The clash on the training ground grew heavier and heavier, with weapons ringing out one after another.
Just as Keqing and Lumine were about to keep fighting, both of them suddenly felt their weapons slip out of their control and fly from their hands.
Keqing watched the weapons shoot off in one direction. The next moment, they landed in Ryou's hand.
The sight stunned her. She had not expected Ryou to seize their weapons so easily.
"Ryou!" Keqing called.
"This is the Knights of Favonius. What do you think you're doing, fighting here like this?" Ryou glared at both women, raised his hand, and put the weapons away. "What are you staring at? Come with me!"
"Oh!"
"…Oh."
Neither of them dared to argue. They obediently followed behind Ryou.
Ryou could hear the shock and whispers spreading through the crowd, but he paid none of it any mind and led Lumine and Keqing out of the training ground.
They arrived in an empty area.
Ryou looked at Lumine and Keqing. "Are you done making a scene? Don't you feel embarrassed?"
"One of you is Mondstadt's Honorary Knight, and the other is one of the Liyue Qixing. You started fighting in front of everyone. What were you thinking?"
"I… Tabibito was the one who made me angry first. She said something about pursuing love, but she clearly wants to steal my man!" The more Keqing thought about it, the angrier she became. She lifted her head, ready to keep arguing.
But the moment she met Ryou's eyes, she flinched and shrank back, too afraid to continue.
"I was telling the truth, wasn't I?" Lumine said.
"You're still talking back?" Ryou glared at both of them, grabbed one with each hand, and vanished.
By the time they came back out, half an hour had passed. Ryou saw that both women's faces were flushed, their eyes damp and misty. At least they no longer looked ready to tear each other apart.
"Think before you act next time. Do you understand?" Ryou said.
"Yes. I-I understand," Lumine said, her voice trembling slightly.
"I understand too. Let's just go already," Keqing muttered.
Ryou glanced at both of them. "Come on. I already finished talking with Jean and Albedo. We can leave Mondstadt soon. Once we're back in Liyue Harbor, you two had better not cause trouble like this again."
"Oh." Both women nodded obediently.
As soon as they came out, Ryou saw Shenhe holding a polearm while Mona looked over from the side.
"Is everything settled?" Mona asked.
Ryou glanced at her. "What else could happen? We'll stop by the lottery shop, then head back to Liyue."
"If you have anything you still need to do, take care of it now."
"I don't have anything," Mona said, shaking her head.
"Neither do I." Shenhe put away her polearm.
Ryou looked at the two of them but said nothing else. He led everyone to the lottery shop.
The shop was still open, though no customers had come in. Xingqiu, Hu Tao, and Xiangling were all there.
"Huh? You're already out?" Xiangling looked a little surprised when she saw Ryou and Keqing. "I was just thinking of going to find you later."
"We finished what we needed to handle," Ryou said.
"Xingqiu, let's find a quiet room. I have something to tell you."
"All right. Come with me!" Xingqiu nodded.
After Ryou walked away, Hu Tao leaned over and sat beside Lumine. "What's wrong with you? Why do you look so awkward? You're acting nothing like yourself."
"N-No, I'm fine." Lumine remembered what had happened in the pocket world not long ago, and her entire face felt like it was burning.
It would have been one thing if she had been alone. The problem was that Keqing had been right there with her.
That man really had not held back at all.
The moment Lumine remembered looking at Keqing back then, the feeling became almost impossible to describe.
When Lumine saw Keqing glance over, she glared back at her. If you hadn't pissed me off, would we have ended up like that?
"Tabibito, what is that look supposed to mean?" Keqing snapped when she saw Lumine glaring at her.
If Lumine had not provoked her first, would she have suffered that kind of disaster for no reason?
"You know exactly what I mean. Or do you want a repeat of what happened just now?" Lumine said.
"Hmph!" Keqing snorted and said nothing more.
Still, she felt that something about Ryou and Lumine's relationship was off. Ryou had done that sort of thing to Lumine, yet Lumine had barely reacted?
That was far too strange.
But Keqing believed Ryou was not that kind of man. Maybe he had only been too angry.
As for Lumine, perhaps she had not reacted in time. And besides, it probably had something to do with her liking Keqing's husband.
Keqing decided they needed to hurry back to Liyue Harbor. Once they returned, she would help Ganyu win Ryou over.
Ryou and Ganyu's matter needed to be settled as soon as possible. Once Ganyu was in place, Lumine and Mona would be easier to deal with.
The problem gave Keqing a headache. Ryou and Ganyu had a decent relationship, but there was no spark between them.
When a man and a woman spent enough time together, they should have been able to make progress easily.
Ganyu was also a breathtaking beauty, yet Keqing's husband only seemed interested in Keqing herself. He had not shown any interest in Ganyu at all.
She was kindly trying to bring them together, so why were neither of them reacting?
