We finally arrived to the Inn, were the boy asked for Almond Tofu, and I asked for meat. I'm feeling ravenous right now.
The boy looked like he wanted to eat quietly and talk later, but I'm not having that. I'm feeling extremely tired, and I want to take a nap right now.
"I have a proposition. No, I can't wait until we have finished eating. I help you deal with that black things and you help me". The meat was making me feel energetic again.
"What do need my help for?" the boy asked. He was twitching sometimes, and I realized that it was when the curse 'tightened' around his soul. He must be in pain.
"i came to Liyue to learn about my ability to see souls. Now I realize that I can somehow manipulate them, so I want to practice. On top of helping you deal with this things, you take me to cursed places and the likes" I summarized my needs and wants. I don't think spear boy here knows a lot about medicine, so asking for help with aunt Kayo's situation is a it too much.
"Hm, I agree" he nodded. "You came from Inazuma right?". So he is able to discern my clothes. I need to buy another set of clothes, I catch too much attention with this.
"Yes".
"How are your species called?. I never hear of a youkai able to see souls" he asked, maybe interested in seeing if we could get more help.
So he thinks I'm a youkai....Well, a 5 year old solving this kind of thing that has been around for 2 thousand years is a bit unbelievable. But there is nothing the mighty Kenshin can't do. I won't clarify the misunderstanding, it's better for me this way, or he will ask the Boss about how to deal with a precocious child. Ah, that reminds me.
"No, I'm the last one. I have 2 other conditions, the first, you help me survive. I'm not talking about protecting me from the monsters. It's just that I have no money".
"So you need food and a place to stay" he summarized.
"Yes. And the second condition, you keep what we are doing a secret".
"I can't do that" he denied quickly. "Rex Lapis must know about it. There is a way to solve a problem that has plagued Liyue for millennia. He must know about it".
I thought for a bit. He is the God of Contracts, maybe I can make him enter one with me where I use my knowledge and ability to gain an advantage.
"Okay, but I will be the one to talk with him. And you won't tell anything to a half-adeptus named Ganyu".
"Hmm" he nodded, probably not caring about my circumstances. Ah, he's grimacing again. Damn, that curse is powerful.
"And you will send a package to another adeptus called Cloud Retainer" I added that last one. I don't hold a grudge, but I need something funny to do. Something tells me that helping all this dead gods finally die for good is going to be depressing.
"Hmmm" he agreed. I honestly think that I can ask him for anything and he will nod.
"Then let's go" I was excited al again. I can study some pretty rare things here, in Inazume there are no gods I think. Well, aside from the one that the Shogun killed, but there are thousands here. And I can live for free without working, and I get to tease that birdie. Life's good, aside from the depressing experiences of reliving the emotional moments of the tortured souls of the dead gods. It sounds a bit unbelievable, but it is what it is.
The boy carried me on his back, and in less than half an hour we were back at Liyue Harbor. Maybe I should propose a delivery service?. I told the boy to let me talk to the meteor caller alone for a while, to which he nodded.
I quickly saw the Boss, drinking yet another tea in the same place I left him around 7 hours ago. He is like a grandpa, a very old and ridiculously overpowered grandpa.
"Hey Boss!" I greeted him. He looked a bit surprised at hearing my nickname, but took it in stride.
"I see you are back. How did things go?".
"Not good, that bird kicked me out. But I met another adeptus I'm working with" I explained, preparing my plan.
"Hmm, what's his name?" he nodded. He wasn't that worried, probably he knew every single adeptus around.
"Before that, I want to enter a Contract with you" I said seriously. "And yes, I'm aware of what that means, and yes, I'm serious about this".
He looked at me silently with an appraising gaze.
"What would the Contract entail?".
"First, I want you to analyse my proposal and if you find that the benefits outweigh the gains, you will not interfere".
"If the benefits come at cost of innocent lives, I can't agree" he replied.
"Second" I continued. He made his clarification and I had no problem with it. I'm not innocent, and I'm the one willing to risk it, so no problem. "I want you to keep this proposition as a secret from everyone. Only 3 people will know about it, you, me and the other adeptus".
"I agree" he nodded. He had the power to stop whatever I was cooking by himself, so there was no problem for him to agree to this. Now I could be assured that Ganyu and by extension Yae don't get a whiff of what I was doing.
"Third, you will participate in the proposal actively, trying to help me and the other adeptus. We could use your expertise and knowledge. There is a lot we don't know. You can refuse to participate, but you will abide to the first clause". I am not naive to think every god out there was as Shen Zi.
There must be a lot of gods out there raging, maybe some of them would try to destroy Liyue if something goes wrong. Asking the Boss about who they were can help us, and leave those for last.
I will try to focus on those more or les pacific or non-hostile to know more about this whole process.
"I agree. But I will refuse if I don't see a benefit on it" he agreed. Oh boy, you are going to participate no matter what. Even if you are retired, you are still the founder of Liyue, there is no way you are going to miss this chance.
"And lastly, you will protect me in case someone wants to hurt me". This last one is a precaution against a wrathful Yae. I will go back before the festival, but if she somehow manages to get here, I will have the best shield possible.
"If you are being attacked for no reason or unjustly, I will help you" he agreed. I wasn't all that satisfied, that are a lot of hole in that statement, but it was all I was going to get.
"That's all"
"Then I will add my clauses" he nodded with a serious face. "Your proposal must not harm Liyue".
"I agree".
"You must disclose your whole plan to me, with no secrets and with honesty".
"I agree". Our plan can be said in a single sentence, there is no room to hide anything. 'Erase the Remnants'. How can you hide something in there?.
