The walk turned out to be a short one, as we now stood in front of a two story building located close to the wooden bridge connecting Chihu Rock and Feiyun Slope. Currently, a group of carpenters are gathered in one area of the building, hammering away on several sections of the wall.
"So you are a waitress at a teahouse."
On top of the entrance is a gigantic sign reading 'Yanshang Teahouse' currently being tended to by a couple of men, rewriting the words with brand new paint while also polishing the frame of it, giving it a brand new shine.
"Close, but not quite." She replied as she walked past the numerous workers towards the front door before pulling out a set of keys. "You need to work on your deductive reasoning, Honorary Knight. It would do you good in the long run."
"I'll consider it. Right now, I'm more inclined to work on my steadily dwindling reserve of Mora."
"You're in luck then. One of the topics we're talking about today might just help you in that regard. Should you choose to accept it, of course."
"A commission from the government?"
"Yes. But let's not talk about that here in the open." With a click, she turned the handle and opened the double door of the teahouse before stepping aside and motioning for me to enter. "After you, Honorary Knight."
"Right…."
As I stepped inside the building, I noticed that the interior of the teahouse is relatively barren.
Though there are furniture and seating areas here and there, it's distinctly disproportionate to the size of the building itself. Scattered all around the corner of the teahouse are numerous boxes stacked together, with only some of them being opened.
"Please excuse the mess. We're still in the process of setting everything up."
"Clearly. But I suppose that's exactly why you chose this place?"
"One of many reasons, yes."
Maneuvering through the messy teahouse, I followed Yelan to one of the only available tables before taking a seat, while the woman in question told me to wait and walked towards a room in the back.
Not long after, she returned with a tray carrying a pot of tea, two cups, and a small plate filled with snacks.
"I hope you like tea, Honorary Knight." After placing down the contents within the tray, Yelan poured the tea into both of our cups with practiced motion, the strong fragrance of which immediately assaulted my senses.
Once she's done and offered me the cup, I gingerly took it and brought it closer. The intense floral scent alongside the warmth emanating from the cup itself brought with it a calming sensation as I tilted my mask and took a sip…
…only for me to nearly spit it back out as a taste of something spicy caught me off guard.
"Ah, I forgot to tell you that this one's a special blend of mine." Despite how apologetic she sounds, the slight tug on her ever present smile says otherwise. "A mix of Yunlai White Tea leaves alongside crushed powder of Jueyun Chili and Violetgrass. People don't usually take it well the first time around."
"*cough* And you didn't think to warn me because…?"
"Must've slipped my mind. Sorry about that."
"Of course it did." Taking the napkin she offered me, I wiped the area around my mouth and the wet patches on the table before putting it away. "Are every government agent as annoying as you are, Miss Yelan?"
"I prefer to think of it as me having what little fun I can in this job filled with numerous paperwork and dreadful clients, Honorary Knight." After taking a sip of her own cup, Yelan reached for the crackers she brought, which I now suspect is equally spiked with chili powder.
"And that's something that you can do?"
"Of course. The higher ups might be strict, but not so much as to treat us as mere resources, you know? As long as we get the job done in a satisfactory manner, we are free to do our job in a way we find comfortable. Of course, that doesn't mean we can just do anything, but you get the point.
"Bureaucracy is a tedium we all can do without, Honorary Knight. Us cogs in its grand design know this more than anyone else. Unfortunately for everyone involved, it's a necessity, and the civil servants had to take the majority of the burden. And believe me when I say it can be quite taxing on the mind.
"Some may choose to use their building frustration to fuel their skepticism towards our nation's reliance on divine prophecy, some would use it as a motivation to learn the laws inside and out in order to further pursue their ideal justice, while some, few as they may be, find no such tedium in their work at all. They enjoyed doing it, seeing it as their calling in life, it might even get to the point where working became their hobby."
"And you prefer to get a rise out of your clients?"
"Mhm. Of course, that's not the only reason I do it." She nodded before continuing. "I find that people are much easier to deal with when they let their emotions get the better of them. Their buttons are easier to push, they're more prone to making mistakes, things like that."
