Slime'!
Hiroshi retreated tactically, turned around, and looked at Cresselia with a serious face.
"Is your 'Sleep Spell' serious?"
"She's not... dead, is she?"