At night, Lumine and Paimon returned, dragging their weary bodies.
Although they were very tired, from Lumine and Paimon's expressions, their gains today seemed substantial; they must have acquired quite a few things.
"What did you do today? What did the Tianquan Star commission you to do?"
Durandal asked casually, flipping through the book in her hand.
"What else could it be? Of course, she commissioned us to investigate the assassination of the God. I originally thought it would just be an investigation in Liyue Harbor, but I didn't expect to have to go to other places, to find the Adepti and inform them of the God's demise."
Paimon flew to Durandal's side and slumped softly onto Durandal's lap, looking completely burned out, even though Durandal knew perfectly well that she hadn't actually done anything; Lumine had completed everything.
"Adepti? The Adepti here in Liyue? This matter should be handled by the Liyue Qixing, right? Why would they entrust it to you?"
It was fine to let outsiders like them investigate the God's assassination; Lumine has strong executive abilities, and the Liyue Qixing also have a lot of follow-up work to deal with, so there was no problem.
But what's with going to find the Adepti? Shouldn't this be handled by the administrators? Why entrust it to Lumine? Are they trying to be lazy?
"It seems the Adepti and the Liyue Qixing don't have a good relationship. The Qixing are worried that if they go to tell the Adepti about this, it could easily provoke the Adepti's displeasure, so they've had us, as outsiders, handle it."
The situation was very complicated, and as outsiders, Lumine and Paimon weren't sure what was going on. Originally, upon hearing that the Adepti had been with the Geo God since the Archon War, Lumine and Paimon were a little worried that running off to tell Them about this might anger Them and get them implicated.
But Ningguang offered too much. Even if Paimon was too scared to agree, Lumine wouldn't let go of such a generous Reward.
Durandal understood. What Ningguang asked Lumine to do didn't exceed her imagination, but it was still within an acceptable range.
It's just... Durandal put down the book in her hand. She always felt that Lumine and Paimon hadn't told her something else. Besides these things, had they done anything else?
Facing Durandal's gaze, Lumine and Paimon both tried hard to look normal, but the cold sweat constantly dripping from their foreheads showed that their feelings were not as simple as they appeared on the surface.
"Wh-what's wrong? Durandal. Looking at us like that suddenly feels strange."
"No... I just think it's a bit dangerous for you to meet those Adepti. If you encounter a short-tempered Adeptus and a battle breaks out, can your strength really handle it?"
Durandal thought for a moment: "Have you already gone to find an Adeptus? If not, I'll go with you tomorrow. While I'm not very good at negotiation, I can help if anything unexpected happens."
"No! No need! We can handle this small matter ourselves; no need to trouble you."
Paimon suddenly said very anxiously, afraid that Durandal would actually go with them, and blurted it out impatiently.
This action greatly deepened Durandal's suspicion. Lumine and Paimon usually looked forward to acting with her, so why were they anxious when she offered this time?
Lumine's body trembled, and she glared fiercely at Paimon. This idiot was too excited; it was too obvious, wasn't it just reminding Durandal that they had a problem?
Did she really think Durandal was an idiot like her? She was very smart; except for some emotional issues, she was very perceptive about other things, only not bringing them up to avoid embarrassing others.
"Are you... hiding something from me?"
"No, how could that be~ It's just that I want to complete this matter with my own strength. If I rely on you as soon as I encounter difficulties, I won't grow."
Hmm~ This answer was fine, and Durandal was also satisfied, but... was it really just like this?
Durandal stared at them suspiciously for a while. Just when Lumine and Paimon thought they were about to be exposed, Durandal shook her head.
"I'm going to take a shower first. Wait for me a moment. If you want to eat something, just tell White Oriole, and she'll prepare dinner for you."
With that, Durandal got up and left the living room, leaving Lumine and Paimon there.
They were silent for a while. Only after confirming that Durandal had left did they breathe a sigh of relief.
Lumine glared at Paimon with dissatisfaction: "Your reaction was too strong, you idiot Paimon. What if Durandal found out? We can't tell her about our cooperation with the Fatui, can we?"
This was Lumine's biggest worry. Today, just as they were fretting over how to find the Adepti, they encountered a Fatui Harbinger who called himself Childe.
He offered to help them, giving them something called the rite of banishment. As long as they held this, they could meet the Adepti without being attacked by them.
Not only that, he also took her to meet a person who looked very impressive.
When they first met, she thought he was some young master from a prominent family; there was nothing to fault in his speech or his demeanor.
His name was Zhongli. He said he was a consultant for the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, and this time the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor had accepted a commission to prepare a Rite of Descension for the Geo God.
