The next day arrived.
Ye Yun and Rios brought the six little ones to Inazuma.
Yesterday, the six little ones saw footage of a prayer spot on TV and wanted to go there to pray.
So, Ye Yun took them to Inazuma, planning to pray at the Grand Narukami Shrine.
When Yae Miko heard Ye Yun had arrived, she personally came out to welcome the six little ones.
The six little ones obediently stood in a line, waiting for Yae Miko to teach them how to pray.
Yae Miko held a fortune-drawing bucket and smiled warmly at the six little ones.
"Children, are you ready?"
The six little ones responded together:
"We're ready!"
Yae Miko handed the fortune-drawing bucket to Klee, who stood at the front.
"Klee, shake it hard."
Klee happily grabbed the bucket and shook it vigorously. Soon, a fortune stick flew out.
Klee excitedly picked up the bamboo stick and looked at it with anticipation.
"A top fortune? Sister Yae, did I get a good one?" Klee tugged at Yae Miko's skirt, her big curious eyes looking up at her.
Yae Miko smiled gently, took the bamboo stick from Klee's hand, and read it.
"Klee's luck is very good today. The stick shows that you will make new friends today."
Upon hearing this, Klee instantly cheered.
"Yay! Klee likes making new friends!"
Yae Miko then drew fortunes for the other five little ones. Their luck was all quite good today, the worst being a good fortune.
Afterward, the six little ones followed Yae Miko to pray under the Sacred Sakura tree. Yae Miko stood in front, and the six little ones awkwardly imitated her movements from behind.
Wherever Yae Miko moved, the six little ones tried to follow.
Yae Miko clasped her hands together, facing away from them.
Bailu tiptoed to look but couldn't see clearly.
"Wait!"
Bailu called for a pause, then ran beside Yae Miko to observe her movements.
"Everyone! Clasp your hands together."
Bailu returned to the group and clasped her hands.
"All right, continue."
Yae Miko found Bailu very adorable and understood why everyone spoiled these little ones so much.
She had heard that an Fatui Harbingers got into trouble with the six little ones and was chased down by General Jingyuan and Dan Heng.
After finishing the prayers, Yae Miko turned to the six little ones.
"All right, children, it's time to pay the offering money."
The six little ones were stunned.
"Huh? You have to pay to pray? Klee didn't know that."
Bailu said.
"That's how it is. On the Immortal Ship, this is the custom."
Upon hearing Bailu, each of the six little ones took out their small wallets containing pocket money given by Ye Yun.
Not much — usually 10,000 Star Coins, 1 million Credit Points, and 1 million Mora.
Each of the six little ones gave Yae Miko 100 Star Coins. Yae Miko smiled as she placed the coins into the donation box.
"Thank you, six little friends, for your offerings."
After praying, the six little ones looked around, planning to play nearby.
"Brother Ye Yun, can Klee play nearby for a little while?"
Ye Yun agreed and asked Rios and Duduco to look after the six little ones.
The six little ones, excited to be allowed, ran around the shrine.
Ye Yun and Yae Miko sat under a pavilion drinking tea.
The six little ones played near the Grand Narukami Shrine, protected by Rios and Duduco.
The six little ones gathered in a circle. Bailu proposed:
"Let's play hide-and-seek!"
Klee, Hook, Qiqi, Diona, and Yaoyao all agreed.
Bailu patted her chest.
"I proposed it, so I'll be 'it.' I'm starting the countdown now!"
Klee, Hook, and the others hurried to run and find hiding spots.
Klee ran under a cherry blossom tree, looked up at the tree, and decided to hide in the branches.
Klee heaved herself up the tree. Once up, she found a doll beside her.
Curious, Klee poked the doll. The doll wobbled.
Klee became interested and pushed it harder. Though it shook violently, the doll didn't fall.
Just as Klee was about to push again, the doll suddenly emitted a puff of smoke, and a girl with a fluffy tail and two smiling ears on her head appeared beside Klee.
"Who are you? Why did you disturb my sleep?"
The girl yawned as she spoke, clearly sleepy.
Klee apologized.
"Sorry, I didn't know the doll was you. What's your name?"
