After a few weeks of relatively calm sailing across the open seas, we finally arrived at one of the islands of Inazuma. Specifically Narukami Island, at a small port-town connected to the main city of Inazuma. It was late afternoon when we arrived, and after a last celebratory meal with our temporary allies, Lumine and I went out to find an inn we could stay at for the night.
That'd been the plan at least. But it seemed we weren't the only ones eager to make use of Inazuma's now opened borders. The few inns the town had were completely filled with people—either those who'd come to Inazuma from another region, or locals who were ready to leave their homeland to view the wider world.
As such, we eventually decided to camp in the wilderness for the night. Thankfully, we were more than ready for such an occasion, and we quickly made our own campsite for the evening-
"Relatively calm, my ass." Lumine snarked from behind me.
I snorted and quickly pulled my hand away from my scroll, unwilling to accidentally soil the scroll with my inked brush. "I offer no lie." I said simply.
She stared at me, completely unimpressed. "You fished up an adult dragon. One that was almost as big as our ship." She kept staring. "And you did it three times."
My cheeks colored. "I like fishing, alright!?" I huffed. "And how could I ever expect such a thing to occur? The sea was out to get me, I tell you!"
She wasn't wrong though. Though we weren't part of the captain's crew, we still had to contribute somehow. And since I liked to fish, I decided to see if I could bring any catch to lighten the load on the ship's food cargo.
Of course, I knew that my System seemed strangely incapable of catching any normal fish, but I paid it no mind. After all, though my catches have been strange, they were still things one could eat. Or at least I assumed so—I've never actually tried to dissect and eat one of my catches.
Yet somehow, the ocean blew my expectations away by making me catch an adult sea dragon. The first time I did, the ship had gone into full panic. Lumine had quickly abandoned her task and leapt to save the day, cleaving the dragon's head apart with a few well-placed swings.
While the dragon had caused no harm to the ship or any of the sailors, I still apologized to the captain. It might've been a fluke, but it was still my hands that reeled it up.
Naturally, we then ate the dragon. It tasted…strange, but not entirely unpleasant.
I'd initially thought it was a fluke and tried again a few days later, only to fish up another adult sea dragon. I was more than ready this time and unleashed my own [Swords Dance], cutting the dragon into chunks of meat. The captain had stared at me with slack jaws, and I returned a small wink. "No adventurer can be left useless in any situation." I'd told him, and he'd laughed and patted me on the back.
And a few days before arriving in Inazuma, I'd fished another adult sea dragon. By that point, the ship's crew could only stare at me and wonder if I was either unlucky or extremely lucky. After all, who could ever claim that they'd fished up three sea dragons in just the span of a few weeks?
I didn't include that in my catalogs, of course. As if I'd ever note that down.
"Sure, sure." Lumine shrugged as she sat down on her log, pulling the skewered meat she'd been holding over the fire. "Honestly, I thought I'd been transferred back to the Grand Line or something when I saw that." She shivered as she mentioned that. "Urgh, that wasn't a great time."
I raised an eyebrow. "The Grand Line?"
She smiled slightly. "A place in one of the worlds I visited." She took a bite from her cooked skewer. "A planet completely covered by water. The Grand Line was one of the more dangerous places, filled with all sorts of dangers." She took another bite. "Left pretty quickly once the World Government began hunting us down though."
A world completely covered in oceans, is it? "What a fascinating world." I said.
She laughed dryly. "Yeah, that's a fitting word, I guess." She sighed. "I had some cool stuff from that world, but," She opened and closed her hand several times. Nothing appeared. "You know."
I nodded. The seal the Heavenly Principles had placed on Lumine had shut off her own Inventory, and with it all the items she had stored inside it. She now had the Space she got from a Talent Scroll to compensate, but her Space was practically barren when compared to her original Inventory.
"We'll get it back." I promised her. "All of it."
She smiled. "Mm. I know we will."
We fell into a pleasant quiet after that. Lumine busied herself with cooking another skewer, while I continued nibbling on the pork bun I pulled out from my Inventory. The grass around us swayed in the passing winds. Our campfire kept burning steadily, painting our surroundings a gentle orange.
Soon enough, the evenings turned to night. I returned to writing down my experiences during the voyage, with a small lantern placed beside me to compensate for the extinguished campfire. Lumine was already curled up beneath her blanket, yawning softly as she gazed at the stars.
I glanced at her. At the way she occasionally nodded off here and there. "There is no need for you to remain awake, you know?" I smiled. "I can keep watch during the night."
She hummed. "You sure?"
I nodded. "Absolutely."
She smiled. "G'night then." She mumbled with a smile. Her eyes closed, and in just seconds, she was fully asleep.
I shook my head slightly. It always impressed me how quickly Lumine could fall asleep. No matter what situation she was placed in, regardless of the time, she'd easily fall asleep at her own leisure. It was likely a skill she'd picked up from her adventures across various worlds.
I was a little envious, in truth. I could only sleep whenever my exhaustion caught up. Whenever I tried sleeping to pass the time, I'd always feel this irrational fear of waking up and suddenly finding that hundreds of years had gone by.
