Renewed

"Hm? Is there something wrong?" Noticing Marcel's odd behavior, Navia's blue eyes moved and gazed at him.

Having been caught, Marcel quickly composed himself and explained, "Not at all. I was merely a bit tired from walking all the way here."

"Ah, that's understandable." Upon hearing this, Navia nodded her head. She then pointed in a certain direction. "Why not rest there for a minute, Uncle Marcel?"

"Sure..." Although Marcel said this, his eyes couldn't help but still look over to Isaac.

The latter, who was sitting down on a crate and drinking a bit of water, caught his glance and smiled enigmatically.

Catching this, Marcel felt a shiver run up his spine. He then quickly shook it off and looked at Navia. "That's a good idea. Excuse me."

With that said, Marcel turned around and walked off, leaving Isaac and Navia alone.

"His age must be catching up to him..." Navia commented as she watched her uncle weakly walk away.

"He's the boss of the Confrerie of Cabriere, right?" Isaac, who was smiling like a charlatan, commented.

Receiving Isaac's question, Navia turned back and looked at him. She then crossed her arms and answered, "Yes, do you know him?"

"How could I not?" Scoffing to himself, Isaac laughed wryly. "In the game of us merchants, bigwigs like him are well-known as giants. In other words..."

"An influential and powerful person with lots of money." Navia, who was getting the gist of where Isaac was taking the conversation, finished his sentence for him with a smile. "Am I right?"

"That is correct." Isaac nodded his head. His soft melancholy smile which he always had. However, beneath this façade of a smile lies a much more sinister thought.

'And... My wallet.' Staring at Navia who was oblivious to his internal thoughts, Isaac's smile deepened.

Isaac had long since freed Vacher from his imprisonment in the [Evernight] skill. However, as a price, Vacher's memories were "concealed."

Unless Isaac himself allows him to, he will never remember the events back in the cave or any connection to Isaac or what happened at that time. The only thing that would remain, however, is his innate fear of Isaac.

Well, even if Vacher manages to remember, he won't be able to utter anything since his words would be automatically "concealed" by Isaac's skill.

In other words...

'My skill really is convenient...' Isaac hummed to himself as he looked at the production site. 'I can go and collect money from Vacher from time to time, and any memories of me would be concealed from his mind afterward...'

'It's so convenient— I love it.' He smirked to himself.

Looking outside and seeing the darkening horizon, Isaac realized that it was falling into nighttime. 'Oh, it's time.'

He then looked back at Navia who was sitting beside him. Standing up, he said, "I have to go now. It was nice chatting with you, Miss Navia."

"It's my pleasure," Navia nodded her head as she returned the gesture. Smiling, she continued speaking. "Farewell, Monsieur Isaac."

"I bid you adieux." Isaac nodded lightly before walking away.

After changing back to his clothes and leaving behind his props and costume, he finally left Poisson and headed back to his cafe.

---

"What an exhausting day..."

Having used the teleportation function to quickly return home, Isaac placed his hand on his nape and clenched his stiff neck.

However, now that he returned to his haven, he can finally relax. The soft ambient light of the cafe, followed by the aromatic smell of pastries still lingering in the air gave Isaac a refreshing feeling.

He then raised his head and looked at the counter of the cafe. Smiling, he looked at the two people present. "How was your day, you two?"

Behind the counter where Isaac was normally seen working, Lumine and Paimon can be seen working. Both of them wore a barista uniform similar to Isaac's.

And yes, Paimon also has a custom-made uniform that fits her.

"Ah—! The Devil is back!" Finally noticing Isaac's presence, Paimon, who was cleaning the cups with a cloth, shrieked.

"Devil? Surely I'm not as intimidating as before, right?" Approaching the counter, Isaac scoffed. "Little fairy, you can call me however you want, but let's ease the tension, alright?"

"O-oh, right... Sorry." Realizing her rudeness, Paimon apologized shortly after.

"Welcome back." Lumine, who was reorganizing coffee bags behind the counter, greeted Isaac.

"Any interesting things that happened while I was gone?" Sitting down on one of the tools, Isaac asked with a calm tone.

"Nothing much," Answered Lumine as she stored the final coffee bean bag. "Though, there was a person who claims to be a Kitsune that came about an hour ago. She said she's a regular and you knew her."

