Out of the frying pan, into the fire

Have I ever mentioned how enjoyable it is to push a certain traveler's button? How much of a kick I get from breaking her usually nonchalant attitude?

Perhaps it stems from the fact that the Traveler I'm used to seeing behind a screen rarely ever shows much of her emotion beyond certain parts of the story, that being able to see firsthand all sorts of expression on her beautiful face by saying just the right word filled me with a certain kind of satisfaction.

Something I just can't seem to get enough of, more so now with her growing attachment towards me.

Despite my social ineptitude, I'm very much aware of how possessive she has become. Though that's not really saying much given how she made that fact quite clear all the way back during our first outing in Liyue, but I digress.

I imagine that, if some sensible person were to be made aware of my situation, they would say something along the lines of: 'You should stay away from her if you know what's good for you. That kind of dangerous behavior would end up killing you one day!'

And to that, I would ask them…

…why?

Why would I ever do that?

Why would I ever willingly separate myself from the one person that filled my heart with endless amounts of joy, one that finally managed to put some color on the perpetually dull canvas I call my life?

Obsession bordering on insanity? Doesn't that simply mean that she just cares for me that much more?

Oh how exciting it was to see the murderous gaze she hid beneath a veil of innocence as she warmly greeted me upon my return. And as my eyes wandered towards the sight of the adeptus' blood pooling on the ground, I couldn't help but lament the fact that I've missed such a marvelous display of agony.

Just like that, the temptation to cross the line, to further agitate her state of mind, to push all of her buttons has trumped over my own rationality, who was screaming at me to not do anything foolish.

I sold my body off to Cloud Retainer, I said.

And her reaction was instantaneous.

Her delicate hand that hid immense strength immediately shot onto my arm, holding it with such force that even the me that was unable to feel any pain at the time could tell just how much of it I would've experienced.

Her body slowly straightened up, her eyes focused onto mine as it narrowed into a glare. I could see a lot of things behind those golden orbs of hers, but really, all I could focus on is the anger bordering on hatred that sent a tingle down my spine.

It's all I could ever think of, even as I put half a mind responding to her words.

Ah, as expected.

Those eyes are everything to me.

It was at that point that the urge started to rear its head again. The ever increasing temptation to say all the wrong words, to push her buttons in such a way that I would be able to elicit just the right emotion onto her lovely face.

…have I ever mentioned just how enjoyable it was to do so to a certain traveler?

As I continued to hold her gaze, enjoying every second of this moment, I couldn't help but wonder.

What would happen if I were to succumb to this urge of mine?

What would happen if I were to push a bit more?

What would happen if I were to take one more step beyond this line?

Would I find myself face to face with the edge of her sword?

Would she run its sharp edge along my skin as her hand gripped me by the neck?

Would she remind me of my place as purple blood continuously poured out of the many cuts she inflicted upon my body?

Just thinking about what she might do to me is enough to–

"Wake up."

The thoughts swimming inside my head suddenly disappeared as I felt a nudge on my shoulder. Though it wasn't hard enough to inflict much pain, it was more than enough to jolt me out of my half-asleep state.

As my eyelids shot up in surprise, I could feel the bright light coming from the sun burn against my retinas, causing me to immediately shut them close. My hand instinctively moved to rub the pain out of my eyes, only for me to realize the futility of doing so.

"You really shouldn't be asleep at a time like this, you know?"

I looked towards the source of the voice, towards the girl that was making herself comfortable on my lap. With furrowed brows, I felt her shifting her body slightly before her hand started to continuously pat me on the cheek in an effort to keep me awake.

"And why is that, princess?"

Not bothering to stop her, I instead focused my gaze onto hers. Or tried to, at least. There was a dark spot blotting parts of my vision, which is to be expected all things considered, but there's something not quite right about it.

Her face and everything around her seems much more colorful. And not in the metaphorical sense.

"Take a look around and tell me what you see. You're smart enough to figure that out."

I did as I was told, squinting my eyes as I held myself back from flinching as the entire world was being drowned by an entire light spectrum worth of colors.

"Ah."

"Is that enough to clear that head of yours?"

I nodded before finally closing my eyes, not wanting to subject my eyes to this bizarre torture any longer.

Apparently, I've forgotten the fact that we're currently in the air, fleeting across the land below towards our next destination. And if I did end up falling asleep, this entire construct of mine would most likely collapse. That would be–

"–quite funny, don't you think?" I stretched my languid body, only to find that it doesn't do much to chase away the lethargy in me. "Imagine after all the shit we've been through, we ended up kicking the bucket because I clocked out."

