Another One!

"So you visited the city of Mondstadt, huh. You've been missing for quite a while, Hu Tao... Wait...but does that mean you've seen the dragon!? How big was it? Was it majestic? Everyone in Liyue was talking about it!"

Xiangling exclaimed in excitement.

Iris, who seemed not to care about anything in the world at all, finally perked up about a topic that interested her.

Hearing that the townspeople of other city than Mondstadt talked about her, almost made her feel proud.

Yomite noticed it and grinned, (Of all the things in the world, she only cares about food and how people talk about her past.)

"It was huge! Twenty times the size of your house!" Hu Tao replied, "We fought it for about an hour and finally managed to beat it! It was tough!"

"Wow! No way! You actually fought with it!? Aw shucks! It's a shame I wasn't there with you...I could have collected all the meat from it...Imagine how big a steak a dragon that huge would make!" Xiangling replied excitedly as she wiped the saliva from her mouth.

In Liyue, she was the most renowned chef.

The pinnacle of cooking and only a few of chefs came close.

Getting her hands on the rare meat of a dragon, would for sure make birth to a new ideas and delicious delicacies of her own.

If it was as huge as described, she could make a hotpot for months on end!

Collecting exotic ingredients was, everything in the world to her.

It was one of the main reasons she was so passionate about cooking, as well as what motivated her to become a chef in the first place.

From what Yomite roughly knew from games, the flesh of dragons was tough, but with her Pyro Vision, and the skill in cooking she proclaimed to have, she would probably be able to turn it into tasty meal.

"Imagine eating a Dragon...it must taste so good...I can just imagine the meat sizzling on my stove..."

Xiangling's almost went to a dreamlike state...

"..."

As her words fell, however, Iris shuddered and went to hide behind Yomite who only laughed at her reaction.

Iris loved eating more than anything, but it never occurred to her, someone might consider 'her' as the food...

"Don't worry, I won't let anyone eat you."

Upon hearing his words, she relaxed a bit, but still showed a hint of hostility and caution towards Xiangling in her eyes...

She finally understood why her Master tried to hide her identity and the fact that she was a Dragon from others as much as possible.

It was to protect her from being eaten!

There were weird people all around the world, and if they knew of her identity, they might try to find her and raise trouble...

Unwanted attention was the last thing she wanted after entering this peaceful period of her life...

"Well, it was nice to see you after so long, Hu Tao. I'm glad you're okay. I thought something happened to you after those... rumours..."

Xiangling didn't elaborate on what the rumors were, but Hu Tao seemed to be aware.

Yomite never really heard her talk all that much about her hometown, but it was obvious to him, she was pretty infamous.

"Thank you guys for helping me out with the bad men! I really appreciate it, but I should be getting back to cooking. I still have about twenty customer orders to finish before midnight, and it's already pretty late. So, see you guys!"

She bid them farewell and motioned for her pet panda Guoba to come with her.

"Let's go home Guoba!"

But Guoba didn't move.

"Guoba? Is something wrong?"

"♪!" The little panda jumped excitedly and hugged Yomite's leg for a moment before running towards her and waving back at him.

"Wow, it seems that Guoba likes you a lot! That's strange, he usually doesn't act like this..." Xiangling pondered.

"He's cute. Maybe the cuddles helped?"

Lumine giggled while looking at Paimon, "Paimon also has a thing for receiving affection. She is very well behaved once Party Leader does a certain thing..."

"L-Leave Paimon out of this! It's not like that!"

Paimon was on the verge of crying from embarrassment.

(For some reason, pets were almost always friendly towards me...can't say the same about children though...Come to think of it, I might be able to figure out stuff like this. Maybe I can check his stats...but would Tempus of the Heart even work on animals...? I want to know.)

———————

Name: Guoba♪ (Marchosius)

Age: 1 (4500+)

Title: God Of The Stove, Patron God Of The Soil

Occupation: None (Past Occupation - One Of The Gods Of The Late Guili Assembly)

Hobby: Sleeping, eating, cooking

Likes: Chilly peppers

Dislikes: Water

Dream: None

Current mood: Happy

Relationship Level: 7 - Fondness

State of Relationship: Tummy Rubber

———————

(Huh??? Pardon?? What did I just read!?)

Yomite rubbed his eyes.

He must have been tired...It was almost night, after all...

(God of Stove??? Another God!? How is this possible! We weren't in this city for even an hour and we already encountered two Gods!? Are you joking with me!? What is this place!?)

He gazed at the Panda with disbelief, then glanced at Xiangling.

(She owns...a Pet God? Is she a God as well? How many Gods will we meet while staying here...Liyue is dangerous...)

Yet none of the two Gods seemed to be the one they were currently looking for...

His name was Morax, or something like that, and their names didn't fit the description provided.

Although he heard from Venti that Morax changed forms frequently depending on the situation, but he always had bright amber eyes in any form he took, which could help them identify the God in question.

From a young man, to an old woman, or even a Dragon, Morax could do it all. Apparently, even gender wasn't an issue.

Staring at the leaving figure of the girl and the panda, Yomite quickly checked Xiangling's status as well, preparing himself to see something outrageous again.

———————

Name: Mao Xiangling

Age: 15

Title: Chef de Cuisine

Occupation: A Chef Prodigy

Hobby: Cooking, collecting rare ingredients.

Likes: Any exotic ingredients

Dislikes: Nothing

Dream: To become the best chef in the world

Current mood: Happy/Intrigued

Relationship Level: 5 - Acquaintance

State of Relationship: Just Met

———————

(So at least she's not a God...) Yomite sighed in relief, (Still, how come a God is her pet?)

Yet another question was left unanswered...