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

Yakoda: I should be serious! I heard they say that Inazuma has a lot of hot spring water!

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Two days later at lunch, Yakoda's plate was piled high with braised pork and stir-fried vegetables. Her cheeks were bulging like a hamster stealing food, but her eyes were still bright and constantly darting around.

After swallowing the meat in her mouth, Yakoda poked at the remaining rice grains in her bowl with her chopsticks, then looked up at Fanes: "Boss, what do we do next after we finish dealing with the loan?"

Fanes leaned back in his chair opposite him, let out a burp, wiped his mouth, and thought for a moment: "Once Ningguang's money is paid out, I should probably go to Mondstadt to visit Rosalind. Or I could go to Inazuma to experience the local customs and culture. Anyway, the Queen said that as long as I'm alive, it doesn't matter where I go."

Yakoda's eyes lit up instantly. She put her chopsticks down on the table, leaned forward, and said, "Boss! I heard that the hot springs at Inazuma are incredibly relaxing!"

Fanes' eyelids twitched, and a wary look appeared on his face, as if to say, "Are you up to something again?" "Who told you that?"

"That's what the boss inside said."

Yakoda counted on her fingers, "He said the hot springs in Inazuma are 'especially refreshing,' and after soaking in them, you feel completely relaxed from head to toe. It's a million times better than bathing in the snow water of Nordkale."

As Yakoda spoke, she gestured, drawing a large arc in the air with both hands. "He also said the hot spring water is hot! Hot! Boss, just imagine, hot water! The feeling of soaking in it—"

Fanes glanced down at the rice bowl in front of him, then looked up at Yakoda's starry eyes, which were already shining with longing. He hesitated for two seconds and asked, "Is your hot spring... serious?"

Yakoda blinked, tilting her head with a confused expression: "What do you mean? Is there such a thing as 'proper' when soaking in a hot spring?"

Fanes's lips twitched. Looking at Akoda's face, which clearly said, "I really don't know what you're asking," he realized that his question was indeed not suitable for further discussion.

Fanes swallowed his words and waved his hand, "Never mind, don't ask about it. After I finish dealing with the loan, I'll go to Mondstadt. I wrote to Rosalind and she said there's a shop in Mondstadt that makes really delicious scones and dandelion liqueur..."

Yakoda put down her chopsticks, the light in her starry eyes dimmed for a moment, and she shrunk back into her chair like a deflated balloon, her tone carrying three parts grievance and seven parts resentment: "Boss... are you really not going to Inazuma? I really want to experience Inazuma's special hot springs..."

Looking at her dejected appearance, and thinking about how he had relied entirely on Yakoda to run errands for him during this trip to Liyue, even after he was tied up, it was this girl who was there to give him advice the moment he got his hands on her. He sighed, picked up a piece of braised pork with his chopsticks, and put it into Yakoda's bowl: "...Alright. After spending a few days in Mondstadt, we'll go visit Inazuma."

Yakoda's starry eyes instantly brightened, even more so than before. She held the bowl, stuffed the braised pork into her mouth, and mumbled, "The boss is the best!"

Fanes leaned back in his chair, watching her contented expression, and felt like he'd been tricked again. But he didn't take it too seriously; after all, "survival is all that matters" no matter where he went. Whether it was Inazuma or Mondstadt, it was all just about eating, drinking, having fun, and hanging around in name only.

For the next two or three days, Fanes spent a rather leisurely time. Every morning, he would sit in the lobby of the Northern Bank for a while to check if there were any new loan applications in the ledgers—in fact, most of them did not require his approval, as the small-amount tellers could handle them themselves—and then he would take Akoda out for a stroll around the streets.

Today I went to listen to a storyteller recount a passage from "The Emperor's Record of Subduing the Seas," tomorrow I'll go to the port to watch the fishing boats unload their cargo, and the day after tomorrow I'll squat at a roadside tea stall and play Go with a group of old tea drinkers. I lost all three games, and Yakoda was so embarrassed by my defeat that she covered her face in disbelief.

On the afternoon of the third day, the payment from Zhidong finally arrived.

Fanes stood at the entrance of the warehouse in the backyard of the Northern Bank, watching several Fools soldiers unload heavy iron boxes from the wagon. Each box made a dull thud when it hit the ground, causing the stone slabs to sag slightly.

Fanes counted them; there were four large boxes in total, each sealed with the sealing wax of the Northern Bank, and the lids were engraved with serial numbers and monetary labels.

Fatty squatted down next to the last box, lifted the lid, glanced inside, and then whistled, "Wow, this is heavy."

Fanes walked over and peeked inside—the box was neatly stacked with piles of the largest denomination Mora coins, the golden metal gleaming warmly in the light streaming into the warehouse.

He reached out and touched the top stack of Mora, feeling the cool metallic touch and heavy weight on his fingertips. He silently thought, "This is hundreds of millions of Mora. I've never seen so much cash in my entire life combined."

Just as the box lid was closed, footsteps sounded at the warehouse door. A teller jogged over to announce, "Sir, Miss Ningguang is here. She says the loan has been approved and she wants to confirm the delivery details with you in person."

Fanes dusted off his hands, winked at Jakoda, and then strode towards the hall. Jakoda followed behind him, her steps as light as a sparrow's, muttering to herself.

"Boss, do you think Ningguang will laugh when she sees so many Mora? She looked so serious when she signed the contract last time, she didn't even smile..."

Fanes pushed open the door to the hall and saw Ningguang standing in front of the counter. The white-haired young merchant was still wearing that well-tailored dark dress, and his amber eyes turned when he heard the door open, landing on Fanes with a much more sincere look than before.

"Mr. Twelve, has the payment arrived?"

Fanes walked to the counter, climbed onto the high stool, sat down, placed his hands on the counter, and looked up at Ningguang's beautiful face.

The warehouse door behind Fanes was half-open, with four heavy boxes lined up in a row, the sealing wax on the lids gleaming a dark red under the lamp.

Fanes nodded and extended his right hand in a gesture of invitation. "We've arrived. Sister Ningguang, shall we go inside to take inventory and hand over the items?"