A Partnership of Affluence and Crime

Mondstadt, the city of freedom. Yuhai had wondered what it would be like. Would it be hashbrown sunnyside egg breakfasts and pleasant breezes underneath an apple tree like Enki had made it out to be? Could it be a new opportunity for Yuhai to spread his graffiti? 

Yuhai was determined to check it out, despite his empty wallet. Enki had once asked him, "You know it took me so long to ever leave Sumeru, but when I did I found so much fun in Liyue. Have you seen the other countries before? 'cause you should definitely show me them!” He definitely didn't want to let down his friend. 

The best way to sneak into a city would be to hide in the luggage. So one sunny afternoon, when a shipment of ingredients arrived through the gates of Mondstadt, the unsuspecting merchants had an extra box in their blimp which housed Yuhai. 

“Wow, this shipment is extra heavy,” one of the merchants mused. Yuhai held his breath in his claustrophobic crate, his heart pounding as he hoped the merchants wouldn’t check the contents of the crates.

“Yeah, Good Hunter got all their pepper blown away,” the second merchant replied, “I bet most of the weight here is that.”

“That’s a lot of pepper,” the first merchant commented. Yuhai released his pent-up breath when he realized the two merchants weren’t going to check the box. 

Once he thought that the merchants were gone, Yuhai carefully opened the lid of his crate to take a look at the city. It was a bustling city of red and white buildings, cobblestone roads, and friendly vibes. After taking a look around to make sure the coast was clear, Yuhai began to lift himself out of the crate. 

Then he froze. A bit to his left was a dusty haired man with goggles. Yuhai glued his eyes on the person while simultaneously hoping that he didn’t see Yuhai as he slowly began to lower himself back into the box.

Edrich raised an eyebrow as the man inside the box began to retreat slowly back inside. He looked around— the merchants didn’t seem to know they were transporting another human being inside their shipment. 

“You know I saw you right?” He called out as he made his way to the box, lifting the lid to look at him. “There are a lot less claustrophobic ways to get into Mondstadt. Like walking through those gates over there.” Edrich lifted his finger towards the archway. 

Could this be a dangerous person? He looked harmless from what he could see— his eyes shifted towards the shining blue vision clipped on the man’s belt. Well, perhaps not completely harmless. Sneaking into the city inside a shipment was a vision holder, he wondered if the Knights of Favonius had something in their handbook about dealing with this kind of situation.

He leaned on the edge of the crate, careful not to put his entire weight so it wouldn’t collapse. A smile graced his lips. “So, what brings you to Mondstadt, stranger? Looking for work in a box?”

Damn, he was caught already. With a heart pounding with adrenaline, Yuhai realized that he would have to act normal to avoid being reported to the people in charge. The man in front of him didn’t look like an authoritative figure. 

“Hey, you know it’s probably a crime to be tampering with a shipment right?” Yuhai smirked, “Especially since it’s alive.”

A spider emerged from Yuhai’s hair and dangled down from Yuhai’s ear to his shoulder. Yuhai turned to look at them. He swore that his arachnid buddy was giving him a disapproving glance. Yuhai sighed, “Alright, I suppose Mondstadt probably doesn’t have human trafficking.”

Yuhai turned back to the goggle-wearing man and answered his question legitimately, “It’s cheaper and faster to travel as luggage. Zero mora and all I have to do is find a carriage to bring me here. And I get to have shelter from the rain, which my buddies here really don’t like.”

He shifted around in his box until he got into a comfortable sitting position with his legs bent and his arms resting on his knees. Despite the relaxed appearance, Yuhai felt like a bird that could fly away at any moment. Although he had to admit, the scare of being caught was kinda fun. 

“And I guess I came here to vacation?” Yuhai squirmed, doubting what he was saying, “But I didn’t bring any mora with me, so if someone did offer me a job, awesome, I can afford lunch.”

A warm chuckle came out of Edrich’s mouth. For someone who’s been caught in the act, he certainly knew how to lighten the mood. “It doesn’t. Unless they do and I just don’t know.” He let out a contemplative hum. “Though, that’s unlikely. We’re the City of Freedom. Slaves are the last thing anyone would exchange.” Their history weighed heavily on all of their minds; a constant reminder of what they should fall to. Ever.

A mode of transport? Well, Edrich couldn’t blame him. If the man was telling the truth about him having no money, the best way to go about it is to hitch a ride to the next kingdom. That or walk all the way— which wouldn’t be the best thing if you didn’t have the important supplies. His eyes flitted to his ‘buddies’ which were two spiders it would seem. Interesting choice of companionship. Though— he lifted his eyes to the side where his golden seelie was aimlessly floating around the square, patiently waiting for him to finish his exchange— he couldn’t really judge.

