Keqing gave Mona a strange look. Lately, too many people had been looking at her oddly, the same way Ryou did.
Could it be that Mona liked her too?
"I-I just wanted to be friends with you. You give me the feeling of an older sister, so that's why I agreed."
"But when your husband talked to me like that, it felt like he had ulterior motives," Mona hurriedly explained when she noticed Keqing staring at her.
"What kind of thing is that to say?" Ryou shot Mona an annoyed look.
"Alright. Then come back to Liyue Harbor with me when the time comes. But... what exactly did you come to Mondstadt for this time?" Keqing glanced at Ryou, then turned back to Mona.
"I came to Mondstadt to get something from one of my master's friends. But not long after I arrived, all my Mora got stolen."
"I had no choice, so I went up the mountain to gather some fruit just to keep from starving, and then..." Mona trailed off, too embarrassed to continue.
She had been sure those fruits were harmless, yet she still ended up poisoned after eating them.
Thankfully, the person she ran into had been Ryou. If it had been some creep with bad intentions, she would have been in real trouble.
That was exactly why Mona felt so lucky. She looked up at Ryou and said, "Ryou, thank you. You're the one who saved me. If I'd run into anyone else, I would've been done for."
"It's nothing." Ryou did not say much more. Life really was hard for Mona these days.
She had not started submitting articles to The Steambird yet, so it was only natural that she did not have much Mora.
Ryou packed everything away, spread the cloth back out on the ground, then sat down and tilted his head up toward the night sky. In a quiet voice, he asked Keqing, "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"It is," Keqing said.
"Do you know, Ryou? A few days ago, when I went shopping with Ganyu, someone offered to pay my return fare."
"I regret not taking it now. If I had, it'd actually be useful right about now."
Keqing rested her head on Ryou's shoulder. "It's a shame this moment can't be preserved."
"It's fine. I'll bring you here again another time," Ryou said with a smile.
Mona sat nearby, watching them openly show off their affection, her emotions tangled. Propping up her chin with one hand, she looked up at the stars as the night deepened.
The starlight above flickered faintly.
Ryou leaned closer to Keqing and said softly, "We should head back and get some rest. If we wait too long, we won't make it back into the city."
"Oh... do you think there's a chance the gates are already shut at this hour?" Keqing looked up at him and blinked.
"With me around, how could we possibly fail to get in? Besides, it's not like we don't have somewhere to sleep." Ryou pinched her pretty face and kissed her.
"Then let's go ba—mmph! No, we can't. Mona's still with us. We're going back into the city tonight." The moment Keqing remembered Mona was right there, her whole face heated up.
She shot Ryou a look, then turned and glared at Mona in embarrassment.
Mona was still sitting there with her chin in her hand, leaning forward and watching them.
Keqing noticed that Mona's face was red, but not from shyness.
She was freezing.
Keqing nudged Ryou. "Take out a jacket."
"Got it."
Ryou pulled one out.
He had made it himself with his powers. It looked almost exactly like a real down jacket, felt soft to the touch, and kept warmth in remarkably well.
Keqing took it from him and draped it over Mona's shoulders. "Mona, are you alright?"
"I-I'm fine." Mona shook her head and tugged the jacket closer around herself, immediately feeling the warmth.
She also noticed that the jacket looked like a coat, but the style was unlike anything she had ever seen before. There were little pockets on both sides, nothing like the clothes she was used to.
"This must be expensive, right?" she said.
"Pretty, isn't it? My husband only made three of them, and this is one of those three. Surprised?" Keqing smiled the moment Mona brought up the jacket.
"W-Wait, Ryou made this?" Mona turned to stare at him, disbelief written all over her face.
Making clothes was not easy. Even some girls could not do it well, let alone men. Men almost never bothered with something like that.
Yet here was Ryou, not only able to make clothing, but to make something this beautiful.
She believed it really was his work. She had never seen anyone else make anything in this style.
That made it all the more shocking.
Mona looked at Keqing with complete sincerity. "Keqing, I'm so jealous of you."
"I've never heard of a man making clothes for his wife before. And this one... it's beautiful."
Keqing laughed at that, wrapped her arms around Ryou, and said with a bright smile, "I think I'm very lucky too."
"Of course I'd spoil you." Ryou pulled her closer, then took out his own down jacket and helped her put it on.
At her insistence, he put one on too.
By the time they reached Mondstadt City—
"Ah! The gates are shut. What do we do now?" Mona looked toward the city gate. It had already been closed.
