But was it really that simple?
Was Yae Miko's only goal really to keep Xingqiu from clearing up the matter of his gender?
Fang Qiu glanced at Yae Miko, whose lips had curled into a smile without her noticing as she sipped her drink.
She had a feeling it wasn't that simple.
But reason told her it was best not to pry. Otherwise, the next victim wouldn't be just Xingqiu.
At the thought, Fang Qiu swallowed hard.
Sensing the looks from her and Paimon, Yae Miko only smiled and changed the subject.
She started chatting about local customs and invited them to visit the Grand Narukami Shrine.
Klee lit up at once and said she wanted to go.
It was a place Brother Albedo had told her about, too.
She wanted to see it.
The Grand Narukami Shrine?
A shrine?
Fang Qiu was rather curious about the shrines from the anime of her past life: shrine maidens, ema plaques, omamori charms, and the like.
Since Yae Miko was inviting them, and Klee was so eager, a visit sounded like fun, so Fang Qiu didn't refuse.
After all, sightseeing wouldn't get her victimized.
"Then it's settled. I'm off to get back to work. Enjoy your meal."
Seeing that Fang Qiu and the others had agreed, Yae Miko gave a faint smile.
After a few more words, Yae Miko went back to her duties.
Once she had gone, Xingqiu let out a deep sigh, looking rather forlorn.
He picked up his juice, took a hard swallow, and said nothing more.
Fang Qiu and the others tacitly understood and didn't mention what had just happened. They went back to eating roast meat.
The banquet went on for a good two hours.
"Traveler, I think we've finally eaten back what Miko swindled out of us last time, right?"
After the satisfying meal and drinks, Paimon patted her slightly rounded belly and spoke with total contentment.
"I guess so," the Traveler said with a nod.
"Last time?"
Fang Qiu froze for a moment.
Seeing her puzzled look, Paimon indignantly told her everything about how Yae Miko had cheated them out of their manuscript fees at Uyuu Restaurant.
Fang Qiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
No wonder Paimon had eaten so much that her belly was bulging. Fang Qiu had never seen her stuff herself like this before.
So there had been a hidden reason behind it.
Still, come to think of it, the Traveler and Paimon had actually worked with Yae Publishing House on a book?
"Traveler, what's your book called? I'd like to read it, too," Fang Qiu asked.
"I'm a little curious, too. I wonder what a book written by people like you, Traveler and Paimon, is like," said Xingqiu.
"Sister Honorary Knight, Little Paimon, Klee wants to read your book, too!"
Beside her, Xingqiu and Klee had both taken an interest.
"It's called The Miraculous Adventures of the Traveler."
Paimon puffed out her chest and said confidently, "Well? Doesn't the title alone sound fun? It sold pretty well back then, too."
At the title, Fang Qiu nearly sprayed out the juice she was drinking.
Bizarre Adventure?
Could it be the one with the Stands?
After a moment, she realized it was probably just a coincidence...
After all, the Traveler and Paimon were always traveling, so naturally they'd run into some bizarre adventures.
Punching Stormterror, kicking Osial, stomping on the Raiden Shogun, and so on.
Experiences like those could fairly be called bizarre adventures.
"The Miraculous Adventures of the Traveler. From the title, it sounds like the story of your journey together," Xingqiu said, stroking his chin as he analyzed it.
"More or less," Paimon said with a nod. "Though the story is a little outlandish."
"Sister Honorary Knight and Little Paimon's adventures? Klee wants to read it!"
Klee's eyes lit up, and she said excitedly.
"I'm a little interested, too," Fang Qiu said with a smile.
She really did want to read about the Traveler and Paimon's travels.
She had a particular fondness for books describing the customs and landscapes of Teyvat.
Word was that Liyue Publishing House was currently in talks with Sumeru about exchanges and a partnership.
Maybe in a while, she'd be able to buy Sumeru's books in Liyue.
They said Sumeru was a land of wisdom.
There should be plenty of books on nature and culture there.
The people, geography, and natural scenery of Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma were all quite different from each other.
She just didn't know what Sumeru was like.
She was looking forward to it.
Of course, the book she looked forward to most was still the Teyvat Travel Guide by Ms. Alice.
It had descriptions of both culture and nature, along with Ms. Alice's amusing sights and thoughts along the way.
It was less a travel guide than a travel diary.
To write such an entertaining book, what kind of person was Ms. Alice? Fang Qiu really wanted to know.
Of course, the Teyvat Travel Guide had its flaw, too.
Updates were far too slow, and nobody knew when the next chapter would come out.
It was a bit depressing...
And so, with everyone fed and well watered, the banquet broke up.
During it, quite a few young female authors had asked Fang Qiu for autographs, on paper, of course.
After the party ended,
many of the authors paired off to head to the next izakaya, ready to start a second round of drinking.
A few of the female authors had wanted to invite Fang Qiu and the others to join them.
But Fang Qiu and Xingqiu both declined politely.
Turned down, the women didn't mind. They promised "next time for sure," then headed off to the next izakaya with the smell of liquor on them, staggering as they went.
Yae Miko and the other editors, meanwhile, had to throw themselves into the next round of work.
There were probably still things like the art exhibition to prepare for.
Xingqiu had to go find Ah Xu, who had come to Inazuma with him, and make him keep quiet about Xingqiu attending the signing event.
Especially about being mistaken for a girl.
Seeing Xingqiu's uneasy look, a line popped into Fang Qiu's head out of nowhere.
"Second Young Master, you wouldn't want the Old Master to find out you came all this way just for the Irodori Festival, would you?"
Luckily, the Traveler and Paimon had sample copies of The Miraculous Adventures of the Traveler, so they didn't have to go jostle through the crowds at the Outlander Affairs Agency.
The Traveler took out a copy of The Miraculous Adventures of the Traveler and handed it to Xingqiu, and then they parted ways.
Fang Qiu and the others made their way back to the inn.
The Traveler took out two more copies of The Miraculous Adventures of the Traveler and gave them to Fang Qiu and Klee.
The book wasn't thick. She could finish it in an afternoon.
Fang Qiu sat down at the low desk and gently opened the cover.
The story began with a girl from another world fishing up a talking emergency food.
Just from the opening, Fang Qiu couldn't help bursting into laughter.
Klee looked baffled and asked Paimon, "Little Paimon, what's an emergency food?"
Paimon didn't know how to answer for a moment.
"Paimon is the emergency food," Lumine said.
The answer drew a furious protest from Paimon.
After that, they went back to reading.
Seeing that they'd settled into reading, the Traveler and Paimon picked up two other books and started reading, too.
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