"Boss, just what kind of reward did Mr. Zhongli obtain from your shop?
The bills he's been sending to the Northland Bank are practically piling up to the ceiling now!"
After arriving at the counter, Childe spoke with a deeply troubled expression.
Ever since learning that Zhongli was actually the Geo Archon, Childe had completely abandoned any plans of seizing the Gnosis.
Because it was simply impossible.
And besides, Zhongli was also a friend he genuinely admired. Childe had no desire to oppose him.
So after writing a report to the Tsaritsa explaining everything that had happened here, he completely relaxed.
Chatting with Mr. Zhongli and reading manga—wasn't that much better?
But who could've expected—that Zhongli would suddenly send an enormous stack of bills to the Northland Bank today?
All sorts of material expenses.
Even for Childe, that amount of money was no small burden.
But since he had lost the bet against Zhongli before, he could only grit his teeth and accept it.
The more he thought about it afterward, the stranger it became.
Mr. Zhongli did have regular expenses in the past, but never anything on this scale.
So there had to be something special going on.
After considering everything carefully,
Childe concluded that the issue almost certainly originated from this manga shop.
Only some kind of miraculous reward could explain why Zhongli had suddenly made such massive moves.
The moment he realized this, he dropped everything else and rushed straight here.
"You can ask him personally about the specifics, but what I can tell you is…"
Han Feng smiled faintly.
"…this thing definitely isn't cheap."
Even he hadn't expected Zhongli to move this quickly.
The man had only just obtained the reward, yet immediately started putting plans into action.
Using the Fatui's money to build statues of himself.
Honestly, it was quite a clever move.
The unfortunate one here was Childe…
"…So there are going to be even more bills later?"
At the thought of that possibility, Childe's face darkened instantly.
The Northland Bank might be wealthy, but he wasn't the one who owned it!
If the Tsaritsa found out, she'd skin him alive.
"…Looks like I'll have to negotiate with Mr. Zhongli later."
Childe sighed heavily.
Who could endure endless bills arriving every single day?
He might as well go bankrupting the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor or the Liyue Qixing instead.
I truly regret making that bet back then…
"Um… are those bills really that expensive? Like… several hundred thousand Mora or something?"
At that moment, Bennett asked curiously from the side.
For someone with his level of bad luck, even several hundred thousand Mora was already an astronomical amount.
"Ten million Mora."
Childe glanced at him and raised one finger.
"And that's just the amount spent within a few hours."
For Childe, expenses in the hundreds of thousands or even low millions didn't matter much.
But once it surpassed ten million…that was a completely different story.
Especially since this clearly wasn't the end.
There was an endless money pit waiting ahead.
"T-Ten million Mora?!"
Bennett was utterly shocked.
He doubted he could earn that much money in his entire life.
Just to read manga, he had already spent nearly all his savings previously.
Over the past few days, he'd been running all over the place doing odd jobs.
He even borrowed some money from Razor before finally gathering enough.
The gap between people was just way too huge…
Still, Bennett understood that much of it was because of his own terrible luck.
Otherwise, life as an adventurer wouldn't have left him this poor.
Thinking about that only strengthened his determination to change his fate.
"Boss, here's 100,000 Mora!"
Bennett handed over a small pouch of Mora.
"What happened to those three suits of armor you mentioned last time?"
After accepting the money, Han Feng asked with a smile.
He still remembered Bennett saying he planned to forge three separate suits of armor before leaving previously.
He wondered whether they'd actually been useful.
"Boss, I used those three suits of armor when Razor and I accidentally ran into a Hilichurl camp!"
The moment the topic came up, Bennett became excited again.
After forging the armor, he and Razor had gone adventuring once more.
Unfortunately, they accidentally wandered straight into a Hilichurl encampment.
The enemy had plenty of ranged attacks.
If he hadn't prepared three suits of armor in advance, he definitely wouldn't have survived.
As expected—caution truly was the most important quality an adventurer could possess!
"…That actually was useful."
Han Feng raised an eyebrow slightly.
At this point, he genuinely didn't know how to evaluate the situation anymore.
Should he congratulate Bennett for making the right decision with the armor?
Or lament how terrible his luck still was for running into another Hilichurl mob?
"Exactly! That's what I thought too. If I had more money right now, I'd absolutely commission another three sets!"
Bennett nodded firmly.
"Boss, then I'll go read manga now!"
After saying that, Bennett ran toward the bookshelf.
"Whoa! It's only been a few days, but the boss already added so many new manga?!"
Seeing the bookshelf now packed full, Bennett was stunned.
After recovering, he grabbed the outermost manga—Chinese Paladin.
There wasn't any deeper reason.
He simply thought the cover looked incredibly cool.
"Boss, why exactly did that guy need three suits of armor?"
After Bennett left, Childe asked curiously.
Normally, wouldn't one set be enough?
Was he secretly some rich noble with money to burn?
"One to wear, one as backup, and one in case the backup goes missing."
Han Feng replied with a smile.
"…A backup for the backup?"
Childe's mouth twitched.
That guy was way too cautious.
Even the Northland Bank wasn't that paranoid.
This truly broadened his horizons.
Shaking his head, Childe dropped the topic.
After placing down a pouch of Mora, he prepared to go read manga.
But suddenly, he remembered something and quickly turned back.
"Boss, even if you won't tell me what reward Mr. Zhongli got, you can at least tell me which manga he read, right?"
"That's fine."
Han Feng nodded.
"The manga is called Ultraman Tiga. It's on the bookshelf."
"Thanks, Boss!"
After learning the title, Childe immediately hurried over to search for it.
Very quickly, he found the manga.
"This young master wants to see exactly what kind of reward Mr. Zhongli obtained…"
"…that could possibly cost this much money!"
Muttering to himself, Childe carried the manga toward the quiet area.
He generally preferred reading in peaceful environments.
However, when his eyes swept past a certain figure nearby, his expression froze briefly.
"The Raiden Shogun is actually here too?!"
He wasn't shocked by the fact that she was a god.
Even Zhongli, the Geo Archon, came here regularly.
Another Archon wasn't that surprising.
The important part was—she was from Inazuma.
"Could it be… Boss Han opened a branch store in Inazuma?"
A thought suddenly appeared in Childe's mind.
After all, he himself had come from the Liyue branch.
If that were true, then wouldn't it mean the boss might eventually open manga shops elsewhere too?
Like his homeland—Snezhnaya?
At the thought of that possibility, Childe's eyes immediately lit up.
If that happened, then the Tsaritsa and his family could come read manga too!
"I need to ask Boss Han about this later."
Childe silently made up his mind.
—------------------------------
Pat reon Advance Chapters: patreon.com/YonkoSlayer