“Ah~”
Nom.
The tiny, soft rice cake of a mouth moved in small bites. Watching her chew with cheeks that looked like they’d feel wonderful to squish was so adorable that the corners of my mouth rose involuntarily.
Is this what they mean when they say you feel full just watching someone else eat?
Watching her little throat move as she swallowed, I fished out another piece of meat and brought it to Nahida’s lips.
However, Nahida, who had been eating heartily until now, stopped. She pressed her lips tight against the small spoon and shook her head side to side.
‘What’s wrong?’
When I pulled the spoon back slightly, Nahida reached out with both hands and gestured away.
“What is it?”
She pointed at the spoon with a tiny finger, then pointed at me.
“You want me to eat?”
Nod, nod.
‘Goodness...’
The spoon was custom-made to fit Nahida’s small body, even smaller than a teaspoon. I looked down at the piece of meat, which was smaller than a fingernail, hesitated for a moment, and then put it in my mouth. A faint salty flavor danced on the tip of my tongue.
I picked out a slightly larger piece of meat than the last one and held it out to her. With a satisfied expression, Nahida took the spoon into her mouth.
My heart felt purified just looking at that innocent, beaming face.
“Want more?”
Shake, shake.
I chuckled as she shook her head and patted her belly, then offered her a small cup.
As the cup tilted, Nahida’s throat moved rhythmically as she drank the water. A little bit of water leaked from her small mouth, wetting her chin and neck.
As she pulled away from the cup, I carefully reached out and wiped the water trickling down her chin.
While I was savoring the soft feel of her cheek through the cloth while wiping, Nahida gave a bright smile and grabbed my hand with her tiny ones.
“Dad!”
Well, I guess this is how people become fools for their daughters.
I gently stroked the smiling Nahida’s head for a while before stretching and standing up.
#
“Let’s see.”
I walked along the path, pushing Nahida in a stroller. After walking a bit, I tied some grass of a decent length into a noticeable knot, placed a stone on top of it, and continued walking.
I repeated this for a long time before eventually turning back. On the way back, next to the path I had leveled out, I saw the grass knots and stones I had placed.
How far did I go back? At a certain point, the path simply cut off. I saw the tied grass and stone right next to where it ended.
‘About 1km.’
This time, I manifested a large amount of paint, soaked a tree from the very top to the base, and measured the distance again. At a certain point in my stride, the tree vanished from sight.
When I took just a tiny step back, the tree reappeared in its original color.
‘About 1.5km.’
“Hmm.”
It’s complicated.
Is it visual range? Field of vision?
Or is it a distance tied to something else entirely?
“I don't know.”
Actually, it doesn’t really matter. Since I have to live as inconspicuously as possible, I should refrain from doing things like this anyway.
I tossed the notebook and pen onto the ground and started walking again. Normally, this would be illegal dumping, but since I knew they would eventually vanish, my conscience was clear.
—Aaaaaagh!
“Hmm.”
A scream echoing from the distance created a conflict in my mind.
1. Take Nahida and go check it out slowly.
2. Give up.
‘If they live, they live; if they die, they die.’
I pushed Nahida in the stroller slowly so she wouldn’t be uncomfortable, though out of a shred of conscience, I walked a bit faster than usual.
#
Mingyun Village.
A village located northeast of the Guili Plains.
It was situated in a basin surrounded by mountains—mountains so rich in minerals they were practically made of stone.
While most villages centered around agriculture or fishing, Mingyun Village was a place built entirely on mining.
Though the population wasn't large, the village was one of the wealthiest in Liyue, as nearly every man there was a miner.
Since miners spend their days digging into the earth, the village’s mornings started early. The town began to bustle even before the sun rose, as the first faint light of dawn began to creep in.
Among them was Henry, an ordinary miner who left his house while taking a bite of bread made from barley and wheat, topped with roasted meat and a side of fresh fruit.
As usual, he headed toward the mine, passing through the silhouettes of people visible in the dim light.
In front of the mine, his pickaxe—the tool that fed him and his family—greeted him with a familiar glint.
“Mr. Henry.”
“Yes, Foreman.”
The foreman, a man with a hooked nose and a monocle, approached and spoke to Henry.
