While Furina was fast asleep, Aiden was busy taking stock of the cafe's inventory.
"Hmm... This should be enough for a week at least before it needs restocking." Aiden said to himself as he counted all the initial ingredients in the kitchen that were provided to him.
It seems the being that transported him here really wanted him to engage with Teyvat's economy, which means he probably had to set up business deals with other people for food and items.
Not that he was complaining, of course, he knew sooner or later he would have to leave the safety of the building and go out to Teyvat itself, something which he was planning to do anyway.
With the inventory done, he then went to one of the rooms that he had not checked up on yet. It has a massive, heavy-duty metal door, almost as if it were the entrance to a workshop of some kind.
When he entered it, he was greeted by a massive machine of some kind with a screen in the middle. He inspected the screen closer, finding it flashing the words 'Select.' It's a touchscreen, it seems.
Swiping the screen, the purpose of the machine became clear as options to fabricate various items and even add rooms or upgrade the cafe are shown. There is even an option to repair items from the cafe itself.
He selected the smartphone that caught his eye. Unfortunately, the moment he pressed confirm when it was prompted, a warning appeared saying 'insufficient energy.'
"Huh? What kind of energy source does this machine need?" Aiden asked himself. He looked at the top right, where it showed the percentage of power currently stored. 0.05%, a laughably minuscule amount.
Aiden investigated further, intending to find out how to generate energy. He had thought that it might need raw materials for use, but that was quickly disproven when there was no way to insert anything in it at all, only a detachable panel to retrieve the item it made.
He was honestly out of ideas on what to do when a thought entered his head. "Maybe this thing uses some kind of energy generated when a customer plays the game or does some kind of activity here?"
It was a stupid thought, but at the same time, it was the only thing that made sense. Otherwise, how can he explain the small amount of energy that's already inside?
Still, whatever the case, he had all the time in the world to figure this thing out; there was no need to rush it.
Finishing up his inspection of the machine, Aiden then decided to go outside to check up on the bland exterior of the buildings, choosing the Mondstadt door. Sure, they were unimportant compared to what went on inside, but he'd rather have them look pretty to attract more customers and give them a good first impression.
The moment he went outside and breathed in the fresh air, he could feel the power that he held fading. If he had to guess, right now, he would be on par with a regular soldier or maybe a regular Vision holder if he were being super generous.
Inspecting the exterior and yep, "Just a big-ass gray box with a few fake windows." Aiden humurously said to himself. He could feel the tears of every architect when looking at it.
This will definitely need to be rectified sooner rather than later, and on his mind, there was one person who was the best fit for the job.
With his quick inspection done, Aiden went back inside.
.....
Dodo~ Dodo~ Dodoco~
When Aiden went back inside, he quickly noticed an item on the countertop that was definitely not there the last time he was there.
A Dodocommunication Device is ringing on it. It was fairly obvious who put it there.
"Hello." He answered the call. "Is this Miss Alice calling?"
"Oh my, it seems you already know me~" The voice of Alice, on the other side, quickly answered. "I assume you must be the one who managed to bypass Teyvat's border effortlessly? You gave me quite a fright when I discovered you, you know."
"Yeah, that's me. The name is Aiden. Is there anything I can help you with?" Aiden asked.
"Yes. Don't worry, I won't take up too much of your time." Alice assured Aiden. "I merely wanted to ask the one who slipped through me a few simple questions if you have the time."
Aiden considered her request before deciding that it would be best to be honest with one of the Hexenzirkel members, especially Alice. "Sure. I'm ready."
"Firstly, how?"
Aiden was caught off guard by Alice's rather vague question. "Uhh... How what?"
"How did you bypass Teyvat's border without anyone, not even me, noticing? Even then, it wasn't until one of ours brought it up in alarm." Alice's tone was one of bewilderment with a little bit of weariness mixed in.
Aiden took a deep breath as he began to think carefully about how to answer Alice. "Imma be honest with you, Miss Alice, even I have no idea. One moment, I was in a void of some kind, and the next, I'm here, the owner of this cafe. I can tell you, however, that whoever or whatever it was that sent me here is certainly powerful. Perhaps more powerful than you or I could ever realise."
There was a long stretch of pause as Alice digested Aiden's answer. "I see... Did this entity ever tell you what it wanted you to do here? There must be a reason."
Aiden shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. I am just as clueless as you are about my purpose here. In fact, I was kinda dropped here in Teyvat with no instructions to speak of, so I'm learning as I go through. Maybe they seek entertainment or something? I don't know."
Alice accepted Aiden's answer. "Very well, on to the next question. Can you tell me what the cafe is all about? When I saw those devices, I couldn't help but wonder what their purposes are."
Aiden nodded. "Sure. As a traveler of many worlds, I'm sure you have seen and heard of devices called computers, right?" He described it to her.
"Indeed, I have. Are you saying those devices share a similar function to a computer?"
"Yes. Although for my customers specifically, they are all modified to play a video game." Aiden clarified further.
It seemingly intrigued Alice as she let out, "Oohh, a game? What is it about?"
"Genshin Impact. A game about Teyvat's future. Or I guess, the future that it was supposed to be. No doubt my involvement here has changed it massively."
This time, there was a considerable stretch of silence after Aiden answered Alice's question to the point that it made him a little bit uncomfortable.
After a while, Aiden tried to reach out to Alice, "Uhh... Miss Alice? Are you still there?"
"Sigh... No wonder Barbie called a meeting..." Aiden almost missed Alice's whisper because of how silent it was.
"You mean Barbeloth?" Aiden had a pretty good idea what Alice meant.
