After a lively bout of splashing around in the water, all three of them lay limp in the tub with blissful expressions.
There was truly nothing quite as comforting as the warmth of hot water.
Lumine sat in the tub with her knees drawn up, cradling Eve in her lap.
“Remind me, Eve—back at the Knights’ headquarters earlier, why did everyone seem to have a tacit understanding that we only needed to clear out three specific ruins?”
Lumine asked suddenly, as if a thought had just struck her.
“Ah, that question?”
Eve pondered for a moment.
“Stormterror is one of the Four Winds, specifically the East Wind.
That means he can borrow the residual power of the other three winds—you probably knew that much already.”
“Mm, I’m aware,” Lumine nodded.
“Well, that’s precisely why Stormterror’s influence is currently limited to those three elemental pillars,” Eve continued.
“Why’s that?” Paimon asked, still looking puzzled.
“Because Dvalin burned himself out from the very beginning, that’s why,” Eve replied, lounging lazily in the water.
“Ah, so that’s how it is,” Lumine said with a trace of lingering regret.
“Say, Eve, why do you think Dvalin did something like that in the first place?” Lumine pressed on.
“Hm, that much I couldn’t tell you.”
“Oh well.
Let’s drop this gloomy subject!” Lumine rose from the bath, water glistening on her skin.
She grabbed a towel and began vigorously drying herself off.
Paimon drifted out right behind her.
Meanwhile, Eve lingered in the tub a little longer.
“Probably out of sheer disappointment and hatred, I suppose.”
“Disappointment toward Mondstadt, and hatred toward the Anemo Archon…” Eve murmured softly to herself.
Late into the night.
Lumine lay sprawled across the large bed in an ungraceful starfish position, hugging Eve tightly in her arms while Paimon snoozed right beside her, her tiny hand curled around one of Lumine’s fingers.
The sound of steady, even breathing filled the room, signaling that everyone had drifted deep into dreamland.
Right at that moment, a faint commotion stirred outside the door.
“Hey boss, do you reckon what that innkeeper said is actually reliable?” whispered a man clad entirely in black.
“Cut the crap.
We’ve worked with him plenty of times before—unless you’re suddenly not interested in making a fortune?” The boss cuffed his lackey right across the head.
“Right, right, my bad, boss,” the lackey muttered, hurriedly holding his head.
“Shh, keep your voice down and listen up.
The targets in this room are outlanders, and the main one’s a young woman.
We grab whatever valuables we can and bolt the second we’re done.
Keep your hands quick and clean,” the boss instructed in a harsh whisper.
“Don’t you worry, boss.
I might be useless at everything else, but this line of work is my bread and butter,” the lackey patted his chest confidently.
The boss gave a brief nod, pulled a master key from his pocket, and quietly clicked the door open.
“Got it open.
Move in.” The boss spoke in a hushed tone.
The lackey nodded and crept inside on tiptoe.
The moment they stepped into the room, a rich, pleasant fragrance hit their noses.
They stealthily made their way straight into the bedroom.
Standing by the bedside under the pale moonlight, the lackey found that the sleeping Lumine looked even more breathtaking and alluring than before.
“Boss…
I think I’m in love!” The lackey froze in his tracks right beside the bed, completely immobilized.
“Tch.
Are you out of your damn mind?
We’re here to make a profit, not pick up women,” the boss hissed, continuing to rummage through the rest of the room.
“I’m serious, boss, I really am.” The lackey’s voice turned deadpan serious.
“What the hell is your problem?” The boss strode over toward the lackey, looking thoroughly irritated. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“I’m gonna see for myself what—”
The moment the boss laid eyes on Lumine’s face, the words died in his throat.
“She really is…”
“See, boss?
Didn’t I tell you?” the lackey said excitedly.
“Hehehe…
With a face and a figure like that, we could fetch an absolute fortune on the black market,” the boss muttered, looking at Lumine as if she were a walking pile of Mora.
“Wait, what?
What did you just say, boss?” The lackey stared at him, his expression suddenly dropping.
“Aren’t we just here to steal valuables?
We’re not supposed to hurt people!” the lackey said, genuinely shocked.
“You idiot, do you have any idea how much a girl like this can sell for on the black market?” the boss spat, looking at him with utter exasperation.
“Enough, cut the chatter.
Get over here and give me a hand.
Tie her up with this rope and let’s carry her out—just make sure you don’t wake her up.” The boss fished a coil of rope from his back pocket.
“No way, boss.
If you’re doing that, I’m walking out.” The lackey crossed his arms, speaking with rare firmness.
“Tch, do whatever the hell you want.
If you’re not going to help, I’ll do it myself.” Abandoning the lackey, the boss stepped forward to handle it himself.
A prime specimen like this—especially if she still happened to be a virgin—would command a sky-high price among underground buyers.
Just as the boss was about to crawl onto Lumine’s bed, he failed to notice a slender green vine quietly wrapping itself around his ankle.
“So…
what was it you were planning on selling, exactly?”
A cool, mature voice suddenly echoed through the room.
