Lin Mo looked into her gentle, beautiful eyes.
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her slender waist.
"Makoto..."
"Welcome home."
Hearing that warm voice, Makoto's eyes trembled, countless emotions surging through her heart.
But very quickly, the wandering hand at her waist snapped her out of that moment of emotion.
Just like back in the days when they spent every day together in Tenshukaku, she lightly pinched Lin Mo's ear and scolded him in a mock stern tone.
"Sasayuri~!"
"No taking advantage of your sister."
"And no calling your sister weak."
"And absolutely no abandoning your sister again~ Understand?"
Reluctantly, Lin Mo let go of her waist and smiled bitterly.
"Makoto, you're still just as petty as ever."
"Hmph. Unlike you, you've become far bolder than before."
With a resentful expression, Makoto said,
"Lady Saiguu is standing right here, yet you still dare to grope me so openly."
At once, everyone around them shot over highly curious, gossip-filled looks.
Did that mean... when Lady Saiguu wasn't around in the past... he had done even more?
"Heh... Makoto, you aren't the only one who's been taken advantage of right in front of me..."
Kitsune Saiguu's voice sounded even more resentful.
That instantly drew Makoto's attention.
"He took advantage of who else?"
"Your sister Ei."
"And that god over there named Guizhong."
"Oh, and Chiyo."
"Mmm... and that Fatui woman over there named Mirror."
"And..."
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Makoto hurriedly cut her off before she could continue.
She then turned to look at the girls gathered around Lin Mo.
The suspicion in her eyes deepened.
"Sasayuri... don't tell me every one of them is your woman."
Her voice was dripping with jealousy.
Lin Mo coughed awkwardly and nodded.
"They're all my close friends... or my daughters... or my students... or... confidantes."
"All... of them?"
Makoto practically ground out those two words through clenched teeth.
"Uh..."
"One more doesn't matter, one less won't do."
Lin Mo scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Sasayuri... you've really changed."
"You once said love should respect first come, first served."
"But now? Hm!?"
Makoto grabbed his shoulders in frustration, her nails nearly digging in.
It was as if only by doing so could she vent all the resentment in her heart.
Did it hurt?
Of course not.
With Morax's divine power in his body, Makoto's weak strength not only caused no pain—it was almost pleasant.
"Sigh..."
"People change."
Lin Mo patted her shoulder earnestly and said with a smile,
"Just like what your sister said this afternoon. You can't casually trample sincere feelings."
"Hm?"
Makoto glanced sideways at Ei.
"You said that?"
"Mm. More or less."
Ei nodded lightly, not feeling she'd said anything wrong.
"Forget it. This is fine too."
Makoto immediately gave in. Looking at Lin Mo with a smile, she said proudly,
"Better to fail no one than to fulfill one person while betraying everyone else."
"As expected of my best partner in Tenshukaku back then. You think exactly like I do."
"Hm? Just your partner?"
Makoto was clearly dissatisfied with that title.
"Cough... let's change the subject."
Lin Mo awkwardly looked toward Inazuma City.
"After you left, Inazuma didn't do very well for several hundred years. When are you planning to return and take office again?"
"Unless Sasayuri comes back to be my assistant, I won't return."
Makoto had clearly long since let go of her sense of duty to Inazuma.
From the moment Lin Mo died, she had already understood something.
Without Lin Mo, what did the life or death of Inazuma's people have to do with her?
Hearing that condition, Lin Mo frowned.
Return to Tenshukaku and become her assistant?
That was obviously impossible.
Fortunately, a savior was arriving across the waves.
"Eh? What's that?"
Paimon excitedly pointed toward the sea.
Everyone's attention shifted from Lin Mo and Makoto's conversation to the ocean.
A trail of spray was racing across the water toward Amakane Island.
"The aura of a Vision holder..."
Makoto frowned slightly.
Clearly, she was displeased with whoever had interrupted her talk with Lin Mo.
Splash!
A figure burst from the waves and threw herself straight at Lin Mo.
"Eh!?"
Lin Mo looked utterly stunned.
The next instant, a girl wearing a witch's hat and a revealing witch outfit had already tackled him to the ground.
That distinctive attire instantly revealed her identity.
"Mona!? Why are you here?"
Lin Mo was completely baffled.
"Eh? Mona! Weren't you in Mondstadt?"
Paimon was equally shocked.
Judging by Lumine's surprised expression, she clearly knew Mona as well.
Mona sat atop Lin Mo, slowly straightening her waist.
She looked down at him, her voice trembling shyly.
"Lin Mo... it's really you..."
"It's me."
Lin Mo still couldn't help asking,
"Why did you come to Inazuma?"
"I... originally accepted a commission from the Adventurers' Guild."
"So I came to Liyue with the Knights of Favonius."
"I planned to help repair houses... or rebuild the Jade Chamber."
As she said this, her eyes brightened with joy as she gazed at him.
"But today I heard Acting Grand Master Jean and Lady Ningguang talking about a diplomatic knight named Lin Mo."
"They said he'd gone through many reincarnations."
"I guessed right away..."
"The Lin Mo they were talking about had to be the man who shared those same dreams with me."
"So I couldn't resist using astrology."
"I divined your location... and came to Inazuma to find you."
As Mona spoke, her eyes brimmed with shyness, never leaving his face.
"Mona... look at how everyone's staring at you."
Lin Mo said awkwardly.
"How about getting off me first?"
"No."
Mona immediately lowered herself and hugged him tightly.
As if afraid of losing him again.
"Mona... you weren't this passionate before..."
Lin Mo could only smile bitterly.
"And you used to take advantage of me all the time. Why are you suddenly acting so proper now?"
Her embarrassed voice somehow carried a trace of righteous confidence.
"Cough... that was in dreams. It doesn't count."
"It counts in dreams too~"
Mona still clung tightly to him, muttering softly,
"If it weren't for you... I really would've been... by that client..."
Those words instantly made everyone's ears perk up with gossip-fueled curiosity.
Even Lin Mo couldn't help recalling the lifetime in which he had met her.
The mission in that life seemed to have been...
[Help the impoverished astrologer Mona become self-sufficient and achieve financial freedom.]
To be honest, that mission had been quite difficult for Lin Mo.
However...
What was interesting was that once, Lin Mo and Mona happened to accept the same commission.
Because he had read far too many fan comics in the past, the moment he saw Mona, all sorts of strange images had flashed through his mind.
And because of that, the very first thing Lin Mo asked her when they met was—
"Mona... when you take commissions, has any client ever made improper requests of you?"
--------
T/N:
You'll also get 5 extra chapters just for being a free member!
Access 40 chapters in advance on my Patreon : [email protected]/furinaimpact