Lumine really thought she was seeing ghosts.
A few days ago, she fished up a strange Emergency Food that could fly, which already surprised her. But what she caught today...
What the heck was this thing?
She fished up a...
Drowned corpse from the sea?
Emergency Food could at least be eaten, but how was she supposed to cook this drowned corpse?
The corpse now lay on the beach, wrapped in some messy seaweed, basically without body heat, not breathing, limbs stiff as a board, though quite good-looking... But no matter how good-looking a drowned corpse was, it was still a drowned corpse!
This blonde girl carefully squatted beside Seino, her pure white long dress trailing on the sand. She poked the 'corpse's' cheek with her slender finger. The latter remained motionless.
No reaction at all.
As silent as a doll in a display case.
The boy lay very peacefully, his delicate mouth even carrying a hint of a smile, presumably having left the world quite happily.
She observed for a long time, thought for a long time, hesitated and wavered for a long time. Finally, that improper notion could no longer be suppressed, taking root and sprouting in the depths of the girl's mind.
With such a beautiful boy lying before her, was there any need to hesitate about what to do?
"Lumine, you couldn't be thinking of...?"
The one speaking was the Emergency Food the girl had fished up a few days ago. The little creature was small, like a large plush doll, fluttering in the air, raising specks of light.
Paimon.
That was her name.
Little Paimon put her hands on her hips, staring at the girl's eyes with a look of suspicion. She asked gravely, "...You couldn't be thinking of grave robbing, could you?"
Lumine nodded seriously.
She had heard in the stories of wandering bards that such corpses drowned in the sea for a thousand years were likely to have remarkable treasures on them, like gold coins, necklaces, rings and such. Maybe she could even pull out a few copies of "Martial Arts Secret Manuals" from his pockets. Learning them would make her cultivation soar, becoming terrifyingly powerful.
She fished up this drowned corpse, so taking a few treasures was perfectly justified, a matter of course.
The girl had a reasonable explanation for her actions, something called the reasonable utilization of marine resources.
For example, that scrap iron the boy held in his arms... Uh, on closer look it seemed to be a sword. Maybe it was a priceless treasure.
It should be worth at least several hundred Mora.
Driven to desperation by poverty, she was short on money.
Thinking this way, the girl was about to frisk Seino all over. She grabbed his hands clutching the sword, slowly prying them open.
This drowned corpse held on very tightly. With the girl's strength, she couldn't pry it open for a while.
"Huff..."
Lumine was not one to give up easily. She signaled with her eyes for Paimon to help hold him down. The girl flipped over and straddled Seino's abdomen, her pure white dress touching the latter's cheek.
She mustered her strength, exerting force with her hands. Faint blue veins appeared on the back of her fair hands.
"What are you doing?"
"Huff..." There seemed to be someone talking by her ear. Lumine didn't even lift her head, wiping the sweat from her face. "Help me... Huh?"
That drowned corpse lying peacefully, having died happily - Seino Fugin lay beneath her, staring at her innocently with eyes seeming to beg for mercy about "what are you going to do to me", his violet eyes blinking pitifully like a bullied little wolf.
Seino had just out of the frying pan, and into the fire again. Leaving the Fatui's envoy ship, he had just boarded the small raft when he encountered a storm.
The raft was overturned in an instant. In his urgency, he hugged a piece of wood and drifted over with the waves.
Fortunately, he was hardy, or rather had a strong body. Even though his breathing had stopped, he hadn't died, just passed out.
But after waking up, Seino couldn't make sense of the current situation.
A nubile girl was straddling his abdomen, tearing at his chest.
Their current posture was indeed a bit awkward.
Lumine obviously realized this too. She paused her movements, blinking her golden eyes, staring blankly at Seino beneath her. After a while, her earlobes reddened slightly, her expression also looking as if she'd seen a ghost.
The one to break this silence was Emergency Food Paimon.
It was truly shocked as if seeing a ghost, bouncing up and down, darting left and right.
"Playing... playing dead!"
Paimon exclaimed,
"Lumine, run! This is an Reanimated Corpse!"
--
Stormbearer Point was a famous beach in Mondstadt.
It bordered the ocean. Passing through Stormbearer Point and walking up along the golden sand, one would reach Stormbearer Mountains and Starfell Lake. The valley winds carried the mist from Starfell Lake, perennially blowing across the beach of Stormbearer Point.
This place was the gateway to Mondstadt.
Seino carefully wiped his hair dry and wrapped a towel around himself. He scrutinized the two people kneeling properly before him with an interrogating gaze and said,
"So, you were trying to take my stuff?"
"No no, there's a professional term for this." Paimon crossed her hands, looking very professional, and said seriously, "We call this grave robbing, Reanimated Corpse."
"...But I'm not dead yet."
Seino twitched the corner of his mouth.
This little thing in front of him... Her thought process was too erratic for him to handle.
Reanimated Corpse was also a nickname she came up with. After coming up with it, she kept calling him that non-stop. Even though Seino repeatedly declared he was alive, this fairy-like little creature wouldn't stop, saying things like "It's only a matter of time anyway..."
It was indeed only a matter of time before he got annoyed to death by this thing.
On the other side, the girl named Lumine was more honest.
She knelt quietly on the sand, hands clasped on her knees, head lowered, face still slightly flushed, looking very embarrassed.
Unlike the incoherent little Paimon, Lumine still had the most basic moral bottom line.
The guy was alive!
How could she steal from a living person!
At least wait until he was dead to make a move...
She reviewed her previous behavior and indeed realized she had been stealing.
Even if driven to desperation by poverty, she shouldn't steal from the living.
This made Lumine feel a bit ashamed.
"Sorry." The girl's voice was as low as an insect's chirp. "We made our move too early... Ahem, we shouldn't have taken your things."
Although these words sounded a bit off, it was at least an apology.
"If you have any difficulties in the future, you can always ask us for help, as long as you can forgive us..."
She said earnestly.
The girl was inept at everything, but the one area she excelled in was helping with odd jobs. Whenever a villager couldn't find something, whenever a child lost a toy, these miscellaneous matters... She was very skilled at them.
Each time she helped, even as poor as she was, she would only take very little compensation.
Seeing this girl's sincere attitude in admitting her mistake and her eagerness to help, Seino couldn't bear to make things difficult for her.
"I do have a small difficulty..." He said.
"What difficulty? Please tell me."
"A financial difficulty." Seino also said seriously, "All my money was washed away by the waves. Can you give me some money?"
"..."
"Guess why we tried to grave rob you."
--