Settling In

Though she was only around 108cm tall, Paul's body froze the moment he met the gaze of the purple-haired, amethyst-eyed girl staring back at him. Her long, singular braid and predominately lavender Maid outfit gave her a charming appearance, but her glowing purple pupils radiated an intensity that made Paul feel like a massive dragon was staring him down.

With Paul failing to respond to her question, the purple-haired girl looked past him to take in her surroundings. Everyone else present was someone she vaguely recognized, so, by process of elimination, the boy standing in front of her had to be her Master.

Despite possessing knowledge of the Asura Kingdom and its culture, the petite, purple-haired girl surprised Paul by kneeling, placing the tips of her fingers on the ground, and lowering her head until it did the same as she said, "Raiden Ei humbles herself before the brilliance of her Master, Paul Notos Greyrat. As I am inept in the arts of servitude, my body and sword are yours to command..."

Freed from his insensibility the moment Ei looked away, Paul exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding before breathing in and patting his chest. Though she certainly didn't look like it in her current form, the little girl bowing before him was one of the Seven Archons. More specifically, she was the Electro(Thunder) Archon, the Shogun of Inazuma, and the greatest swordswoman in all of Teyvat.

"You need not prostrate yourself before me. I may be the Champion, but not through any merit of my own. I would-"

Raising her head, Ei interrupted Paul's words, her voice paradoxically calm yet penetrating as she said, "Forgive my impertinence, but I cannot permit anyone, not even my Master, to insult my Master. Merit or not, Master Paul is the Champion ordained by the Gods. Until such a time as our world has been restored, I will honor you as my Lord and Master."

"..."

Realizing he wouldn't be able to argue with someone who was obstinate to the point of closing off her country and isolating herself from everyone she cared about, Paul just closed his eyes and exhaled a sigh through his nose.

("At least I managed to acquire another Archon...")

Though Ei was clearly going to be an issue, Paul would have to be a fool not to realize how lucky he was to obtain her. Zhongli was able to defeat Advanced users of the Water God Style while holding back. Considering her power in the game, Ei could conceivably attain the title of Sword God in her teens...

Recalling how Ei summoned her sword in the game, Paul's gaze lowered to the exposed skin between her collar and Kimono-like Maid attire. She had a sizeable section of exposed skin, but, unlike her adult counterpart, the only thing there were hopes and dreams.

Noticing Paul's gaze, Ei reached up to touch her clavicle, her eyes losing a bit of their luster as she asked, "Does Master require Ei's services...?"

Though he would never imagine himself doing such a thing in his previous world, Paul crossed his wrists to make an 'x' shape as he answered, "No!" in a loud, audibly flustered tone. The last thing he needed was a six-year-old Archon lacking common sense trying to seduce him.

Furrowing her brows, Ei was about to ask if Paul found her appearance somehow lacking. As far as she knew, she was one of the most sought-after women in her previous world. His reaction didn't make sense until she realized the present condition of her body.

"Ah...this complicates matters..."

Believing she had nothing to offer but her body, blade, and Vision, a conflicted look appeared on Ei's face. Outside the Plane of Euthymia, she couldn't even dress without the assistance of several attendants. When it came to things like cooking, cleaning, and laundry, she was what her best friend referred to as a Natural Disaster. Everything she cooked turned into black or purple sludge, and the last time she tried to do laundry, her entire wardrobe needed to be replaced...

Before Ei could suggest something improper, Paul interrupted her pensive silence, stating, "You shouldn't concern yourself with such matters in the present. For now, I am happy just having you around. The Electro Element is my favorite among the seven, and your insights into swordsmanship will be instrumental to mine and several others' growth."

Smiling in response to Paul's words, Ei removed the gently pulsing Electro Vision from her hips, holding it in both hands as she lowered her head and said, "Raiden Ei presents the Electro Vision to her Master..."

Adopting a wry smile of his own, Paul reached forward to receive the glowing purple crystal with three, lighter purple, blade-like swirls in the center. The moment he accepted it, the hairs on his arms immediately stood on end. At the same time, his hair became noticeably sharper as bright purple electricity danced between the digits of his left hand.

"Wow...it feels like my entire body is surging with power..."

Thinking Paul was speaking to her, Ei nodded her head, explaining, "The Electro Element has the side-effect of supercharging the user's body and drastically increasing their speed at the cost of stamina. Once Master has become more proficient in its application, you will be able to infuse it into your weapons to increase their sharpness and paralyze your opponents."

Unable to contain himself, Paul muttered, "Nice..." before pulling out the pendant bearing his Geo Vision. He could only channel a single Vision at a time, but nothing prevented him from wearing multiple. If they weren't the size of golf balls, he might have had them implanted into a gauntlet to be worn on his left hand...

Seeing the Geo Vision attached to Paul's necklace, Ei squinted her eyes in dissatisfaction. She didn't say anything, but she would prefer it if Paul left his Geo Vision someplace secure, preferably the bottom of the ocean, so he wouldn't be tempted to use it in place of her Electro Vision. Mastering even a single Vision was a challenge in and of itself; attempting to master several would ultimately undermine your progress.

"Master, it might be imp-"

Before Ei could recommend Paul remove Zhongli's Geo Vision, the latter stepped in, saying, "Master Paul, the time for our return is long overdue. If we tarry much longer, the stability of the Intersection of Fate will become compromised."

