Still, if either of them suddenly thought to ask, he'd answer them readily enough. That was his policy: asked, he'd tell; not asked, he wouldn't bring it up. Simple as that.
Right — I should make a show of wanting to look around the area...
With that thought in mind, Kaito spoke up. "We've seen just about everything here. I'll go take a look around the perimeter — she might have left other traces behind somewhere."
"Fair enough. I'll leave this place to the two of you, then — I have things to get back to."
At Kaito's words, Ningguang indicated that she was leaving the site in his and Yelan's hands and would return to her own affairs.
She knew the matter of Mobius was deeply important, but there was nothing she could do about it right now. Mobius had yet to appear, and nobody knew when she would. It wasn't as though Ningguang could afford to have her mind on nothing else — all of Liyue was waiting on decisions only she could make.
And so, for now, she had no choice but to leave things to Kaito and Yelan.
"No problem," said Kaito.
"Leave it to me," said Yelan.
The two responded in turn. Then Ningguang gestured toward the Millelith soldiers standing guard nearby and added, "The Millelith stationed here are at your disposal. If you need anything from them, just say the word."
She doubted the Millelith would be much use against someone like Mobius — but for smaller tasks, they'd do well enough. No matter a person's strength, everyone had their role to play.
Even Rex Lapis, in his time, had relied on the Millelith. It had been true then, and it would remain true going forward.
"Oh, we have backup?" Kaito glanced over at the soldiers Ningguang had pointed to and smiled. "That makes things a lot easier."
He was only putting on a show of searching the area anyway — but Guili Plains was still a fairly large stretch of land, and with the Millelith's help, he'd be able to sweep through it all in short order.
"Then I'll leave it to you both."
With those parting words, Ningguang turned and walked away.
"She really does stay busy, doesn't she." Kaito watched her retreating figure and murmured it to no one in particular.
It was still early in the day, and yet Ningguang was already deep in her work.
"When you hold a seat among the Qixing, that's just the nature of things," Yelan said, offering her own thought. "Nothing stays the same forever."
"Fair point." Kaito turned his head to glance at her and nodded.
He had the sense there was more layered beneath her words, but he couldn't be bothered to dig into it. A casual reply was good enough. He was an outsider here — no need to go poking his nose into things that didn't concern him, and he had no particular interest in getting tangled up in any of it either.
"Let's each take a section of Millelith and sweep the area, then — see if anything's off."
Since Kaito hadn't pressed her, Yelan moved to get the search underway.
"Right. Let's get started." He gave a nod, and the search began.
He already knew there was nothing to find, of course — you couldn't exactly uncover your own tracks — but appearances had to be maintained, and he intended to maintain them properly.
And so Kaito and Yelan each took a contingent of Millelith soldiers and began combing through Guili Plains. Just as he'd expected, they turned up nothing at all, and by the time they reconvened at the original site, it was already noon.
"Nothing on my end." Back at the meeting point, Kaito shook his head. "No sign of anything unusual."
Then he turned and asked, "What about you? Find anything?"
"Same as you — nothing." Yelan shook her head as well. "The Hilichurl numbers really are thin out there, though."
The result didn't surprise her in the slightest. If anything, finding something would have been the surprise.
As far as she could see, Mobius wasn't the type to be found so easily — not unless she chose to show herself or kicked up some kind of obvious commotion.
"In that case, let's head back. It's already noon." As he said it, Kaito tilted his head back to look at the sky.
His thoughts had drifted to Miko and Lumine — wondering what the two of them were up to right now. Honestly, he was quite curious.
"Mm. Let's go." Yelan glanced up at the sky as well, then gave a nod.
With nothing found, the natural next step was to report back to Ningguang.
The two of them made their way back toward Liyue Harbor.
Once inside the city, Kaito said, "I'll head back on my own, then. If Ningguang needs me for anything, she knows where to find me."
Since Yelan would be the one reporting to Ningguang, Kaito saw no reason to make the climb up to the Jade Chamber himself.
That said, if Ningguang wanted him there, he'd go — but he'd wait for that call.
"Alright." Yelan gave a small nod and watched as Kaito walked away.
A moment later, she withdrew her gaze and headed off in her own direction.
Jade Chamber.
Not long after, Yelan arrived at the Jade Chamber.
The moment she stepped up, she found Ningguang already outside, standing quietly as she gazed out at the distance.
"Anything to report?" Before Yelan had even come to a stop, Ningguang had already turned to face her and asked.
In truth, she had a fairly good guess — but she was still hoping Yelan might surprise her.
"Nothing," Yelan answered simply, without elaboration.
"And Kaito?"
Unsurprised, Ningguang asked after him next. She'd anticipated this answer too — she just wanted an excuse to bring him up.
"He went back to that little courtyard of his, I'd imagine."
Kaito had only said he was heading back without specifying where, so Yelan hedged her reply with an "I'd imagine."
"You should have brought him up with you. I forgot to mention it earlier — I'd already had lunch prepared for both of you."
"I can go fetch him now."
At Ningguang's words, Yelan moved to do just that — but before she could take a single step, Ningguang spoke again.
"Don't bother. He's already gone back, so let's leave it. There'll be a next time."
Ningguang knew, of course, that Kaito's two girlfriends were already at that little courtyard waiting for him with a meal ready. Now that he'd gone home, there was no need to drag him back out for lunch.
"What about on your end?" Yelan turned the question back to Ningguang. "Did you find anything here?"
She knew Ningguang had her network of eyes and ears — even from up here, information reached her.
"Nothing. Not a single scrap." Ningguang shook her head.
"Then she's probably holed up in a cave somewhere out in the wilderness," Yelan said, thinking it through. "If she were in the city, she'd never be able to hide this cleanly."
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