“You went on vacation with no mora to your name? You’re either very brave or very foolish.” Still, his smile pulled up even more as he took his weight off of the box and extended a hand. “Well, it so happens that I’m in need of some brave adventurer to help me with a few commissions in the guild.” He winked. “I doubt there’s anyone braver than someone who snuck inside a carriage and hid inside shipment until they got to Mondstadt eh?”

“I’m probably more foolish than brave,” Yuhai released a carefree laugh. He shuddered at the thought of the fines that would be imposed on him if he had been discovered smuggling himself into Mondstadt. 

“So you’re in the Adventurer’s Guild?” Yuhai asked. He released a sigh of relief when he realized he was safe, “Whew. I was afraid you were like the Millileth or something.”

Yuhai contemplated the offer the man was giving him. While Yuhai certainly did not see himself as an adventurer, being a former treasure hoarder was close enough. Both looted adventuring sites for valuables, both required bravery. It was odd that Yuhai never considered working for the Guild. Maybe it was because the Adventurer’s Guild was seen as childish among the Treasure Hoarders. Yeah, that was it. But now that Yuhai was no longer a part of them, he could do whatever he wanted. 

So Yuhai quickly swept up the belongings that he brought with him in the crate-- which was literally just a bag of unshelled salted sunflower seeds that he brought along as a snack, a blanket, and a leather pouch of water-- and accepted the stranger’s hand of assistance to climb out of the crate. 

“I guess I can hear about what this job entails,” Yuhai said, although he shook his bag of sunflower seeds, “Hope you don’t mind me crunching on these though, I’m kinda hungry.”

Yuhai realized that staying around near the cart would be a bad idea. If the merchants came back, Yuhai would once again fail in staying inconspicuous. So Yuhai glanced furtively around in the hopes that he would find somewhere where the two of them could dip out. 

“By the way,” Yuhai said when he realized he was disobeying the first rule that mothers taught their children: Stranger danger. “What should I call you? And who are you?”

The Millelith? So, he’s from Liyue, huh? Not a long way from home but it was still quite a ways away. He certainly wouldn’t make the trip on a whim. The trip wouldn’t have been for long but that would still be two or three days of hiding inside a box and hoping for the best. Maybe this man was made of tougher skin than he expected. 

He shook his head. “You know, I would have tried to become a Knight but… a lot of restrictions. Gotta be all uptight and stuff. Not really my thing.” Well, that wasn’t particularly true. They had their rules but he was pretty sure a lot of the Knights tend to bend those rules. The image of the lone cavalry captain flashed through his mind for a second. Yep, definitely not uptight. “You’re lucky I found you first.” 

The smuggler— or was he the smuggled?— grabbed his hand and Edrich pulled him out with relative ease. He was lighter than he thought. As soon as he was out of the box, Edrich turned his head for a moment and whistled. His seelie wandered over to him, cooing as it floated above his shoulder and curiously peering at the newcomer. 

“That… won’t be necessary,” Edrich reassured him, looking at the pouch of dried sunflower seeds. That wouldn’t be enough to sustain an adventurer, especially with the intensity of the job he was about to throw this man into. “I know of a good place to eat lunch at. Would you prefer this with drinks or not?”  It was a flip between Good Hunter and Cat’s Tail for him. Either was an excellent place to get some food, in his personal opinion.

He grinned. “Didn’t your mother teach you that you have to introduce yourself first? Or should I continue calling you stranger?” Still, he extended a gloved hand to the stranger. “Edrich, from the Adventurer’s Guild.”

A female spider emerged from Yuhai’s pocket to join the male spider on Yuhai’s shoulder. She put herself between her male companion and the golden seelie, giving it a critical glare as she gauged what type of character it was. After a moment, she was satisfied, and she left her intimidating position to hop back into Yuhai’s shirt pocket. 

“Jokes on you, I didn’t have a mother to teach me this stuff,” Yuhai said good-naturedly, although, after a long moment of hesitation, he did awkwardly extend his hand to vigorously shake Edrich’s, “Name’s Yuhai. Friendly thief, illegal artist.”

“I think a good meal should always have some good tea to go along with it,” Yuhai said in response to Edrich’s offer. It seemed almost obvious that a good meal should have refreshments to go with it. So obvious, in fact, it made Yuhai take a step back to reconsider. 

