Inside the dungeon, Su Bai stared at the Treasure Hoarders' boss standing before him with a wronged expression on his face, completely at a loss for words.
Liyue really is a land of outstanding people. How did someone like this even come out of it?
Kaeya, standing off to the side, had already turned red from holding back laughter. In the end, he failed entirely and burst out laughing.
This Treasure Hoarders' boss was just far too unlucky.
Su Bai shot him a glare.
"You've got the nerve to laugh? You people didn't even investigate properly before dragging me here. What kind of mess is this supposed to be?"
"Ahem—my apologies, Lord Su Bai," Kaeya coughed lightly. "I simply thought of something amusing just now."
"Your wife gave birth?"
Kaeya nearly choked on the spot. He didn't even have a girlfriend—where would a wife come from? Still, in order to continue watching the spectacle unfold, he forcibly swallowed his laughter.
"That blue-haired woman who captured your subordinate—I happen to know her. She's the captain of the Knights of Favonius Reconnaissance Company."
"Really?" the Treasure Hoarders' boss lit up. "What's her name? She dared lay hands on my men—I'll definitely avenge them!"
Seeing his righteous indignation, the smile on Kaeya's face only deepened. Su Bai raised an eyebrow as well.
Don't tell me she's from the Lawrence Clan… If that's the case, this really is getting ridiculous.
"That woman's name is Eula Lawrence," Kaeya said leisurely. "Nice name, isn't it? If you want revenge, I can give you her address later."
"Alright! Eula Lawrence, huh—Eula Lawrence… Lawrence… wait, what the—she's from the Lawrence Clan?!"
The Treasure Hoarders' boss froze on the spot.
Good grief. No wonder, his subordinate had been beaten senseless before being captured. Turns out the idiot had taken the Lawrence Clan's ancestral relics, sold them back to their descendant, and even got caught in the act.
Su Bai couldn't help but feel that subordinate was truly cursed. To run into odds this low—there really was no helping it.
"Boss, there's still one thing I'd like to ask," Kaeya said, finally restraining himself.
"I saw you leading your men in to rescue him, but there's something that's been puzzling me. You entered through the front gate, yet your subordinates came in through the library window. Was there some other scheme involved?"
"What scheme?" the boss scratched his head. "I heard you've got a lot of books in your library. Figured you locked up my men for so long—taking a few books as interest wouldn't be too much, right?"
"Too bad the moment they got inside, they stepped on some kind of mechanism and were all electrocuted unconscious. Your place is way too dangerous. Even if it doesn't hurt people, what if it damages flowers and plants?"
Hearing this explanation, Kaeya reached through the iron bars and patted the boss on the shoulder, his gaze filled with sympathy.
The boss was completely baffled.
"Boss, if you manage to make it back to Liyue alive," Kaeya said earnestly, "you'd better visit a fortune-teller and have your luck adjusted."
"Lord Su Bai, we should head back now. I believe you already understand what happened."
Su Bai had no intention of saying anything further. This entire affair had nothing to do with him in the first place. Still, he was curious to see what Kaeya was really up to.
"Hey, fox kid, where are you going?" the boss shouted. "Let me out! I swear I'll never rob tombs in Mondstadt or Liyue again!"
Su Bai stopped and glanced back slightly.
"I'll leave you with an old Liyue saying: To know what you know, and not know what you don't—that is wisdom."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"
Su Bai turned his head fully, eyes calm but cold.
"It means this: what you're meant to know, you know. What you're not meant to know, you don't. Got it?"
Without waiting to see if the man understood, Su Bai turned and left the dungeon.
Kaeya could only give a bitter smile. He hadn't expected things to spiral into something this absurd. What interrogation was there even left to conduct? This matter had absolutely nothing to do with Su Bai.
If I'd known, I never should've listened to Rosaria and brought him in first—let alone believed her claim that Su Bai was the mastermind.
Watching Su Bai's retreating figure, Kaeya felt increasingly uneasy.
No good… If this doesn't get smoothed over, with how vindictive the intelligence reports say Su Bai is, I'll definitely be on his blacklist.
Wait—doesn't Eula have a friend in Liyue? A legal expert… Yanfei, right?
Kaeya's eyes lit up.
That's it.
Inside the interrogation room, Su Bai finally let out a breath of relief.
Thank the Archons it was just a misunderstanding. If this ever reached Cloud Retainer's ears, I'd be in serious trouble.
"Lord Su Bai," Kaeya said carefully, "even if this wasn't your intention, it might still be best to explain things to Eula when you have the time."
"Explain?" Su Bai frowned. "This wasn't my fault. Why should I explain anything? Shouldn't you be explaining why I was detained without proper investigation?"
In his eighteen years of life—aside from that incident in Inazuma—Su Bai had never experienced something this absurd.
"Lord Su Bai, I was only acting in your best interests," Kaeya said, putting on a wronged expression.
If Su Bai hadn't already seen this look so many times on Yae, he might actually have believed him.
"I recall Eula has a friend in Liyue—a very capable legal consultant named Yanfei, correct? If Eula were to mention this incident to her, I fear you might encounter some trouble in Liyue."
"…What?" Su Bai blinked. "Yanfei? You're sure her name is Yanfei?"
Kaeya thought for a moment, then nodded firmly. He had heard Eula mention the name to Amber before, and he had been nearby at the time.
"Yanfei's fine. When we were kids, she used to take me out to play all the time. We're very close."
Then Su Bai smiled faintly.
"But your Knights of Favonius have wrongly detained me more than once now. Shouldn't I be owed an explanation?"
That smile made cold sweat pour down Kaeya's forehead.
Realizing there was no escaping this, Kaeya gritted his teeth.
"I'll report this to Acting Grand Master Jean. Once compensation is approved, I'll personally deliver it to you. How does that sound?"
"Fine," Su Bai nodded. "In addition to that, if Klee wants to return to Liyue with me, I expect the Knights not to interfere."
Kaeya hesitated.
Klee wasn't an ordinary child. If anything happened to her, the combined wrath of Albedo and Alice was something Mondstadt could not withstand.
"This will need to be discussed with Acting Grand Master Jean," Kaeya said carefully. "Only with her approval can we agree."
Su Bai accepted this. As Klee's guardian, Jean's opinion did matter.
"Alright. It's getting late—I'm heading to the confinement room to see Klee."
He paused, then glanced back at Kaeya.
"And Kaeya—if you ever drag me in again without getting the facts straight, don't blame me for tearing the Knights of Favonius Headquarters apart."
Su Bai narrowed his eyes.
This was their last chance.
He might be easygoing—but that did not mean he lacked a temper.