The scent of salt, silt, and sizzling street food hung thick over the docks of Liyue Harbor, a stark and welcome contrast to the subtle, earthy aromas of mushrooms and miso that had dominated Alexander's palate at the Grand Narukami Shrine. Here, the air itself was seasoned, rich with the promise of adventure and commerce.
For Yae Miko, it was a buffet of new experiences, her feline eyes, sharp and perceptive, darted from a storyteller captivating a crowd, to a merchant haggling over the price of imported silk, then to a stoic Millelith guard efficiently apprehending a would-be pickpocket. Liyue was a stage, and she was delighted by the quality of the performers.
Their first week had been a whirlwind of tourism. They'd eaten their way through the most recommended restaurants, and suffered the subsequent death of taste buds, browsed every bookstore, and spent lazy afternoons drinking tea while watching theatre plays.
"Another day, another thousand Mora spent on trinkets and leisure," Alexander mused, leaning on a wooden railing overlooking the bustling wharf. "My coin purse is starting to look anemic."
Yae, leaning beside him, flicked her ear dismissively. "A temporary condition."
"We can't just be tourists forever."
"And why not? It's a delightful profession."
"Because I can't," he said, his tone shifting to something more earnest. He nodded towards a group of adventurers trudging past, their armor scuffed and their posture weary. "I didn't leave home just to be a spectator. I need to… do something."
"Fine," she sighed, as if granting him a monumental favor. "If you insist on being productive, let's be productive."
She pushed off the railing, a sly, familiar grin spreading across her face. "Follow my lead."
Her plan, as it turned out, was less about monster hunting and more about socialising. She led him to a notice board plastered with requests: missing heirlooms, pest infestations, escort missions.
But Yae's eyes scanned past the ones offering straightforward combat.
"Ah, this one," she purred, plucking a specific notice. It was from a well-to-do merchant, complaining of a "persistent spiritual disturbance" in his newly acquired warehouse that was scaring off his workers and disrupting trade.
The pay was substantial to say the least.
"A ghost?" Alexander raised an eyebrow. "I'm not an exorcist."
"Don't be so literal," she chided, tapping the side of her head, the young man rolled his eyes.
After some time they found the merchant, a man named Master Zhu, wringing his hands in front of a large, slightly dilapidated warehouse.
"Are you here for the commission?" the man asked tentatively, eager to hear the good news.
"Of course, Master Zhu, if I understand correctly?" The sly fox has already started weaving her orbs of intrigue.
After getting promptly acquainted, he spoke in detail of the problem plaguing his dear warehouse: disembodied wails, items moving on their own and dead, dismembered pests.
Yae listened with an expression of grave sympathy. "A most troubling situation, Master Zhu. A classic case of a disgruntled earth spirit, angered by the disruption of its slumber. My companion and I are specialists in such… negotiations."
Alexander stood slightly behind her, doing his best to look neutral, but inside, he was marveling at her ability to speak sheer nonsense.
A few more moments of theatrical consultation followed before she instructed Alexander to stand guard at the warehouse entrance, a "vital conduit for containing spiritual energy", while she swept inside, her Electro Vision glowing with a soft, ominous violet light.
He heard her speaking in low, theatrical tones, a mix of soothing words and sharp commands. Then, there was a bright flash of violet light from within, followed by a dramatic, fading wail that she must have produced herself.
She emerged, dusting her hands. "The spirit has been placated. It demanded a tribute for its peace."
Master Zhu's eyes widened. "A tribute? What manner of tribute?"
"It has a taste for fine literature," Yae said solemnly. "A monthly donation of new books to the Wanwen Bookhouse in its name should ensure it remains… content. I will, of course, need to act as the intermediary for these deliveries, to ensure the offerings meet its exacting standards." She named a fee for this ongoing service that nearly made Alexander break his deadpan at the audacity.
The merchant, however, while visibly relieved, was no wide-eyed rookie. This was Liyue, the Geo Archon's domain. A flicker of shrewdness entered his eyes. "A most… specific solution. Let us solidify this agreement in the proper manner." He promptly procured a pre-written contract form from within his robes.
This action made the fox's smile tighten almost imperceptibly. But after a moment of scanning the dense legalese, her confidence returned, and she signed with a flourish worthy of a Qixing secretary.
