Spying on the Wind | Venti♡Reader

💫𝔽𝕀𝔽𝕋𝔼𝔼ℕ💫

Venti's POV:

"Tone-Deaf Bard! You were of no assistance at all!" Paimon rebuked, eyes full of disapproval.

Aether shot her a disdainful look. "Neither were you," he pointed out.

Paimon opened her mouth to retort but the loud booming sound of a firework cut her short. It was only when I snapped out of my daze did I realize that the sky had darkened. Another firework exploded in a shower of sparks.

"Is it safe for such young children to be playing with fireworks?" Paimon asked in concern as a crowd gathered to watch the children's little light show.

The girl was wearing a small pink skirt and a baby blue blouse with the Cryo symbol on it while the boy, who seemed to be her brother, donned a mini suit and kiddie shoes depicting a happy snowman. Fireworks in hand, both kids were staring at their own creations, mesmerized by their beauty. It was as though they had never seen fireworks before.

"Perhaps they're the children of experts and they're just testing the newest fireworks out," I suggested.

"So now you're responding to me!" Paimon shouted with a cute frown, glaring at me.

"Ehe... Well, I'm off to find someone," I informed them with an old pal in mind before turning to leave.

"We can go with you! Finding people is our specialty!" Paimon boasted with a smug smile.

The Honorary Knight raised an eyebrow. "You mean my specialty..."

"Hey! Paimon guided you a lot, y'know!"

"I don't recall you practically making your eyeballs pop out scouring the area with Elemental Sight..."

In the end, they followed me, bickering incessantly along the way. Although I mentioned that they were following me-and would like to think so, they were practically dragging me along. Paimon was extremely eager to head to Wanmin Restaurant. She flew ahead, saying that she was starving, and left us to catch up. Soon, we dashed into the restaurant, huffing and puffing as we panted for air.

The floating foodie ordered as soon as Xiangling's face came into view, and judging from Aether's expression, the food she chose-namely, Volcano of Oozing Glucose and Freezing Squishy Twins on Snezhnayan Snow-definitely had a queer taste.

Balancing multiple plates, Xiangling served us a roasted Pyro slime sprinkled with sugar and two large frosted Cryo slimes with a layer of jelly beneath. Thankfully, Aether thoughtfully ordered some normal food for us as well, except that the side dishes were barbecued lizard tails and grilled frog legs.

"Dig in!" Paimon exclaimed with a bright smile, eyes sparkling with delight as she stared at the mouthwatering dishes on the table.

I would exclude the unnecessary details on our meal, but it was certainly scrumptious. The Lord of Geo really taught his people cooking well. After the traveler paid for the meal (as always), we left the eatery and something, or rather, someone, caught my eye. It was the toyseller in an outlandish outfit who mastered the art of fighting. My eyes lit up. I could ask her about her relationship with Childe, as well as whether or not she found Liyue's cuisine-or rather, Xiangling's unique cuisine-appetizing.

My curiosty aroused, I left the traveler silently...