"That’s wonderful! I’ll definitely find a chance to visit."
Barbara happily accepted the invitation. She still couldn’t forget the greasy yet irresistibly fragrant fried food she’d eaten at his shop last time.
Just thinking about getting to eat something delicious again soon filled her with anticipation.
"Eula, the crisis outside Mondstadt has been dealt with now, so things should stay peaceful for a while. During that time, you’d better behave yourself and stay home to recover properly."
Kamisato Satoru turned toward Eula.
"Mm, I understand."
For once, Eula didn’t argue.
Right now, her entire body felt sore and weak. All she wanted was to throw herself onto a soft bed and get a long, comfortable sleep.
"Then we’ll be heading off. Go, Barbara, go!"
Just before leaving, Kamisato Satoru suddenly called out in a deliberately strange voice.
Barbara’s face instantly turned bright red, almost as though blood might start dripping from it.
If one of her fanatical fans had shouted something like that, she would’ve only been slightly embarrassed. After all, she’d heard it plenty of times before.
But Kamisato Satoru and Eula were already genuine friends in her eyes.
Being teased like this by a friend right to her face made her want to crawl into a hole.
"Hahaha! A superstar idol can’t be this thin-skinned."
Kamisato Satoru laughed and turned to leave.
Eula covered her mouth and stared at the frozen Barbara with an expression that was both sympathetic and strangely amused.
Then she silently mouthed:
Go, Barbara, go!
Before Barbara could completely explode on the spot, Eula hurried after Kamisato Satoru and made her escape.
Clang...
"I have a feeling Barbara’s going to turn around and run every time she sees you for quite a while."
Walking beside Kamisato Satoru, Eula sighed helplessly.
"Don’t worry. She’s pretty easygoing. She won’t actually take it to heart. o(￣▽￣)o"
"Anyway, want to stop by my shop while we’re on the way?"
"Sure. There’s nothing urgent for me to do right now."
The two leisurely strolled toward Mondstadt’s city gate, looking almost like a young couple out for a walk together.
Naturally, they encountered plenty of cold and hostile gazes from passersby along the way.
In the eyes of many Mondstadt citizens, no matter how much blood Eula had shed for the city, it could never erase the sinful bloodline of the Lawrence Clan flowing through her veins.
"Actually... these past few years have been pretty hard on you, haven’t they?"
Kamisato Satoru suddenly asked without warning.
Eula gently shook her head.
"I don’t care that much about people pointing fingers at me. Or rather, I suppose I’ve simply gotten used to being treated this way."
The words gotten used to it made something tighten inexplicably in Kamisato Satoru’s chest.
There was a profound sense of helplessness hidden in those words.
He had absolutely no fondness for people who stubbornly clung to such outdated prejudices.
The sins of one generation shouldn’t be passed down to their family. What did the crimes committed by the Lawrence Clan all those years ago have to do with the Eula standing before him now?
Compared with those helpless Mondstadt citizens who did nothing but complain, he respected knights like Eula and Jean far more, people willing to fight desperately for what they believed in.
"It’s good that you can let it go. Just walk your own path and let those boring people say whatever they want."
"Oh? I really couldn’t tell. Someone as unserious as you can actually say something surprisingly philosophical."
Eula turned her head and studied him in surprise.
Kamisato Satoru merely smiled without answering.
Internally, however, he was thinking that it was a famous saying passed down by those who came before him.
It really does work pretty well when you want to sound profound.
"But with you being so close to me, aren’t you worried that the rumors might affect your business?"
Eula knew that Kamisato Satoru’s drink shop normally had a large number of customers.
If some of Mondstadt’s more extreme citizens started associating him with her, trouble might inevitably follow.
"Why would I care about something like that? I opened the shop purely because I thought it’d be fun. Even if it shuts down tomorrow, it’s not like I’m short on Mora."
Kamisato Satoru looked utterly unconcerned.
Although the Kamisato Clan was no longer at the absolute height of its prosperity, its foundations remained incredibly deep.
Especially thanks to the methods of his younger brother, Kamisato Ayato.
Even Satoru had to admire him.
That calculating guy was so cunning that even the pink-haired fox at the Grand Narukami Shrine wasn’t particularly eager to deal with him directly.
Ayato deserved more credit than anyone for keeping the present-day Kamisato Clan standing strong.
"That’s true. I always forget that you’re actually some hidden young master from a prestigious clan."
Eula sighed softly.
Kamisato Satoru normally acted so unserious that she simply couldn’t associate him with those lofty aristocratic heirs.
"Holy crap, isn’t that Mona?! (⊙▽⊙)?!"
When Kamisato Satoru and Eula finally reached Turtle Cool Drinks, he immediately spotted a purple-haired girl leaning weakly against the front door with her eyes tightly shut.
The star-patterned thigh-high stockings and distinctive astrologer’s outfit gave her an unmistakably mature and mysterious air.
Combined with that signature enormous witch’s hat, there was simply no way he could mistake her for anyone else.
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