"Cloud Retainer? She is an adeptus who comes and goes like the wind." Keqing nodded in response. She had seen that woman just now.
"Indeed." Shiki and Ayaka said in unison.
"Eh? You… you've all seen her?"
Ganyu felt her entire being deflate upon hearing this. Please, don't let it be what she was thinking!
"Um… could I take a moment of your time, all three of you? I have some… private matters I'd like to ask about."
"Sure, Ayaka and I have no problem." Shiki said indifferently. Keqing also nodded in agreement.
After all, if she called her alone, it might be work-related, but if it was the three of them together, then it definitely wasn't.
The group arrived at a deserted winding path, and then Ganyu asked: "Excuse me… did Cloud Retainer… tell you anything about my childhood?"
"No, why do you ask?"
Keqing's expression was a little confused, as was Ayaka's, while Shiki showed no change, after all, Ganyu's childhood…
Hmm, rolling down the mountain, choking a monster to death because she was too fat.
Shiki, having played the game, naturally knew all about this, but she didn't say it, merely maintaining the same expression as before.
"No, nothing…"
Ganyu quickly shook her head, while also sighing in relief. It was good that she hadn't said anything; now her embarrassing past wouldn't spread abroad.
"It's good that True Lord Liu Yun Borrowing Wind didn't tell you. I won't bother you anymore, goodbye."
"Oh, right. Since you two are from Inazuma, please convey my regards to Yae Miko when you return. I haven't seen her since the Sakoku Decree." Ganyu said.
"No problem."
Shiki naturally knew that Ganyu knew Yae Miko; Yae Miko herself had admitted it when she went to Grand Narukami Shrine a while ago.
However, looking at Ganyu, it seemed their interactions were quite close before the Sakoku Decree was issued.
"Then I'll trouble you two."
Ganyu finished speaking and left, probably to work overtime again?
The three returned to Wanmin Restaurant. As soon as they entered, Paimon asked curiously: "What were you talking about just now?"
Aether quickly pulled Paimon down from the air upon hearing this: "I told you it was a private matter, Paimon, you're being too rude!"
"W-w-w-I'm sorry!"
"Although it's nothing major, looking at Ganyu, she probably doesn't want others to know, so I won't say anything." Keqing said.
"That's right, prying into others' privacy is a very rude act."
Shiki agreed wholeheartedly, though in the 21st-century Earth, there was no such thing as privacy.
Unless you don't use the internet, don't use a phone, and stay away from all electronic products.
"Everyone! I just thought of something!" Xiangling, who was studying the recipe, suddenly stood up from her chair and said loudly: "Seeing True Lord Liu Yun Borrowing Wind just now made me realize, do you think this God of the Hearth might also be an adeptus?"
"That possibility cannot be ruled out."
"In that case, let's go ask Master!"
"Master? Xiangling, you mean your master is an adeptus?" Keqing was a little surprised; she really hadn't thought of that.
"Yes, she's at Yujing Terrace right now! Ryougi Young Miss and Kamisato Young Miss, do you want to come?"
"…I'll pass. I just remembered I have some things to do." Shiki shook her head, then asked: "Ayaka, do you want to go with them?"
"What do you think?" Ayaka rolled her eyes at the girl and said coquettishly: "Where Shiki is, I am."
Aether/Paimon: "..."
Damn it, why did they suddenly feel so full?
Xiangling and Keqing didn't feel anything particular, just marveling in their hearts at how good their relationship was.
"Alright then, but in that case, will you not be coming to tomorrow's Chef King Competition? Didn't you say you were going to Wangshu Inn tomorrow at noon?"
"Not necessarily… I can only say we'll try our best to rush back. If it doesn't start too early, then we should still be able to make it."
Shiki couldn't guarantee she'd be able to make it to the Chef King Competition, mainly because she had to eat with Morax tomorrow.
For this oldest Archon in the world, Shiki respected him from the bottom of her heart, so who knew how many hours dinner would take.
"Hehe, in that case, I'll simply look forward to it then!" Xiangling said with a laugh.
"The Chef King Competition will begin tomorrow at noon, held at Yujing Terrace. From the preliminaries to the finals, it should last for quite some time. I hope you can make it to the venue before the finals!"
"Haha, I'll try my best."
Shiki nodded, then watched Xiangling and her group head towards Yujing Terrace.
It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but that she genuinely remembered having some things to do today.
"Let's go, Ayaka. We need to go back to Inazuma for a bit. There's something on Watatsumi Island that I need to confirm."
"Watatsumi Island, huh? I understand."