This Rite of Descension was no simple matter. In the past, when an Adeptus passed away, Liyue Harbor would also hold a Rite of Descension, but this time they were sending off the Geo God.
It should be known that the Rite of Descension occurs once a year, but a Rite of Descension is something a person might not encounter once in their entire life.
Therefore, the scale of this Rite of Descension would be many times larger than the Rite of Descension, and preparations had to be made carefully.
Today, they spent the entire day buying items needed for the Rite of Descension with Mr. Zhongli, using the Mora Childe gave them.
It must be said that spending other people's money is truly comfortable, but during this process, Zhongli, who they originally thought was very capable, showed a problem.
This person... seemed to have no concept of money. No matter what price others offered, he would agree without a second thought.
Not only that, he didn't carry any money; he didn't even have a single Mora on him. According to Childe, ever since they met, Zhongli's expenses have always been covered by him, and he had never seen Zhongli carry a single Mora.
Regardless, today's tasks were completed. Tomorrow, they would visit the hermitage of the Adepti to inform them of the Geo Archon's assassination.
These matters were not the main concern; the focus was on their cooperation with the Fatui.
Durandal's strictness towards the Fatui was well-known. She had done many things against the Fatui and was already considered an open enemy.
The Fatui, however, were frustrated by Durandal's immense strength and had no way to deal with her.
Durandal, due to her contract with the Anemo Archon and the Geo Archon, could not actively kill them. The two sides could only continue this stalemate.
If she knew that she was cooperating with the Fatui, Lumine worried that the goodwill she had painstakingly built up would instantly drop to zero, possibly plummeting to rock bottom.
This was something she absolutely did not want to see. Lumine did not want Durandal to dislike her, but this time she had no choice but to cooperate with the Fatui.
"What are you talking about? You were the one who cooperated with that guy named Childe, and now you're blaming me. If it weren't for you, would I be this nervous?"
"But weren't you happy holding onto Childe's remaining funds? When we were negotiating, you tried so hard to haggle, wasn't it just to pocket that money?"
When they went out with Zhongli to buy the items needed for the Rite of Descension, Childe had given them a sum of money.
This money was for them to manage, and whatever was left over was theirs. To save more money, Paimon put in fifteen parts of her effort when bargaining, and even Lumine admitted defeat.
This guy was so happy when he got the money, but when trouble arose, he wanted Lumine to solve it. How could things be that good?
Paimon was in the wrong, but thinking about Durandal's possible reaction upon learning the truth, she became very scared.
"What should we do now, Traveler? Durandal is already suspicious. If she tracks us, we definitely won't notice."
"We can only keep it a secret for now. Anyway, we haven't agreed to do anything heinous. Whether it's the items needed for the Rite of Descension or the rite of banishment needed to meet the Adepti, these don't count as helping the Fatui. Durandal, she should be able to understand."
Even if she couldn't understand, by the time they finished handling everything, it would be too late for Durandal to find out.
By then, they could spend some time appeasing Durandal's emotions, and that should get them through... probably.
So, for the next few days, they still needed to be careful, try not to let Durandal notice anything unusual, and be cautious not to be discovered by Durandal when meeting Childe.
This was currently the best solution, but everything depended on not being discovered by Durandal.
So, where was Durandal now? She was indeed showering in the bathroom, but could she not know what was happening in the living room while showering?
In the corridor outside the living room, White Oriole was hiding, listening to Lumine and Paimon's conversation the entire time.
She left before they could discover her and waited at the bathroom door. As soon as Durandal came out, White Oriole told Durandal everything Lumine and Paimon had discussed.
"Is that so? So many things happened without my knowledge."
Durandal nodded, a red light flashing in her eyes.
Lumine and Paimon hadn't realized that the Fatui Harbinger named Childe wouldn't be so kind as to help them; he definitely had his own motives.
As for his true motives, they would surely become clear later, but... Durandal couldn't wait that long.
That night, within a secret Fatui base outside Liyue Harbor.
According to the agreed time, Childe arrived at the location punctually.
However, the Fatui members who usually worked diligently did not come out to greet him, and the entire base was eerily quiet.
This anomaly was naturally noticed by Childe, but he did not retreat; instead, he confidently strode forward.
When he entered, he saw Durandal sitting cross-legged on a high vantage point. She held a great scythe and seemed to have been waiting there for some time.
Childe looked at Durandal excitedly. He knew, he knew this person was strong. Although silently dealing with these Fatui skirmishers wasn't difficult, from her composed demeanor, it was clear that she was strong, incredibly strong.
"What a... formidable opponent has arrived."
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