In front of the Liyue Specialty Store, a branch of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Tartaglia looked at the familiar storefront and almost lost his composure.
If he remembered right, this was the shop he'd given away to befriend Zhongli. Now it seemed Zhongli had turned around and gifted it to Ken as a favor?
"Let's go. I believe Mr. Ken will help us."
Lumine placed her hand over her chest, face solemn like in prayer.
Seeing Lumine's acting, Paimon couldn't help wanting to laugh. Her mind drifted to the dishes Ken made… hiss-hah hiss-hah… She secretly thought of a bunch of sad things to suppress her drool and excitement.
"Welcome to the Wangsheng Parlor's Liyue Specialty Branch… huh?"
The girl behind the counter poked her little head above the table. A crimson plum blossom in her hair looked dewy and vivid, setting off a jade-pure, pretty face.
Hu Tao blinked at Lumine and the young man, a bit surprised.
"Director Hu, we're looking… looking for Mr. Ken." Lumine tried to make her expression serious and spoke primly.
Ever the impish one, Hu Tao slipped right into character, blinking. "Mm… Mr. Ken is in the inner courtyard. Come with me."
…
Inside the inner courtyard.
Ken was teasing a Treasure Weasel inside an iron cage. After taming the little thing according to what he remembered, he set it at the door of the Northland Bank. The little guy would go in once and bring back several thousand mora.
"As expected, great efficiency. If I could raise dozens of them and have them make a daily round of the Northland Bank, that'd be a tidy profit."
Ken rubbed his chin. Besides the Northland Bank, he could consider placing a few in the Golden House.
Zhongli freeloaded back on Blue Star; making the Golden House pay tribute was only fair.
"Ahem…"
At that moment, a girl's solemn cough sounded behind him. Hands clasped behind her back, Hu Tao put on an air of profundity. "Um… the traveler Lumine from another world and her friend are looking for you."
He turned and saw the slightly embarrassed faces of Lumine and Paimon, which surprised him.
Then he saw Tartaglia—more surprising still.
Lumine prompted first, "Mm… we heard Mr. Ken is very skilled at cooking, so…"
However—
Before Lumine could finish, Tartaglia cut in warmly: "You must be the famed great prophet, Mr. Ken, yes? I am the Eleventh Fatui Harbinger, 'Childe.' I've admired you for a long time. I heard that back in Mondstadt, you beat Signora badly—was that true?"
In Tartaglia's view, Lumine was clearly a greenhorn.
At a time like this, how could she state the request directly?
Of course you first warm things up and get chummy—once you're familiar, asking for help becomes easier.
As for chumminess, Tartaglia could improvise effortlessly.
Though both were Harbingers, Tartaglia didn't like Signora.
To him, her conceitedness was off-putting.
When he first heard Signora got taught a lesson by Ken, he was so excited he couldn't sleep half the night.
Regrettably, most Fatui who followed Signora to Mondstadt died there.
Even those who survived hadn't seen Ken disciplining Signora with their own eyes, so they couldn't describe it accurately. Tartaglia found that quite a pity.
"Even you heard about that?" Ken sighed. Sure enough, good deeds don't spread, bad news travels fast.
Tartaglia swept his arm grandly, impassioned: "That's right! It's said that when you sparred with Signora, the heavens went dark and thunder rolled in an instant. With a flip of your palm you summoned clouds, with another you scattered rain, and you ground Signora deep into the dust, teaching her a lesson for a full half hour!"
Ken: "…"
Why did that sound so off?
He did thrash Signora for a long while, but the rumor's flavor was getting weird.
"If you'd write the whole thing as a light novel, I'd pay a million mora for it and spread it in Snezhnaya," Tartaglia said expectantly.
Ken's expression turned wry: "Are you serious?"
"Of course!" Tartaglia thumped his chest. The rest of the compliments were fake, but this was absolutely true. Just thinking of that woman's hateful face, he couldn't wait to recreate the Mondstadt scene.
But for an accurate recreation, the person involved had to write it. Anyone else, no matter how well they wrote, would be meaningless.
Ken rubbed his chin. "Deal. I'll give it to you when I'm done."
Looking at this easy mark, Ken did feel like milking him.
In that instant he'd even thought of a title: "The Lady Harbinger's Mondstadt Secrets That Must Be Told." Three thousand words would do the job.
