In the end, no one tasted the Moment of Judgment.
Himeko's coffee, at the very least, looked drinkable.
Raiden Ei's Moment of Judgment, on the other hand, was the kind of thing that told you at a single glance that it must not be eaten.
No one was going to risk their one and only life to try something like that.
Now they understood why Kamisato Ayato had run away so quickly.
"To be able to make food look like that… that Electro Archon…"
March 7th clutched her chest, completely unable to find the words to describe Raiden Ei.
"That shouldn't be possible…" Welt was utterly baffled.
She had a face that looked like she would be good at cooking. How could someone like that possibly make a dish with such terrifying destructive power?
"Exactly. She has such a wife-like face. How could she not know how to cook?" Stelle said.
Now that they put it that way, did that mean Acheron could not cook either?
Dan Heng had a premonition.
If he took even one sip of that thing, he would immediately begin reincarnating through his next three lives.
"Can Acheron cook?" Himeko murmured to herself.
"No one knows that," Stelle said. "But I think Acheron chose a third option between 'can cook' and 'can't cook': she can't find the kitchen."
With Acheron's absurd tendency to get lost, the probability of her being unable to find the kitchen really was very high.
Everyone unanimously accepted this explanation.
…
"Holy crap, now this is impressive."
In Nod-Krai, Lumine saw the enormous stone statue of the Moon Goddess. Her gaze landed on the statue's gigantic jade feet, and she immediately revealed a dumbstruck expression.
No matter how you looked at it, the craftsman who carved this statue was truly amazing. They had actually sculpted that kind of part so vividly and lifelike.
Those jade feet were bigger than her entire body.
"…Lumine, what exactly are you looking at?" Aether asked helplessly.
His trashy little sister was actually going crazy over a stone statue's feet. He felt like she had become even trashier over the years.
"The jade feet, of course. Aether, have you ever seen jade feet like these?" Lumine said.
This was her first time seeing something like this.
She really wanted to move this statue into the Serenitea Pot.
"I haven't, but there's no need to react like that, right?" Aether's mouth twitched. "That's stone, you know?"
"Right, what did the jade feet you ate look like? And what sauce did you use?"
After thinking for a moment, Lumine became extremely curious. The very next second, she vanished, then brought Columbina over through a Teleport Waypoint.
"They really do look alike."
Lumine compared the jade feet with the stone feet and discovered that, aside from the size, their outlines were almost exactly the same.
Once again, she gave a mental thumbs-up to the person who had carved this stone statue.
"Lumine, so you saw this thing too," Koji said with a smile.
Lumine had called him over. After all, if she wanted to find someone, no one was better at it than him. With a single [Blessing of Search], he could easily find the person or thing he wanted.
"Darling, you saw it earlier and didn't even tell me," Lumine said.
"You didn't ask," Koji replied calmly.
"So it's this place…"
Columbina looked at the statue, her tone somewhat complicated.
She remembered the years when she used to secretly eat the offerings here. Now there were no offerings placed here anymore.
"Want some?"
Koji took out some food. Back then, this greedy little girl had not eaten many good things either.
"Thank you."
Columbina's voice sounded a little cheerful. She nibbled on the Golden Shrimp Balls in small bites.
Good food could not be wasted.
"Columbina, you came back and still won't properly look at me?"
A voice full of resentment rang out. The person who arrived was Sandrone.
After learning that Columbina had returned here, Sandrone had directly abandoned the research she had been working on and rushed over.
And yet, what did she see?
She saw this glutton eating here. She had probably completely forgotten that Sandrone even existed.
"Sandrone."
Columbina raised her head. There were still tiny bits of food stuck to the corner of her mouth.
Sandrone took a deep breath.
Seeing Columbina like this, she truly could not get angry at her. She could only hold it in herself.
"Do you want to hear me sing?" Columbina asked softly.
She thought Sandrone wanted to hear her sing.
"I…"
The corner of Sandrone's mouth twitched.
No matter what she said, it seemed like she could not stir any emotion in Columbina.
As for listening to Columbina sing, she did indeed want to hear it a little.
Although Sandrone always told Columbina not to disturb her experiments, there was no denying that Columbina's singing voice was beautiful.
But asking her to say that out loud?
Impossible.
Did she not need to save face?
"Sandrone, you really don't know how to be flexible," Koji said with a smile.
"None of your business. As a Harbinger, you never show up at meetings," Sandrone snapped, glaring at Koji.
"They don't need me there. Why would I go?"
Koji shrugged.
He had joined the Fatui and become a Harbinger purely because he found it interesting. He did not need to obtain anything from the Tsaritsa.
Besides, considering his relationship with Ronova and the others, then connecting that to his identity as a Harbinger, the whole thing felt rather abrupt.
"I have long heard of you, but meeting you is better than any rumor. Prince of the Abyss Order."
"Traveler, I didn't expect you two to truly be blood relatives."
With the Fatui's intelligence network, they could learn many things. That included information about the Abyss Order.
Although they did not know much, they still knew more than most people.
For every nation, the existence of the Abyss Order was a threat.
Aether said nothing and did not try to explain himself.
"But then again, that has nothing to do with me," Sandrone said. She had no particular thoughts about the Abyss Order.
"You should know Pierro, right?" she asked.
Aether fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
He did indeed know Pierro, the Jester of the Fatui.
He had once been a court mage of Khaenri'ah. His status in Khaenri'ah had been rather high, and back then, he had wanted to stop Khaenri'ah from coming into contact with the Abyss.
However, that ruler had favored someone else, so it had been useless.
Still, Aether did not want to say too much.
Pierro now served the Tsaritsa. They were not on the same path.
"Columbina, come with me."
"I'll treat you to food."
Sandrone directly called Columbina away. Columbina did not hesitate at all. Since her good friend was treating her, she absolutely had to go.
For her, whoever had food was basically family.
She also knew that Sandrone would not trick her.
"What a glutton," Lumine could not help but comment.
Who would have thought that a girl like Columbina would like eating so much? And her appetite was not small at all.
"Back when the Moon Goddess was being worshipped, the locals didn't offer her anything particularly good either. After going hungry for so many years, it's perfectly normal for her to be a bit greedy," Koji said with a smile.
Lumine had nothing to say to that.
So that greedy little girl had been starved into existence.
But that did make sense. Compared to present-day food, food from the past would taste a little worse. Cuisine had clearly evolved somewhat over time.
Still, for them to let Columbina go hungry, those so-called believers had been extremely unqualified.
"Brother-in-law, long time no see. What have you been up to lately?"
Aether replied speechlessly, "Don't think of me as some irredeemably evil person. Even if I can't be considered a great saint, I still have the basic conscience I should have."
In Koji's eyes, was he someone who only knew how to cause trouble?
(End of Chapter)
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