Paimon Gets a Huge Taiyaki & Noele Arrive

After a long time, Lumine and Paimon finished reading the Doraemon manga. As soon as they finished, Paimon flew over to Takarou.

Looking impatient, she asked, "Boss, where's my reward?"

"Customer Paimon, for completing Doraemon, you receive a huge taiyaki," replied Takarou.

In an instant, a taiyaki twice the size of Paimon appeared before her.

"Paimon, isn't this... the taiyaki from Doraemon?" she asked.

"Yes, indeed. It's a taiyaki," Takarou confirmed with a smile. As a food enthusiast, Paimon was satisfied with receiving such a large taiyaki.

Although Paimon liked the taiyaki, she was still somewhat disappointed as it wasn't the reward she was expecting.

"Paimon, this taiyaki is so big. You can't possibly finish it alone," Lumine remarked, considering that even the two of them together would be overwhelmed by its size.

"Well then, Lumine, let's eat this taiyaki together later," Paimon suggested. It was clear that Paimon couldn't consume it all at once.

Besides, Lumine had provided the money for their rewards. As the best companions, they would naturally share the taiyaki together.

"Lumine, I already received my reward. Ask the boss quickly what you got," Paimon said.

"I hope it's a foodie-themed tablecloth," Lumine smiled, looking at Takarou. "Boss, what's my reward?"

"Customer Lumine, for completing Doraemon, you receive a capsule apartment," Takarou announced.

"A capsule apartment?" Lumine questioned.

On the counter appeared a capsule about the size of a thumb.

"You've received a capsule apartment," Takarou explained. "The original size of the capsule is the same as an ordinary mechanical pencil, but when you insert it into the ground, it quickly expands. Once you enter, you'll find a fully equipped bed, bathroom, and table, everything you need."

"Wow, Lumine, this is amazing! With this, we won't have to sleep in trees during our outdoor adventures. We can simply open the capsule apartment and sleep inside, and even take showers!" Paimon exclaimed.

Although Lumine didn't receive the foodie-themed tablecloth, having such a useful item was great. It meant they wouldn't have to sleep in trees and would have the convenience of taking showers while outdoors.

Lumine nodded in agreement. Indeed, with the capsule apartment, their outdoor experiences would be much more convenient, especially for a clean-loving girl like her. Going a day without bathing was uncomfortable, but sometimes it couldn't be helped, and they had to go days without it.

"Boss, this taiyaki is so big. Why don't you join us in tasting it?" Paimon suggested, asserting her right as the recipient of the taiyaki reward.

"Paimon, are you really willing to share this taiyaki with the boss?" Lumine asked, surprised.

"Hehe, please have some taiyaki, Boss. If we continue coming here to read manga, you'll take care of us, right?" Paimon said, revealing her thoughts with ease.

"No matter what rewards you obtain from the manga store, it's your own luck. It has nothing to do with whether I take care of you or not," Takarou replied, shaking his head with a smile.

The rewards customers receive from reading manga in the store are not determined by him.

"Although that's what the boss says, let's still share this taiyaki together," Paimon insisted.

"Alright."

Taiyaki... Takarou had eaten it before when it was sold. However, he didn't know how the taste differed from the ones in the 2D world.

They all gathered around the table as Takarou poured them tea.

The three of them enjoyed the taiyaki together.

"This taiyaki tastes really good," Lumine commented.

Paimon, being the one who had eaten the most taiyaki, had the most to say about it. Despite her small size, she had an enormous appetite. It was impressive how she could spend 300,000 mora in a month, traveling with the Traveler. Only the Traveler could afford to keep her; an ordinary person would never be able to.

After eating and drinking their fill, Lumine, with Paimon by her side, left the store.

"Hey, did you hear? The Darknight Hero is active in Mondstadt again!"

Just as they had left Mondstadt, Lumine and Paimon overheard a conversation between a few people.

"Lumine, what are they talking about? Who is the Darknight Hero?" Paimon asked.