It scared the wits out of both the boss and the lackey.
“Who’s there?!” the boss blurted out, panic bleeding into his voice.
The lackey’s gaze was suddenly drawn toward the windowsill.
Bathed in the moonlight, a woman with a breathtaking, flawless figure was sitting casually on the sill.
Cascading silver-white hair spilled over her shoulders, one slender, porcelain leg drawn up against her chest while the other dangled freely outside the window, swaying lazily back and forth in a deeply mesmerizing fashion.
A simple white dress hugged her curves, accentuating Eve’s perfect silhouette even further.
Eve gazed down at the two human traffickers—ah, wait, no, petty thieves—hanging upside down in mid-air with an expression of amused detachment.
“So gorgeous…
She’s practically a goddess…” The lackey stared unblinkingly at Eve, his jaw practically hitting the floor.
He still hadn’t quite grasped the severity of his situation.
“Oho, there’s another one?
This one’s even better!
Looks like I hit the jackpot today,” the boss drooled, staring up at Eve with saliva practically pooling at the corners of his mouth.
Before either of them could process what was happening, a burst of emerald light flashed across the room.
Dozens of sturdy vines shot out from every direction, wrapping tightly around the two men and hoisting them high into the air.
“Wh-What the hell is going on?!” the boss stammered in absolute terror.
Though it didn’t take him long to put two and two together.
“B-Beauty, we know we messed up!
Please, just let us down!” the boss pleaded, trembling as he looked up at Eve.
Anyone capable of wielding Dendro magic and subduing the two of them this effortlessly had to be a Vision holder—and a remarkably powerful one at that.
Groveling and playing nice was clearly their best bet for survival right now.
*Just wait until I get back to our hideout.
I’ll find someone to make you pay for this,* the boss thought to himself viciously.
His connections ran a lot deeper than these outlanders realized.
In his mind, the moment he dropped a hint about his backers, this woman would drop them in a heartbeat.
“Answer me.
Who were you planning on selling?” Eve’s voice dropped to a glacial chill.
At that moment, her gaze turned genuinely dangerous.
“I—I didn’t mean it like that!
“I’ll ask you one more time.
Who were you planning to sell?” Eve released a surge of oppressive divine pressure, her expression utterly blank.
The boss felt his mind go completely blank under the weight of it.
“T-The golden-haired short-haired girl…
and you…” the boss stammered on pure reflex.
“Then you can go die now,” Eve stated flatly.
“W-What?!” The boss’s eyes bulged in horror.
“Do you know who backs us—”
With a casual flick of her slender hand, Eve made a clenching motion in the air.
The vines wrapped around the boss tightened instantaneously, snapping his neck on the spot.
That bloody display left the lackey paralyzed with sheer terror.
He scrambled to press his forehead against the air, sobbing as he begged Eve for mercy.
“Goddess!
Goddess, I’m completely different from him!
I never wanted to traffic anyone, I swear!
I even tried to stop him!”
“Please, I’m begging you, spare my life…”
Truth be told, Eve hadn’t strictly intended to kill anyone tonight—after all, this wasn’t her home turf.
But these scumbags were utterly devoid of human decency.
Stealing a bit of loose change was one thing, but daring to target her and Lumine?
Unforgivable.
Thinking about it only made Eve’s blood boil.
She despised human traffickers more than anything in this world; countless families had been torn apart by scum just like them.
Every last slaver deserved to die.
Not a single one should ever be left breathing.
And besides, this whole mess didn’t end with these two small-time crooks.
There was still the innkeeper downstairs, plus whatever noble scumbag was backing them from the shadows.
“Tch.
Moved a little too fast.
Didn’t catch the name of his backer,” Eve muttered with mild regret.
“Mmm, I know,” Eve murmured to herself.
“You lot haven’t exactly been running a clean operation, have you?” Eve resumed her interrogation, glaring down at the trembling lackey.
“You’re in with the innkeeper downstairs, aren’t you?”
“Y-Yes…
But we really only ever stole pocket change before tonight, we swear on our lives we never touched trafficking!
I swear it!” the lackey blurted out in a panic.
“Fine.
Seeing as you still have a shred of a conscience left, go turn yourself in to the authorities,” Eve instructed coldly.
“Though, we’re going to need to make a few…
adjustments to your memories first.”
Eve hopped down from the windowsill and paced slowly toward the cowering lackey.
“Wh-What are you going to do to me?!” the lackey whimpered in absolute dread.
At that moment, even a goddess as breathtaking as the one before him looked like a terrifying demon straight out of the abyss.
“Oh, just a little light memory editing, that’s all,” Eve said with a playful smirk.
“No—” A flash of green light washed over the room, and the lackey instantly lost consciousness.
Down on the street below, a certain wandering bard who had just run up another tab at the tavern happened to be strolling past the exterior of the inn.
Catching the flash of green light spilling out from the second-floor window, he paused.
“Looks like someone managed to tick her off again!
Ah, note to self: heavy drinking is definitely hazardous to one’s health.”
Shaking his head with a wry chuckle, he picked up his pace and vanished into the night.