"So Venti, are you going to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to have a drink with Zhongli, or are you coming with us?"
After easily picking up a commission from Miss Katheryne about investigating the Treasure Hoarders, Lumine reached out her small hand toward Nagami, who was laughing with his arm draped around Venti's shoulder.
Although the Knights of Favonius saw Lumine as a silly but earnest girl desperately searching for her sibling.
Venti was no naive child—he wasn't about to be fooled by her appearance so easily.
Come on, everyone here's a thousand-year-old fox.
If we're playing tricks, we're all in on it together.
He knew full well the Traveler's true nature was a mix of sly and shameless. And yet, seeing Lumine initiate this kind of close contact…
Nagami really had a way with people.
Venti shot a glance at Nagami's calm expression, then at the lively golden-haired girl, his smile turning faintly suggestive.
"Drinking with the old man carries the risk of getting beaten up. Of course I'll go with you."
He spread his hands as if it were only natural—completely ignoring why he might get beaten in the first place.
"You actually said it out loud without a hint of shame!" Paimon crossed her arms, glaring at him with disdain.
"All right, then let's head out."
After skimming through the intel attached to the commission, Lumine pushed off the ground with her long, toned legs, leaping gracefully into the air.
Nagami, sharing her wavelength, rose into the sky an instant later.
One arm slid around Lumine's smooth shoulders, the other curled behind her knees.
He caught her perfectly in a princess carry as she came down.
Naturally, Paimon's flight height matched Lumine's.
Bound equipment, huh?
To be honest, even with his Alpha Stigma Eyes, Nagami still couldn't figure out how Paimon flew.
The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
"No elemental energy fluctuations at all…" Venti narrowed his eyes as he sensed Nagami's aura.
His expression shifted to one of confirmation—then instantly soured.
"Wait, hold on! Don't leave without me! I haven't even boarded yet!"
Nagami ignored his shouting.
He was the Anemo Archon—playing the part was one thing, but pretending he couldn't even fly was way too much.
'Seriously, for Lumine to sink as low as Groudon… that's humiliating.'
Holding the warm, soft Lumine in his arms, Nagami was already pondering how to help her grow stronger.
With her power sealed, she couldn't even manage basic Herrscher-level abilities like flight.
Truly embarrassing.
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[Nagami]: Maybe it's time to draw some cards again. How many points do you have now?'
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As Nagami slowly flew toward the ruins where Treasure Hoarders had been sighted, Lumine looped her slender arms around his neck.
She glanced at Paimon clinging to his clothes, then at the green figure struggling to catch up behind them.
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[Lumine]: I had nearly 300 at most. But after pulling some random junk, I've got about 260 left…
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The value of chat group points varied wildly depending on who used them.
For Nagami, it meant one thing; for other members, it meant another.
Yes.
That was the pride of a lucky European whale.
The strange part? Despite being alternate versions of the same existence, Nagami was blessed with ridiculous luck while Lumine was a complete gacha disaster.
Was this the law of conserved luck?
Her luck hadn't vanished—it had been transferred to him.
Sure, drawing a Jusenkyo of Drowned Girl spring was surprising, but it wasn't actually worth much. And Lumine had only drawn a few drops.
In the end, she still considered herself fortunate, but only because the result was amusing.
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[Nagami]: 260 left, huh? I've got 238 myself. I'll keep 38 for world-travel and give you the rest. Let's go all in this time!'
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360 points had once been enough to summon Kamen Rider's half-conceptual power.
With 460, what might they get now?
Nagami couldn't help but feel a little excited.
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[Lumine]: Mhm~
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Lumine stretched out her soft, pale hand, gently smoothing the strands of Nagami's hair tousled by the wind.
Nagami descended from the sky with Lumine still in his arms, landing steadily before a crumbling ruin.
With a flick of his wrist, he grabbed Paimon before her momentum sent her face-first into the dirt.
"Ugh, finally! You fly too fast, Nagami!" Paimon puffed her cheeks, grumbling.
"Ehehe~"
Not knowing what else to say, Nagami copied Venti's little giggle.
His spatial authority was still being analyzed—using too much of it could disrupt the process.
Short-range teleportation was actually slower than just flying.
"Venti, if you're adventuring with us, you can't just slack off. You're taking point this time."
