"Phew…!"
Letting out a long sigh, Nagami sank into the soft sofa, lacing his fingers behind his head as he stretched out lazily.
Finally, the girls had all gone off to class.
Even Bronya, his fellow cultivator in the art of slacking, had been dragged away by Mei.
He had expected that having three fluffy white-haired girls in the house would bring him triple the joy that normal people could never experience...
But in reality, it was only halfway true.
This sort of experience really was beyond what any ordinary person could handle.
To be honest, Nagami was still reeling from the tuna's little performance this morning.
He didn't know what exactly those three white hair girl had said to each other...
But without a doubt, that little bug's motive for feeding C.C. today had taken a serious new turn!
As the one closest to the action, Nagami could feel this shift more than anyone... though he didn't really want to believe it, because honestly—it was weird.
"Is Nagami-sama still thinking about what happened this morning?"
Rita's voice purred softly as she approached in her usual, flawless black maid uniform.
The elegant hem of her skirt bloomed like a dark flower, revealing her long, slender legs wrapped in sheer black thigh-high stockings.
"Rita can help you, you know~"
"You? And what exactly can you help me with?"
A faint, pleasant fragrance drifted into Nagami's nose as the seductive maid closed the distance.
Giving her a sideways dead-fish stare, he subtly dodged the delicate hand reaching for his head.
"No thanks. I'll pass on the lap pillow."
It wasn't that Nagami didn't want to get cozy with a beautiful girl—it's just that today he wasn't exactly in 'wise sage' mode.
And facing this succubus-like maid... he wasn't sure he could keep control of himself.
"Then how about a chest pillow, Nagami-sama?"
Rita slowly bent down, wrapping her slender arms gently around Nagami's neck.
Her soft curves traced a seductive line along her spine as she leaned in, her brilliant crimson eyes glimmering with mischief.
Feeling the soft pressure behind his head, Nagami's breath caught ever so slightly.
Her delicate face was close—far too close.
Hah. Not much different from C.C., huh~
Sure, this spy maid loved to bounce around and tease him whenever she got the chance...
But this kind of close contact?
Was this another of her honey traps?
So... she figured that after squeezing so much intel out of him with her lap pillow trick last time, she'd try the same move again?
A slow grin curled at Nagami's lips as realization dawned.
Yeah. Gotcha. She thinks she can reel me in the same way twice.
But things weren't like last time.
Back then, Nagami had chosen to leak those information bombs on purpose.
But now?
Otto was temporarily dealt with—he had zero reason to give away free secrets.
Besides... the same trick won't work twice on a Saint Seiya!
Not effective the second time~
Still, beauty traps like this were a classic for a reason.
No matter how many times you used them, they always had some effect.
A special attack just for Nagami, huh.
"Nagami-sama…"
Her honeyed voice whispered in his ear, but Nagami simply closed his eyes, pretending not to hear.
When someone tosses you a sugar-coated bomb, you eat the sugar and throw the bomb away.
His attention shifted to the chat group.
Time to do today's sign-in and check his points.
All his previous points had been burned pulling drives from the last gacha pool.
Judging by the current rate, he'd need about five more days of sign-ins to afford a "Guilty Crown World Travel Card."
———————————————————————
[Itsuka Kotori]: Yo, Lumine, what's your plan next?
———————————————————————
Another lazy day, and the twin-tailed redhead was sprawled across the command desk again, sucking on a lollipop with zero motivation.
———————————————————————
[Shiro]: Looking for your brother, maybe?
———————————————————————
Also a little sister type—and also had a useless older brother named "Sora"—Shiro and Lumine always had plenty to chat about.
———————————————————————
[Lumine]: Hah, like I care about that guy!
———————————————————————
The traveler, almost at Mondstadt, leaned against the tree behind her, arms folded, one leg crossed over the other.
She glanced sideways at her "emergency food" chomping on an apple, irritation flickering in her snowy white face after reading Shiro's message.
———————————————————————
[Lumine]: Since the moment I woke up, I've been wandering around like a homeless bum, eating terrible food, asking about his whereabouts, sometimes even going hungry.
[Lumine]: And him? What's he doing?
[Lumine]: He's just sitting pretty, living the high life as the Abyss Prince while I suffer looking for him?! Screw that guy!
———————————————————————
Bravo.
Nagami gave her mental applause.
Dumping her dragon-brother like yesterday's trash—classic Lumine.
Even the softness pressing against the back of his head couldn't stop Nagami's inner commentator mode.
And for someone without a mouthpiece in this world, Lumine sure had a lot to say at once.
Honestly, that sly and slightly scummy personality fit her like a glove.
Ever since joining the group, she'd been having the time of her life.
Everyone in the chat was so entertaining. This place really did feel like home.
