"I won't make the same mistake again." Ganyu responded loudly with a blush on her cheeks.
Loki kept on staring at her with a teasing look in his eyes. She could only look down to hide her embarassment.
A few seconds passed before she was able to look him in the eyes again. Loki took this moment to resume their conversation.
"Ganyu, Lia will help you but you should still choose a few other people to do a part of your work. Devoting your entire waking moment to work, that is not a way to live."
"What I am doing is nothing compared to what Rex Lapis has accomplished." Ganyu responded immediately.
Many people have told her the same advice and her response was always the same. She had to do better because her work was insignificant compared to the responsibilities and achievements of Rex Lapis.
"Have you already forgotten what I just said? You don't need to try so hard to fit with the humans."
Loki felt a bit helpless at her attitude towards work. Ganyu shook her head and responded in a solemn voice.
"I have memorized everything you said to me and although I am thankful for your advice, I still feel a bit reluctant. But this is a completely different matter."
"I won't deny that I am doing my work to fit in. But you should also understand that I was not lying when I said that I am doing it for the betterment of Liyue."
She looked at him with a determined gaze. Facing her determination, Loki had to admit that he judged her without knowing her thoughts completely. He let his bias influence his words.
"I am sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." He honestly apologized.
"Please don't. You have already helped me a lot so I should be the one to apologize for raising my voice." Ganyu rubbed the back of her head shyly.
Hearing her words and seeing her cute gesture, Loki could not help but smile. Ganyu was really soft hearted. He even felt bad for teasing her a moment ago, just a little.
It was always fun to tease a person like her, who wore her emotions on her face at all times.
"I really admire your attitude towards your work." He admitted honestly and she blushed again.
"But I still believe that you should not work from morning to night. You need time to relax. Even the Rex Lapis you admire enjoys his idleness."
"I also enjoy myself sometime. I would often go to the mountaintop and gaze at the clouds." She responded in a low and shy voice.
"That isn't idleness." He quickly retorted.
"Looks like you won't understand this way. Let's go on a date then. There is someone I want you to meet."
"Date!!?"
Ganyu immediately blushed again.
_____
Ganyu and Lia quitely followed Loki on a 'date'. It took a few minutes for them to reach a tavern named 'Third Round Knockout'.
"We are here." Loki announced.
"Third Round Knockout?" Ganyu read the name of the tavern curiously.
In the tavern, a dignified gentleman was silently drinking his Osmanthus Wine while listening to the story teller. A cat-like pokemon was beside him, sitting on the table and sipping the same wine.
Hearing a familiar voice, the two of them turned their head and made eye contact with Loki, Ganyu and Lia.
It didn't even take a second for Ganyu to realize the true identity of the gentleman. But before she could say anything, he quickly spoke.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ganyu. My name is Zhongli."
Hearing his sudden introduction, Ganyu understood his intention so she subtly changed her greeting.
"It is my honor, Mr. Zhongli."
Zhongli nodded his head and turned to Loki with a question mark. Loki smiled and spoke.
"Zhongli, I would like to invite you to have dinner with us. There is something I want to talk with you and Ganyu."
Zhongli didn't think much and readily agreed. With that done, the group of 3 were joined by Zhongli and Meowth.
Ganyu was feeling a lot more awkward after Zhongli, secretly the God of Liyue, joined them. She did her best to hide her awkwardness but unfortunately, it was not enough.
During their walk, Loki and Zhongli talked about the current situation of Liyue. Ever since the pokemon were introduced to Liyue more than a week ago, a lot had happened. Ganyu silently listened to their conversation without joining them.
Half an hour later, the 5 inhumans reached the renowned Liuli Pavilion.
With just a few simple manipulations, the owner of the establishment came forward and arranged a room for them. They were treated as VVIP so there was no need for any reservations.
_____
After all 5 of them were seated around a table, Zhongli started the conversation with a solemn question.
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
"It is nothing too serious." Loki reassured him in a calm voice. "I just wanted to talk about Ganyu."
"M-me!?"
Ganyu immediately blushed at his misleading words. This situation suddenly reminded her of her embarassment whenever Cloud Retainer shared her childhood secrets with the other adeptus.
"Oh. What about her?"
To her surprise and horror, Zhongli didn't seem to feel any awkwardness. He instead relaxed considerably since the topic of conversation was not that serious.
"I wanted to know your opinion about Ganyu." Loki spoke.
"Hmm."
Zhongli hummed as he looked at her. She blushed even more under his curious gaze, unable to interrupt the Archon she respected.
"Ganyu is a friend who has served me and Liyue for the longest time. I can not say more since I believe my wording would not be delicate enough to receive her approval."
Ganyu sighed in relief when she realized that Zhongli spared her any more embarassment. She then looked at Loki with a very troubled look.
"..Why are you teasing me so much..?"
She asked in a very low voice and sighed. Ganyu had no intention to argue with Loki. Instead, she just wanted to leave this place in order to escape his constant teasing.
