"Alright then, Sister, and Sister Lisa — I'll leave you both to it. I'm heading back to the church."
Barbara smiled and said her goodbyes.
"Take care now."
Lisa gave a cheerful wave.
"Safe travels."
Jean nodded.
After seeing Barbara off, Jean set the book down on her desk and resumed her discussion with Lisa about the details of the commercial trade tunnel connecting to Mondstadt.
Something over half an hour later, they finally hammered out all the particulars.
"Lisa, thank you for your hard work."
Jean let out a quiet breath and rose from her seat.
"I'm not the one who's been working hard. But are you really alright? You didn't go home last night, did you? You slept here at the Knights' headquarters."
Lisa shook her head, her expression carrying a faint note of concern.
"Don't worry. I got some rest."
Jean smiled.
"'Rest,' you say — you mean staying up at headquarters dealing with official business, then collapsing face-first onto your desk in the middle of the night, then dragging yourself back up before dawn to start all over again?"
Lisa sighed.
"Noted. I'll go home and sleep tonight."
Jean smiled. "Thank you, Lisa."
"Are you really not going to come with me to the Hunters' Lodge for afternoon tea? Apparently they've started carrying Liyue pastries."
Lisa smiled.
"No, I still haven't reviewed the Scout Division's investigation report from yesterday."
Jean shook her head, sat back down at her desk, and drew a document from the dense mountain of paperwork — the report submitted by the Scout Division.
"The Hilichurls over in Dadaupa Gorge have apparently been stirring again. I need to send someone to look into it."
Frowning at the hefty report, Jean unconsciously pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose.
"Well then, how about this — let's go to the Cat's Tail for a drink tonight. That little cat-girl mixes an absolutely exceptional cocktail. Honestly, I think it's better than anything Angel's Share has to offer."
Lisa leaned over Jean's desk and said brightly.
"We'll see."
Jean shook her head.
"You, honestly."
Lisa shook her head. "Rest exists to make the work better — have you forgotten all the trouble the Traveler went through just to get you to take a break? Things have their order of priority. Handle what matters most, and lean on the rest of the Knights for the other things. The stuff that isn't urgent or critical? Hand it to Kaeya. He looks positively idle to me — he's apparently been spending his free time discussing Jumpy Dumpty plushie toy orders with little Klee."
"But..."
Jean still hesitated.
In truth, she had been overworking herself dreadfully these past few days — sleeping at Knights' headquarters for nights on end. The fatigue had been building up in her body, and she was starting to feel the same dizzy spells as last time.
"Tell you what — once you're done with the Dadaupa Gorge situation, let's read together for a bit and unwind. A bowstring pulled too taut will snap. Besides, the author of the books Barbara brought you is apparently quite the celebrated bestseller from Liyue — yesterday when I went to the Cat's Tail for a drink, I noticed the bookshops all over the city had put up standing banners promoting her."
Lisa smiled. "You deal with that, and I'll go to the library to grab a book and contact Kaeya while I'm at it."
And without waiting for Jean to agree, she swept out of the room before another word could be said.
Jean watched Lisa's retreating figure and sighed. Her gaze drifted to the set of books resting on the desk.
"Your Lie in April... The Eternal... Sword and Fairy... Your Name... 5 Centimeters Per Second..."
After reading the titles, Jean turned her eyes back to the documents on the desk and got to work.
About ten minutes later.
"That should do it."
Jean rubbed her eyes, let out a long breath, and reached for the next document.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
Jean didn't look up, still reading the document in her hands.
"Didn't we agree you'd only look at the Dadaupa Gorge file? Why are you already on to the next one?"
Lisa frowned.
"Sorry. I picked it up out of habit."
Jean raised her head — and saw that two people had come in behind Lisa.
One was a young man with a lean, tall build and slightly tanned skin, dressed in a blue, black, and white ensemble, with dark teal-blue hair.
Behind him trailed a little girl, fiery as an ember. She was utterly adorable — dressed in a red-and-white outfit printed with golden four-leaf clovers, a matching red hat on her head, and a small dark-brown backpack slung over her shoulders, from which dangled an endearing little yellow plush charm. Her golden hair was tucked entirely beneath the hat, except for one stubborn ahoge sticking defiantly up into the air.
At the moment, she was peeking out from behind the young man's legs, her bright red eyes swimming with wariness.
"Hmm? Kaeya, why have you brought Klee out of her confinement room?"
