After spilling the tea like it was hot and finishing our drinks like responsible adults—which, to be clear, only applied to everyone except me—I stretched my arms above my head and let out a long breath. "Welp," I said, rolling my shoulders as if I didn't just dump ancient lore on everyone five minutes ago, "I think we should start heading to Avidya Forest now."
Paimon blinked at me from across the table. "Just like that? No dramatic speech?"
I looked at her with deep offense. "Floaty, do you want a dramatic speech?"
"No."
"Then be grateful I spared you."
Lumine stood from her seat, already used to my nonsense at this point. Nilou followed beside her with that gentle smile of hers, while Greg settled himself comfortably on Nilou's shoulders like he had officially chosen his favorite human for the day. I stared at him for a long second. "You know, you're supposed to be my lizard."
Greg flicked his tail.
Nilou giggled softly. "Maybe he just likes the view from here."
"The betrayal view," I muttered, before turning toward Dainsleif, who stood there with his usual tragic-cape energy. "Bro," I said, pointing at him. "For now, you better follow us."
Dainsleif stared at me for a second, expression unreadable. "…You speak as if I intended otherwise."
"I'm just making sure," I replied. "You have a habit of vanishing like an emotionally unavailable tutorial NPC."
Paimon nodded. "Actually, that's kinda true."
Dain closed his eyes briefly, probably praying for patience to gods he definitely had complicated opinions about. "I will accompany you."
"See? Communication. Growth."
Lumine sighed. "Please don't call this growth."
"Too late."
And so we headed out. Avidya Forest greeted us with green silence—not empty silence, not dead silence, but something alive and still at the same time. Leaves shifted overhead, insects hummed somewhere in the brush, and birds called from the branches above, but beneath all of that, something felt like it was waiting.
I knew why. Of course I knew why. But knowing something was coming didn't make walking toward it any less strange.
Dainsleif slowed first, his gaze sweeping across the trees, moss-covered stones, and narrow path winding between the roots. "Wait…" he murmured. "This place, it's… familiar."
Paimon tilted her head. "What about it? It looks pretty normal to Paimon. Was it like this hundreds of years ago, too?"
"Yes," Dain said quietly. "The forest has barely changed from how I remember it. There is very little human activity here, after all."
I glanced around, hands in my pockets. "Yeah, that's the thing about forests. They don't care about your trauma. They just keep being green."
Lumine looked at me. "…That was almost thoughtful."
"Almost is my specialty."
Nilou walked a little closer to Lumine, her eyes moving across the area with quiet care. "It does feel quiet here. Not peaceful exactly… just quiet."
Greg flicked his tail once from her shoulder.
Dainsleif stepped forward. "Let's search the area and see what we can find."
We moved through the overgrowth slowly, and Paimon was the first to point toward a patch of land near the rundown house. "Is this a field? It must belong to whoever owns that house over there…"
The field was dry and abandoned, weeds pushing through cracked soil. If anything had grown there once, it had been long forgotten. "But it looks like it's been abandoned for a long time," she continued. "You could be forgiven for thinking nothing was ever grown here… Or wait, maybe nothing ever was grown here."
I crouched and brushed some dirt between my fingers. "Either someone gave up farming, or the land gave up first."
Lumine glanced at me. "You're being weirdly quiet."
"I'm always quiet."
Paimon stared at me. Nilou stared at me. Greg stared at me. Lumine stared harder.
"…Okay, that was a lie."
Nearby, we found an extinguished bonfire. Paimon floated closer, inspecting it from a safe distance like the ashes might personally insult her. "It's an extinguished bonfire. Forest Rangers, perhaps? Looks like it's been ages since it was last lit. And clearly they put it out carefully to prevent a forest fire, too. That's responsible."
"See?" I said. "Even abandoned mystery people follow fire safety."
Nilou smiled faintly. "That's a good thing."
"Yes. Responsible trauma setting."
"Shigeru," Lumine warned.
"Sorry. Sorry."
Dainsleif's gaze moved toward the house. "Nothing else stands out in this area. All that's left is that building. Come on."
Paimon immediately backed up a little. "Wait, we're just gonna go barging in? What if someone's home?"
Dain didn't hesitate. "Unlikely. There are no signs of life in this area. We should be able to enter without incident."
Paimon swallowed. "If you say so… Well, uh… you lead the way then, Dain. Hehe…"
I raised a hand. "I vote Dain leads too. Ancient big brother privileges."
