Kamisato Satoru glanced at her chest.
Uh, how should he put this...
There was certainly a Slime-like curve there, but she seemed to be showing signs of malnutrition. Her development was a little regrettable.
Apparently, this girl had poured all her savings into expensive research books and astrological equipment.
Satoru guessed that she had probably gone without a proper meal for who knew how many days, eventually running out of strength and fainting right outside his shop.
Out in the wilderness, she normally survived by picking Sunsettias. Even after entering the city, she only dared order the cheapest plate of vegetable salad.
She was practically the textbook example of a penniless wanderer who never knew where her next meal was coming from.
"Eula, let’s hurry up and carry her inside. This poor girl obviously passed out from hunger and low blood sugar."
Kamisato Satoru rubbed his temples with a headache.
"All right!"
Looking at Mona’s haggard face, Eula couldn’t help feeling sorry for her as well.
Just how poor do you have to be to starve yourself into this state?
...
"Om nom! This tastes so amazing I could cry!"
"You two are practically legendary saints!"
Mona sat at the table, completely abandoning any concern for appearances as she wolfed down her food.
Listening to her muffled praise, Kamisato Satoru smiled bitterly.
How many times have I been handed the ’good person’ card by now?
"Burp... That was so satisfying! (?ˉ?ˉ?)"
Mona patted her slightly bulging belly and sighed from the bottom of her heart.
"Now that you’re full, let’s settle the bill. That’ll be twenty-one thousand Mora. Since you’ve clearly been having a rough time, I’ll round it down to twenty thousand."
Kamisato Satoru had no intention of running a charity.
The girl might be pitiful, but this was still their first time meeting. They weren’t close enough for him to simply let her eat and drink for free.
"What?! It costs that much?!"
Mona’s eyes widened like saucers, her face filled with disbelief.
Even if she turned out every pocket she had, she probably wouldn’t be able to find a single shiny coin.
She was completely broke.
"Take a look at your own accomplishments."
Kamisato Satoru calmly pointed at the towering stack of empty plates beside her.
There were more than a dozen of them.
That amount of food would’ve taken at least three grown men to finish.
"Well... um..."
Mona stared at the pile of plates and fell into deathly silence.
She had obviously gotten completely carried away while eating.
After all, it had been who knew how many days since she’d eaten a proper meal with meat. This feast had completely unleashed all the appetite she’d been suppressing.
"Um, boss... could you put it on my tab for now? I’ll pay you back when I have money."
Mona looked at Kamisato Satoru with pitiful puppy-dog eyes.
Calling her poor wasn’t entirely accurate. Any random book from her collection could easily be worth hundreds of thousands of Mora.
But calling her rich wasn’t right either.
At this particular moment, she genuinely didn’t have a single Mora to her name.
"Haha, no freeloading. How about this? Stay here and work off the debt. I’ll pay you fifteen thousand Mora a day, so you’ll have it cleared in two days. If you like the job, you can stay on long-term too."
"What would I have to do? More importantly, do I get free meals?"
Clearly, Mona’s greatest concern was still food.
"The work’s pretty simple. Wash some cups and plates, and take down customers’ orders. You start at nine in the morning and finish at five in the afternoon. If our core employee Noelle needs to take the day off, we’ll just close the shop."
"Deal! I’ll take the job! (????)?"
The moment Mona heard how generous the conditions were and that there was no overtime, she accepted without a second thought.
She’d recently taken a liking to a top-quality hydromancy device and had been wondering where she could get the Mora to buy it.
Working here for a couple of days would be perfect.
"By the way, Mona, you’re an astrologer, right?"
Kamisato Satoru pretended not to know and struck up the conversation curiously.
"Of course! I am Mondstadt’s... No, I am the greatest astrologer in the entire world!"
The moment her field of expertise came up, Mona immediately became brimming with confidence.
After all, her astrology was the real deal.
"Perfect. Why don’t you divine my future fortune? I’m pretty curious."
Kamisato Satoru made the request casually.
"Sure. Since you treated me to that meal, I’ll show you what I can do."
Jingle...
Mona didn’t refuse.
With a casual movement, she constructed a Hydro formation glowing with deep blue light in front of her.
Intricate, mysterious runes flowed throughout the formation, while the astrological pattern at its center radiated an unfathomable aura.
Mona held her breath and focused, her ten fingers moving lightly through the air.
Crack!
"Ah! What the heck happened?! (‵□)"
With a crisp shattering sound, the entire formation broke apart like fragile glass before the astrological chart could even take shape, exploding into countless droplets of water.
The sudden development frightened Mona so badly that she jumped on the spot.
"What’s this supposed to mean? Is it some kind of omen?"
Kamisato Satoru curiously pressed her for an answer.
He clearly remembered that in the original story, when Mona had tried to divine the Anemo Archon, she’d nearly been blown away by a violent gale.
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