A small crease appeared between Jean's brows.
The moment Klee noticed Jean's reaction, she immediately shrank further behind Kaeya.
"Acting Captain Jean, don't look so stern. Didn't I help Klee finalize that deal with the merchant? Well, the merchant needs a prototype for mass production. I was going to help Klee make it myself, but Lisa said you needed rest and asked me to take over your paperwork for a while. If I left Klee alone in the confinement room to work on it unsupervised, there's a real chance she'd stuff an actual bomb inside the prototype — that's a disaster waiting to happen. So I brought her along to keep an eye on her."
Kaeya grinned. "And besides, Klee and I have already reached an agreement — she's willing to donate a portion of the plushie sales toward repairs at Starfell Lake."
"Fine, fine..."
Jean pressed a hand to her forehead.
"Yay!"
Klee's eyes lit up like lanterns, and she beamed. "Acting Captain Jean is a good person! Brother Kaeya is a good person too!"
"Klee, what about me? If it weren't for me, Kaeya wouldn't have brought you out at all."
Lisa's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Lisa Au— ...Sister Lisa is a good person too!"
Klee caught herself halfway through the word, saw Lisa's expression cool, and hastily corrected course.
"Good girl."
Lisa patted Klee on the head.
Klee's expression turned unmistakably guilty.
Seeing Klee like that, Jean couldn't help but sigh.
That child really was a handful...
Causing trouble every other day.
This time she'd nearly blown up the Statue of The Seven...
The Anemo Archon — unreliable as he was — probably wouldn't take it personally...
But even so. That was still a serious incident by any measure.
Perhaps she needed to rethink her approach to Klee's upbringing...
"Alright, alright, let's not dwell on it. Klee, you stay here in the room and work on your plushie. Kaeya, I'm leaving the work to you."
Lisa smiled.
"Leave it to me."
Kaeya waved a hand.
"Kaeya — if anything important comes up, you must call me immediately. The Grand Master entrusted the Knights to me. We cannot afford any missteps."
Jean said firmly.
"Yes, yes, you need to learn to trust your comrades a little more. Kaeya is a perfectly reliable adult."
Lisa looped an arm around Jean's shoulder.
"But..."
Jean's concern only deepened at that.
Kaeya was dependable when it truly mattered, yes — but he did have a habit of causing minor disasters every now and then.
Like that time he told Klee that everyone they saw at night was a demon wearing a disguise.
Klee believed him completely, picked up a bomb, and blew the confinement room door clean off its hinges.
"No more 'buts.' Let's go sit on the sofa — we don't want to get in their way."
With that, Lisa steered Jean over to the sofa and sat her down.
Watching them settle onto the sofa, Kaeya walked over to the desk and surveyed the towering stacks of documents piled on top of it.
Hm... not bad. Not too many.
Then he looked beneath the desk — and found another enormous pile stacked up down there.
Kaeya clapped a hand over his face. He had a distinct feeling he'd been had.
Hang on — Lisa was perfectly capable of helping with this. Why had she roped him into it instead?
But he'd already said yes, and there was nothing for it. He buried himself in the paperwork.
Meanwhile, Klee had gathered her tools and set to work crafting an oversized Jumpy Dumpty plushie.
"Which one do you want to start with?"
Lisa smiled and asked.
"Either is fine."
Jean nodded.
She'd made up her mind — she would listen to Lisa and take a proper half-day's rest. The work could wait until evening.
"Then let's read The Eternal — it's about our Mondstadt, after all."
Lisa smiled. "I'll go pour you a cup of red tea."
"Mm, thank you."
Once Lisa returned with the tea, she settled in beside Jean.
The two of them each opened their copy of The Eternal.
"Oh? Ancient Mondstadt era? Now that's interesting."
Lisa's eyes narrowed with quiet intrigue.
"Mm."
Jean nodded.
They read on.
At his desk, Kaeya scratched away steadily at the documents.
At first, still sluggish from insufficient rest, Jean found it difficult to focus — a faint restlessness gnawing at the edges of her attention. But as the story deepened, she found herself pulled in by the plot and Fang Qiu's commanding pen, until she was fully submerged in that ancient Mondstadter age — a world at once breathtakingly romantic and pitilessly cruel.
Aboard the great ship, noble and pauper were worlds apart.
In the eyes of the aristocracy, the poor were no better than livestock.