'She already met Miko, eh?' Isaac didn't know if this would seriously alter the course of things, but for now, he decided to not delve too much into it. "Anything else?"

"That's about it." Lumine shook her head and answered straight to the point.

"Very well then," Smiling to himself, Isaac summoned a bag of Mora from his inventory and placed it on the counter. "As agreed upon, here is your payment for today."

"A hundred thousand Mora. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Th-this..." Looking at the bag that looked heavy just from looking at it, Paimon was at a loss for words. "Paimon has never touched so much Mora before..."

"Haha, I'm sure getting this much with just one day of honest work is hard to come by." Isaac lightheartedly laughed at Paimon's words.

After saying this, Isaac turned his head and looked at the clock on the wall. His deep amber eyes then looked back at Lumine. "Would you look at that? It's already the end of your shift. Which means..."

"Our contract is terminated." He said as he looked at her warm golden eyes.

"Oh... Yes." Upon realizing that their contract, which was only meant for one day had already ended, Lumine was momentarily at a loss for words. "I'm sorry... It's still hard to accept that we just got a hundred thousand Mora in one day..."

"It's understandable." He nodded at her as he walked near the front door of the cafe. "Well then, ladies."

"It's been a pleasure working with you today."

Hearing Isaac's words, Lumine was placed in a difficult situation.

She had accepted the man's offer in hopes of befriending him in chance of asking for his support if she needed it, but instead, other than the instructions he taught them about the cafe, they had barely talked to each other.

'What should I do?' Lumine thought to herself as her golden pupils dropped down to the floor. 'Should we just leave with the money? But what if we never meet this person again...'

Just then, while Lumine was in the middle of pondering about this matter, Isaac's voice drifted over to her ears.

"Although... If you two are a bit interested..." Isaac, who was standing by the door, calmly walked back and returned to his seat.

Placing his hand on the counter, he looked at Lumine. It was here when the deep amber eyes of the man of lies and the warm golden pupils of the personification of the stars looked at one another.

One whose goal is to find their sibling, and the other wanting to soothe the souls of those who stumble upon his haven.

A completely unrelated encounter yet fated. It seemed almost as if it was a reasonable development.

Taking out a new paper, Isaac continued smiling softly. "How about making another contract with me?"

"You two can continue working here— but of course, your salary would lower a bit." Isaac offered to them as his eyes moved back and forth between Lumine and Paimon. "However, there are many benefits to this."

"Not only would your salary be above the minimum wage, but you'd also get to eat leftover pastries during your shifts." He added. "Moreover, you'd still have the same benefits as the previous contract."

"So." After finishing his offer, he extended his hand and reached out for Lumine. "How about it?"

His eyes, which seemed lifeless, had unknowingly released a bit of spark— adding an unfounded life to his otherwise stale pupils.

Lumine, on the other hand, looked at his hand hesitantly. She contemplated deeply on what she would do.

But considering all of her choices, she only has one answer that she ultimately stumbled upon.

Extending her hand, she reached for Isaac's hand and grasped it.

"Please take care of us once again."

Shaking their hands, Isaac and Lumine had now renewed their contract— and the latter would now continue working with him.

"I'm glad," Still holding Lumine's hand, Isaac smiled warmly at her. He then looked over to Paimon who was beside Lumine.

"A pleasure to work with you two again."

---

The next day.

"Breaking news! The Geo Archon, Morax, was assassinated during Liyue's yearly Rite of Descent!"

"The main suspects right now are two travelers by the name of Lumine and Paimon who tried to flee from the scene and knocked a group of milleliths during their escape!"

Isaac, who had just woken up and decided to read the newspaper, felt his mind going numb.

"Well... Looks like my new employees will be getting a day off on their first official day on the job." Isaac lampooned as he held the newspaper in one hand and a toast in the other. "Speaking of which..."

He then looked over to the other side of the table he was eating at. "You'd make things easier for her, right?"

"Xiao?"

"Hmph." Sitting down at the same table as him, Xiao, who was drinking a cup of tea, scoffed. "I won't make promises."

"That's good enough for me." He smiled at the Conqueror of Demons.

'I wonder how my influence would affect the destined story... Ha...' Sighing to himself internally, Isaac lampooned. He was once more amazed by his hypocrisy.

'So much for being a spectator...'