Lumine’s rebuttal was obviously useless.

But Su Ran had no intention of arguing with her about it.

It was enough that he thought so.

His expression said everything.

"You don’t seriously think I’m so dumb I can’t see what you’re thinking, right?"

Seeing the look on his face, Lumine immediately realized he had zero intention of acknowledging her defense.

At that, Su Ran’s expression shifted slightly.

As if he were genuinely shocked by her keen observation.

"You practically wrote your thoughts on your face!"

Still, Lumine knew that no matter how stubborn she acted, it wouldn’t matter.

Su Ran’s fists were bigger than hers.

That was the simple truth.

"Is it really that obvious?"

If even this "airheaded" Lumine could see through him at a glance—

Maybe he needed to work on his acting skills.

Otherwise, any lie he told in the future would be exposed instantly.

"Forget it. Obvious is obvious. It’s not like many people would dare to point it out anyway."

Smarter people would know what should and shouldn’t be said.

Lumine was just a bit too straightforward.

So she said whatever came to mind.

He decided to forgive her.

After all—

She was cute.

"So what about the second question? Why are you so focused on me?"

That had been bothering Lumine for a long time.

She didn’t think she was particularly dazzling in this world.

So why had she suddenly caught the attention of someone like him?

And not just any Fatui Harbinger—

The Second Seat.

If it were a lower-ranked one, fine.

But the Second?

And thinking about it—

She’d already met far too many Harbingers.

First La Signora.

Then Tartaglia.

Then Su Ran.

Later even Scaramouche.

And when she reached Sumeru—

She’d probably run into another one.

"Is that really strange? You’re the Traveler—someone touring all seven nations. And you’re doing so at a very critical moment. Of course you deserve attention."

The Tsaritsa was preparing to rebel against the Heavenly Principles.

And right at this time—

The Traveler appeared.

Wasn’t that suspicious?

Especially considering she had the Abyss Prince as her brother.

She intended to meet all seven Archons.

And the Tsaritsa intended to collect all seven Gnoses.

Even if their goals didn’t directly clash—

It was impossible not to pay attention to her.

If she were just an ordinary traveler—

How did she conveniently meet one god after another?

Even in Liyue, where Zhongli "retired" because of Su Ran—

She still ended up befriending him in Inazuma.

"So the Fatui have already conducted a deep investigation on me?"

"There’s been some investigation. But nothing excessive." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

In Liyue, Su Ran stole all the spotlight.

In Inazuma, it was his stage again.

Lumine was present in both events—

But the scale of chaos he created overshadowed her considerably.

"So you personally don’t have ulterior motives toward me?"

Hearing that the Fatui hadn’t investigated her deeply—yet Su Ran still paid her so much attention—

Lumine crossed her arms and eyed him suspiciously.

First Ningguang.

Then the Raiden Shogun.

Now even Yae Miko.

Even the resistance’s strategist was working for him.

And the Kamisato heiress had become her attendant.

So what exactly was his goal?

Why did he keep fixating on her?

"Nothing that dramatic. I’m just interested in your journey. Every time you arrive in a nation, something major happens. I’m curious whether your travels were arranged in advance."

If you listed her experiences—

It wasn’t hard to notice.

Every time she arrived, she stepped directly into a major crisis.

And became one of its central figures.

It was hard not to suspect someone had already assigned her that role.

Maybe the Heavenly Principles.

Or perhaps her brother—the Abyss Prince.

"So you’re saying... has my journey been orchestrated by someone else all along?"

Now that he’d said it outright—

Lumine grew serious.

Thinking back—

It did feel strange.

When she arrived in Mondstadt—

There was the Stormterror crisis.

When she arrived in Liyue—

"Wait! The Liyue incident was your doing! And Inazuma too!"

What coincidence?!

He caused those!

She had merely gotten caught up in them!

"Even if I hadn’t been there, Zhongli would still have faked his death at the Rite of Descension. Tartaglia would still have released Osial."

That statement made the others nearby glance over.

The Geo Archon faking his death at the Rite?

That was news.

"In Inazuma, the Sakoku Decree and Vision Hunt Decree would still have forced you into rebellion. Why don’t you ask Ei—someone who can use elemental power without a Vision—is that an anomaly? Shouldn’t such an exception be embedded into the statue?"

At the mention of being embedded in a statue—

Lumine shuddered.

Because Ei had genuinely said that before.

"As for Sumeru..."

Lumine flinched instinctively.

"Don’t tell me you’ve prepared something there too? So is my journey orchestrated by someone else—or by you?!"

If Sumeru also had one of his schemes—

Then wasn’t she dancing entirely in his palm?

"There is something. But not much."

"Isn’t that still something?! Why is your shadow everywhere?!"

Lumine felt like she was on the verge of a breakdown.

In Inazuma, she fought the Raiden Shogun.

And in Sumeru—

What?

Was she going to fight Lesser Lord Kusanali?

More importantly—

When fighting Ei, she had Zhongli’s support.

If she fought the Dendro Archon—

Who would back her up?

"You won’t be fighting the Archon. You’ll be fighting a Harbinger."

Without the Gnosis, the mechanical god’s power would be reduced.

But its operator would become the Harbinger, Il Dottore.

In truth—

The difficulty wouldn’t decrease.

It might even increase.

After all—

Dottore’s brain was far superior to Scaramouche’s.

"...Let me guess. You prepared that too?"

Lumine didn’t even bother speculating anymore.

"Congratulations. You’ve learned to answer ahead of time."

Su Ran gave her a thumbs-up.

—------------------------------

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