Miko was just as cheeky as ever. "You look anxious. Do you need something from me again?"
"Luckily, it's you. If it were someone else, I wouldn't have the patience to greet them with a smiling face time and time again."
Paimon put her hands on her hips, dissatisfied. "But I can see you smiling the whole time."
[Paimon: Half of what Miko says is nonsense.]
[Lumine: Not even half. At most a quarter is true.]
[Yae Miko: I only act like this with friends, you know. Normally, I am very serious.]
[Paimon: I don't believe it.]
[Lumine: Neither do I.]
[Ei: I don't really believe it either.]
[Yae Miko: What? Is this how you all see me?]
[Furina: I nod in agreement. Yes, that is how I see you.]
[Yae Miko: Ah, can't any of you take a joke?]
[Paimon: I have heard the story of the boy who cried wolf...]
[Zhongli: Generally speaking, when someone tells too many jokes, even their rare truthful statements are easily taken as jokes.]
[Paimon: Zhongli is on our side.]
[Ei: Speaking in a stiff, serious manner would be very dull, would it not?]
[Yae Miko: See? Now I have a deity supporting me.]
[Paimon: Having a friend back you up does not count! What does Furina say?]
[Furina: I think Miss Kitsune would be a very interesting friend. What she says is not important. What she does is what matters.]
[Yae Miko: Now I have two deities supporting me.]
[Paimon: Ah, Miss Kitsune is only going to become more insufferable from now on.]
Miko continued smiling. "That was just a saying, alright? Do not nitpick."
Lumine stopped the pointless bickering and explained Ei's situation.
Miko nodded slightly. "Oh, I see. So Ei wants to entrust Inazuma to humanity while she faces this desperate battle alone, with no end in sight."
"Rigid and extreme, acting entirely on her own will, yet lacking the strength to achieve her goal. That is certainly her style."
"But she has been like this for all these years. Why are you worried now?"
[Lumine: See, Miko? Miko does not care about you at all.]
[Yae Miko: You think such a petty attempt to sow discord will work?]
[Ei: Miko, do you really not care about me?]
[Furina: It seems that petty trick did work...]
[Yae Miko: ...]
[Ei: I was joking too.]
[Ningguang: Miko is truly a very interesting person.]
[Paimon: I remember that woman who made perfume. She always steered the conversation toward strange places.]
[Ningguang: That is just how she talks. I cannot do anything about it either. But in Liyue, her perfume-making skills are unmatched.]
[Lumine: Is she really that skilled? Speaking of which, someone with such skill must be known to Zhongli, right?]
[Paimon: Oh, right! Zhongli must know that perfume maker, but he told us to ask around ourselves. Zhongli probably did not want to see that woman either.]
[Lumine: So he pretended not to know and let us go meet her ourselves...]
[Yae Miko: Mr. Zhongli, why do you not defend yourself?]
[Sayu: Such... such sharp words...]
[Zhongli: I admit, I feel very awkward in front of that perfumer.]
[Lumine: So it really is like that.]
[Yae Miko: So the Geo Archon of Liyue is also an interesting person.]
Lumine said, "The situation is different now. The severity of this duel is unlike anything before."
Miko chuckled. "That is true. Ei is sometimes like a little child."
"So you think I can help. Who told you that?"