The mora didn't even matter; using Childe's hand to vex Signora would be satisfying.
"Mr. Ken, how forthright—you're a friend I'm determined to make."
Tartaglia smiled and extended his hand, very sincere.
At that—
Ken of course wasn't naïve enough to think one meeting made them friends, nor that Childe was some brainless patsy. It was all just mutual interest.
For Tartaglia, the chief objective in Liyue this time was to seize the Gnosis.
As for mora spent along the way—he didn't care.
After all—
The Northland Bank had monopolized Liyue's banking services for so long. What seemed like a lot for others was a drop in the bucket to them.
That was why Childe was willing to pay a high price for a "light novel." He could needle Signora, befriend Ken, ask for help, and later maybe leverage his "great prophecy." No matter how you looked at it, it was a bargain.
"Fate has brought us together. Sit."
Ken went with the flow, inviting everyone to sit and leisurely brewed a pot of tea.
Liyue's tea differed from Blue Star's—leaves nurtured by elemental power had a rich fragrance.
Ken savored the aroma and took a gentle sip. But for Tartaglia of frigid Snezhnaya, there was no such refined mood—he gulped like a whale, like an ox.
"Heh… honestly, I haven't met someone I clicked with like this in a long time. That woman's always arrogant and dismissive—I don't like her."
Tartaglia, naturally sociable, used Signora to get the conversation going with Ken.
"Mm… Signora is indeed haughty, but…" Ken lifted his cup, pensive. "She has a good figure."
Clink—
Hearing that, Tartaglia's cup slipped and fell to the floor.
Those sea-blue eyes were full of astonishment.
A moment later, he burst out laughing. "Hahahaha… I didn't expect Mr. Ken to evaluate that woman like that. I can already imagine her expression if she heard it…"
Seeing Tartaglia laugh so hard, Hu Tao and Lumine's mouths twitched.
This guy…
Is his head screwed on right?
Ken, however, remained unruffled and turned to Lumine. "You were cut off just now. What did you need from me?"
"Care to guess?" Tartaglia held back his laughter, but a chill surfaced in his eyes. "I hear you possess great prophecy, Mr. Ken. You should know why we're here, right?"
"I can indeed foresee some things, but not everything. If I could predict everything, wouldn't that be absurd?" Ken met the chill in Tartaglia's gaze with calm.
The other was probing whether he knew the Fatui's plans.
Ken wouldn't admit it, nor was he interested in getting too involved. If not for coordinating with Zhongli, he wouldn't even bother with this evasive dance.
Wasting so much of my time… Zhongli, if I use Treasure Weasels to steal a bit of your money, you won't think it unfair, right?
Or when it's time to draw rewards, pulling the Geo Archon's peak power would be nice too.
"That's a pity. I wanted to ask you to divine Liyue's future," Tartaglia sighed.
Ken spouted nonsense, "Divination peeks into the will of heaven and consumes oneself greatly. I'm from another world—staying here drains me. That prophecy in Mondstadt left me very weak. Here in Liyue, my heart is willing but my strength is lacking."
"No matter. I befriend you because we get along, not for your prophecies," Tartaglia smiled.
After leaving Mondstadt, Signora had written him a letter. She warned him to be wary of Ken, but remained doubtful about the so-called great prophecy.
So after a brief probe, Tartaglia didn't press the issue. Even if Ken could divine, as long as he wasn't an enemy, it was fine.
Sensing the awkward air, Lumine hurried to say, "Alright… we actually came to ask you to teach us some special dishes."
"Dishes so good even adepti would be lured out!" Paimon chimed in.
Ken feigned surprise. "Adepti?"
Tartaglia glanced at the chatty Paimon and rolled his eyes helplessly. He turned back with a smile. "To be honest, I'm sure you've already heard what happened at yesterday's Rite of Descension. This traveler was framed as an assassin; I couldn't stand by and wanted to clear her name."
"But right now the Qixing rule Liyue with an iron hand. We can only ask the adepti of Jueyun Karst to help clear her of suspicion. The adepti are eccentric and elusive, but it's said a delicious meal might draw them out… Mr. Ken, as a fellow traveler from another world, surely you won't ignore Lumine's plight?"
This matter was nearly common knowledge in Liyue—impossible to hide.
Tartaglia simply followed Paimon's words and laid it out for Ken.
