Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

The meal was at a restaurant on the second floor near the island's pier. The restaurant wasn't big, but it was clean, and from the window you could see fishing boats finishing their work in the harbor and the darkening horizon in the distance.

Fañes sat by the window, watching the rapidly dwindling pile of plates in front of Ying and Paimon, and took a sip of his own tea.

After finishing his third bowl of rice, Paimon finally slowed down and was using the tips of his chopsticks to pick at the few remaining scallions on the plate.

Ying put down her chopsticks, leaned back in her chair, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, as if she had just completed a task that required her full effort.

Looking at their expressions, Fanes put his teacup back on the table. "By the way, why don't you use a raft? I remember that kind of boat, although not very easy to maneuver, should be much easier than rowing your own rickety boat. And its range and carrying capacity are also much greater than those old wooden boats."

Ying paused for a moment: "...We can't afford it."

Fanes leaned back in his chair: "What do you mean? Aren't surf boats available for rent? I remember the rental fee wasn't expensive; most adventurers should be able to afford it."

Ying's fingers rested on the edge of the table: "It's not possible now. Inazuma's finances are tight, and recently they started charging extra for all boat rental services to non-local residents. Although the price isn't too high, it's not very convenient given the current cash flow situation."

Paimon added from the side, "And we also have to pay you back the compensation, so we have to be very careful with our money every month. Sometimes we only eat one meal a day, and the occasional commission we receive has to be used first to buy necessary supplies. So we try to save as much as possible on expenses."

Fanes thought for a moment, as if searching for a corresponding entry in his ledger: "...What is the current rental fee for the pleasure boat?"

Ying reported a number. After listening, Fanes nodded: "That's indeed still within a reasonable range."

Fanes picked up his teacup and took another sip. "Serves you right. Who told you to use my image in that kind of novel?"

Ying's expression froze. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but didn't say anything.

Fanes put down his teacup, his tone still calm: "Using real people's images as creative material without their consent, not letting me review the content beforehand, and not even noting 'This story is purely fictional' on the title page—it's no wonder you've been sued, is it? Just work honestly for two hundred years, and maybe you'll regain your freedom in two hundred years."

Paimon floated in mid-air with an empty bowl in his hand: "...Two hundred years? By then I'll probably have gone through several different travelers, while Ying will still be struggling to pay off that compensation. She has to wait for the creditor to agree to terminate the pursuit before she can leave this system, so it does seem to take about that long."

Fanes stood up and adjusted the collar of his coat. "Alright, I'm leaving now. You guys take your time eating, no need to rush."

Fanes took two steps toward the stairwell, then stopped and glanced at them sideways. "By the way, if any new commissions come up, I'll prioritize assigning them to you. I can't guarantee they'll always be well-paid, but they'll at least be more stable than regular commissions."

I walked down the stairs. The sound of my footsteps followed the stairs, paused at the corner, and then continued away into the distance towards the street.

Ying sat by the window, looking at the sauce residue on the edge of the empty plate. She reached into her pocket, touched the terminal panel, and then put it back. Paimon floated to her side.

"Are you looking at that list of commissions? I just glanced at it too, and I found that the commission marked 'long-term cooperation' is still there, but the conditions for accepting it are a bit more complicated."

Ying carefully put the terminal away: "It's alright. Besides, having more debts isn't a burden."

As dusk slowly spreads along the eaves outside the window, the restaurant lights gradually come on, casting a warm glow on the edges of the cups, plates, and cutlery on the table.

Ying and Paimon sat for a while longer, until the waiter came over for the third time to ask if they wanted to order more food, before they got up and left.

Fanes only remembered it after he got back to his lodgings. He sat in the hard chair, placed the terminal panel on the table, and then stopped—he seemed to have forgotten to pay the bill.

Fanes sat there in silence for a moment, then looked down and rechecked his memory to make sure he hadn't paid before leaving the restaurant—he had just said a few words to Ying and Paimon, then left, leaving the unpaid bill on the table.

When I put my coat back on and walked briskly back to the restaurant along the street, most of the customers had already left.

Fanes pushed open the shop door and saw Ying and Paimon standing behind the counter, each holding a damp cloth and wiping a stack of freshly washed dishes.

