Konda Village.
Nolan and Lumine left the restaurant with a slightly satisfied feeling, followed by a girl jogging out. She wore a one-shoulder orange-red cape that barely covered the right side of her upper body. Her exposed shoulder, arms, and bandage-wrapped chest revealed fair, soft skin.
Her short outfit ended just above her hips, which were also wrapped in white bandages, while her long legs were fair and shapely, adorned with asymmetrical black thigh-high stockings. Wooden clogs on her feet added to her unique, fiery charm.
"Wait!"
The girl, her bandage-bound chest slightly bouncing and her golden hair swaying, called out to Nolan. She stopped in her tracks, bracing her hands on her knees and taking a breath before speaking.
"Thank you for helping me earlier!"
"It was nothing. Please don't worry about it," Nolan replied with a smile.
Lumine, who had also stopped, stood with her hands on her hips, staring at Nolan with a blank expression.
When did this guy secretly get involved with this girl?
"Helped you?" Paimon looked curiously at the unfamiliar girl, scratching her head. "What exactly did this guy help you with?"
"Ahem…" Yoimiya glanced around and, seeing no Shogunate soldiers nearby and few people paying attention to them, lowered her voice. "He helped me hide my Vision earlier."
Lumine and Paimon immediately understood, their furrowed brows relaxing. They had also noticed the two Shogunate soldiers in the restaurant earlier, so it made sense why Yoimiya came to thank him.
"Oh, by the way, my name is Yoimiya. I'm the owner of the Naganohara Fireworks Shop in Inazuma City. I came to Konda Village to purchase materials for developing new types of fireworks. And you are…?"
Yoimiya introduced herself and then asked curiously.
"Hehe, the one next to me is Lumine, a famous traveler, and I'm her best—"
"Emergency food."
"Yes, her best—huh?" Paimon realized something was wrong and stomped angrily in the air, glaring at Nolan, who had interrupted her. "That's not true!"
"Haha, okay, my bad." Nolan quickly admitted his mistake with a chuckle, then introduced himself to Yoimiya. "She's Paimon, the traveler's best partner and the best guide in Teyvat. As for me, I'm Nolan, just an ordinary adventurer."
"Huh? Are you being modest? You don't seem ordinary to me," Yoimiya remarked with a curious glance at him.
She didn't dwell on it and continued, "You're foreigners, right? Are you stuck in Inazuma because of the Sakoku Decree?"
"Not at all. We actually just arrived in Inazuma recently. We're here for adventure and travel," Nolan explained.
"Traveling and adventuring in Inazuma? You sure picked an unfortunate time," Yoimiya said, spreading her hands with a slightly helpless expression.
With both the Sakoku Decree and the Vision Hunt Decree in effect, it wasn't an ideal time for foreigners to visit.
"Hehe, we're experts at running away, so it's no problem for us wherever we go!" Paimon boasted confidently, her assurance stemming from their "Interstellar Travel."
"Hm, you're definitely not ordinary. So, since you mentioned you've just arrived in Inazuma, I assume you'll be heading to Inazuma City soon? As a token of gratitude for your help earlier, how about letting me be your guide and traveling companion?"
Yoimiya's golden eyes gleamed as she looked at Nolan, her tone filled with expectation.
"Of course, that would be gre—uh, what do you think?"
Nolan was about to agree immediately, but noticing Lumine's expressionless gaze on him, he decided to ask for her opinion first.
"Sure, I don't see a problem with that," Lumine replied after a moment of thought.
She added, "But, Miss Yoimiya, we're planning to explore the underground ruins in the village first. We'll head to Inazuma City tomorrow."
"Oh? You're planning to explore those ruins? As far as I know, countless adventurers have already combed through that place ages ago. There's probably nothing valuable left."
Yoimiya rested her pale hand on her hip and explained, hoping to save them from wasting their efforts.
"Well, if even a local like Yoimiya says so, it seems like there really isn't much to find there," Paimon said, scratching her head and glancing at Nolan and Lumine.
"So, are we still going?" Lumine crossed her arms, slightly lifting the soft lines of her chest, and looked at Nolan.
She didn't mind either way and left the decision to him.
Nolan, however, glanced at the Adventure EXP displayed on his character panel—150,000 in total. He was just under 30,000 points short of leveling up twice to Level 90.
Reaching that threshold would mark his entry into the ranks of Adeptis, significantly boosting his strength.
Even if the ruins had no treasures, it was worth checking for monsters to grind some Adventure EXP.