I suppose it was a fear I'd gained when I woke up to find that 17 years had passed after Osial's passing, but it was still somewhat embarrassing.
…Well, enough of that.
I returned to writing on my scroll, now beginning on the part when we first arrived at the small port town. I made sure to keep my writing as concise and clear as possible, though I couldn't help but slip a few little jokes and rhymes here and there. I couldn't help it really—I tended to write similarly to how I spoke, I suppose.
Soon I got to the part where I planned to describe how Narukami Island looked at first glance, and I had to pause.
Because, for how beautiful the scenery was, the port town itself was in rough shape. It was clear that many of the buildings had been rebuilt recently, and their makeship was dodgy at best. It was another reason why we opted to sleep in the wilds—we didn't want to wake up and find out the room had collapsed in on itself.
Many of the locals were distrustful of us at best, and outright hostile at worst. Thankfully the captain was there to help smooth things out, and I eventually managed to win them over using my enhanced Charisma, but it still showed that this was a nation fresh from great conflict. Still, Lumine and I had expected this, and so neither of us were deterred from further exploring-
Just then, I heard something, and I stopped writing. I sat there for a good minute, with the flickering lantern light next to me. But when I heard nothing else, I hummed. "Come out, you two." I said out loud. "I promise thee no harm. That I promise to the gods."
Silence followed for some time, before I heard something rustling. I turned around to see a pair of children approach, having come out from a nearby bush.
I raised an eyebrow. I didn't recognize these two from the port town we'd left. Their clothes were filthy, and no better than stitched rags. Even compared to the people in that port town they looked dire, which meant they likely weren't locals.
Interesting.
I smiled. "And who might you two be?"
One of the children—a boy in his early teens—glared at me. "Why do you care, foreigner?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Of course I would care. How could I ignore two children who'd been spying on us for the past few minutes?"
The boy staggered back, while the other child squeaked. "H-How did you know?" She whispered shakily, terrified. The boy quickly stepped between me and her, his glare turning heated as he growled.
I hummed. "My ears have always been sharp." I jabbed a thumb at the still-sleeping Lumine. "My friend over there once compared mine ears to an owl."
"The hell is even an owl?" The boy spat out.
I sighed. Right, I'd forgotten that. Even in Liyue owls were a rare animal; these kids had likely never even heard of an owl. "A night-watching bird." I explained simply, before I smiled. "That aside, there is no need for such aggression." I raised my hands in surrender. "As you can see, I carry no weapons with me. I mean no harm."
That's a lie, of course. I could pull my sword out faster than these kids could blink. But they didn't need to know that.
A tense silence followed, with both kids staring at me as if I was some kind of monster. I waited patiently, maintaining my smile. All while the lantern by my side flickered gently.
And then Lumine began to snore. Loudly.
The kids nearly jumped when they heard her, while I couldn't quite stop myself from snorting. I suppose that's a good way to break the tension. "I truly mean it." I said, still struggling not to laugh as Lumine continued to snore. "I have no reason to bring any misfortune upon you two."
"Y-You mean it?" The girl eventually whispered, some semblance of hope in her eyes.
"Hanami!" The boy chided.
"I do." I said, placing a fist across my chest. "I promise so, or else I could never call myself an Adventurer ever again."
"...adventurer?" This time, it was the boy that whispered.
I nodded, smiling. "Indeed!" I puffed out my chest. "I have arrived from the lands of Liyue, and when my comrade and I heard that Inazuma is now open, we took no time to sail." I grinned. "After all, what adventurer could ever resist the temptation of an entirely new region to explore?"
"Liyue?" The girl frowned in thought. "T-That's the closest region to ours, right?"
I gently nodded. "It is. Liyue is West from here, across the vast waters."
"Wow…"
Now that the tension had mostly melted, I gestured at the log Lumine had previously sat on. "Well, why don't you two sit down. I'll likely remain awake for quite some time, and it'll be terribly lonely to remain alone during then." When the kids stayed silent, I discreetly pulled out two pork buns from my Inventory. "I have food to share if you want-"
Before I could even finish, the boy reached and grabbed the buns, before dragging the girl over to the log, giving one of the buns over, and ate. The girl was similarly voracious and began devouring the buns like there was no tomorrow.
I pursed my lips slightly. Right, these kids were probably starving. I understood in my head that food was likely scarce due to the recent war, but I'd never really encountered famine and starvation before. Liyue was lucky in that regard—Morax and Guizhong made sure that the people suffered as little as possible even during the height of the Archon War.
Well, good thing I'm here now.
"May I ask why you're out here?" I asked softly.
"No." The boy flatly said as he continued eating.
I chuckled at his directness. "Very well." I went quiet for a moment before I tried again. "What if I share mine first? Would you be willing then?"
This time, the boy considered it. And after a few moments, he nodded. "Fine."
I beamed, and without further ado, began retelling my Adventure to that alternate future Teyvat, though I made sure to keep the details vague. My [Mystical Storyteller] Perk quickly showed itself, and soon both the children were enraptured as I spun the tale of the Mondstadt's survival.