As they walked away, the initial payment promised for the following day upon confirmation of the warehouse's peace, Alexander shook his head in disbelief. "You just convinced a man to pay you a monthly stipend to donate books to your favorite bookstore. I'm almost impressed."
"I solved his problem, stimulated local commerce, and promoted literacy," Yae countered, looking immensely pleased with herself. "It's what I call a 'triple-profit' operation. You provided the crucial, intimidating presence. See? We make an excellent team."
"Yae," Alexander said, his voice dropping to a concerned whisper, "you just swindled a merchant in the land of commerce and contracts. How do we even know we solved his problem? He won't pay us until tomorrow, to see if the ghost is truly gone." A knot of anxiety tightened in his stomach. The sanctity of a Liyue contract felt more intimidating than any Geovishap.
"That, my dear worrier, is the easiest part of all," Yae said, not breaking her stride. She took a sharp turn off the main path, leading them away from the warm glow of the street lanterns and into a narrow, shadowy alley. Her Electro Vision glowed again, not for show, but to light their way into the city's underbelly.
"It would be great if you could explain the plan before we potentially get arrested for fraud," the young man couldn't help but whine, the darkness amplifying his unease.
"Didn't I tell you to think outside the box?" she asked, her voice a teasing murmur in the gloom.
"When taking the commission, you mean?"
"Precisely."
"Well, I'm drawing a blank. So, what's the play?"
The duo took a series of increasingly narrow and deserted twists and turns, moving into a wooded area on the city's outskirts where the moonlight was devoured by a thick canopy. They moved carefully, their footsteps silenced by the soft loam, their world now reduced to the dim, purple-tinged radius of Yae's vision.
"Well," she mocked, her voice deliberately low, "if a camp of bandits, for instance, were discovered to be operating nearby, using cheap tricks to simulate a haunting, would that give you any ideas?" She preened, her tail twitching with smug satisfaction.
"Are you saying bandits are making it seem like the warehouse is haunted to turn a profit?" Alex whispered, his confusion giving way to dawning understanding.
"That is precisely what is occurring."
"How could you possibly know that before we even took the commission?" he asked, his eyes narrowing in the dim light.
"Use that brain of yours, Alex. In a nation where the premier exorcist clan, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, deals with the actual dead, do you think a legitimate commission about a ghost would linger on a public board for more than an hour? It would have been snapped up, solved, or declared a hoax. The fact it remained meant it was either a problem nobody credible wanted, or…" she let the implication hang in the air.
"Ooooh, that does make sense…" he finally conceded. "But wait, why didn't the Millelith get involved, then?"
"They are an army and a police force, not ghost-hunters, as low-probability as it sounds. They need evidence. How do you expect them to charge someone with 'creating a spooky atmosphere'?" she chuckled softly, the sound like rustling leaves.
Before Alex could retort, they crested a small rise and stumbled upon their target. Below, nestled in a hidden gully, was a large, poorly organized campsite. A group of roughly twenty men and women, clothed in mismatched, rugged gear, were clustered around a central bonfire, their raucous laughter echoing in the quiet night. Some cooked a haunch of meat, others sharpened weapons, and a few were engaged in a drunken wrestling match.
'Not a single sentry?' Alexander thought, incredulous. Even without the knowledge granted by his Warrior Perk, that was a fundamental, fatal error. It spoke of arrogance, or sheer incompetence.
He glanced at Yae, and she read the question in his eyes perfectly. She merely shrugged, her lips forming a silent, contemptuous word: 'Amateurs.'
The guiding light from her Vision had long been extinguished. They were shrouded in the deep shadows of the trees, observing the camp from above. The bonfire below provided a perfect, almost theatrical illumination, revealing the bandits' sloppy organization.
"They're overconfident," Alexander murmured, his voice barely a breath. "Being this close to the city without proper guards... they think they're untouchable."
"Or they're simply fools," Yae replied, her gaze analytical. "Their equipment is poor. A few clubs, some worn swords. No bows that I can see. This is a gang of opportunists, not seasoned fighters."
A mischievous glint passed through Alexander's eyes, as his face contorted into a silly smile, "How about we make them think the very thing they've been pretending to be is coming for them?" he whispered.
Yae whispered back with a mirroring sly grin "Now you're thinking! Let's give them a real ghost story then."
He nodded, nocking an arrow. He wouldn't aim to kill, but to terrify. To make the shadows seem alive. The Bow Perk Branch provided ample opportunity to remain a ghost while firing, while the anemo-imbued arrows would whistle and strike through wherever he wanted.