Seeing that Nolan was determined to go, Yoimiya nodded and flashed a bright smile, revealing her pearly teeth.
"All right, then! I've explored those ruins before and even found materials there that improved the burn efficiency of gunpowder, making fireworks more vibrant.
"So I'm quite familiar with that place. Let Yoimiya the guide get to work and lead the way for you!"
"Thank you so much!"
Nolan and his companions happily accepted Yoimiya's enthusiastic offer.
Having Yoimiya, who was familiar with the terrain, with them greatly increased their exploration efficiency.
"Then there's no time to waste—let's go now!"
At 7 PM, under Yoimiya's guidance, Nolan and his companions arrived at the entrance to the underground ruins.
This place had once been bustling with activity, but now it was completely deserted. The once-glorious ruins had clearly fallen into decline.
"Let's head down."
Nolan extended his mental energy outward, carefully scanning the area. Finding no potential dangers, he was the first to jump into the ruins' entrance.
Yoimiya, Lumine, and Paimon followed closely behind.
Splash!
Nolan's feet landed in a pool of water that had accumulated at the bottom of the ruins' entrance, sending water splashing everywhere. To prevent Lumine and Yoimiya from getting wet, he summoned translucent threads to catch and lower them gently.
Paimon, of course, floated down on her own.
"Wow, these threads are amazing!" Yoimiya exclaimed in surprise, watching as the translucent thread around her waist gently set her down.
"They're actually formed from mental(spiritual) energy," Nolan explained casually, then looked at the maze-like ruins before them. "So, which way do we go?"
"Hmm, the paths to the left and behind us are closer to the village. For safety reasons, the Adventurers' Guild has organized adventurers to clear out the monsters in those areas, and any treasures there would likely have been thoroughly looted.
"As for the path to the right, it's occasionally used by the guild to train novice adventurers. The path straight ahead leads into the wilderness. Heading farther in that direction might increase the chances of encountering monsters."
Yoimiya shared what she knew about the ruins.
"The path straight ahead also seems to lead toward Inazuma City, right? Let's head that way. We can explore while making progress toward the city," Nolan suggested.
Neither Yoimiya nor Lumine had any objections. They realized that once they left the village and finished exploring the ruins, they might have to camp outdoors for the night. But this wasn't a big problem, especially since they had the "Wonderland."
With Yoimiya's familiarity with the terrain, their exploration was impressively efficient.
By using mental energy to search, they were able to locate areas where monsters were gathered in the ruins. Most of the monsters they encountered were Geo and Hydro Slimes.
There were also creatures resembling worms, called Black Earth Drakes, as well as snake-like monsters that thrived in damp, dark places.
However, the monsters were not particularly numerous, nor were they very strong.
By midnight, after hours of exploration, Nolan had gained just over 3,000 Adventure EXP. In terms of other loot, they only managed to find one common chest. It was a passable haul—not great, but not a loss either.
Yoimiya also collected some materials that could potentially help her develop new fireworks, making her feel like she had gained more than Nolan.
It became clear that if Nolan wanted enough EXP to reach Level 90, he would need to pay close attention to monsters during their journey to Inazuma City.
That said, there was no need to hold off leveling up. Reaching Level 89 first would be just as effective.
So, Nolan decided to end their exploration. He summoned the Lumine's Sword God, which sliced open a crack in the ground leading back to the surface. The group then flew out of the ruins.
Outside, they found themselves in a forest. Based on Yoimiya's judgment, they were now in Byakko Plain, over 100 kilometers away from Kaneda Village.
"This is a good spot," Yoimiya suggested. "It's close to the main road and free of monsters. I think we should set up camp here for the night."
"Sounds good. But we won't need to camp out in the open—it's not necessary," Nolan said, nodding. As he spoke, he opened a space rift resembling a starry sky.
"Huh?! What's this!?" Yoimiya exclaimed, her golden eyes widening in shock. Clenching her fists, she continued, "Is this one of those portable dimensions the protagonists in Yae Publishing House's light novels have?!"
Yae Publishing House was a business run by Yae Miko, the Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine.
Aside from selling light novels, the publishing house also signed contracts with authors to help them publish their works. It functioned as both a bookstore and a publishing house, with Yae Miko serving as its chief editor.
Nolan recalled this information upon hearing Yoimiya's words.
Maybe I'll find Yae Miko at the publishing house once we reach Inazuma City. He thought about it briefly but decided against seeking her out without a proper reason—it would be better to wait for the right opportunity.