Ayaka understood. The matter on Watatsumi Island must be Enkanomiya. Shiki had told her about this place before; it seemed very troublesome.
"Does the Yashiro Commission need to do anything?"
"No, just proceed as usual." Shiki shook her head, then passed through Chi Hu Rock and arrived at a Waypoint, teleporting back to Kamisato Estate.
What she was about to say next was truly explosive for the Liyue people, so it was better to say it somewhere without Liyue people.
"Regarding everything that happens tomorrow at Wangshu Inn, I hope Ayaka can keep it a secret for me, don't tell anyone, okay?"
"No problem… but why are you suddenly saying this?" Ayaka was a little curious.
"Liyue's Geo Archon… actually isn't dead."
"Oh… hmm!?"
Ayaka subconsciously nodded, then reacted. What did she mean, he wasn't dead?
Didn't the Liyue Seven Stars say he died during his tribulation? Why was she saying he was still alive?
"Morax is over seven thousand years old, the oldest Archon, and most of that time has been spent governing Liyue…"
"Simply put, this old man doesn't want to work anymore; he wants to retire, so he concocted a fake death plan."
"He is currently disguised as an ordinary person, experiencing retired life in Liyue Harbor."
"Last night, because we are both Archons, I met him. After he learned that I have the ability to completely eliminate Tatarigami, he invited me to meet at Wangshu Inn tomorrow."
"The general reason, I suppose, should be the Yaksha, who has been entangled by karma for many years? After all, that is essentially the same thing as Tatarigami."
Shiki explained to Ayaka. Now, in the latter's eyes, this oldest Archon had transformed into a retired old man.
A truly old man, hunched over, drinking tea, just like Granny Ping.
After all, she hadn't seen Morax and didn't know what he looked like.
Coupled with Granny Ping, the human-form adeptus, influencing her impression, she naturally regarded him as a retired old man.
"I see, so the people we're meeting tomorrow at Wangshu Inn are actually the Geo Archon and the Yaksha adeptus?"
"That's right, but because Liyue has now entered an era of human governance, we cannot expose the Geo Archon's fake death." Shiki nodded.
"Understood, I won't say anything out of turn."
Ayaka agreed, while also feeling somewhat unreal. Could she really meet the Geo Archon so easily?
After a moment of tender conversation, Shiki teleported to Watatsumi Island and found Sangonomiya Kokomi in the Coral Palace study.
At this time, the Watatsumi Misogi Festival had already ended, and the entrance to Enkanomiya had opened. The originally deep Eye of the Deep had formed a staircase like moonlight, allowing people to enter Enkanomiya.
Shiki noticed it when she landed, but she didn't pay too much attention to it.
After a brief appreciation of the moonlight staircase, she strolled into the Coral Palace.
"How is everything, going smoothly?"
"Ah!"
Sangonomiya Kokomi, who was reading, heard the sudden voice in front of her and couldn't help but let out a cute gasp.
"Oh, it's Ryougi Young Miss… next time you come, could you please knock on the door first?"
Closing the book, still startled, Sangonomiya Kokomi felt a little strange. She had locked the door, so how did the other person get in without making a sound?
"I'll try my best. I saw that the Eye of the Deep has changed. Has the Watatsumi Misogi Festival ended?" Shiki's expression was calm. She wasn't in Liyue Harbor now, so she naturally didn't need to maintain her elegant Young Miss persona.
"It ended this morning. The army has already entered the borderlands… By the way, Ryougi Young Miss, with your attire, did you just attend some family gathering?"
Sangonomiya Kokomi looked at the girl's coiled hair, hair ornaments, and earrings, and couldn't help but be curious.
"Something like that… why do you ask?"
The Moonchase Festival, should it also count as a gathering?
"Nothing, I just feel… that with this attire, you give off a different impression."
"Hmm… it seems… gentler?"
Sangonomiya Kokomi was a little unsure. Hair styles and accessories could indeed change a person's temperament, but the other person still maintained a poker face, so the change was almost imperceptible.
Sangonomiya Kokomi would bet that if Shiki's lips curved up even slightly, and her eyes softened a bit, the impression she gave would be completely different from now.
"It seems the person who dressed you also hopes Ryougi Young Miss becomes gentler."
"Perhaps."
Shiki was noncommittal. After today's itinerary, Ayaka felt a little different from usual.
If normally she was a slightly cunning girlfriend, then today she was… a well-behaved and cute daughter?
Shiki's expression became a little strange as she reviewed the itinerary. How did she come to such a conclusion of super seniority increase?
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