Time really does fly. Half a month had passed in the blink of an eye.
Mondstadt had returned to its old vitality. Every last trace of the chaos Stormterror had brought was gone.
Mondstadt. The All-Trades Shop.
Cao Zhong was flipping through a doujin by the Great Inazuma Sage, letting out the occasional deeply uncouth laugh.
"Oh oh oh — this chapter is good, this chapter is good!"
"The husband's away from home, a plumber sneaks into the house, and what happens next is a story that simply must be told!"
"This is the stuff. Oh, this is absolutely the stuff."
Just as Cao Zhong was settling in for a serious session of literary appreciation, Lumine and Paimon burst through the door.
Cao Zhong fumbled frantically to hide the doujin behind his back and turned on the intruders with an expression of genuine indignation.
"Do you two know how to knock?! How many times have I said it — knock before you come in!"
He fixed Lumine with a glare that could curdle milk.
"That's your commission for this month — gone."
Lumine's eyes went wide. She stared at him, then laughed — the kind of laugh that comes right before a declaration of war.
She had been fully prepared to pretend she hadn't seen the doujin behind his back and spare him the embarrassment.
And this was the thanks she got. That rotten capitalist had the nerve to attack first.
Fine. We're doing this.
[Lumine: Oh my goodness — does anyone know what the latest chapter of the Great Inazuma Sage's doujin is about? Our boss was practically pressing his face against the pages. I need to know!]
[Xiangling: @Lumine — Your boss?]
[Lumine: Cao Zhong.]
[Hu Tao: Wow, as expected of Boss Cao! Tell us everything — I want to know too!]
[Cao Zhong: @Lumine — Do you want me dead?]
[Lumine: Of course not~ I'm just personally very curious about the contents. Is there a kind soul out there who could fill us in?]
[Yae Miko: @Cao Zhong — I would also love to know what's inside. Any good-hearted big brother who could enlighten us? Pretty please?]
[Anonymous LSP: This chapter hits different — absolutely unhinged, loved every second!]
[Mondstadt LSP: Bro. Lend me a copy.]
[Liyue LSP: I never beg. Today I am begging. Please.]
[Anonymous LSP: Since you've all asked so sincerely, I'll be generous and tell you. The Great Inazuma Sage's latest chapter: "The husband's away from home, a plumber sneaks into the house, and what happens next is a story that simply must be told!"]
[Kamisato Ayato: Why is it called the Great INAZUMA Sage. Why.]
[Kaeya: Well, when it comes to this kind of thing, Inazuma really is the most accomplished nation, isn't it?]
[Kamisato Ayato: What is that supposed to mean?!]
[Xingqiu: Say no more — I need to read it.]
[Cao Zhong: What a shame there's no Shogun doujin. I would love to see one!!]
[Raiden Shogun: ???]
[Kujou Sara: HOW DARE YOU!!!]
[Kamisato Ayato: INSOLENCE!!!]
[Yae Miko: @Cao Zhong — Oh, you want to see one? Then call me Big Sis first.]
[Cao Zhong: Big Sis!]
[Raiden Shogun: ???]
[Yae Miko: That was fake — I knew it, it's all fake! Ei, you have to believe me! How could I ever do something like that behind your back?]
[Raiden Shogun: (*￣︶￣)]
[Yae Miko: @Raiden Shogun — Don't smile at me like that, it gives me the creeps!]
[Kunikuzushi: @Yae Miko — You'd just do it to her face instead!]
[Yae Miko: @Kunikuzushi — Now THIS one gets me.]
[Arataki Itto: Huh? Why is it suddenly thundering?]
[Yae Miko: Not talking anymore — I need to run. Any later and it'll be too late!]
[Kunikuzushi: Tch. Boring old woman.]
[Xingqiu: Holy — who IS this guy? He makes even Boss Cao look restrained!]
[Thoma: I think he's from the Fatui?]
[Keqing: The Fatui — AGAIN?!]
[Tartaglia: Hold on — this has nothing to do with me. I don't even know him that well.]
[Kunikuzushi: One day, you will all die.]
[Cao Zhong: I respect Kuzushi-bro's damage output, I really do.]
[Kaeya: @Cao Zhong — Forget about him — I still haven't called you out for yesterday. You told me you didn't have the latest Great Inazuma Sage doujin, and now you've been caught red-handed. You really enjoy lying to your friends, huh?]
[Cao Zhong: I genuinely didn't have it yesterday. It just arrived today.]
[Venti: @Cao Zhong — Enough talk. Get it posted to the "Study Resources Exchange Group" and we'll call it even.]
[Bennett: Hurry up!]
[Diluc: Hurry up!]
[Chongyun: Hurry up!]
[Kamisato Ayato: Hurry up!]
[Thoma: Hurry up!]
...
[Lumine: No matter how I look at this, that group does not sound like a respectable place.]
[Cao Zhong: Excuse me, what is that supposed to mean? We're all perfectly respectable people — how could we possibly have a group that isn't? Watch what you say or I'll report you for defamation.]
[Venti: Exactly. Say that again and I'll have a lawyer's letter sent to you.]
[Xingqiu: Lawyer — lawyer — is there a lawyer in the chat?]
