Inside Angel's Share, Lumine—exhausted after a long day—leaned back in her chair. Beside her, Paimon happily munched on fruit Diluc had given her. Venti, meanwhile, downed bottle after bottle of apple cider, completely ignoring the dead-fish stare Diluc was shooting his way.
Thanks to Diluc's deliberate arrangements, the tavern had no other patrons besides Lumine and Venti, so Lumine felt free to complain about just how hard it was to find Dvalin's Tears.
"Venti, couldn't you at least mark the locations of Dvalin's Tears on the map for me?" Lumine said helplessly. "I've been wandering around all day and haven't found a single one."
"They're not that hard to find," Venti replied. "Dvalin's Tears are saturated with Anemo. Try searching places where Anemo is especially dense."
He tipped his head back and drained another bottle. The scattered empty bottles on the table did nothing to dampen the regret in his tone.
"I was actually planning to find you a helper," he added wistfully, "but Dvalin injured that unlucky guy. Honestly, I'd already be thanking the wind if he doesn't go looking for trouble with Dvalin now."
"Tch. Sounds like I showed up at just the right time."
A voice suddenly drifted up from behind Venti. Startled, he jolted so hard that half the apple cider in his hand spilled out.
Diluc's pupils constricted when he saw Su Bai appear behind Venti, though he quickly regained his composure. He had heard of the strange techniques of Liyue's adepti—he simply hadn't expected them to be this eerie in person.
"Su Bai, compensate me for my apple cider!" Venti protested. "That was the last Mora I had! It was extremely precious!"
"I've only ever heard that the first sip is the most valuable," Su Bai replied indifferently. "That one's new to me."
Venti stared at the spilled cider with a heartbroken expression, while Su Bai shrugged and sat down beside Lumine. He still preferred sitting next to this straightforward "little girl."
"Lumine, Su Bai is an adeptus from Liyue," Venti said. "Adepti are extremely sensitive to elemental energy."
Whether it was deliberate retaliation or not, Venti immediately began fanning the flames when Su Bai ignored him. The simple-minded Paimon's eyes lit up at once, and she turned to Su Bai with eager anticipation.
"Hey, Paimon, don't look at me like that," Su Bai said calmly. "I'm the unlucky helper Dvalin injured. Right now, I'd love nothing more than to butcher Dvalin and have Xiangling cook up a full-course dragon feast."
"Eh?!"
"That's a bit much, don't you think?" Venti said nervously. "Dvalin only attacked you because he'd lost his senses. Su Bai, do me a favor here."
Venti—Barbatos himself—might look like he didn't care about his old friend, but he definitely didn't want to see that old friend served on a dinner table.
"Fine," Su Bai replied. "For your sake, Venti, once Dvalin recovers, I'll just go have a proper talk with him."
"By the way, Boss Diluc," Su Bai continued, "I heard people on the street saying that a group of Treasure Hoarders robbed the Knights of Favonius headquarters. Is that true, or just a rumor?"
That immediately piqued Lumine's curiosity. Treasure Hoarders robbing the Knights' headquarters? Even the Fatui wouldn't dare something like that.
Diluc's expression turned awkward, but he still nodded honestly—while glaring hard at Venti.
Venti scratched his head. So that was why Diluc had been giving him that look. Turns out, the Anemo Archon was being blamed for not doing his job.
"Ehe."
"What does 'ehe' mean?" Paimon snapped. "Venti, you useless bard—something this big happened, and you didn't even notice?"
After polishing off four apples and a large pastry Diluc had provided, Paimon joined Diluc in criticizing Venti. Naturally, she also hoped Diluc would prepare even more snacks next time.
"Wow," Su Bai said thoughtfully. "I used to think the Kairagi in Inazuma robbing the Tenryou Commission convoys were already insanely bold. Compared to Mondstadt, they're practically restrained."
A land of freedom indeed—even the Treasure Hoarders chose their targets freely. If this happened in Liyue, forget robbing the Ministry of Civil Affairs; the Treasure Hoarders probably wouldn't even make it into Liyue Harbor.
"Anyway, let's drop that," Su Bai said, smoothly changing the topic—partly to spare Venti's pride. "Lumine, how've you been lately? You looked pretty busy this morning. Must've earned quite a bit of Mora."
"If you're free, you can come find me sometime. I'll be staying in Mondstadt for a while. My place is at ******."
Now that Su Bai was in Mondstadt—and with the Anemo Archon right beside him—he tactfully avoided bringing up the Knights' headquarters robbery again.
Paimon, who had just finished digesting her food, immediately flew in front of Su Bai, her tiny eyes full of admiration.
"Su Bai, you actually have your own house? That's amazing!"
"Can you rent a room to Lumine and me?" she continued eagerly. "We've been sleeping in Master Diluc's tavern for days now. Lumine's starting to smell!"
Lumine's face flushed red. No wonder, Paimon hadn't wanted to be carried lately—that was the reason.
Feeling that this still didn't fully convey Lumine's misery, Paimon added helpfully:
"She doesn't even have a place to wash her clothes! Even her underwear—mmph!"
Lumine, mortified, stuffed an apple straight into Paimon's mouth. Seeing clear signs that the emergency food might be eliminated on the spot, Paimon wisely shut up.
"With your strength, Lumine, you two shouldn't be this poor," Su Bai said, puzzled. "The Adventurers' Guild has plenty of commissions. With your abilities, even basic monster-clearing jobs should be easy money."
He had seen numerous simple commissions posted there. With Lumine's strength, they should have been trivial.
"Adventurers' Guild?" Lumine asked blankly. "What's that?"
Paimon finally pried the apple out of her mouth and raised her chubby little hand.
"I know! I know! The Adventurers' Guild is where you take and complete commissions. You even get paid!"
"Then why didn't you tell me about it?" Lumine asked, her tone turning dangerous.
Paimon began to stammer. She couldn't exactly admit that she'd completely forgotten about it—Lumine would definitely cook her.
"Alright, alright," Su Bai said, cutting in. "Don't give the little one such a hard time. Look at that tiny head—being a bit slow is normal."
"Yeah, yeah, exactly—hey! Su Bai, Paimon isn't dumb!"
"Whether you're dumb or not, everyone knows the answer," Su Bai replied calmly. "But could you please take your juice-covered little hands off my tail?"
As Su Bai gently pulled his fluffy tail out of Paimon's arms, she puffed up her cheeks in protest. Seeing that adorably squishy face shoved right up to him, Su Bai had no qualms about giving it a good squeeze.
Just as Paimon struggled to escape his grasp, two Knights of Favonius appeared as if sent from the heavens and tapped Su Bai on the shoulder. Before he could react, they hoisted him up.
"Mr. Su Bai," one knight said solemnly, "you are suspected of inciting others to rob the Knights of Favonius headquarters. Please come with us."
Su Bai's expression darkened, a spark of anger igniting in his eyes. But remembering that he still needed Barbatos' cooperation, he forcibly suppressed it—for now.