"Yes..." Alice almost sounded like she was reluctant to answer. "She had called a meeting amongst the Hexenzirkel out of the blue. Apparently, she could no longer see the fate of Teyvat's or anyone else's clearly. It was what initially made me investigate the cause of it, as this is a rather serious matter."
Aiden rubbed the back of his head. "Oh... I guess I'm sorry?"
"Oh well. What's done is done. Not that it was entirely your fault to begin with. The only thing we can do now is to wait and see what happens in the future. Who knows? Perhaps your interference is a good thing for Teyvat's future."
"Anyways, thank you for your honest answers. I'll be sure to relay them to the rest of the Hexenzirkel. Maybe we'll visit this place in the future if we have the time. Oh, and also, feel free to keep the Dodocommunication Device. See you later~."
"Wait!" Aiden called out to stop her from hanging up.
"Hmm...? Is there anything else?"
"Actually, yeah. As compensation for all the headaches I've caused the Hexenzirkel, I would like to give you, plus Klee and your husband, a little gift."
"A gift? Care to tell me what it is?"
"Haha, no. I want it to be a surprise. Just give me a week tops for me to finish making them."
"Very well. I'll be looking forward to it." Exclaimed Alice. "Since you're being so generous, if Klee ever needs to, could she go hangout at this place? I'll even make sure to pay you in advance if she ever needs a snack or two."
"Oh, you mean to escape solitary confinement? Sure. I'll be sure to look after her." Aiden knew exactly what Alice meant.
"Shh... Don't want Jean to hear our plan." Alice teased. "Anyways, thank you again for your cooperation. See you."
The device then went silent, leaving Aiden alone once again with his thought.
"Well, guess it's time to work on those brochures, so I don't have to explain everything to every customer ever again. Now, let's see if this place has a printer."
.....
Beep beep!
Beep beep!
Beep bee- Slap!
With a slap, the loud beeping from the clock stopped as Furina finally awakened from her sleep.
"Yawn... What a dream yesterday was..." Furina muttered to herself as she rubbed her eyes and looked around in her room.
"Wait..." It didn't take long for Furina to realise that something was not right. Firstly, she was pretty sure her clock sounded different than the beeping sound. Secondly, and most importantly, this was definitely not her room.
"Ahh!" She yelled out when realisation finally dawned on her that yesterday was definitely not a dream. Getting up from the bed in record time, she took a second to clean her face as best as she could before quickly bolting to the door.
"Ohh, Barbara-sama~ You're finally here~"
When she opened the door wide open, the first thing she saw was that the cafe was livelier than yesterday, with a lot of people playing the game, some accompanied by their friends, while Aiden was busy handling customers at the front counters.
"Here's your assigned seating and your account information. Have fun," Aiden said to the customer who, unfortunately for Furina, is a Fontainian who very much noticed her coming out of the room.
"Is that Lady Furina?!" The man yelled out.
Immediately, the cafe went silent as all eyes shifted from their screens to her.
"Isn't that the Archon of Fontaine?"
"Yeah."
"Did she come out of the manager's bedroom?"
"You don't think..."
"Shh..."
Furina could hear the customers from Fontaine whispering to themself loudly, which made the customer who were unfamiliar with her widen their eyes in realisation. No doubt rumours are about to abound.
"Ahem." Aiden, seeing the situation, faked coughing to get everyone's attention. "Dear customers, please do not go around spreading fake rumours. Lady Furina, here was merely investigating the cafe for any signs of evil afoot."
Furina quickly caught on to what Aiden was hinting at and began to don her act as usual. "That is right, my dear subjects. I, Furina de Fontaine, have declared that this cafe is indeed safe."
That seemed to do the trick as the crowd accepted Furina's explanation and went back to their computers. Still, there are some who kept on glancing at her.
'Phew.' Furina internally sighed in relief. "Mister Aiden, I must thank you for your cooperation. I shall be taking my leave now; or else, my security detail will be wondering where I am."
"Quite right, Lady Furina." The voice of Clorinde suddenly materialized, startling Furina as she saw Clorinde looking at Aiden with a serious expression.
"O-oh, Clorinde. I assume you must be looking for me?"
Clorinde nodded in confirmation, still eyeing Aiden. "A trial that is awaiting you, Lady Furina. Please make haste so as not to make Monsieur Neuvillette wait anymore."
"Very well. Lead the way."
Just as they started to leave, Furina was stopped by Aiden, who was holding a container filled with food in his hand. "Lady Furina, you still haven't eaten breakfast yet, right? Here." He handed the container to Furina, who immediately noticed that it was filled with macaroni pasta.
"Ah, thank you, Mister Aiden. Now then, let's head off."
.....
As Aiden watched the two leave, another person took his attention. A person whose actions had been making others uncomfortable.
"Oh~ Barbara-sama~"
Albert.
Aiden went over to where Albert was seated and, very aggressively, grabbed his shoulders.
Albert, who is in the middle of admiring the in-game Barbara, shot up from his seat. "AH! O-oh, it's you, manager."
"Dear customer. Please behave yourself. You're making the others uncomfortable. Or else..."
Albert couldn't help but gulp in nervousness at the tone Aiden was giving him. "Y-yes. O-of course. I'll behave." He quickly stammered.
"Good."
Aiden then went back to the counter to wait for more customers to arrive. As he waited, he couldn't help but look around at the cafe. Some customers are, of course, playing the game while others are merely here to hear the game's music and/or relax with their friends.
He couldn't help but notice that a considerable number of people here are definitely members of the Fatui, no doubt seeking information.
"Oh well. As long as they're paying."