Brain: Master, hurry up and work! You've only got half an hour!
Hearing that, Ryou shook his head and threw himself into the job. He flipped through the files one by one. None of it was truly hard—just messy, the kind of stuff that took time to think through. Without a huge efficiency boost, even he would've needed a while.
But with both work efficiency and speed stacked, he cleared everything in under half an hour.
He stacked the finished documents neatly on the desk, stood up, and stretched. After sitting back down, he took a sip of tea. He set the cup aside and got ready to head home.
He'd already handled the work. From here, the staff could carry out the arrangements.
What, was he supposed to stay in the Ministry of Civil Affairs?
Don't make him laugh.
Besides, his wife was resting at home.
And his father had told him to get back as well. Were those things not more important than paperwork?
Ryou had barely stepped out of the office and walked a short distance before he spotted Lumine and Paimon not far away.
When Lumine saw him, her cheeks tinted red.
Even she couldn't believe she'd said something like that yesterday—right in front of Keqing. After she got back, she'd been so embarrassed she didn't know where to put her face.
She'd come today because she had something she wanted to tell Keqing, only for the staff to say Keqing hadn't come in—and that Ryou was handling the Ministry's work in the office.
So Lumine had been sneaking glances from outside, hesitating over whether she should go in.
And then Ryou walked out.
"Ryou-sensei, I…" Lumine opened her mouth, but the words wouldn't come.
"It's fine," Ryou said. "I already explained it to Keqing yesterday. Oh, right—did you go to the Jade Chamber?"
Ryou remembered that yesterday, Keqing had been furious. Lumine had been too embarrassed to stay, so she'd bolted. He hadn't had the chance to tell her how to get to the Jade Chamber, so he asked out of curiosity.
Lumine scratched the back of her head, looking awkward.
"Um… I couldn't get up to the Jade Chamber. We didn't even know who to ask or where to go, so… I came to ask Keqing-san."
"So that's what it was."
Ryou nodded. To be honest, he didn't remember the exact process either—just the general place.
"Tabibito, I know where you can go to reach the Jade Chamber. I can take you there."
"Is that… okay?"
Lumine wavered.
Her "heart rate" triggers were random. Even after yesterday, she still couldn't stop reacting to him. When she spoke to Ryou, she didn't dare look him in the eye, and her voice dropped.
She was scared that if she stared too hard, she'd lose control again.
If she did something weird one more time, it'd be over.
Yesterday, Keqing had been there to stop it.
Today, she wasn't.
"It's fine. Come on." Ryou smiled and waved her over, leading her downstairs.
"Ryou-sama!"
A staff member hurried up.
Ryou glanced at him. "I've handled all the paperwork. From here, you can take care of everything yourselves. None of it is complicated."
His tone cooled slightly.
"If you can't even manage this much, then don't bother showing up to work tomorrow. Understood?"
"Yes, Ryou-sama!"
"Yes, Ryou-sama!"
…
The Ministry staff all turned stiff, nerves written on their faces.
Only after Ryou left did they finally breathe again.
"Hey, hey… I delivered the files half an hour ago," one staffer murmured. "Half an hour—and Ryou-sama finished all of it. That's insane."
"Half an hour?" another sucked in a breath. "That's way too fast. Even Keqing-san needs almost a whole day to get through this much!"
An older staffer rubbed his eyes like he'd seen a ghost.
"Ryou-sama is terrifying. Oh, right—do you remember that Tabibito?" someone whispered. "She was following behind him just now. Do you think she's—"
"Don't talk nonsense," the older staffer cut in, sweeping his gaze over them. "Watch your mouths. Even if Ryou-sama did something, it's not for us to say. Understood?"
A female staffer frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? If he did something bad, we're not allowed to say it?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"If you're not afraid of dying, go ahead and say it," he said, unhurriedly taking a sip of tea. "I'll tell you something quietly—his father is one of the Liyue Qixing. You understand what it costs to provoke someone like that, right?"
The room went dead.
Everyone's pupils shrank. A shiver ran through them.
None of them had expected Ryou's father to be—of all things—a current member of the Liyue Qixing.
[End of chapter]
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