บท 118: Summoning Spree (4/4)
With Shenhe and Ganyu apparently knowing each other, Paul asked the latter to apprise her of their circumstances while Kokomi and, somewhat surprisingly, Mona came over to assist him.
Unable to resist, Paul adopted a fairly cheeky smile as the twin-tailed girl knelt next to him, inquiring, "Is this your way of familiarizing yourself with spending my money...?"
Snorting through her nose, Mona countered Paul's teasing by picking up an Asura Gold Coin and flatly asserting, "Considering what I'm expected to do for you, permitting me to spend your money is the least you could offer in exchange."
Rolling his eyes, Paul resisted the urge to point out how Mona's words made her sound like a courtesan. Instead, he adopted a wolfish smile as he teased, "Poor choice of words. Now I'm tempted to have Ningguang task one of her accountants to keep tabs on how much money you spend on research. I won't be around all that often, but you can be damned sure I'll get my money's worth when I return..."
"You..."
Balling her right hand into a fist, Mona looked like she was about to punch Paul as a crimson hue spread through her face and ears. Before she could make up her mind, however, Kokomi covered her mouth to stifle a chuckle before revealing a beaming smile and calmly asserting, "Our Master is just teasing you. And I can see why. Miss Mona's appearance is very charming when she blushes."
"Wha-just what are you saying to someone you just met? We haven't even been formally introduced yet."
Before Kokomi could do precisely that, Paul interrupted the duo, stating, "You'll have plenty of time for things like that later. For now, let's focus on wrapping things up here."
Though he was the one that had started the exchange, Paul wanted to finish things up so he could cut loose and release some tensions. It had only been around forty-seven minutes since they entered the IOF, but he felt as though several hours had passed...
With Kokomi responding in the affirmative and Mona eventually getting tired of glaring at Paul's profile, the three proceeded to execute a total of twenty-six 10-Pulls without acquiring anything new. What left Paul truly speechless was the fact that Klee had gotten yet another Constellation despite being summoned just an hour prior. She really was a ridiculously lucky little girl, but the same could be said of Kokomi as she also acquired a Constellation despite being summoned the previous night.
Among the 'repeat' items they obtained, Paul acquired Constellations for Xinyan, Lisa, Yun Jin, Bennet, Fischl, and, most notably, Barbara. As for what made Barbara's Constellation so significant, it was the fact it was her sixth. In other words, she was the first person among everyone Paul had summoned to awaken her potential fully.
As he was imagining how excited Barbara would be to learn she was the first to achieve something so momentous, Paul didn't immediately react when the twenty-seventh 10-Pull revealed what he initially believed to be a Constellation for Lynette. It was only after several seconds had passed that he realized the ashen-haired girl had human rather than cat ears. She was also wearing clothes and had a tear-shaped mark under her right eye instead of a star-shaped mark under her left...
Realizing who the inordinately lithe-looking girl was, Paul remarked, "You must be Lyney." in a matter-of-factly tone of voice. In response, the very slender girl ceased looking herself over, a very practiced smile developing across her face as she replied, "And you must be Paul Notos Greyrat, the man who has been monopolizing my sister for the past six or seven years. You'll have to forgive me if this sounds rude, but what the hell took you so long...?"
Though it had only been a few weeks from her perspective, Lyney knew that several years must have passed for her once-younger sister. Before that, they had never been separated for more than a few hours at a time. Thus, unless Paul had a very compelling reason, Lyney knew she would hold a grudge. She would, regardless, but the degree of her resentment would vary drastically depending on his excuse and the condition of her sister.
Understanding why Lyney would feel annoyed, Paul lowered his head and said, "Sorry. Your sister never stopped trying to get me to summon you as soon as possible, but our circumstances didn't really allow it. Once we're finished here, you can ask Lynette for the details."
"Hmmm...very well..."
Not expecting Paul to be so quick to apologize, much of the anger Lyney harbored towards him spontaneously vanished. At the very least, she was no longer overtly angry at him. Instead, she bottled it up and saved it for after she had the chance to speak with her sister.
After asking Lyney to stand off the side, Paul took a moment to stretch his legs while Kokomi and Mona continued slotting coins into the summoning platform. When they had finished manifesting ten Fates, he sat back down and joined them in another session of mass summoning.
Bringing several people closer to their full potential, four of Paul's next hits were Constellations for Xingqiu, Chongyun, Xiangling, and Diona. Yet another Constellation appeared for Chonyun during his Pity pull, but Paul was far more focused on the petite, inordinately slender woman that had appeared at the center of the platform. She had fair skin, long, burgundy-brown hair that faded into crimson at the tips, and peculiar, bright scarlet eyes with luminous, blossom-shaped pupils. Her hair was done up in twin-tails that formed a zig-zag pattern on her scalp, while her already peculiar eyes were further accented by faint red makeup.
Recognizing the girl immediately, Paul felt tension returning to his body as he remarked, "Hu Tao..." in a wry-sounding tone.
