Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

When the ship docked, the Liyue Harbor was much busier than usual. As Ying and Paimon stepped off the gangway and onto the familiar stone pavement, the evening breeze carried the unique scents of the harbor—the salty sea breeze, the aroma of grilled fish, and a hint of sweetness that she hadn't smelled much lately.

The sweetness came from a newly opened shop next to the dock.

The storefront isn't large, but the decor is eye-catching. The deep blue signboard displays the store's name in both white Liyue script and Winter's End script, with a row of tiny ice crystal decorations around the edge that shimmer in the afternoon sunlight.

At the very top of the sign stands a round snowman—a sphere with a head and body almost the same size, its white body gleaming warmly in the light, wearing a small ice-blue crown on its head, with two pointed elf ears peeking out from either side of the crown.

Its hair was tied into two white double braids, the ends of which were slightly upturned. A diamond-shaped sapphire was set in front of its forehead. Its big blue eyes had a cool and arrogant look with slightly downturned corners. The corners of its mouth were slightly curved downwards, as if it was looking at every passerby with an expression that said, "Why aren't you mortals lining up yet?"

She wore a small red cape with a matching bow at the collar, and her arms were short and round, like two freshly made snow sticks.

Paimon stopped about ten steps away from the shop. She looked at the snowman, then glanced down at the price list in front of the shop, then looked up at the snowman again: "Firefly, a new shop opened over there!"

Ying also looked in that direction, her gaze lingering on the snowman mascot for a moment: "Why does this thing look so strange? Look at its expression, it looks like it's disgusted by something."

"What's strange about it?"

Paimon flew to the front of the store and circled the snowman mascot standing above the sign.

"I think it's adorable! Even though its eyes are looking down, that expression actually gives it a very elegant air. And its crown and cape are exquisite; you can tell they were designed with great care."

Paimon leaned against the glass window on the outside of the shop, looking at the ice machine in operation and the neatly arranged drink cups inside. "And I remember this thing first appeared in Sumeru and Fontainebleau—at the time I thought it was some new trend, but it turns out that Winter has opened here too."

Ying followed and stood next to her, looking at the prices and set meals listed on the wooden sign hanging in the shop's entrance.

"But the style and color scheme of this sign look like an official collaboration with Winter's End. Look at the pattern on that snowman's crown, doesn't it look a bit like the Ice Queen's crown?"

Paimon leaned closer for a look, then stepped back half a step, tilting his head. "Now that you mention it... it does look a bit like it. But I still think it's adorable, and the price is so cheap—only four moras for a glass of lemonade and two moras for an ice cream cone—it's unbelievably cheap!"

Ying looked at the neat rows of numbers on the price list and confirmed, "...It's definitely much cheaper than in Mondstadt. A glass of lemonade costs twelve moras there, and an ice cream cone costs eight moras. The prices here are only about a third of what they are there."

"Right!"

Paimon paced back and forth in front of the store several times, as if expressing his anticipation with flight paths. "We've been on a ship for almost a week, drinking filtered fresh water and eating dry rations and canned goods every day. Although the taste was passable, it always felt like something was missing. Today, I absolutely have to have something cold!"

"How dare you say that?"

A voice came from behind them, with a casual tone that said, "I've been listening for a while now."

"The food standards for our Fools crew are much higher than those of ordinary merchant ships. The refrigerated holds are stocked with fresh meat and vegetables, and hot soup and freshly baked bread are served every day. During the voyage, meals are arranged according to a rotation system, and the dishes are also adjusted and combined. You have eaten more this week than any passenger I have ever seen."

Ying turned her head and saw Fanes standing a few steps away on the edge of the dock, turning down the collar of his coat, with D'Artagnan following behind, looking around at his surroundings.

D'Artagnan held a silver-gray coin in his hand, twirling it between his fingers, but the coin stopped a few steps from the shop entrance. He looked up at the round, snowman mascot on the sign: "This mascot... looks like it's from the Winter Solstice style."

Fanes followed his gaze, his tone as calm as if he were introducing a basic fact that had already been confirmed: "This is the style of Zhidong's side."

The coin in D'Artagnan's hand paused between his fingers for a moment: "Does the Queen know about this? If she does, won't she have any objections? After all, using a chibi-style character as the mascot for a restaurant brand for large-scale commercial promotion doesn't seem to fit her status at all."