The girl said,
"My name is Sayu."
Klee said,
"Oh~ Sayu, I'm Klee. Nice to meet you. Do you want to play with us? We're playing hide-and-seek."
Sayu shook her head.
"No, I want to sleep. Not getting enough sleep will stunt my growth."
Klee replied,
"Huh? Brother Ye Yun said otherwise. He said you need to exercise to grow taller. Who told you sleep helps you grow?"
Sayu thought for a moment.
"It's what I read in a book."
Klee nodded.
"Then it must be wrong. Brother Ye Yun is right, because he's really tall!"
Hearing that, Sayu instantly chose to believe Klee.
Because her Brother Ye Yun is tall! That means he's an authority! He must know a lot about growing taller.
"All right then, I'll play with you."
Klee happily took Sayu's hand and ran back to call the others.
"Everyone, come here! Klee made a new friend!"
Bailu, Hook, and Diona gathered around.
Klee introduced.
"This is Sayu. She wants to play with us!"
Hook happily welcomed her.
"Welcome, new friend Sayu! I'm Hook, the mighty dark Hook!"
Bailu, Qiqi, Diona, and Yaoyao also greeted Sayu and introduced themselves.
Sayu nodded at the six little ones.
"Mm-hmm, I've got it all. I'm Sayu. What game are we playing?"
Bailu jumped up with hands raised.
"We're playing hide-and-seek! Sayu, do you know how to play?"
Sayu nodded.
"Yes."
Bailu said,
"Good! Then let's start over. The previous round doesn't count."
Then, the six little ones and Sayu played hide-and-seek.
They played all day.
At noon, Ye Yun and the six little ones ate at the Grand Narukami Shrine.
After eating, Ye Yun and Yae Miko took the six little ones and Sayu to play in the forest at the foot of the shrine's mountain.
At dusk, Ye Yun said goodbye to Yae Miko and Sayu, then walked through the teleport gate with the six little ones.
Sayu waved reluctantly at Klee and the others as they left.
Yae Miko, standing nearby, gently rubbed Sayu's little head.
Sayu had the happiest smile Yae Miko had ever seen on her today.
Yae Miko looked toward the teleport gate and made a decision.
"Sayu, go ahead. If you want to play with Klee and the others later, just go."
Sayu's face lit up with joy, and she cheered.
"Thank you, Chief Priestess!"
***
Around 10 p.m.
In the realm, inside the Rose Castle, Klee, Hook, Bailu, Diona, Qiqi, and Yaoyao helped set up a room for Sayu.
Stelle, March 7th, and Sparkle originally wanted to help too, but the seven little ones refused—they insisted on doing it themselves.
After a nice bath, the seven little ones crowded into the cat-shaped sofa in the main hall, watching cartoons.
Sayu leaned against Bailu, her big adorable eyes fixed on the animation on the screen. She had never seen anything like it before and found it very interesting.
After watching for a while, the seven little ones returned to their rooms to sleep.
At the same time.
Jueyun Karst.
Zhongli brought Guizhong to Jueyun Karst, with Hutao accompanying them.
When Cloud Retainer saw Guizhong, she was so stunned she slapped herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
Once she confirmed it really was Guizhong, she was overjoyed—circling around her, examining her from head to toe to see if anything had changed.
Guizhong smiled happily at Cloud Retainer's concern.
"Alright, alright, I'm fine.
Come, show me your inventions over the years—I'll give you some pointers."
Cloud Retainer replied,
"Pointers? My mechanical skills are far superior to yours now. You want to give me pointers? I should be the one teaching you!"
Just as the two were about to enter the realm, Hu Tao suddenly pulled out a ledger.
"Cloud Retainer, hold on. I've got something to discuss with you."
Cloud Retainer turned around at Hutao's words.
"What business does the Hall Master have with me?"
Hutao cleared her throat.
"You, as the repair technician for the internet café, were absent or late 27 days this month.
Also! You secretly took 10 machines from the café to 'practice' on and ended up breaking them all.
This month, you won't be getting any pay—and you owe me 200,000 Mora. How do you plan to pay?"