"I see…" Ken wore a look of sudden understanding. "I know the traveler—she's not that kind of person. It's just, to make something the adepti will like, the ingredients are rather…"
"No problem. Whatever ingredients you need, go ahead and use them. Send the bill to our Northland Bank…" Tartaglia said quickly.
Things had reached this stage; he couldn't back out of his plan.
He needed to provoke conflict between the adepti and the Qixing—that was his main goal right now. Only then would the Qixing be stretched thin, letting him fish in troubled waters to probe where the Geo Archon's body lay and seize the Gnosis.
Ken put on a righteous look. "With your words, Brother Childe, I'm relieved. In that case, I'll start working on recipes right now. Traveler, stay and help me as an assistant. Brother Childe, please send some Fatui to divert the Qixing's attention and buy us time."
"Rest assured, I'll handle it at once!" Tartaglia said hurriedly.
Watching Tartaglia leave, Lumine and Ken exchanged a glance and then both smiled.
How to put it… This wasn't that Tartaglia was easy to fool; he simply never considered that Zhongli was orchestrating the whole thing, much less that Lumine was just an actor.
…
In the kitchen.
Ken looked over the available ingredients and shook his head. "We need quite a few ingredients. Let's head to Wanmin Restaurant and borrow some of Xiangling's stock."
Xiangling often foraged for fresh ingredients. If Wanmin lacked anything, it wasn't freshness.
"Ken… we don't really need to go through all that. I can cook myself later," Lumine said, a bit embarrassed. "I mostly wanted to slack off today, but we ran into Childe, so I used this excuse."
Lumine's face was flushed. She really wanted to eat Ken's cooking, but she was embarrassed to trouble him.
"You already know the plot, so wanting to slack is normal. But since you made the excuse, see it through. To Wanmin."
Ken also wanted to check Wanmin's noodle sales.
As for cooking…
It was easy. He could store the finished dishes in his system space, then send Lumine to Jueyun Karst through a Vortex Gate to speedrun the adepti.
"Alright then, sorry to trouble you."
Lumine smiled sweetly.
Ken glanced at her. "Why so polite all of a sudden? Your brother already promised you to me. Still acting distant with your future husband?"
"Ken, you… you're awful." Lumine's cheeks turned apple-red as she stammered shyly, "My brother… my brother was talking nonsense!"
"Oh? And how's my future big brother-in-law doing lately?" Seeing the girl so shy, Ken was intrigued.
Lumine blurted out, "He's still busy with his own things, occasionally checks in to say he's safe… He hopes I can tour the Seven Nations soon, so I can help him then… Eh? Ken, you—!!"
Mid-sentence, Lumine realized something was off.
Ken had asked about her "brother-in-law"…
And she answered so naturally.
Seeing Ken smiling broadly, Lumine stamped her foot, then turned and ran off at a trot.
"As expected, a maiden stirred by love is the most charming."
Unlike that mouthy old tease Lisa… Ken grumbled inwardly and clasped his hands behind his back, strolling after Lumine.
…
Without the Archon, Liyue's streets had lost their usual smiles.
Only the blazing sun still hung in the sky.
"Walking down the street like this… won't the Millelith spot us?"
Paimon eyed the bustling roads, a bit guilty.
If only she hadn't stolen that pig's head meat—the enmity had spiked too much. She feared a beating.
Ken walked with his hands behind his back. "I'm afraid the moment you followed Childe into Liyue Harbor, you already caught Ningguang's attention. But it doesn't matter… You know the plot and the outcome anyway."
"Exactly… so no need to worry," Lumine said, walking beside Ken. Seeing their shadows almost leaning into each other, her heart felt sweet.
Just then Paimon suddenly shouted, "Look! The notice posted on the street—isn't that the bard?"
That shout snapped Lumine back to reality.
Following where Paimon pointed, she saw a posted notice at the street corner.
"They arrested the bard as a suspicious person?" Paimon scratched her head, not understanding the situation.
Ken smiled. "Looks like they're trying to use Venti to draw you out."
"…If he wants to visit Liyue so badly, let him enjoy a proper stay with the Qixing," Lumine said "coolly." She was spending time with her future husband—don't bother her with that.
Besides, the Qixing weren't bad people… Venti wouldn't be in danger.
In a certain room where he was confined, Venti listened to the news carried by the wind, face full of question marks. "???"
I'm just a pure, simple traveler, okay?