"Well, calling it a portable space isn't wrong. It's large enough for us to rest in," he replied to Yoimiya's question, then invited her inside while casually asking, "Yoimiya, you seem quite familiar with light novel protagonists. Are you a fan of light novels?"
"I wouldn't say I'm a big fan. But some of the kids in the city love hearing stories, so I occasionally buy light novels to read to them," Yoimiya replied with a smile as she followed him into the space rift.
Lumine and Paimon entered behind them, feeling more relaxed in the familiar environment.
"Yoimiya, feel free to take a seat here. We'll prepare a room for you to sleep in shortly," Lumine offered, noticing Yoimiya curiously glancing around.
"Oh, that's great! Wait, no—how can I just sit back while you do all the work? Let me help too!"
Despite being in someone else's "home," Yoimiya didn't hesitate to offer her assistance. She quickly followed Lumine and Paimon to help prepare a room.
Nolan watched as Yoimiya walked away, leaving him with no opportunity to increase her affection. With nothing else to do, he lay back on the comfortable sofa and opened his character panel to level up:
[Adventure EXP: 153,902]
With over 150,000 Adventure EXP, it was quite a decent amount. Since it wasn't possible to level up twice in succession at the moment, he decided to stick to his earlier plan and advance to Level 89 first.
This would bring him one step closer to reaching the Adeptus Level!
Adventure EXP - 88,000
Lv88 (0/88,000) → Lv89 (0/89,000)
As the level-up process completed, a surge of immense energy enveloped Nolan's entire body. While there was no visible change on the outside, every cell in his body was rapidly absorbing energy and growing stronger.
This familiar sensation, experienced many times before, passed quickly.
Sigh… it's always so fleeting, Nolan thought regretfully as he examined the updated character panel:
Name: Nolan Walker
Level: Lv89 (0/89,000)
Race: Human
Titles: Honorary Knight, Distinguished Citizen of Liyue, Outstanding Adventurer Honorary General of Watatsumi Island
Innate Talent: Entangling Affection
Skills:
- Lumine's Sword God: Arcane Level (Sharp Intent),
- Concealment Form · Secret Art Level Lv.10 (Domain),
- Anemo Manipulation Lv.10 (Max Level),
- Chihayaburu: Secret Art Level Lv.10 (Flowing Maple Autumn Fields),
- Martial Arts Lv.10 (Subtle Mastery),
- My Style Swordsmanship Lv.10 (My Style)
Specialties:
- [Descender]
- [Maiden Savior]
- [Monster Slayer]
- [Abundant Life]
- [The Gospel of the Sky]
- [North Wind]
- [Harmony]
- [Spiritual Threads]
- [Millennium Body]
- [Blue Vortex]
- [Battery Body]
- [Elemental Immunity]
- [Command Seal]
Adventure EXP: 65,902
With 65,000 points remaining, he was just over 20,000 points away from the 89,000 needed to reach the next level. That wasn't too far off—if he got lucky, he might even be able to gather enough Adventure EXP before reaching Inazuma City.
But there was no rush for such things.
---
The Next Morning
A light mist blanketed the small forest in Byakko Plain, but it quickly dissipated as the sun rose.
Having rested well, Nolan and his companions emerged from the Wonderland and prepared to continue their journey.
"Wow, the air is so refreshing! By the way, how did you manage to get a portable space like that? It's way too convenient!" Yoimiya asked, looking at Nolan with envy.
If she had such a space, it would be like having a secret base for the kids no matter where she went. That would be amazing!
"This… is related to my innate talent. Even if you wanted to learn, I wouldn't be able to teach you," Nolan replied with a laugh.
"However, I do know some Adepti in Liyue across the sea. They've mastered the art of creating Sub-Space Waypoint. If we get a chance, I could take you to meet them. They could test your aptitude for cultivating Adeptal arts. If you have the potential, they might even take you as a disciple and teach you their techniques!"
"Liyue, across the ocean… But with the Sakoku Decree in place, I'm not sure if I'd even have the chance to go there," Yoimiya said, her mood dipping slightly.
"Hehe, don't worry! If you want to go, this guy can take you there anytime. The Sakoku Decree is nothing to worry about!" Paimon said with a laugh, floating beside Lumine.
"Hmm, but that won't be necessary. I'm just a little curious about the portable space—it's not like I actually want to go that far to learn Adeptal arts," Yoimiya said, feeling touched by their willingness to help.
[Yoimiya Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 210 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv4 (30/400)]
(End of Chapter)
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