Chapter 76: What Occurs Behind The Scenes.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound akin to that of a Hillichurl dancing in the rain reverberated constantly at the doors of a room in short intervals, showcasing the impatient disposition of the source or maybe it dictated the frantic nature of the individual known as Fischl who, not by her own choice, was incredibly nervous.

It had been 3 days since her friend Emmy had fallen ill and it had also been 3 days since she, Fischl, partook in anything reminiscent of that of a proper meal or sufficient rest for that matter. Every day she would come here and wait, hopefully looking at the door in case her friend came back.

'She has to be fine though right? She'll come out of that room brand new and even stronger than before, so I'll wait. I'll wait...'

Such thoughts led the girl to wait for 3 days and with such devotion that she nearly neglected her training numerous times. If it weren't for the boys dragging her around to go train, eat, and sleep, Fischl wouldn't move from that spot at all.

It came to the point where she had to move into Emmy's house as she found it too tedious to go back and forth to her own home.

'I did not give birth to such a thought, as it was the [Guard of Shadows Past] who came upon me with such an ingenious idea. It was truly an oversight, and a blunder for this Prinzessin to not think of it earlier,' Fischl hummed, touching her chin as she paced around the front of Emmy's room.

The corridor was, as she noticed numerous times before, extremely well kept with not a piece of dust or grime in sight despite the owner being bedridden. The entire house was in pristine condition, likely due to the several strange adults in the house.

At that thought Fischl paused, then she went to sit down on the floor in front of the door of Emmy's room, her legs felt a bit tired but her spirit was barely fatigued. She hugged her legs and rocked from left to right. It was a habit she formed in these last 3 days to comfort herself as Emmy wasn't there.

'It is still quite detestable for the soldiers of the pantheon to not pay respects when [She Who Is] has been in such a terrible condition, but they seem to be busy. It is truly a wonder,' Fischl thought, her eyes trained on the door.

Her hair was slightly unkept and her eyebags were large, with pursed lips the girl racked her brains to find out why her friends didn't visit Emmy after the first time.

Was she the weird one? Maybe.

Was she slightly angry at their nonchalant attitude or how carefree they were? Yes.

Did she, in any shape or form of communication known to a man tell them she had such thoughts about them? No.

Emmy may have the courage but Fischl still wasn't so high up on the "Communication ladder" to wantonly tell people she was put off by their actions. While many of Emmy's quirks had been passed onto her, this one, in particular, hadn't.

Yet.

While she was a bit miffed, the girl still held a faint amount of hope in her heart that she was wrong, she did see that they were quite busy with something. Noelle continuously bought food ingredients for some reason and Harlin told the [Guard of Shadows Past] or Inosuke to let her stay at Emmy's house.

It was as if he was trying to get her out of her own home.

At this time Fischl had yet to realize that all of this, bar her sickness, was part of Emmy's plan. She had been planning Fischl's birthday, since the day she figured it out and was the primary reason why Harlin, Andre, and the others didn't visit her.

They were on a mission.

* * * * *

The wind charted its course across the island in the middle of the lake, the same island which housed the several million residents of Mondstadt, The City of Freedom. At this time, a cool breeze blew as a small boy, who looked to be only 8 years of age handed a bag of more to a merchant.

The boy had the signature brown hair of most people in Teyvat and green eyes that shone with cunning. The merchant in front of him seemed to cower before the boy and his eyes seemed a bit fierce as he looked at him, as if the boy was his greatest enemy.

It was Ansgar and her was currently scam–, doing business with a merchant from the distant nation of Liyue. Behind the merchant was a cart of supplies, they were covered by a cloth that looked fairly high quality.

"Andre, wouldn't you say that your price range is a bit...modest. All of my products are of the highest quality as you can see here," The merchant stroked his beard and squinted his eyes, "May I ask why are you handing me, Mora, that is, quite frankly, vastly lower than what I first proposed."

Andre quirked his brow, a faint smile on his young face, "Mister Fu Shin, we are all businessmen here, aren't we? I'm just trying not to get a product that is within the acceptable purchase range for anything above its worth. Besides wouldn't you call this a good deal, 65,000 Mora for everything in your cart, isn't that a good deal?"

Fu Shin sneered faintly, a good deal? This bastard dared to tell him that he gave him a good deal!

This was daylight robbery!

As if sensing the man's anger Ansgar spoke once more, "Mister Fu Shin, I am well acquainted with your exploits in Liyue's business scene, and it is well known that you are a man of integrity. I know it is not easy for you to transport your goods to Mondstadt and in light of this, why don't we partake in a gamble? A bet of sorts."

"Oh? Humor me, young Andre, what do you propose we do to settle this?"

"If I can accurately judge the price of every product in your cart down to the last Mora, you would accept my price. However, if I don't get even a single one accurate, I'll triple the price. Isn't it a good deal?"

Fu Shin was a man of Liyue birth and with that came his black hair and soft brown eyes, he had a beauty make under his left eye. He had a height of 180cm and a muscular build, maybe because of his tendency to sometimes pull his cart as he did back in his early days. Thus he was vastly more in shape than most merchants of his generation.

