As for why Klee was placed in solitary confinement this time, Luo Li didn't bother to ask further.
With Klee's personality, anything was possible.
But she was never a bad child—merely curious and playfully reckless.
Every mistake came from innocent impulses, and every mess left her genuinely guilty afterward, always trying to help fix it… usually with disastrous results.
"Oh no! Klee promised Bennett we'd go exploring at Windwail Highland today! We're late!"
Noticing the clock, Klee squirmed out of Luo Li's arms, but not before planting one more sweet, childish kiss on his cheek. Then she dashed off like a little wildfire.
Watching her small figure disappear into the streets, Luo Li sighed.
Give it two days, he thought. She'll be back in solitary again.
But before that happened… he silently mourned for Bennett.
A chronically unlucky boy paired with a natural disaster in child form—may the Archons have mercy.
Before Luo Li could wipe his cheek, Noelle stepped forward and gently cleaned it for him with a handkerchief.
"Where will we go now, Mr. Luo Li?"
He had just opened his mouth to answer when a patrol knight came hurrying toward him.
Seeing Luo Li, the knight visibly relaxed.
"Lord Luo Li! Sorry to disturb you—do you have a friend named Venti?"
"Venti? Yes, I do. What happened?"
The moment the knight mentioned that name, Luo Li had a very bad premonition.
"T-then… he wasn't lying after all…"
The knight scratched his cheek awkwardly before explaining in a whisper:
"We heard shouting at Angel's Share. It turned out someone drank too much and refused to pay. Things were getting tense. That person—who claimed to be Venti begged us to fetch you, saying you were his friend."
Venti…
You actually dared to dine-and-dash?!
Luo Li wanted to deny knowing him, but it was too late—the knight had already heard his confirmation earlier.
Resigned, Luo Li followed the knight toward Angel's Share.
As Mondstadt's most famous tavern—matched only by the Cat's Tail—the place was loud, lively, and always filled with rowdy adventurers swapping stories and rumors.
When Luo Li walked inside, the first thing he saw was—
A half-drunken Venti, sheepishly bowing and apologizing at the center of the tavern, insisting he simply "forgot he had no Mora."
But that wasn't all.
Luo Li also spotted several familiar faces:
Kaeya, the "working" Cavalry Captain, nursing a drink as he expertly slacked off.
Rosaria, the shadowy nun, drinking alone with her habitual gloom.
And unexpectedly—Lumine and Paimon, quietly speaking with a well-covered stranger.
Luo Li's gaze lingered on Lumine only a moment before he walked toward the main troublemaker.
Bartender Charles—furious only seconds earlier—immediately changed expressions when he saw Luo Li.
If Venti was truly Luo Li's acquaintance, then Charles didn't dare make this a bigger issue.
Luo Li resisted the urge to smack Venti on the head.
The Anemo Archon… caught for refusing to pay for drinks. Who does this?!
"What's the damage? I'll cover it."
Charles waved frantically.
"No, no, Lord Luo Li—if the Master or the Young Master learns I charged your friend, they'll skin me alive. I couldn't possibly—"
"Three thousand Mora~!"
Venti cut in cheerfully.
Ignoring Charles' refusal, Luo Li reached into his pocket—only for Noelle to swiftly place the payment on the counter first.
Her attentiveness was getting more and more natural… and pleasantly convenient.
Unable to refuse any longer, Charles finally accepted the money.
With the issue resolved, the patrol knight returned to his rounds.
Rosaria glanced over only briefly—her primary attention remained fixed on Lumine and Paimon.
Ever since the Stormterror crisis, Rosaria had been observing these outsiders discreetly. Anything suspicious—or anyone unknown—was monitored. Even Luo Li had once been under her watch.
After all, Mondstadt's guardians included not only the Knights of Favonius but also a hidden organization passed down since the old aristocratic era.
Its founder was the failed revolutionary of the Lawrence uprising.
Five hundred years ago, its leader was Rustan the Wolf Cub.
And today, one of its agents was Rosaria.
Seeing Venti bolt for the exit before he could be scolded, Luo Li sighed.
"Coward."
Leaving the troublesome bard alone, Luo Li approached Rosaria silently, suppressing his presence so well that even she only sensed him at the last second.
Rosaria opened her tired, dark-ringed eyes.
"…Teacher."
Luo Li nodded in greeting.
Despite wearing a nun's habit, Rosaria looked nothing like a nun.
Her high-slit, open-back dress paired with black fishnet stockings exuded danger rather than purity.
If not for the headdress and church insignia, anyone would mistake her for a seductive assassin.
Which, to be fair… wasn't entirely wrong.
She was an assassin—one who quietly eliminated threats to Mondstadt.
"How has the cleanup been?"
"As usual. I'll finish before shift ends."
Rosaria poured herself a glass of dandelion wine and exhaled cold alcohol-laced breath.
"Thanks to the spear techniques you taught me, my efficiency has skyrocketed."
Luo Li nodded lightly.
Her spear techniques came from an ancient source—
the thousand-year-old legacy of the Spear Witch, the one who once wielded Crescent Pike and Dragonspine Spear.
A warrior who could perceive the death-lines of all things
very similar to the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
But there was one fatal restriction:
Her power could not coexist with emotional attachments.