There were still lights inside the city, but it was obvious they would not be getting in the normal way.
"That's no problem," Ryou said.
He grabbed Mona and pulled her into his arms.
"You—" Mona was so startled by what he did that she almost protested, but before she could say anything else, her feet left the ground. Ryou held her as he rose into the air and flew straight over the wall.
Mona's eyes widened in shock. "H-How is this possible? You can fly?"
"What's so surprising about that?" Ryou glanced at her, then noticed the lottery shop was still open and flew straight toward it.
They landed near the shop just as the light inside went out. A figure looked up, saw the three of them, and visibly panicked before bolting.
"That's not right. That's the thief!" Keqing said at once.
"After him," Ryou said.
One of his strides covered as much ground as three normal steps. He moved with terrifying speed and quickly cornered the man in a dead-end alley.
"Buddha Palm!"
Ryou struck with a single palm.
A crushing force dropped from above in the next instant, and the surrounding area was flattened on impact.
Several houses collapsed into rubble. The ground caved in under the force.
At the center of it all was a huge crater, and Ryou could see a person lying inside it. Just as he was about to go in and grab him, a kunai suddenly flew toward him.
Boom!
Palm-shaped shock marks exploded across several spots nearby. More buildings broke apart, and screams rose one after another.
A shadow flashed to his left. By the time Ryou turned back, the figure in the crater was gone.
Ryou frowned, then used his will to seize the kunai out of the air.
"Ryou, are you alright? If something that dangerous comes at you again, remember to dodge," Keqing said.
Mona, who had rushed over after them, was completely dumbfounded.
The sight around her was unreal. The ground had been smashed into a massive handprint, sunken deep into the earth in a way that looked almost absurd.
And on her way over, she had already seen several other palm-shaped marks scattered around the area.
Then she saw Ryou standing there, calmly studying the kunai.
Now she finally understood how he had been able to slap a god to death.
That kind of power was terrifying.
Mona walked up to him quietly, suddenly so obedient she did not dare say a word.
Ryou heard footsteps approaching in the distance, so he wrapped an arm around both women and flew straight back to the inn.
Once they were back—
Ryou cracked the window open and saw a number of Knights of Favonius hurrying toward the place they had just left.
The man at the front was Kaeya.
And he was sharp. Almost the moment Ryou looked at him, Kaeya seemed to sense it and immediately looked back.
"This is probably going to get big," Ryou said.
"Who was that person just now?" Keqing asked.
Ryou set the kunai on the table and said, "This kind of weapon is rare. Or rather, it wasn't a throwing dart at all. It was a kunai."
"The one who threw it at me was probably a ninja. Most likely Shinobu. As for the one from before, that was probably Itto."
"Shinobu and Itto?" Keqing looked surprised, but it did not take her long to understand why they had shown up at the shop.
She looked at Ryou, worried. "Yanfei must be watching the lottery shop and investigating it. What happens to her now?"
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A moment later, someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Ryou asked.
"I'm with the Knights of Favonius. There are a few things I'd like to ask you. Is this a good time?" a man's voice came from outside.
Keqing tensed. Ryou had made a huge commotion while trying to catch that man, but she had not expected the Knights of Favonius to come knocking this quickly.
"What do we do?" Mona asked.
"We lit a lamp. It's normal for them to come ask questions. Don't panic." Ryou glanced at Keqing and Mona, gave them a quick warning to stay calm, then went to open the door.
The man outside had slightly dark skin, a tall build, and strikingly handsome features.
He stepped forward with a smile. "Sorry to disturb you. I'm Kaeya, Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius."
"You heard the disturbance just now, didn't you? I came to ask whether any of you saw anything. Or perhaps used something."
Ryou looked at Kaeya and smiled. "Captain Kaeya, are you really telling me you don't recognize us?"
"I've heard of you, naturally, but only by reputation. To be honest, this is our first time meeting."
"You really are as impressive as they say. Very handsome too. But... did you happen to see anything?" Kaeya smiled at Ryou and asked again.
"Captain Kaeya, you probably came because you saw my window open a crack."
"Sorry, but I didn't see anything. Besides, I'm just an ordinary man. I don't even have a Vision. Surely you can't pin something like that on me." Ryou shrugged.
"I wouldn't say that's impossible. I heard you killed three gods by yourself."
"I took a look at the scene just now. That whole area was stamped with a gigantic palm print, so..." Kaeya fixed his gaze on Ryou and left the rest unsaid.
[End of chapter]
[200 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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