The jelly glittered brilliantly beneath the sunlight. Just looking at it was enough to tell how wonderfully springy and silky-smooth it would be.
"Go ahead and eat. There’s plenty!" Kamisato Satoru was exceptionally generous. With a casual wave of his hand, he produced another three servings of crystal-clear Mint Jelly and distributed them among the three girls present.
"Whoa! Kamisato Satoru, you’re such a good person! I’ve decided to take back everything I thought about you before!" Paimon cheered happily before cradling her jelly and digging in with delight.
The compliment, however, left Kamisato Satoru momentarily stunned.
He had never imagined that one day, the famous "emergency food" herself would give him the good-person card.
"Ahem. Paimon, you really ought to be a little more considerate. Why don’t you take a look at this photo before you say that?"
With a wicked grin, Kamisato Satoru held the Kamera’s screen up in front of Paimon.
On the screen was Paimon, eyes rolled back and looking half-dead, being forcibly fished out of the water by Lumine with a fishing rod.
"Ugh! You’re seriously the worst! I’m definitely giving you the nastiest nickname in all of Teyvat! From now on, you’re... ’Blindfolded Big Meanie’!"
Paimon bounced furiously through the air as she made her threat. Yet at the same time, she couldn’t resist grabbing her little spoon and shoveling down huge mouthfuls of jelly.
The cool, refreshing sweetness instantly blossomed across her tongue. What little irritation remained was swept away by the sublime texture, leaving her feeling completely refreshed.
"Um... Kamisato Satoru, do you have any more?"
Not even two minutes later, Paimon pitifully held up her empty plate, which had practically been licked spotless, and stared at him with eyes full of expectation.
Kamisato Satoru was completely dumbfounded this time.
He turned to look at Ayaka and Lumine beside him. The two girls had only just finished half of theirs.
Did this little thing have a black hole for a mouth?
"Paimon, I’m seriously starting to suspect there’s an interdimensional black hole inside your stomach!"
Kamisato Satoru shook his head helplessly and handed her another plate.
He had tried this stuff once at Good Hunter before. With his extraordinary memory, he’d managed to recreate it perfectly afterward, so he really did have quite a lot stocked away.
"Oh my god... At this rate, I don’t think I’ll actually be able to afford feeding you in the future."
Watching Paimon eat so quickly that her hands practically left afterimages, Lumine began to question her life choices.
When she imagined having to deal with that bottomless stomach every single day throughout the long journey ahead, she even felt a sudden urge to leave Paimon behind on the shore.
"No, no, no! Traveler, you can’t leave me behind! I promise I’ll eat a little less from now on, okay? I’m your one and only, best-ever guide and traveling companion!"
Paimon immediately panicked upon hearing that. Even the sweet jelly in her hands suddenly didn’t taste as good anymore. She was terrified that Lumine might actually abandon her.
"All right, all right. I’m just teasing you. You’re my best companion, after all."
Lumine planted her hands on her hips, a mischievous grin worthy of Paimon herself spreading across her face.
"So, what’s the plan now? We can’t just stay here eating jelly forever!"
"We need to check out the Statue of The Seven over in that direction first!"
Paimon flew over beside Lumine’s shoulder and pointed one tiny hand toward a location in the distance.
"Ayaka, do you and your brother want to come adventuring with us?" Lumine asked with a smile.
Having a powerful and exceptionally easy-on-the-eyes white-haired beauty traveling alongside her naturally put Lumine in an excellent mood.
"That does sound rather tempting..."
Kamisato Ayaka had already wanted to accept from the beginning, but she still had some reservations about affairs back home. Almost instinctively, she looked toward her elder brother.
"Go ahead, Ayaka. Out here, you don’t need to carry the burden of being the ’Shirasagi Himegimi.’ Just be yourself. As for all those tedious documents back home, leave them for Ayato to worry about."
Kamisato Satoru smiled and gently patted his younger sister on the head.
Far away in Inazuma, Kamisato Ayato, who was currently buried beneath a small mountain of paperwork, inexplicably shuddered.
For some reason, he had the distinct feeling that a certain unreliable elder brother had screwed him over again.
"In that case, please allow me to join you on your journey!"
The hesitation in Kamisato Ayaka’s eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a determination she had never shown before.
"Wonderful! Now the journey definitely won’t be lonely!"
Lumine nodded cheerfully, clearly delighted.
"Kamisato Satoru, what about you? Planning to come with us?"
Lumine turned toward the mysterious blindfolded man.
"I’ve got nothing better to do anyway. I might as well come along and help you pass the time."
Kamisato Satoru saw no reason to refuse such a natural suggestion.
Led by Paimon—their living navigation system who, while occasionally unreliable, genuinely knew the terrain quite well—the group soon arrived before the Statue of The Seven standing in the middle of Starfell Lake.
"Hahahaha! Lumine, you look exactly like a drowned rat that someone just hauled out of the water!"
Kamisato Satoru had simply floated through the air to cross the lake, while Kamisato Ayaka had gracefully walked across the frozen surface, lotus-like patterns blooming beneath each step without so much as a single drop of water touching her.