Though he picked up on the fact that Zhongli had intentionally interrupted Ei, Paul quickly nodded in affirmation, saying, "You're right. Let's gather up the remaining weapons and return to the estate. Tomorrow is bound to be a busy day, and we still need to sort out sleeping arrangements..."

Following his words, Paul surprised Ei by offering his hand to help her rise. She had been on her knees since the moment she first knelt down. While it didn't appear to bother her, Paul couldn't imagine Ei complaining even if he ordered her to kneel on a stone washboard for several hours.

After staring at Paul's outstretched hand for several tense moments, Ei eventually extended her own to accept it, remarking, "Master Paul is a man of righteous character..."

Smiling wryly in response to Ei's words, Paul helped her to her feet before promptly releasing her surprisingly cool hand. It wasn't comparable to ice, but Paul felt like Ei's hands were markedly smoother and colder than the average person's. It was almost like touching cool, polished marble veiled in fine silk...

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After exiting the Intersection of Fate, a short 'discussion' resulted in Jean being appointed as Paul's Chambermaid. Ei, Yaoyao, and even Xiangling nominated themselves for the position, but Zhongli promptly denied their requests using her authority as Chief Maid.

Though Ei also took issue with Zhongli's status as Chief Maid, she quickly withdrew her objection upon learning what the position entailed. Despite being the ruler of a country, she was terrible at things like administration and management. She could settle disputes well enough but preferred to delegate such responsibilities to others.

In the end, Ei was given the crucial role of occupying the tiny servant's quarters attached to Paul's room. If an assailant attacked in the middle of the night, she was expected to emerge and aid him at a moment's notice. This, unfortunately, left Jean without a place to stay, so it was ultimately decided she would sleep in Paul's bed after he rejected the proposals to have her sleep at his feet or on the floor.

With Paul's roommate and bedfellow decided, Zhongli used her authority to assign rooms and duties to everyone within the group. Xiangling and Yaoyao were made roommates and given the task of preparing meals for the entire group. Xingqiu was appointed as Paul's Secretary and Scribe, while Xinyan and Kaeya would be helping Zhongli perform duties such as cleaning and laundry. As for their living arrangement, Kaeya was forced to share a room with Zhongli while Xinyan and Xingqiu, at least for the time being, had servants' quarters of their own...

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In an effort to ignore the girl sleeping less than an arm's length away from him, Paul turned away and tried to focus on counting sheep. Instead, his mind kept replaying the sequence of events that resulted in Jean sharing his bed.

Breaking Paul from his reverie, a rustling sound occurred behind him as the faint warmth radiating nearby became markedly more prominent. In fact, he could feel it directly as Jean had moved closer to him, seemingly drawn to his body heat. It was currently the eighth day of the first month of the year, so it was nearly 10 degrees even within the relative comfort of the Notos Estate. Paul had a small hearth within his room, but there were numerous reasons why it couldn't be lit at night.

"Jean...?"

"Mmm..."

Seemingly stirring due to Paul's words, Jean asked, "Is something the matter...?" in a sleepy tone.

"..."

Not sure how he should tell the sleepy beauty to move to her side of the bed, Paul ultimately remained silent. Before he summoned Xiangling, Jean and Ganyu were two of the 'characters' Paul was most looking forward to summoning. He had never been the type to crush on anime girls and other kinds of waifus, but he would be lying if he said the designs of characters like Jean, Eula, Ganyu, and Ei didn't leave a lasting impression.

As scummy as it made him feel, Paul couldn't stop himself from thinking about how things might be once he matured. He had no intention of using his authority to compel any of the girls to obey him, but there would have to be something wrong with him if he felt nothing surrounded by women who made the models in his previous world look mundane in comparison.

With Jean appearing to show an interest in him, Paul was worried that he might jeopardize his chances if he pushed her away. Thus, even though it felt wrong, he didn't say anything even as she snuggled up close enough that he could feel her head and nose against his back. Instead, he closed his eyes and continued counting sheep until well after midnight...

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"You're not going to try and stop me? I figured that was the whole reason you forced me to share a room with you."

Without even sparing a glance at the nearly-naked girl gawking at herself in front of a standing mirror, Zhongli answered, "It's your body. Unless our Master has need of it, you are free to do as you please. Just don't let him find out if you want to wander off and...experiment."

After rolling her eyes, the bronze lolita looked over at Zhongli and asked, "What about you? Don't tell me you haven't at least tried 'experimenting' a bit. I mean, I'm not exactly looking forward to getting my guts stirred up, but I've always wondered what it was like to be a woman. If our 'beloved' Master isn't up to the task, can you really blame me for taking matters into my own hands?"

Setting aside the quill she was using to record the day's events, Zhongli turned to meet the young girl's, Kaeya's gaze as she answered, "Better yours than someone who can leverage your actions against our Master..."

Clicking her tongue, Kaeya returned her attention to her mirror image as she lazily droned, "Yeah, yeah, the mission comes first...you're speaking to the choir on that one, sister..."

"Mmm...so long as you remember our duty, then it's okay. Also, if things get particularly difficult, I will assist you. After all, that is the true reason I had us share a room."

Raising her brows, Kaeya intoned an amused, "Oh~?" before turning to face Zhongli with a mischievous smile on her face. In response, the latter revised her previous statement, saying, "Better someone you know than a stranger..."

Unable to contain herself, Kaeya tittered in response to Zhongli's words, her singular blue eye glimmering with amusement as she said, "I retract back my previous misunderstandings. Things just got a hell of a lot more interesting..."

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