"'The Lawrence–Commoner Reconciliation Association' doesn't actually exist, does it?"
The look of realization on the young girl's face—when she understood she'd been deceived—made Victor Wang's heart sting just a little.
"It didn't exist before. But now it does, if you want it to."
Vera's face paled slightly. "Does Eula know?"
"Eula and I are on the same team."
Currently, Mondstadt didn't seem to enforce the death penalty. The harshest punishment appeared to be exile—but in this world, "exile" was more like being banished from the nation altogether.
After all, once a person left Mondstadt's jurisdiction, their criminal record ceased to matter.
And as far as the Lawrences were concerned, based on Schubert's appearance in the game, even traitors were merely imprisoned.
Victor Wang hesitated, then tried to soothe her. "Why so serious? Don't overthink it—nothing's going to happen."
"You liar."
"I didn't want to lie. I just couldn't think of another way. Blame my stupid brain. But even after you knew I was lying, you still helped me."
"I did it for my family."
"And I'm doing it for your family too."
Victor Wang glanced up at the sky. It was about time for dinner, so he extended an invitation to his ally: "Dinner? At Good Hunter—my treat."
After a meal shared with Eula's younger cousin, night had fully fallen, and the Knights had been off-duty for over an hour.
Victor Wang, hopeful, found Jean still working late in her office. He quickly shared the results of his investigation.
The next morning, before working hours, he spotted Eula pacing outside the Knights' headquarters.
Her form-fitting pants left the snowy-white curve of her upper thighs visible, drawing curious glances from passersby. Victor Wang's gaze was also helplessly caught, the sway of white skin making him momentarily dizzy.
They had agreed to meet this morning, though it was still several minutes before their 9 a.m. appointment. Clearly, Eula was deeply concerned about the state of her family.
As soon as she spotted Victor Wang, she approached quickly. "Did you learn anything yesterday?"
"Yeah."
Just that one word made Eula's heart sink with disappointment toward her family. She pressed, "Who was it exactly? Or which ones?"
"Don't rush. The meeting's set for tonight. Your family's holding a dinner party, right? We'll go together."
Victor Wang had arranged with the four Lawrence brothers to return that evening once his 'camera' was repaired for photos.
"I—"
"What? Afraid to go home?"
"Hmph, don't assume you know what I'm thinking. It's just that when I meet my father, uncles, or any of the elders, we always argue. No one ever convinces anyone, and it's a pointless fight I'd rather avoid."
"There won't be any fighting tonight. Trust me."
Hearing that only made Eula fall silent. The more he talked, the less reassuring it felt.
Their brief morning exchange over, Victor Wang returned to the library to continue documenting every record he could, unknowingly working until lunchtime.
As he left the Knights' headquarters to grab food, he was stopped from behind by Albert—newly released after three days in detention and done with his debriefing.
Albert greeted Victor Wang like a long-lost friend—no tears, but overflowing eagerness.
"The Knights wouldn't tell me anything—what happened with that thing before?"
"Which thing?"
"Lady Barbara's concert! Did it go ahead?"
"Oh, it went as scheduled. By the way, why'd they arrest you? I missed you—it was kinda lonely without you there."
"Hehe, I did it for Lady Barbara! Since she couldn't make the bold move herself, I took advantage of her gentle nature to push her forward. Don't underestimate what I did. It may have been a small step for Barbara, but it was a giant leap for us fans!"
Albert wore a smug, almost heroic expression, as if begging for praise.
"You..." Victor Wang wasn't sure Albert was a bad person. Maybe just dumb. Or perhaps a little off in the head.
Definitely not someone to view through the lens of normal logic.
"I was awesome, right?"
Victor Wang silently nodded, then remembered the Mora he'd fronted. "You were awesome, but those commissions you posted—you never paid the rewards."
"Oh... right! I should settle that, or the Adventurers' Guild will blacklist me."
Albert turned to leave.
"No need. I already covered for you. The total was 510,000 Mora. You can just pay me back."
Albert froze and looked at Victor Wang in shock. "You actually went and did all that?!"
Albert knew full well the stingy nature of his fellow fan club vice presidents. None of them had much money, so it made sense. But this guy—this guy—was responsible and willing to pay. Clearly, he'd picked the right person to side with.
Without questioning further, Albert dragged Victor Wang to the bank and transferred the owed Mora.
"You really fronted all of it yourself? I thought it was a crowd-fund. You're crazy generous."
"For Lady Barbara, I might even give my life."
"But you don't even work! Where'd you get so much Mora? Don't tell me you're secretly selling Barbara photos?"
"Seriously? You think I'd do something like that?"
Victor Wang slowly nodded.
"Hey! Listen, all I know is my family's got nine figures... maybe ten."
"No way. Don't tell me your family's corrupt?"
Victor Wang, still unable to even hit small goals in the game, couldn't help his surprise.
"My grandpa used to run a transportation guild, and my dad's a famous architect. We've got money—what's weird about that?"
"Far as I know, your grandpa's position wouldn't pull that kind of salary. And your dad... let's put it this way: plenty of case studies show that the architecture industry has the highest embezzlement rate."
"Now that you mention it... maybe we did skim a bit." Albert recalled the antique vases in their house and the suspiciously heavy ceramic pieces that rattled with Mora, a flicker of doubt flashing across his face—though he quickly waved it off. "But who cares? I'm not corrupt."
"Uh... is that really okay?"
"I'm great! I used to be a spoiled brat, but ever since I met Lady Barbara, I've changed—changed for the better."
"I didn't mean that—ah, forget it."
Victor Wang gave up trying. Even if the family was dirty, as long as they kept a low profile, no one would care.
Albert, on the other hand, was not only unashamed but proudly devoted to his family.
"Oh, right—the membership benefits I promised. Wait here, I'll go grab them from home. You've been so dedicated to the fan club—I can't let you down!"
Albert flagged down a carriage, leaving Victor Wang waiting alone at the bank.
Exclusive photos of Barbara? Of course Victor Wang was interested. Willingly, he waited twenty minutes.
And it paid off.
"Check this out—this was the second day I saw Lady Barbara. That was three years ago. Even then, she was so adorable!"
In the photo, Barbara looked a bit younger, her body not yet fully matured.
"Wait—you were already taking pictures back when she was underage?"
Victor Wang considered calling the authorities.
"No way! I first met her at her coming-of-age ceremony! She was already legal when I took this."
"Still... taking pics in secret is wrong."
"Hmph. If you don't want them, I'll take them back."
"Wait—"
"Here's one: her first performance with the church choir."
Barbara wore a traditional nun's robe in the photo. Victor Wang, used to her usual outfit, found the change refreshing.
"This one—Barbara doing charity work at Angel's Share. Ah~, so kind, so beautiful, so cute."
In the background, Victor Wang noticed Diluc frowning and turning away. Albert's sneaky photo-taking skills were clearly top-tier—how did Diluc not notice?
He browsed the Barbara collection with Schubert at his side and was relieved to find nothing inappropriate, sparing Schubert from being reported on the spot.
"When you said 'exclusive photos,' I was half-sure they'd be shady. Are you hiding those somewhere else?"
Albert looked offended. "How could you think that?! If I had taken anything like that, I wouldn't be fit to call myself human! I'd rather Lord Barbatos shred me with winds like a thousand blades!"
Victor Wang studied his expression carefully—it was sincere.
"Besides, Lady Barbara's so heavily guarded—like I could even get something like that."
"Alright then. These are all mine?"
"We had a deal—take 'em. I've got backups."
Victor Wang slipped the photos into his cloak pocket.