"All right, no one's going to interrupt us now."
Yae Miko smiled with satisfaction, one hand braced against the wall beside Fang Qiu's pretty face, while the other reached out to tip up her chin. "Let's get into some deep... communication," she said, her expression thick with allure.
"Communication about what?"
No one had time to wonder why Sayu, exactly like the teacher in Charlotte's troubles, had suddenly done a sit-up only to flop right back down again.
Faced with Yae Miko's teasing, feeling her hot breath so close, Fang Qiu swallowed. At the same time, her eyes narrowed slightly, and at her waist, her Vision began to swirl with a mist of icy blue light.
She waited for Yae Miko's answer.
"Of course it's..."
Yae Miko's fox-like eyes narrowed, full of aggression, and halfway through her sentence she even ran her pink tongue over her lips.
As Yae Miko's answer drew out slowly, the light of Fang Qiu's Vision grew steadily stronger.
But Yae Miko had only gotten out three words when a voice rang out from beyond the door.
"That Miko—she actually snuck off while we were out buying Fang Qiu some snacks to tide her over before dinner. I bet she came looking for Fang Qiu."
It was Paimon's voice.
A moment later, the door was yanked open by Lumine.
Silence.
Dead silence.
"Miko, Fang Qiu, what are you two doing?"
Paimon's eyes went wide at the sight inside the room.
"Obviously we're having an in-depth discussion about what to eat for dinner tonight," Yae Miko said with a faint smile, stepping back twice to put some distance between herself and Fang Qiu.
"Do you really need to stand that close to talk about dinner? And pin Fang Qiu against the wall while you're at it?" Paimon looked thoroughly unconvinced.
"As you all know, authors tend to have poor health from sitting too long, and some of them, plagued by the demon lord of writer's block, go entire nights without sleep—leaving all sorts of hidden ailments in their wake. Though Fang Qiu isn't one of my Yae Publishing House's authors, her work has still brought us no small profit and drawn in quite a few new readers. So as Editor-in-Chief of Yae Publishing House, I felt it only proper to personally check on Fang Qiu's physical condition up close," Yae Miko said with perfect solemnity. Then she turned to Fang Qiu and asked, "Little one, do you feel like the fatigue in your body has faded?"
"It does feel a lot better than before, actually—I was a bit dizzy earlier... uh... wait, you said you're the Editor-in-Chief of Yae Publishing House?" Hearing Yae Miko's answer, Fang Qiu's eyes went wide.
The pink-haired woman standing before her was the very same person who had given her books the green light to sell across Inazuma, who had spared no effort promoting them, and who had paid no small price to help her attend the Irodori Festival—the Editor-in-Chief of Yae Publishing House, the Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko?
It was safe to say that without Yae Miko's help, her books never would have caught fire the way they had in Inazuma.
According to the Traveler, whenever Fang Qiu had a new release that season, the biggest spot on Yae Publishing House's promotional board always went to her.
And that was no small thing, considering Yae Publishing House only kept a quarter of the profits from selling her books.
Those same promotional resources could just as easily have gone toward pushing a locally written Inazuma novel—one of lower quality than hers, perhaps, but with sales not too far behind.
The profit margin on that would have been far better than promoting her work instead.
Take, for instance, that novel the Raiden Shogun herself had been seen reading, "Reborn as the Raiden Shogun, Unrivaled Under Heaven."
No wonder Sayu had looked like she'd seen a ghost and flopped straight back into bed the moment Yae Miko said a single word to her.
"Aw, I came looking for you so excitedly, even helped chase off the fatigue from your long journey and the chill you just caught, and you don't even recognize me? How heartbreaking," Yae Miko said—though there wasn't the faintest trace of heartbreak on her face.
"Miko, this is Fang Qiu's first time in Inazuma. It's only natural she wouldn't recognize you," Paimon immediately jumped to Fang Qiu's defense.
"Exactly," Lumine nodded in agreement.
"All right, I'll stop teasing you. Sorry about earlier—I just couldn't help myself for a moment. But it's true that I cleared the chill and fatigue out of your body. Next time, try not to kick your blankets off in your sleep—I'd hate for a guest of mine to fall ill," Yae Miko said, covering her mouth as she laughed.
"Thank you, Miss Yae," Fang Qiu said gratefully.
"Miss Yae? What an interesting way to address me." Yae Miko smiled. "Well then, to make up for startling you earlier, and to welcome you properly, dinner's on me tonight. Order whatever you like."
"Really? Anything at all?" At those words, Paimon's eyes lit up instantly, and she wiped the corner of her mouth as she asked.
"Of course not," Yae Miko said, glancing at Paimon with a teasing look. "How could it possibly be anything? What if you decided you wanted Onikabuto sashimi, little one? I wouldn't be able to eat a bite after that."
"I do NOT have tastes that heavy, okay!" Paimon stomped her foot.
"Paimon, you clearly love dishes made with Slime mucus, and you still say your tastes aren't heavy," Lumine pointed out.
Fang Qiu nodded deeply in agreement as well.
Loving Slime mucus was already plenty heavy on its own.
It reminded her of the time, right after she'd first arrived in this world, when Xiangling had been experimenting with a dish of Jueyun Chili stir-fried with Slime mucus.
Hu Tao had nearly thrown up just hearing the name back then.
After chatting a bit more, they headed out of the inn together. Ritou was bustling with life, awash in neon lights, with plenty of snack carts lining the street—it had all the atmosphere of a festival straight out of an anime.
For a moment, Fang Qiu found it almost too much to take in all at once.
They talked as they strolled through the streets, growing more familiar with one another along the way.
In the end, they settled on a fancy Inazuman restaurant, said to have the best Fried Tofu and skewers on all of Ritou.
Sayu had tried to make a run for it, but there was no escaping—Yae Miko dragged her along to the restaurant regardless.
While they waited for the food, Paimon brought up Fang Qiu's new book.
"Fang Qiu, you're seriously so mean! You killed off both Lin Yueru and Zhao Ling'er! Poor Li Xiaoyao..."
"And Zixuan's child, Qing'er... she died too..."
Watching Paimon and Lumine's eyes go red, Fang Qiu poured them tea with a touch of awkward guilt.
But deep down, she couldn't help feeling a little pleased.
It was the same feeling she'd had in her past life, when her sister recommended some tear-jerking mobile game to her—watching her sister cry like a mess and unable to stop herself from laughing.
That, presumably, was exactly how a chang gui was made.
Then the server arrived carrying their food.
After putting away a big piece of meat, Paimon's mood improved considerably.
"Speaking of which, when we first walked in, I actually thought Miko had read your new book and was out for revenge—getting payback for Zhao Ling'er and Lin Yueru," Paimon said.
"Heh, how could that be? Let me tell you something—sorrow doesn't just vanish into thin air. But it can be passed on," Yae Miko said with a smile, pouring herself a cup of tea and taking a small sip. Her eyes narrowed as she glanced around at the many novel enthusiasts in the restaurant discussing the Irodori Festival, then turned back to meet Fang Qiu's gaze. "I honestly can't wait to see the look on those readers' faces once they find out Lin Yueru and Zhao Ling'er are dead."
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