Childe doesn't like chopsticks

"Sasori, are you ready?" Asked Igarashi.

"One more minute...!" Sasori replied from the other side of the room.

They were currently upstairs. It was morning and Igarashi has still not opened the shop. He decided to close it for today like when he went out to mine some Noctilolucous Jade for Sasori. But this time, he already notified Mo Fan that they were going to leave.

His attire was also different from usual. He decided to wear lighter clothing so that he could move more freely. As for Sasori, he can bend his limbs 360° without any problem. Additionally, he can also detach and reattach them, but he said that it was too uncomfortable to do so Igarashi didn't insist to do it.

After a few moments, Sasori came out of the room with his polearm floating on his back. Seeing the floating polearm, Igarashi immediately got curious. "How'd you do that?"

Sasori looked at the floating polearm and shrugged. "Madame Ping taught me about it."

"You're really learning many things from her, huh...?" Igarashi was impressed.

Though, he did have to admit, that he too wants to learn how to float his weapons. But unfortunately, he doesn't have the "Flexibility" Madame Ping talks about. It was probably because Sasori could twist his body that he was "Flexible".

Igarashi snapped out of his thinking and checked his inventory again. There, he saw the necessary items that they will need.

The two of them went down to the shop and opened the door. The door's bell chimed and they exited. They decided to head to the bridge linking to the road heading to the chasm.

On their way, Igarashi saw two people he thought he wouldn't see any time soon.

"Do I really have to do this, Mr. Zhongli?" Said a person next to Zhongli, showing signs of struggle.

As for the latter, he was currently eating at Wanmin Restaurant and silently ate his food with his eyes closed.

He stopped eating and placed his chopsticks down. "If you want me to accept the contract, then you must first learn how to use chopsticks."

It was none other than Zhongli's walle—, I mean, The 11th Fatui Harbinger, Tartaglia. Also known for his alias, Childe, meaning 'The young Lord'.

From their conversation, it seems like Zhongli is currently making Childe undergo some sort of trial.

Igarashi heard their conversation and vaguely knew what was going on. 'So Childe is already trying to make Zhongli sign the contract for his Gnosis...'

Then, Zhongli noticed Igarashi and Sasori. He shifted his attention from the struggling Childe and spoke to him with a smile. "Sir Yunru, a pleasant morning, don't you think so?"

Igarashi nodded. "Yeah, it is."

Zhongli inspected both Igarashi and Sasori and it did not even take a few seconds before he found out what they were gonna do. "Are you two perhaps going for a trip?"

On the side, Childe made a slightly surprised expression and painted at Igarashi. "Oh! Weren't you the guy that I saw that other night? What a coincidence!"

Igarashi didn't know how to respond and just smiled before waving his hand. "Yeah... I seem to also recall you... Too..."

"Haha, is that so?" Childe chuckled.

"Uh... Yeah..." Igarashi replied.

After a few moments of silence, the atmosphere became EXTREMELY awkward.

Noticing this, Igarashi cleared his that using a fake cough and immediately changed the subject. He then looked at Zhongli. "Regarding Mr. Zhongli's question, yes, me and Liang are going on a trip."

"Oh, how curious. Judging from the floating weapon behind little Liang here, you two seem to be prepared for something." Zhongli said.

'Yup, he knows.' Secretly thought Igarashi. "Uhh, yeah. We... We're going to Jueyun Karst."

Zhongli seemed to have been interested and asked. "What could you possibly want to do in the realm of the Adepti? How curious."

"Yeah, I'm curious too!" Childe added at the sides, struggling with balancing his chopsticks.

"Umm... We will just... Collect some things. For an item." Igarashi decided to stay vague as possible regarding what item he was gonna make and which part of Jueyun Karst he was going to collect materials.

However, his worry doesn't seem to be necessary as Zhongli doesn't seem to mind it. "I see, then I wish you the best of luck with your journey."

Childe seem to be interested and asked, "What could you possibly want to make to have the courage to enter the adobe of the mighty illuminated beasts?"

"Childe, I think it is more appropriate for you to continue practicing and not bother them." Zhongli said as he drank some tea.

Childe immediately showed signs of unhappiness and acted like he was defeated. "Alright..."

Igarashi didn't bother them anymore and continued walking.

Not knowing that the 11th Fatui Harbinger just added him to his interested list. Especially Sasori. 'For someone that looks so weak, Mr. Zhongli seems to have in high regard. Not to mention that person beside him... He somehow reminds me of an annoying colleague... Whatever.'

Tartaglia already deemed that both of them were weak and did not want to investigate in further. He only places those who are powerful as a person worth his interest.

But of course, it was not just Tartaglia that placed the both of them on their 'Must Watch' list, a certain hydro vision holder also sent some of her men to keep an eye on Igarashi's shop.

* * *

It had already been hours since Igarashi and Sasori departed. They found an abandoned working cart to drive but found no horse for it. He looked around and still no horses.

Seriously, where are the horses?

Anyways, Igarashi just decided to pull the small cart. To be fair, he barely felt tired. Because of his stamina stat, he felt like he could run for hours without stopping.

But of course, he too needs to rest. So, he and Sasori would sometimes switch. And again, to be fair, Sasori doesn't feel tired, and he even wanted to be the only one pulling it. But the thought of making a child pull a cart just doesn't sit well with Igarashi so he insisted to switch.

The cart rattled along the road and Sasori, who was taking a nap, was woken up.

"Hey you, you're finally awake." Igarashi said as he looked at the back.

"Are we... There yet?" Sasori asked as he stretched his body.

Igarashi stopped pulling and answered him. "To be exact, we ARE here."

He dropped the small cart and stretched his hands up as he groaned. Sasori exited the small cart and looked around and saw that they were under a broken bridge connecting two mountains.

Igarashi breathed heavily and said to Sasori, "Welcome to Tianqui Valley. A breeding ground for Geovishaps."

Sasori was a bit confused because Igarashi has not told him anything about Tianqui Valley before until now.

He looked around more and finally realized that it was just plains with some ruins left on them. "I see..."

It was a deserted place with some ruins. A perfect environment for monsters to nest.

Igarashi nodded and took out the Murasame from his inventory. Of course, he wore some gloves to protect himself from being cut. Because even if it's just a small bruise, as long as Murasame made a small cut, its poison curse will spread throughout the body within moments. 'Gotta be careful, after all...'

He then made sure that the blade was kept safe in a black scabbard he specifically requested from Master Zhang, a blacksmith near his shop.

Igarashi checked once more and nodded. He then looked at Sasori and saw that he too was ready with his polearm in his hands. And on his hand, his Electro Vision was inlaid in a golden pocket watch for aesthetic reasons.

"Alright then..." Igarashi muttered before walking. "All's checked, now, it's time to kill Geovishaps."

"Umu..." Sasori nodded at the back.

And so, the hunt begins.

Will he be the hunter or the hunted? Find out more in the next episode of Drago—...