And yet — against that very backdrop — the noblewoman Rose and the commoner Jack crossed paths aboard the ship, and their fates became entwined.
Time drifted gently onward.
The sun traced its slow arc westward.
And in a blink, night had fallen.
The moon cast its hazy, dreamlike light. A gentle wind swept in off Eagle Soar Beach, passed through Windrise, stirred the surface of the lake into soft rings of ripples, and drifted into Mondstadt City.
It set the windwheel asters on the Cat's Tail's balcony spinning in cheerful, whirling circles.
Inside the Cat's Tail.
"Here — drink up!"
"I tell you, after a long day's work, nothing sets you right like a glass mixed by Miss Diona."
"Speaking of which — why are there so few people tonight?"
"Right? By this hour the place is usually packed."
Diona sat behind the bar, surveying the scattering of three or four customers in the otherwise empty tavern, and gave a deeply satisfied nod.
Her eyes — green as polished emeralds — were bright with undisguised delight and astonishment.
So it really was working. That person called Fang Qiu — no, that talented author called Fang Qiu — her books really were pulling those drunkards away to read.
Slowly but surely, they would lose interest in drinking. They would fall in love with books instead.
And their children would grow up without bad examples to follow.
In time, Mondstadt's wine industry would be destroyed from the very root.
It was, in its own way, another path toward the total annihilation of Mondstadt's wine trade!
She had already decided: once Mondstadt's wine industry was brought to ruin, she would make a trip to Liyue to thank Fang Qiu in person.
To thank her for saving the people of Mondstadt — for liberating them from the seduction of alcohol.
She hadn't expected the effect to be this powerful, though.
"Strange — why are there so few customers today? Did Angel's Share come out with a new wine? Or are they running a discount? But even so, that wouldn't account for numbers this low... Or has Miss Barbara put on another concert?"
Owner Margaret stared at the handful of customers in the bar, rubbed her chin in puzzlement, and muttered to herself.
It just didn't add up.
Diona glanced at the bewildered Margaret and felt a small pang of guilt stir in her chest...
Margaret had always been so good to her — warm and caring, treating her like a little sister. Aside from occasionally sneaking a pat at her cat ears, she was practically perfect.
But if Papa stopped drinking so much, he'd stop rolling around drunk on the floor like a boar in a mud puddle every few nights.
He'd stay the brave, wonderful Papa she'd always known.
But if the tavern's business went badly, the Cat's Tail would close...
This was agony.
"Maybe... I should go outside and bring in a few customers."
Diona looked at Margaret, tightened her small fist, sighed, and hopped down from the barstool.
That way Miss Margaret wouldn't feel too bad.
But she couldn't bring in too many — only a few.
Two, maybe.
Ugh... two felt too few.
Three, then?
Or five?
Mind made up, Diona started toward the door — but she'd barely taken a step when the bell above it let out a cheerful jingle, and the door swung open as a massive crowd came pouring in.
"Huh?"
Diona froze.
"What?!"
"What are you all doing here?"
Diona, flustered and confused, blurted out.
"Miss Diona, one glass — no, three glasses. Three big ones. Any kind, I don't care."
"Just give me a bottle of cider. Skip the mixing."
"I'll take one bottle — no, two bottles of dandelion wine."
"One glass of high-proof grape wine, please."
They flooded in and packed the tavern beyond capacity in an instant — there wasn't even room to squeeze extra chairs between the tables.
"Diona, I'll leave the bar to you."
Owner Margaret took one look at the standing-room-only crowd, said that, and immediately hurried outside with the other two bartenders to set up several additional tables, opening the second floor in the process.
"Uh..."
Diona was still completely lost.
They'd all gone off to read books — so why had every single one of them suddenly come charging back to drink?
She set about preparing their drinks, studying them as she worked.
They were men and women alike, and nearly all of them had eyes ringed red — the kind that only came from crying over something heartbreaking.
More than a few of them seized their glasses the moment they were set down and knocked back several desperate gulps before bursting into tears.
They were rambling too — half-coherent things about how they had once been separated from their beloved by the unbridgeable gulf of social class, forced to watch helplessly as the person they loved was married off to another, all hope lost.
And as they spoke, they swallowed their drinks and their tears together, weeping without restraint.
Others spoke of how the one they had loved had — to spare them grief and push them forward — fabricated a lie that she was getting better. And when he had finally pulled himself back together, she was in her final moments, still whispering to him: The one I love — please, do not weep for me.
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