4 The Cocogoat Appears

Regarding the choice for whether people want to have him call out his attacks, I'll just put a small poll here for it. I'll count them up at some point and I'll announce the outcome during the chapter afterwards, and trust me, I WILL be counting each individual account name that votes.

● Do call out attacks - [VOTE HERE]

● Do not call out attacks - [VOTE HERE]

Finally, while I understand that some people skip these comments due to them most of the time being waffle from the authors, but they do at most times hold important information that help avoid unnecessary questions. So, please do read them.

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Both Keqing and Ningguang were silent as they were both seemingly lost in thought.

The live stream had just ended, but their thoughts were still lingering on what had just happened. After all, if a literal live feed appeared of someone they didn't know, someone with considerable amount of power, it would be hard to just dismiss it afterwards.

"That display of skill and power was impressive." Keqing spoke as she looked towards Ningguang. She had noticed how polished Akira's hand-to-hand combat was, and that manipulation of Anemo was quite the spectacle as well, especially that final attack. "Judging from his name, he's most likely a former resident from Inazuma."

Hearing Keqing's words, Ningguang could help but agree with her, Akira's name definitely followed the naming conventions of Inazuma. But for whatever reason, she just had this strange feeling that this just wasn't the case.

"Perhaps... Keqing, send the millelith to calm down the citizens." Ningguang spoke up after a moment of silence. She had given this order after hearing all of the noise down below in the harbor. "We'll then try and locate this individual, or at least get as much information as possible."

"Understood." Keqing nodded firmly at this. "Is it wise though? How can we be certain they won't act hostile towards us?"

"Call it a feeling." Ningguang smile slightly as she stood up from her desk. "We have no reason so far to label this Akira as an enemy. Until we can learn more about his reasons and intentions for the recent events, he shall remain a neutral party."

"Very well then. Then I will be taking my leave."

Ningguang merely nodded in response as she watched Keqing exit the office area, and she continued staring for a moment before turning her attention elsewhere. She then held her chin in thought as a complicated look appeared on her face.

If there was one thing Ningguang didn't like, then it was unpredictable unknown wild cards.

They didn't know enough about this Akira person to make a proper judgement, so she was determined to find out more. With the eyes and ears she had around all of Liyue, it shouldn't take too long to try and track this individual down.

If this person did indeed prove to hold no animosity towards them, then she'd definitely try her best to shift that person over to their side. Not only has this individual proven to be quite formidable in strength, but they also were the cause of that live stream, a live stream that not only connected seemingly everyone in Liyue, but even the adepti.

There was one thing she was certain of, and that was that this Akira was an anomaly.

One that she was quite determined to make an ally.

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While the live stream had already long ended, the absolute chaos that it caused throughout Liyue had not subsided for hours to come. People were still going around asking for any information regarding the recent events, and never has Liyue Harbor been so noisy before despite its incredibly long history.

The citizens, no matter if they were in Liyue Harbor or any small villages that were spread across Liyue, were all running around in confusion trying to uncover any kind of information regarding the live stream. To say that they found out nothing was certainly an understatement.

It didn't take long at all for Akira to arrive back in Liyue Harbor, and with his enhanced hearing, he had long since noticed all of the commotion going on before he even stepped into the city. Just to avoid being swarmed, he did the one thing he said he would never do...

He put on the fucking cat-eared hoodie!

While it was a bit embarrassing to wear a hood with a pair of literal cat-like ears attached to it, it was at least better than getting swarmed by hundreds of people like some kind of celebrity. At the very least, the hoodie was a simple white and black colour, and not pink or something.

In any case, the hoodie managed to completely cover his head, so none of the people he walked past were able to recognise him. True, some people sent him some strange looks, but none last for long as the topic regarding the live stream seemed to be far more interesting.

Not that he was complaining.

On the topic of the live stream, he had noticed that after it had ended, there seemed to be a cool-down of at least a week before he could start the next stream. This seemed to be a 'safety' measure of sorts to prevent him from constantly pumping out missions left and right.

'Jeez, I really hope this won't last the entire day and more...' Akira smiled wryly as he could easily hear all of the conversations going on around him. He could even see some of the guards here trying to calm everything down. 'Whatever, what's done is done. I should get something to eat, then maybe an inn or something to stay at...'

That fight had honestly made him hungrier than he thought, though maybe his dragon slayer magic attributed to his newly formed appetite, or maybe not. Whatever the case, he was hungry, and he was drying to actually get a good cooked meal instead of just fruit and wild meat over a fire.

He had already taken notice of two particularly fancy restaurants that he had previously walked by, though despite the good smells coming from within, he decided against it. He had read the description of the rewards from the previous mission, and he had come to learn that the Mora he was rewarded was this world's currency.

