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***

“Ah, Dvalin…the anguish it feels has brought it to tears…It was once such a good child…Now so full of rage and suffering…” Venti reached his hand to his pocket and pulled out a smaller version of the crimson crystal. “I also came across a Teardrop Crystal…Can you purify it for me?”

He handed Lumine the Crystal, and she gazed at it intently. Soon enough, the red crystal resonated with something inside of her and slowly changed color, turning into a lighter shade of blue.

“Ehhhh!? How is that possible! Paimon never knew you had such an ability!”

Lumine shook her head and replied, “Neither did I…Something like this is completely new to me…”

Yomite just rubbed his palms together. He had struck gold with her.

It seemed like Lumine had yet another protagonist cheat. He was more than happy for the addition. The more cheat abilities his teammates had, the easier time exploring and fighting monsters would be. Hail the cheats of isekai protagonists!

Charles gazed at the weird crystal in her hands and whispered, “I believe it would be better for you to go upstairs, where no people are currently staying at.” He looked around the pub, some men were sleeping soundly on their desk and some were laughing out loud whilst listening to the embarrassing tales of their comrades.

“Things like that should be talked about in private, you never know who is listening.”

The group agreed with his suggestion and went up to the second floor. Yomite had a bit of a hard time walking up the stairs, but luckily, he managed to successfully do it without falling over.

“So…what now?”

Lumine ran her fingers through her hair and closed her eyes. She knew that Acting Grand Master Jean told her to gather as much info as possible about the Stormterror. “I think you should answer a few of our questions, wouldn’t you agree?” She glanced at Venti and observed his reaction.

Venti nodded and answered, “No problem! You can ask me whatever you want while we are here!”

“Tch.” Yomite clicked his tongue, crossing his arms as he rested his back against the door leading to the balcony. “Then, are you really a guy,” he said the words with his ragged voice, an aroma of alcohol leaving his mouth.

Paimon leaned towards Lumine and whispered, “Ugh…are we sure we want this drunkard as our leader? He seems pretty unreliable. Paimon thinks the two of us will be enough,”

She shook her head in response, resting her gaze onto him, “We are already signed up as a part of his team and besides, he might be one of the few people I could talk to about myself.” she half-smiled, barely flashing her pearly white teeth against her lips, betraying her usual emotionless facade.

Yomite was a stranger to her, yet she felt like she had done the right thing by joining his party. She felt at ease.

“Oi, I can hear you…I am right here…”

Venti chuckled and responded, “I don’t mind, I don’t mind…Yes, I am indeed a boy. A boy’s vessel.”

Yomite sighed after his answer. As weird as Venti’s wording in that phrase seemed to be, it looked like Venti wasn’t lying.

“Oi! Paimon wants to ask some stuff too!”

“Go on, little one!”

*

**

***

And so the group exchanged some info, mostly regarding Dvalin and its weaknesses or maybe some ways to convince it.

Twenty minutes later, they stood up and went downstairs.

As they were about to leave, Charles stopped Yomite and handed him another drink, “Use this. It will refreshen your mind immediately. Thanks for helping me get rid of that bottle of cursed alcohol. This one is on the house.”

Yomite thanked Charles and took a sip of the drink. It tasted like mashed apple juice, dipped in a few cubes of extra cold ice.

Immediately, his vision was focused, and he regained his senses. The blurriness within his mind had faded, and he couldn’t help but feel impressed at the functionality of this drink. It was simply phenomenal.

Something like this would sell in his old world like hotcakes.

He gazed at the title of the bottle which was currently situated on the bar counter in front of him, and it read Apple Cider. A seemingly common title for a refreshing drink.

Charles then further explained that it was ordered by the local tavern patrons often as the last drink of the night, as it was said to have a strong sobering effect. People call it the Fast Rebirth Drink.

“Ah, but to think that the Cyka Vodka ended up the same disappointment as last time…how unfortunate…” Charles sighed.

“Hm? What do you mean by that?” Yomite probed.

“Well, in the past, there was this wine called Fire-Water. It was brought into Mondstadt by Snezhnayan merchants…but Master Diluc has halted the distribution as he passed out for three days after downing a single glass of the said alcohol, stating that the people of Mondstadt couldn’t handle this…” Charles smiled to himself as soon as he remembered the state Master Diluc was in.

Laying on the bed, paralyzed. The maids were in uproar and everyone was panicking, thinking that the Strong, Handsome, Brave, Master Diluc was poisoned by Snezhnayan merchants. It was truly funny.

A man of multiple identities, the guardian of the night, falling over after one glass of alcohol.

“Interesting, I feel like I could give this piece of info to Kaeya, in exchange for something valuable…” Yomite had an evil glint in his eye. Kaeya’s personality was starting to rub off on him.

Charles showed a small grin, “What an evil asshat you are, but remember, you didn’t hear it from me. Anyway, Master Diluc dislikes alcohol, so I thought it was just him, not being used to drinking. But oh boy, was I wrong. I, myself, was out for a while after trying out that wine…Never again am I going to taste a beverage from Snezhnaya. This one was a failure just like the Fire-Water wine…”

The group laughed at his words, and Yomite handed him the payment for the stuff he drank.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that the bottle of that thing cost so much I wouldn’t even require Mora from you as you helped me out, but in the future, you could order a few drinks for free.”

They said their farewells and Yomite and his group left the tavern in high spirits.