"Paimon, are you really planning to enter a competitive eating contest like the Feast Frenzy?"
"That's right. A big eater contest? Easy. I can definitely take first place."
The moment Paimon heard about a competitive eating contest, she immediately got interested. Eating was her favorite thing, but she had never participated in this kind of competition before.
And if she was entering, then she was definitely going to win.
"Uh, Paimon, you might not actually get first place," Mualani said.
"Hm? Are there other experts too?" Paimon asked curiously. She might be small, but there were probably very few people who could out-eat her.
"There are, there are. There's Varesa from the Collective of Plenty. She's ridiculously strong, and rumor has it she can finish enough food for thirty to fifty people all by herself," Mualani said.
Even though she had never personally seen such an exaggerated appetite, she had heard about it before, and it was not some impossible rumor either.
Being strong meant consuming a huge amount of energy, so naturally she had to eat more.
"She's that amazing?" Even Paimon looked a little shocked.
She had not expected there really to be someone that powerful. Thirty to fifty servings was downright terrifying.
"I heard Varesa once treated a god like an all-you-can-eat buffet and nearly ate the species into extinction," Koji said.
It would not be an exaggeration to call Varesa Natlan's number one big eater.
"A god?"
Lumine was left staring in astonishment. That was way too unbelievable.
If she was guessing right, this Varesa was supposed to be human, and gods were not exactly the kind of beings three random humans could gang up on and crush.
After all, not every human was called Capitano.
"That god was the mushroom-beast type. It looked like a mushroom, and the more clones it reproduced, the stronger it became. You could call it a hair-growth god."
"In theory, if it kept creating clones, its power should have become terrifying in the end. But the clones it made were edible, and humans found that out."
Koji did not finish the explanation, but everyone already understood what had happened.
That god had really suffered a humiliating fate. It had failed to grow and mature simply because of something like that.
It could practically be called the shame of all gods.
"Let's go. We should check out this competitive eating contest."
Even with such a fearsome rival waiting for her, Paimon was not scared in the slightest. If anything, she was eager to try. Having a worthy opponent made it more interesting.
At the contest venue, all the strongest eaters from the various tribes had gathered. But everyone knew perfectly well that the championship had basically already been reserved.
In any competitive eating contest with Varesa in it, nobody could out-eat her.
For everyone else, just participating was what mattered. That inhuman monster was unbeatable.
"Which one is Varesa?" Paimon asked curiously.
"Let me see… hmm, looks like she's not here yet." Mualani looked around but did not spot her anywhere.
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Varesa used "Flying Raijin" and instantly arrived at the contest grounds.
Looking at Varesa, Koji could not help thinking that she really was Genshin's Fourth Hokage. Her Flying Raijin was absurdly fast.
"She's so fast," Lumine said in amazement.
This was not teleportation. It was pure speed. Apparently, it was not just her strength that was impressive. Her speed was no joke either.
Varesa was not the slender, graceful type. Her soft, full figure looked like the kind built for explosive power, capable of unleashing incomparable strength.
"So you're Varesa?"
Paimon stepped forward to greet her. She could feel the aura of a true expert. As expected, this was a formidable opponent she could not underestimate.
"That's right. Are you the Traveler's… white floating thing?" Varesa asked, looking at Paimon curiously. She had never seen a creature like her before.
"I am not some floating thing. My name is Paimon."
Paimon felt powerless to complain. Could people not just say her name directly for once?
"Paimon, you're entering the eating contest?"
Looking at Paimon's build, Varesa found it hard to believe she was someone who could really eat that much.
"Don't underestimate me. Ordinary people really can't eat more than I can," Paimon said proudly.
She might not have much combat power, but her appetite was huge. Every month, she could eat through a lot of Koji's Mora.
"I see. Still, I'm probably the better eater."
Varesa was extremely confident in herself too. She had already entered many competitive eating contests before.
For her, eating was a joyful thing, especially when she ate until she felt completely satisfied.
She might be unbelievably strong, but the price was that no matter how much she ate, she never truly got full. After just one hour of work, she would already be starving enough to feel dizzy.
So under normal circumstances, the amount she ate was only just a tiny bit more than average...
The contest began. Paimon did not pay attention to the other competitors. While stuffing herself with delicious food, she kept a close eye on Varesa's progress.
"?!"
The moment she saw Varesa's astonishing eating speed, Paimon froze. Was she even human?
Not only was she fast, but Varesa also stacked the food into towering piles, compressed it together, and then shoved the whole thing into her mouth in one go.
Paimon had always considered herself a great eater, but seeing Varesa like this, she felt like there was no way she could win.
Forget it. Better focus on eating. Things like that were not important anyway.
"She really can eat," Koji said with a sigh.
Varesa's appetite was astonishingly vigorous. Her stomach felt more like a bottomless pit, with absolutely no sign of reaching its limit.
The others, even the so-called big eaters, were nowhere near as outrageous as Varesa. They all needed pauses in the middle to catch their breath.
"Back when Varesa was training with the People of the Springs, even though she ate less there, her appetite was still incredible," Mualani said with a laugh.
As expected of someone who had won so many eating contests.
"Varesa probably isn't light, is she?" Eula asked.
"Mhm, she really isn't. That's why she has to exercise often. Swimming with the People of the Springs is actually a pretty effective way to lose weight," Mualani said with a smile and a nod.
Even though Varesa exercised a lot, with how much she ate, it was inevitable that she would carry some extra softness on her body.
"Eula, your figure is great too, but Varesa's body has this kind of force to it, a beauty that's full of explosive power," Koji said.
Eula agreed with that assessment.
Especially the muscles in her legs, which allowed Varesa to run at astonishing speed.
The contest ended, and as expected, Varesa took first place. Not only that, she had also finished in the shortest time possible, crushing the competition outright.
Paimon came in second, leaving the big eaters from the tribes dumbfounded.
Even if they could not take first, second or third would still have been respectable. But none of them had expected a tiny little thing like Paimon to take second place, and it left them feeling more than a little embarrassed.
"Paimon, you really can eat," Varesa said, not even breathing hard or blushing. A contest like this posed absolutely no challenge to her.
Even if they brought out more food, she could still keep going.
"You're still better than me."
Paimon was convinced now. Against a contestant like Varesa, there was just no way to win.
(End of Chapter)
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