The pale early-spring sun hung high overhead as the vast expanse of Inazuma came into view.
Rows of houses stood in neat, close-packed lines, dotted here and there with trees blushing maple red.
At the island's highest point rose an imposing structure.
It drew an admiring sigh from Fang Qiu.
Was that the Tenshukaku the Traveler and Paimon had mentioned so often along the way?
Hmm...
It didn't look quite as grand as she'd imagined.
Overall, it couldn't match the magnificent scale of Liyue Harbor, but it had its own quiet elegance.
Spending a vacation here wouldn't be bad at all.
The Alcor led the Crux Fleet forward at a steady pace, sailing into Inazuma's harbor.
Quite a few ships were already moored at the docks.
Whether it was because the Alcor had sailed too fast or simply arrived too early, a handful of workers were still bustling about the pier.
Sister Beidou and the others needed to direct the Crux Fleet's crew in unloading cargo, so once the ship settled, only the Traveler and Paimon disembarked with Fang Qiu.
The moment they stepped off the ship, they spotted a shrine maiden waiting nearby, as if expecting someone.
"A real shrine maiden."
Fang Qiu felt a small thrill of delight.
In her past life she'd watched countless anime and read countless light novels, and the shrine maiden was a classic figure in so many of them. But this was the first time she'd ever seen a real one.
"What do you mean, a real shrine maiden? Have you seen a fake one before, Fang Qiu?"
Paimon looked puzzled. Then she followed Fang Qiu's gaze, and the moment she made out the shrine maiden's face, she froze. "Huh, isn't that Kano Nana? What's she doing here?"
"Kano Nana?" Fang Qiu asked, puzzled.
"She's a shrine maiden of the Grand Narukami Shrine, the Miko's attendant," Paimon explained.
While they were talking, Kano Nana spotted them too and hurried over, her face lighting up with delight.
"Traveler, I've finally caught up with you two. Don't tell me this is..."
Kano Nana stared at Fang Qiu, eyes practically shining.
"That's right, this is Fang Qiu," Paimon said, hands on her hips. "Well? Pretty, isn't she?"
"She really is gorgeous. Even as a woman myself, I can't help but..."
Kano Nana caught herself halfway through the sentence, suddenly realizing how that sounded, and quickly changed the subject. "Hello, Miss Fang Qiu. Lady Guuji Yae sent me to receive you."
"Hello, Miss Kano."
Fang Qiu had felt a bit awkward during their earlier exchange too, so when Kano Nana changed the subject, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Still, Fang Qiu found it a little surprising. Was it really customary to send a shrine maiden to greet visitors? Or was this simply an Inazuman custom?
"Actually, it should have been an editor from Yae Publishing House who came to meet you, but Lady Guuji Yae is busy holding a meeting with the editors, so she sent Sayu to fetch you instead. I just couldn't stop worrying, so I came to check — and it turns out that Sayu went off somewhere to sleep instead. If Lady Guuji finds out, she'll probably get punished again. So there was nothing for it but for me to fill in."
Kano Nana seemed to have noticed Fang Qiu's confusion and explained on her own.
"Ah, that explains it," Paimon said, nodding.
The Traveler beside her looked just as enlightened.
"What explains what?" Fang Qiu asked, puzzled.
Seeing her ask, Paimon told Fang Qiu the whole story about Sayu.
A little ninja who loved to slack off at work and take naps.
It sounded rather adorable.
"Preparations for the festival are almost done — just the docks and a few more spots that still need banners put up. Let me take you to where you'll be staying first, so you can drop off your luggage," Kano Nana said.
"Thank you for the trouble," Fang Qiu said with a light smile.
"No trouble at all." Kano Nana nodded, took some of the luggage from the Traveler's hands, and led them toward the town.
They eventually arrived at a place that resembled a shopping-street square, shops lining it on every side. At the center of the square stood a great maple tree — though it was still early spring, its leaves burned a vivid, fiery red for some reason.
A breeze stirred, and maple leaves drifted slowly down.
Around the maple tree stood a ring of wooden racks hung with ema plaques, and beyond the racks, five blank display boards had been set up.
"How beautiful," Fang Qiu marveled.
The whole atmosphere reminded her strongly of the festival scenes she'd seen in anime in her past life, and the scenery itself was lovely too.
She imagined that Naganohara Yoimiya, who loved festivals so much, must have prepared some wonderful fireworks for this one.
The Sakura Fubuki firework she'd sent her last time had left her utterly stunned.
Speaking of which, she really was looking forward to meeting Miss Kamisato and Miss Naganohara in person.
She wondered if they'd already arrived for the festival.
The inn where they'd be staying had been arranged by the Liyue Qixing's trade guild — wait, no, it was arranged by the International Trade Association.
"All right, here we are," Kano Nana said politely. "I need to go back and report to Lady Guuji Yae, so I'll take my leave now."
"Take care," Fang Qiu said with a faint smile.
"Oh, right — if you happen to see Sayu, please contact me through the editorial office at the Kanjou Commission," Kano Nana said.
"We will," Paimon nodded.
"Thank you so much." Kano Nana nodded once more and turned to leave.
Before Kano Nana had gotten far, Fang Qiu opened the door while asking, "Oh, right — Paimon, Traveler, what does this Sayu that Miss Kano mentioned actually look like?"
At Fang Qiu's prompting, Paimon described Sayu's appearance to her in detail.
No sooner had she finished than, with a soft slide of the door, they saw a small ninja curled up on the tatami mat, dressed in a strange ninja outfit with a kunai strapped to her leg, sleeping soundly...
The sight left all three of them lost in deep contemplation.
"Sayu! What are you doing here?" Paimon blurted out in shock.
The instant the words left her mouth, Paimon clapped a hand over her own mouth and darted out the door to check. Seeing that Kano Nana didn't seem to have heard, she let out a relieved breath.
"This little girl is Sayu?" Fang Qiu asked.
"That's right..." Lumine rubbed her forehead.
"Let's wake her up first and go from there," Fang Qiu said.
Before Fang Qiu could even finish, Paimon had already flown over and shaken Sayu awake.
"Hm? Is it morning already?" Sayu asked, blinking sleepily up at Paimon.
"Sayu, why are you here?" Paimon asked. "Didn't Kano Nana tell you to come meet us?"
"Yeah, and didn't I meet you?" Sayu said, rubbing her eyes.
Paimon froze for a moment — she almost felt like Sayu's logic made sense — until Lumine's nudge finally snapped her out of it.
"How is this meeting us? We're the ones who found you!" Paimon said. "Aren't you supposed to go to the docks to meet people?!"
"I really did go to the docks to meet you at first, but I got so sleepy that I figured coming to where you'd be staying and taking a nap here would work just as well — I'd still meet you eventually. So here I am," Sayu explained, with a perfectly serious face.
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