Jiang Bai clapped his hands, then declared with a straight face, “Protecting me is now your mission, Klee!”
Klee snapped to attention and saluted.
“Knight Klee guarantees the mission will be completed!”
Watching the two, Kaeya couldn’t help but comment, “I think I finally get why she loves playing with you so much.”
There really weren’t many adults in Mondstadt who could play along with Klee like this.
With the power node in the temple taken care of, their task was complete.
“Mission’s done. You’re free to go play now,” Kaeya started shooing them away.
“But I haven’t seen the big dragon yet!” Klee protested.
She’d promised to go apologize to the dragon—how could she just leave without even seeing him?
“We’ll handle the rest. Don’t worry and go have some fun,” Kaeya said, shooting Jiang Bai a look to try to get him to take Klee away.
Jiang Bai shrugged. As if Klee would just leave at a time like this. Even if I carried her off, she’d just sneak back.
Klee stood her ground, unmoved. Kaeya switched tactics.
“Didn’t you want to go blow up fish? Jean’s busy now. If you ask Big Brother Jiang Bai to take you, no one will catch you this time!”
“No! Klee doesn’t want to blow up fish right now!” Klee’s resolve was ironclad—even the temptation of fish-blasting couldn’t sway her.
If even that didn’t work, Kaeya was out of ideas.
Kids could be impossibly stubborn when they wanted to be.
“All right, then just step outside for now. We’ll meet up later at Windrise.”
Jiang Bai couldn’t help noticing how eager Kaeya was to get them out of there.
Was there some kind of danger? But hadn’t Klee already wiped out all the monsters? Or maybe there was something he didn’t want us to see?
He glanced around, then suddenly sensed an odd fluctuation.
He conjured a small stone in his hand and tossed it behind a large pillar.
A pained yelp rang out, and the next moment an Abyss Mage stumbled out, clutching his shield, a huge bump already swelling on his head.
The mage glared at Jiang Bai, furious, and began chanting a spell.
Jiang Bai barely had time to throw up a shield around the three of them.
Just then, a massive fiery owl swept toward the Abyss Mage in a blast of heat, and Diluc appeared—wielding a blazing sword. With two swift blows, he broke the shield and knocked the mage out cold.
The fight was over in two moves, clean and efficient.
When Klee saw who it was, she leapt up in delight.
“It’s Big Brother Diluc!”
Ever since Diluc had brought her back from Dragonspine, she’d really taken a liking to this big brother who never seemed to smile.
He might look cold on the outside, but he was actually a good person—and he was always kind to Klee!
Seeing her, Diluc looked a bit pained.
“What are you doing here?”
“Klee is the Spark Knight! Of course I’m here!” Klee answered, hands on her hips, determined not to be underestimated.
Diluc’s eyes slid over to Kaeya, who gave a helpless smile in return.
He’d tried to get Klee to leave, but this little one just wouldn’t budge.
Diluc lowered his gaze, clearly uninterested in arguing with Kaeya.
Instead, he turned to Jiang Bai.
“And you are?”
“Jiang Bai.” Jiang Bai kept it simple.
Kaeya gave Jiang Bai a nudge, clearly expecting something more.
“Hand out a flier! Why aren’t you giving him a flier?”
He was dying to see Diluc’s reaction to being handed one.
“I don’t think he’d have any use for my flier,” Jiang Bai replied, spreading his hands.
This guy didn’t seem easy to approach, with that icy expression. And with skills like his—knocking out an Abyss Mage through its shield in two strikes—not even Director Hu Tao could manage that.
Giving him a flier might just get him punched.
Kaeya could barely hold back a retort.
“So what, I look like someone who would need one? You totally pick and choose who gets a flier!”
Maybe I really am too easygoing… Maybe I should be more like Diluc—keep a straight face when this guy’s around!
“Exactly,” Jiang Bai agreed without hesitation.
Of course I pick and choose! Why go asking for trouble?
Diluc gave Kaeya a blank look—his instincts telling him Kaeya was up to no good.
Jiang Bai nudged Kaeya.
“Come on, introduce me! Who is this?”
He’d heard Klee call him Diluc, but the gear didn’t look like anything the Knights wore.
Getting to know someone this skilled could only be a good thing.
“Diluc—owner of Dawn Winery, Mondstadt’s richest man.”
Jiang Bai was genuinely surprised.
So this is Mondstadt’s wealthiest person!
I guess for Liyue it’d be Ningguang, right…
“I’ve heard of you,” Diluc said, looking Jiang Bai up and down.
“Oh?” Jiang Bai was even more surprised.
A little nobody like me, and someone like this has heard of me? That’s a first.
“When we were on Dragonspine, I heard this one here talk about you. I’ve also read that ‘Snowy Chronicles’ book.”
“Hey, hey, you’re not even going to say my name now?” Kaeya protested.
Diluc ignored him completely.
Now Jiang Bai understood.
So he’s a book fan!
Suddenly, he didn’t think Diluc was so hard to talk to after all. Grinning, he pulled out a flier and began to pitch.
“Since you’ve read ‘Snowy Chronicles,’ you must know about Wangsheng Funeral Parlor’s services. Interested in signing up for one?”
He was only half-serious—he never really expected Diluc to agree.
But what Diluc said next completely took him by surprise.
“All right.”
“!!!” Jiang Bai’s eyes widened.
“You’re actually going to sign up? Are you heading somewhere dangerous, or… not long for this world?”
He looked Diluc up and down, but didn’t see any signs of ill health.
“It’s just a precaution.”
There was a detailed description of Wangsheng’s services in ‘Snowy Chronicles.’ After reading it, Diluc had done some research, and concluded it was actually a smart move.
He spent most of his time lurking in the shadows and was a high-ranking member of the Northern Continent’s underground intelligence network.
There were too many dangerous groups in this world—Fatui, the Abyss Order, remnants of Khaenri’ah, or the Abyss itself.
Whether seeking information or protecting Mondstadt, he often traveled to the most dangerous corners of the world. He never knew when his end might come.
If someone could be notified of his death the moment it happened, passing on his information, then even his death would have value.
And Wangsheng Funeral Parlor’s business model suited him perfectly.
The only requirement was that this ferryman needed to actually be able to reach dangerous places—otherwise, it’d just be another needless casualty.
—
T/N: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT actually it seems in character still wild
This is a fan translation of 胡桃拿我冲业绩 by 余溯. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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