He didn't know how much money 300,000 Mora was exactly, so he was looking more for a simple dining restaurant aimed towards common citizens. He was never really that picky of an eater, so a fancy high-end meal was the last thing on his mind.

"That place looks good, and it's smells really good too."

Akira muttered to himself as he looked across the street to see a relatively simple looking open restaurant. The kitchen itself was exposed to the public, and a multitude of wooden tables and chairs were all neatly organised in front and inside the restaurant.

Seeing no reason to turn away, Akira calmly made his way towards the restaurant, to which he soon found himself walking through the many occupied tables of people who were all eating and drinking, and of course, discussing the most relevant topic right now...

After finding himself and empty single table, Akira sat down before looking at the simple paper menu in front of him on the table. There weren't any pictures, but there were a number of different menu items written on it, at least that's what he assumed they were.

'I can't read this shit...' Akira felt his eyebrow twitch as he stared at the unfamiliar scriptures on the menu. This was really starting to become a major issue! If he couldn't find a way to learn how to read and write, then the future was looking difficult for him. 'I guess I'll just have to make do for right now.'

"Welcome to Wanmin Restaurant!" A sudden cheerful voice called out to him as he was scanning over the menu. "What can I get for you today?"

Turning his head to the side, Akira saw that the person who addressed him was a young girl who was probably a few years younger than himself, perhaps around fourteen to fifteen years old. She had braided black hair and wore a brown and gold leotard, along with a pair of brown gloves and boots.

"Yeah, could I just get whatever the most popular item here at the restaurant is?" Akira voiced, ignoring the fact that the girl in front of him was sending curious look at the ears on his jacket. "I'm not too familiar with the food here in Liyue."

"I see! Leave it to me, I'm sure you'll absolutely love Wanming Restaurant's signature dish!" The girl voiced with gusto while holding a big smile on her face. Akira honestly wondered how this girl could smile so brightly constantly like that. "It won't be long!"

With that, the girl quickly dashed off back into the kitchen, leaving Akira to his own devices.

'What a cheerful girl...' Akira gave a small chuckle as he thought this. Though, his attention was soon grabbed when he noticed a strange figure in the kitchen where the girl ran off into. 'Is that panda bear? Shooting fire out of its mouth...? You know what, I'm not going to question.'

The next few minutes here were peaceful, Akira just let his mind drift off as he stared up at the ceiling while occasionally glancing around while resting his chin on his fist. Despite all of the noise, Akira couldn't help but feel himself falling into a state of tranquillity.

'Oh yeah, I have both of those gift packages I need to open up.' Akira quickly remembered. They were the other two rewards he had been given from the mission, and he had yet to open either one of them. 'I'll open them when I find myself a place to stay, there's no need to rush... freaking hell, there really are a lot of people here.'

While Akira didn't particularly hate large crowds, but with so many of them in such an enclosed area, he honestly felt like he was going to suffocate. The outside was pretty damn packed, not to mention the inside, so it was a miracle he even found this table available.

"Excuse me, mister!" Akira's attention was soon grabbed by the very same girl from before who had just taken his order. Confused, Akira looked up at her to see her walking over with someone else next to her walking slightly behind. "Would you mind letting Miss Ganyu here sit with you? We're currently out of room anywhere else..."

Akira blinked before looking towards the person in question, who he soon saw to be a young woman around his age. If Akira had to describe her in one single word, it would probably be exotic. Not only was her clothing very unique compared to what he's seen thus far, but the pair of horns also sprouting out from her head were also very eye-catching.

Of course, the woman was rather beautiful as well. While he was never one for looking at things such as popular models and idols, from the ones he had seen in the past, this person right here was without a doubt in a different league to them.

"That's fine, it's always nice to have some company."

"Thank you!" The female chef's smile grew brighter, if that was even possible, before she turned towards the woman beside her. "Please take a seat then, Ganyu! I'll be right out with both your orders very soon!"

"P-Please don't mind me then." The one known as Ganyu spoke in a rather unsure tone as she slowly took a seat on the only other chair directly opposite of the one he was sitting on. "I apologise for the inconvenience."

"It's fine really, I don't mind having someone to talk to." Akira was a bit surprised. From the mannerism and posture of Ganyu, she seemed to be quite the formal and sophisticated individual. He'd have expected her to go to one of those higher-end restaurants. "Your name is Ganyu, correct? A pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine. Even though you are already aware of my name, allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Ganyu, it's a pleasure to meet you." Ganyu introduced herself while giving a small bow in her seat. "If you don't mind me asking, are you perhaps not from Liyue? Your style of clothing certainly suggests this."

"I am indeed not from Liyue, I have arrived only recently. My name is..." Akira suddenly paused as he seemed to realise something. He couldn't just go and say his name, he did that on the damn stream, and could've sworn he saw this person's name popup on the stream once or twice. "Call me... Kira."