"I have no idea about the Darknight Hero," Lumine replied.

"How about we go and ask?" Paimon suggested.

"Paimon seems quite curious about this Darknight Hero," Lumine remarked.

"Aren't we supposed to go back to the inn and rest?"

"Oh, come on, Lumine. Aren't you curious too? What if the Darknight Hero is causing harm to Mondstadt? If we help Captain Jean deal with it, we might even get rewarded."

"Although Captain Jean is assisting us in Mondstadt, having an extra reward would come in handy when we leave Mondstadt and travel to the next country. We would have money then," Lumine added, finding the idea reasonable.

Upon hearing Lumine's words, Paimon agreed, "Let's gather some information around here."

They arrived at the fountain area in Mondstadt and found a woman named Margaret.

"Excuse me, do you know who the Darknight Hero is?" Lumine asked Margaret with a smile.

Margaret looked at Lumine and Paimon and smiled back, "Oh, it's you. You're the brave warriors who helped Mondstadt and repelled the Stormterror Dragon."

"Brave warriors, hehe."

"Are you curious about the Darknight Hero too?"

"Yes, yes, we're really curious," Lumine replied eagerly.

"The so-called 'Darknight Hero' is me," Margaret said, chuckling at their disbelief.

"Huh... Miss Margaret, are you joking?" Lumine and Paimon clearly didn't believe her.

"Haha, I'm just kidding. I'm not the Darknight Hero."

"But the Darknight Hero should be like me," Margaret continued, "meaning, very wealthy."

"Huh?"

"Because often, it's on the basis of material wealth that one pursues spiritual abundance..."

"Many hero stories are written like that, right?"

"So, you're just showing off your wealth!" Lumine and Paimon couldn't help but feel a little put off by her words.

They were unexpectedly struck by someone boasting while casually asking for information.

"Hehe, not at all. I'm just bored every day," Margaret replied. "After all, I am the owner of the Cat's Tail Tavern."

"If you have time, you can come to my tavern and relax. Although judging by your age, I suppose you can't drink yet."

"Well, let's not chat any longer. You can go ask someone else," Margaret dismissed them, hinting that they should move on.

____________________________________

While Lumine and Paimon were inquiring about the Darknight Hero, Noelle arrived at the New Century Manga Store.

Looking at the store in front of her, Noelle remembered what Captain Jean had told her. Earlier, when she had just met Captain Jean, she wanted to ask when she could join the Knights of Favonius. However, Captain Jean seemed to see through her thoughts and didn't answer her directly. Instead, she instructed Noelle to visit the New Century Manga Store, suggesting that she might find answers there.

"Excuse me, are you the owner of this store?" Noelle asked as she entered the shop.

Upon entering, Noelle saw a man with black hair and a refined appearance resting with closed eyes. Takarou opened his eyes upon hearing her voice and looked at her.

He smiled slightly and said, "Oh, Noelle, you're here to read manga?"

"Boss, do you know me?" Noelle was taken aback when the owner directly addressed her by name.

Takarou smiled. Who didn't know Noelle? Compared to ordinary maidens in the Knights of Favonius, Noelle had even bigger dreams. Like countless other young boys and girls in the city protected by the Knights of Favonius for a thousand years, she aspired to don the armor symbolizing glory. Even if her abilities were still insufficient to pass the rigorous knight selection, she wanted to learn knightly conduct and behavior from a closer perspective.

While training and studying, she enjoyed her current life. She busied herself in Mondstadt, appearing wherever someone needed help. "Leave it to me! You can entrust anything to me!" This was her catchphrase, so if there was a need, just call her name, and she would be delighted to help.

On one occasion, she heard that an adventurer was trapped in Dragonspine. Without hesitation, she packed her equipment and ventured into the mountain alone to rescue them. The blizzard that day was as fierce as a wild beast, erasing the footprints of the tiny humans on the snowy mountain. Finding a safe route up the mountain was difficult, let alone searching for a person already buried by the snow.

