"Is that so. Poor Sayu."
Watching Sayu pull a long, miserable face full of regret, Paimon spread her hands, signaling that there was nothing she could do to help.
Still, Paimon got the feeling that Sayu wasn't actually regretting slacking off—she was regretting that she should have picked a better spot to hide and sleep.
"Alright, let's get down to business. You took so long to get back—how did the job go?"
Yae Miko narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and gave a faint smile as she spoke.
"Completed, of course."
Paimon planted her hands on her hips and declared proudly.
"We ran into a few things along the way, which is why it took us a while."
Lumine said.
"So, about this reward..."
Yae Miko crossed her legs, eyes narrowing, and a teasing curve lifted at the corners of her delicate lips.
"Hey! Miko, you're not planning to dock our reward, are you?"
Paimon stamped her foot and said with a furrowed brow.
"Oh my, oh my, I was just about to say the reward would stay exactly the same, and yet here you are wrongly accusing me. How truly heartbreaking."
Yae Miko pressed lightly with her hips, rose from the reclining chair, and then put on a show of being utterly grief-stricken as she spoke.
"This person is definitely doing it on purpose!"
Paimon stamped her foot in midair and said.
"Alright, alright, take out the books."
Yae Miko smiled and said.
Lumine nodded and took out Fang Qiu's books.
Sword and Fairy 1, Your Name, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Sword and Fairy 2.
"Oh? This many?"
Looking at the books piled into a stack on the desk, Yae Miko raised an eyebrow, a hint of pleasant surprise glinting in her eyes.
She had assumed Fang Qiu would have two new books at most—who would have thought there'd be this many?
Four new sets in all, with two copies of each set.
Among them, the two Sword and Fairy works had the most volumes.
"These books sell incredibly well in Liyue."
Paimon said: "Miss Ningguang even adapted Sword and Fairy 1 into a Kamera film, and recently she's apparently planning to start filming the others as well."
"A Kamera film?"
Yae Miko arched an eyebrow and stroked her chin, saying: "That sounds rather interesting. It seems there might be room for collaboration in this area."
"Oh, right, this is a letter Ganyu asked us to give you."
Paimon took out Ganyu's letter and said.
"A letter from Sister Ganyu?"
Yae Miko smiled as she took the letter, but instead of opening it right away, she looked over at Sayu and said: "Sayu, I'll have to trouble you to deliver the books to the Yae Publishing House editorial department first thing tomorrow morning."
"Huh? But...."
Sayu's face was full of hesitation.
Mornings were the prime time for sleep. To grow taller, one absolutely had to laze in bed in the morning.
As the saying goes, working isn't as good as sleeping.
A ninja who doesn't lie in bed is no good ninja.
But if she had to go deliver books, then there'd be no time to sleep in.
No time to sleep in meant she wouldn't grow taller....
But she didn't dare defy Miko's orders.
Don't be fooled by how this person was smiling sweetly right now—if she dared refuse, the consequences would be utterly terrifying.
She looked at Yae Miko, words rising and falling on her lips, not daring to speak.
"If tomorrow morning's book delivery goes off without a hitch, I can consider granting you two or three days off from the Shuumatsuban side."
Yae Miko said with a faint smile.
"There's actually three days off?"
A flicker of anticipation appeared on Sayu's listless little face.
"Two or three days means two."
Yae Miko said with a faint smile.
"...Two days, fine, two days works too. Sayu will do her best tomorrow morning!"
Hearing Yae Miko's words, Sayu's smile froze, but after a moment of silence, she still chose to accept.
Just as she was about to leave, Yae Miko stopped her again, saying that today's overtime wasn't over yet.
Sayu instantly returned to her miserable, long-faced expression.
"Poor Sayu.... This reminds me of that black-hearted merchant we saw back in Liyue, the one who said watching that kid earn money pained him more than losing money himself. That guy's recruitment ad said the monthly salary was ten thousand to fifty thousand, and job-seekers would take one look and think there was a fifty-thousand monthly salary—but the people who got hired all ended up with a monthly salary of ten thousand! Ugh! Just thinking about it makes me so mad!"
Paimon stamped her foot as she spoke.
"Paimon doesn't even have a job."
Lumine said.
"Two days is already a lot. You should know, even though the Grand Narukami Shrine and the Yashiro Commission have close dealings, and the Yashiro Commission assigned Sayu to the Grand Narukami Shrine, Sayu is, after all, a ninja of the Shuumatsuban. Getting her leave approved from the hands of the head of the Kamisato Clan is no easy matter."
Yae Miko spread her hands and said.
"It doesn't look the least bit difficult!"
Paimon said.
"Alright, it's getting late. Are you two going to stay and rest, or is there something else?"
Yae Miko asked.
Lumine and Paimon discussed it and decided to stay and rest for the night.
Although they were in a hurry to get to Mondstadt, it was already late at night in Mondstadt too, and the publishing house would surely have long since closed. Even if they went, there'd be no way to discuss the commission.
So, they might as well spend the night here.
It was free, after all.
"Sayu, take them to rest. And don't forget tomorrow's task."
Yae Miko smiled and said: "Kano Nana, come help me move the books to my bedroom. Tonight we'll read together."
"Yes, Lady Guuji."
Kano Nana hurriedly helped Yae Miko gather up the books, and soon the only thing left on the desk was the copy Sayu needed to take to the Yae Publishing House editorial department.
After Yae Miko and Kano Nana left carrying the books, Sayu fished out a cloth from somewhere, wrapped all the books up inside it, and then hoisted the bundle onto her shoulder.
"It's a good thing you two came early, otherwise I don't know how late she'd have kept me here as punishment. Let's go, I'll take you to your rest room.... Speaking of rest.... Now that the tension's eased up, Sayu's so sleepy...."
Sayu let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes, saying: "I don't get what's so great about these books. Why do they have to be delivered first thing in the morning...."
"Sayu, do you want to take a look too?"
Paimon asked.
"Reading isn't as good as sleeping...."
Sayu shook her head and said.
"How about this—if Sayu's willing to read, then the Traveler and I will go along with you tomorrow to deliver the books to the Yae Publishing House."
Paimon and Lumine followed behind Sayu and said: "Maybe Sayu will end up liking them once she's finished reading."
"It's not like you'd be delivering them for me, so Sayu doesn't want to...."
Sayu shook her head.
"What if you oversleep? Miko gets really scary when she's angry. Wouldn't it be convenient if we were there to remind you?"
Paimon said with a smile.
"Then... then I guess I'll take a look."
Sayu hesitated for a moment, then said.
They made their way to a tidy, clean room, where Sayu set the bundle down on the table and then took out one of the books from inside.
It was Your Name.
Then she sat down at the table and began to read.
However, Lumine and Paimon had only just finished washing up when they saw that Sayu had fallen asleep slumped over the table.
Lumine gave a helpless smile, carried her over to the bed, and they all slept together.
Meanwhile, at that same moment, Yae Miko and Kano Nana were seated at the writing desk. Yae Miko picked up Your Name, while Kano Nana picked up 5 Centimeters Per Second.
Beneath the flickering lamplight, the two of them quietly began to read.
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