"Xiangling, why are you looking at us like that?" Keqing asked.
Xiangling shook her head.
She felt that something must have happened between Keqing and Lumine. Both of them had turned their heads away and refused to look at each other, which was strange no matter how she thought about it.
"We're heading back to Liyue Harbor in a bit. Are you two coming with us?" Keqing asked Xiangling and Hu Tao.
"Of course," Hu Tao said.
"We'll go back together. We originally came here just to join the fun, and now that the lottery excitement has basically died down, there's nothing else to do," Xiangling said.
Then she looked at Keqing. "When I came over just now, I saw several new lottery shops. Do you want to go take a look for fun?"
"Several more opened?" Keqing asked.
Paimon asked, "What's the biggest prize?"
"Paimon!" Lumine called.
"Um… I think the biggest prize was one million Mora, and the tickets were one hundred Mora each. I saw a lot of people buying them earlier," Xiangling said, explaining everything to Keqing.
"Before Yanfei returned to Liyue Harbor, she set some rules. If they sell according to those rules, the process should be much fairer," Lumine said, explaining Yanfei's rules to everyone.
Once Keqing heard them, she had nothing else to say.
After waiting for a while, Keqing saw Ryou and Xingqiu come out.
"Done talking?" she asked as she walked over.
"Mm." Ryou nodded. "Xingqiu, discuss the details with Albedo first. Once everything is handled, return to Liyue Harbor."
"I understand, cousin." Xingqiu nodded to Ryou.
When he thought about what Ryou had just told him, Xingqiu still found it incredible. Compared to ordinary lottery tickets, that new format would be far more attractive.
It could even bring in enormous profits. Xingqiu suspected that if they prepared enough goods, those tickets might push sales to a brand-new high.
Ryou nodded to Xingqiu and left the new plan in his hands.
He had not gone far when he saw a middle-aged man standing respectfully outside, waiting for them.
"Huh? Aren't you the retainer from Diluc's estate?" Lumine recognized him.
"It is an honor that Tabibito remembers me. I came on Diluc-sama's orders to invite Ryou-san to Dawn Winery as a guest…" the middle-aged man said with a bow.
"Perfect. We were planning to visit Dawn Winery anyway. Let's go together," Ryou said.
"This way, please." The middle-aged man walked ahead.
With the middle-aged man leading the way, everyone was brought to Dawn Winery.
Dawn Winery was enormous. Grape trellises surrounded almost the entire estate, making the place look grand and striking at a glance.
"I originally wanted to send someone to invite Ryou-san over yesterday, but you all seemed to be outside the city," Diluc said as he walked over.
"I couldn't let the chance slip by again today. Please, come inside."
Ryou nodded to Diluc. "You must be busy. It's an honor to meet you as well."
The group entered the main hall.
"Diluc, I doubt you invited us here just because you wanted to meet me," Ryou said, getting straight to the point because of the time.
"To be honest, it's—" Diluc had just begun to speak when a servant rushed inside.
"Diluc-sama, something happened!" A middle-aged man hurried in. "An adventurer brought someone here. The man is badly injured, and they're hoping we can help treat him."
"One of them already ran back to Mondstadt to find more help. What should we do?"
Diluc glanced at the servant. "Arrange treatment for him immediately. Go!"
"I'm a physician. Perhaps I can help," Ryou said.
"You… All right. Come with me," Diluc said.
They went outside.
"Chongyun!"
"Chongyun!"
Hu Tao and Xiangling both looked surprised.
"Huh? Xiangling, Hu Tao, Lumine, and cousin? Why are all of you here?" Chongyun was just as confused.
"We can talk about that later. Ryou, check the patient first," Keqing said.
Ryou nodded.
He walked up to the injured man and examined him. The man was middle-aged, and two cat ears grew from his head.
The moment Ryou saw him, he thought of someone.
Olaf.
This man was Diona's ancestor. Logically speaking, Lumine should have been the one to rescue him.
Unexpectedly, Chongyun had rescued him instead.
Then Ryou realized something else.
Chongyun had a Cryo Vision, and there was a Cryo Regisvine in that domain. How exactly did he rescue this man?
Ryou shook his head, took out some spiritual energy fruit juice, and fed it to the man.
Using spiritual energy alongside his medical skills, he slowly forced the cold poison out of the man's body.
Little by little, the man's pale complexion faded, and his face returned to normal.
Then he slowly opened his eyes.
Diluc stood behind them, stunned by what he saw.
He could feel the cold radiating from the man's body. Even under the blazing sun, it was still obvious.
That showed just how long the man had been frozen, and how severe his injuries were.
In Diluc's view, Ryou keeping the man alive would already have been impressive enough.
He had not expected Ryou to actually save him completely.
It looked like their cooperation absolutely had to happen.
[End of chapter]
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