Seeing the Traveler walk over, Mona pretended to casually ask the Traveler about her feelings toward the starry sky in her dream.
[Lumine: "It's amazing!"]
[Mona, shy: "I-Is... that so..."]
["A-After all, I am the great astrologist, so of course the illusion has to be grand and magnificent..."]
The moment Mona showed this shy reaction to being praised, the Traveler immediately perked up with interest.
[Lumine clasped her hands in front of her, eyes sparkling with starlight, full of adoration: "It was really so beautiful!"]
[Mona's face instantly turned red: "H-Hey... I-I get it already."]
[After fidgeting for a bit, she finally realized she'd been teasing, crossing her arms and pouting coquettishly: "You guy, you did that on purpose, didn't you."]
Lucian also unleashed his full artistic passion, drawing out every single one of Mona's movements and expressions frame by frame.
You say, is Lucian simping for Mona? No, he simps for hydro users.
Now it makes sense why the first elemental power he exchanged for was hydro.
Now the readers are simping too—Mona is really so cute; the readers are all about to become world·Arnold!
Xinyan didn't have too many emotions on the island; she was just asking the Traveler if she felt any regret toward her performance.
She didn't play rock this time, not because she didn't like it, but because music is the 'language' that conveys emotions—it has to be played in the right setting for the right music.
If there's a chance next time, she can also play rock for the Traveler.
Lucian really wanted Venti to learn this professional attitude; the last courage trial event was ruined precisely because Venti insisted on playing the drum set.
They were so close to seeing little Furina shed tears!! Compensate me! Otherwise, you cry for me to see!
Unfortunately, Venti showed no intention of repenting at all; his attention was drawn by the Traveler and Xinyan's mention of 'inviting Venti for a drink together.'
They're saying they'll treat me to alcohol! Venti's eyes brimmed with 'tears of joy'—that was his deep love for liquor.
It's just a pity that inviting him for a drink is because the future him introduced this tourist holy land to everyone; the current him doesn't have that, so the alcohol is gone.
Venti looked at Lucian with resentment, only to find Lucian looking back at him with equal resentment.
What kind of look is this? Could it be that I was discovered stealing alcohol from his house? But wasn't it you who told me to drink it? An adeptus trap jumping straight to a god's head?
Fine, I admit I drank just a tiny bit more, but really, it was just a tiny bit.
Not daring to make prolonged eye contact with Lucian, Venti continued reading—the last remaining Kaedehara Kazuha lingered on his island, bidding farewell to the past.
He wouldn't linger on the past, but with this final opportunity, he still wanted to properly take in the scenery here.
[Kaedehara Kazuha: "Before leaving, let's take one more look at the wind and moon here."]
One can only say that cultured people speak differently; look at this wording and phrasing.
If it were me, I could only say, damn, look at this moon—it's huge, it's round.
It was only here that the story truly ended; the protagonists' story ended, but the island still had one more story.
Besides these protagonists on the island, Lucian also wrote a side story, about that 'Miitoboru.'
The rough content is that after the Traveler handled the dream, she found Miitoboru again, only then learning that he was actually the big pirate ship under 'Ako Domeki.'
A pirate ship under a pirate that can speak—what Miitoboru is this? This is the Golden Hind!
Readers know Ako Domeki; he appeared in a previous story.
But as his big pirate ship, how is it only this big? Sitting a few people like the Traveler makes it feel crowded—what kind of 'big' is that?
'Miitoboru' told the Traveler that this ship isn't its original body; its body must still be nearby—it wants to find its original body and go back to pick up its companions.
Although it can speak, it's still just a ship; without anyone to steer it, it won't move, it can only drift, so it asked the Traveler to take it to search.
If the Traveler helps it find its 'body,' it will tell the Traveler the location of the 'treasure.'
You know, the Traveler and Paimon have always been unable to refuse this kind of temptation, agreeing on the spot.
'Miitoboru' actually doesn't know the hiding place of any treasure, but it can 'sense' the location of the treasure, calling it 'a pirate's intuition.'
The first treasure location is on a small island—no, it should be called a reef; it's too small here.
There's nothing on the reef except a section of broken ship; there's no treasure at all.
The broken ship is utterly dilapidated, piled with dust and overgrown with weeds.
This really sparked the readers' thoughts: what Miitoboru sensed couldn't be its own body, could it?
In the story, Paimon and the Traveler, having found no treasure, went back to question 'Miitoboru.'
[The two girls placed hands on hips, saying in unison: "Hmph! Miitoboru!"]
["There was absolutely nothing on the island, just the wreckage of a broken ship."]
'Miitoboru' also felt something was off; it clearly sensed it was here—there's no helping it, so it could only take the Traveler to check the next place.
On the way, Miitoboru was still lamenting: if only it could have spoken earlier, it could have chatted with its companions.
Chatting along the way, they arrived at the second place—as expected, another section of broken ship; this one's broken ship was at the top of the island, with fewer weeds on it.
But because there were no weeds covering it, everyone could clearly see that the paint on the hull had peeled off, fully revealing its dilapidation.
Now the readers were almost certain of their previous guess: this should be Miitoboru's body.
It seems Miitoboru's 'body' has already gone pineapple blow-up (utterly wrecked).
The Traveler took a photo to show Miitoboru for judgment.
But Miitoboru denied this possibility; it was extremely confident in its own 'body'—it was the exquisite craftsmanship of Seirai Island's shipwrights!
[Miitoboru laughed and refuted: "Haha, how could that be? This broken ship—where did it even come from? Scattered like this, it's truly too tragic."]
It boasted about how vast and exquisite its 'body' was, telling the Traveler that its 'body' must still be moored somewhere.
["At that time, you'll see... my side planks coated with the finest paint, looking so majestic and awe-inspiring while sailing on the sea."]
Miitoboru's tone was extremely proud; it could even imagine such a version of itself.
A majestic and awe-inspiring great ship sailing on the sea—the current it is less than a tenth of that great ship.
The great ship sails past it, the raised waves making the current it unable to steady itself—how cool! Look, I can even imagine it!
So why not believe it?
[Miitoboru's tone carried pride: "Once you see it, you'll know—me and the broken ship here are worlds apart..."]
Miitoboru was very optimistic, and Paimon easily believed it too.
But the readers couldn't be optimistic; everyone wasn't as easily fooled as Paimon.
Or rather, Paimon is willing to believe in some beautiful things, but everyone else has to be much more realistic.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice Lines · Mona: About Being Fooled
"I'm not someone who's so easily fooled—what? You know Lucian's divination methods? Tell me!"