"Hu Tao, and… what a beautiful person."
Just as Fang Qiu stood there in a daze, the white-haired girl floating in midair glanced at Hu Tao, then shifted her gaze directly to her.
A beautiful person?
Hearing those words from the white-haired girl, Fang Qiu couldn't help but blink in mild surprise.
Was she referring to her?
"Oh, it's Paimon and the Traveler — and Xiangling too! Hello, hello."
Hu Tao smiled cheerfully, gave a wave, and called out her greeting.
At Hu Tao's words, Fang Qiu's crimson pupils involuntarily contracted.
These two… were the legendary Traveler and Paimon?
The Traveler and Paimon who had ridden the Storm Terror, punched out the oceanic god, and driven back the Fatui?
In her memory, she had once watched that great battle from a distance, from the window of her rented room. It had been an apocalyptic spectacle — floodwaters surging to the heavens, the sky and earth changing colors.
According to the Millelith reports and the rumors that had circulated among the people afterward, the blonde Traveler standing before her and the little girl called Paimon had been the stars of that entire battle.
Still, what puzzled Fang Qiu a little was this: Paimon she could understand at a glance — clearly an expert of the highest order. Not only could she walk on air, but her eyes and cape shimmered with flowing stars, and hovering above her head was a glowing halo just like the angels from Fang Qiu's past life — everything about her radiated the aura of a true master.
The Traveler, on the other hand, was undeniably cute and pretty, but she looked soft and delicate — not at all like someone terrifyingly powerful. She didn't even have a Vision. If anything, Fang Qiu felt like they were probably about even.
While Fang Qiu was sizing them up, they were sizing her up in return. Hu Tao, smiling serenely, stepped in with introductions: "This is my good friend, Fang Qiu. And these two are the Traveler and Paimon — also friends of mine."
"Hello, lovely to meet you both."
Fang Qiu smiled lightly and offered her greeting.
"Oh, so it's Miss Fang Qiu — wait, hold on. Hu Tao, what did you just say her name was?"
Paimon froze for a moment, then her eyes went wide with shock. Beside her, Lumine's eyes widened as well.
"Fang Qiu. Is something strange about that?"
Hu Tao asked, puzzled.
Fang Qiu and Xiangling were equally baffled, while Guoba went bouncing off to play with the two little cats.
Tingyu, for her part, didn't pay Guoba much attention — but Sanmi, on the other hand, seemed to be having a grand time with him.
"No, no, nothing — never mind! I just mixed her up with that awful person who wrote Your Lie in April and The Eternal. But thinking about it properly, how many people are silly enough to use their real name as a pen name? The only one I know who'd actually do that is Chang the Ninth — though in his case, it's understandable; he chose that name hoping his childhood sweetheart would hear it and recognize him."
Paimon waved her hands hastily, then continued: "Speaking of which, have you all seen the books that Liyue Publishing House put out recently? There's this awful person with the pen name Fang Qiu in there too — she actually went and killed off Kaori, my absolute favorite character."
At that, Paimon couldn't help stamping her little foot. She then planted her hands on her hips, turned her head pointedly to the side, and declared: "Hmph! Either way, I'm holding a grudge! I came back to Liyue this time specifically to make that person pay!"
"Didn't Paimon say she wanted something fresh and spicy to eat in this weather, and since things had settled down, she wanted to come to Wanmin Restaurant for the Boiled Black-Back Perch?"
Lumine said mildly.
"Hey! Don't throw me under the wagon like that! I definitely also said I was going to stop by and give a piece of my mind to that Fang Qiu person — hmph, and I'm going to give her a really awful nickname too. Something like… hmm… Meanie McEvil! She made me so mad, I could barely eat for days. Ah — Miss Fang Qiu, I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about the one who uses Fang Qiu as a pen name."
Silence.
Complete silence.
"Uh… how come no one's saying anything?"
Paimon tilted her head to one side, puzzled, and asked: "And also — Miss Fang Qiu, why did you take a step back like that? I said it's that person who uses Fang Qiu as a pen name I'm talking about."
"That is… Paimon, she's the one who wrote Your Lie in April and The Eternal."
Xiangling spoke up from the side.
And with that, the atmosphere plunged once again into a profoundly strange silence.
"You're that Fang Qiu?"
Paimon stood frozen for a long moment before the realization finally hit her. She stared at Fang Qiu, eyes blown wide, face the picture of incredulous shock.
"…Yes."
Fang Qiu gave a slightly awkward nod.
At the same time, she was more than a little nervous.
This Paimon — surely she was only saying all that for show, right? Surely she wouldn't actually lay a hand on her. Reasonably speaking, out of respect for Hu Tao and Xiangling, she wouldn't actually hold it against her… would she?
A long, drawn-out silence.
An unbearable silence.
A silence as still as death.
Paimon said nothing for a moment. Then she turned to face Lumine with great solemnity and said: "Traveler. Hand me that."
"That? Which that?"
Fang Qiu instinctively took another half-step back.
A weapon?
Just as Fang Qiu was tensing up, Paimon took two books, a quill pen, and a small inkwell from the Traveler's hands. She then flew right up in front of Fang Qiu, face absolutely lit up with excitement, and said: "Miss Fang Qiu, would you mind terribly giving me your autograph?"
The two books were none other than The Eternal and Your Lie in April.
"…Huh?"
Fang Qiu stood dumbstruck for a good moment before it finally registered. She took the books, the pen, and the inkwell, made her way to a nearby stone bench, then gripped the quill with great care and wrote the two characters of her name in her very finest handwriting.
Hmm… not too bad. Reasonably neat.
Thank goodness it was a quill pen. If it had been a calligraphy brush, things could have gone very badly.
"There you go."
Fang Qiu smiled and held the books out.
"Hehe, thank you so much, Miss Fang Qiu!"
While Fang Qiu was still looking rather bewildered, Paimon accepted the books with great delight and flew back to the Traveler's side, beaming from ear to ear as she declared: "Wonderful! I'm taking both books back to Inazuma to sell. Autographed copies by Miss Fang Qiu herself — given how famous she is in Inazuma, who knows, each one might fetch a few thousand Mora!"
"Weren't you just saying you were going to make her pay?"
Lumine gave Paimon a helpless look.
"Oh, pshh — that was obviously just talk! Besides, Paimon could see it right away: Miss Fang Qiu is absolutely, one hundred percent a good person."
Paimon declared this with great righteousness, then immediately perked up: "Oh, oh, right — Traveler, let's make a stop at Wanwen Bookhouse! I want to buy a hundred of Miss Fang Qiu's books, get her to sign all of them, and then bring them to Inazuma to sell. If one book sells for a thousand Mora, then a hundred books would be… one, ten, hundred, thousand, ten-thousand… anyway, that's a lot and a lot of Mora!"
As she spoke, her eyes were practically sparkling.
"Paimon, we can't bother people like that."
Lumine gave Paimon a flat look.
"Ugh… fine."
Paimon deflated visibly.
Fang Qiu, for her part, just laughed and said: "It's really no trouble. A hundred books I can manage — I've been relatively free lately anyway. Though in exchange, I hope you two might be willing to tell me some stories about Inazuma and Mondstadt."
"…Really? You mean it?"
Paimon's eyes lit up instantly. "Traveler, let's head to Wanwen Bookhouse right now!"
"Xiangling's errand isn't done yet. We'll do this once she's finished."
Lumine gave Paimon a sideways look, then turned to Fang Qiu and said: "Sorry for all the fuss."
"Oh right, I almost completely forgot."
Paimon looked like someone who had just woken from a dream.
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