Clone Arkz stood on the ridge with a smile, clapping his hands, and a group of wooden figures lined up neatly behind him.
"Water the fields."
Under Arkz's control, the wooden figures queued up orderly, carrying water buckets to fetch water from the pond and transport it to the designated spots to pour it out.
Bucket after bucket of water splashed onto the fields.
The soft soil greedily absorbed the moisture like a sponge.
Compared to Amu, these wooden figures had much lower IQs; they couldn't even be considered truly alive, only suitable for doing some relatively simple heavy labor.
But this was also good; Arkz could exploit them without any psychological burden.
The wooden figures continuously transported water from the pond to the fields, carefully pouring it onto the soil where seeds had just been sown.
Finally, with the help of the wooden figures, Arkz's second round of sowing was successfully completed.
...
At night, Arkz returned to the farm and lay in bed, recalling the clones that had been laboring all day.
The moment they were recalled, a sinister smile appeared on the faces of all the clones.
"I'll—!"
Before Arkz could finish cursing, his eyes rolled back, and he fell asleep.
Inside Dawn Winery, Diluc looked at the letter in his hand.
"Rosaria is investigating Arkz's identity?"
While traveling across the Seven Nations, Diluc happened to join a mysterious intelligence organization and took up a position within it.
Rosaria, who often operated in the shadows, knew about this intelligence organization and bought information from them; Diluc was not surprised by that.
What surprised Diluc was the intelligence report about Arkz sent by headquarters.
"I originally thought Mr. Arkz was just an ordinary person with a peculiar hobby, but now it seems I underestimated him."
"A genius Scholar from Sumeru? The improvement plan for the akasha terminal? A smartphone?"
"No wonder this intelligence is marked as top secret."
A figure flashed out of the darkness.
"Master, do you need me to scout Mr. Arkz?"
"No, I will pay him a personal visit."
"Give this intelligence to Rosaria and tell her she owes me a favor."
"Yes!"
Watching his subordinate depart, Diluc murmured, "Top secret intelligence? Who exactly is behind this intelligence organization?"
Documents marked as top secret by the intelligence organization were naturally not allowed to be disclosed to outsiders like Rosaria, but Diluc was clearly not a rule-abiding good boy.
In his view, this mysterious organization hiding in the darkness and secretly selling intelligence across the Seven Nations was equally suspicious, even though the organization's leadership had once saved his life.
"Repaying kindness is the family motto of the Ragnvindr Family."
"But safeguarding Mondstadt is the responsibility passed down through generations of the Ragnvindr Family!"
The next day, Arkz awoke groggily.
"I didn't even suffer a loss during the trial of the North Wind Wolf King, but in the end, I was tricked by my own clone."
"Damn it, Fischl and Barbara and I are completely innocent."
"No, I need to explain this clearly."
"Wood Clone Technique!"
Clone Arkz stood with his arms crossed, quietly watching the main body.
"Please begin your performance."
Slap—!
Arkz slapped his forehead and recalled the clone.
"I was actually trying to explain things to myself. I really need to rest for a while."
He pushed open the door of the small wooden house and walked into the temporary kitchen he had set up nearby to make breakfast.
Just then, Amu, with a head of green beautiful hair, walked over, yawning, and greeted Arkz.
"Hi, Arkz, what's for breakfast today?"
"carrot porridge."
"Oh right, Amu, nice new hairstyle."
"Wait—!!!"
"Amu, you grew long hair!!!"
The green vine leaves on top of the wooden figure Amu's head had been replaced by a flowing, beautiful mass of green long hair.
If one looked at Amu from behind, she was truly a killer in terms of silhouette.
Amu touched the top of her head in shock, then looked at the green long hair in her hands, remaining stunned.
"I grew long hair?"
"I grew long hair!!!"
"Woohoo, I'm going to braid myself pigtails!"
Arkz looked at Amu, who had entered a state of ecstasy, and his smile almost broke.
It seemed reasonable for a bald wooden head to have a few leaves growing on it, but now that Amu had grown hair, it felt like a wooden stump wearing a wig; it looked strange no matter how he looked at it.
However, in order not to crush Amu's confidence and to satisfy his own curiosity, Arkz changed the subject.
"Ahem, Amu, why pigtails?"
"Because pigtails look good, they make me look especially cute."
Arkz imagined Amu with pigtails in his mind and almost burst out laughing.
"Let me dress you up a bit, I guarantee I'll make you even prettier."
Saying that, Arkz took out a mask and sunglasses and put them on Amu.
After Arkz's makeover, you really couldn't tell; wearing a beautiful dress and high heels, with beautiful green long hair on her head, and her face obscured by the mask and sunglasses, Amu truly resembled a green-haired young maiden if one didn't look closely.
"Mm, perfect, Amu, you look especially beautiful now."
"Really?~~"
Amu shyly covered her face and wiggled her body coyly.
"Oh right, Amu, let me confirm, do you know your gender?"
"Although I've been raising you like a son, if you like being female, I will respect your wishes."
Arkz's expression was very complicated now.
It felt like the good son he had raised for ten years had suddenly awakened his inner femininity and wanted to transition.
"But I was always a girl, didn't Arkz notice?"
"Always been a girl?"
Arkz couldn't help but recall that when Amu first gained sentience, she was completely bare, and her gender was impossible to discern!
"Oh right, what about that A Qiu I brought back yesterday?"
"Oh, you mean that strange fellow? She's staying with me and is still sleeping right now."
"I don't know why, but that girl is extremely clingy. She follows me wherever I go."
"Luckily, she's a bit sleepy, so she's still asleep now."
Arkz nodded while stirring the carrot porridge in the pot.
"Later, you go deliver her food, and tell her that her task today is to stop the Hilichurls and wild boars from destroying the farm."
"Okay."
Amu nodded, her eyes fixed intently on the carrots in the pot.
"Want some?"
"Mhm, mhm, mhm!!!"
Seeing Amu nodding frantically, Arkz slowly formed a question mark in his mind.
"You usually don't eat the meals I cook, do you?"
"Those meals had no taste; this one is different."
"How is it different?"
"It has carrots in it!"
Pfft—!
A bolt of lightning struck through Arkz's mind.
"Amu ate a lot of carrots the day before yesterday, and today she grew hair!"
"Could it be—!!!"
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