Just as the sky began to lighten, Fischl stepped out of her home and made her way to the plaza in front of the Favonius Cathedral.
The night raven perched on her shoulder flapped its wings and soared into the sky, circling the plaza twice before returning and speaking. "My lady, your servant has found no sign of the one destined by fate."
Fischl frowned thoughtfully. "Could it be that we arrived too late?"
The raven sounded exasperated. "My lady, I believe the problem is that we've arrived too early. Also, I noticed someone over there selling breakfast—perhaps we could go grab a bite first?"
Fischl scoffed. "Hmph, food is but a shackle to this mortal vessel of flesh and bone. If anything were worthy of the Prinzessin der Verurteilung's palate, it would be the tears of sinners and the tongues of liars…"
The raven interrupted, "But my lady, it appears they're selling your usual favorite..."
Fischl paused, then immediately rebutted, "Favorite? Preposterous! It's only to replenish the energy this vessel requires! …Hmph, in that case, I suppose I must sample their dish and judge if it measures up to my own craftsmanship."
With that, the girl strode off in the direction Oz had indicated.
It didn't take long before Fischl spotted a small stand selling toast.
A woman dressed in a nun's habit stood in front of the stall. Her expression was a bit frosty, and she was slowly smoking a cigarette through a slender pipe.
The vendor wrapped up two fresh Fisherman's Toasts in wax paper and handed them to the nun with a smile. "Here's your order, miss."
The nun casually exhaled a puff of smoke, nodded, and took the toast in her other hand. When she turned around, she found herself facing Fischl, who was walking toward the stall.
Their eyes met for a moment.
The nun looked away, glancing once more at the night raven perched on Fischl's shoulder. Then she averted her gaze and continued walking, passing by Fischl without a word.
Fischl turned to watch the nun's figure retreat toward the Favonius Cathedral.
Oz asked, "My lady, is something the matter?"
"That one seemed to be a devout nun, deeply faithful to the Anemo Archon."
"Devout? Faithful?"
"Indeed. One night, I overheard her saying to someone, 'In the name of Bartobas, go die.' She must have been offering a fervent prayer."
"Saying something that murderous definitely wasn't a prayer, my lady! And Anemo God's name is Barbatos, not Bartobas!"
—
Inside a room of the Favonius Cathedral.
The air was thick with the sweet scent of honey and coconut milk.
Xia Zhi sat leaning against the headboard, deep in thought about one particular issue: the Fragrant Pill.
Shenhe had taken one last night. Perhaps due to the addition of [White Jade Honey], the fragrance of the whole body had turned out even better than he expected—her entire being exuded an exquisite aroma in the truest sense. Even her saliva and sweat were sweet and floral like nectar.
While it had made last night's experience especially delightful, it could also cause problems in her daily life.
He needed a way to make the scent controllable.
The simplest and most direct solution Xia Zhi could think of was using the [Universal Syringe].
Each morning, he could extract the Fragrance from Shenhe's body and inject it back in at night. Since this was a conceptual extraction and injection, Shenhe wouldn't feel any pain—it was just a bit troublesome to do it every day.
The upside was that he could freely switch between different fragrances—today it was honey; next time it could be Rose. He could even recreate that faint orchid-musk scent Cloud Retainer always carried, using his [Fragrance Mastery]…
On the bedside sat a tiny orb.
It was the [Silence Orb], which prevented sounds within a small area from escaping.
Xia Zhi glanced at it through his god's-eye view and suddenly had an idea. He opened the [Shop] and did a quick search.
An item he had viewed before popped up on the system panel.
[Odorless Orb]
Quality: Silver
Type: Auxiliary Item
Trait: None
Effect: Prevents smells from spreading in a small area; creates a scentless environment
Hidden Effect: None
Price: 30 Points
Xia Zhi bought it. A smooth, round pearl appeared in his hand.
He had previously purchased the skill book, which included detailed information about this item.
The book also included suggestions on how to use it.
Xia Zhi recalled the steps and had a clear idea of what to do.
He picked up the orb, gathered divine power at his fingertip, and etched a strange but simple symbol onto its surface.
Divine Speech: [Control].
The orb shimmered faintly with a golden glow.
He placed it back into his inventory and checked its new info.
[Odorless Orb]
Quality: Gold
Type: Auxiliary Item
Trait: Control
Effect: Freely manipulate scents within a certain range
Hidden Effect: None
Recyclable: 100 Points
A little while later, Shenhe finally woke up.
She'd truly been exhausted the night before.
"Boss…"
"Still feeling it?"
"A little…"
"I'll heal you."
"Mm…"
"Better?"
"Yes. I could go another—"
"Nope, hold on."
"Huh?"
"Take off your bracelet first."
"Oh."
Shenhe removed the bracelet on her wrist—the same model as Yelan's—and handed it over.
Xia Zhi embedded the upgraded [Odorless Orb] into the bracelet, then put it back on her wrist.
"Boss, this is…?"
"A gift. Try focusing your mind on it."
"Oh? It lit up."
"Do you feel anything unusual?"
"Yes, I'm not sure why, but I suddenly feel like I can control the scent around me."
"Go ahead and try."
"Okay."
Shenhe focused her thoughts.
Instantly, the aroma in the room vanished, leaving the air crisp and clean.
Not bad at all.
Xia Zhi nodded. "This way, you won't have to worry about your scent anymore."
Shenhe looked at him, blinked, then leaned in close and whispered with a playful smile, "Got it. I won't let anyone else smell it—just you."
Totally unfair.
Especially coming from someone like Shenhe—it was way too seductive.
And then... there was no "and then."
Well, aside from Ganyu being woken up by the sound of the [Melody Bell].
----
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