"Because it reminded me of that moment. You were there too," Shenhe said.
"When?" Keqing asked, confused.
"When you all came to see me. The red rope flew out and turned into a vision. It seemed like I was the only one who could see it."
"I saw him. And I saw my daughter." Shenhe shook her head at Keqing, then picked up a pastry and took a bite.
Mona listened in silence for a moment before saying, "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. Red ropes, visions... what?"
Ryou glanced at her. "Shenhe's master is one of the mighty and illuminated adepti. Stop trying to make sense of it like it's normal."
"Huh? Y-You're an adeptus's disciple?" Mona said in disbelief.
"Is that strange?" Shenhe asked.
Mona fell silent. After a while, she finally said, "You know, the way you talk makes it really hard to make friends."
"I don't need friends." Shenhe shook her head.
Mona stared at her, not knowing what to say.
"Just eat something first," Ryou cut in before the conversation could get even weirder.
Mona looked at the dishes and pastries on the table, picked some up, and took a bite.
The taste still amazed her. It was unbelievably good.
"These dishes are incredible," Mona said. "I honestly feel like even Xinyue Kiosk and Liuli Pavilion in Liyue Harbor can't compare to you."
"That's exaggerating a bit." Ryou fed Klee a piece of meat, then said, "Those two places each have their own full menu and style. The dishes complement each other, so the overall experience feels different."
"If you judged them by just one dish, maybe it wouldn't hit as hard, but the standard is still extremely high."
"My cooking is decent enough, but compared to them, I'm still a little behind."
"You really are humble," Mona said.
"He's telling the truth," Keqing said in Ryou's defense. "I've eaten at both places before. I can tell the difference."
Mona said nothing after that, because she really had never been to either one.
"Ryou, try this. It's really good." Keqing picked up a piece of sweet-and-sour pork and fed it to Ryou.
"Of course it is. Your husband's cooking isn't bad at all," Ryou said with a grin.
After all, the ingredients he used had all been infused with spiritual energy, and that alone was enough to keep the food at a certain standard.
Then there was the effect of [Mouth], which let him breathe over the dishes and raise their quality by one level, and another level after touching them.
If he added the Holy Light state on top of that, the quality could jump straight to +3.
That was enough to push the food to an entirely different level, already brushing up against the standard of truly exceptional dishes.
Of course, if his ability really overperformed, the result would be even better than his usual level.
The group sat there eating and chatting for quite a while before continuing up the mountain.
After passing one bend in the path, they came across a broken bridge.
"Daddy, this bridge wasn't broken the last time I came here," Klee said, pointing at it.
Then she leaned forward to look ahead. "Albedo-nii's camp is just up there. Nothing bad happened, right?"
"Let's go take a look," Ryou said.
When they reached the camp, they found the whole place in a mess. Tables and chairs had been knocked over, strange liquid had spilled across the ground, and several instruments were flashing in eerie bursts of light.
"What... what happened here?" Keqing asked.
"Looks like a thief tore the place apart looking for something. And..." Ryou was scanning the ruined camp when he heard footsteps behind them.
"Who's there?" he shouted.
"Albedo-nii!" Klee cried the moment she saw who it was.
Ryou turned and saw two people walking over.
It was Albedo and a tall nun in fishnets.
"You!" Keqing said in surprise.
She recognized the nun immediately. She and Ryou had seen her before at Favonius Cathedral.
"Rosaria, do you know them?" Albedo asked.
"No." Rosaria glanced at Ryou and Keqing, then turned to look inside the camp. "I just happened to come here because I was following them."
"Your camp's been trashed. Check first and see if anything's missing."
"Alright." Albedo nodded and went inside.
Ryou looked at Rosaria and asked, "Rosaria, we don't have any grudge between us, do we? So why have you been watching us?"
"Just being careful." Rosaria pulled out a cigarette and took a drag.
Then she looked at Ryou through the smoke. "You're outsiders. Something happened in the city last night, and it involved you, so of course I kept an eye on you."
"I see. Cough, cough..." Keqing understood now, but the smell of smoke made her start coughing uncontrollably.
"Rosaria, my wife can't handle cigarette smoke. Could you wait a bit before smoking?" Ryou pulled Keqing behind him and looked at Rosaria.
Keqing stared at the man standing in front of her, and her heart skipped a beat.
Rosaria glanced at Ryou, then at the others, and finally put the cigarette away.
She coughed lightly. "Fine. I'm just used to it. Dragonspine's cold, so... you know."
"I do not know," Ryou said flatly.
Rosaria looked at him, then at Keqing. "I thought you were a smart man. After all, you managed to marry Keqing. Looks like I gave you too much credit."