Fu Shin thought of his options, if he rejected it he would have to sell his products one at a time and that would take weeks since it was clear the boy wouldn't accept anything more than his set price. On the other hand, he could get triple his earnings and sell everything in one fell swoop by taking part in a bet by a young boy.

It was suspicious, Fu Shin thought. It didn't make sense for this boy, who displayed remarkable business acumen for his age to risk it all on a bet unless he could win it. Fu Shin looked at Ansgar and at that moment the boy stretched, showcasing the bags of Mora in his jacket.

"I accept," Seeing the Mora, Fu Shin couldn't keep himself calm. Anyway, it wasn't like the boy could just accurately say the prices of these products. Not all products were the same and many factors come into account when they were priced.

'It'll be fine.'

"Then let us sign a contract, as it is dictated by the law. A fair tradition of your land is it not, Mister Fu Shin."

The boy pulled out a piece of paper as if he had predicted this outcome and Fu Shin quickly signed it. Looking at the boy's face, which was now similar to that of a fox, Fu Shin was a bit troubled but he consoled himself.

'It'll be fine.'

It wasn't fine.

Fu Shin looked on in shock as the boy he thought couldn't accurately judge the prices of the several hundred products in his cart did so with relative ease.

"Hmm, this purple silk while it looks fine on the surface, if one were to look closer they would see mild tears in the fabric, it would ultimately ruin the integrity of whatever it is used to make. Its price? About 300 Mora. Quality? Rank 2."

"Interesting, the candles in this packet are exquisitely crafted and the designs are marvelous, however, they are slightly smudged here and the rope in this one is shorter than the rest by a large margin. The smell is a bit like grape instead of the Mist Grass proposed on the cover, the price would fall around 1600 Mora for a packet of 10."

"This bottle is extravagant and its craftsmanship exudes a noble temperament, however..."

"This bag..."

One by one, the boy dissected the products contained in the cart. Each of his words seemed to be laced with poison and Fu Shin flinched at every turn. He couldn't see how a boy, not even a third of his age, could be so experienced in the art of appraisal.

"That will be all, Ultimately it comes to a price of 45,590 Mora. 20,590 Mora less than what I initially proposed to you, Mister Fu Shin."

"..."

"Mister Fu Shin, as you can see I have long since been aware of the true price of your goods and in the kindness of my heart extended that price by more than half, to accommodate you. Your journey was not easy, please accept this as my gratitude to you as a merchant for delivering my goods for me."

Fu Shin was speechless.

Your goods? Since when did it become your goods?! Fu Shin wanted to roar but he swallowed it back bitterly. The boy was right, the goods no longer belonged to him, he received the bag of Mora the boy gave to him and opened it.

Taking his eyes off it for a moment he asked, "You... Do you want to work for me lad?"

"Hmm? Work for you? I'm not a free man, I already have a boss."

Fu Shin snorted, a little boy not even in his teens calling himself a man, it was laughable but he couldn't bring himself to laugh. Not after what just happened to him. He looked at the bag of Mora in his hands and couldn't help a double take.

"This looks to be much more than you dictated, why is that?"

Ansgar smiled, "Why? I'll be taking this cart with me, you can't expect me to carry all of these boxes and supplies by hand would you?"

Taking the cart? Fu Shin was stunned. After practically scamming him, the boy didn't even want his cart to go free. Everything he had seemed to be gravitating toward this lad's hands.

This couldn't do! This was the cart his mother gave him, he couldn't let it fall into another person's hands.

Thus another negotiation sparked on the spot.

* * * * *

"Whoo, that guy was such a nutcase. Why would I even take his cart, I'm only borrowing it."

Ansgar mumbled as he pulled the cart thrice his size and quadruple his weight. He didn't feel burdened in the slightest, his training with his boss made doing such a thing easy. In her own words, she called him a Mid-rank Soldier class, whatever that meant.

Sighing, he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. In it was a few words with familiar handwriting.

=====

Fischl's birthday is coming up, you're the son of a merchant right? I want you to buy some things for me to stage a surprise birthday party for her, don't worry about the money. I'll compensate you.

I'll tell you what I want later, (またね - Mata ne~)

From, Emmy~

=====

He didn't know what that "Mata ne~" meant but it should be some farewell phrase. He shook his head of those thoughts, wondering what the others were doing.

They all got tasks from the boss, and they had to complete them. She said she would gift them something but honestly speaking, they didn't do it because of that.

Her recognition was enough. If she recognized their abilities then it would make them incredibly happy.

'Aries that guy, he probably has the hardest task of us all, good for him that bastard.'

Ansgar chuckled as he thought of their resident Ice block. He had to get in contact with a bard who was capable of playing a tune from a storybook. It was too much to ask of regular bards. As far he was concerned, there was the only one available in Mondstadt right now.

He shook his head once more, a fond smile on his face but his eyes were laced with schadenfreude. He made his way to Fischl's house to deposit his loot, he murmured.

"Lynx, The Prince of The Ballad was it? Oh, how the tables have turned. Splendid."

* * * * *

A/N: Happy New Year. This chapter is 2.2k words long, only less that the first chapter of this fanfiction, which was 2.5k words long. Fitting for New Year is it not?

I have started outlining and I can say that the birthday chapter may or may not be above 6000 words long. It depends on whether my monke brain can come up with something fun for her birthday, suggestions are welcome.