"I see that you still have some sleep left in you," she deadpanned. "Should I give you a slap to get it out of your system?"

"I'm good, thanks."

I imagine she wanted to further give me a piece of her mind, but since she didn't say anything other than a scoff, I thanked my lucky stars that my ears aren't about to get the same sensory overload my eyes are currently going through.

And with my newfound doctor still in the mountains busy convincing her fellow kin to not destroy an entire nation, I'm left with only one person to consult with when it comes to this kind of thing. Or perhaps the 'only person' would be a more appropriate term.

'Kamiyama.'

[Yes, yes, your best friend Kamiyama is here.] I heard his lazy voice coming from my left. [What's it going to be this time, o slavedriver mine?]

Even without me seeing it, I could feel him rolling his eyes as the sarcasm-laden words poured out of his mouth. Reminds me a lot of myself, actually. Gotta say, not a big fan. 'It didn't even take you five minutes to find the exit, stop being so pissy about it.'

[And just how much of the place did I end up scouring in those five minutes? Care to answer that?]

'It's a large place, but surely not that large?'

[Oh it absolutely is,] he responded tiredly. [Go on, take a guess.]

I pondered his question for a bit, briefly recalling the small-looking house that violates every physical law imaginable, 'Say… a mansion's worth of space? Maybe two?'

[Try an entire city district, or perhaps double that size if I bothered to search the rest of it.] he corrected with a grunt, making his annoyance clear. [So no, it's not just 'five minutes', Yuu, it's more along the lines of 'five minutes of frantically looking all over the place for something that resembles an exit.']

'You could've taken your time, it's not like I'm rushing you or anything.'

[And let you get some shut eye while I had to bust my knees looking for the door out of that place that stretched all the way to the end of time? Fuck no.]

Oh wow. He's really reminding me of myself. Can you believe this guy?

'So much for equal distribution of work, huh?' I scoffed, tilting my head just a bit to slow a certain traveler to nuzzle herself against me. 'You're just like every other student I've ever paired with for group assignments.'

[Cry about it.]

If punching a ghost was a thing that's possible, I would've punt this bastard straight to the sun. Unfortunately, reality rarely ever conforms to your whims no matter how much you wanted it to.

'Whatever. I'm not going to argue with you about this.'

Ignoring the burst of colors as I opened my eyes, I looked towards the figure sitting in the air with a self-satisfied look on his face, 'Anyway. Did you or did you not know about what might have caused the world to look like it had been dyed with rainbows the moment I opened my eyes?'

Kamiyama stared at me blankly, before he suddenly snapped his fingers as a look of realization came upon his face.

[Ah, so it finally hit, huh?]

'Excuse me?'

[The side effect,] he said nonchalantly. [I was wondering how long it would take for something to happen, but it unexpectedly took quite a while.]

'You knew this would happen?'

[Duh? I mean, didn't I tell you before? You're a delicate piece of work, Yuu.]

He jumped off from where he sat – not that there's anything there – before he crouched in front of me, his somewhat playful demeanor nowhere to be found as he began eyeing me curiously.

[The gears and circuits that make up your insides, despite each having their own purposes, are ultimately connected to each other in some way. You don't actually think shutting down your ability to feel pain wouldn't have an effect on other parts of your body, do you?]

'Tch, of course there's a downside to everything.'

I couldn't help but be annoyed at his explanation. Looks like my idea of cutting off the only drawback of making use of the puppet's insane durability to simply tank hits every time is out the window for now.

[I can already see what you're planning to do with this,] he snickered as he patted my shoulder. [While clever, I wouldn't really recommend you doing so. For obvious reasons.]

'Because it takes too long to prepare and therefore impractical?'

[Among other things. As for the matter of preparation, I could, of course, do away with being careful and just do it at the snap of a finger if you really want me to, but at that point, it's a gamble on what kind of glitch in the system you'll experience.]

I nodded in understanding as I continued to force myself to open my eyes.

Such a gacha-like system, I thought. Except, instead of getting waifu .pngs, I would be rolling for what kind of punishment my body gets to endure in exchange for temporary invulnerability, if you can even call it that.

A puppet that also doubles as a walking slot machine that, given enough bad luck, could end up being reduced into a very durable punching bag. Is this my punishment for impulsively whaling that one time?