“Oh, you mean that type of drink!” Yuhai spontaneously realized, “Yeah, sure, I’d love a drink.”

Yuhai definitely wasn’t going to say no to underage drinking. 

“I’d say I can relate, but I really can’t.” Growing up with both parents was a blessing in this day and age, especially with the occupation his parents held down. He gave him a firm handshake, jarringly different from the easygoing smile on his face. “Pleasure to meet you. I wouldn’t be so proud of your accomplishments, you might never know who’s listening.” 

Right, Liyue name and therefore, Liyue manners. Now that he suggested it, tea did sound nice but definitely was not the Mondstadt spirit. He soon caught on, however, and eagerly agreed. He gave Yuhai a smile and a pat on the back, avoiding even brushing against the spider on his shoulder. “That’s the spirit.”

He let out a hum of thought. “You have identification on you. Not quite sure Margaret will allow us to uh… purchase alcoholic beverages if we can’t prove you’re above the drinking age.”

Yuhai looked young and Edrich was pretty sure that he was. While a lot of people in Mondstadt drank— a little too much, oftentimes— they were still pretty strict on who gets to buy and drink. It was one of the ways they could avoid teenagers falling into the vice early in their lives. 

Yuhai wasn’t exactly sure why he was proud of his life as a thief when he disliked the Treasure Hoarders so much. But this was an issue that he often thought about, and every time he’d just simply table it to worry about it for another day. This time was no different, and Yuhai instead decided to focus on getting alcohol.

“Identification?” Yuhai asked, “I don’t think I have anything like that. You certain that you can’t just buy the alcohol for me? Please?”

The delinquent looked up pleadingly at the adventurer. He doubted that his play would work, especially since Yuhai definitely knew he didn’t have the puppy eyes to convince anybody, but it was worth a try.

Edrich let out a light chuckle, shaking his head. “Unfortunately, Diona and Margaret are going to rip me a new one if I buy someone underaged a drink. Trust me, when I was younger, Margaret kept me ten feet away from the bar at all times!” He chuckled at the memory. He wasn’t a very keen drinker like most of the people of Mondstadt so he wasn’t all that bothered. He enjoyed the company of the cats better than the beverages they mixed.

“We’ll come back when you’re of age then! Consider it a promise,” he reassured the young thief. Edrich wasn’t sure if he’ll see Yuhai again after this commission; though, then again, keeping ties with other vision holders was better than merely letting them go. “A drink on me, just to see how you fare with our famous Dandelion Wine.”

“For now though—” he gestured forward and began walking, leading him down the path. His presence seemed to ease the suspicion off of Yuhai. Edrich had been known to bring strangers into Mondstadt to work for him. “Let’s go to Good Hunter. I’m sure Sara can whip something up for you that’ll be to your taste. Maybe some Sticky Honey Roast will get you going properly eh?”

“Aww, that’s a shame,” Yuhai relented. Guess there was gonna be no alcohol for him today. He was curious what Dandelion Wine would taste like. Actually, he had actually never seen a dandelion before, so he had no idea what it would even be like. “I don’t know what Sticky Honey Roast is, but it sounds really good.”

Yuhai’s mouth was already salivating from the idea of actually having a full meal. He was really grateful for Edrich, but at the back of his mind, he didn’t want to trouble the guy too much. Funny, considering that his first thought should have been suspicion at why someone was willing to give him a free meal. It would mean that Edrich would want something pretty major in return.

But being the hollow-headed idiot he was, Yuhai didn’t consider those sort of things. Instead, as he followed Edrich, he took in the sights of Mondstadt. 

“Mondstadt is so calm,” Yuhai commented strayly, “I thought the city of freedom would be much more bustling than Liyue’s streets. But it almost seems as if it’s calmer here.”

“That reminds me!” Yuhai piped up, “How much is this meal going to put you back? I’ll save up some Mora so if you ever visit Liyue I can pay you back with a meal?”

Yuhai believed that debts were a sort of contract that one was obligated to pay back. If someone did you a favor, to not repay the favor would be like breaking a contract. And Yuhai wasn’t willing to face the wrath of Rex Lapis.

“One of Good Hunter’s many specialties, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it,” Edrich hummed, amused at how excited Yuhai looked. A little too eager to fill his stomach. Had he even been eating properly? Then again, multiple days with only the dried sunflower seeds didn’t sound too filling. 

