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

Ying has been doing odd jobs at the mortuary for three days.

Ying's leg injury hasn't fully healed yet, and walking fast still strains her ankle muscles, but she no longer needs crutches. Her daily work isn't too strenuous—sweeping the floor, wiping the counter, helping Hu Tao organize the ledgers, and occasionally running errands to buy a bag of tea across the street.

Hu Tao paid her a daily wage, which, although not much, was enough for her to maintain basic daily expenses, so she wouldn't have to worry about running out of food until her leg recovered.

Paimon's situation was completely different. She had been running around these past few days, leaving early and returning late every day, carrying a bulging cloth bag full of Mora and receipts.

When Ying asked her what she had done, she only said, "I took on a few commissions," and then refused to say anything more.

Ying didn't feel comfortable asking further, since she herself couldn't even smoothly step over the door step yet, and it was already good enough that she could eat on time every day.

Fanes noticed this on the fourth day. He was sitting in a chair in the front hall of the Hall of Rebirth, flipping through an industry report he had brought back from Liyue Harbor, when Paimon pushed open the door, placed a heavy cloth bag on the counter, flew to the table, picked up the teapot, and poured himself a glass of water.

Fanes looked up from the report and onto Paimon's face—her expression seemed no different from usual, except that her wings were flapping a little faster than usual: "What kind of commissions have you taken on these past two days? You come back with so many Mora every day."

Paimon took a sip of his water: "Just some ordinary outsourced tasks. Some people subcontract the work they can't finish, and I take those jobs from the Adventurers' Guild."

Fanes put down the report: "What type of outsourcing task?"

Paimon thought for a moment: "Most of them are data processing and logical analysis. Some require organizing a lot of materials, some require deriving conclusions based on given conditions, and some require monitoring the changing trends of multiple data streams simultaneously and issuing early warning notifications as soon as an anomaly occurs."

Fanes paused for a moment. He placed the report on the table and took another look at the white creature sitting on the rim of a teacup, fiddling with the edge of the cup with her fingertips—she was not much larger than an adult pigeon, and usually carried snacks and a terminal panel with her when she went out, relying mainly on intuition and asking passersby for directions.

Fanes found it hard to believe that such a creature could accomplish the tasks she had just described: "Data processing? Logical analysis? Are you sure those tasks weren't sent to the wrong people?"

Paimon put down his teacup: "Of course not. I took on the commission properly, with a formal process. There are records and receipts from order acceptance to delivery. And those tasks weren't difficult at all; they just required some time and focus to gradually move forward."

Fanes looked at her for a moment longer: "Then can you show me what tasks you've completed?"

Paimon flew to the counter, rummaged through the cloth bag, pulled out a stack of papers, and laid them out on the table.

Fanes glanced down at the contents of the stack of papers, and then his expression changed slightly—the first page was an analysis report on an optimization plan for a certain trade route. It required consideration of the throughput of ports along the route, the impact of seasonal climate factors, and the cost differences and risk level assessments of different routes. It also required advance prediction of potential obstacles along the way based on the latest hydrological data and weather forecasts.

The second page contains a route plan for cross-regional resource allocation, which needs to take into account multiple factors such as terrain, monster distribution, and weather changes.

The third page is a data summary and cross-comparison report involving multiple departments and institutions. It is necessary to extract key variables from different datasets and report texts, confirm whether the correspondence between them is accurate and whether the data is complete, and mark the parts that need further confirmation when discrepancies occur.

Turning the page further, there are several more pages that touch upon areas that Fanes doesn't usually come into direct contact with.

Fanes turned to the last page and placed the stack of papers back on the counter. He sat there, thinking seriously for a moment, then turned to Paimon and asked, "Besides eating and flying, do you have any other hobbies?"

Paimon thought for a moment: "Yes. I like looking at complex charts and flowcharts, trying to understand the structural logic and causal relationships behind them by observing the direction of the lines and nodes. Usually, I can remember the general outline and key turning points after looking at them once. Sometimes, when I encounter particularly complex structures, I will look at them several times to deepen my impression. Would you call this a hobby?"

Fanes was silent for a moment, then picked up the stack of papers again and flipped through them, confirming that the contents had indeed not been simplified: "Of course it counts."

Fanes put down the stack of papers. "Being able to complete so many tasks in a row at least shows that you not only eat and fly fast, but also think quickly. This is quite different from our usual impression of you."

Paimon picked up his teacup and took another sip: "Because I don't usually need to use my brain, I can just follow you and I'll have food to eat. But now it's time for me to earn money to support my family, so naturally I have to be serious."

Fanes glanced at her again but didn't ask any further questions.

When Paimon returned to the Hall of Rebirth, it was already dark. She flew into the front hall and found Funina sitting at the table, clutching a stack of documents. Her gaze lingered on Paimon's face for a moment: "I heard you've taken on quite a few commissions lately?"

Paimon flew to her and said, "It's alright. They're all tasks that require time and effort, but the rewards are pretty good."

Funina pushed the stack of documents in her hand onto the table: "Could you handle some more official business for me? I'll charge 50% more than the market price."

After hearing those words, Paimon's wings flapped slightly faster: "Fifty percent? Could you elaborate on the details? What is the approximate scale of the work, and how long will it take to complete?"

Funina picked up a sheet of paper from the table, which listed several tasks that needed to be handled: "These tasks require someone to coordinate and advance them, and a high level of familiarity and flexibility is required. If you can complete all the tasks within a week, the service fee can be increased by 20%. However, all communications must be conducted through confidential channels, and the relevant documents and materials cannot be circulated outside the company, nor can the specific progress and details be disclosed to anyone."

Paimon took the page and read it through. Her gaze moved between each line of text, and after confirming all the entries, she put the page away, folded it neatly, and placed it in the cloth bag she was carrying. Then she looked up, her tone conveying a sense of confirmation that the information had been verified.

"Yes. It can be completed within a week. The confidentiality agreement will also follow standard procedures; its contents cannot be disclosed, and the progress cannot be revealed."

Funina took out two documents from the drawer next to her, each printed with the same set of terms: "This is a confidentiality agreement. Each of you should keep a copy after signing."

Paimon took one of the documents, didn't look at it closely, and directly signed it in the signature section: "Is this okay? If there are any new matters that need to be handled simultaneously, you can send them to me through encrypted channels, and I will add them to the task list in order and proceed accordingly. As long as they are all within the scope of the confidentiality agreement, there will be no problem."

A week later, Navelette sat in his office at the Momen Palace, a stack of official documents that had just been delivered laid out in front of him.

After reading the document, Navelette closed it, placed it on the table, leaned back in her chair, and remained silent for a long time.

Occasionally, footsteps echoed through the corridors of the Mo Mang Palace, briefly drowning out the sounds of wind and water outside the windows as they passed by the door, before fading away. Once the room was quiet again, Navelette looked away from the cover of the document, placed it on the table for a while, and then put it into the archive of completed items.

"...So many years have passed, and Funina has finally grown up."