"This is a little complicated. Sit down and I'll explain it properly," Ryou said at once.
Albedo looked at Ryou, then at Klee, and finally sat down to hear him out.
Fortunately, once Ryou finished explaining, Albedo believed him.
After clearing that up, Ryou asked, "Did anything go missing?"
"Mm... an alchemy notebook," Albedo said.
Mona sucked in a sharp breath.
"Is it that important?" Shenhe asked, looking at her.
Mona turned to Shenhe and said, "To you, maybe it means nothing. But to an alchemist, something like that is absolutely priceless."
Albedo nodded. "For an alchemist, that notebook really is beyond price."
"So I need to get it back as soon as possible."
"Mona can help with that," Ryou said.
"Hm?" Albedo looked at him.
"Mona's an astrologer. She can divine where it is." Ryou turned to Mona. "Are you willing to help?"
"No problem." Mona nodded.
She took out her astrolabe, and under her control, Hydro light bloomed brilliantly across its surface.
Mona peered into it.
What she saw was a snowy mountain, then a cave hidden within it.
Inside stood a man holding the missing notebook.
He was flipping through it, but then he seemed to sense something. He looked up—
And met Mona's eyes.
Mona jolted in shock.
Crack.
The astrolabe in her hand split apart with a strange sound.
She hurriedly bent down to pick it up.
"Give it to me. I'll see if I can fix it," Ryou said.
"You know how to repair this?" Mona asked, surprised.
"You'll know once I try."
Ryou took the astrolabe from her. With a wave of his hand, he infused it with spiritual energy. A soft glow spread across it, and before long, the astrolabe shone brightly again and restored itself.
Mona took it back. As its owner, she could clearly feel that something about it had changed.
And somehow, it felt even better than before.
She looked at Ryou seriously and said, "Thank you. This astrolabe is worth a lot, but more than that... I've used it for years. It means something to me."
"It's nothing." Ryou waved it off, then asked, "Now tell us. What exactly did you see?"
At that, Mona turned to Albedo. "Do you have a brother?"
Albedo shook his head.
"That's what makes this strange," Mona said. "Because in a cave somewhere in Dragonspine, I saw someone reading your notebook."
"And that person looked exactly like you."
"The reason my divination backfired just now is because he actually sensed me... and looked back at me."
She told everyone everything she had seen.
Albedo fell silent, one hand supporting his chin as he thought it over.
After hearing Mona's account, Ryou had a pretty good guess what this was.
That Whopperflower had probably shown up.
He had assumed only Tabibito would run into something like this, but somehow he had stumbled right into it himself.
While Ryou was still thinking, Albedo stood up.
"I think I know what this is," he said. "I'll go deal with it myself. You can stay here and rest."
"I'll go with you," Mona said. "I know the general location."
Albedo hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. Then I'll trouble you too."
Ryou beckoned Mona over.
"What is it?" she asked, leaning in.
Ryou whispered a few things to her.
After hearing him out, Mona glanced at Albedo, then looked thoughtfully in one direction for a few extra seconds. "Got it. If I find anything, I'll let you know right away."
"Then let's go," Albedo said.
He gave Mona and Ryou one last look, then headed out with her.
...
Back in Mondstadt—
"Tabibito, I've got witnesses and evidence lined up. This time we're all but guaranteed to win. Those two lottery shops are definitely going to pay up," Yanfei said.
Tabibito lit up at once. "Yanfei, you're incredible!"
"As for that other thing, I can tell you—but you absolutely can't tell anyone else."
"What loophole?" Shinobu asked.
"Go on," Yanfei said, looking at Tabibito.
Tabibito said, "Ryou took away the ticket with the one-million-Mora prize. As for why, I have no idea."
"He took out the one-million-Mora ticket?" Shinobu looked surprised.
"I think it was to keep people buying," Yanfei said. "As long as the one-million prize never comes out, people will keep spending."
Then she looked at Tabibito again. "But are you sure about this? You seem pretty close to Ryou, and now you're selling him out?"
"What do you mean, selling him out?" Tabibito shot back.
"I get along alright with Ryou, but Keqing's a different story. She guards against me like I'm some kind of thief."
Just thinking about it annoyed her.
"I thought it was strange back then too," she said to Yanfei. "He pulled one ticket out from a whole pile and said that was the one. It sounded pretty dubious on the surface."
