Chapter 3 - This Food Is Magical

Upon arriving at the Yashiro Commission manor, Ayaka offered a seat in a guest room to Yae Miko and the shrine maiden follower, but Yae Miko declined in favor of following the stranger to where he would be resting. The decision struck Ayaka as odd, but she nodded before leaving to fetch a nurse. 

Meanwhile, Thoma helped the man lay down on a small bed in a guest room and suddenly realized something.

"Yo, we were so caught up with that meteor that I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Thoma. What's your name?"

"Ivan. Nice to meet you, Thoma."

"So you really are an outlander, then. Cool," Thoma acknowledged with a nod. Then, noticing Ayaka leading a nurse into the room, he gestured toward her and said, "This is the young lady of the Kamisato family and current leader of the Yashiro Commission, Kamisato Ayaka."

"Gotcha," Ivan dully responded. He then met Ayaka's eyes, smiled in a friendly manner, and said, "Nice to meet you, and thanks for allowing me to rest here."

Ayaka smiled and nodded. She instructed the nurse to take care of Ivan but then approached Yae Miko to speak with her quietly off to the side.

Noticing Ivan's inquisitive eyes focusing on the pink-haired shrine maiden, Thoma rubbed his chin and explained, "That shrine maiden is Lady Yae, the head maiden of the Grand Narukami Shrine you might have seen at the top of the nearby mountain."

"Mhm," Ivan casually responded, hiding his heart that fluttered in excitement toward speaking with these colorful characters.

The pink-haired shrine maiden nodded at Ivan with a courteous smile upon hearing Thoma's introduction and said, "It is nice to make your acquaintance, young man."

"Likewise," Ivan replied in a rather subdued manner. He briefly observed the woman who served as one of the mainstays of his main party whenever he found time to play Genshin Impact over the years.

Thoma raised a brow, but otherwise didn't react to Ivan's unusually comfortable response. Yae Miko herself did not react at all. Instead, she maintained a small smile and resumed her quiet pleasantries with Ayaka. The shrine maiden follower, however…

"It would behoove you to speak in a more respectful manner to Lady Yae, mister Ivan. Take it as a friendly word of advice for a foreigner to avoid getting into any trouble."

"Well, consider it considered, then," Ivan mumbled while most of his focus shifted to the cold touch of the nurse checking his pulse. 

The unfamiliar shrine maiden frowned and sighed. She did not say anything else. On the other hand, Thoma smirked at Ivan's unusually relaxed attitude. Yae Miko glanced at him in a thoughtful manner but soon returned her attention to Ayaka. 

"Lady Yae," Ayaka respectfully inquired, "Is there a reason you insisted on following to treat this guy? He doesn't seem particularly injured."

"The young man is cursed."

Thoma wrinkled his brow slightly at the Guuji Yae's instant response. At the same time, the shrine maiden follower widened her eyes at her head shrine maiden's statement. She then narrowed her eyes at Ivan as though confused as to why she could not see any curses.

'For real?' Ivan wondered.

"Will that affect us?" Thoma asked, narrowing his eyes.

Ayaka frowned at the fact that Thoma asked such a thing directly in front of Ivan, but she couldn't blame him outwardly for asking, either.

"Not in the short-term, from what I can tell," Yae Miko answered to assuage the boy's concerns.

"I'm actually cursed, huh?" Ivan mumbled in a curious manner.

"More than just cursed, I would say. There are so many curses in your body that I have no idea how you lived past the age of five," Yae Miko casually replied.

"Huh. Hm... Yeah, that checks out," Ivan said with a resigned chuckle. His eyes looked upward while he reminisced on his life up until this point. 

Frowning, Ayaka commented in a concerned tone, "You don't seem surprised?"

"Not really. I've been wondering about it myself for the last few years. Bad luck follows me everywhere like an obsessed stalker," Ivan commented. Then, he wrinkled his brow. Although he had resigned himself to his fate as time passed, he couldn't help asking Yae Miko, "If it's curses, then are you, as a shrine maiden, able to remove them?"

