[Genshin Impact] A world where only travelers are alone.

Chapter 48 Side Story: The Traveler

The elevators in Fontainebleau are always designed to be exceptionally long, or perhaps it's because the road from Opikley Opera to Mélo Petersburg is indeed quite long; in any case, they've been here for quite some time.

Paimon, unable to bear the silence filled only with the clatter of gears, glanced at Madeline not far away, then quietly perched on the Traveler's shoulder, whispering, "Sketch, do you think the Duke of Mello Petersburg is terrifying?"

After all, he's the one who manages a prison; surely he wouldn't act like a prisoner?

After thinking for a moment, he denied it, saying, "Probably not."

Although opinions on the "Duke" as the administrator of Melo Petersburg are mixed, there is no doubt that everyone acknowledges that Melo Petersburg is what it is today thanks to him, and that he is a truly remarkable man compared to his predecessors.

Such a person would not deliberately make things difficult for a few junior prisoners.

"And as Villette said, he has a personal relationship with the Duke. Although this investigation is a secret operation, the Duke should be able to tell that we were sent by him," he reassured him.

Paimon still looked uneasy.

However, when she thought about how Chloe, who was temporarily taking care of her, mentioned that she would treat her to the best cakes in all of Fontaine when they went back while Violet and Kong were discussing important matters, she couldn't help but look forward to it again.

Hehe, I hope we can resolve things here soon so we can go back and eat cake!

Paimon swung his toes, his mind completely occupied with the little cake.

Just then, the clicking of the gears stopped, and the elevator doors opened, indicating that they had arrived at their destination.

"Come with me," Madeline said, gesturing for them to follow her to the prison registration officer.

Sora and Paimon followed quietly behind her, and after a while, they finally saw her figure after passing through a narrow tunnel.

The black-haired girl sat quietly at the table, her green eyes staring blankly ahead, her fingertips idly spinning the slender pen, looking utterly bored.

Madeline was clearly an old acquaintance of hers, and seemed somewhat surprised to see her: "Ventara, why are you in charge of registering the list today? Where is Miss Maleti?"

Maretti is a receptionist at the Mello Petersburg, responsible for receiving new prisoners, but now the seat that should have been hers has been taken by someone else.

The girl called "Ventara" finally stopped twirling her pen, stood up, and said in a clear, cold voice, "She happens to have something to do, so she asked me to look after her here."

As they were talking, Maretti came around the corner and greeted Madeline warmly, saying, "Oh, it's you! Why did I make you come all this way today?"

"Lady Villette specifically asked me to escort these two prisoners, perhaps she wouldn't trust anyone else with them," Madeline said with a smile.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Maretti turned her gaze to Kong and Paimon: "Let me see what your crime is—'eating the cake that the Winter Ambassadors had carefully prepared for His Majesty without the gods' permission, causing a brief silence in the political core of Fontaine's'?"

She couldn't help but glance at the two innocent-looking people in front of her, then looked down at the words again, falling into an eerie silence. After a long while, she finally managed to say with difficulty, "...You two are truly people who are destined for great things."

"Thank you for the compliment." Kong scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh.

After completing the routine formalities and taking their photos, Maretti seemed to remember something and pulled Ventara, who was about to leave, aside, asking, "Is there anything I can do later?"

Ventara shook her head in confusion: "No, the Duke didn't assign me any tasks today."

"In that case, could you please show them around Melo Petersburg and give them a tour?" Maretti said with a smile.

After a brief moment's thought, Ventara simply agreed.

She turned to Kong and Paimon: "Please come with me. I will now introduce you to the infrastructure and rules of life in Mero Petersburg. I am Ventara, the Duke's assistant."

"It doesn't sound like a leisurely job, but it really does seem like a very leisurely one," Paimon muttered unconsciously.

However, she quickly realized after speaking that it was inappropriate to say such things on someone else's turf, and hurriedly covered her mouth, saying, "Sorry, that's not what I meant—"

"It's alright." Ventara shook her head calmly, her expression unchanged.

Maretti offered to explain, teasingly, "That's because Ventara was slightly injured when she went to escort prisoners with the Duke a while ago, and the Duke didn't want her to come to work injured, so he made this arrangement."

Kong felt that the wording seemed to have a deeper meaning, but before he could think about it, Ventara had already left, so he could only quicken his pace to catch up.

