As dusk falls over the horizon, the tingling warmth of the sun gradually disappears, giving way for the chilly wind to envelop the once pleasant atmosphere.
Underneath the orange sky, a telltale sign of the approaching nightfall, next to the recently activated teleport waypoint, the two of us continue our walk side by side, hand in hand, with the addition of a couple of barrels of wine following us, floating just above the gently streaming river.
"Yuu, my dear, my love, please, there's no need to be rash. We can discuss this in a civilized manner, okay?"
"I don't know, Lumine." As I pictured the motion I had in mind, the barrels that were floating quietly suddenly lowered themselves towards the river, nearly touching its water. "I heard that tackling a problem right at its roots is all the rage these days."
Looking at her expression, I can see a twitch in her smile that stretched a bit too wide. "Now, now, let's not be hasty. Surely, something like this warrants a discussion at the very least, right? We're all adults here."
"Adults?" Making a show of looking at our surroundings, I tilted my head in a questioning manner towards the nervous companion of mine. "The only adult I see here is me, Lumine. I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say."
Hearing her steady breathing devolve into something heavier, I almost couldn't hold back my laugh. Truly, the feeling of having power over someone is euphoric. I can almost understand why people in power will do anything to hold on to it for as long as they can.
'That's enough of that, I guess.'
"I suppose you're right about one thing though." Letting go of her hand, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and brought her close. "Let us discuss this calmly, shall we?"
Tapping my fingers on her stiff shoulders, I took some time to gather my thoughts.
"Let's set up some ground rules, then. First off, you're not allowed to day-drink or drink while we're on a job. That should be easy enough for you, right?"
"Of course, of course!"
Seeing Lumine nodding her head so furiously really goes to show how much she wanted this. The manic look on her eyes certainly drives the point further.
"Second, no drinking with strangers under any circumstances or accepting any kind of drinks from them under any circumstances. I'm sure there's no need for me to explain why?"
"Nope!"
"Good." Seeing a small group of electro slime blocking the way, I wrapped them inside a sphere of anemo and threw them towards the river, making sure to avoid hitting the barrel while I'm at it.
An action that captured Lumine's full attention.
Seeing that the slime landed nowhere close to her beloved wine, she lets out a sigh of relief, before turning her attention back to me as if nothing happened.
"…right." Better not question it or I'll end up dealing with this behavior longer than I need to. "Third, just to make sure you wouldn't end up doing something that'll land both of us in prison, you're only allowed to drink when I'm present."
"That's easy enough."
"Well, that should be everything I can think of." Patting her shoulders one last time, I lowered my arms and went back to holding her hand. "Can I trust you to follow these rules to the letter?"
"Yup! Don't worry, it's nothing my brother hasn't drilled into my head in the past."
"Huh. Glad to know that there's someone out there that shares the same worries that I have." With a thought, I brought the two barrels back from above the river and gently placed them next to the visibly excited Lumine. "Go ahead and store these."
With not a moment of hesitation, the two barrels disappeared in an instant, which brightened her mood even further.
Shaking my head in exasperation, I started walking while tugging her hand, which snapped her out of her reverie, causing her to jog before stopping herself next to me, matching my pace with a noticeable pep in her step.
The two of us followed the dirt path lit up by the lantern post until we reached a clearing surrounded by steep rocky hills on all sides.
The previously tranquil atmosphere now broken by the rumbling of a waterfall to the left of the wooden bridge in front of us. Further up on the road is a watchtower, with a faint silhouette of a guard holding a spear, barely visible thanks to the lantern by their side.
"Come on. We should be able to make it to Wangshu Inn by nightfall if nothing goes wrong."
"Wangshu Inn?"
"Yeah." As we walked through the wooden bridge, I made sure to position ourselves a bit to the right in order to avoid getting splashed by the water. "It's an inn built on top of a giant tree, basically. And since it's located between Mondstadt and Liyue, it's quite a popular stopping point for travelers and merchants alike."
Passing by the watchtower, the Millelith on standby only gave the two of us a glance before focusing on his duty once more.
"I was hoping we could just camp somewhere for once, but a place like that sounds like something we must visit."
"In what world would you prefer staying in a camp over an actual inn?"
"You'll see. Once we have the opportunity, I'm sure you'll be singing a very different tune, Yuu."
"Well now. You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention, princess."
Climbing up the wooden steps, Lumine placed her hand on the teleport waypoint next to the second watchtower, before walking further in.