[Hu Tao: So there's a secret clique, is there? I want in!]
[Cao Zhong: @Hu Tao — Trust me on this one. That group really isn't suitable for you.]
[Arataki Itto: What group? Why am I not in it either?]
[Kamisato Ayato: @Arataki Itto — It's a study group. And you don't study. Go read your manga.]
[Arataki Itto: @Kamisato Ayato — And what exactly do you mean by that? Are you looking down on me for being uneducated? Oh, very refined of you. Very impressive.]
[Kamisato Ayato: I — that's not what I —]
[Arataki Itto: You are absolutely looking down on me for not having an education. Oh sure, real impressive, knowing so much. You still have to work for someone at the end of the day — and maybe I'm doing better than you!]
[Hu Tao: Itto-bro, you're pushing it a little now. Times have changed — you can't just get by on passion and guts anymore.]
[Arataki Itto: Oh yeah? I don't believe that.]
[Cao Zhong: Itto-bro, back up your claims. Give us an example.]
[Arataki Itto: Shinobu! Top of her class in Liyue law school — and she still came to work as my second-in-command in the Arataki Gang!]
[Yuuya: Boss, maybe you should stop there?]
[Arataki Itto: Stop? I'm stating facts!]
[Kuki Shinobu: Arataki Itto. This household is yours. You can live in it alone.]
[Arataki Itto: Wait — Shinobu? Why are you mad? Don't go, please don't go! I'm sorry, okay?! I'm sorry!]
[Kaeya: Ah — Itto-bro is in peak form as always, I see.]
[Hu Tao: What did we say about poking the big loveable fool?]
[Arataki Itto: @Cao Zhong — Boss Cao. Bro. I'm calling you BRO. Please help me out here — Shinobu is actually angry, she's packing her things and heading home!]
[Cao Zhong: Girls like hearing nice things. Say something sweet to her.]
[Arataki Itto: But I'm hopeless with words! Teach me, please — you're my BRO!]
[Cao Zhong: Since you called me bro, I'll help you out. Use words of praise to describe her — something like——]
[Arataki Itto: Got it, say no more!]
[Cao Zhong: ???]
[Arataki Itto: @Kuki Shinobu — Shinobu, you look so… praiseworthy! Please don't leave!]
[Kuki Shinobu: ???]
[Hu Tao: HAHAHA!!! Everyone look — there's a rare specimen in the wild!!!]
[Kujou Sara: Truly. A pinnacle of wisdom.]
[Kamisato Ayato: This is exactly why the "study" group has standards. The pressure in there is immense.]
[Arataki Itto: What do you all mean by that? Am I wrong? Shinobu — you say it. Did you like my compliment?]
[Kuki Shinobu: ...]
[Cao Zhong: @Kuki Shinobu — He's doing his best in his own way. Forgive him?]
[Kuki Shinobu: Sigh. What choice do I have? Of course I forgive him.]
[Kaedehara Kazuha: By the way — any chance I could get added to the Study Resources Exchange Group?]
[Beidou: Kazuha, you——!!!!]
[Kaedehara Kazuha: It's not what it looks like. I have a friend. Before he departed, all he could think about was getting his hands on the Great Inazuma Sage's doujin. It's my duty to fulfil his dying wish.]
[Cao Zhong: Do you see this? Do you all SEE this? Now THAT is a true friend. Our group needs talents like this. You're in!!]
...
Back at the All-Trades Shop,
Cao Zhong looked over at Lumine and thought about how hard she had worked in her previous life — up before dawn, running errands and taking commissions, all for a handful of Mora. He felt a twinge of conscience he couldn't quite shake, and in the end decided not to dock her commission after all.
"So — you're getting ready to leave Mondstadt?"
He brought it up.
After all, they hadn't managed to get any information from Venti about the god who had taken her brother. Venti had come up empty.
And so Lumine had already set her sights on the next destination, ready to begin a new chapter of her journey.
Apparently, Liyue was preparing for the Rite of Descension. She was planning to go and try her luck — to see if she could get an audience with the legendary Rex Lapis, the God of Contracts. Perhaps he would know something about the god in question.
"Yeah — in the next few days."
Lumine's voice carried a faint reluctance.
She had been in Mondstadt for so long. She'd made so many new friends. And eaten so many wonderful things.
It was hard to leave, if she was being honest.
"I heard the Knights are putting together a banquet to celebrate Mondstadt's victory over Stormterror. Wait until it's over before you head out."
Cao Zhong suggested.
"Oh, really?! A banquet — there'll be so much good food! Traveler, let's stay for it! What's one or two more days? It's not like we're in a rush!"
Paimon's eyes lit up like lanterns at the word banquet.
Lumine shot her a look of mild exasperation. "All you ever think about is food."
"Oh, like you don't want to eat! You just won't admit it!" Paimon fired back, unimpressed.
"Don't you dare say it!"
"I'm saying it!"
"I'll fight you!"
The two of them dissolved into their usual squabble.
Cao Zhong shook his head, already tuning them out.
His thoughts had drifted somewhere else entirely.
Zhongli's about to retire from his post — should I head over to Liyue or not?