Along the way, Ventara dutifully introduced him to the facilities along the route and the basic situation of Melo Petersburg, such as the purpose of the concession tickets.

Her voice was really suited for this kind of thing; at least Kong quickly became immersed in her explanation until the sound of orderly footsteps suddenly broke his reverie.

He noticed that Ventara's brow was slightly furrowed, as if she was puzzled by the sudden appearance of so many security devices—

Yes, the security agency.

The footsteps they just heard came from the large number of security personnel in front of them; they had been ordered by someone to block the area.

Kong Zong felt something was amiss.

Will their purpose be discovered as soon as they get to prison?

He and Paimon exchanged a glance, already secretly preparing for battle.

"Inmates 7459 and 7560, welcome. Don't be so nervous. These security personnel are not here to be your adversaries; they are simply fulfilling their duties as a guard of honor."

As the man finished speaking, the security forces parted to make way for the prison's occupant.

"I heard you're friends of Navelette, that's why I had these guys lined up here waiting," the man chuckled.

His unusual appearance immediately made Kong realize his identity. Kong reached out and covered Paimon's mouth, which was about to ask more questions, and said cautiously, "Your Excellency is too kind—"

Leosley didn't reply to him, but raised an eyebrow slightly after noticing that the person leading them was an "acquaintance": "Ventara, you're here too. As expected, you still can't stay in the office to recover."

Ventara glanced at him: "Duke, it's working hours now."

"Yes, yes, during working hours—" Leosley shrugged helplessly, "In that case, how about we just give you a performance review?"

Ventara was puzzled.

Leosley turned to the two clueless individuals and asked, "Traveler and Paimon, right? Ventara was in charge of receiving you. Were you satisfied with what happened just now?"

Kong was genuinely surprised that he would ask this question, and paused for a moment before quickly responding, "Yes, Duke, the reception at Ventara was perfect."

Leosley wore an "I knew it" expression and stepped forward to her side. "Excellent employees certainly deserve praise. Since the reception at Ventara was so perfect, how about rewarding you with half a day of paid leave in the Duke's office?"

Ventara's response was a speechless look.

Leosley ruffled her hair: "You don't want your injury to heal too slowly, so you can't play frisbee with Hutta every day when you get home, do you?"

Ventara was speechless, after all, she really wanted to stay with the puppy Hutta.

But who would just run away halfway through something? She insisted, "Rest is fine, but only after I've shown them around the area."

Leosley couldn't refuse her, so he had to agree: "Then I'll also—"

"No!"

Before he could finish speaking, Kong hurriedly interrupted, "I think we've understood the situation in Melo Petersburg after the explanation just now. Ventara, you should go back and rest early. You and the Duke don't need to trouble yourselves with the rest!"

Just kidding! After what just happened, he finally understood what he had been thinking was strange.

The repeated phrases "I can't bear to part with them" and "I can't bear to part with them," along with the conversation between Leosley and the others, clearly indicate that these two are a couple.

Damn it! He just escaped from the clutches of that young couple at Mo Mang Palace, and he'd rather die than fall into their clutches again and have to watch other couples showing off their love every day!

"Please stop here, Your Grace!" He was genuinely worried that if he went through what was to come, he would become acquainted with the two men and eventually become friends with them.

As a single guy who's been single for who knows how many years, he really doesn't need another couple as friends! He really, really already knows so many people!

The resistance came on so fiercely that Leosley was somewhat puzzled, but the suggestion was exactly what he wanted, so he agreed without much hesitation.

"If needed, you can ask other prisoners for help. Helping new inmates is beneficial to them in every way, and they will be happy to help."

In the end, he only gave that one instruction before leaving with Ventara.

He breathed a sigh of relief and took the opportunity to release his hand that had been covering Paimon's mouth.

Despite his small stature and childlike appearance, Paimon's face was filled with sorrow and a world-weary look.

She gritted her teeth and said, "Teyvat, it really is full of young couples—"

Remembering the days when they were always forced to watch couples being lovey-dovey, the two of them silently made a decision in their hearts: they would definitely avoid each other in Mello Petersburg from now on!

absolute!

(End of this chapter)

The author says: Of course, that's absolutely impossible! Our poor travelers can't escape the torment of young couples!