"Kira?" Ganyu blinked before nodding. "I see, I assume you're from Inazuma then?"

"N-No, I'm not. I'm just from quite far away." Akira answered with a small nervous smile on his face. 'That was so shit! I might as well just tell her my name is Akira at this point! All I fucking did was remove the damn 'A' from my name! Also, doesn't Inazuma just mean lightning...?'

At the very least, he had learnt of a second nation or country here in this world, some place called Inazuma apparently. He was seriously going to find a bookstore or library at some point, at least to understand the geography or history of this world, hopefully both.

Thankfully, this Ganyu person was no pushy person and hadn't asked him any questions in regard to where he was from. Akira was currently in absolutely no position to take risks in answering any questions, at least any that may prove risky with the limited knowledge he currently had.

Therefore, without and questions that would make this look like a damn interrogation, both Ganyu and himself just continued chatting every now and then about small and basic things. Soon enough, the girl from before came running back over with two dishes, one balancing on each hand.

"Here you two are!" The girl lightly shouted before placing a plate in front of Ganyu while carefully placing a rather large bowl in front of Akira. "One serving of vegetables for Ganyu, and a bowl of Dragon Beard Noodles for you, mister!"

"Thank you, Xiangling."

"No worries, enjoy yourselves!"

"Much appreciated." Akira nodded in thanks as the girl known as Xiangling ran off again. He then looked down at the large bowl of noodles in front of him. He had to admit, they looked really damn good. 'But appearance is only a part of a dish, how good it tastes is what's most important.'

Curiously, Akira looked up slightly to see what was on the plate that Ganyu was going to be eating from. Blinking, he saw quite the mountain of vegetables all assorted onto the plate. Some as well that he could at all recognise, most likely being vegetables only grown here in this world.

'Is she vegetarian? I don't think I see any kind of meat there.' Akira curiously thought to himself as he looked at Ganyu. Judging from how slim she was, she probably didn't eat much meat, if at all. Though, there certainly were a lot of vegetables on this plate. 'Also, I'm still curious about those horns...'

"I-Is something the matter?"

Ganyu asked in a rather nervous tone as a healthy blush appeared on her face, seemingly having noticed the target of Akira's curious looks, despite the fact that the dude was wearing a hood. Unconsciously, the young woman placed both of her hands onto the horns atop her head.

"S-Sorry for staring, I was just curious about those horns..."

"It's fine..." Ganyu nodded, though the blush she had did not at all disappear from her face, in fact, it seemed to have grown a shade darker after hearing his words. "Th-They're just a pair of accessories that I wear, it's not like they're real at all...!"

"I see..." Akira did feel quite a lot of doubt about that last part, but he wasn't going to question it. Changing the topic. "In any case, we should probably eat quickly, there are most likely other people out there waiting to eat here as well."

"O-Of course...!"

Akira smiled wryly as the woman took a small deep breath to calm herself down. While he wasn't exactly sure as to the reason, Ganyu here seemed to find the topic of those horns of her's to be quite sensitive. Whatever the reason, it was not his business if she wished not to share it.

"Itadakimasu." Akira spoke as he placed both of his hands together before giving a small bow. Picking up his chopsticks, he looked up to see Ganyu giving him a curious yet confused look. "Oh, sorry about that. It's just something people from my home say before we eat."

"I see, that's very interesting. I-I apologise if my staring was rude."

"Not at all." Akira chuckled. 'I should honestly be the one apologising, I was the one staring at her horns like a weirdo after all...'

Focusing back onto his food, Akira picked up a few noodles using his chopsticks before slowly placing them into his mouth and sucking the strings of noodles into his mouth. After the taste registered to him, Akira found his eyes widening slightly in surprise.

'Wow, these are really good! Although the noodles are a bit crumbly, nothing too bad. The broth is also very rich!' Akira nodded to himself as he continued to enjoy his food with a smile on his face. On the other side, Ganyu too was eating, although slowly but surely. "Before I forget, do you perhaps know of any inns or hotels that I can stay at here in Liyue Harbor?"

"Inns?" Ganyu stared and blinked for a quick second before nodding. "There are quite a few, but I would personally recommend Third-Round Knockout, it's a tavern over in Chihu Rock. It's relatively cheap, but has very decent accommodations."

'Third-Round Knockout? Why did I suddenly picture a boxing match or something?' Akira went blank for a minute after hearing the name. Though, after hearing the other bits of information, he nodded his head. "That sounds good, thanks for the suggestion. I'll definitely check it out."

"No worries at all, I'm glad to help."

With that, the rest of the meal was a peaceful one with both Ganyu and himself exchanging a few words every now and then.