Dainsleif ignored me and walked in.
The inside of the house smelled old, dusty, damp, and forgotten. Paimon immediately coughed. "Ugh, this place is so dusty! Paimon bets no one's lived here in years!"
Nilou covered her nose lightly. "It feels… sad."
That was the right word. Sad. Not scary, not yet. Just sad. Like the house remembered people who no longer existed.
Dainsleif looked around. "Investigate carefully. We mustn't miss a single detail."
We started with the bed. Paimon hovered over it, peeking cautiously. "This bed looks pretty ordinary. Huh, there's nothing underneath it, either. What sort of person would wanna live here? It's so dark and damp… Can't be all that comfortable…"
I folded my arms. "Maybe rent was cheap."
Lumine gave me a look.
"What? Housing crisis exists everywhere."
Nilou crouched beside the bed, gently brushing dust from the edge. "It's plain, but someone must have used it. Even if it looks abandoned now… this was someone's home."
That made Paimon go quieter.
Then we moved to a small box. Paimon pointed at it immediately. "There's a box over here. Why don't we open it? Uh, and by 'we,' Paimon means you… Paimon's just scared that whatever's inside might bite her fingertips off."
Lumine stared at her. "What in the world is going through your head?"
"Survival instincts!"
I stepped forward and opened it. Inside was a broken mirror. Paimon blinked. "Huh? This is… a mirror. It's broken, too. Was this a makeup box?"
Lumine picked up one of the pieces carefully. "It's just a regular mirror. And it's broken."
Paimon slumped. "Hmm. That's kinda disappointing. Paimon was hoping we'd uncover some super big secret, especially after Dain talked this place up."
I looked at the broken reflection. For a second, my own face stared back in pieces. "…Sometimes broken mirrors are worse than secret maps," I muttered.
Lumine heard me. She didn't say anything.
Next was the bowl. Paimon floated toward it. "Hey look, it's a bowl. Guess whoever used to live here liked to cook, huh?"
Dainsleif stepped closer. "Can't you smell it? There's a heavy scent of medicinal herbs in here."
Paimon sniffed. "Ohh, so it's a medicine bowl? Hmm, seems you're right! You've got a good nose on you, Dain!"
I looked at Dain. "Sharp ears, sharp nose, tragic cape. You're basically a limited five-star bloodhound."
Dainsleif didn't even blink. "I will ignore that."
"You always do."
After checking everything, Paimon crossed her arms. "Doesn't look like there's anything else worth our attention here. You sure we're in the right place, Dain?"
Dainsleif's eyes narrowed slightly. "My memories are quite foggy, but my subconscious and instincts both assert that something once happened here."
I looked toward the dusty bed again. Yeah. Something did.
Dain continued, "But we'll exhaust ourselves if we search aimlessly… I hear noises outside. Let's go and check."
Paimon startled. "Noises? Is it…"
"It's not much," Dain said. "Just some minor adversaries."
Outside, a few monsters had gathered near the clearing. Paimon pointed immediately. "Monsters! Wow, Dain's ears are sharp, just like his nose. He's in surprisingly good shape for a 500-year-old…"
"Paimon," Lumine said.
"What? It's a compliment!"
I cracked my knuckles. "Alright, let's beat up the local slime committee."
The fight was quick. Too quick, honestly. Lumine moved first, clean and sharp. Nilou flowed beside her, graceful as water, her blade catching the light with every step. I threw in a little Electro just to make things flashy, because if I'm going to fight slimes, I might as well add presentation.
Greg flicked his tail from Nilou's shoulder like he was silently scoring us.
"Don't judge my form, traitor," I said.
Tail flick.
Judgment confirmed.
After the last slime dissolved, Dainsleif looked around. "I doubt that the appearance of those monsters was wholly random. There must be something nearby that attracted them. A Ley Line anomaly, perhaps… Hmm, but it seems to be more than that."
I shoved my hands into my pockets. "Yeah. 'More than that' sounds about right."
Dain glanced at me briefly, then continued. "I'll go slightly further out to investigate any issues with the nearby Ley Lines. I might be a while. You should wait for me here."
Paimon immediately floated forward. "What? You're going alone? You'd better not be trying to keep some secret from us!"
Dainsleif sighed. "Your suspicions are as banal as they are unwarranted. I merely think this house should remain the focus of our investigation, and as such, someone ought to stay here and keep an eye on it."