'So what you're saying is what I'm experiencing right now isn't all that bad?'

[Compared to what could have been? Very. I mean, having your optic's color saturation jacked up to eleven isn't exactly pleasant, but it's certainly better than suddenly getting paralyzed. Or having your circuits blown up, which can lead to a whole different problem altogether.]

Just by hearing those examples alone, it seems that I've underestimated just how fragile my system actually is.

I looked towards my left hand, who is now connected back towards its socket. I tried moving my fingers, curling them into a ball and opening them again. Thankfully, nothing seems to have gone wrong.

'I'll keep that in mind,' I replied, feeling a bit disappointed. 'Still, isn't all this a bit much? Just a minor jolt in the system and my body has a potential to go kaboom? What the hell happened to QA?'

[I did do QA. Why do you think you're even here in the first place?]

'Alright, alright, I get it. Geez.'

[Look buddy,] Kamiyama suddenly stood up, placing his hand on my shoulder reassuringly, [don't worry too much about what's happening inside. As long as you don't do something incredibly stupid like fighting with your body open, nothing bad is going to happen. Just go about your life as you always have been, and we're all good.]

'I'm not sure I can be so carefree now that I know about these things. I guess ignorance really is bliss.'

[You'll find a way.]

Not wanting to dwell on it any longer, I turned away from Kamiyama and focused on getting our group safely towards Wangshu.

While I was slowly getting used to having a social media's filter over my eyes, I kept myself busy by tending to the needy girl on my lap.

'Ah, one more thing.'

[Hm?]

'Any chance that this glitch of mine could have had an effect on my psyche?'

Kamiyama crossed his arms as he let out a thoughtful hum at my question.

[Not that I know of,] he finally responded with a shrug. [Despite the system's interconnected nature, there shouldn't be any effect as far as I was able to tell.]

''Shouldn't?"' I asked, taking my eyes off of the passing landscape..

[The intricacies of a human mind isn't something a lot of students are willing to delve into, Yuu,] he started, once again floating in midair as if sitting on something. [Those that did, ended up going a bit too far for the Akademiya's liking, more often than not.

[Because of that, knowledge pertaining to the subconscious is few and far between, considering how dangerous of a line you have to be willing to thread. There are usually two outcomes for this kind of situation: you either churn out some mediocre research, or risk getting bagged by the Matras.]

'Uh huh. So is that a yes, or…?'

[No.] Kamiyama's face soured at my blatant disregard of his explanation bordering on a rant. [Any glitch you experience wouldn't ever affect your thoughts in the way you're probably thinking of, so rest assured.]

'One less thing to worry about then. Nice.'

[Why do you ask, anyway?]

'It's nothing much.'

I looked away from the twin in front of me towards Lumine, who was busy rubbing her head and hand all over me. It reminded me of how a cat would rub against you to 'claim' you as their property.

It sounds crazy when I think about it, but it's Lumine we're talking about.

I brushed her hair with my fingers, eliciting a cute laugh out of her, before looking down towards the land below, particularly towards a giant inn that was built on top of a giant stone pillar.

'My thoughts were going in the wrong direction for a bit, so I thought there was something going on.'

[Yeah well, there's a lot of 'wrong' inside your brain, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise, should it?]

'Piss off.'

___________________________________

After landing somewhere inconspicuous – which might've been redundant considering how clear the skies were, but hey, it's the thought that matters – our group began walking through the tall grasses, passed by the Statue of the Seven, and proceeded down the dirt path towards Wangshu.

The dynamics within the group remained largely unchanged, I thought, as I observed the trio of Xinyan, Ganyu, and Paimon walking side by side ahead of us, while me and Lumine hung back a few steps behind.

Not much different than how it was before, other than Ganyu's reservation to be anywhere within close proximity of a certain girl for a completely different reason this time around. I should probably talk with her about it when I have some time. Hopefully when my eyes are no longer blinded by the blue in her hair.

"Who would've thought that an adeptus would live in a place like this," Xinyan suddenly wondered aloud as her gaze locked onto the giant tree ahead of us. "I mean, don't they usually distance themselves from humans? Shouldn't a bustling place like this be the last place they'd want to stay?"

"Uhm, there's a reason for that, actually." Ganyu, who was walking next to her a lot more comfortably, suddenly said. "Alatus, or Xiao as he preferred to be called, regularly patrolled around Liyue to banish demons and evil spirits, and Wangshu Inn serves as a place for him to rest as he carries out his duties, while the workers would offer their assistance to him."