"Is that something you should be saying right to my face?"
"Probably not. But I imagine you'd appreciate my honesty regardless." Leaning her body forward a bit, Yelan fixed her gaze towards me. "Having dealt with a crisis of great magnitude in Mondstadt, I'm sure you can understand why I do things the way I did, Honorary Knight."
Hearing her answer, a certain cavalry captain comes to mind, and his attempt at observing me, the strange outlander that suddenly showed up at the City of Freedom finishing every urgent commission left and right like it's nothing, and what transpired not long after inside their headquarters.
Ah, the memories.
"I've been on the receiving end of it, so yes, I do understand. Though I'm not sure if that's applicable for our current situation."
"Like I said, it's one of the two reasons. I'm sure you can guess which one it is." With a chuckle, she popped another one of those crackers into her mouth. "Deductive reasoning, Honorary Knight. Deductive reasoning."
"Right…."
Feeling slightly parched after all that talk, I instinctively grabbed the lukewarm cup, only to realize once again that it's basically dumbed down chili water. In the end though, not feeling like asking for a different tea, I slowly drank the cursed concoction.
Begrudgingly, I'll admit that, spiciness aside, it's actually quite a good blend.
"Can we get to why I'm here in the first place?"
"Sure. I thought you'd never ask."
Reaching into her white furred coat, Yelan pulled out several pictures before placing them on the table for me to see. "An interesting case was delivered to me early this morning, and I would like to hear your thoughts on it. If you're interested, you can even lend a hand. And I assure you that you'll be well compensated should you choose to do so."
Pushing the set of photographs towards me, I saw pictures of barren rooms and empty safes, along with the face of what looks to be the owner of the house painted with the color red and blue respectively on their faces.
'I kind of expected it, but seeing it for myself is something else.'
"Let me give you a quick rundown of what we know so far."
And she did. Not that it serves any kind of purpose, seeing as the culprit responsible is sitting right here. Still, hearing about their perspective on things does alleviate the boredom of already knowing how it actually transpires.
"...preliminary investigation suggests that this is just a simple case of robbery, and with the sheer amount of items that was stolen, it's safe to say that it's probably done by a group. Or perhaps a very persistent individual, though that assumption is not as plausible as the first one."
"Because going back and forth constantly while hauling most of the stolen goods would be impossible?"
"Not impossible. Just very unlikely." Yelan paused. "And very stupid, given how strict the patrols are these days. Unless of course…."
"What?"
"Unless they knew the Millelith's patrol route beforehand. Though that idea was shelved for the time being. After all, the implication of such a thing is… quite concerning to say the least."
Despite her so-called concern however, her smile was still present.
I couldn't help but feel my heart drop.
'Does she know?'
"I've done some quick investigation on my own, and I found that, while it's true that at a quick glance it seems to be a case of robbing a rich noble, there's more than meets the eye. If you factor in a different case that's been going on for a while, a different motive can be seen."
Once more, she reaches into her coat and pulls out another set of photographs. This time, one of the photos is of the face of a handsome man wearing an overly complicated suit, while the other is the face of a very familiar girl.
The man who I assume is the Fontaine traveler, and the director of the Yun-Han Opera Troupe.
'There's no way that she doesn't know.'
While I was hesitant to say anything in fear of saying something I shouldn't, Yelan continued her explanation. Whether or not she knew how I'm feeling at that moment, it's hard to tell with her unchanging smile.
"It's a bit of an older case that we received beforehand that we haven't managed to properly close due to its… complicated nature, but with the results we managed to gather about this person," she pointed towards the photo of the man, "coupled with the case we have now, we might be able to kill two birds with one stone."
"How so?"
"Let me just do this….."
Placing the two pictures of Yun Jin and the outlander next to each other, a blue string suddenly made its way from Yelan's fingertips and began connecting said pictures, after which it moved towards the other two nobles from the outlander's picture.