Paimon blinked. "…Paimon doesn't know if she got insulted or educated."
"Both," I said.
Dain added, "Not to mention that if even Forest Rangers are capable of investigating Ley Lines, I will be more than able to handle it alone."
Paimon crossed her arms. "Ugh, fair enough. Guess we'll just camp out here, then?"
Her stomach made the decision for us.
"Good thing there's a bonfire over there. Let's make ourselves something to eat! All this running around has made Paimon real hungry."
I raised a hand. "I, Shigeru, certified idiot chef, shall provide."
Lumine deadpanned. "Certified by who?"
"Myself."
"That explains a lot."
The bonfire came alive under my hand, warm light spilling across the clearing as the sun slowly gave way to night. Before long, food was cooking, Paimon was hovering dangerously close to the pot, and Nilou was helping me keep everything balanced because apparently I cannot be trusted with seasoning when left unsupervised.
Which is false.
Mostly.
Paimon took one bite and practically melted. "Ahh, your cooking is as good as ever! Even if there was no other reason, the food alone would be enough for Paimon to stick with you, hee-hee!"
Lumine smiled faintly. "Well, freeloading comes more naturally to you than most."
Paimon gasped. "Hey!"
Nilou laughed softly. "You really are easy to please, Paimon."
"Good food is important!"
I nodded solemnly. "For once, Floaty speaks wisdom."
Greg flicked his tail.
Approved.
After eating, the night settled heavier around us. Paimon looked toward the trees. "Changing the subject, Dain's taking forever. He said there might be an issue with the nearby Ley Lines… How bad do you think it could be?"
Lumine looked toward the forest. "Bad enough for him to investigate alone."
I stared into the fire. "Or familiar enough."
Nilou looked at me, but I didn't explain. Not yet.
Paimon floated closer to Lumine, her voice softer now. "We came together, but now it's back to just being the two of us again… Y'know, now that Paimon mentions it, we really have spent lots and lots of time together, haven't we?"
Lumine smiled faintly. "We have."
Paimon fidgeted. "Um, so… don't take this the wrong way or anything, but… do you ever get tired of Paimon being around?"
Lumine looked at her, then gently smiled. "Not really. You make my day every day, Paimon."
Paimon froze. Then her face turned red. "…Aww, oh you, stop it! Now you're embarrassing Paimon…"
I leaned toward Nilou and whispered, "Rare wholesome Floaty moment."
Nilou smiled. "It's sweet."
"It is."
Paimon quickly shook her head. "Anyway! Next question. Don't know if it's okay to ask this, but Paimon's curious… What was it like traveling with your brother?"
The fire crackled. Lumine looked up at the stars. For a while, she didn't speak.
Then she said quietly, "We'd gaze at the stars, just like this. And we'd point at the planets we wanted to visit."
Paimon's voice softened. "Wow…"
Lumine's eyes stayed fixed on the sky. "We traveled through the universe, always by each other's side. This is the first time we've ever been separated." Her voice lowered. "If nothing else… I just want to know what happened."
The clearing went quiet. Even Greg stopped moving.
I looked at her. My idiot mouth had a thousand possible jokes ready. For once, I didn't use any of them.
Paimon floated closer. "Yeah… Paimon understands. Being separated without even knowing the reason why… it's just terrible. But we'll find the truth together, sure as Paimon's your guide! Just you wait, Heavenly Principles! And you too, Teyvat!"
Lumine smiled softly. "Just you wait, Heavenly Principles. And you too, Teyvat."
Paimon nodded firmly, then quickly shook herself out of it. "Ugh, we've talked too long about sad stuff. Let's talk about something happy instead! 'Cause if you're sad… Paimon will be too."
Lumine looked at her. "Don't worry about it, Paimon."
Then her eyes moved to Nilou, to Greg, then to me. Her smile softened. "Thank you, Paimon… everyone."
I smiled back and leaned closer, lowering my voice so only she could hear. "Don't worry, blondie. I'll always be here."
Her eyes softened, and for a second, the firelight made everything feel warmer than it had any right to.
Paimon clapped her hands. "Alright, alright! It's getting dark, so why don't you rest? Paimon will take first watch. Don't worry, no monster's gonna come and eat you up!"
Lumine raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's a first. Paimon not going to bed before us?"
"Oh, come on, don't say that… Paimon just wants to look after you for once."
Nilou smiled. "That's very kind of you, Paimon."