"No, it was probably the real one," Yanfei said.
"He's not the sort of person who'd say something like that for no reason. And Ryou is very charming, so it's only natural Keqing would be wary of you."
Then Yanfei gave Tabibito a long look. "You have feelings for him or something? He's not exactly a good person."
Tabibito glanced at her and said, "Yanfei, you're biased against him. He's actually pretty decent."
"Really?" Yanfei folded her arms. "As I recall, Keqing once put out a wanted notice across Liyue with a five-million-Mora bounty on your brother. He got drugged, captured, and hauled straight into the Ministry of Civil Affairs."
"I got dragged into that mess too," Shinobu muttered. "That wanted notice got me picked up three separate times. Do you know what that felt like? People in Liyue point at me the second they see me."
"Ahem..." Tabibito suddenly had no answer.
Right then, Itto came running in.
"Yanfei! Tabibito! There's an old man here. Says his name is Goth!"
"Goth?" Tabibito said. "Let him in. I want to hear what he has to say."
"Alright."
Itto brought him in.
A moment later, old Goth stepped inside. The look in his eyes when he saw Tabibito was complicated.
"Tabibito," he said, "can we end this here? I'm an old man already..."
"Goth, there's no point saying that now." Yanfei stepped in front of him. "Tabibito has already entrusted this matter to me."
"You'd be better off going back and thinking about how you plan to compensate her."
...
Goth stood there in silence for a long time, looking from Yanfei to Tabibito.
At last he said, "Tabibito, let people off where you can. If you push this any further, you're taking my life. You... forget it."
Tabibito shot Paimon a glare before turning back to him. "What's with that look, Paimon? I'm telling you right now, none of this is my fault."
"I brought them the winning ticket, and they paid me. That should've been the end of it."
"Then he reported me to the Knights of Favonius. By that point, he'd already taken the ticket back. If Yanfei hadn't stepped in, what was I supposed to do?"
"And now he thinks one sentence is enough to make me drop it? Keep dreaming."
"Lotteries ruin people, and these people are making it worse. None of them are any good."
"At least Ryou's place charges one hundred Mora a ticket and treats it like a bit of fun. These people charge one thousand a ticket. Just imagine how much they're skimming off the top."
Then Tabibito turned to Yanfei. "Yanfei, it'd be best if every last one of their shops got shut down. Running lottery shops like this is hurting people."
"Don't worry." Yanfei patted her chest. "I've already gathered plenty of evidence. I just need the right chance. Once I get it, I can send every one of those lottery shop owners straight to prison."
"What chance?" Tabibito asked.
"That's a secret." Yanfei covered her mouth and shook her head. "I can't tell you that."
"Fine." Tabibito saw how guarded she was and did not press further.
After all, Ryou had already told her about that grand-prize ticket and asked her to find a chance to leak it to Yanfei.
"Come on," Yanfei said. "From here on, we'll leave it to the Knights of Favonius. They'll sort out the Mora issue for you, and I've already got all the evidence in place."
"Alright." Tabibito nodded.
When they reached the Knights of Favonius headquarters, there was already a crowd gathered outside.
Tabibito even spotted the owner of one of the other lottery shops pacing nervously nearby.
"T-Tabibito, you won five million Mora at my shop, but I never reported you! H-How can you sue me too?" the shop owner cried, on the verge of tears.
Not only had he failed to make any money, he had already paid out five million Mora.
Originally, he had planned to swallow the loss and treat it as costly advertising, especially since the winner had been Tabibito.
Who could have guessed Goth would drag the matter to the Knights of Favonius, only for Tabibito to turn around and demand fifty million Mora from all of them?
Yanfei stepped in front of him and said, "We already have all the evidence prepared. What you need to prepare is compensation."
Then she pushed through the crowd and led the way into the Knights of Favonius.
Just as they were about to enter the office, they noticed someone already inside.
"It's Seamus?" Tabibito said, surprised.
"Who's Seamus?" Yanfei asked.
Tabibito tugged her aside and lowered her voice. "Jean's father. Something about this feels very off."
"There's a good chance he's here to pull strings... and keep the whole matter from becoming public."
Yanfei just shook her head confidently. "I've got witnesses, evidence, and a solid case. Don't worry."
[End of chapter]
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