Ganyu's face flushed red with embarrassment as she secretly glanced around at the people nearby, discovering that no one was staring at her.
But something felt off; there was one gaze that was particularly intense. Upon looking, it turned out to be Shenhe!
Shenhe asked with genuine concern, "Did you fall asleep while eating?"
As soon as she said this, everyone who hadn't paid attention to the matter suddenly imagined the scene of Ganyu dozing off while munching on grass, and a few people couldn't hold back their laughter.
For example, Paimon—Paimon and the like.
Not just in reality; in the story, Paimon was also roasting Ganyu.
[Paimon: "What's going on with this? These two are like the sensible little sister and the scatterbrained big sister..."]
[Ganyu awkwardly cleared her throat twice, "Ahem, ahem."]
[Traveler: "Paimon's got no filter—don't take it to heart."]
This time, the Traveler's roast of Paimon was out of worry that Ganyu might get upset with Paimon.
Paimon might not have any malicious intentions, but her emotional intelligence was indeed lacking; most of the time, the Traveler had to clean up after her.
Naturally, Ganyu wouldn't get angry over Paimon's "criticism." She even felt that Paimon's criticism was spot on—she really was like a scatterbrained big sister and should work on improving.
[Ganyu looked toward Dvorak: "I got caught up in the chit-chat and forgot to ask—who might this gentleman be...?"]
Paimon also explained Dvorak's situation to Ganyu, as well as the "Iridescence Tour."
This request was quite tricky for Ganyu; the Lantern Rite's program lineup was already set, so it was naturally impossible to swap out any performances.
However, the opinions proposed by Yaoyao and the Traveler couldn't be ignored, and this "Iridescence Tour" wasn't anything bad either, so Ganyu came up with a solution.
That was to add an extra performance of the "Iridescence Tour" after all the original programs had finished.
This way, it wouldn't disrupt the original plan while also fulfilling the "request" from the Traveler and the others.
[Ganyu: "As long as we break down the key points, clarify the pros and cons... and with the crucial endorsement from Granny Ping and the Traveler, the Qixing will definitely give this proposal serious consideration."]
Ganyu's words once again proved that the ways of the world weren't just about fighting and killing; the ways of the world were about human relations and social graces.
Was the music festival important? Not really. Was Dvorak important? Not really.
So why bother adding a performance for him at the last minute? Of course, it was because the Traveler and Granny Ping were backing him too!
What was the Traveler's status? With her support, forget Liyue—even Mondstadt and Inazuma's Yashiro Commission and Knights of Favonius would have to take the Traveler's opinion into account.
Little Lumine could casually say "give me some face" in any of these three nations right now.
That's why everyone was gritting their teeth in envy—Dvorak's luck was just too good. He nearly drowned, but instead, things turned out swimmingly for him, latching onto Teyvat's ultimate connections.
Wait a minute—the Wind God bringing you to Liyue at the start? That's smooth sailing. Then you fall into the water later? That's going with the flow. No wonder you're smooth sailing all the way! Case closed!
In any case, Ganyu was now taking this matter seriously, treating this "proposal" as official work. She directly discussed the accommodations and meals needed by the musicians with Dvorak.
Seeing this line, the readers finally understood—this matter was probably a done deal.
Most readers were extremely envious of the Traveler's face-making abilities.
But the folks in Lucian's household didn't feel much about it; each of them had plenty of face to throw around.
Even the one with the "least face," Arataki Itto, had connections in Inazuma—you know, Sara Kujou, Ayato Kamisato.
In the story, Ganyu entered work mode, completely shedding her earlier scatterbrained demeanor.
Yaoyao immediately praised her: everyone has their strengths, and Big Sister Ganyu just wasn't great at taking care of people.
But that was okay—she was great at taking care of people and could look after Big Sister Ganyu.
[Paimon: "Yaoyao, come take care of me too, okay? I'm hungry again!"]
[Traveler: "Paimon, have a little dignity."]
By the time their chat wrapped up, Ganyu had already gotten all the details and planned to submit the draft to the Qixing for review.
Two hours later, Keqing came in person. She told the Traveler that the Qixing had approved Ganyu's proposal.
The Liyue merchants' eyes bulged—how long did you say? Two hours!?
Two hours for a Lantern Rite performance, and you seven Qixing members discussed it for just two hours and approved it? We'd consider two weeks fast for ours!
Though they knew full well that the importance and impact of Dvorak's proposal was nowhere near their commercial ones.
Still, that approval speed made them green with envy. Jealousy makes people ugly—they wished they could tear the four words "Dvorak in the book" out and stuff them in their mouths.
Leaving aside these merchants' frustrations, Keqing had already led the Traveler, Dvorak, and the others to the performance venue, right by the harbor—a bustling stretch.
But just then, new work came knocking for Keqing. Hearsay came running to notify her that there were some destabilizing factors over by Yunlai Sea.
He said there was "bandit music" over there, and all the villagers had fled to Liyue Harbor.
The Traveler perked up at this—what a coincidence, like a pillow arriving just as drowsiness hit. She was just wondering how to "return the favor" to the Qixing, and here was a chance to help delivered right to her door.
Paimon also volunteered—well, she volunteered on the Traveler's behalf, and the two headed together to the location Hearsay mentioned by Yunlai Sea.
Upon arriving, Paimon was still complaining: where's any music? Forget music—there's not even a soul in sight.
Her complaints weren't even finished when a female voice suddenly interrupted her.
[Yelan: "I was wondering who would have nothing better to do than come to a place like this. So it's you all."]
This was Yelan's first appearance, but Lucian didn't draw an illustration for her, preserving the air of mystery.
Yelan was quite satisfied—looks like Lucian knew better than to casually reveal someone in her line of work.
[Paimon: "Yelan! How do you walk without making a sound? That's so scary!"]
In the story, Yelan didn't pay much mind to Paimon's complaints, countering with a single line: "You don't look all that scared to me." It shut Paimon down.
Yelan's "persuasion" rolled a 20—critical success, successfully convincing Paimon.
[Paimon: "Y-You... yeah, you're right..."]
In fact, for Yelan, moving silently was already second nature; deliberately making footstep sounds would feel awkward instead.
Compared to the not-so-reliable little Paimon, Little Lumine was far more dependable. She directly asked Yelan about the strange music.
By a stroke of luck, Yelan was there precisely to handle this matter. She could share some intel with Little Lumine and directly invited her inside to talk: "Come on, follow me in."
The area around the house was cluttered with odds and ends, but the dust on them was thin—clearly, someone had lived here not long ago.
The doors and windows were all intact, with no signs of forced entry.
But inside the house, it was completely empty—no valuables in sight, looking just like it had been robbed.
Or rather, not quite—if it had been robbed, the place would be too "tidy" for that.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice Lines · Ganyu: About Lucian
"My junior brother... he's just like Master, always bringing up my embarrassing stories. What am I supposed to do with him?"