Cloud Retainer was dumbfounded.
"Uh, Hall Master, let me explain. In technical professions like ours, we need to keep practicing to gain experience, don't you agree?"
Hutao was speechless.
"Yeah, but I haven't seen your skills improve at all!"
Guizhong chimed in teasingly.
"Didn't you say your skills were top-notch? Why are you breaking things instead of fixing them?"
Cloud Retainer protested.
"Those machines are advanced technology from another world! It's not that easy to learn how to fix them!"
Guizhong replied,
"I can fix them! I won't make promises, but give me a day—I can definitely figure them out!"
Cloud Retainer responded immediately.
"Alright! You said it! Let's go to the café—I want to see if you really can!"
Just moments ago they were getting along, and now they were already arguing.
Hutao looked stunned.
"Guest Consultant, were they always like this?"
Zhongli nodded with a sigh.
"Yes. In Silver Wolf's words, they're both tech nerds—neither will back down."
Hutao understood immediately.
"So what now?"
Cloud Retainer replied,
"Hall Master Hu, stay here for dinner tonight. I've already had food prepared."
Hutao agreed and stayed to have dinner with Zhongli.
The next morning,
The seven little ones woke up, washed up, and started jogging around the amusement park.
They wore sportswear, shouting slogans as they jogged energetically.
After their run, they went inside to eat breakfast.
Himeko noticed a new face—Sayu—and asked Ye Yun about it.
After hearing Sayu's story, she was reassured.
Sayu also saw Ayaka.
"Lady Ayaka! You're here too?"
Ayaka smiled.
"I'm here to have some fun too."
Sayu nodded in response.
Looking at the sportswear the little ones wore, Himeko realized they didn't have many clothes.
"Ye Yun, why don't Kafka and I take Klee and the others shopping in Pinochiconi today? I want to get them some new outfits."
Ye Yun agreed.
"Sure, I'll come too. I need some clothes myself. I've been rotating the same three outfits—time to get some new ones."
He looked at Stelle and the others.
"What about you guys? Off to another wild adventure today?"
Stelle grinned.
"We're heading over to Rimuru's place. Yesterday we caught some intelligent bee monsters in the forest.
I asked them to help us collect honey—we're going to check on that and continue exploring."
Ye Yun turned to Rimuru.
"Rimuru, are you sure you don't need our help with the Orc Lord?"
Stelle added,
"Yeah! I could finish him off with one strike!"
Rimuru chuckled.
"I appreciate the offer, but this is my own issue. I want to handle it myself. It should be fine—it's within my control.
Besides, after we wiped out 20,000 pigmen last time, the Orc Lord needs time to recover his forces."
Ye Yun nodded.
"Alright then~ If you need help, just holler. We idle folks are always ready."
After breakfast, everyone went off to their own tasks.
Ye Yun, Himeko, and Kafka took the seven little ones out shopping for clothes.
Stelle and the others headed back to Rimuru's place to continue their adventure.
Stelle, March 7th, Firefly, and Ayaka rode individual Tempest Wolves through the forest, chatting and exploring.
Today it was just the four of them—everyone else had things to do.
Amber and Eula were off to patrol Dragonspine, which had seen a surge in monster activity lately.
Hutao was busy with the Funeral Parlor. Thanks to following Hutao to Wuwang Hill frequently, Huohuo had toughened up a lot.
Now, Huohuo had become a core member of the Funeral Parlor, handling most ghost-cleansing duties.
With Mr. Tail around, there wasn't a ghost in Teyvat Huohuo couldn't handle.
As the girls strolled through the forest chatting, four figures suddenly leapt out from the bushes ahead.
Among them was a masked sword-wielding woman. The other three were the same adventurers Rimuru had met in the cave—Kaval, Kido, and Eren.
The sword-wielding woman had joined their team later. Her name was simply "Shizu."
So the three called her "Miss Shizu."
The trio had accepted a guild mission to investigate mysterious monster activity in Jura Forest.
Recently, the adventurer guild had received reports about a new monster organization in the forest.
This organization was none other than the Jura Tempest Federation—formed by Rimuru to fight the Orc Lord.