"That's not about intelligence. That's emotional intelligence," Ryou said, rolling his eyes at her as he stretched his neck.
"Last night was an accident, and there were reasons for it."
"You don't need to keep watching us. Instead of watching us, you'd be better off keeping an eye on those lottery shops. Though now that I think about it... do nuns handle this sort of thing too?"
"Yeah," Mona added. "Do nuns really do this?"
"Hah. You're nothing like the nuns I imagined," Keqing said. "When I think of a nun, I think of someone like Barbara."
Rosaria crossed her arms and said, "I'm not like them. I protect Mondstadt in my own way."
"Nun work is boring and tedious. It doesn't suit me. The only reason I stayed is because the Grand Master..."
"Is he the man you love?" Mona asked.
Rosaria went quiet for a moment. "He's old."
"That's not really a problem, though," Mona said. "I've seen women in their twenties marry men in their fifties."
Rosaria stayed silent for a beat, then said, "There's a fifty-year age gap. And you still want to call that love? You really think I'd buy that?"
"The Grand Master is old enough to be my father, I—"
"Tch. I didn't expect you, of all people, to be into that," Mona blurted out.
Rosaria had to physically restrain the urge to spear Mona on the spot.
"Your imagination is a little too wild, don't you think?" she said through clenched teeth.
"At least let me finish talking first."
Rosaria shot Mona a glare, then continued, "The truth is, the Grand Master saved my life."
"Oh, so it was a hero-saving-the-beauty situation, and that made you fall for him? See? Age really isn't a problem," Shenhe said very seriously.
Rosaria looked at Shenhe, opened her mouth, then closed it again. With that completely earnest expression on Shenhe's face, Rosaria genuinely could not tell whether she was doing it on purpose.
Suppressing her irritation, Rosaria said, "What I mean is, he saved me. Back then, I was on the verge of dying. That's why I chose to stay with the Church and protect Mondstadt."
"I saw that fight back at Favonius Cathedral. By the time I got there, I thought the bandit leader who'd been defeated was already dead."
"That's why I kept watching you, and why I followed you all the way to Dragonspine."
"So that's what it was," Mona said, sounding weirdly disappointed.
"What were you expecting?" Rosaria asked, giving her a look.
"Sorry. I misunderstood." Mona hurriedly apologized.
Rosaria just shook her head.
"I didn't expect Mondstadt to have someone like you protecting it in the shadows besides the Knights of Favonius," Keqing said, looking at her. "That's a good thing."
"I'm just doing what I should. I don't need anyone's praise, and I don't want this spread around."
"Well, I'm satisfied now. You don't seem to be a problem, so I won't stay here and bother you any longer." Rosaria glanced outside and started walking toward the entrance.
"Be careful on the mountain. Dragonspine's more dangerous than it looks. Something out there is stirring."
"So... watch yourselves."
With that, she left.
"She's definitely a unique kind of nun," Mona said.
Ryou said nothing.
[Ding! Head entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding! Special head Darkened Mode active! You have gained the ability to control mist. This state does not consume mental energy. The control duration can be set to one day, seven days, half a month, or up to one full month!]
Ryou was stunned speechless by the notification.
Controlling mist was no simple ability. Used properly, it could have incredible effects.
And from how his previous abilities had worked, gaining more time with them usually meant burning mental energy to sustain the effect.
But this one did not consume any at all.
That was absurd.
Ryou looked at Klee and smiled. Then he picked her up and kissed her hard on the cheek. "Klee, you really helped me out this time."
"Daddy? I'm glad I could help Daddy." Klee did not understand what Ryou meant, but she was happy for him.
She gave him a sweet smile and tried to kiss him back.
She had been aiming for his cheek, but he turned his head just as Albedo finished checking the camp and walked over.
So instead, Klee's lips landed right on Ryou's mouth.
Ryou felt the soft wet touch on his lips and froze.
He had turned because Albedo was coming over.
Ryou had been about to say something to him, but now...
He could not get a word out.
Something was very wrong with the way Albedo was looking at him.
And when Ryou looked around, he saw that Mona, Keqing, and Shenhe were all staring at him differently too.
"Ryou," Albedo said with a frown, "don't you think you should explain this?"
"I..." Ryou felt like crying. How was he even supposed to explain something like this?
"Albedo-nii, I-I'm the one who wanted to kiss Daddy, so... you can't blame Daddy," Klee quickly explained for him.
"What did you just call him?" Albedo's face went dark.
Ryou was finished.
That was not an explanation.
That was pouring oil on the fire.
[End of chapter]
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