To say that it was quite a sight would be an understatement.
The clear water of the large marshland reflects the orange glow of the setting sun, the abundance of horsetails swaying along the wind, not to mention the mountain range stretching across the horizon.
And, of course, the highlight would be the distinct shape of a rather intricate house sitting atop a giant tree not far from our location.
"Remember when you said we need to enjoy the scenery?"
"Yes?"
"Maybe you're onto something after all."
"Fufu, but of course."
Making our way down towards the lower area, she glanced around at the stalls manned by the elderly for a bit before stopping in front of a bulletin board.
"Anything interesting?"
"Hmm… there's one that has the word 'warning' written on it, so probably."
Carefully pulling out what looks like her notebook, she opened a certain page filled with the Teyvat alphabets before taking her time writing something down.
"Though some of them are written exclusively in what looks to be the Liyue script, most of them wrote their contents in the universal script as well. Probably keeping us travelers in mind."
"They kind of have to. Not everyone can be bothered to learn every seven languages. If there's something universal for it, why bother learning the others?"
"That may be true for you." As she said that, she handed me her notebook, tapping her quill at a certain page. "But I would like to try learning the basics. Who knows, it might be useful in the long run."
"Good luck with that. I'll stick to just one language for now, thank you very much." Taking the notebook from her, I carefully read them while occasionally checking the previous page for the alphabets I don't remember.
While I was busying myself with whatever she'd written down, I felt her tugging me along, leading us further down.
The light tapping sound of soles against wood were soon replaced by a much louder one when we left the rest area for the stone-paved road leading towards the south.
"Let's see… 'There has been significant monster activity recently near Stone Gate and Dihua Marsh. Millelith patrols have been increased, and we ask all traveling merchants to take caution when passing through.' Shouldn't be much of a problem for the two of us though."
Feeling a slight incline on the road, I briefly raised my head to see the two of us crossing a bridge. After making sure everything's fine, I focused my attention back towards the notebook.
"Hmm… 'Many Treasure Hoarders have been spotted recently near Stone Gate and Dihua Marsh. Passersby should take caution.' Care to explain why you feel the need to circle and underline this particular announcement?"
"Because it's an opportunity for us!"
Hearing her enthusiastic response, the words 'Treasure Hoarder' suddenly seem to pop up a bit more compared to the others.
"You want us to rob a group of bandits?"
"Exactly! Think about it," as the two of us crossed the stone bridge, she wrapped an arm around my shoulder as her other hand started gesticulating wildly, "a group that exclusively hunts treasure while committing some banditry on the side like you said is bound to have their wealth close to their person, or at least buried somewhere only they know, right?"
"I mean, that's obvious isn't it? It's not like they have access to the bank or anything."
"Anyway, if we manage to locate one of their bases of operations, on top of potentially being able to acquire their treasures, we'll also be doing the country a service by taking them down!" Even just saying it, her eyes already shine with excitement. "It's practically two birds with one stone!"
"Uh huh. And let's just say I agree on this 'treasure hunt' of yours, how do you propose we go about it?"
"Don't worry, I have a foolproof plan for this."
Coming up on the patch of grass surrounding the Statue of the Seven, the moment we arrived in front of it, she merely glanced at the figure of Morax sitting on his throne, slap the base of the statue, causing her to be enveloped in a yellow aura, before turning her attention back to me.
"As I was saying–"
"Are we going to ignore the fact that you just did all that?"
"We have more important things to discuss."
"Being able to control another element is a big deal–"
"So, my plan is…."
Ignoring my protests, Lumine continued on her rant about her plan of 'taking down the pesky Treasure Hoarders' or whatever she calls it. The way she's explaining it makes it seem like I'm listening to some shady guy offering me a get-rich-quick scheme.
To further illustrate her 'plan', if you can even call it that, she starts writing them down in an easy step-by-step manner that even Paimon can understand, which boils down to a simple idiot-proof four-step plan.
"...and that's the gist of it." She said, as she practically shoved the notebook into my face, which I gingerly took.
"Uh huh." Giving the content a quick read, I tried my hardest not to sigh at what she wrote. "Mind explaining to me why step three is just three question marks?"
"It means to improvise, duh!" She exclaimed, as she rolled her eyes, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You can plan all you want, but when something goes wrong, you'll have to be quick on your feet."