Seeing her like this, Loki also began to feel bad. Even if he enjoyed teasing her, he never wanted to make her this uncomfortable.
All of it was his fault so he had no intention to make any excuses. He bowed deeply.
"I am sorry."
Noticing the sincerity in his apology, Ganyu slowly calmed down. A few seconds later, she was already bowing to him.
"I am also sorry for losing my composure."
Loki felt even more bad after receiving her apology. In the uncomfortable silence that followed, Zhongli addressed Loki in a seemingly carefree voice.
"Why did you want to talk about Ganyu so suddenly anyway?"
Loki looked at Ganyu. After seeing that she was also curious to know the answer, he spoke.
"I just wanted you to convince her to let off some steam and relax sometimes. She has been working non-stop every day."
Zhongli nodded his head in understanding while Ganyu hurriedly responded in a shy voice.
"Why are you troubling the Rex Lapis about something as trivial as this? He is a busy person."
Loki shook his head at her words. It wasn't long before Zhongli spoke.
"Ganyu, I can not say anything about your decision but..."
Ganyu immediately turned to look at him. Loki also looked at Zhongli with anticipation. His eyes glowed as he conveyed the unspoken message for Zhongli to continue.
Zhongli didn't disappoint Loki as he added.
"-but I also believe that Loki is right. There should always be a balance between work and rest. Although adepti blood flows through your veins, excessive exhaustion can still cause harm to you."
Loki smiled in triumph. With the Geo Archon supporting him, Ganyu will surely listen to his advice. This was his entire reason to bring Ganyu to meet Zhongli.
'There was a slight hiccup but looks like things went just as I planned.'
On the other hand, Ganyu became lost in thoughts after Zhongli personally admitted her working problem. After nearly a minute of silence, she finally spoke.
"Rex Lapis, I will listen to your advice. But compared to me, you must be even more busy. How can I rest when you are performing your duties?"
Hearing her response, Loki could not help but laugh. Zhongli knew what he was thinking so he felt a bit awkward.
Ganyu was confused at the strange reaction from the 2 people before her. She asked. "Did I say something strange?"
Loki looked at Zhongli with an amused smile as he waited for him to answer.
"Ganyu, contrary to your expectations, I am quite idle." Zhongli finally spoke.
"Mr. Secretly a god, currently works as a consultant at Wansheng Funeral Parlor." Loki quickly added with a teasing voice. Seeing Zhongli not reacting to his words, he continued.
"He spents most of his day wandering the streets of Liyue and having mundane interactions with other people. He buys trinkets that interest him despite having no mora. He even lives in the Funeral Parlor. In simple words, Zhongli doesn't properly work. He is broke and homeless."
Ganyu widened her eyes in shock. She looked at Zhongli, who reluctantly nodded to prove those harsh words were true. Her eyes widened even further.
It took a few seconds for her to calm down. She readily accepted the idle nature of Zhongli but there was a question that she wanted to know the answer to.
"You must be curious as to why I am living as an ordinary mortal?"
Zhongli suddenly revealed her unspoken question. Ganyu nodded her head in response.
"It is because I am planning to retire and live as a human from now on." He admitted with a solemn expression.
Ganyu became still as a statue as it took a while for her to register his words. When she did, she abruptly stood up from her chair and leaned towards Zhongli with wide eyes.
"Retire!? Why!? When!?"
On the other hand, Loki had a smile when he heard about the retirement of Zhongli. When he told Zhongli about the eventual emergence of pokemon last time, he knew that Zhongli will not chose to retire due to his vigilance of pokemon.
But now, with his words, Loki knew that Zhongli had come to realize that pokemon were not a threat to Liyue and Tevyat. The Geo Archon had come to trust pokemon. Was there any better news?
In the suspense filled room, Zhongli quitely stood up from his chair and walked towards the open window. He looked at the starry night sky in melancholy and began to speak in a calm voice.
"It has been 3,700 years since we founded Liyue. Even the most sturdy boulders will erode with the passing of time. I kept convincing myself that cracks had not begun to form and that the end of my time had not yet come."
"But one rainy day, as I was walking along the harbor, I heard a merchant tell one of his workers, "You've finished your duties, go ahead and call it a day." I stood motionless among the crowds, asking myself, "Have I already finished my duties?" "
"But as I began to consider relinquishing my divine role, I soon discovered that many reasons still remained to not hastily depart. Was Liyue already prepared to enter its next age? I decided that a test was needed in order to reveal the answer."
Zhongli originally intended to keep his retirement a secret for some more time. But since he was eventually going to explain it to his friends, it didn't matter even if he pushed the reveal sooner.
He turned his body and faced Loki.
"But then, you arrived. You told me about the pokemon who shall emerge in Tevyat. I realized that the entire world was going to see a huge shift."
"The age of the gods and immortals is nearing its end. Mortals will no longer need us to shelter them since they will have pokemon beside them."