Chapter 186

Early into the morning.

Paimon woke up to sunlight shining through the window, dazed with sleep still lingering at her peripherals. She escaped the tight clutches of Lumine who was hugging her into her chest for warmth, and climbed out from under the blankets.

She snapped her fingers and her clothes changed from pajamas to the usual long-sleeved white jumper and boots that she wore to keep her feet warm on their journey.

"Now then what should Paimon do when everyone is still asleep?" She asked herself aloud as she stretched, catlike, in front of the full length mirror.

Soon enough she smelled some weird odor hanging in the air and hurried over to open the window. It took all her strength but she pushed it open enough to let cool air blow across her face and shoulders.

"Ah, Paimon knows! Paimon will go explore her stash!" She said, strutting around the room in all her glory.

There was still quite an amount of Mora left behind from the sack Yomite gave her yesterday. She bought herself the Ultra Burger with it and she planned to store the leftover money into her secret stash.

She picked up the coin pouch and emptied it into her main pouch.

However, moments later, something unexpected happened.

A colorless amulet that was buried beneath the coins caught Paimon's attention. The sharp edges of its corners, even though coated by dust, were still visible and distinct against the surface of the cash pile. It appeared to be a relic with glyphs written upon it.

Paimon picked it up, curious about what this new item could be.

"Eh? Isn't this...Eh? Eeeeeeh!?"

She quickly turned to Lumine and tried to wake her up, however to no avail.

She lightly poked her cheek but only got a faint grunt as response.

"Am...tired...Paimon...let's eat you later..."

"No! No! Paimon won't be eaten! You need to wake up! Paimon got a Vision! Wake up Lumine! Traveler!"

Lumine groaned loudly as her eyes popped open. "Whaaaa...?"

She looked around with blurry eyes before settling on her surroundings. Her eyes flickered back to Paimon. "...Traveler...I'm sleeping too much...sorry..."

"No! You are the Traveller! Not Paimon!"

Lumine's tired body hugged Paimon as she buried her head into her.

"Give Paimon a few...more minutes..."

"Hey! You're not Paimon! Paimon is Paimon!" Her small hands grabbed onto Lumine's cheeks and stretched them, but after seeing she couldn't do anything, she gave up.

Being hugged like this felt nice though, and she felt happy for a moment.

Eventually, Lumine somehow woke up.

She sat straight up in bed, looking at Paimon for a long moment before nodding to herself. "Good morning...Yes...You're right. I must be the Traveller..."

"Obviously! What have you been doing the whole night!? You look as if you're worked overnight in a mining cave!"

Lumine's was tired, she could see it in her eyes. There was also a look of vulnerability there, one that told of someone that has seen defeat but did not want to dwell on it. "I was...busy during the night...and couldn't fall asleep."

"Hm...weird...Oh! Paimon almost forgot!"

Paimon reached out her hands and showed her the spoils of war.

"Paimon received a Vision!"

Lumine stared wide-eyed at the item laying in Paimon's hands.

"A Vision?"

Paimon smiled brightly and nodded excitedly.

"...Paimon, where did you find it?"

"Ah, it was in a coin pouch Good Tattoo gave me yesterday... ah..." Paimon immediately put two and two together.

"That... Rascal! Bad Tattoo was lying about not having a Vision! He hid it away and gave me the pouch with it by a mistake!" She concluded and floated towards the door, opening it with some difficulty.

Lumine followed her and they stormed towards his room. They tried to open the door but it was locked from the inside, luckily, Yomite gave Lumine a spare key in case of emergencies.

Once they entered, they saw that the boy was sleeping peacefully, and even snored softly. Lumine nudged him lightly, watching him twitch in his sleep.

She leaned her lips to his ear and whispered sweet words while Paimon quietly floated behind her.

"Party Leader...wake up...Party leader..."

He didn't seem to move or stir, just gave a dreamy murmur.

"Party Leader...Yomi—"

His eyes opened suddenly, he woke up a bit startled and glanced about the room. His gaze found them again. Lumine froze up in place, her face was way too close to his nose now.

She wanted to back off swiftly but the tips of their noses bumped against each other.

The sudden flush crept up her neck, along her cheeks and settled somewhere in between her lower lip and chin.

"I-I...I didn't mean to..." Lumine began speaking timidly, watching how Yomite's eyes roamed down over her figure, before looking back at her with confusion.

"What is happening? Do you want to join me in bed or what?"

He looked puzzled and rubbed his eye sockets. At first he thought Hu Tao or Barbara were whispering to him...but it appeared he was wrong.

Lumine was still in her pajamas, and if he didn't know her better, he would think she was jumping him right now at the dawn of the day.

His hand lifted slightly to touch her hair which made her stomach feel fluttery. She looked away, hiding her burning blush further.

"I-I...Mmm…"

She felt like she wanted him to continue, so she closed her eyes in anticipation. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes again, a bit disapointed.

Yomite lifted his head and yawned, stretching his arms above his head. He pulled himself up with his elbows resting on the bed as he sighed loudly.

"So...Did something happen for you girls to barge into my room in the morning?"

"I, um...eh...umm..." She stammered nervously, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear as she peeped over at Yomite's inquiring eyes.

Paimon rolled her eyes at Lumine's reaction, before turning her head to look at Yomite with a pouty expression. "We came here to punish you!"

"Eh? Me? Why?"

"Don't play dumb! You were hiding a Vision and you never even told us about it!"

"A Vision? Me?" He repeated with disbelief in his voice, "I've never had a Vision..."

"Then what is this!" She handed him the colorless amulet, it immediately lit up in green once his hands touched it.

"Huh?"

"It was in the coin pouch you gave Paimon yesterday!" She added in explanation.