———————————————————————
[Nagami]: So? What's your plan now? You gonna follow the main story?
[Lumine]: Of course! Isn't that what he wanted? Me to travel all over Teyvat? Fine, I'll give him exactly what he asked for.
[Lumine]: Besides, staying in one place is boring. And...
———————————————————————
Images of all the cute girls she'd met along her Genshin journey floated through her mind.
A grin crept onto Lumine's face before she quickly pinched her cheeks when she noticed Paimon staring.
By the time Paimon floated over to check on her, Lumine's expression was back to her usual innocent airhead mode.
"Traveler, aren't you going to eat these apples?"
Paimon pointed a tiny finger at the apples lLumine next to Lumine.
"Not that I'm greedy or anything, but they're my favorite... can I have them?"
———————————————————————
Lumine felt as if something inside her was about to snap.
She stood up, glancing warily around, but found no sign of any Hilichurls nearby. Turning to Paimon, she gave her a gentle smile.
"Sure~"
———————————————————————
[Lumine]: Ahem, there's plenty of excitement waiting on the road ahead, right?
[Shiraori]: …Why do I feel like Lumine's hiding something?
[Akemi Homura]: I get that feeling too...
[Lumine]: N-No way
———————————————————————
"Master Nagami, would you care for some tea?" came the polite voice of the maid beside him.
Nagami's mind filtered the words selectively as he turned to her with a warm, gentle smile and gave a small nod.
Rita—who had honestly expected him to ignore her as usual—froze in surprise.
The smile she forced onto her face was starting to crack.
She barely resisted the urge to dump the entire teapot on his head.
With effort, she steadied the trembling teacup in her hand.
Nagami took a delicate sip of the tea Rita offered him.
A faint warmth and gentle aroma filled his chest as the liquid slid down his throat.
Squinting slightly, he pondered Lumine's earlier words—his thoughts peeling away the fog of meaning, unraveling the truth hidden between the lines.
Like the spark of clarity when Conan pieces together the final clue, the answer flashed brightly in Nagami's mind.
Opening a private chat window with Lumine, he quickly typed out a message and hit send.
———————————————————————
[Nagami]: When I play Genshin, I sometimes browse fan works… You know, fan-made stuff.
Cough. Did you know that Ningguang's doujin count is probably the highest in the game? And there are plenty of others, too.
[Nagami]: Someone like you, who's traveled countless worlds, must know what I mean by that, right?
[Lumine]: !!!
———————————————————————
At first, Lumine stared blankly at the message, puzzled. But once she finished reading, she practically jumped out of her seat.
Her fitted white dress, trimmed with golden patterns, rippled like gentle waves with her movement.
The two golden braids framing her face swayed gracefully as she rose.
A fierce light bloomed in her amber eyes—so much that even her usual adorable, clueless expression almost broke apart.
———————————————————————
[Lumine]: Nagami… From this day forward, you are my big brother!
———————————————————————
"Pfft!"
Nagami choked on his tea in shock.
Rita was annoyed, but professional as ever.
She still needed to gather information—and last time proved this special SP character responded well to this kind of bait.
Suppressing her irritation, she gently patted Nagami's back with one slender hand while offering him a glass of water with the other.
After coughing for a while and finally catching his breath, Nagami's expression twisted into a complicated mess.
He thought he'd been shameless when he was playing the Traveler before… but he never expected the real Traveler to be even worse than him.
To actually say that out loud with no shame at all...!?
———————————————————————
[Nagami]: …
[Nagami]: Are you serious?
———————————————————————
…Yeah. In the end, he couldn't resist the temptation of being Lumine's big brother.
Sure, he might be shameless, but Lumine was just too cute to refuse!
As for her being at least 500 years old—possibly even 50,000?—that could easily be ignored.
I mean, isn't there a certain golden-haired old lady out there who insists she's 17 every single day?
If my adorable Lumine says she's 16, who's gonna argue?
———————————————————————
[Lumine]: お兄ちゃん~
[Lumine]: 哥哥~
[Lumine]: Brother~
[Lumine]: 형~
———————————————————————
Japanese, Chinese, English, Korean—all four languages.
And they were voice messages.
Listening to that pure, clear, sweet voice—like a breeze through a quiet valley—Nagami couldn't help but shrug, both amused and helpless.
With a grin, he zipped up his entire collection of Genshin doujins and sent it over—including a few yuri ones, just for fun.
After all, when you're up against someone this shameless, only someone more shameless can win.
Rita's struggle with Nagami, Nagami's battle with Lumine—the cycle of victory and defeat spoke for itself.
Shaking his head, Nagami sighed deeply.
Sigh... I'm still too young to compete with a 50,000-year-old shameless little sister…
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