"Demons?"

"I say demons, but they're more like manifestations of a fallen god's lingering wrath, physical or otherwise, that still plague Liyue even to this day. Though not as much of a problem as it was during the Archon War, it's still better for us to deal with them as quickly as possible."

"I see," Xinyan nodded at Ganyu's explanation. "It's like a more dangerous version of your typical vengeful spirit, huh. That's kinda scary, actually."

While the rockstar shivered at the thought, Paimon flew up towards the half-adeptus with an inquisitive look on her face.

"But why would the workers help with something like that? Isn't it dangerous for normal people to involve themselves with an adeptus?"

"It is, which is why they don't actually get involved in the process itself." Ganyu smiled at Paimon as she continued her explanation. "Like I said, their job is to simply assist Xiao on his duties, which amounted to locating any disturbances caused by demons and reporting it to him."

"Ah, that makes sense."

The white fairy nodded in satisfaction. But it didn't take long before she posed another question for the secretary.

"Wait, now that Paimon thinks about it, why would the inn workers do that in the first place? They're just normal workers, aren't they? Why would they go out of their way to do something like that?"

"That's because they're all working for Lady Ningguang, Paimon."

The two girls next to her startled at the revelation, both of them having their jaws dropped to the floor.

"Are you serious?"

"I am, Xinyan." Ganyu chuckled at their reaction, though she was quick to cover it with a cough. "The people here are just one of many others that serve as The Tianquan's hands and feet. There's a reason why she always seems to know everything that happens within Liyue."

"When you say everyone, do you really mean everyone?! Like, every single one of them?!"

"Yes, Paimon," the half-adeptus cooed at the fairy's intense reaction, unable to resist pinching her cheek, "every single one of them."

"Whoa, that's amazing!" Paimon giggled at the touch even as she exclaimed loudly. "Compared to the Knights of Favonius, The Liyue Qixing really are–"

My mind drifted towards what Ganyu said about Wangshu while I tuned out their conversation as Paimon began rambling. The other two, meanwhile, looked towards Paimon softly as she began explaining what she knew about the knights in great detail.

'Right, there's that kind of setting with that place, huh?'

For a popular inn built on such a strategic position, it would've been a no-brainer for someone like Ningguang to fill the staff with her own people. People that can relay and receive information between themselves in a place where information is as abundant as its visitors.

'Which reminds me….'

I slid my hand into my pocket, the soft sensation of paper reminded me of the letter I wrote this morning.

A letter I forgot to give to Yelan despite having met her not long after.

'Sigh. I swear to god.'

Thankfully, with the confirmation that the inn is basically a nest for the Qixing's, it shouldn't be too hard to have this delivered. Then again, I'm pretty sure not a lot of people knew that someone named Yelan existed in the first place, so maybe I should ask Ganyu about it just in case.

As for the matter with Xiao…

'Well, I can only hope nothing bad happens.'

Though I don't really remember much about him, what I do remember doesn't really paint a pretty picture for my situation. How badly would he react to Rex Lapis' death considering how much he put him on a pedestal?

'…yeah, let's not think about that.'

The sight of a familiar gate as we approached the lower levels of Wangshu brought back some memories of the first time we visited this place. Back then, it was just the three of us going on a simple journey. Or perhaps two, considering Paimon was absent for the most of it.

As we walked up the stairs towards the inn, I noticed the travelers resting among the many tables are relatively lively, though some are gathered together in a large group, whispering towards one another as a rather somber atmosphere takes hold around them.

'Looks like news about what happened in Liyue is spreading quickly.'

One of the staff standing by the entrance greeted us energetically, though I noticed that her eyebrows twitched the moment I passed by her, which is kind of strange. Pretty sure I hadn't done anything towards her the last time I went here.

Ignoring the woman, I walked with the others towards the elevator and patiently waited out our ascent. Since the conversation between the three had died down, this seems like a good opportunity for me to address the letter in my possession.

"Miss Ganyu."

"Ah, yes?" The half-adeptus nearly jumped at my call, though she was quick to brush it off as she turned towards me. "What is it, Mister Yuu?"