Leaping lightly from Nagami's arms, Lumine planted her hands on her hips as she faced the green-clad bard descending after them.
A strange, indescribable feeling welled up inside her.
Is this what it feels like to have useful lackeys?
This is amazing!
"Uh… okay, but just so you know—if I can't keep up, you lot better be ready to help me out!"
There was no way to argue with Lumine's words.
Venti could only let out an exasperated sigh in his heart—he really did not want to work.
"Of course—no problem~"
Paimon agreed without a second thought, and a pleased smile tugged at Lumine's lips.
At the same time, she made up her mind: once Venti started performing, their actions would be bounce, nab, sell, and vanish.
The group, led by Venti, pushed through the ancient, crumbling gate.
Dust plastered the walls and spiderweb-like cracks marred the stone; in places you could clearly see marks where people had passed before.
They didn't encounter a single hilichurl or slime the whole way—probably the more thorough raiders had already cleared the deeper ruins.
Noticing that, Lumine skipped the usual ritual of searching every nook for treasure chests.
If there had been anything good here, the treasure hoarders had probably taken it already. That didn't make the delve easy—there were plenty of bizarre traps.
Only after Venti had roughly checked the whole area did Nagami and Lumine continue.
"There are traces of the Treasure Hoarders—so the direction's probably right, but…" Paimon spread her fingers against her chin, hesitating. "Why does the closer we get to the center feel… weirder?"
Lumine had already steeled herself, so she wasn't fazed.
In fact, Nagami's skill had already revealed an inverted Seven-God statue brimming with abyssal power.
"Venti, do you feel anything…special?" Nagami asked, watching Venti nimbly avoid a bubble trap.
"Special?" Venti's normally carefree expression turned a fraction more serious at Nagami's tone. He frowned slightly and concentrated. "I do get a strange pressure… and—" He trailed off, suddenly turning his head toward a certain direction.
His eyes darkened with seriousness, and then he dashed off that way.
"Eh? Venti, what's wrong?" Paimon reached toward his retreating figure and then looked back at Lumine. "Let's go—follow him."
So there really was some secret link between a god and their statue.
Lumine linked hands with Nagami and hurried after Venti.
Nagami swept the ruins with his skill, searching for signs of Aether.
No luck—nothing at all.
It looked like they'd have to make some noise to flush him out.
Aether seemed to have space-altering abilities… or maybe that was just Abyssal power at work?
Before they knew it, the group passed through a narrow corridor and stepped into a broad chamber.
Venti stood beside the body of a dead hoarder, unusually grave.
"T-this is… a statue of the Anemo Archon?!" Paimon fluttered up to a raised altar-like platform and stared at the inverted Barbatos statue.
The orb that the wind god once held had vanished—replaced by a roiling black mass of energy that reeked of the Abyss.
"Venti, are you okay?" Nagami asked.
"I'm fine. Just… I didn't expect someone to steal a statue and use it for this kind of thing. Honestly, maybe I should charge a small handling fee~" Venti scratched his head and sighed as if it were all such a bother.
"How am I supposed to get this back to Mondstadt? Should I tell the Knights we found the stolen Seven-God statue and let them haul it back?"
"Don't you care about that Abyss energy pooling there?" Nagami asked in surprise.
"Ehehe~" The solemnness evaporated from Venti in an instant; he slipped back into his usual whimsical dodge-and-weave attitude. "Since you guys came here on purpose, I'm guessing you have a plan. If so, you probably don't need me, right?"
"Is that so? Then we'll handle it." Lumine smiled brightly, tilting her head toward Nagami. "Hey—why don't we just smash it?"
Venti's mouth twitched at how nonchalant that sounded.
"I think that'll do it." Nagami manifested a copy of Judgment of Shamash with his authority—its shaft black-and-white, the barrel gilded.
He raised it, and fierce flames pooled at the muzzle like a black hole.
"Hey, wait! You're not actually serious, are you?" Venti threw up a hand, pulling a dramatic, pleading pose.
A statue of one of the Seven really was unusual, but Venti was the sort who'd casually give away a god's heart if he felt like it.
A statue? He wouldn't care if someone took it home and adored it—unless it was being used to draw Abyssal power.
But these two were actually planning to smash the Wind God's statue right in front of him…!
'Is this something humans do?!'