The first arrow was a whisper of death that never landed. It flew true and silent, slicing through the leather strap holding a cooking pot over the fire. The pot clattered to the ground with a deafening clang, spilling stew and embers everywhere. The bandits jolted, their merriment snapping into confused alarm.
"Wha—? Who did that?" a large man, presumably the leader, roared, scanning the dark tree line.
From the opposite side of the camp, a sphere of crackling Electro energy, no larger than a fist, shot from the darkness. It didn't strike anyone but hit a stack of empty crates, which erupted in a spectacular shower of purple sparks and splintered wood. The bandits yelped, scrambling back from the sudden, unnatural display.
*Kyaah!"
one of them shrieked, others followed.
Alexander loosed another arrow, this one severing the rope of a lantern, plunging a section of the camp into deeper shadow. Panic began to spread, a contagion more effective than any blade. Yae's voice then echoed from a third, impossible direction, layered with Electro energy to sound ethereal and omnipresent.
"You have trespassed... disturbed the peace... Your tricks have summoned true wrath..."
Another Electro sphere zipped past the leader's head, close enough for him to feel the static make his hair stand on end. He stumbled backward, his bravado evaporating. This was no Millelith patrol; this was something they couldn't fight.
"That's it! I'm not getting cursed for a few sacks of mora!" a woman yelled, dropping her sword and bolting into the woods. Her flight broke the dam. The bandits, now a mob of pure terror, scattered in the direction the first one ran away to, abandoning their camp, their loot, and their nerve entirely.
Unfortunately for them, it proved no challenge for Alexander to intercept them one by one with a knock out, as he gave chase with nimble, ghostly movements.
Within minutes, the gully was silent save for the crackling of the untended fire. Yae then emerged from the shadows, meeting Alexander as he stacked the knocked out bodies.
"See?" Yae said, nudging a discarded club with her foot. "No need for messy confrontations. Fear did all the work for us. And we have our confirmation for Master Zhu."
A slow grin spread across Alexander's face, "that was pretty fun," he admitted.
The following morning, under the bright, commercial light of a new Liyue day, the duo returned to Master Zhu's warehouse. The difference was palpable. Where before there had been a nervous energy, now there was only the industrious hum of commerce. Workers moved with purpose, loading and unloading crates without a single fearful glance into the shadows.
Master Zhu himself was a man transformed, his earlier hand-wringing replaced by a satisfied, if slightly calculating, demeanor. He spotted them approaching and gave a curt, businesslike nod.
"The commission," he said, without preamble, producing a heavy, clinking pouch from his sleeve. "The warehouse has been perfectly silent. My workers reported the most restful night in weeks. Your methods were… unorthodox, but effective." He handed the pouch to Yae, who accepted it with a grace that belied its satisfying weight.
"The spirit is content," Yae declared, her tone implying a professional secret. "So long as the… literary tributes continue, you shall have no further trouble."
"The contract is signed," Zhu acknowledged, though a flicker in his eyes suggested he still had his private theories about the nature of his 'spirit.' In Liyue, a result was a result, regardless of the methodology. "A pleasure doing business."
As they stepped away, merging back into the flow of the harbor's crowd, Alexander felt the lingering knot of anxiety finally dissolve, replaced by a warm glow of accomplishment. He watched Yae deftly split the mora, handing him his share.
"See?" she said, her voice a purr of contentment as she tucked her own earnings away. "No arrests, no broken contracts, and a tidy profit for a morning's work. We have funded our continued tourism, promoted cultural enrichment, and removed a blight upon the local economy. I'd call that a resounding success."
Alexander hefted his own coin purse, now pleasingly plump. The clink of mora was a sound he could get used to. "I suppose I can't argue with the results," he conceded, a genuine smile touching his lips for the first time since they'd taken the job. "But next time, maybe a little more warning before you sign a binding contract with a Liyue merchant?"
Yae Miko's laughter, light and teasing, was carried away by the salted breeze. "Where would be the fun in that, my dear worrier? Now, I believe I saw a vendor selling grilled tiger fish that simply demands our attention. My treat."
With the specter of fraud lifted and their pockets full, the prospect of another day as "delightful professionals" suddenly seemed far more appealing. Together, they walked towards the sizzling sounds and tantalizing smells, ready to enjoy the fruits of their very productive labor.