Paimon puffed up. "Of course! Paimon is very reliable."
I opened my mouth. Lumine looked at me. I closed my mouth.
Survival.
Eventually, Lumine laid down by the fire. Nilou sat close by, Greg still resting on her shoulder. Paimon hovered nearby, trying very hard to look like a proper guard.
I stayed awake.
Because I knew.
The fire crackled softly. The forest whispered. Lumine fell asleep.
For a while, nothing happened. Then her breathing shifted.
Subtle.
But I heard it.
Her brow tightened. Her fingers twitched slightly.
Dreaming.
No.
Not just dreaming.
I exhaled slowly. There it was. The thing I had been waiting for. The thing I couldn't stop. The thing I probably shouldn't stop.
I looked at Lumine's sleeping face, watched the faint trace of pain crossing her expression, and for once, I didn't make a joke.
Nilou noticed.
Of course she did.
"Shigeru?" she whispered.
Paimon looked over too. "What is it?"
Greg's tail stilled.
I took a slow breath.
Then said quietly,
"It has started."
***
The first thing I did after saying those words was nothing.
No joke. No dramatic pose. No sudden heroic declaration about fate, dreams, destiny, or how I was the only man alive handsome enough to survive narrative trauma.
I just stood there beside the dying campfire and watched Lumine sleep.
Her breathing was steady, but not peaceful. There was a difference. Peaceful sleep had softness to it. This wasn't that. This was the kind of sleep that pulled someone downward, the kind where the body rested but the soul was already somewhere else, walking through a memory that didn't belong entirely to the present.
I knew that look.
Not because I was wise.
Please. Let's not insult the universe.
I knew it because I remembered.
The broken house. The medicine bowl. The name. The man. The child. The curse that didn't look like a curse at first because tragedy loves wearing normal clothes before stabbing you in the ribs.
Caribert.
That name had already entered the story.
Now Lumine was about to understand why.
Paimon hovered beside the fire, suddenly much less confident than she had been when she volunteered for first watch. Dainsleif stood a short distance away, his gaze fixed on Lumine with that stone-carved expression of his, but even he looked more alert now. Not alarmed. Dain didn't really do alarm. His emotional range usually went from "burdened statue" to "burdened statue with slightly sharper eyebrows."
But he noticed.
Of course he noticed.
Nilou sat near Lumine, one hand resting lightly on her lap, her face soft with worry. Greg, still perched on Nilou's shoulder, had gone completely still. No tail flick. No judgment. No smug lizard betrayal.
That was how I knew even the little guy understood something had changed.
I crouched beside Lumine. For a second, I only looked at her face. The firelight painted her hair gold, softer than usual, almost too peaceful for what was happening behind her closed eyes. Her brow twitched faintly again, and something tightened in my chest.
I could joke about nearly everything. I could turn ancient lore into comedy, insult gods, bully archons, annoy Dainsleif, terrorize tavern staff, and call an emotionally devastated Khaenri'ahn "bro" with the confidence of a man who had never learned consequences properly.
But Lumine suffering?
That one never landed funny.
I leaned down and kissed her forehead gently. Not dramatic. Not possessive. Just a promise. A quiet one.
"Pull through, blondie," I whispered, low enough that maybe only she could hear me wherever she was. "You always do."
Paimon's eyes softened. For once, she didn't say anything.
That scared me a little.
Silent Paimon was rarer than a peaceful family dinner without someone being sentenced to the Couch of Shame.
I stood slowly and took a deep breath, forcing my usual grin back into place—not because I felt like joking, but because sometimes the mask helped everyone else breathe. If I looked too serious for too long, people started assuming the apocalypse had already filed paperwork.
I turned toward Paimon and Dain.
"Please look after my blondie."
Paimon blinked, then puffed herself up with the kind of bravery that was seventy percent heart and thirty percent panic. "Of course! Paimon won't let anything happen to her!"
Dainsleif gave a small nod. "I will remain here."
"Good," I said, pointing at him. "And no cryptic disappearing while we're gone."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "I do not disappear cryptically."
Paimon slowly turned to stare at him. I slowly turned to stare at him. Even Greg stared at him.
Dainsleif paused.
"…Not intentionally."
"Growth," I said.
Dainsleif ignored me with the practiced discipline of a man who had survived five hundred years and yet still somehow looked underqualified for dealing with me.
Then I looked at Nilou.
She was already standing.
Of course she was.
