Chapter 841 - 28: Interview_2
"Thanks... did you really think I’d say that?" Yakumo Zi half-squinted her eyes at once, shooting him a rather contemptuous glance, but the fan covering her face still didn’t lower. With that same look of disgust, she said, "Even if you come fawning over me at a time like this, I’m not going to be happy."
Gu Mo felt a trace of surprise, because that dangerous aura on Zi, like a big feline predator, suddenly weakened a little...
So in the end, is she happy... or not?
He sized up the golden‑haired Demon girl and wisely chose to shut up, even though he really had the urge to throw out a snarky comment. But right now, he’d better not increase the difficulty level for himself... Fortunately, aside from Zi, things didn’t seem too troublesome.
Letting his gaze wander thoughtfully around, Miss Flower Demon seemed to have made up her mind and had no intention of quitting halfway, so she sat leisurely on the other side.
Then there was Miss Shinki, except she wasn’t bothering to hide that puffed‑up angry look of hers, which still carried a bit of childishness... And of course, there was Miss Alice, but she was merely sitting at the long table in the distance, fixing this side with a complicated, annoyed stare.
Seeing this, Gu Mo sighed inwardly—
The heartfelt confession he had finally managed to blurt out a few days ago, and the tiny bit of impression score he’d barely recovered... was probably about to get wiped out again.
Whatever, it’s fine. His favorability rating had already crashed to rock bottom anyway, maybe even into the negatives, so there wasn’t much left to deduct. He could slowly grind it back up, bit by bit, later. Before, he’d been expressing his stance on the issue; now, he had to deal with the rest of the problems.
Thinking along those lines, he unconsciously turned his gaze to the other side.
Because, somewhat unexpectedly, the Princess of the Eternal Pavilion hadn’t come over to join in either, and was instead sitting over there in a leisurely manner, chatting animatedly with Yakumo Eirin about something, seemingly with zero interest in paying attention to this side... This behavior, in turn, made Gu Mo rather unsure.
Kaguya, she...
What on earth is she thinking?
"Dragon God?"
A soft call came, and he reined in his thoughts and looked forward, only to see Hieda Akyu already gracefully walking up to him. The little girl in the printed Kimono was suppressing her excitement and agitation, bowing to him with extreme delight: "Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to accept my interview..."
"You’re welcome, Miss Hieda. I also think this is a chance for me and everyone in the Fantasy Land to deepen our mutual understanding..."
Gu Mo nodded lightly, slipping into bureaucratic speech with practiced ease, and at that moment his sharp ears also caught a disgruntled mutter from the crowd not far away.
"Damn it, why is he willing to accept Akyu’s interview, but not mine... I was clearly here first, whether it’s interviews or distribution or whatever..."
Of course, the one grumbling like that was the Crow Tengu girl with black wings—the fastest in the Fantasy Land, Miss Aya Shameimaru. She seemed extremely displeased, feeling that if she were the one hosting this interview, it would be an enormous boost for her newspaper!
As a Crow Tengu, this would probably be the most glorious moment of her life.
Gu Mo merely glanced over expressionlessly, offering no comment. Come to think of it, Wenwen’s composition really is a bit complicated. Is she currently in a superposition of "White School theorist" and "dog"?
"Regarding this interview, I’ll handle it the same way I do for everyone else and faithfully record all the information in the Records of the Quest for Knowledge... If there’s no problem, I’ll be starting now." Hieda Akyu took out a notebook, sat down formally on the mat, and asked in all seriousness.
"No... problem..."
Gu Mo’s eye twitched a few times as he looked at the crowd unconsciously closing in around him, all their ears perked up. Nonetheless, he firmly nodded.
—Let’s just do this.
He’d read that book, and basically everyone here had been interviewed before; lots of detailed info had been recorded in that thick bestiary. Now he was just "when in the land, do as the landfolk do"... Although, their interviews probably hadn’t caused such a big scene. This was more like celebrity‑grade treatment for him.
"Then first question, Dragon God..." Hieda Akyu smiled and glanced down at her notebook. "About your name, is it really Gu Mo?"
"Of course."
Gu Mo’s answer was very firm, and he subconsciously cast a glance around.
They all had their ears pricked up and were staring fixedly at his expression and every change in his eyes, as if worried he might lie, or hoping to use this rare chance to finally unravel the mystery surrounding him.
"That’s good... Then the second question: where do you usually live? In what places do you most often operate?"
"I usually live on the Moon. As for where I often operate, that’s hard to say... I’ve basically been everywhere, and I don’t confine myself to any specific area." Gu Mo’s answer came quickly, and wasn’t particularly surprising.
Only over by the Eternal Pavilion, Yakumo Eirin looked thoughtful, and Princess Kaguya also knitted her brows slightly.
Could this guy really have been their old neighbor?
"Hmm, I see..." Hieda Akyu nodded, then mused aloud, "Do Dragons all live on the Moon? I’d heard before that Dragons dwell in the sea, the sky, in the rain..."
"No idea, I don’t know about that." Gu Mo spread his hands. He really didn’t understand those things, and he’d never seen any other Dragons.
"Eh?" Hieda Akyu paused, slightly taken aback.
The others also all frowned. Is this guy starting up again?
"Because I don’t do that myself, and I haven’t seen other Dragons, there’s no way for me to confirm..." Gu Mo reiterated very seriously. If he didn’t know for sure that they’d never believe him, he’d even want to clarify that he merely has a Dragon form, and whether he counts as a true Dragon is still an unknown.
Speaking of which—
In the Fate World and in this world, actual "Dragons" seem to be terrifying existences.
In the former’s worldview, if Western "Dragons" are unquestionably the most powerful Fantasy Species, then the Dragons of China are invincible... existences for whom there’s not even any need to fight.
As for this world, after being labeled a Dragon God, Gu Mo had also deliberately searched for clues about "Dragons". So far, the only vague pointer he’d found was Draco... that Northern Celestial Constellation, located north of Corona Borealis, coiling like a Dragon in curves across the northern night sky.
A constellation visible all year round, spanning a wide swath of sky.
—It’s said to be a living, genuine "Dragon".
Gu Mo wasn’t sure whether this clue was absolutely true, because it was frankly a bit too outrageous. If the "Dragons" of this world really were that heaven‑defying, then with his current little loach‑like body, he’d honestly have no face to call himself a Dragon God.
......
(PS: They were tearing down an old house today, and the excavator’s been going since six in the morning till eight at night. Really a pain... It did affect things a bit, sorry about that.)