The next morning.
Youying opened his eyes in a daze.
Hiss. Wait, how did I fall asleep?
Oh, it seemed Yae Miko had given him a hug earlier, which had left him a bit smothered and unable to breathe properly.
It was hard not to suspect he had passed out from oxygen deprivation due to being suffocated by her twin peaks.
Still, he made out like a bandit. If he remembered correctly, he had even managed to sneak a hug back with Yae Miko.
Youying looked around. This should be his own room, and the bed was the familiar one he always slept in.
Except today's pillow was unusually soft, and carried a very pleasant fragrance.
Also, the upper half of his field of vision when he opened his eyes was blocked by two mountain peaks.
He looked to the side.
Well, that was a very fair pillow.
"Awake?"
Yae Miko's voice rang in Youying's ear.
A slightly cool hand suddenly slipped into the back of Youying's collar, the chilly touch causing him to sit straight up, instantly jolting him wide awake.
"What are you doing~ Ow."
"Put your little chicken feet away, Xiao Heizi."
Giving Youying a deliberate look of mild disgust, Yae Miko shoved him right off the bed.
After banishing Youying to the floor, Yae Miko gently rubbed her snow-white thighs, adjusted her posture from sitting to leaning against the headboard.
"You've already enjoyed a whole night of lap pillows; it's about time I had a rest."
Yae Miko waved a hand lazily at Youying, signaling for him to get out.
"Anyway, you don't have to write your novel today, why don't you go out and wander around?"
Youying was stunned, as this was the first time Yae Miko had proactively let him leave this Grand Narukami Shrine, but he soon nodded with a smile.
"Alright."
"Your novel should have its manuscript reviewed and formatted by Kuroda and the others today. Do you want to swing by Yae Publishing House to make yourself familiar and get things ready for a signed release?"
"I'll go take a look if I have time, but mainly I'll just stroll around casually. A signed release can wait, it's too much trouble."
Youying walked slowly toward the door, sliding the paper screen gently shut.
"Yesterday's matter... thank you... get some rest."
Hearing the young man's slightly embarrassed voice, Yae Miko, who had already closed her eyes, wore a faint smile at the corner of her lips—though Youying, having already closed the door, did not see it.
Once outside, Youying headed straight toward... a shrine maiden dressed in shrine maiden attire.
"Oh my, if it isn't Youying-kun. It's rare for you to step out of your room today."Morning, Nana-older sister. Catching Sayu again?"
The person speaking with Youying was none other than Shikanoin Heizou's cousin, Sayu's guardian, and a senior shrine maiden of the Grand Narukami Shrine: Kano Nana.
"She's sleeping over there. It's her day off, so I won't disturb her," Kano Nana pointed at a roly-poly daruma doll beneath a nearby tree. "And Youying?"
"I'm planning to head down the mountain to wander around Inazuma City."
"Such a distant place?" Kano Nana deliberately put on an exaggerated look of surprise. "Normally you wouldn't even venture five meters outside your room."
"Uh... I was busy with other things before. Now that I have some free time, I just wanted to go out and look around."
Youying was speechless. If Yae Miko hadn't been squeezing the life out of him all this time, he wouldn't have left such a deeply rooted impression as a hardcore shut-in among the shrine maidens of the Grand Narukami Shrine."Right, putting that aside for a moment, Nana-sister, actually I wanted to find you about something before going down the mountain." Youying rubbed his fingers together sheepishly. "Um... could you lend me some Mora..."
"Bringing up such a relationship-damaging topic right off the bat?" Kano Nana feigned anger. "How much?"
"Uh, can I?"
Youying made a careful estimation of Teyvat's prices (which this text roughly pegged at a 1:1 ratio) and spoke.
"Hmm... Actually, if you really need Mora, it would probably be much more convenient to charge it to the shrine's official accounts under Lady Yae's name, and you could even get a bit extra."
"Could you lend it to me under your private name? I'd rather not let Yae Miko know, please." Youying pressed his palms together and begged Kano Nana. "My light novel will be released in a couple of days, and I'll pay you back as soon as the royalties come in. If all else fails, I'll find some free time later and work off the debt."
"Oh is that so, don't want Yae Miko to know." Kano Nana deliberately emphasized Yae Miko's name with a mischievous smirk. "Alright, alright, I know you've been busy writing novels this whole time, and Kuroda from Yae Publishing House has even been coming around asking us shrine maidens who on earth wrote this novel."
"Thanks, Nana-sister!"
"Take it, take it. Don't stand on ceremony with your sister."
"Though come to think of it, will just borrowing Mora from me be enough? That'll barely cover a round-trip carriage ride from here to Inazuma City, you know?"
Kano Nana suddenly remembered something and spoke up. "Do you even know the way to Inazuma City? I remember Lady Yae saying you aren't from Inazuma. If you don't take a carriage to Inazuma City, walking from here might take you until dark."
"Ah, is it that far?"
Youying truly hadn't expected the distance from the Grand Narukami Shrine to Inazuma City to be so vast. Although he had clearly felt that the shrine was much larger than it appeared in the game during his time since crossing over, he honestly hadn't expected the actual scale to be amplified this much.
"Fine." Kano Nana clapped a hand to her forehead, seeing instantly that Youying was completely clueless.
"Borrow this for now. It's exclusively for internal use within the Grand Narukami Shrine. If you take this to the relay station, there will be a dedicated carriage to give you a free ride to and from Inazuma City."
Kano Nana pulled a fox-mask token out of her pocket.
"Wuwu...Thank you, Nana-older sister. Youying has wandered half his life, regretting only that he never met a wise lord. If you don't object, I am willing to..."
"Alright, alright, stop acting the fool." Nana waved a hand. "Go early and return soon."
"Mm-hmm!"
And so, with only a handful of Mora in his pocket, Youying enjoyed the privilege of a publicly funded trip, boarding a carriage to Inazuma City. Even so, by the time he arrived, it was already lunchtime.
"I have to say, it's much bigger than in the game." Youying muttered to himself as he walked down the main street of Inazuma City.
Inazuma City as Youying currently experienced it felt several times larger than in the game. Although it still followed a layout with only a single main street, the sides were no longer just two rows of simple one-story houses; behind them stood residential dwellings and various other buildings. Still, overall it was quite small compared to his past life on Blue Star.
The first thing he saw upon entering the city was the familiar Naganohara Fireworks. One of our fathers-in-law, Naganohara Ryuunosuke, was currently sitting leisurely at the storefront waiting for business.
However, Youying had no intention today of getting acquainted with that fiery young girl and Teyvat's happiest bandage-wearer.
After simply resolving his lunch at Kiminami Restaurant not far from the fireworks shop, Youying headed to the first stop of today's Inazuma City tour: Yae Publishing House.
Well... how should he put it?
The Yae Publishing House he saw today seemed rather different from the one in his impression.
In the past, Yae Miko had frequently bragged about how immensely popular her Yae Publishing House was. Although that certainly contained some exaggeration, Youying still had a good grasp of the weight held by both Yae Publishing House and Yae Miko.
Yet the scene inside the shop today... could only be described as desolate.
"That shouldn't be right... While it's understandable that there aren't many people right after lunchtime, surely there shouldn't be only one or two customers..."