"Before we get into it, remember when I said that this particular case is complicated?" Seeing the result of her handiwork, Yelan nodded before continuing. "Turns out there are a lot of officials involved that are actively trying to prevent this case from coming to light. Thankfully, my subordinates are very good at their job."
This time, the strings connecting the three men began to spread into multiple directions, forming an empty rectangular frame filled with question marks. And then it spread some more, until the strings found its way towards a group of unknowns connected to Yun Jin.
It was a magnificent spiderweb, I have to admit.
"But since there are people on the inside actively hindering the investigation, it made it hard for us to do anything above board. So we didn't. And lo and behold, results. Not a good one to find out this late in the game, but it's always nice to know just how many snakes are lurking about. There's also the problem of whether our findings would hold up in court, but let's not get too into that."
A silent pressure begins to emanate from the previously harmless smile of hers before it disappears as quickly as it appears.
"Ah, it seems that I was rambling for a bit." Yelan paused, taking a sip of her tea before continuing. "Anyway, this person, Bellinor Escoffier, is currently being investigated for the continued harassment that has been happening towards Director Yun Jin through the use of his connection to – or perhaps the bribery of – these two noble houses.
"It's gotten so bad that the director has run away from home. Though we are unsure of what actually transpired, it's not difficult to assume that their influence has reached even the Yun-Han Opera Troupe and that even in the comfort of her home, she couldn't escape their reach.
"Currently, her whereabouts are unknown. But if words through the grapevine are to be trusted, she's probably hiding somewhere around Chihu Rock." Raising her head from the makeshift evidence board, Yelan turned her attention towards me. "Would you happen to have seen her, Honorary Knight?"
"I might have." Nearly caught off guard by her question, I barely managed to respond. "Though I might be mistaken, since I have a terrible memory."
I'm toeing a very thin line here, but everything that I said is technically not a lie. The picture she had of Yun Jin and the Yun Jin I've met couldn't have been very different considering she hasn't been wearing any make up at all. The terrible memory part is true though, just not in the way she thought it'd be.
I wonder how soon I will come to regret using sophistry against someone like her?
"Is that so?" Rubbing her chin in thought, Yelan taps her fingers against the table. "That's strange… I would've thought that since the director was quite the close friend with Xinyan, the girl that you were seen with quite often, that you would've met her at some point."
Shrugging her shoulders, Yelan continued in a carefree tone. "Oh well. I suppose you can't have everything go the way you expect it to."
As it turns out, pretty much immediately.
While I was desperately trying to maintain a calm facade, Yelan was silent as she stared at the pictures on the table. "It seems I might have to slightly change my hypothesis, but it shouldn't really affect the overall picture."
"And that would be?"
"That a group of people, whether at the request of the director or not, went inside their mansion in the middle of the night to search for evidence to help with her situation. All while taking their belongings in an attempt to disguise their true motive."
'She knows.'
"And why would they do that?"
"Who knows? Perhaps the director commissioned them to do so in exchange for monetary reward, or perhaps whoever accepted are just a pair– sorry, a group of good samaritans willing to extend a helping hand to a helpless maiden." The smile on her face turned into a smirk. "There are all kinds of reasons I could list you, Honorary Knight, but these two seem to be the most reasonable of the bunch."
'Fuck, she definitely knows.'
Suddenly, Yelan clapped her hands together, breaking the growing silence. "Sorry about all this, Honorary Knight. I know it's a bit of a long hypothesis, but I'd like to think I managed to condense all of the available information as best I could."
'She knows but she won't admit to it.'
"Honestly, I've been in quite the conundrum trying solving these two cases, and I would very much like to hear your thoughts on this. After all, sometimes an outsider's opinion can open the way for a whole new perspective."
'What is it you're trying to achieve, Yelan?'
"So what do you think, Honorary Knight?"
The dim blue light on the table begins to shimmer as two new strings branch out from the picture of the opera director as it slowly starts to form into a pair of empty rectangular frames, both of which are connected with one another.
"Care to share your thoughts?"
This time however, there was no question mark inside of it.