Nevertheless, Noelle persisted in her search in such a dangerous environment. After half a day, she finally found the adventurer, on the verge of freezing, in a cave.

By that time, Noelle's cotton clothes were soaked through, and the water in her bottle had turned into ice. Despite hunger and cold, she mustered her last bit of strength to carry the adventurer down the mountain.

Although the adventurer was rescued, Noelle collapsed from exhaustion. She remained unconscious for three days, while the entire Knights of Favonius worried about her.

Fortunately, everything ended well. Similar incidents had occurred more than once, and the senior members of the Knights of Favonius were deeply concerned for Noelle's well-being. To prevent the enthusiastic Noelle from getting into danger, Jean had to assign her relatively safe tasks, avoiding situations where she could encounter danger. However, if a major incident were to occur, it would be Kaeya's turn to step in.

During Mondstadt's dragon calamity, Noelle eagerly wanted to personally resolve the source of the disaster. However, under Kaeya's careful arrangements, she was kept busy with numerous "emergency missions" in the city until the crisis was over.

It could be said that Noelle was a brave and endearing girl. In the past, when Takarou didn't have good characters, he often played with Noelle during his early days as a novice. Only when more 5-star characters appeared did he let Noelle rest. However, even so, he always gave Noelle the best weapons and well-prepared artifacts, even spending primogems on her.

Especially when he opened Noelle's character panel, her face would turn red, unable to look directly at it.

"Boss?"

Noelle blushed when she saw the store owner staring at her. She felt embarrassed and couldn't meet Takarou's gaze.

"I'm sorry, I was lost in thought. It's just that something came to mind," Takarou apologized, coming back to his senses.

"I'm not sure what manga you intend to read," Takarou asked.

"My manga can only be read once a day, and it costs 10,000 mora each time," Takarou informed her.

"Boss, I'm not sure. Can you recommend something?" Noelle asked.

"Based on my choice, I recommend Digimon," Takarou suggested. "Captain Jean obtained a flower-type Digimon from Digimon."

Actually, if Noelle could find powerful Digimon from Digimon, it could assist her in overcoming future dangers. No matter whether others were good or bad, she would wholeheartedly help them. That's why Captain Jean didn't let Noelle join the Knights of Favonius. Knowing Noelle's personality, if she really joined the Knights of Favonius, she would likely be burdened every day due to Kaeya's lazy nature.

"Digimon?"

"Boss, here's 10,000 mora," Noelle took out the money and placed it on the counter. With Takarou's guidance, she found the Digimon manga.

"So, in the manga, these summoned creatures are companions of these humans," Noelle observed as she looked at the brave faces of the humans in the manga, facing danger with determination. This made her realize that she still had a long way to go and needed to work harder to improve.

After more than an hour, Noelle finally finished reading the manga. She stood up, placed the manga back on the shelf, and then approached the front counter.

"Boss, I finished reading."

"Okay."

[Customer Noelle, after reading Digimon, you have obtained the reward "Gatomon."]

"Since it's Gatomon..."

"And it's a Digimon that has already evolved three times?"

Gatomon was special among children's Digimon because she was the only one in her mature form. The reason was that she underwent harsher training and grew up under the torment of a vampire beast. So she wasn't weak. Don't be deceived by her appearance; in fact, she was quite powerful in her mature form. Gatomon's growth stages started with Nyaromon, which was quite ordinary.

Mature Gatomon had high speed and decent attack power, giving her a clear advantage against large and clumsy mature Digimon. When facing Tyranomon, she easily defeated him, making Taiichi exclaim that she was small but powerful.

Moreover, Gatomon was a cat, which probably suited Noelle very well.

"Congratulations on obtaining Gatomon," Takarou said, and at that moment, a cat with yellow paw mittens appeared in front of Noelle.

"Meow~"

Upon seeing Noelle, the newly arrived Gatomon knew that she was its master.

"What a cute cat!"

Noelle saw the adorable Gatomon and immediately fell in love with it. After all, she was just a young girl, completely defenseless against fluffy and cute little animals.