How come he agreed right away this time?
Childe hadn't expected that. He'd figured Kaito would say the same thing as always — "let's go check tomorrow" — and had only asked on a whim. Instead, Kaito had said he wanted to go right now.
Not that Childe minded, of course — he'd wanted to go now himself. It was just that once Kaito actually said it, something in him went a little contrary and he found he didn't quite want to anymore.
But there was no taking it back now. Words had been spoken. Might as well go have a look.
Miss Mobius…
I just hope that when you show up, you'll be able to read my signals.
Thinking this, Childe pushed back his chair and stood up.
"Judging by the direction the Millelith marched out just now, it's probably somewhere around the Guili Plains," Zhongli said suddenly, also rising from his seat.
Childe: "!"
He couldn't help it — hearing Zhongli casually name the Guili Plains gave him a genuine start. He had a guilty conscience, and besides, he hadn't expected Zhongli to already know the direction. Zhongli hadn't said anything about it until now.
Even so, Childe kept his expression perfectly neutral and said, "The Guili Plains? Could just be heading that general direction, I suppose. Might be somewhere even further out, for all we know."
He put on a thoughtful look as he said it.
"You make a fair point," Zhongli replied. "Though we'll find out once we get there. The Millelith shouldn't have moved on so quickly."
Seeing Childe perform so well, Kaito naturally wasn't going to be outdone.
"Then let's head out," Zhongli said, giving a nod and leading the way outside. Childe and Kaito fell into step behind him.
Outside.
"Oh, by the way, Kaito — did you want to let Lumine and Miko know? I'd hate for them to come looking for you later and find you gone."
Once they were outside, Childe turned to Kaito and said this. This time he wasn't playing any angle — it was a genuine thought.
"It's fine. They know I'm with you two. They won't worry." Kaito waved a hand dismissively.
He didn't know whether Childe had any ulterior motive this time, but he genuinely wasn't concerned about it.
"Fair enough. Then let's move."
Childe nodded after hearing Kaito's answer.
And so the group set off toward the Guili Plains.
Guili Plains.
"Looks like it's over there — but the Millelith have it surrounded." Childe sounded a little resigned as he said this, peering down from the hillside.
After leaving the city, they had spotted a unit of Millelith heading out and had quietly trailed them all the way here.
"I wonder what happened down there," Kaito said, gazing at the soldiers below.
"Could be something Miss Mobius left behind," Childe offered, as though just casually throwing out a guess.
Well, because it was you who left it there…
The moment Childe finished speaking, Kaito thought exactly that. But of course he kept it to himself — and even went so far as to agree.
"That's entirely possible. But we can't exactly just walk down there."
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Kaito added, "Oh, right — I forgot to mention Mobius's situation to the Qixing."
This time Kaito wasn't performing for anyone's benefit. He'd genuinely forgotten.
Since he knew Zhongli was the Geo Archon, he had chosen to bring Zhongli into the loop about Mobius. But the Qixing had slipped his mind entirely.
Wait, no…
Didn't I say something earlier about telling the Qixing about Mobius…?
Did Zhongli forget?
The thought struck him, and Kaito glanced over at Zhongli.
"You can go speak with them tomorrow, young friend," Zhongli said mildly, meeting Kaito's gaze.
Kaito: "…"
Looking at Zhongli like that, Kaito found himself at a complete loss for words.
After a long silence, he finally said, "Fine. But how do I even find the Qixing? Do I just go up to the Jade Chamber and look for Ningguang directly?"
Having had almost no dealings with the Qixing, Kaito honestly had no idea how to go about it. The only person he actually knew was Ningguang, and he knew she was at the Jade Chamber.
"Mm. Seeking out Tianquan at the Jade Chamber is indeed a reasonable approach," Zhongli said, nodding as though he hadn't noticed the expression on Kaito's face.
"Alright. I'll go talk to her tomorrow then."
Seeing Zhongli act like that, Kaito abandoned any thought of asking why Zhongli didn't just go speak with the Qixing himself.
It didn't matter. He could do it just as well.
The Qixing, hm…
If that's how it is…
Miss Mobius should be even more inclined to cooperate with me then…
And I can bring this up with her as well.
Standing quietly off to the side, Childe had been listening to Kaito and Zhongli's exchange, and his thoughts were moving along those lines.
His confidence that Mobius would agree to work with him was growing by the minute. The only problem was that he had no idea how to arrange their next meeting.
And beyond the uncertainty of timing, he also knew he'd need to be more careful next time.
"Should we head back for now? If Kaito talks to the Qixing tomorrow, I have a feeling we could come straight here afterwards and see what's going on," Childe ventured, after thinking it over.
The Millelith detachment below was no real obstacle for any of the three of them — but Childe knew neither Kaito nor Zhongli would just pick a fight with them.
"Yeah. Let's come back and check again tomorrow."
Kaito turned to look at Childe and nodded.
By the way…
Should I have Mobius show up in front of everyone…?
The question surfaced in Kaito's mind and he fell into thought.
He figured Mobius would need to appear before the group at some point — but that appearance needed to serve a purpose. Showing up just to show up wasn't exactly a smart move.
Forget it.
Better to talk to the Qixing about Mobius first tomorrow, and take it from there.
After turning it over, Kaito decided there was no real point in having Mobius appear right now and resolved to hold off.
Still, he knew Childe was desperate to see Mobius again. Even though last time Childe hadn't quite finished what he was saying before Mobius had left, Kaito had a pretty good idea of what he'd been about to say.
"Let's head back to the teahouse," Zhongli announced, and turned and walked away.
More tea…
Kaito stared at Zhongli's retreating back and couldn't help thinking exactly that.
Then he followed.
____
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