Yae Miko's interest had just been piqued.
It was immediately extinguished by the tournament staff who came to urge her along.
She turned her head and gave the Raiden Shogun a light snort.
"Hmph, no helping it. I'll let you watch how I use petty tricks to defeat that shrine maiden from Watatsumi Island who's revered as a living god first."
"Hm? So your opponent is Sangonomiya Kokomi?"
Yae Miko tried one plan after another.
In short, she just wanted to see different expressions on everyone's faces.
"Hmm~ On one side is the leader of Watatsumi Island who once fought alongside us. On the other is the beautiful and wise Lady Guuji Yae Miko."
She walked up to Lumine, hooked her finger under the girl's chin.
"Little one, which side will you support?"
[I carefully choose Kokomi, she is definitely not an eel~]
[What kind of deadly question is this?]
[Mommy is teasing me]
[I choose Mu Yang, he is the one everyone is rooting for]
[I want them all!!!]
Lumine puffed out her chest. "I just want to say that none of you here can beat me."
Seeing her smug expression, even Yae Miko was a little surprised.
When did the little one become so good at dodging?
Yae Miko covered her mouth and laughed. "Oh my, you actually dare say such things in front of me and Ei."
"Do you think Inazuma's lightning doesn't strike fast enough?"
Lumine turned her head away. "My sword is not dull either."
Ei stepped in to smooth things over. "Guuji… don't bully her."
"Hahaha, I know. I just wanted to see the little one's reaction."
After saying that, Yae Miko went off to her match.
On Mu Yang's side, he still had some things to discuss with Ei.
Lumine spotted Itto's figure from afar and wanted to go say hello.
The two decided to split up to gather information.
Once Lumine had walked far enough, Ei spoke.
"You're so free, can't you update a few more novels?"
Mu Yang was speechless. Wow, as soon as she opened her mouth she was asking him to start several new pits.
Lin Yuan Xian Yu had only published three books and had already become public enemy number one of Teyvat.
If he kept writing like this, when his identity was exposed one day, wouldn't everyone want to punch him?
Mu Yang told Ei that he was different from her.
He had actual business to attend to—he was here to pursue the [Card Phantom Thief].
"Card Phantom Thief? Aren't those cards available everywhere?"
Ei found it rather strange.
Genius Invokation TCG cards weren't expensive, and because of their high popularity, ordinary stores all sold them.
Why would anyone need to steal them?
Mu Yang explained the whole story to Ei.
After listening, Ei asked if Mu Yang needed help from the Tenryou Commission.
This offer was naturally politely declined by Mu Yang.
His excuse was that he didn't want to alert the enemy.
The real reason was that he still wanted to drag out more plot.
Otherwise, how could he stab the players in the end?
Mu Yang chatted with Ei like this until the match ended.
Lumine had taken a stroll around, and Kokomi had defeated Yae Miko in battle.
Charlotte brought Kirara back.
After everyone exchanged greetings, Kokomi took the lead and began analyzing the [Card Phantom Thief].
"Miss Kirara, you've been delivering packages between nations these past few days, right?"
Kirara nodded obediently and honestly. "Yes, I've had quite a lot of deliveries recently, but what does that have to do with the phantom thief clues?"
"The strange part is that Miss Kirara's footprints coincide perfectly with the phantom thief that Lumine and the others have been tracking."
Kirara panicked the moment she heard that. Eh? Did you bring me here to interrogate me as a suspect?
"I'm just an ordinary delivery worker! You can't wrong an innocent person! No… you can't wrong an innocent youkai!"
Kokomi gestured for her to calm down; she hadn't finished speaking yet.
She continued, "Miss Kirara, among the packages you received these past few days, were there multiple items from the same sender, or going to the same destination?"
Kirara thought for a moment. Youkai had quite good memories.
She remembered everything clearly.
The senders were all different, but in each region there was indeed one package. The recipient addresses were the same.
She couldn't reveal the specific address due to privacy, but she said it was being sent to Sumeru.
[It matches. Isn't the inventor of Genius Invokation TCG living in Sumeru?]
[Cyno also lives in Sumeru.]
[Cyno only likes rare card backs. Don't be misled again.]
Kokomi continued asking, "Are these packages all very light, at most the size of an envelope?"
Kirara stared at Kokomi with wide eyes, full of disbelief.
"Y-you… are you one of those great youkai who can have prophetic dreams? I heard about them when I used to sleep on Grandma's lap."
[She is the Inspiration Queen.]
[Of course my Kokomi is Inazuma's Dragoness.]
Lumine had already figured out the general picture.
No wonder the phantom thief's movements were so fast.
He was using Komaniya Express for transportation.
Those card backs had always been right under everyone's noses.
However, there were still some doubts.
Kirara had picked up the package in Mondstadt beforehand.
Only after that did Charlotte encounter the phantom thief.
The timing didn't quite match.
Lumine recalled what Mu Yang had said back in Liyue.
Do not alert the prey.
"Could it be that it's not a [Card Phantom Thief], but a [Card Phantom Thief Gang]?"
[Isn't this Yu-Gi-Oh? Why did it suddenly become Persona 5?]
[Playing too much P5.]
Mu Yang stepped forward to support Lumine's theory.
Liyue Harbor was so big, yet they managed to collect all the card backs in such a short time.
It was very likely a group operation.
The others collected the card backs first and mailed them together.
The remaining troublesome parts were left for one person to handle.
The one they were chasing was most likely the person cleaning up the loose ends.
In Mondstadt, he used theft and high-price transactions.
In Liyue, he tried [Contracts] and won Chongyun's card back through a bet.
After listening, Charlotte had a new question.
"Why don't the others just bring the card backs back to Sumeru themselves?"
"Yeah, it's not something that needs inspection or is heavy and hard to carry."
"Unless… they have reasons to stay in those locations."
[Could they be staff maintaining order at the competition venue?]
[An inside job?]
[The Adventurers' Guild has all kinds of people. That actually makes sense.]
For now, the investigation had reached a deadlock.
Only by seeing the card backs with their own eyes could they proceed to the next step.
Everyone's gazes turned toward Kirara.
The little cat took two steps back. "W-what are you all doing? Don't look at me like that! I will never open a client's package!"
"If… if the company finds out, I'll get fired."
[(Excited) Kirara, you don't want to get fired by the company, right?]
[Strict investigation upstairs. I suspect the poster is from Inazuma.]
[Poor kitty, her voice is so cute.]
Kirara was almost scared to tears. "I don't want to go back to the remote mountains of Inazuma to be some great youkai!"
Lumine quickly comforted her. "Sorry, we didn't mean it like that."
"Since things have come to this point, let us all accompany you on the delivery to Sumeru."
"Even if the other side has bad intentions, I can protect you. Consider it compensation for offending you earlier."
Paimon also came to her side. "Don't worry, she's really strong."
Kirara pouted. "I'm strong too! From the start of my job until now, I haven't lost a single package."
Seeing that everyone really wanted to protect her.
Kirara finally relented.
"…Alright. I can let you all come with me to deliver the goods to Sumeru."