A surprisingly rational explanation. Despite the sheer idiocy in the way she conveys it, perhaps she does have her head in the game, so to speak.
"Right…. And the next step just says 'profit' with a questionable amount of exclamation mark."
"I can't stress how important this step is." With all the seriousness she could muster, she looked me dead in the eye. "After all, without this, everything we're doing would be pointless! Since we're aiming for a 'two bird one stone' approach, it's paramount that both of the expected outcomes are reached.
"The first would be the treasures, our main target. Whether it be Mora or other valuables we can sell, it's important to always keep an eye on these things. The second, on the other hand, would already be achieved the moment we take the Treasure Hoarders out of the picture.
"I say that, but we might need to bring them to the local guards as proof. We could be doing it for a month straight, but it will be pointless if no one knows we're the ones who did it. After all, we want words of our deeds to spread to the governing body of Liyue.
"That way, they would have a positive impression of us and be more likely to be willing to assist us in certain matters. We might even forge some sort of connection with one of the higher ups if our contributions are significant enough, which will undoubtedly be a huge boon for us in the long term."
After finishing her long-winded speech, she took a deep breath before looking at me expectantly.
'Wow. Just, wow.'
"So? What do you think?"
Honestly, the more she talked, the more viable and appealing it all sounds. Though I can't help but question the first two steps, which involve pretending to be two helpless travelers and letting ourselves be caught should the opportunity arise, overall it seems like there's more benefits to it than anything.
Besides, since she's looking for her brother, having a potential connection with the Liyue Qixing would be great, especially if the Tianquan herself takes an interest. Though there's probably plenty of other opportunities for that later, getting the ball rolling this early shouldn't be a bad thing.
"You do realize this would probably take more than a week for us to have the impact you're thinking of, right?"
"I do."
"And you think that it's worth it?"
"Yep. Though it's a shame that we'll probably be missing out on the appropriate accommodation once we reach Liyue proper, it shouldn't be that big of a deal." Lumine said, as she shrugged her shoulders. "Remember what I said about camping? Trust me, you won't even notice the difference."
"We'll see. In any case, you're being surprisingly pragmatic about this. Not nearly as spontaneous and haphazard as I thought."
"Of course. How else am I going to convince you to go out on an adventure?"
"By asking nicely?"
"Would you?"
"It depends."
"Exactly." Storing her notebook back in her inventory, both of us continued walking side by side towards our next destination. "I learned my lesson from before. And now that I've presented you with the facts, what say you, my dear?"
"Hmm…."
Though I made a show of deliberating on it, I already planned on agreeing. It'll help with shaving off some of that boredom that's been piling up, if nothing else.
"Ah, what the hell, I'm in."
"Hahaha, I knew you'd agree! Trust me, Yuu, you won't regret this one!"
"I sure hope not."
___________________________________
Being the popular resting spot that it is, it didn't come as a surprise that Wangshu Inn is crowded with people from all walks of life.
Whether that be merchants checking over their goods by their respective caravans, fishermen patiently waiting by the docks for their catch, adventurers regaling a crowd of people with their stories, or even a man who seems to be a poet, staring into the horizon as he mumbles one line after another, surrounded by what looks to be discarded manuscripts.
"I thought you said the inn was built on top of a giant tree?"
"Well, you can kind of see the tree part right there, no?"
"I mean, I guess. But it's more like it's built on a giant rock pillar instead of a tree."
"Look, I don't have the best of memory, okay? Give me a break."
As the night finally sets in, several workers began lighting up the lanterns placed in all corners of the area, driving away the encroaching darkness with its warm glow.
Walking up the wooden stairs towards the entrance, the chaotic din of laughter and shouting became much more apparent as we passed by a gathering of tables serving as a dining area.
"It's quite lively here."
"It sure does. A stark contrast from my first two weeks in Mondstadt."
"Yeah, well they don't have a dragon breathing down their necks, so…."
"Welcome, travelers!"
As we were approaching the elevator, we were greeted by a woman with dark brown hair wearing what looks to be an outfit for a waitress.
"Are you in need of a meal? Or perhaps a room for the night?"
"Both, actually."
"I see. In that case, please take the elevator upstairs. Once you do, turn left and go down the stairs once, the reception area should be right in front of you. The boss lady shall take care of the rest."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." The waitress said, as she bowed her head towards us with a practiced smile on her face. "Have a pleasant stay, travelers!"