"Possibly. Once you recover some strength, I will bring you to my shrine, and we will see."

A faint flicker of hope sparked within the depths of Ivan's heart, but he forcefully crushed it down upon noticing it. He didn't want to let himself hope for a better future unless a clear path to reach it revealed itself.

Next to him, a concerned hum distracted him. The nurse, a middle-aged woman, frowned and asked, "Are you sick?"

"I have a few diseases, yes."

Thoma's face paled as he hesitantly asked, "Is it something contagious?"

"No."

A few sighs of relief could be heard in the room at that moment.

Afterward, the nurse said, "You are not injured, but I will bring something to restore your energy."

"Thank you."

According to the nurse's instructions, a plate of normal sakura mochi was brought in. Ivan raised a brow at the fact that they gave him this kind of food for recovery purposes. Nobody else batted an eye, though. 

The moment he tasted the sakura mochi, he almost cried because of how delicious it was. At the same time, he felt something akin to an electrical current racing through his muscles and bones while he ate. By the time he finished, he felt more lively and healthy than he had in years. The tiredness and achiness that wore him down for years practically vanished after a single plate of food. In fact, he wondered if the diseases he had been diagnosed with were even there anymore. 

'Is Genshin Impact food really so magical? Amazing.' 

Upon seeing the stranger enjoying the food, Ayaka's lips curled upward slightly, but then they quivered as though she was trying to hide a smile. 

After the plate of food revived Ivan a bit, Yae Miko asked "Do you feel well enough to go to my shrine now?"

"Maybe? You might need to keep a close eye on me, though. Wouldn't be surprised if a squirrel jumped on my face and knocked me off the mountainside."

"Good enough, then," Yae Miko replied, ignoring the horrified expression on the face of the young lady next to her. Then, she faced Ayaka and said, "Young Miss Kamisato, thank you for allowing me to barge in like this, but I will take the boy away to treat his curse now."

"I- I see. I would love for you to stay and visit, but I suppose the situation does not allow for that. Mister Ivan, it was nice to meet you. Please take care, and may the Almighty Shogun watch over your treatment."

"Erm… thanks, I guess," Ivan replied, tilting his head a little. Then, he bowed forward slightly and added, "I appreciate you taking time out of your day to help me."

"You're welcome."

"What about me?" Thoma asked with a grin.

"Thanks to you as well."

From there, the nurse took away the empty plate. Thoma gave Ivan a set of travel clothes to keep. Ayaka gave them a box of snacks to take with them. While saying goodbye to Thoma and Ayaka, Ivan briefly noticed a hint of reluctance in Ayaka's expression. 

'If I'm going to be stuck here, I might be able to befriend them. Would be nice to have some strong friends if I'm going to live in such a dangerous place.'

With that in his mind, Ivan followed Yae Miko and her shrine maiden follower outside. While meandering up the mountain path, Ivan thought more about his current situation. Although crazy to think that he was currently walking in a foreign world, it didn't really phase him that much. His notoriously bad luck forced him to learn how to roll with the punches of life in order to survive, and this situation was no different. 

'I wonder if I might be able to befriend some of my favorite characters. Ayaka's a nice girl, and she's probably lonely. Yae Miko… she's one of my main's, but she might be a bit of a tougher nut to crack, but she's fun. Thoma… he could be cool, but I never even bothered raising his level, so I know nothing about him outside the main quests that involved him. Hmm… Also, what time period is this even? Did the vision hunt start yet? Guess I'll just listen to conversations to find out. I'm more concerned about these so-called curses right now, anyway.'

And, just like that, while lost in thought, a squirrel fell out of a tree and landed on his face. Yae Miko almost couldn't believe that the boy called his own bad luck ahead of time and chuckled in amusement. Then, a fruit fell from somewhere and exploded on his new clothes. The trip up the mountain became rather eventful for the fun-loving fox woman.