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

Inazuma's mornings come a little earlier than in Liyue. Phanes sits atop a wind slime, cradling a pink fox in his arms, slowly drifting down the stone steps of Narukami Shrine.

The air currents of the wind slime carried them smoothly over the treetops and torii gates. The air was filled with the scent of dew and moss. The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the rooftops of Inazuma Castle in the distance were only vaguely outlined in the milky white mist.

The Yae no Miko nestled in his arms, her tail draped over his wrist, her purple pupils half-closed, and her ears twitching occasionally.

Fanes patted her head: "Where are we going to eat today? The grilled eel at that place last time was pretty good, but the portion was a bit small."

Yae no Miko did not respond, but simply draped her tail over his wrist again.

As the wind slime drifted to the side wall of the Kamisato House, Fanes's gaze was drawn to a white shadow peeking out from the top of the wall.

A little girl was climbing over the wall, her hands gripping the edge of the tiles, one leg already over the edge dangling outside, while the other leg was bracing against a support point on the inside of the wall. Her whole posture looked precarious.

Her hair was light white, with a soft sheen in the morning light. It was neatly combed into short hair, with straight and symmetrical bangs and a neat fringe in front of her forehead. At first glance, it looked like she was wearing a white... helmet.

Fanes sat up a little straighter on the wind slime and squinted to see the figure climbing over the wall.

The wall was about the height of two adults stacked on top of each other, with a stone floor underneath and no cushioning at the edges. If you fell from here, you would either die or break an arm or a leg.

After looking at it for a second or two, Fanes spoke, his voice not loud but clear enough: "At this height, someone could fall to their death."

The Yae no Miko in his arms suddenly straightened her neck, her pink ears taut, and her purple pupils instantly changed from languid to alert when she saw the figure on the wall.

Yae no Miko turned her head and slapped Fanes' face with her front paw. The force was not strong, but the rhythm was rapid. Accompanied by a series of short and sharp cries from her throat, which roughly translate to "Then why don't you hurry up and help?"

After being slapped in the face, Fanes immediately patted the top of the wind slime to signal it to speed up.

The green, translucent, gelatinous creature emitted a soft whimpering sound, changed direction, and floated towards the base of the wall, just as the little girl on the wall let go and fell, sliding down to the base of the wall.

Fanes reached out and caught her—though it was more of a "catch" than a "catch," because when the girl crashed down, she landed in the soft cushion of the wind slime, and the impact was mostly cushioned by the rubbery surface. She bounced on the soft, bouncy rubber before regaining her balance.

The wind slime was flattened for a moment by the sudden weight, making a pitiful grumbling sound, before slowly returning to its original shape and supporting the two people.

Fanes landed the wind slime on the ground and looked down at the little white-haired girl who had just rolled out of his arms and was sitting on the ground.

Her short, white hair was slightly disheveled, and the neat bangs on her forehead were askew. Her light-colored eyes still held a mixture of panic and curiosity, typical of someone caught climbing over a wall. She sat on the ground, looking up at him, and after pursing her lips, she spoke: "Thank you... for saving me."

Fanes jumped down from the wind slime and stood in front of her, crouching down to look her in the eye: "Are you Ayaka Kamisato?"

Ayaka Kamisato paused for a moment, a hint of surprise flashing in her light-colored eyes: "How did you recognize me? I haven't even told you who I am yet."

Fanes pointed to her hair: "Perhaps your hairstyle is too obvious. Short white hair, straight bangs, and such a flat fringe on your forehead, probably only your Kamisato family in the entire Inazuma Castle would have this hairstyle."

Yae no Miko jumped from his arms to the ground, squatted at Fanes' feet, looked up at Kamisato Ayaka, her purple pupils showing a knowing "It really is her" in them, and her tail slowly swept behind her.

Linghua knelt on the ground and straightened the hem and corner of her clothes, which had been wrinkled by the tiles on the wall. She then raised her hand to tidy up the hair that had been blown by the wind.

"By the way, have you ever thought about changing your look when you grow up?"

Linghua tilted her head and glanced at him: "Why?"

Fanes squatted down in front of her and carefully examined her face for a while, his gaze lingering on her neat, straight bangs and the short hair hanging down on both sides.

"Because I feel that you will get a not-so-pleasant nickname because of this look in the future."

Linghua blinked and pressed her fingertip against the bangs on her forehead: "There shouldn't be anything wrong with my look, right? I've always looked like this since I was little."

Fanes gestured with his hand to indicate the straight line on her forehead: "How should I put it, it just looks a bit lacking in liveliness. If you could make a slight change to your bangs, or add some layers on the sides, it would look much lighter overall."

Linghua stared at the spot he was gesturing for a while, then tilted her head: "It lacks a sense of liveliness?"

Fanes paused for a moment, then added, "High emotional intelligence is 'lacking in dynamism.' Low emotional intelligence, on the other hand..."

Faneston paused, his tone as sincere as if stating an objective fact, "like a steel helmet."

Linghua's expression froze for a moment. She raised her hand and touched the edge of her bangs, her fingertips tracing the straight line from left to right, as if using touch to re-examine the hairstyle she had kept for many years.

She wasn't angry; she just tilted her head and thought for a moment before looking up at Fanes: "So, do you have any suggestions?"

Fanes sat on the ground, resting his chin on his hand, and thought for a few seconds before listing a few names for her on his fingers: "I recommend you go to Liyue and find someone named Keqing. Her hairstyle would be a good reference for you—a short, layered style that looks both elegant and not too stiff. Or you could try Wang Xiaomei. Oh, and by the way, whatever you do, don't go to Xin Yan. Her style isn't really your style; you can't pull it off."

Linghua nodded, as if she had carefully memorized all those names. Just as she was about to ask something else, she suddenly sat up straight as if she had remembered something.

She looked up at the direction of the wall of the Shinri-yashiki courtyard, then looked down at the hem and cuffs of her clothes, as if to confirm whether the marks of her climbing over the wall were obvious.

Then Ayaka hurriedly stood up from the ground, brushed the dust and grass clippings off her skirt, and nodded quickly to Fanes: "Um... let's talk next time! If we talk again, my brother will be catching up!"

After being patted on the head by Fanes, the Wind Slime slowly floated up and hovered not far from the ground. Yae no Miko squatted at his feet, watching the white figure run away, her tail swaying gently to her side.