The silence between them as they walked didn’t last as Yuhai began to comment about Mondstadt. He let out a chuckle. “I know what you mean. I feel like people are always talking in Liyue. Too many merchants out and about.” He raised a hand as they passed by Marjorie’s shop and she waved back just as eagerly. “There aren’t a lot of us here so it’s usually very peaceful. Not the bustling trade capital that Liyue is.”

He gestured for Yuhai to take a seat in one of the tables set in front of Good Hunter. Just as he was about to leave to order their food, Yuhai mentioned paying him back. Edrich couldn’t help the lighthearted laugh that bubbled out. “No need to pay me back. It’s my treat, as someone who’s inviting you for a commission. It really isn’t that expensive either.”

Not waiting for any complaints from Yuhai, he made his way to the counter. Sara cheerily welcomed him and he ordered two plates of Sticky Honey Roast, four Chicken Mushroom Skewers and a plate of Sweet Madame. Sara jokingly mentioned that it was a bit too much for just two people but Edrich shrugged it off. If they didn’t finish it, the stray dogs would appreciate it just as much.

He settled into the chair in front of Yuhai. “They’re cooking up the orders right now. Figured we should talk about the commission if you’re ready?”’

The outdoor seating of Good Hunter reminded Yuhai of the place where teamaster Liu would recount his stories. Except instead of the fresh, buttery smell of tea, there was instead all sorts of foreign aromas, none of which were familiar to Yuhai. Although Edrich offered to talk about the commission, with so many new sights and smells, Yuhai wondered if he would have the attention span to listen to the entire thing.

Regardless, Yuhai replied, “Sure, this is as good of a time as any.”

Empty conversation was boring to Yuhai, so he took out his pouch of sunflower seeds, shook some onto the outdoor wooden table in front of him, and leaned over the table to give some to Edrich. Then Yuhai took one of the sunflower seeds, placed it between his teeth, and cracked it open to allow him to eat the seed inside. With the empty shell, he placed it in a corner of the table to pick up later.

Yuhai wondered what sort of commission Edrich would need help from a homeless wanderer. He had a feeling it had something to do with the vision that Yuhai wore, as he noticed Edrich had a similar orange one.

Edrich hummed, leaning back onto his seat. “As one of the few adventurers in the guild who has a vision and has a few years under my belt, I usually take on the, ah, let’s say more dangerous commissions people decide to post.” He decided to share first, momentarily distracted as he reached out to his seelie and patted it. It cooed and flipped around in joy before wandering off again. 

“That also means that whoever I bring along is gonna need to know how to get out of sticky situations. The guild won’t usually allow me to take on these commissions alone. Hence, you. And well, another friend of mine but he’s off doing—” he idly waved his hand towards the gate. “—something.”

With the introduction out of the way, Edrich finally went to the meat of their conversation. “There’s a nearby ruin that Cyrus, our leader, is convinced is full of treasure. The main problem is, the place is swarming with Ruin Guards. From the scouts, there seem to be around three slumbering ones. Not sure if they’re active or not. Then there’s one patrolling around the area.” He let out a chuckle. “It’s a bit of a suicide mission but with proper planning, we’ll be able to bring them down without much of an issue.” 

Cyrus was apprehensive in handing him the commission. Edrich wasn’t sure he and Hayate could handle it alone as they mostly did and that’s why he was seeking other vision holders to help him. But very few people in Mondstadt held visions and none of them wanted to go on this commission with him. He couldn’t blame them, it was a risky mission after all.

As he finished his explanation, Sara came over and laid down their meals. A Sticky Honey Roast for the both of them, two Chicken Mushroom Skewers each and one Sweet Madame in the middle. “Well, you can think about it over lunch then.” He said before thanking Sara and beginning to dig in.

Yuhai cracked open another sunflower seed as he mulled over what Edrich said. Ruin Guards were certainly dangerous; Yuhai knew that from his experiences with the Treasure Hoarders. Often many lives were lost in the reckless attempts of getting treasure whenever there was Ruin Guards in the area. So oftentimes the dangerous job of distracting a Ruin Guard was given to Yuhai, and he knew from experience that as long as there was a potioneer to throw hydro bombs at the Ruin Guard, he could freeze their ankles and prevent them from attacking. 

So Yuhai knew that he was up to the job, although it had certainly been quite a while since he fought in a battle, with a vision or without one. Regardless, since Edrich was inviting him out for lunch, Yuhai knew that he really couldn’t reject the commission. Besides, Yuhai sorta missed the thrill of a good fight. 

But he was suddenly distracted by the food that Sara brought to the table.