Hearing her name, Hu Tao abruptly kicked her heels together and saluted as she replied, "Ding, ding, ding~! That's the correct answer! Hu Tao, 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, reporting for duty! If you ever find yourself in need of burial services or a coffin, I'm your girl~!"
Though her focus was initially on Paul, Hu Tao quickly took notice of the other people present. This included Zhongli, her eyes widening to be as round as saucer as she exclaimed, "Holy Hillichurls! What did you eat to get so 'big'...!?"
Deciding to make a joke at Paul's expense, Zhongli's expression suddenly became demure as she averted her eyes and replied, "I have our Master to thank for that..."
"This mother-"
As Paul was cursing under his breath, Hu Tao exclaimed, "O-ya!? I guess you're more than just a pretty face, huh? Let's get along well~!"
"Right..."
Though Hu Tao was one of the most popular characters in Genshin, she was one of the few that Paul wasn't particularly fond of. Not because she wasn't cute, quite the opposite, but because her storyline and interactions with other people were just so...depressing. He had never understood the archetype of characters that concealed their pain and loneliness beneath a very morbid sense of humor.
Shaking away his negative thoughts, Paul forced a friendly smile as he repeated his usual, "Welcome to the world of Mushoku Tensei, Hu Tao. Glad to have you."
Pretending not to notice Paul's previous discomfort, Hu Tao's smile became incomparably mischievous as she leaned forward, hands behind her back as she teased, "If it's you, big boy, you can have me when and wherever you like~."
Understanding that Hu Tao had never actually done anything to make him not like her, Paul's smile became a little more sincere as he replied, "Then you'll need to be careful wandering the halls at night. I might just pull you into a broom closet and keep you there..."
Feeling the 'sincerity' in Paul's words, Hu Tao covered her mouth as she snickered like an imp. For a moment, she had thought that Paul was going to regard her the same way as the vast majority of people she met. It was still pretty obvious he was uncomfortable, but his willingness to set aside his aversions said a lot about the type of man he was...
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With Hu Tao joining the group consisting of Zhongli, Ningguang, Shenhe, Keqing, and Xiao Ping, Paul took a moment to eye his decreasing reserves of gold. He had only burned through about a quarter of it, but it was still noticeably smaller than it had been.
Deciding their spree had gone on long enough, Paul turned to Ningguang and said, "We may have to continue this some other time. I know it's not, but I'm starting to feel like our pool has been exhausted. After this next one, we'll wrap things up by purchasing everyone's original outfits. Sound good?"
Though she found it rather adorable that Paul was basically asking for her approval, Ningguang elected not to tease him in front of others. Instead, she placed her hand over her chest and lowered her head respectfully as she replied, "If that is your will, we shall see it done."
"Mmm..."
Understanding what Ningguang was trying to do, Paul offered a curt but approving nod before returning his attention to the summoning circle. A part of him wanted to continue until the end, but the increasing number of Constellations he was obtaining made him feel like there was nothing left to pull.
Reinforcing Paul's mindset, his first eight pulls contained items he already possessed. He was happy to acquire a third Constellation for Diona, but it all but confirmed his suspicions that the pool was restricted to characters and items from Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma. Lynette and Lyney stood in direct opposition to this sentiment, but they were pretty much the only exceptions outside of Kusanali...
Recalling that Zhongli had mentioned the pool being limited during his very first summoning, Paul made a mental note to ask for a more detailed explanation as he placed his hands on the summoning platform one final time. When the cerulean blue meteor gained a luminous golden glow, he wasn't even remotely surprised. When it suddenly split into two, however, trailed by eight blue comets, his eyes widened to their limits.
"This would be a good time for Diluc or Klee's mother to show up..."
Following the duo of golden comets to their destination, Paul was both disappointed and beyond surprised. His disappointment stemmed from the fact that neither Diluc nor Alice made an appearance. His surprise, however, was far greater as a noble-looking woman with ashen grey hair and eyes had appeared alongside a petite yet remarkably buxom beauty with short, raven-black hair that transitioned into teal near the ends of her side-hanging braids.
Though Paul immediately recognized the shorter woman as Venti, every nerve in his body tensed when Lyney explained, "Madame Varuna! What a fortuitous turn of events...!"
In acknowledgment of Lyney's remark, Varuna nodded her head ever so slightly as she replied, "Indeed." At the same time, however, she didn't so much as blink as her clear, silvery-grey eyes bored holes into Paul's face.
For the fourth time in the same evening, Paul felt as though he was being seen through to the very core of his being. However, instead of following Zhongli's advice and ordering Varuna to obey him, he engaged the woman in an impromptu staring contest.
Feeling as though she was being ignored, an awkward laugh emanated from Venti's throat as she waved her hand and expressed, "Hey, Varuna isn't the only one here. Please don't ignore me. Look, I even sprouted a ma-"
Without tearing her gaze away from Paul, Varuna squinted her eyes and said, "Silence." in a firm tone that left no room for argument. Then, like an executioner affording a criminal their final words, she stared intently into Paul's eyes and asked, "What are your views on justice...?"
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