Mondstadt, Hunter's Deer restaurant.
Back in the city, Lumine and Mona still discussed the scenes they'd witnessed.
Star, too, found the experience hard to forget—like watching a movie, a 2-D cutscene.
Leonard's entire life had unfolded before them as the meteor core broke.
"Human will can linger in the sky for centuries—astrology truly is remarkable," Mona said, sipping juice beside Star.
"Why bring that up now?" Paimon mumbled through a mouthful of food.
"Only astrology let us learn Leonard's story," Lumine smiled.
"And there are very few astrologists capable of such a feat—myself chief among them." Mona folded her arms, pride shining.
"The once-lofty peak is now just a tiny isle in the sea; any Mondstadter with a boat can sail there."
"Looks like everyone can reach the summit now." Stelle wondered whether the Adventurer named Leonard would be happy about that.
"He'd probably feel relieved. After all, Mondstadt today is far better than it was a thousand years ago." Mona shrugged and said.
"Anyway, this incident is finally over. With the meteorite core gone, the people who were asleep will wake up gradually." Lumine said.
This commission had taken an awfully long time; she had no idea what reward the Adventurers' Guild would give them.
"Yeah, Fischl should finally have some free time." Stelle recalled that chuuni girl dressed all in purple.
After not seeing her for a few days, she actually missed her.
"True, she left halfway through; you must be really disappointed." Lumine teased, smiling at Stelle.
"W-well, it can't be helped. Fischl has important things to do too." Stelle choked a bit, then answered slowly.
"Come to think of it, you two met even earlier than I did, yet up to now you still haven't..." Mona looked at Stelle, thoughtful.
"Could it be that Fischl isn't to your taste?"
"How could that be? Fischl is a really good and cute girl." Stelle answered instinctively, yet felt oddly awkward discussing this with the two of them.
"I—I do like her."
"Fischl, huh? She really is an amazing person; in the end, the result of the matter was pretty much what she'd predicted." Paimon didn't realize what they were really talking about and simply voiced her opinion of Fischl.
"Is she one of those people who reach the right conclusion through the wrong reasoning?"
"Maybe that's exactly it." Mona gave Stelle a helpless glance, then echoed Paimon.
She didn't object to Stelle pursuing the girl she fancied; she only hoped Stelle wouldn't play favorites once the number of people grew.
After all, if there were many, unless a big party was thrown, waiting for one's turn might take a very, very long time... That evening, Stelle handed the key to Mona and had her head back to Amber's place to rest.
As for Stelle, she was going to attend a banquet and would probably not return that night.
Jean had invited Stelle over that evening and had said she would call Barbara as well.
Stelle had agreed at the time, but later kept delaying it due to all sorts of matters.
Now they finally had a bit of free time, and Jean could use rewarding Stelle for resolving this meteor incident as the reason.
Stelle felt both nervous and expectant; walking the road to Jean's house, she thought the latter feeling might actually outweigh the former.
She just wondered whether she could handle it tonight.
Barbara alone would be fine, but if both sisters ganged up on her, Stelle felt she might be defeated.
No matter how good one's stamina was, it couldn't withstand the squeeze of a sister combo.
Mind wandering, Stelle finally arrived at Jean's doorstep.
Through the window she could see the room was brightly lit—clearly Jean was already home.
Normally at this hour Jean would still be in the Knights of Favonius office.
She was always the last one to leave the Knights of Favonius.
Today, to prepare for this dinner, she had clocked out on time for once.
Maybe this was for the best; it would let her rest a bit and avoid wearing herself out.
Stelle stood at the door, psyched herself up, then knocked.
"Coming~" A familiar voice came from inside.
But it wasn't Jean's—it was Barbara's.
Soon the door opened.
"G-good evening, Stelle." Barbara looked up at Stelle's face and said shyly.
Stelle froze in place for a moment.
The reason was simple: tonight Barbara looked very different from usual.
She wore an extremely thin nightgown.
The dress was rather daring; at a glance it was obvious Barbara would never normally pick such a style.
Many parts were semi-transparent, letting Stelle vaguely glimpse the fair skin beneath.
While it still didn't compare to Lumine's outfit from that night, combined with Barbara's perfect shyness it gave Stelle an entirely different feeling.
"D-do I look okay...?" Barbara's cheeks were flushed; this was the first time she'd tried such a bold outfit.
What Stelle didn't know was that among the many garments Jean had prepared, this was the only one Barbara could barely accept.
Barbara had picked for ages, and after a long pep-talk from Jean she finally agreed to give it a try.
She hadn't expected Stelle to arrive right after she put it on, and Jean had mischievously insisted she open the door.
"You look amazing." Stelle swallowed and answered slowly.
But she quickly reacted, stepped inside, and shut the door.
Although Jean's place was right next to Knights of Favonius headquarters and normally no one came here, and Jean had declined the knights' offers to stand guard, one could never be too careful—if outsiders saw Barbara in such strange nightwear it would be disastrous.
"I told you so—Stelle is bound to like it." Jean's amused voice drifted from the living room, and Stelle couldn't help looking up.
Then, almost instantly, she turned her gaze away again.
She should have known: if even shy Barbara was dressed like this, then Jean, who was even more adventurous, would definitely not be wearing her usual outfit.
It looked like tonight's battle was going to be intense...
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