Diona originally didn't want to accept the gift. After all, it was clear at a glance that Yuumi was an extremely valuable item. But in the end, she couldn't resist its charm.
"Th-thank you! If you come to the Cat's Tail Tavern next time, I'll mix the best drinks for you! Just not today—Klee is here, and I can't be a bad influence on children!" Diona hugged Yuumi tightly as she earnestly spoke to Shen Qin and Sucrose.
"No way! Drinking is bad!" Klee stood up forcefully, brimming with righteous indignation. "Big Sis Diona, don't give them drinks next time either! Klee doesn't like grown-ups who drink!"
"Klee is right! Then I won't mix any drinks for them from now on. I'll show my thanks in another way—I'll bring you the freshest, most delicious meat from Springvale instead!"
Shen Qin sighed. If he'd known this would happen, he wouldn't have brought Klee along. Now it seemed he'd never get to taste the Cat's Tail specials again.
As they left the private room, a crowd of customers had already gathered outside, waiting for them.
"Master Qin, those are toys, right? When will they go on sale? I want to buy one for my little rascal at home!"
"That mechanical kitty is so cute! No need to scoop litter and it's super clingy—I want one too!"
"Mr. Qin, are these toys for sale? I'm willing to pay big money..."
Shen Qin had to respond to everyone's enthusiasm. He explained that due to current technological limitations, mass production wasn't possible yet. Each mechanical pet was custom-made and required a great deal of manpower and resources.
"But don't worry. Once the technology improves, I'll work with Dawn Winery to release similar mechanical pets. If you're interested, just hang tight a little longer."
Only after some effort did Shen Qin and the others finally leave the Cat's Tail Tavern amid the disappointed crowd.
On the way back to the alchemy workshop, Sucrose curiously asked, "Why does Yuumi have a name already, but we had to name Little Duke and Butterfly ourselves?"
"Hmm... When I was programming its AI system, that name just suddenly popped into my head, so I wrote it in." Shen Qin gave a casual explanation.
He couldn't exactly say that in some game on Earth, there was also a cute little cat named Yuumi, right?
Pairing Yuumi with Diona—it was just one of Shen's little indulgent whims.
When they returned to the alchemy workshop, two unactivated mechanical pets still remained. Shen Qin took the one meant for himself and placed it on the workbench, installing a miniature plasma weapon system he had built over the past few days. He named it the Dragoon Type I.
And the mechanical pet housing the Dragoon Type I? Its name was Haro.
That's right—he shamelessly borrowed two names from Gundam. Even Haro's spherical design was inspired by the same-name robot from the series.
"Haro. Haro, please bond your identity with me." The round mechanical pet floated mid-air, spinning constantly in place.
"Bond."
Shen Qin hadn't set any specific personality for Haro. It was just a relatively normal intelligent mechanical pet. Of course, when it entered combat mode and revealed the Dragoon Type I from its belly, it became far from ordinary.
Because of the space taken up by the weapon system, its storage capacity wasn't nearly as large as Little Duke's—but it was enough to carry small items.
"Haro, sleep." Shen Qin lay down on his bed. Haro slowly descended to the floor, the lights in its eyes dimming to a soft, rhythmic glow that pulsed like gentle breathing.
The next morning
Klee took Little Duke to share the fun with her new best friend Fischl. Meanwhile, Shen Qin and Sucrose took the last mechanical pet and left Mondstadt. At the bridge, they found Timmy feeding pigeons as usual.
Sucrose sighed in sympathy. This last mechanical pet was meant for Timmy. Shen Qin had told her his story during the design process—a boy who would never again receive a letter from his father.
"Let's go. Hopefully with the companionship of this pet, his days will be a little brighter."
They walked softly, not making much noise, so the pigeons only flew a short distance and didn't completely scatter.
"Hello there, Timmy." Shen Qin greeted him with a smile.
"How do you know my name?" Timmy looked at him in surprise.
"Everyone knows there's a boy named Timmy who feeds pigeons here every day. I am Shen Qin, and this is Sucrose."
Timmy didn't reply right away and kept feeding the pigeons. Only after he finished his handful of wheat did he glance at the floating Ah-Die and Haro before looking back at Shen Qin. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Shen Qin, Miss Sucrose. Did you need something?"
He spoke with a maturity far beyond his years.
"Well... actually, your father gave us a commission to deliver a special gift to you."
Shen Qin pulled out the mechanical pet shaped like a chibi-style pigeon and pressed the power button.
The mechanical pigeon flapped its wings and circled the bridge once before landing gently on the railing. Tilting its head, it looked at Timmy and said, "Hello, Timmy. Would you like to bond with me and make me your exclusive companion?"
It startled the nearby pigeons into flight, but Timmy didn't even notice. His eyes lit up with joy as he stared at the mechanical pigeon. "It really is a pigeon! Is this a letter from my father?"
Shen Qin had no good way to answer that. He simply said, "Just say 'I do' and you can bind with it—and give it a name, too."
Timmy named it Paige.
Shen Qin then explained the pigeon's features.
"It has a storage compartment in its belly. From now on, when you feed the pigeons, you can load the wheat into Xin and have it carry the food over."
But when Timmy saw the empty compartment, disappointment clouded his eyes. The pigeon hadn't miraculously brought a letter from his father.
"You're lying to me, aren't you? Paige wasn't really sent by my father." He stroked Paige's head gently, voice full of quiet sadness.
Just then, a fierce gust of wind swept in from Springvale. Xin spread its wings to shield Timmy from the wind.
"I already knew..."
At that moment, a wild roar of wind burst through the air, followed by a dragon's furious roar. Clouds rolled and churned as dark storm clouds rapidly gathered above Mondstadt. The sky darkened in an instant.
"Monsters incoming!"
Sucrose's panicked cry snapped Shen Qin out of his daze. Lowering his arm shielding his eyes, he saw a massive horde of Hilichurls and slimes advancing across the stone bridge toward Mondstadt.
"Sucrose! We have to hold them off until the Knights arrive!" Shen Qin shouted. "Timmy, go back to the city right now and tell the Knights—there's a monster attack at the gate!"
"Okay!" Timmy turned and sprinted away, but he had only run a few meters before another even louder dragon roar echoed through the sky. A giant flying dragon swooped overhead, and a violent gust of wind lifted Timmy into the air. He barely managed to grab onto the railing to avoid being blown away.
"Timmy!" Shen Qin tried to reach for him, but the wind was so strong that it knocked him flat to the ground.