Gentle as she was, Nilou understood movement. She understood when a scene was ending and when another had to begin. She didn't ask loudly. She didn't panic. She just watched me with those calm, trusting eyes, waiting for me to explain enough.
Not everything.
Just enough.
"Goddess," I said, softer now, "we better move first."
Nilou glanced at Lumine, worry flickering clearly across her face. "Are you sure?"
"No," I answered immediately.
Paimon almost fell out of the air. "That's not reassuring!"
I raised one finger. "But I'm confidently unsure."
"That's worse!"
"Welcome to traveling with me."
Nilou huffed a small laugh despite herself, though her eyes remained on Lumine. "Shigeru…"
"I know," I said.
And I did.
That was the awful part.
I looked at Greg next. "Greg."
His head snapped toward me.
"Stay with them. If things get sketchy, transform immediately. No hesitation. No dramatic build-up. No waiting until the music swells. If anything smells wrong, moves wrong, breathes wrong, or Dain starts speaking in extra poetry, you go big lizard mode. Understood?"
Greg hopped down from Nilou's shoulder and walked over to Lumine's side. He planted himself beside her like a tiny royal guard, puffed his chest out, and saluted with his tail.
I placed a hand over my heart. "My son."
Paimon squinted. "He was your traitor five minutes ago."
"Families are complicated."
Greg flicked his tail once without taking his eyes off Lumine.
Dainsleif watched this entire exchange in silence, which honestly was impressive. Lesser men would've questioned reality already. Finally, he looked toward me.
"Where are you going?"
There it was.
Not suspicion exactly.
More like evaluation.
Dainsleif had the kind of gaze that made you feel like your soul was being cross-examined by an ancient ruin with trust issues.
I glanced back at Lumine. "She's in a deep sleep right now."
Paimon's brows furrowed. "A deep sleep?"
I nodded. "Not normal sleep. She's in a dream."
Nilou's lips parted slightly. "A dream…?"
Dain's expression sharpened immediately.
I looked at him directly.
"Remember the name I mentioned yesterday?"
Paimon swallowed. "You mean… Caribert?"
The forest seemed quieter when she said it.
I nodded. "Yeah. She'll understand what it means there."
Paimon looked from me to Lumine, worry overtaking her earlier bravado. "But if she's dreaming about something important, shouldn't we wake her up?"
"No," I said.
That came out firmer than I intended. Paimon flinched a little, so I softened my voice.
"No," I repeated. "This is something she needs to see. Not because it'll be easy. It won't. But because there are truths you can't explain properly from the outside. Some things have to be walked through."
Nilou looked down at Lumine, her expression tender and pained. "Even if it hurts her?"
I hated that question.
Because the answer was yes.
And because I hated that the answer was yes.
I exhaled slowly. "Especially if it hurts. Not all pain is useless. Some pain tells you where the wound really is."
Paimon looked like she wanted to argue, but couldn't find the words.
Dain's gaze remained on me. "You know more than you are saying."
I smiled faintly.
Not my normal grin.
Just a tired little thing.
"Story of my life, bro."
"That is not an answer."
"It's the answer you're getting for now."
For a moment, I thought he might push further. Dainsleif looked like the kind of man who could interrogate a locked door and make it confess historical crimes. But then he looked back at Lumine and said nothing.
Good.
He understood enough.
I turned away before the atmosphere swallowed us completely.
"Come on, Goddess," I said to Nilou. "We've got somewhere to be."
Paimon floated closer to Lumine, still nervous. "You'd better come back soon, Shigeru."
"I will."
"And don't do anything stupid."
I paused.
Paimon's eyes narrowed. Nilou slowly looked at me. Dainsleif looked resigned before I even opened my mouth.
"…Define stupid."
"Shigeru!"
"Fine, fine. I'll keep it to medium stupid."
"That's not better!"
"It's realistic!"
Greg flicked his tail sharply from beside Lumine, like even he was telling me to leave before I made things worse.
So I did.
Nilou and I stepped away from the campfire, leaving Lumine asleep under the watch of Paimon, Dainsleif, and one extremely serious little lizard guard. The forest closed around us as we started walking back toward Sumeru City, and for a while, neither of us spoke.
That silence wasn't awkward.
It was just heavy.
The kind of silence that follows a choice.
Nilou walked beside me, her hands clasped loosely in front of her. Her footsteps were light, careful over the roots and grass. The moonlight caught in her hair, and honestly, even in the middle of ancient cursed dream plot nonsense, part of my brain still went, wow.
