34 The fabled one

"..." Shenhe looked at the man in front of her with her expressionless face and couldn't help but think of one thing.

Loud and weird.

That was her first impression of the man with the blindfold.

Sensing her strange gaze, the man laughed. "I already introduced one such as myself. Might you not do the same?"

"...Shenhe." She said with a solemn face. There was really not that much of a reaction that one can get out from her.

'This is tough.' Albert secretly thought.

Truth be told, he was having quite a hard time "acting" as Qin Shi Huang. When he was acting as Ezio, it was quite easy to imitate a pompous assassin but imitating a pompous emperor? That requires a bit of practice.

Nevertheless, it was a challenge he accepted. After all, it is his constellation to act.

Intending to change the subject, Albert walked over to one of the windows. "Were you perhaps the one that saved me?"

"No," Shenhe stood up from her lotus position and looked at Albert who was staring out the window. "You were brought here by my master."

"Well then!" Suddenly, the man turned around with a smile. "It's not right for someone as I to not thank a benefactor!"

He then walked over in front of Shenhe. "Come on then, lead the way."

Shenhe once more looked at the man in front of her with judging eyes. Of course, while still retaining her expressionless face.

For a time when she was separated from human society, she had wondered what other people other than the adepti were like.

Yet the man in front of her... She doesn't know why, but he seems very confident in himself.

"Alright..." She said before walking past him, not probing into the matter further.

'Perhaps I need to visit Liyue Harbor myself to see if everyone else is like him...' She secretly thought.

Albert leisurely shrugged and followed behind her.

The moment Shenhe opened the door, Albert was set with a boundless plane of clouds.

"Wow~" Albert said as he and Shenhe left her abode inside Cloud Retainer's Adeptus realm. "There are clouds everywhere!"

"It's all the work of my master," Shenhe said in front of him, praising Cloud Retainer. "Among the adepti, she alone invests a lot in mechanics, as such, she had improved her realm to perfection with various features."

"I see, I see..." Albert said as he grasped his chin. "Now I'm really interested in this master of yours."

'He's not even fazed by the fact that master is an adeptus...' Shenhe silently observed the man's actions before walking off. "Do be careful and closely follow me. One wrong step and you might fall into a trap."

"No problem!" The man responded leisurely. Soon, the two of them walked in a strange pattern.

During the whole time, Shenhe would look at the man and see that he was off looking somewhere else.

'Even though he has that blindfold, he can see clearly?' She thought as she observed him more. The more she looks at him, the more eccentric he appears.

Finally, after walking in a strange pattern for two minutes, they had arrived at a location where a lot of islands were floating.

"Follow me," Shenhe said as she continued walking.

"Hoh? Interesting..." Albert smiled as he followed behind Shenhe while seemingly looking around.

The floating islands were connected by a golden path that hangs on each side. This is how the two of them managed to cross each island.

After crossing each island, they finally arrived on the island Cloud Retainer was at.

"I'm guessing this is where your master is, huh?" Albert walked past Shenhe and stood in front of a giant gate frame that had no doors.

"Is Cloud Retainer here? I'd like to meet her!" Albert loudly yelled outside.

"Hmph! Who dares to shout one's name with no respect?!" Suddenly, an angry voice of a woman was heard, and a beautiful white crane flew down in front of Albert.

"I heard you're the one that saved me?" Albert said, keeping his smile but no present respect in his tone. He was acting as a majestic pompous emperor that has no respect for others and only confidence in himself, what else should he do?

"You..." Cloud Retainer looked at the blindfolded man in front of her and loudly pouted. "You have no sense of gratefulness. If one knew you were like this, one would have never saved you."

Suddenly, Albert raised one arm and raised one finger and shook it. "No... I'm grateful to you for saving me. But... I would never lower my head in front of anyone."

"That is my principle." He said as he lifted his head with a smile. "Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one."

"This arrogance!" Cloud Retainer sounded angry the moment she heard his preposterous claim. She then turned her back to him with a furious tone. "Leave here at once! Before one returns you to the state one found you!"

Shenhe watched from the rear and was a bit worried. She had never seen her master so angry like this before. Sure she was a bit petty at times, but never this furious.

"I can't do that." Albert chuckled as he shook his head. "I never leave without repaying a benefactor."

"Don't anger one such as I further, human!" Cloud Retainer said as she walked away. "Leave before one changes one's mind!"

"I told you," Suddenly, without Cloud Retainer reacting in time, Albert appeared beside her. "I can't do that."

"..." Cloud Retainer looked at the blindfolded man beside her with cautious eyes.

She had been alive for a couple of thousand years and honed her fighting skills to the point that her instincts in battle are unparalleled compared to humans.

However... A human actually managed to approach her without her noticing!

There were only two possibilities of why this happened. Either her battle instincts have dulled... Or the human beside her has unparalleled speed. Too fast to even be noticed.

But of course, she would never realize that it was because of Albert's experience as Ezio of stealthily closing in on people. It just... Became a habit.

'This...' Shenhe from the rear was in shock at what just happened. 'In less than one breath, he managed to appear near master...'

"Come on, you must have something to request of me, right?" Albert said as he leaned on the wall behind him. "I don't like owing others, you see? As I said, I never leave without repaying a benefactor."

Cloud Retainer looked at the human beside her and fell into a deep thought. Someone capable of surpassing her in terms of speed definitely wasn't normal.

After a few moments, she decided to speak. "One won't forgive you for your ceaseless arrogance, but one does have a task for you if you're this capable..."

"Oh!" Albert joyed with a big smile. "Then do tell. As long as it's nothing disgraceful, then I'll do it."

"Hmph." Cloud Retainer humphed furiously as she walked away. "Recently, one has been lacking an ingredient for a mechanism one is working on."

"I task you..." She spoke before turning her head and looking at Albert. "To go to Nantianmen and..."

"Retrieve me the Juvenile Jade of a Primo Geovishap." She finished her sentence.

"Master..." Shenhe spoke. She clearly knows what her master was doing. She was testing him. However, the monster she was sending him to is very dangerous. "Is that not dan—"

However, contrary to Shenhe's worry, a wide smile appeared on the blindfolded man's face. "Consider it done."

"One had never seen such arrogance before..." Cloud Retainer sighed as she felt even more angrier at his self-confidence. She then looked at him in the eye. "What is your name, arrogant human?"

"Qin Shi Huang," Albert grinned as he raised his hand and raised his forefinger. "The fabled one under the heavens."

[+1 SP]

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A/N: Sorry for the hiatus... I ran into a writer's block because I wondered how the mc would meet Mr. Osmanthus

Well, after a month I finally straightened my mind and came up with a good story with some twists... Hue Hue Hue