That afternoon.
Jack arrived alone at the Angel's Share tavern and saw Diluc and others sitting at the bar, drinking.
"Yo! Honorary Knight."
Kaeya smiled and waved at Jack.
"You are... Kaeya?"
Jack looked at the guy with a bandage on his head, somewhat uncertainly, "Did you run into a large group of Abyss Mages again after that day, to be so seriously injured?"
"Ah haha, no choice, the more capable, the more work, thankfully I got my life back."
Kaeya said with a somewhat unnatural tone.
"Don't listen to his bragging, the injury on his face was inflicted by Eula with a greatsword."
Behind Kaeya, Rosaria, a black-robed nun who was directly chugging from a wine bottle, added.
"Cough cough, then Kaeya, you really weren't careful. Oh, by the way, Diluc, I have something to tell you."
Jack pulled Diluc aside to discuss the settlement of the Anemo Archon's commission reward.
Kaeya looked at him in confusion: Strange, is it my illusion? That guy seemed to have flinched for a moment just now?
Rosaria moved the wine bottle away, half-opening her eyes to observe them, roughly guessing some things.
The fact that Kaeya got beaten up probably had something to do with the Traveler.
However, an Abyss Mage attack occurred right after the Traveler returned to Mondstadt, and the church's intelligence agency has been so busy recently that they haven't had a moment's rest. She just hopes she doesn't have to work overtime again.
As for the grudges and affections between her and Kaeya? She couldn't care less.
...
"What do you need me for?"
"It's like this, your Mondstadt's Anemo Archon gave me a commission, and then said the reward should be paid by you."
"??"
Diluc crossed his arms: "Why not just go to those guys in the Knights of Favonius for something like this? Or do you think I look like a sucker?"
Jack subconsciously nodded.
Seeing this, Diluc almost pulled out his Wolf's Gravestone to give him a buff on his head.
"How about you take a look at the reward the Anemo Archon gave you as a proxy payment first?"
Jack stopped teasing Diluc and took out a scroll carrying the Anemo Archon's aura from his god's eye.
Diluc raised an eyebrow.
Suppressing the desire to spend a fortune buying this scroll, he opened the quest book.
A few minutes later.
Diluc let out a click of his tongue.
"Tsk, this feeling of endless rambling, though I'm very reluctant to admit it, it's indeed that guy's style."
It described Jack's investigation of the monsters appearing at night on Dragonspine Mountain in the poetic tone of Mondstadt. Looking at the whole thing, calling it a quest description was not quite appropriate; it was more like an epic praising heroic deeds.
As for the reward, because a certain Anemo Archon didn't understand economics, Keqing drafted it, so this part was normal.
An initial deposit of 500,000 mora, with additional rewards ranging from 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 mora after the completion of the task, depending on the danger and scope of the investigation process.
From the perspective of difficulty, it was roughly the difference between a high-level Hilichurl camp and a large group of Abyss Mages.
"The Knights of Favonius are truly regressing, they can't even produce 10,000,000 mora in cash."
Diluc habitually dissed the Knights of Favonius, then quietly accepted the scroll bearing the Anemo Archon's aura.
"Eh? I need that as proof of commission completion."
"10,000,000 mora, I'll buy it. When the subsequent investigation results come out, I'll pay additional rewards based on the situation."
Jack readily extended his right hand and shook Diluc's: "Boss is generous!"
This trip.
Jack obtained a large amount of mora, which he could use to buy Teyvat specialties and enhancement ore for Keqing's Mistplitter Reforged maintenance.
Diluc, on the other hand, obtained another Anemo Archon aura collection.
Both were very satisfied with this transaction.
Only one person lost big time.
"Achoo!"
Venti, sitting on a windmill, sneezed: "Is that the wind from the Cat's Tail tavern blowing over? A-achoo!"
...
Lisa's villa.
After showering together, the three rested in the guest room.
Lisa lay on the bed reading a beginner's magic book on new magic arts, while Keqing was maintaining her Mistplitter Reforged.
Only a certain idle person was carving Ludo pieces out of wood.
Swish swish! Swish swish!
Lisa conjured a bolt of lightning and flung it at Jack.
With a crackle, the airplane chess piece in Jack's hand immediately shattered.
"My dear, could you be a little quieter? You're disturbing my reading."
"Oh, oh, sorry."
The vines that emerged from Jack's body netted the finished chess pieces, moved them to the edge of the room, turned his back to Lisa, and continued carving with rustling sounds.
Lisa slapped her forehead and closed the book with one hand.
"Forget it, carve whatever you want. I won't read tonight."
"Hehe, why didn't you say so earlier?"
Jack returned to his original spot.
Lisa got off the bed and walked beside him, asking, "How do you play this Ludo game you mentioned? Is it fun?"
"This is a game I loved to play when I was little. It's quite fun when you play with friends. I'm going to make two sets, one for Klee, so she can play with Diona and them, and one I plan to take to Dragonspine Mountain."
"Eula and Amber are also on missions there. If Keqing and I go, that'll be exactly four people. There's not much to do on the snowy mountain, so we can use this to pass the time."
Lisa listened as Jack explained the rules.
A simple dice game, yet it contained his still-present childlike innocence.
"As for Dragonspine Mountain, I'm not planning to go, you know~"
Keqing suddenly replied.
"Huh?"
Jack looked at her in surprise: "Then won't we be one short? Are you going back to MC to explore the world with Lumine, who's obsessed with fishing all day?"
"Not exactly."
Keqing picked up her Mistplitter Reforged, repeatedly examining the cut surface, and nodded with satisfaction.
"I'm planning to return to Liyue for a trip."
"This... didn't you say you weren't mentally prepared before? How come you're going back after only a few days?"
Jack suddenly became a little nervous.
He was afraid that Keqing, once she returned home, would continue to be Liyue's Yuheng Star and no longer return to MC with him.
"Pfft! Why do you look like an abandoned puppy?... Alright, I'm going back to resign."
Keqing, in turn, patted Jack's head.
"Really just going to resign?"
Keqing nodded, still not saying that she didn't trust Albedo.
Years of dealing with the Abyss and Fatui had made her more cautious than Jack.
Although there was the system's favorability guarantee.
But didn't it also happen that she, acting with a 'I'm doing this for his own good' attitude, might unintentionally harm the other party afterward?
So, it was fine for her to be suspicious. She would secretly ask Cloud Retainer for help to investigate thoroughly. If there were no problems, everyone would be happy. If there were any abnormal situations, it wouldn't be too late to bring it up then.
Jack fell silent.
His enthusiasm for making Ludo pieces also vanished.
For a moment, all three seemed to become idle.
Six eyes stared at each other.
Finally, someone proposed an idea.
"Shall we do something fun before we leave?"
"Seconded."
"I have no problem."
Then, a scene of a 'dragon playing with two phoenixes' ensued.
For a moment.
The room was filled with seductive sounds, making the false moon hide behind the clouds in shame.
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