Nodding our heads in response, the two of us followed the wooden pathway before stopping on the landing area overlooking the river, waiting for the elevator to come down.
"I wonder if Paimon is even awake at this point."
"Hmm, let's see… 'Oh boy, it sure is a shame that Paimon isn't able to enjoy all those delicacies from Liyue. She has no idea what she's missing out on.'"
No sooner that I finished my sentence, the little white fairy suddenly burst into existence, frantically stabilizing herself before observing her surroundings.
"Wait! Paimon hasn't even…. Oh."
Once Paimon realized what's happening, her expression soured, clearly not amused by the situation she found herself in.
"Very funny, white mask."
"Thank you Paimon, you flatter me."
"Tch." Seeing my lackluster response, she flew towards Lumine whose arms already spread wide to welcome the little fairy to her embrace, which Paimon gladly accepted. "Lumine, he's bullying Paimon again."
"There, there, Paimon. Yuu just wanted to make sure that you're awake for our meal, so don't take it to heart, okay?"
"Mmmmngh… fine."
Stepping inside the elevator, the three of us ascended towards the upper level of the inn. From there, we had a much clearer view of the inn in its entirety as we slowly ascended.
Aside from the elevator, a winding pathway was built around the rock pillar as an alternative should the elevator stop working for whatever reason. Though the path itself looked like it hadn't been used for quite some time given its state of disrepair and the vines that grew around the railings.
Once we reached the top, we walked into a sort of viewing area that also served as a dining area with four tables close to the edge of the railings with a beautiful view of the rocky landscape characteristics of the Liyue region.
To our immediate left, there's a teleport waypoint that Lumine wasted no time to activate.
After that, the three of us walked into the heavily Chinese inspired building, whether it's the general architecture, the multitude of lanterns hanging from the ceiling as their lighting, or the wall scrolls hung on the wall filled with ink paintings of different scenery or calligraphies.
Walking down the stairs, the smell of cooking coming from the kitchen immediately caught Paimon's attention. The fragrant aroma of spices and freshly made food caused the little fairy to salivate, to which Lumine silently pulled out a handkerchief in response, gently wiping the edges of Paimon's mouth with an amused expression on her face.
"Greetings, travelers. How can I help you on this fine night?"
Behind the receptionist table is a woman with dirty blonde hair wearing dark red traditional Liyue clothing with gold accents.To the right of the woman on top of the table, a black and white cat is busy licking its paws, while a similar colored dog is sleeping down on the floor on her left.
Moving myself towards the right side, I greeted the receptionist while giving the cat a pat in the head.
"A single room for one night, please."
"Of course!" With a smile on her face, she wrote something down on the ledger in front of her in a quick and practiced manner before grabbing a key from the hanger on the wall and giving it to us. "That will be twenty-five thousand Mora."
"It's a bit pricier than I thought."
"Well, it's that time of the year after all, dear customers. With the Rite of Descension just two weeks away, people from all corners of Teyvat are flocking towards Liyue for a chance to see Rex Lapis in person."
"I see. I imagine it's a lot more expensive inside the harbor itself?" Glancing at Lumine, she nodded before acting as if she pulled out a bag of Mora from her pocket, which I took and handed to the receptionist after checking the amount inside.
"Oh, definitely. Merchants and business owners wouldn't pass up a chance to hike up their price. Especially the closer it gets towards the start of the ceremony."
"It'll be stupid of them not to do so."
"Exactly. It's a rookie mistake not to take advantage of every single opportunity given to you. It's a lesson every budding merchant learns early on in their life."
"And of course, you're not an exception to this."
"Mhm. Though given the distance of this inn from Liyue, unlike them, I can't exactly jack up the price as high as they do." She said, as she shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, I could, but that's just an overall bad decision, don't you think?"
"Yep." Feeling the slight vibration of the purring feline, I moved my hand towards its chin before continuing our conversation. "Although some might begrudgingly accept, most of them would choose to push through their journey all the way to Liyue Harbor just to save some Mora. Especially the more profit-driven ones."
"Yes, that's why I decided against it, despite my husband's insistence." Putting her hand against her cheek, the receptionist sighed. "Honestly, he should be the one more knowledgeable about these things, hailing from Liyue and all."
"You're not?"
"I was born in Mondstadt. I came from all the way to Liyue to marry Huai'an." As she said that, she pointed towards a black-haired man tending to a bonsai tree, who waved his hand towards us in response. "Don't be fooled by the cheeky grin on his face, he's actually quite the martial artist. Every staff member is, actually. It's a hiring requirement."