"I will have a say in your proposal, and you will listen to my opinion seriously. Any change in the plan must go through me, and I will have the right to veto it". Hmmm, with this he makes sure that we don't rope in into a plan only to change it later and leave him tied to it. I don't have that kind of courage any ways.
"I agree".
"You will tell the other adeptus participating in the plan to come to see me. If I don't approve of him your proposal will be cancelled". He is making sure of who is behind me, maybe afraid I'm getting manipulated. Honestly, it's the spear boy who would get tricked any ways.
"I agree".
"Lastly, if I don't agree with the plan, you will do nothing" he said with a serious face.
Basically, we need his permission. Hmmm, this is a bit tricky.
"Explain the situation in which you won't find it acceptable". It would be a tragedy for him to say that he doesn't agree to put a child in danger, making my whole plan useless.
"The pros aren't worth the cons. It will harm Liyue in any way. It touches some things that should not be touched, which means that if this plan has anything to do with the hilichurls, it's automatically out" he added. Well, that's true. If I said I had a plan to save the hilichurls it wouldn't directly harm Liyue, but if the big Boss fears touching that, it obviously out.
"I agree, but with a clarification. Every participant in plan will assume the risks and consequences of their acts, so every risk the plan has will be evaluated by the affected party. You will represent the interests of Liyue". With this, if I risk my life it will be my own business, ans he won't be able to complain.
He thought for a while, but he finally agreed.
"Then the Contract is done" he nodded. "When will I have the chance to meet the other adeptus?". I guess he knows he can get a general idea of the plan seeing which adeptus I was collaborating with.
"Now if you want. Spear boy!" I shouted, making everyone look at me in disdain, but I don't care.
After knowing my deeds in Inazuma, I have lost any shame I still had.
Then the spear boy walked towards us, I guess appearing in the middle of the city was not a good idea. If people in Liyue were as fanatical as they were in Inazuma, he will be swarmed by people thinking that touching an adeptus will bring them good luck.
"Rex Lapis-sama" he bowed respectfully at the Boss before looking quietly at me. Unfortunately, you are stuck with spear boy.
"Hmm, Conqueror of Demons. I didn't expect you to be the one he was collaborating with" Boss nodded, maybe feeling relaxed now that he knew who I was collaborating with. Well, spear boy has been protecting Liyue for 2000 years, it shows his loyalty.
"Yes" he nodded and looked at me to explain. I was the one who will be doing the important thing.
"Good, the awesome Kenshin will tell you the perfect plan my unique and unrepeatable talent allows us to execute" I nodded feeling important. These 2 were millennia old, and yet I was the key player. I'm going to grow a humongous ego.
"We are going to erase the Remnant of the dead gods" I dropped the bomb. Indeed, even the old Rex Lapis could only look at me surprised by my bold statement, only to look at spear boy next, asking for clarification.
Then spear boy told him that the Remnants were not being erased, their energy wasn't drained and all that. He would need to fight for eternity, after all those Remnants were not going away without my help.
"I understand now. I would have refused your plan, but the risks you take are only yours" he nodded. Nice to see some smart people. "What do you need ,my help for?".
"The god I helped was called Shen Zi. Did you know her?".
"Yes, she was the leader of a small village. I heard that she died in the early stages of the Archon War." he nodded, looking lost on his thoughts.
"Well, I was able to help her without any problem because she wanted to die, but I don't think all of them are going to be this way. I identified her before touching the black sludge, so I will try to do the same. If the one I am hearing about is an hostile god, I think it's better to leave that alone for now until I get used to this".
"A most sensible thought. Yes, I agree with that" he nodded.
"I would also like you to teach me about curses, and no, not about the hilichurl one. You get pretty anxious every time that gets mentioned. I want to get more experience at dealing with them, but in Inazuma there are not that many to work with".
"Why do you want to get better with curses?" the Boss asked me.
"It's not about curses specifically. I have this special ability to see souls, so I want to develop it as much as I can. So far, curses or spirits are the only things I have knowledge about". I don't like curses per se. But aside from curses and ghosts, what can I do?.
"I don't know that much about curses, but I am quite knowledgeable about places where there may be some enchanted things around" he mused. "I could take you to them or tell you about them, but I will have the right to refuse if I think it's dangerous".
"No problem from me" I nodded. "Can we start now?. The last god I helped left a bad taste in my mouth, so I want to see if all other gods are going to be as hard as that one". I want to be prepared if every time I do this I'm going to experience all that pain and sadness. It's going to be hard if that's the case.
"Hmm, where is the nearest one" the Boss asked me. I guess they really can't see it.
I pointed to the floor 2 meters away from us, making me look awkwardly. They really, REALLY couldn't see anything.
I crouched near the ground, making people nearby look at me with weird gazes, but I didn't care.
"Chang....Li". I heard this one a lot clearer, do I really need to approach my hear?. Maybe I'm learning their names in a different way. Food for thought.
"This one was Chang Li".
The Boss and spear boy frowned.
"He was a bad guy"
""Yes"" they both answered honestly.
"What do we do?. I'm confident I can run, they are pinned to the ground, but I don't know what to do after releasing them. I don't know why Shen Zi disappeared, if it was a natural thing or if she wanted to die". If this Chang Li attacks me after I release him, I can't do nothing to save my sorry ass.
I asked the Boss, this is the reason I roped him in this after all.
"Are you confident you can escape and that he will not go in a rampage?" he asked me seriously.
"Yes" I nodded confidently.
"Try it then. I will be near isolating both you and his remains. The moment you feel danger, retreat" he instructed.
I nodded and touched the black wriggling thing.