Fanes walked to the shop entrance and patted the hidden coin box beneath the snowman mascot base: "Guess why she gets 50% of the year-end bonus?"

D'Artagnan paused for a moment before putting the coin in his pocket: "...Goodness. Even the Queen has to go through my hands to make money off you? But thankfully this thing isn't being rolled out on a large scale in Winterfall, otherwise she definitely wouldn't have agreed to you making this mascot so cute."

"What are you afraid of?"

Fanes pushed open the shop door, the bell on the door ringing softly. "Anyway, the Winter Project needs funding right now. She wouldn't transfer me over a mascot's design and replace me with Pantalone, would she? What style do you think Pantalone would make for the Queen's mascot, given her personality? And maybe we Fools' Enforcers will end up looking like that too. Do you want to look like that?"

D'Artagnan thought for a moment and gave a prediction: "It will probably be more formal than this, such as making it into an ice sculpture or a bust. Then, for every certain amount of spending, you can receive a set of limited-edition Q-version portrait ornaments. Collect all twelve and you can exchange them for an exclusive placemat, with each placemat printed with a limited-time variant of a character corresponding to a different season."

"Isn't that worse?"

Fanes pulled out a chair and sat down. "And that mascot wouldn't be able to walk or jump like it is now. The mascot Pantalone made would probably stand in a fixed position at the door, changing its clothes every now and then, like those fashion collectibles that need constant updates to stay fresh, instead of moving around so flexibly like it is now."

"To be more precise, I think Pantalone might release a different limited edition colorway for each season. For example, a green cape for spring, a light gold cape for summer, an orange-red cape for autumn, and a dark blue cape for winter. Collecting all four colors would allow you to redeem a limited edition collectible card."

Ying had already placed her order at the counter. She returned carrying a light blue tray with three paper cups and three ice cream cones on it. She took a bite herself, savoring the cool sweetness melting on her tongue: "Would you like to try some too?"

Fanes took an ice cream cone, bit off the edge, chewed a couple of times, and swallowed. "The taste is alright. It's a little less sweet than the old-established ice cream shop in Zhidong, but it's made with high-quality ingredients and doesn't have too much artificial sweetener or flavoring. Simola's lemonade is definitely better than I expected."

Paimon had already finished half of his ice cream cone, a ring of light blue ice stains around his mouth: "I knew it! Cheap doesn't mean it's not good. And that snowman mascot is really getting cuter the more you look at it, the way it jumps around on the sign is especially endearing."

Ying took another sip of lemonade and looked out the window at the snowman mascot jumping back and forth on the signboard: "But its expression looks like it's disgusted with me."

"It looks at everyone with the same expression."

Fanes also took a sip of lemonade. "This is based on the Queen's usual expression. Her designer drew dozens of drafts before choosing this one as the final version. The designer's original words were, 'This expression best reflects the balance between the majesty and approachability of the Winter royal family.'"

D'Artagnan sat beside him, tracing the rim of his glass with his finger: "...I have a feeling that if the Queen herself saw this mascot, she would increase your share of this deal to seventy percent at the next annual budget meeting."

"Then let's raise it to seventy percent."

Fanes placed the glass of lemonade back on the table, the bottom of the glass making a smooth clinking sound as it hit the surface. "Anyway, I'll make up for the extra 20% from the GG slot placement fee. By then, this snowman mascot will be everywhere in Liyue Harbor, it'll be hard not to remember him."

Paimon had finished her ice cream cone and was wiping her mouth with a tissue. Then she looked at the little snowman jumping on the signboard, and turned to Fanes: "So, will you open a new store next time? Like, sell something more unique?"

Fanes neatly folded the empty ice cream cone wrapper and placed it on the corner of the table. "We'll see. If this shop goes well, we might open a branch in Mondstadt and another in Inazuma. If the response remains positive, we might launch seasonal menus and other related events."

Paimon took flight and circled in the air: "Now I can enjoy these cheap and delicious shaved ice treats in Inazuma too!"

"That is, you can find a store location."

Fanes stood up and threw the empty lemonade glass into the trash can. "Each store has specific location criteria, which need to be comprehensively evaluated based on foot traffic, rent, and delivery costs. If it's located in a remote area, it's hard to break even even with low prices. However, the location for the Inazuma branch has already been decided; it should be on the main street near the castle tower."