Which was proof that I was either romantic or incurably stupid.
Probably both.
Finally, Nilou looked at me. "Is it really fine to leave them there?"
I nodded with the confidence of a man who absolutely did not have full control of the situation.
"It's fine."
She waited.
"Probably."
Her brow lifted.
"Mostly."
"Shigeru."
"Okay, listen," I said, raising both hands defensively. "Lumine will pull through. She's super strong, super stubborn, extremely pretty, and has enough protagonist energy to make fate itself file a complaint."
Nilou's worry softened into a small chuckle. "You really do believe in her."
"Of course I do," I said immediately. "That's my blondie. She fights gods, survives emotional damage, tolerates me daily, and still somehow hasn't pushed me into a ravine. That's strength beyond mortal comprehension."
Nilou giggled behind her hand.
Success.
If I could make Nilou laugh while the Caribert arc was unfolding behind us, then maybe the world wasn't completely doomed yet.
Maybe only around seventy-three percent doomed.
Manageable.
We kept walking. The path back toward Sumeru City felt different at night. The forest was still beautiful, but the shadows between the trees seemed deeper now, stretching longer than they should. Maybe that was just my imagination. Maybe it was the Ley Lines acting funny. Maybe it was the story tightening its grip around us.
Or maybe I was just hungry again.
Hard to tell. Trauma and appetite shared a hallway in my brain.
Nilou glanced at me again. "You're doing that thing."
"What thing?"
"The thing where you joke because something is bothering you."
I gasped. "False accusation. I joke because I'm naturally gifted."
"You are naturally gifted," she said sweetly.
I brightened. "Thank you."
"At avoiding emotional honesty."
I clutched my chest. "Goddess, why would you strike me in my own home?"
"We're in the forest."
"My emotional home."
She laughed again, but then her voice softened. "I'm worried about Lumine too."
"I know."
"And you."
That made me pause for half a step.
Nilou noticed, of course.
She always noticed too much.
I looked ahead instead of at her. "Me? I'm fine. I'm always fine. I'm the fabulous one."
"Shigeru."
There it was.
The gentle voice.
The dangerous one.
The one that didn't attack, didn't scold, didn't push, but somehow made lying feel like kicking a puppy.
I sighed.
"Okay. Maybe I'm not fully fine. But this part… Lumine has to see it. And me staying there won't help. If anything, I'd make it worse by hovering like an anxious idiot husband and threatening the dream with violence."
Nilou tilted her head. "Can you threaten a dream?"
"With enough confidence? Absolutely."
"Would it work?"
"Probably not."
She smiled.
I lowered my voice. "The truth is, I don't want to watch her suffer through something I already know will hurt. And I don't want Paimon to panic because I look like I'm one bad thought away from punching fate in the throat. So I'm doing the next useful thing."
Nilou's expression shifted. "Which is?"
I grinned.
Now this grin was real.
A little unhinged.
A little stupid.
Very me.
"We're getting help."
Nilou blinked. "Help?"
"Kind of."
"What kind of help?"
"The short, angry, floating-hat-adjacent kind."
It took her a second. Then her eyes widened slightly. "Sora?"
"Ding ding ding."
"Are you sure he'll help?"
"Nope."
"Shigeru."
"But he'll react," I said confidently. "And with Sora, reaction is basically participation if you annoy him hard enough."
Nilou covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. "That sounds terrible."
"It's strategy."
"It sounds like bullying."
"Strategic bullying."
"That is not better."
"It's effective."
By the time the lights of Sumeru City appeared in the distance, my usual rhythm had mostly returned. Not completely. Part of me was still back in that forest, beside the fire, watching Lumine's face tighten in sleep.
But I couldn't stay there.
Not yet.
There were moves to make.
Pieces to place.
Gremlins to harass.
We passed through the quieter streets of the city, where late-night scholars still wandered with papers in their hands and the haunted expressions of people who had discovered academic deadlines. I felt for them, truly. Few monsters in Teyvat were as terrifying as paperwork.
Nilou walked beside me, still watching my face like she was trying to read where the joke ended and the worry began.
Unfair.
She was getting too good at that.
As we neared the Sanctuary, she finally asked, "Where are we going anyway?"
I stopped just before the entrance.
Then I grinned.
Full Shigeru.
Maximum idiot.
"Welp," I said, cracking my neck like I was about to enter a boss fight, "time to meet that gremlin again."