Henry didn’t like this greedy middle manager.
However, knowing that getting on his bad side would mean losing most of his work or being left with only the jobs everyone else avoided, Henry suppressed his emotions and bowed his head slightly to hide his expression.
“I’m sorry, but you don’t need to come here anymore, Mr. Henry.”
“What? What do you mean by that! I’ve been working here for over three years!”
“I’m sorry. But as you said, we’ve been digging in this mine for over three years. It’s simply not producing enough to be satisfactory anymore.”
Despite saying he was sorry, the foreman spoke with a furrowed brow as if he were being inconvenienced. Henry pressed his lips into a thin line.
‘Not enough minerals left?’
Nonsense. Having worked as a miner for over a decade, Henry knew that the mine he worked in was one of the best in Mingyun Village—a ley line so rich it even occasionally yielded Noctilucous Jade.
He wanted to smash the foreman’s jaw with his pickaxe, but he held back, hearing his wife’s scolding voice in his mind.
To fight against the injustices of society, he was first and foremost the head of a household.
“Foreman, even if that’s the case, my family will starve if I lose my job now. Isn’t it a bit much to give me this notice on the very day without any prior word?”
“Good heavens, do you think I’m telling you to leave this very second? I’ll give you a week to look for something else. You know that’s much more generous than what most people get, right?”
Henry felt a surging impulse to tear that flapping mouth apart with his bare hands rather than a pickaxe.
A week? Right, you usually kick people out without even giving them three days.
Though he was just an uneducated man who didn't know the first thing about the law, he was pretty sure Liyue law required a thirty-day notice period for termination.
But Henry simply swallowed those thoughts.
“Under...stood.”
“Good. With your skills, you’ll be treated well wherever you go.”
Henry’s lips trembled, but the foreman simply gave a despicable smile and turned away. Henry looked back and forth between his pickaxe and the back of the foreman’s head, wanting to mine the brains out of that skull dozens of times, but he endured.
Finally, letting out a sigh that felt like it could collapse the ground, Henry gripped his pickaxe and entered the mine.
“Why are you so down?”
“What’s the problem? Say something.”
“The atmosphere is incredibly chilling.”
“Is this kind of thing trendy lately?”
“What are you even talking about?”
When Henry entered the mine, the miners he knew approached him first.
In this small village where everyone shared the same profession, everyone knew each other. As is common in rural villages, everyone was practically a relative.
“The foreman told me to leave.”
“Hmm? Why?”
“I don't know. But he said this mineral vein is starting to dry up.”
“Good grief...”
All the miners who heard Henry’s words clicked their tongues. They were all veteran miners with deep experience. They knew the foreman’s words were a blatant lie.
“Is it because of that?”
“Because of what?”
“Well, there’s talk that they’re going to connect Mingyun Village and Liyue Harbor with a canal.”
“So what?”
“Oh, you dense, ignorant blockheads. If our village starts trading with Liyue Harbor, who stands to gain the most?”
“The foreman?”
“Not just the foreman. The higher-ups, and the middle managers below them who pick up the crumbs the higher-ups drop. They’ll take it all.”
“Why? What kind of profit? How?”
One of the miners explaining pounded his chest in frustration. Because of that, the black iron dust on his clothes scattered, causing everyone around him to start coughing as if it were contagious.
“Hey, you bastard! Don't do that shit in here!”
“My bad.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Anyway...”
Talk of tax rates, direct contracts, and interest rates flew back and forth, but it didn’t reach Henry.
Under the weight of being the provider, he merely swung his pickaxe out of habit, wondering where else he could find work or if there was another way.
“Henry.”
“Huh?”
“Why don’t you try looking for one yourself?”
“Looking for what?”
“A mine. You’re the only one with your level of experience who hasn't become a foreman!”
“I don't have the work for that.”
“You mean you don't have the money.”
“Fine. I don't have the money. And I don't want to start something unnecessary and get nagged by my wife.”
“Then, if you could become a mine owner without spending much money, would you do it?”
“That sounds like something a swindler would say.”
“Don’t be like that, just hear me out.”
“...What is it?”
#
“This is madness.”
“Why do you say that?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“You just said it was madness...”
“I’m the one who’s mad. I’m just a crazy person.”