"Even the waitress and cook?"
"Like I said, it's a hiring requirement."
"I see. Is it for security reasons?"
"That's one of the reasons, but the most important thing is that you have to be nimble with both your hands and feet to properly serve guests. Martial arts help tremendously in that regard."
"I… guess I can kind of understand?"
Feeling a nudge on my side, I turned towards Lumine, who has a hard time holding back the little glutton on her arms.
"We'll wait in the dining area, is that alright?"
"Sure. Order some for me, okay?"
"Okay."
As the two of them walked upstairs, I turned my attention back towards the receptionist.
"Sorry about that, the little girl can be a bit of a handful when it comes to food."
"No worries, Yanxiao's cooking has that effect on people."
"He must be quite the chef for you to speak so highly of him."
"I'd like to think he's up there with the best ones, especially considering that he wasn't a chef when we decided to hire him." Glancing in the direction of the kitchen, the receptionist had a nostalgic look on her face. "But really, there's no beating Xiangling. At least in terms of sheer creativity."
"How so?"
"I mean, I'm not sure there's any chef out there who would try cooking something using pyro slimes or mist flowers.
"There was a period of time where she basically became the bane of every hilichurl in Jueyun Karst. She stole a lot of their fighting clubs and ended up using them as an 'ingredient' for something she called 'Hilichurl Club BBQ Fish' or something."
"...is the club even necessary?"
"Who knows? That's far from the strangest thing she's come up with. But when she comes up with something good, it's really, really good."
Pulling one of the drawers on her table, she pulled out a leather-bound menu, flipped through several pages, and stopped once she found what she's looking for.
"Take this for example." As she handed me the menu book, she tapped her finger at an ink drawing of a certain dish. "Black-Back Perch Stew. It's so good that it pretty much became Wanmin Restaurant's signature dish."
"It's that good, huh?"
"Yep. Though we managed to recreate it, there's really no beating the one she made herself. I suppose her unique cooking style adds that much of an effect on her dishes."
"Is that so?"
The moment we had something to eat in Wanmin Restaurant,I can already see Paimon visiting that place every chance she gets. Perhaps even more so than Good Hunter.
'All the more reason to go on Lumine's treasure hunt, I suppose. We might hit the jackpot if we keep trying.'
As I flipped through the pages, looking at the detailed illustration of each dish, a loud rhythmic thudding sound suddenly came from the direction of the kitchen.
Coming up the stairs is a well-built man carrying several plates of food across both of his arms followed by two other waitresses doing the exact same thing. Despite how difficult it looks, the three of them managed to do so in such a carefree manner.
"And that's the reason why martial arts is a requirement, dear customer."
"I doubt that's a regular occurrence though."
"Not exactly, but you get the idea."
Looking at the trio carrying that much food upstairs, I can already feel my wealth rapidly dwindling because of a single gluttonous fairy.
"Sigh. I better get back then. I wouldn't want Paimon to gobble every single plate clean before I even have a chance to try some."
"Fufu, she must be quite the handful."
"A Mora sink, that little girl is." The thought of the ever increasing expenditure on food in the near future made me sigh. "Sorry to cut the conversation short, boss lady, but I have a child that needs supervising."
"It's Goldet, dear customer. And please don't call me 'boss lady.' I'm the boss here, not the boss' wife."
"Ah, sorry. The waitress downstairs calls you so, so I thought–"
"I see. So it's Yuhua again. It seems like someone needs a stern talking to."
With a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, I can only pray for the waitress downstairs. May you live to tell the tale, because I sure am curious to see what she'll do to you.
"Oh, and before you go," just like that, the scary smile she had on her face was replaced by a more professional one she used when addressing her customer, "I'll be needing your name, dear customer, for record's sake."
"It's Yuu. Kamiyama Yuu."
"Inazuman, huh? Though I suppose your attire already gave that away."
Opening her ledger, she wrote my name into a certain section before closing it and giving me a slight bow.
"Thank you for your patronage, Mr. Yuu. I wish you a pleasant stay."
After returning her gratitude and bidding her farewell, I walked up the stairs just in time to see Yanxiao and the waitresses finished placing all of our food down. It seems that an extra table was necessary with all the food the two of them, or rather, Paimon, ordered.
'Maybe robbing the Golden House isn't such a bad idea after all.'