Nilou blinked once, then started laughing softly. "You're really going to call him that to his face, aren't you?"
"I have never once respected my own safety."
"I know."
"Besides, he likes me."
Nilou smiled in that polite way people smile when they are refusing to lie. "Does he?"
"He tolerates my existence in a hostile way. That's basically friendship."
"That sounds like how Dainsleif treats you."
"Exactly. I'm collecting emotionally constipated men like limited cards."
Nilou shook her head, smiling helplessly. "You are impossible."
"And yet, you married into this vibe emotionally."
"I don't remember signing anything."
"Spiritually notarized."
She laughed again.
Good.
The Sanctuary doors stood ahead, calm and dignified, two things I had never been accused of being. So naturally, I walked inside like I owned the place.
Not respectfully.
Not quietly.
Not with the solemn grace expected of someone entering a sacred space connected to the Dendro Archon.
No.
I strutted.
There was a difference.
Nilou followed behind me with a smile that was half fondness and half quiet apology to everyone we were about to disturb.
The Sanctuary air felt different from the forest. Cleaner. Still, but not abandoned. There was life here, thought here, memory here. A gentle pressure, like the world itself was listening without judgment.
Which was dangerous.
Because if the world was listening, it was about to hear nonsense.
I cupped my hands around my mouth and called proudly into the Sanctuary.
"Little Radish! The fabulous one is here!"
Nilou immediately covered her mouth.
Not because she was shocked.
Because she was trying not to laugh too loudly.
I continued, because stopping had never been one of my strengths.
"I bring myself, my emotional instability, one goddess-level dancer, and possibly a request that may or may not involve borrowing the local gremlin!"
Silence answered.
For about three seconds.
Then I grinned wider.
Perfect.
This was already going terribly.
Which meant we were off to a great start.
__________
End of Chapter 177
Quests Completed:
*Left Lumine safely under the protection of Paimon, Dainsleif, and Greg before the Caribert dream fully began.
*Entrusted Greg with Emergency Big Lizard Protocol in case anything suspicious occurred.
*Successfully promoted Greg from "traitor" back to "trusted son."
*Officially designated Dainsleif as temporary babysitter despite his repeated denial of being a tutorial NPC.
*Resisted interfering with Lumine's destined dream despite knowing what was coming.
*Successfully reassured Nilou while remaining only mostly emotionally stable.
*Maintained morale through excessive joking during an emotionally heavy transition.
*Confirmed that protagonist energy remains one of Lumine's greatest passive abilities.
*Successfully convinced Nilou that "strategic bullying" counts as a valid recruitment method.
*Returned to Sumeru City with a new objective instead of dwelling on fate.
*Entered the Sanctuary of Surasthana with absolutely zero respect for indoor voice etiquette.
*Announced your arrival to the Dendro Archon by loudly shouting "Little Radish!" across an ancient holy sanctuary.
*Prepared to recruit one extremely grumpy gremlin for the next phase of the operation.
Rewards:
*Adventure EXP +7,800
*33,500 Mora (Emotional Hazard Compensation)
*Companionship EXP +700 (Lumine, Nilou, Paimon, Greg, Dainsleif)
*"Forehead Promise" : (A quiet promise that increases determination whenever protecting someone precious.)
*"Emergency Greg Protocol" : (Greg immediately transforms whenever danger exceeds acceptable chaos levels.)
*"Temporary Babysitter Dainsleif" : (Ancient guardians reluctantly gain +30% reliability when watching over protagonists.)
*"Protagonist Trust" : (Greatly increases confidence that Lumine will survive impossible circumstances.)
*"Nilou's Gentle Insight" : (Detects emotional distress hidden behind jokes with 100% accuracy.)
*"Mask of the Fool" : (Allows Shigeru to maintain morale even while carrying heavy knowledge.)
*"Strategic Bullying" : (Annoying emotionally unavailable people increases recruitment success by an unknown amount.)
*"Emotionally Constipated Collection +1" : (Current Collection: Dainsleif ✓ • Sora [Pending])
*"Sanctuary Volume Limit Ignored" : (Sacred places no longer reduce Shigeru's speaking volume.)
*"Little Radish Summoning Call" : (Has a 95% chance of immediately attracting Nahida's attention.Side Effect: Everyone nearby questions your survival instincts.)
*+25 (Sumeru Reputation — "Sanctuary Disturbance Incident")