“Holy moly!” Yuhai’s eyes went as wide as saucers as he stared at the excessive amount of food on the table, “All this is just for the two of us?!”

Never mind the fact that he hadn’t seen any of the food presented in front of him before, he had never seen that much food in one place. For Yuhai, a simple bowl of soup was considered nourishing, and perhaps maybe with a roll of bread. 

Excitedly, Yuhai grabbed a chicken skewer and nearly burning himself, stuffed the top portion of it into his mouth. On the second go at the mushroom portion, he nearly stabbed himself at the back of his throat. 

“These remind me of the kabobs in Liyue,” Yuhai commented as he continued to devour rather rudely the skewer. 

After settling down with a bit of food in his stomach, Yuhai belatedly realized that Edrich was still there and calmed himself down. He wasn’t particularly embarrassed by his mannerisms, since he didn’t exactly have anybody to teach him manners. 

“Oh, and about the commission,” Yuhai said, “I’ll do it, as long as I get a cut that’s enough to pay for food.”

Eying the honey roast, Yuhai began to try to slice a piece for himself but found that he was wholly unfit to use a knife. In Liyue, it was very rare to have to use a knife while eating. But nevertheless, after a bit of struggling, Yuhai managed to get a slice on his plate. And it was quite a shockingly interesting taste. So much so that Yuhai found himself lacking in words to describe it.

“Figured you’d want a full course meal since I doubt you’d been eating properly on the way here,” he huffed. Besides, the last thing he wanted was for any of his adventurers to not operate in their fullest capacity because they weren’t well-nourished— that would just be horrible. “Besides, it’s your first time here in Mondstadt. Might as well make it memorable.”

It would seem it was the right decision too, with how much Yuhai seemed to be enjoying his food. Edrich turned his attention to his food as well, expecting for them to continue the conversation after they were finished. “So it does. Though I might be biased in saying I enjoy the skewers more.” He chuckled, remembering Chef Mao’s face when he requested a round of Mondstadt food when he had first visited. 

“You’ll get more than enough,” Edrich responded with a dismissive wave. “Even if we don’t end up getting any sort of treasure, clearing out the Ruin Guards there would be enough to cover double of this.” He rolled his shoulders, leaning back as he enjoyed the skewer. “And again, you don’t need to pay it back. This meal is probably one of the cheapest I got from Sara.”

“She said she wanted for you to sample some of the food here since you’re new and all so I just paid for like… not even half of this,” he continued with a small gesture to the food. It wasn’t exactly a lie. Sara had offered him a discount— though not by that much. Still, Edrich had no need for more mora than he already earned from commissions. “So, how does our Mondstadt delicacies taste?”

“It’s really interesting,” Yuhai appraised as he took another bite of the roast, “I still like the lighter flavors of Yue-style cuisine, but this is also pretty good. Probably not something I’d eat every day though.”

“A discount though,” Yuhai chuckled, “What are you? An influencer? How did you get a discount in a nation that doesn’t even have haggling?”

Yuhai meant the question as a joke, but now that he considered it, he was pretty curious as to what sort of person Edrich was, so he looked expectedly at Edrich for an answer. All he knew from their current conversation was that Edrich was some elite member of Mondstadt’s Adventurer’s Guild. Yuhai also considered that since he was curious about Edrich, he might get some questions in reciprocation. It wasn’t that he was wary about being asked them, it was more that he wasn’t proud of the things he did in the past.

Edrich hummed, keeping his preferences to mind. He could understand. Changing your palate so quickly isn’t really ideal. “Ah, the Yue-style cuisine. I don’t remember if I’ve tried it before. I just heard it’s competition with… ah, what was it called? Li-style cuisine? I’ll be sure to take a stop to appreciate your cuisine when I visit.” 

He leaned forward to take a few bites of his other plate. Yuhai’s question about him was fair. He chuckled and shook his head. “Not an influencer, just an adventurer who’s been around,” he responded before taking another bite and chewed thoughtfully. He wasn’t about to reveal his entire identity to someone he barely knew. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to share and embellish if needed, right?

“I’ve been helping around in Mondstadt for a good few years now. Sara over here doesn’t mind giving me a little reward every now and then,” he mentioned before looking over his shoulder and waving at her to which she simply returned. He looked back at Yuhai. “Just a bit of goodwill being exchanged. Besides, I’ve overseen some of her deliveries personally so she does kind of owe me.” 

“Oh, by the by, after this, we’re going to meet up with my other teammate and we’re going to scout the area first and see our plan of action from there,” he alerted him. “You and him will get along fine I feel.”

