Time drifted slowly onward.
In the blink of an eye, it was morning.
Sunlight burned away the chill of dawn and spilled across Mondstadt City.
Warm and golden.
With a bright jingle of the bell, Diona pushed open the door of the Cat's Tail.
"Mmh… what a nice day. Even my body feels looser."
Bathing in the sunlight, Diona stretched out her arms.
The few kittens at her feet stretched right along with her.
She opened her little bag stamped with a paw print, checked that she had her Mora, and set off for the bookstore.
Today was the release day for Fang Qiu's new book.
Fang Qiu was the single greatest obstacle standing between her and the destruction of Mondstadt's wine industry, which meant she had to understand his books inside and out.
She walked all the way to the bookstore.
A long line still snaked out from the entrance, and plenty of the figures in it were familiar to her.
Every one of them was a victim of Fang Qiu's writing.
Every one of them had finished one of his books, wept until their faces were soaked, and come stumbling into the Cat's Tail to drown their sorrows.
She couldn't wrap her head around it.
Why would people who cried themselves miserable over his books still line up to support his next one, exactly the same as before?
After she finished Your Lie in April, she never wanted to read anything by Fang Qiu again.
If it weren't for destroying Mondstadt's wine industry and defeating Demon King Fang Qiu, she wouldn't be buying his book at all.
Besides those people, there were two more figures, one in blue and one in red.
They were from the Knights of Favonius.
That blue-haired one was a drunkard too!
About on the same level as that bard, and just as insufferable.
So she went and took her place at the very back of the line.
The line crawled forward, but before long a good number of people had queued up behind her too.
Just as Diona was starting to tire of waiting, a middle-aged man who often drank alone at the Cat's Tail handed her a copy of his own.
So she carried her copy of Weathering With You over to the fountain, sat down, opened it, and began to read.
Meanwhile, further up the line, Eula and Amber were chatting about the interesting things that had happened lately while they waited.
The two of them had deliberately cleared their schedules to come buy the book.
Eula nodded along to the conversation while pressing a hand to her forehead. The hangover had left her with a dull ache.
She would have to stop by the Good Hunter afterward and order a cup of hot tea to clear her head and settle her stomach.
Ten-odd minutes later they had their books in hand, and they made their way to the Good Hunter and sat down.
The Good Hunter brought out their food.
They finished breakfast, then opened their books and started reading.
The line at the bookstore never thinned, and the Good Hunter and every drink shop nearby filled up with novel lovers buried in their pages.
In a blink it was afternoon, the sunlight slanting low.
At the Good Hunter.
Mona closed Weathering With You and nodded in satisfaction.
It was, without question, an excellent work.
Whether judged on its narrative, its characterization, or the way its emotions shifted, everything unfolded naturally.
Above all, the question the book posed — the world, or the person you treasure most — was one that lingered in the mind.
If the endless rain had been caused by Hodaka Morishima and Hina Amano, then of course the responsibility for ending it would fall to them.
But the rain wasn't their doing. They were two children, and they owed the world nothing.
Which made the choice terribly difficult.
No wonder people threw themselves at Fang Qiu's books.
Even she had been drawn in by them.
Fang Qiu had published quite a few volumes by now. Buying the whole set would probably run over two hundred Mora…
She couldn't bring herself to part with that much.
And the crowds right now were awful.
"Forget it. I'll buy them next time he releases something new — and turn a profit on it while I'm at it."
Mona thought it over and made up her mind.
As for the copy of Weathering With You in her hands — she would hold on to this one.
She let out a long breath, rose, and headed back toward her rented room.
And at that same moment, over by the fountain.
The splash of the fountain water echoed on and on. Diona stared blankly for a long while after reading the scene where Hodaka Morishima and Hina Amano embraced, followed by the words THE END.
She rubbed her eyes, read the ending again, and once she was certain she hadn't misread it, she shot to her feet in excitement.
Around the same time she finished, plenty of others nearby were closing their books too.
"By Lord Barbatos, did I read that right? Weathering With You actually got a happy ending?"
"What's gotten into that old thief Fang Qiu? Why the sudden change of heart? Or did he take the wrong medicine this morning?"
"Hahaha, if you ask me, that Dull Blade I mailed him did the trick. Heh heh, so Old Thief Fang Qiu can feel fear after all! No need to thank me — just buy me dinner and we'll call it even."
"What nonsense are you spouting? The caravan to Liyue only got back today. That Dull Blade of yours is probably still lying around at the publishing house. It hasn't even been shipped out yet."
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"Who cares how he changed? What matters is that Old Thief Fang Qiu didn't just put Hodaka Morishima and Hina Amano together, he married off Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu too! Did you see the rings on their hands?"
"Old Thief Fang Qiu has finally repented. I'm actually looking forward to his next book."
"Speaking of which, the way Fang Qiu writes Inazuma makes me want to go see it for myself."
"I'd rather go take a look at Liyue."
The chatter spread through the square, and for a while the air was thick with cheer.
Listening to it all, Diona was delighted.
There should be far fewer drinkers tonight.
But right in the middle of her happiness, one voice rang out.
"Come on, let's go have a drink to celebrate Old Thief Fang Qiu turning over a new leaf!"
"Yes! Yes! When you're happy you drink — come on, nobody goes home sober tonight!"
"To Hodaka Morishima and Hina Amano, and to Mitsuha Miyamizu and Taki Tachibana, all together at last!"
"I'm having ten cups!"
Grinning from ear to ear, crowds of novel lovers streamed off toward the taverns, and no small number of others, apparently stirred up by memories Weathering With You had dredged loose, trudged toward the taverns with grief written all over their faces.
In no time at all, over half the square had emptied out, leaving Diona standing alone in the wind, her thoughts in tatters.
Even her tail had drooped.
They were going drinking to celebrate the fact that Fang Qiu's Weathering With You had a good ending! Infuriating!
Why did it turn out like this?!
Diona was crushed. But as awful as she felt, this was no time for sulking.
She got up, hugged the book to her chest, and ran all the way to the Cat's Tail.
If they insisted on drinking, then all she could do was work harder and mix drinks so foul they'd never finish them!
As for Fang Qiu — still unforgivable!
Watching Diona sprint off into the distance, Eula closed her copy of Weathering With You.
She looked across the table at Amber, who was still reading with a sweet smile on her face, and said, "Let's go. We'll have a drink at the Cat's Tail too. Tonight's wine should taste pretty good."
"Huh? Are we going to celebrate as well?" Amber asked.
"No. I just want a drink." Eula denied it flatly.
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