"Since this inn is basically a gathering place for the Qixing's operative, I was wondering if you can have this letter delivered to Yelan." I pulled the letter out of my pocket as I spoke and gave it to her, to which she gingerly took it from me. "I would've asked Goldet myself, but I have a feeling not a lot of people knew who Yelan is."

It's less of a feeling and more like a certainty, but that's not something I can carelessly say out loud now, is it?

"I see. Thanks for passing this onto me first, Mister Yuu." Ganyu stared at the letter thoughtfully for a bit, before she simply continued to hold onto it. "Yelan is indeed a special case, so it was right for you to not pass it straight to Mrs. Goldet."

"In that case, I'll leave it to you."

"Of course."

Seeing her nod, I was about to turn away now that the conversation was over, but the hesitant look on her face stopped me from doing so.

"Is there anything else?" I asked, just to make sure.

Ganyu stared at me for a bit before she managed to stammer a reply, "U-uhm, do you want me to accompany you when you meet Xiao?"

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her question. Not that anyone could see it, "Thanks for the offer, but I was under the impression that you're not particularly excited to see him?"

Back before we departed from Mt. Aocang, I noticed that, the moment I said that we were going to Wangshu to visit Alatus, her face fell for a brief second before it returned to normal.

And now, just like before, the half-adeptus winced, but she ultimately didn't deny my words.

"You can just handle the letter for me, Miss Ganyu, no need to force yourself."

"...if you say so." Though she looked conflicted, Ganyu ultimately conceded.

Suddenly, I felt the weight of an arm around my shoulder.

"Well, since she's not going with you, should I go in her stead?" Lumine, who has been silent this entire time, suddenly asked.

I held her hand as I turned my attention towards her. She was smiling brightly, a hint of expectation on her eyes as she pressed herself against me.

As expected, in the face of such a sincere request, there's really only one answer for me to give.

"No."

In an instant, Lumine's smile became strained, the hand in my shoulder started trembling as she did so.

And then, as if my disapproval wasn't enough…

"Absolutely not."

"Paimon thinks you should sit this one out, Lumine."

Ah, how nice it is to know that there are two other like-minded individuals in this mish-mash of a group.

"Oh come on!" In the face of such fervent rejection, the blonde traveler pouted as she loudly whined. "Why can't I go?! It's not like I'm going to pull something anyway!"

"You don't seriously expect me to believe that after the stunt you pulled today, do you?"

"Leader, are you seriously asking us that right now?"

Frowning at my and Xinyan's continued rejection, Lumine turned towards Paimon with expectation.

Only to have that same expectation thrown out the window as Paimon flew towards her, placed both of her hands on Lumine's cheeks, and said the following words:

"Don't act dumb."

With that as the final nail in the coffin, Lumine huffed in annoyance as she crossed her arms and looked away sulkily.

Just in time, the elevator stopped as it finally reached its destination. The moment it did, Paimon, who was clinging onto the back of Lumine's head, and Xinyan, who tightly gripped her hand as if to make sure she wouldn't go anywhere, dragged the pouting traveler towards an empty table on the viewing platform.

"Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."

"Don't worry, Yunyun, I won't make the same mistake twice," the musician said as she waved towards me. "Try not to take too long this time, just to be safe. She was really worried the last time around."

"I know. I'll try my best."

Once I made sure the two girls had Lumine in check, I nodded in satisfaction before turning towards Ganyu.

"Sorry about that, she can be quite the handful sometimes."

"Is this a normal occurrence?" Ganyu asked, looking perplexed at Lumine's antics.

"Thankfully, no. It just happens every once in a while," I answered with a shrug.

"Is that… so?"

I hummed in response, not paying any mind to her slightly faltering words at the end.

"Shall we get going then?"

"Ah, of course."

Giving one last glance towards the girls, who were trying their best to coax Lumine out of her temper tantrum, I followed Ganyu towards the center of the tree towards the reception area.

Walking down a familiar set of stairs, my senses were immediately assaulted by the fragrant smell coming from the kitchen downstairs. The chef, a well-built man who was clearly not dressed for his job, deftly handled the large wok as he threw the chopped up ingredients one by one.

'Hmm, maybe some tofu would be enough to not get me skewered by his spear.'

"Mrs. Goldet."

The woman behind the counter looked up from the ledger she was working on at Ganyu's call. As her gaze moved between the two of us, a smile slowly crept into her face.

"Welcome to Wangshu Inn, Ms. Ganyu. I see you brought a returning customer with you."

"It's been a while, Goldet."