Yuhai nodded in recognition of the cuisines that Edrich mentioned. While he had respect for Li-style cuisine, the mountain flavors were unfortunately too bold and rich to Yuhai, overwhelming the taste buds and leaving him with a strong urge to grab a glass of water. 

“Mondstadt is lucky to have someone devoted in work as you,” Yuhai commented, “Liyue is struggling to even recruit people. You ought to visit sometime, there are some pretty good commissions there. I might even join you.”

But Yuhai definitely wouldn’t do it on his own. He associated adventuring with treasure hoarding even though the two of them were more dissimilar than similar. And he’d rather not fall into the dark rabbit hole of treasure hoarding again. He would need a friend, or two, to help keep him from going down that route. 

“I’d be glad to meet your friend,” Yuhai said to Edrich, “Just tell me his name and what he looks like. I’ll go stop by and say hi to him later today.”

Yuhai took a bite of a slice of the sweet madame. Like the sticky honey roast, it was sweet. Almost a cloying sweet to Yuhai’s taste buds. But oh well, once in a while was fine. 

“And hey, since I’ve gotten the travel route from Liyue to Mondstadt down,” Yuhai said thoughtfully as he chewed, “Whenever you need another member to your adventuring team, why don’t you send over a letter? I’d be glad to help if it provides pay as you’ve said.”

Edrich let out a chuckle, leaning his arm onto the table. “Tell me about it. I went to Liyue a couple of times for a commission and I ended up taking even more just to see those commissions go down even a little bit.” He doesn’t make frequent trips out there. There were very little reasons for him to go there unless he wanted to drop by for a prayer to Rex Lapis. “And sure, we’ll be lining your pockets with mora in no time.” 

So he says, but he noticed that commissions in Liyue did not pay as much as those in Monstadt. He was pretty sure he was being swindled by his bosses there. Well, it wasn’t like he was after mora when he does commissions anyway so it didn’t really matter to him.

“Oh his name is Hayate, I bet you’ll like him,” Edrich said with a grin. Something he had noticed with Hayate is that a lot of the people he picked up were either a hit or miss with him. Oh well! Hayate needed more friends anyway!

He tilted his head. Oh, how perfect. He wasn’t always in need of another member in the team, but it certainly made things a lot easier especially if he trusted them enough. “I’ll be sure to keep you in mind then Yuhai. But we gotta see how you fair with your first commission first!”

“Hayate huh?” Yuhai tapped his chin thoughtfully, “He has an Inazuma name. And one that sounds really macho. I’m sure I’d like him.”

Feeling stuffed, Yuhai neatly put his utensils on his plate. It had been his first time trying to use a knife and fork, and Yuhai was surprised at how it wasn’t as big of a disaster as he thought it would be. He didn’t act too barbaric and solely eat with his hands. And the meal made Yuhai feel content and stuffed. 

“Oh, right, I’ve gotta prove myself to you,” Yuhai realized. He stood up with determination, “Well, I’ll be sure not to disappoint! I don’t wear a Vision for nothing! And I’m looking forward to seeing what you have, Edrich.”

Yuhai was determined to not screw up. Edrich had invited Yuhai out for a free meal, for crying out loud. He needed to pay that back with a good performance. It also would pose a great opportunity for Yuhai to dig himself out of the rut that was poverty if he could get Edrich’s assistance. 

Hayate had never been clear where he had come from and Edrich never really bothered to ask. If he wanted to share it, then he will. In the time that the both of them had spent together, Edrich had already given Hayate his trust. He wondered if the same would go for Yuhai.

With lunch finished and the former thief satisfied, Edrich figured that there would be no time to waste. The faster they do the commission, the sooner they can get their rewards. “I’m no high ranking adventurer for nothing too you know?” He boasted with a light chuckle as he stood up, waving at Sara and she proceeded to take their plates away with a kind smile. 

Edrich motioned for Yuhai to follow before making his way through Mondstadt once again, leaving through the front gate this time. He explained to the knights that he had brought along a friend, much to their confusion as they didn’t see him, but they let it slide after a few… embellished explanations from Edrich. 

“All of our materials have been prepared before this,” he told Yuhai as they approached the designated meeting area where a few bags were laid out. “Now that you’re here, we can finally start. Try not to get killed.” With that last warning, he waved at Hayate to signal him that they were going.

Edrich would have never guessed how much of a strong contributor Yuhai was from this brief exchange— something he would find out in only a few hours.