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

Yae no Miko won over Kuro with just a piece of fried tofu.

The sequence of events is quite simple: while Fanes was still racking his brains about how to mediate the tension between the fox on his head and the dragon in front of him, Yae no Miko jumped off his head, landing with a graceful sway of her tail.

Yae no Miko walked up to the big head of Kuro that was still resting on the dock pillar, looked up at it for two seconds, then turned around and ran back to the backpack that Fanes had placed on the edge of the dock. She used her front paws to unzip it, took out the glass jar that hadn't been finished eating, and dragged it all the way to Kuro.

It patted the lid of the jar with its paw, making a crisp sound, then squatted down next to the jar and looked up at Xiao Hei, its purple pupils carrying a sense of "This is for you, consider it a greeting gift."

The small black, amber-colored vertical pupil slowly moved from Yae no Miko's face to the glass jar, then slowly moved back to Yae no Miko's face. Then it lowered its head and sniffed the jar.

The aroma of the fried tofu jar remained strong even after being sealed overnight, a blend of soy sauce and caramelized sugar that wafted through the glass into its nostrils.

Blackie's tail twitched slightly behind it, a small movement, but much gentler than its previous taut angle. It opened its mouth, and Yae no Miko pushed the jar towards it with its front paws. Blackie gently picked up the jar, tilted its head back, and poured the fried tofu pieces inside into its mouth one by one, chewing them. Then it put down the empty jar, looked down at the pink ball of fur squatting in front of it, and let out a low, less hostile purr from its throat.

Yae no Miko remained crouched without retreating, her tail slowly sweeping behind her, as if to say, "There's no problem between us now."

Fanes stood by, watching the entire negotiation process unfold in less than three minutes, feeling his worldview being reshaped once again. Columbia walked around and remarked, "That fox is quite clever."

Yae no Miko's ears twitched slightly. She didn't turn around, but the tip of her tail swayed gently behind her.

Fanes crouched down and pulled Yae no Miko back into his arms, then said to the others, "Alright, it's settled. Why did you two suddenly come to Inazuma? Didn't you say you wouldn't have time until the second batch of equipment went into mass production?"

Sandonne unfolded a corner of the rolled-up drawing in his hand, revealing several new circuit layout diagrams: "Production is finished ahead of schedule. I didn't have much to do in Zhidong, so I came over to check on the actual usage of your terminal equipment. And by the way..."

Sandoni paused for a moment, his gaze drifting to the row of shallow beaches where the tide was receding. "Take a break."

Columbia had reached the beach, a few strands of her light-colored hair fluttering in the wind. She turned back to look at the people standing there, a slight smile playing on her lips beneath her mesh veil.

"Sandogne, look! The water over there is so clear! And the water temperature should be just right this time of year!"

Colombia raised her hand and beckoned to Sandonne, "Come over here and try it! You can't tell anything from standing there."

Sandonne stood still. She looked down at her boots, then up at the receding tide revealing damp sand and seashells in the shallows, and pursed her lips slightly: "...I can see that from here. No need to go down."

Colombia tilted her head, her posture conveying a sense of "Are you making excuses?": "Why don't you come down? Are you afraid of getting wet? Or afraid of getting your clothes wet? The water is shallow here, only up to your calves at most."

Columbia's tone carried a naive curiosity, but Fanes, standing on the shore, always felt that there was a hint of deliberate intent hidden in her eyes through the mesh veil.

Sandonne remained standing, not moving: "That's enough."

Columbia walked back from the shallows, her wet feet leaving a trail of shallow footprints in the sand, and a few water stains on the hem of her skirt.

Standing in front of Sandoni, he leaned slightly closer to her face, his voice still soft and gentle: "But it's not very interesting for me to go down alone. Come with me, even for just a little while."

Sandonne's blue eyes met those dark eyes for about two seconds beneath the mesh veil, then she took off one boot and placed it on the dry rock beside her, then took off the other, her movements stiff and carrying a sense of forced compromise.

She lifted her skirt and stepped into the shallows. The water just reached her ankles, and the coolness of the seawater made her shrink her neck slightly.

Columbia followed her a couple more steps into the deeper water, then turned around and smiled at Sandonne: "The water temperature here is a bit better than over there, come and try it."

Yae no Miko looked up from in Fanes' arms at the two figures slowly moving into the shallows on the beach, then looked up at Fanes' chin and asked a question in the fox language that Fanes could understand.

Are they two female colleagues?

Fanes looked down at her, then at the two figures walking side by side on the beach toward the shallows: "That's right, they're female colleagues. Just like you and Aying."

Yae no Miko's ears visibly twitched when she heard the second half of the sentence, and the languid look in her purple pupils froze for a moment. She pressed her paw against Fanes's wrist, her voice slow and deliberate, as if she were carefully choosing her words.

"Little brother, I feel like there's something hidden in your words. I'm all alone right now..."

Fanes looked down at her, his tone flat: "You are not alone."

Yae no Miko's ears twitched again, and her voice rose slightly: "Oh? Does little brother mean that you still have me?"

Fanes reached out and gently patted her on the head, not too hard: "No, I mean you're a fox, not a person."

Yae no Miko's tail tensed for a moment, then relaxed. The deliberately softened light in her purple pupils disappeared, replaced by a knowing "Fine, you win" expression. She rested her chin back on her front paws and didn't continue the topic.

Columbia had already walked back from the shallows, water still dripping from the hem of her skirt, but she didn't care at all.

He knelt down in front of Fanes, his eyes closed, but his entire face was precisely turned toward the fluffy pink ball in Fanes' arms.

"Little Twelve, where did you come from, fox? Can I pet you?"

Fanes looked down at the Yae no Miko in his arms. The Yae no Miko did not resist in his arms, but just squatted quietly.

"Of course, no problem."

Columbia reached out and gently touched the softest tuft of hair on Yae no Miko's head, her fingertips tracing down her ear to the back of her neck, her movements as gentle as if she were touching something fragile.

When Yae no Miko felt the touch, her ears twitched slightly but she didn't pull away, her posture conveying a sense of indulgence, as if to say, "I'm already being lenient by letting you touch me."

After touching it a few times, Columbia looked up at Sandonne, who was standing a few steps away, wiping the sand off her feet with a handkerchief. Her tone was still that innocent and naive sincerity.

"Sandonie, you can pet it too. Don't you like these furry little animals?"

Sandonne paused in wiping his feet: "None of your business."

Columbia stood up and took two steps toward her, her wet footprints leaving a trail of dark marks in the sand: "Sandonie, are you shy?"

Sandoni folded the handkerchief he had used to wipe his feet and put it back in his pocket. He turned his head away from her, his voice drifting over from the side of his face: "No."