The woman visibly beamed at my greeting, "Hello again, Mr. Yuu. I see you remembered to address me properly this time."

"It's hard not to, considering how adamant you were about it."

"Yes, well, it's quite unpleasant to be degraded to simply being the 'boss' lady' everytime, but I'm sure you're not here to listen to me rambling." Goldet stood up, closed the ledger, and stored it into one of the cabinets of her desk. "So what business does the general secretary and the honorary knight have in my establishment?"

"Mister Yuu is here to see Xiao. Would that be possible?"

"Xiao?" the receptionist asked in surprise as she looked towards me. "Are you sure you want to meet him?"

"Not really, but since I am contractually obligated to do so, I don't really have much say on the matter."

Hearing my answer, Goldet pondered the matter for a bit. Eventually though, she stepped off her station and made her way towards the landing above the kitchen.

"Yanxiao!" she called towards the chef, who craned his neck towards her while his hand kept on working. "One Almond Tofu for our venerable guest, please!"

"Coming right up!"

Nodding in satisfaction, Goldet sauntered back towards her desk before she once again looked towards me.

"This will take a while, so please take a seat, Mr. Yuu."

I nodded, moving towards the chair at the end of her desk and did as she told me.

The moment I did so, the cat that was loafing on top of Goldet's desk stood up, stretched its body, moved all the way to the other side of the desk where I am sitting, and hopped onto my lap before making itself comfortable.

Chuckling at the cat's behavior, Goldet then looked towards the half-adeptus, "How about you, Ms. Ganyu? Anything I can help you with?"

"I need you to send a letter, preferably as fast as you could," she said as she handed the letter off to Goldet.

"Of course. Where to?"

"Yanshang Teahouse."

The two then discussed the matter in detail for a bit before Goldet eventually signed the envelope and set it aside for the time being.

"Is there anything else?"

"That should be it," Ganyu answered, though she looked towards me for confirmation.

"Yep. That's about it."

The half-adeptus smiled, though it was quick to be replaced by a hesitant look, "Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?"

"I'll be fine, Miss Ganyu."

"…if you say so."

With my reassurance, Ganyu walked back upstairs to where the others are, though not before directing one last glance towards me midway.

"Quite the worrywart, isn't she?" Goldet suddenly remarked, resting her head on top of her hand. "Though it's not surprising considering the person you'd be meeting with."

"Really?" Patting the cat on the head, I listened to its purr as I glanced towards the receptionist. "Xiao must have quite the personality for you to say such a thing."

"Even at the best of times, Xiao can be difficult to talk with." Goldet sighed as she briefly gazed towards the floor above before she turned towards me with curiosity in her eyes. "So what business do you have with him, Mr. Yuu? I imagine it must be quite important since you mention something about a contract."

"It's nothing much, really. A certain crane living on a mountain asked me to break some news to him. That's about it."

Goldet lowered her head as she muttered something quietly. Though it didn't take long for her head to suddenly snap back towards me.

"Is it about Rex Lapis?"

"Mmhm."

"Oh."

I could practically feel the pity in her gaze the moment I answered her question.

"Whenever me or my husband have something to discuss with Xiao, we would ask Yanxiao to cook up Almond Tofu, his favorite dish, to bring along with us."

Goldet finally spoke after a bout of silence. Though I have an idea as to what she was trying to get at, I quietly listened.

"Even then, we always made sure to approach him when he's in a relatively good mood." The look in her eyes became more and more serious as she continued to talk. "You might not know this, Mr. Yuu, but there are times when Xiao accidentally destroys things inside the rooms on the lower area after he came back from a particularly long night of hunting even when he didn't mean to."

"You're really lifting my spirits with your story, Goldet."

"What I'm trying to say, Mr. Yuu, is to please break the news as nicely as you can." She grabbed me by the shoulders with a pleading look on her face. "Can you do that? For the sake of me and everyone staying in this inn?"

"And how am I supposed to do that?" I asked incredulously. "Is there any part of 'Rex Lapis is dead' that I can possibly sugarcoat?"

"If you can't think of something, then at the very least, can you put yourself on the line for everyone else? I'll be sure to inform of your heroic sacrifice to Lady Ningguang and have your name immortalized into Liyue's history."

"Okay, now you're just trying to piss me off."

"I'll even personally ask Director Hu to arrange the perfect send-off fitting for a hero–"

"Keep talking and I really will punch you in the face, Goldet."