"So you've already met Grand Master Varka, Koji? How is he doing now?"
After hearing what Koji had said, Jean spoke with a trace of nostalgia.
Ever since Varka had led the Knights of Favonius on their expedition, she hadn't seen that senior of hers in a very long time.
She admired him deeply. Not just her, either—every knight in the order respected Varka. He was the living legend of the Knights of Favonius in this era.
"He's doing pretty well. He's in Nod-Krai right now. What happens next has something to do with the people of Khaenri'ah," Koji said.
"Khaenri'ah…"
Jean fell silent in thought for a moment. Anyone connected to that name was bound to be someone important.
Even though she trusted Varka's strength, she still couldn't help feeling worried.
"There's no need to worry too much about Varka," Lisa said with a faint smile from the side. "It's not just the Knights of Favonius gathered there. All kinds of factions are mixed together in that place."
If it had anything to do with Khaenri'ah, there was no way Varka and his people would be the only ones drawn there. Lisa had learned a bit of intelligence about that place before. The people there didn't worship the Seven Archons, but the Moon God.
Countries might have their frictions with one another, but when it came to matters of real consequence, they could still join forces in battle.
Jean nodded. Varka had taken the elite core of the knights with him. Worrying was pointless. If even Varka and the others couldn't handle it, any support they sent would be useless anyway.
…
"Instead of keeping your girlfriend company, what are you doing here with me? Coming to drink tea?"
The library was quiet. Lisa skillfully prepared afternoon tea, clearly in her element. This was the most leisurely part of her day.
Compared to a workaholic like Jean, Lisa's life was practically effortless. She sorted books, read books, and lived without pressure.
"Yep. I brought some top-grade tea from Liyue."
Koji took out a packet of tea leaves.
He'd gotten it from Ningguang. It wasn't as if she could finish it all anyway. If it stayed with her, it would probably just sit around gathering dust.
"Oh?"
Lisa looked slightly surprised, then smiled.
"This isn't ordinary tea. Most people would never get the chance to drink something like this."
It wasn't as if she'd never seen it before. Jean had received this kind of tea in the past, and it was usually the sort of thing only people with connections or those in high positions got to enjoy.
"I swiped it from Ningguang," Koji said bluntly.
"The Tianquan, hm? Then that's hardly surprising." Lisa nodded.
At a position like Ningguang's, getting whatever she wanted was as easy as opening her mouth and asking.
"So when did you start getting involved with that rich lady Ningguang?" Lisa asked, all gossip and curiosity.
The two of them sat on the same sofa. Koji leaned back against the upright backrest, while Lisa reclined lazily against it, almost as though nestled in its embrace.
A rose-like fragrance drifted toward him. Lisa was probably wearing a special perfume she had blended herself.
"A business partner kind of relationship?" Koji thought for a moment, trying to remember when he had first started crossing paths with that wealthy lady Ningguang.
"Oh? The kind of business relationship that involves several hundred million?" Lisa asked in a breathy, suggestive voice.
The doors were welded shut. Mondstadt's queen of innuendo had slammed her foot down on the gas.
"I somehow feel like the kind of cooperation you're talking about isn't very wholesome." Koji twitched at the corner of his mouth. Lisa's train of thought was going at dangerous speed.
"Who knows? Someone with a pure heart would definitely interpret it in a perfectly innocent way." Lisa was clearly having fun now.
As the undefeated champion of verbal sparring, there was no way she was going to hit the brakes once the teasing started.
"And what about you? Are your thoughts pure?" Koji slipped an arm around Lisa's slender waist.
The moment his arm wrapped around her, Lisa's body trembled on instinct. That spot was especially sensitive for her.
She was always talking about things feeling numb and tingly, and now she was getting a firsthand taste of it herself. Fortunately, Koji's hand wasn't moving around. Otherwise, the sensation would have been even more obvious.
"That question is really quite difficult to answer~"
Lisa's eye twitched.
Who knew her better than herself? She was always the one driving the conversation into dangerous territory, so there was plenty of yellow in her head already.
Better to skip the topic of purity altogether.
Life was like a giant dye vat—no one could avoid getting stained with a bit of color.
"You know, I think you'd get along really well with Yae Miko and a few others," Koji said with a grin.
Every nation had its veteran driver of dirty jokes. If they all gathered in one place, they'd definitely have the strongest voice in the room.
Oh, right—there was also Ying'er from Spring Fragrance in Liyue. She was absurdly good at this kind of talk, able to describe those sorts of actions in vivid, lifelike detail. She seemed to be together with Timaeus now, so Koji had no idea whether she still talked like that these days.
If Timaeus ever heard Ying'er really getting going, he probably wouldn't be able to keep it together. Those kinds of lines were enough to make any man crack.
"I have heard of that Guuji from Inazuma," Lisa said with great interest. "Don't tell me she's one of us too…"
Lisa knew every nation was bound to have kindred spirits like that, but she didn't know exactly who they were. After all, people like that wouldn't put it on public display. Saying a thing or two to the right person was fine, but if everyone knew, even a seasoned flirt would get embarrassed.
"That fox is pretty high-level, but the moment you start petting her, she goes soft," Koji said, offering his evaluation.
"You've petted her?"
Lisa raised a brow.
Yae Miko was unquestionably the number two figure in Inazuma, the Raiden Shogun's familiar, a woman of tremendous status and influence. And yet she could be petted by a man?
What kind of joke was she hearing?
"I've petted her in her little fox form. The feel is incredible, and the little fox really likes the way I do it," Koji said with a nod, as if savoring the memory.
Soft. Fluffy. Warm…
There really was nothing more suitable for a hand warmer than Yae Miko's little fox form.
No wonder Raiden Makoto had liked using little fox Yae Miko as a hand warmer back in the day. The touch really was that good.
"?"
Lisa's head filled with question marks.
What kind of wild thing had he just said? Even she, a seasoned driver herself, felt like the wheels of the innuendo truck had run over her face eight hundred times.
Technique? Was that technique even remotely respectable?
Just what kind of relationship did those two have?
In her head, all sorts of scenes had already begun playing out—Koji stroking Yae Miko with both hands until she was utterly exhausted…
"What are you even imagining? It was just a normal massage," Koji said helplessly.
For some reason, it really felt like Lisa's thoughts had taken a sharp turn into a very crooked alley.
"That's not my fault. The way you said it was bound to make people misunderstand." Lisa shrugged.
"Yae Miko… I've never met her in person, but I've heard she's a rare white fox spirit. Even in Inazuma, one like that is incredibly uncommon."
"A fox that's lived for more than five hundred years? However you think about it, there's no way she's simple."
A creature that had lived that long was bound to be incredibly shrewd.
"Speaking of Yae Miko, that reminds me of the relationship between gods and their familiars." Koji seemed to think of something, and his expression turned strange.
"The familiars of other gods are usually kept in line pretty well by their gods. But Yae Miko? That fox spends all her time thinking about how to mess with her own god."
For Raiden Ei to have a familiar like that… life really hadn't been easy for her.
"The Anemo Archon took the Traveler to deal with Dvalin, the Geo Archon took the Traveler to fight Azhdaha, but in Inazuma, Yae Miko took the Traveler along to rebel against the Raiden Shogun. That really is the complete opposite of how this sort of thing is supposed to go."
Lisa didn't understand all the details, but she was deeply shaken all the same.
Inazuma's divine familiar really knew how to play.
(End of Chapter)
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