Paimon's plate was still dripping water. She paused, the cloth in her hand frozen in mid-air, when she saw Fanes push the door open and enter. "...Why are you back? Didn't you leave?"

Fanes stood in front of the counter, his gaze shifting from the plate in Paimon's hand to the cloth in Ying's: "I forgot to pay the bill."

Ying put the cleaned dishes back on the shelf and turned around: "It's okay, we've already finished washing them. The boss said we can pay with our labor; washing the dishes after dinner will settle the debt. But for a moment just now, I did consider whether I should stay in Inazuma to work and pay off the debt, so I wouldn't have to go back to the original route."

Fanes stood in front of the counter looking at her: "...Alright. Now that the bill is settled, I'll be returning to Winter tomorrow."

Ying folded the cloth in her hand and placed it on the edge of the counter: "Be careful on the road. Don't get into any trouble! And if you are kidnapped, at least don't get killed!"

As Fanes walked back to his lodgings along the street, a night breeze was blowing from the direction of the port. He stopped and pulled his coat collar up tighter.

Back in winter, Toc was wrapped in a blanket in the living room, looking at an old picture book.

Tok looked up when he heard the door open. When he saw Fanes walk in, his eyes lit up. He looked down at the pages of the sketchbook in front of him, then looked up at Fanes, as if he were comparing his observations with some external input to confirm whether the difference between them was within an acceptable range.

Tonya poked her head out of the kitchen, holding a steaming cup in her hand: "Brother Fanes! You're here!"

Donya walked into the living room and placed the cup on the table in front of Tok. "Tok has been talking about you these past few days, saying he wants to tell you about the traveler's story mentioned in his last letter."

Tok sat on the sofa, initially excited for a short while, then his expression slowly changed, as if he were going through a complete transformation from "It's good to see him" to "No, this doesn't seem right."

Tok looked up at Fanes, then down at the cup of hot water that had just been brought to him. "...Brother Fanes, I just have a cold, right? A little cold shouldn't warrant the executioner of the Fools coming all the way to see me, right?"

Tok's voice carried an unease, a struggle to remain calm that was beginning to betray a shift in tone at the end. "Do I have some incurable disease? Or is it some newly discovered disease, one that no one has ever had before, one that needs to be named after me?"

Fanes sat down in the chair opposite him: "It's just a common cold. Your brother said you kept saying you wanted to see me, so I came over."

Tok continued to look at him, the unease in his eyes not completely gone: "Really? You're not hiding anything, are you?"

Fanes took off his coat and draped it over the back of the chair: "Really. If it were something serious, your brother would tell me directly, not just say 'a common cold.' He might sometimes beat around the bush, but he wouldn't lie about something like this."

Tok remained seated on the sofa: "Can you promise me—if I get some strange illness, you'll tell me the truth?"

Fanes looked at him: "I promise."

Tok let out a long sigh of relief and leaned back on the sofa cushions. "That's good. So how long can you stay this time? Can you spend a few days with me?"

Fanes said, "I can probably stay for two or three days. I'll leave once your cold is completely cured."

Tok picked up the sketchbook again, his gaze returning to the pages. It was as if he'd already saved the earlier conversation about "whether he'd contracted some strange disease" to his "save after confirming everything's alright" folder. "I'm thinking of going to that toy store on the corner tomorrow. They just got a new batch of model airplane parts. My brother's not home, so I don't have anyone to go with. Can you come with me?"

Fanes said, "Yes."

The next morning, Tok's fever had completely subsided. After breakfast, he paced back and forth in the living room twice, jumped around a couple of times, and then looked up at Fanes: "I feel better."

Fanes sat by the window: "That's good. If you feel energetic enough, we can go to the toy store as planned."

Tok nodded. "But I still want to confirm first—do I really just have a cold?"

Fanes looked at him: "Really."

Tok stood in the middle of the room for a moment, as if checking if there were any details that needed attention in this process that was nearing its end, then he nodded: "Then I'm going out."

As Tok changed his coat and walked to the door, he glanced back at Fanes and asked, "Aren't you going?"

Fanes stood up and followed him, saying, "Come on. I'll see you off!"

Tok: Alright, you can get ready to quit the game now!