“?”
The man and woman flanking Henry looked puzzled, but they said nothing as they watched Henry tear at his hair.
‘Why did I listen to him?’
—Most of our village won't want to give up what they have once the contract with Liyue Harbor goes through. We’ll probably all lose our jobs before long.
—So?
—We have to find a new mine.
—How?
—I heard this from my grandfather, but Mingyun Village used to be much larger than it is now. They say it was more than double its current size in the old days. But how could a village with nothing else have supported so many people back then?
—So, you’re saying there must have been enough mines to feed far more people back then?
—Exactly.
—Then it should have kept growing. Why did it get so small?
—How should I know? Ask my grandfather.
—Where is he?
—In heaven.
—He’s your grandfather, so you should be the one to go ask him.
—Is it a round trip?
—One way.
—Then how am I supposed to give you the answer?
—You don’t have to. I’m not particularly curious.
Regardless, that was the reason Henry had left Mingyun Village to find a mine, but finding one in the middle of a barren wasteland was a distant dream.
He even began to regret the Mora he had to pay the two adventurers he hired, considering he didn't know what kind of monsters they might encounter outside the village.
“Let’s look around for about thirty more minutes and then head back.”
“You got it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Henry let out a deep sigh as he watched the adventurer in front of him spinning a sword in one hand.
What do people think about insurance?
There are those who think, 'I'm glad nothing happened,' when the contract period ends without incident, and those who think, 'I shouldn't have signed up since nothing happened.'
Henry was the latter.
“Whew... whew...”
As Henry sat down for a moment to catch his breath from the grueling march, an adventurer shouted urgently.
“Mr. Henry!”
“Huh?”
“Run!”
Bang!
And as if to prove the uncertainty of such insurance, danger found Henry with sudden, cruel misfortune.
The male adventurer—was his name Vector?
The head of the man who, until just a moment ago, had been telling him to drink water sparingly even if he was tired, exploded like a firework. Hot blood sprayed onto the ground, staining the brown earth crimson.
“You son of a...!”
Only then did Henry turn his head to look behind him.
An insignia engraved near the chest, looking like a butterfly’s wing with an eye in the center.
Thick, bandage-like cloth wrapped around the face to prevent burns from the sparks of Pyro energy.
Henry’s teeth chattered.
Seeing the other adventurer charging forward with her sword gripped in both hands, Henry snapped back to his senses and turned to run.
Henry ran with every ounce of strength he had. Tears welled up at the thought of his family waiting at home.
“Ugh... huff...”
His wife, who would nag him, and his son were waiting for him to return. He was not a man who could afford to die so pointlessly in a place like this.
But contrary to Henry’s desperate thoughts, death was closing in with certainty.
The sound of a firework echoed once more. The voice of the shouting adventurer could no longer be heard.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Henry let out a loud scream, feeling as though his brain and heart, consumed by fear and anxiety, were about to burst.
The Fatui aimed his firemusket at Henry once more with a cold, mechanical gesture. Henry was centered perfectly in the sights above the barrel, and soon, a bullet burning with flame was fired.
A glowing red line of heat was etched into the air as it cut across the land.
The result was obvious. The Fatui soldier lowered his musket the moment he pulled the trigger.
The red line flying to shatter the back of the head of the man running away and flailing his arms pathetically suddenly struck something from the opposite side. With a dull 'thud,' it crumbled and vanished.
The Fatui soldier hurriedly raised his musket again, but something flashed beside him. And that was the last sight he saw in this world.
Shhh—
With the sound of something softly crumbling, a figure revealed itself.
Hair the color of frost, as if a clear sky had been dipped in water and frozen, fluttered in the wind. The figure’s amethyst-like transparent eyes scanned the surroundings for a moment before turning toward Henry.
Vivid crimson-black horns, which didn't seem to match her delicate appearance, were perched atop her head, but there was no one left nearby to care about such a thing.
The figure watched Henry as he scrambled away, and once he was at a distance, she turned her head to look at the sky.
The western sky was being dyed orange as the sun prepared to set. The figure drew her bowstring toward that sun.
“May Rex Lapis protect you.”
Ping—
As the arrow left the string, a frost-colored trail embroidered the sky like a falling star.
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