No, no, that last one wasn't right.
Anyway, both girls had appeared in Unreconciled Stars before, so readers were familiar with them.
Of course, besides the two girls, there was also a bird-shaped Paimon—Oz, all familiar faces.
In this story, through Oz's words, readers learned Mona's surname—Megistus.
Readers only thought, who could remember that? What "Meg"? Meg-what?
No worries if you couldn't remember. By the end of the island story, "Megistus" would be etched into your soul.
In the illustration, Paimon and Oz, the two little ones, floated face-to-face in front of the Traveler and Fischl.
The Traveler and Fischl stood behind them, looking like they were about to have a Pokémon battle.
The battle style of two "Mouths of God" might just be chatting, right?
Through the two Mouths of God and Mona's remarks, the situation became clear.
It turned out that Fischl had run into Klee outside Mondstadt. Being a good kid, Fischl worried about Klee, a little girl, being unsafe, so she escorted her back to the city.
In the story, how could she know this little girl's destructive power was terrifying? On the way, she was still boasting about her Pure Land of the Silent Night and her Prinzessin identity.
Klee actually understood Fischl's words and was heartbroken to hear about the fall of the Pure Land of the Silent Night.
So, did Klee understand or not, believing Fischl's words?
If you said she understood, well, she did—Fischl's chuunibyou speech was somehow comprehensible to her.
But if you said she didn't understand, that was also true, because she didn't realize Fischl's words were made up.
[Oz, mimicking Klee in a high-pitched voice: "'Really? Then how can we make your homeland grow back?'"]
In the illustration, to highlight Oz's imitation, Lucian drew Oz with big, adorable eyes.
["'Tell Klee, please, please—'"]
Fischl didn't know how to respond, probably making up some excuse about needing land to rebuild her nation.
Then Klee gave Fischl that archipelago, telling her to rebuild the Pure Land of the Silent Night.
Talk about a rich loli—an island, no, an entire archipelago, gifted just like that.
It was like telling a loli you wanted to build a nation, and the rich loli makes a phone call to gift you Hawaii.
And it really was a phone call. After returning home, Klee called her mom, Alice, and Alice agreed.
When Fischl learned of this, she was thrilled, leaving a verbal message with Katheryne before heading to knock on Mona's door.
It was early morning, but Mona was still awake.
Though the islands were given to Fischl, she didn't know the way, so she needed the Traveler to guide her.
[Paimon, acting dramatically: "Hmph, since you seek our aid, let me tell you—we are Spark Knight Klee's good friends, the guides of fate!"]
[Lumine, playing along: "Fine! I am the sole one who crosses the sea of stars!"]
[Mona, stepping behind Lumine: "Here she appears, the witness, the guide, the weaver of dreams—Lumine!"]
Paimon: That's how it's done, meow!
Their performance made Fischl happy—this was exactly what she wanted.
But this awkward act was now known across Teyvat, making Mona and Lumine blush slightly.
Mona covered her face: "Don't look at me! I'm not an idiot!"
No wonder Lucian refused to let me see it earlier—was he afraid I'd take him down with me?
Lumine, Paimon, and Fischl took it better; they were used to it.
Lumine: "Oh, come on, hiding such a cute face is such a waste."
"Let me see!!"
Lumine grabbed at Mona's hands, with Paimon assisting. Kazuha and Xinyan exchanged knowing smiles, and no one thought Mona in the story was embarrassing.
It was just Mona who couldn't get over it, blushing and lowering her head, but she still had to read the book.
In the story, the group acted while agreeing to meet tomorrow to head to the Golden Apple Archipelago—no, now called the "Pure Land of the Silent Night."
After everything, Mona could finally go catch up on sleep. She'd been woken by Fischl's "still awake" call.
While Mona went to rest, the Traveler had to stay busy, needing to find Mondstadt's idea king to figure out how to get to the islands.
When it came to who in Mondstadt had the most ideas, besides Kaeya, it had to be Venti. Finding them at the tavern was a sure bet.
At the tavern, as expected, Venti was there drinking. Who said you can't catch the wind? To catch the Anemo Archon, just head to the tavern.
The only surprise was that sitting across from him were Kazuha and Xinyan.
Xinyan was one thing, but Kazuha, how dare you sit at the same table as Venti? The tavern's no place for you!
With Kazuha's alcohol tolerance, I'm worried Venti's boozy breeze might get you drunk.
As for why Xinyan and Kazuha were together, it was because of Beidou's "Heroic Drinking Championship."
They met at that event. Kazuha wasn't suited for drinking contests, so he and Xinyan were in charge of the music.
Bonding over music, they became kindred spirits.
After the event, they wandered together, strolling all the way to Mondstadt, even passing Diluc's winery on the way.
Talk about impressive—walking from Liyue to Mondstadt.
In the end, they met the ever-present Venti at the tavern, who was telling them stories about the islands.
No wonder nothing gets past Venti. He clearly knew about the Traveler's situation and was setting the stage.
Otherwise, with all the stories he knew, why just happen to tell one about the islands?
They listened to stories and drank merrily. Kazuha, naturally, drank juice, but surprisingly, juice-drinking Kazuha got drunk.
[Venti snickered: "Oh dear, seems I accidentally served juice with a bit of alcohol… ehehe, my bad."]
Amber: "Was it on purpose?"
Diluc: "On purpose."
Kaeya: "Hmm, definitely on purpose."
Eula: "Absolutely on purpose!"
Barbara: "Lord Venti is so approachable!"
In Barbara's eyes, Venti's actions were a sign of friendliness, treating everyone as friends.
Others saw through it—Venti did it deliberately, showing his sly side.
He noticed Kazuha couldn't handle alcohol, so he intentionally spiked his juice.
After getting Kazuha drunk, Venti finally talked to the Traveler about the island matter.
[Venti: "To think she gave the gift her mom made for her to an adventurer friend—Klee really is a kind child."]
Yes, I bet the fish think so too.
As he spoke, Venti handed the Traveler a Dodoco phone.
It was from Klee's mom, Alice, entrusted to Venti to pass to the Traveler.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice · Venti: About Knowing the Truth in Advance
"You're asking if I knew? Ehehe, take a guess~"