Fiasco

"Torturing? Ningguang is a respectable leader, she would never do such a thing. She will certainly tell me if I ask about Noelle or the Traveler." Jean frowned and answered without looking at Sai.

"Master Jean, why didn't you tell me? I have other hypotheses…" He panicked a little.

"Me and her have known each other for some time already. Although I can't be a hundred percent sure, I don't think she would keep hold of Noelle without letting me know. But she might know something we don't, so I sent her a letter."

'It seems like my plan went wrong right off the bat. Jean doesn't trust me…'

Sai sat down and kept thinking of how to amend the situation.

Jean shook a bell and a maid entered shortly after. She had short brown hair and wore a long black dress with white frillies.

"Mandy, call Eula over for me, please."

"Of course, Master." She bowed and left.

Sai was finishing his thoughts when he heard another knock on the door.

"You may enter." Jean permitted.

From the door, a young woman with a somewhat short blue hair entered. She wore a very interesting set of clothes that reminded Sai of Kaeya's in a way. She was obviously Eula.

'It seems like there are no normal women around here. Eula is a sight to behold and even the maid from before was young and pretty…'

"I extend my greetings to Acting Master Jean. How may I help?" Eula started.

Sai recalled what he could about her. She wasn't one of the five-stars he owned, but she made an impression on him through the Albedo quests. She was a daughter of a strong aristocratic family called Lawrence, but it seemed that she disliked them and joined the knights instead.

She was just as polite as he remembered. But contrary to his expectations, she felt cold. Really cold. Jean's aura felt like a gentle breeze, Kaeya's like a comfortable cold, but Eula's was chilling cold. Sai was reminded of the Sheer Cold he had felt just the day before, although this time it didn't hurt.

"Captain Eula, I will now assign a mission to you."

"Understood."

"You are to teleport to Liyue Harbor and deliver this letter to the hands of the Qixing. Do not delay."

"Understood."

Eula approached the desk and took the letter. She then turned around, gave Sai a quick glance and then left through the door.

'Hohh… She glared at me.'

"Is she usually that cold?" Sai addressed Jean, who was pinching her nose bridge again. That seemed like her characteristic move.

"Yes, she had a… rough past." Jean sounded a little worried, but quickly changed the subject: "Do you have anything else to say, Sai?"

"Master Jean, I told you I would help you find Noelle, so I will help you however I can. I simply lack some important information to make more accurate judgement…"

"I thought I had given you all the information you needed?" She raised a brow.

"How could I know you knew the Tianquan personally? I can formulate other possibilities—"

It was not that he didn't know, he just forgot to take it into account. But before he could try anything, she interrupted him.

"It's okay, Mr. Sai. Just take a rest for the day. You can send me any information through one of the knights."

"I—"

"Please, I have much to do." She didn't leave him any room.

"Sigh… I understand. I'm sorry for not being of help, Master Jean."

…

Sai was not feeling well after this fiasco, so he went straight back to his hotel room after leaving the headquarters.

"Dammit… It was not supposed to go like that… How could I suggest Ningguang might torture Noelle? I'm stupid! Stupid!"

Sai was feeling really down. Everything he had planned was based on having Jean's trust, so failing at the first step was rough. He called for some food and absent-mindedly had lunch, even though it was already around 4 pm.

He decided to explore the city while he had a mind block. He left the hotel and leisurely walked around. He didn't have any mora, the money of this world, so he couldn't buy anything. Since he was already there, Sai decided to check the upper district first.

He wasn't worried about getting lost, he could just ask a passersby for the statue or the headquarters of the knights and he would know how to go back.

Sai wanted to check the cathedral first and foremost. It looked magnificent in the game, so it must surely look great in real life. After some time on the main street, he could finally see it.

It looked similar to baroque architecture, but it was completely made of white stones. Beautiful circular blue windows adorned it throughout, with blue tiling to complement. It was astonishing to see.

He took a peek inside, but it looked like there was a ceremony in place, so he didn't enter.

A thought crossed Sai's mind: he wanted to see the lake and its surroundings. Since he was already near, he chose to go to the garden of the church, in case he could see it from there like in the game.

It was really beautiful, and much bigger than in the game. Despite the church not growing much, Sai walked around the trees for minutes but couldn't reach the end.

He was almost panicking when he heard voices and decided to ask for help. When he got closer, the voices stopped. From behind some tall bushes, a figure emerged.

"Eula?" Sai was pleasantly confused.

"What are you doing here?" Her eyes were cold.

"I— I was looking for the exit, I am lost." He gave a wry smile.

She looked at him trying to figure out if he was lying. She looked behind for a second and then said:

"I will help you get out."