Chapter Text
“You classified all the vials?” Marjorie confirmed the next day, her eyes widening in surprise. “And so quickly, too! I was sure it’d take you at least a month.” She then laughed. “I guess that’s my fault for underestimating Mondstadt’s very own Kreidprinz.”
Albedo didn’t ever know how to respond to such high praise or titles, so he simply coughed awkwardly and said, “Thank you. Anyways, do you, by any chance, know what you're going to charge for these vials? Because I’d like to purchase the one with teal powder inside off of you.”
“Oh, you’re looking to buy this?” she asked, quickly examining the vial in question and reading the neat little description he had written on it. She looked thoughtful, before saying, “Well, I already paid you for helping me out, but … since you were so fast in getting everything done … I’d say I can sell you this vial at a discount for … forty Anemo Sigils.” She turned to him and tapped the vial. “What do you say? I see you’ve written ‘EXTREMELY RARE’ on it here, so I think that’s fair.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. When he had been writing the descriptions for each of the vials, he had also inscribed their rarity, hoping that it would be easier for Marjorie to determine what price to sell each powder for. He was wary, however, when he had written the rarity of the teal-Anemo-powder, for it was “EXTREMELY RARE.” There was no guarantee that with that level of rarity, that Marjorie would sell it to him for no less than a thousand Anemo Sigils.
Which he did not have.
Forty was more than reasonable, and if he had an efficient adventurer from the Adventurer’s Guild to help him along, he was sure he could find enough chests to collect that many Sigils before evening.
Now all there was left to do was actually commission an adventurer.
Albedo nodded at Marjorie. “That sounds fine. Please hold the vial for me. I should have all the Anemo Sigils I need soon.”
She affirmed that she would and waved him goodbye as he walked a few paces forward to the Adventurer’s Guild front kiosk, where Katheryne was standing sentinel behind her desk.
Her greeting was immediate: “Ad astra abyssosque! Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild.”
Albedo pulled out a small pouch of Mora. “Good morning. I would like to commission one adventurer’s assistance for the day.”
Katheryne bobbed her head once at the request. “Please state the nature of your commission and an adventurer will be assigned to you shortly.”
“I need someone who can help me collect forty Anemo Sigils from chests.”
The receptionist frowned. “I’m sorry; all of our treasure-hunting specialists are out on missions right now. Would you still like to commission an adventurer?”
Albedo felt sweat break out on his forehead. All of the adventurers who were good at finding treasure were out? That was beyond unlucky. He could feel his confidence in returning before evening with enough Sigils start to waver.
However, he reminded himself that simply because all of the treasure-hunting specialist adventurers were gone, that didn’t mean that the rest of the adventurers available couldn’t assist him. Surely all the members of the Guild had some knowledge on how to properly scope out chests?
When Albedo nodded hesitantly, Katheryne looked blankly into space for several moments, before suddenly saying, “We have one available adventurer for commissions. You may find Tommy at the Favonius Cathedral.” Another pause and she said: “Your total cost for commissioning this adventurer is four thousand Mora.”
Albedo raised an eyebrow. Who was Tommy? And where was Katheryne getting all this information from? He didn’t see any papers in front of her, nor did she seem to be conferring with anyone. She simply had stared into space.
He didn’t have time to dwell on the matter, though, for just then, two figures burst from the door to the right of the kiosk.
Albedo grimaced when he noticed that one of the figures was Cyrus, the Mondstadt Branch Master of the Adventurer's Guild and an extremely long-winded person. Once he started speaking, there was almost no way to stop him, especially when he started relaying tales of his adventures. His grimace didn’t fade when he noticed that Cyrus had a hand clapped on the shoulder of an adventurer who he remembered was called Bennett. Albedo knew very little of the young adventurer, but he was renowned in Mondstadt for one thing—his abysmal luck.
Cyrus’ face lit up upon seeing Albedo standing at the kiosk. “Head Alchemist! Going on an adventure?”
“Er … yes,” Albedo affirmed carefully, very aware of Cyrus’ excited gaze.
The large man beamed. “Excellent! You can take Bennett with you!”
Albedo took a step back. “Ex—excuse me?” Another thing he knew about Bennett: his bad luck seemed to rub off on whoever was near him, and he could not afford to have that happen in his search for Anemo Sigils for Sucrose!
Bennett sighed. “Cyrus doesn’t want me around as everyone else sets up for the Junior Adventurers’ Graduation tonight.”
Clapping his hand enthusiastically on Bennett’s shoulder, Cyrus responded, “Now, I didn’t say that, kiddo, did I?” Ignoring Bennett’s nod, he turned to Albedo, “How about it, Head Alchemist? I’ll cut the cost of your commission by seventy-five percent if you take him!”
Seventy-five percent? That meant he would get a discount of three thousand Mora, all for allowing another adventurer to tag along. He bit his lip. He supposed that even with Bennett’s bad luck, he and this … Tommy fellow could certainly find forty Anemo sigils in a few hours.
Albedo sighed, as a slimy feeling that he was going to regret his next decision snaked its way up his throat. “He can come along.”
Cyrus laughed and pushed Bennett forward. “See, look, kiddo, the Head Alchemist wants you to go with him!” As if worried Albedo would take back his agreement, Cyrus gave a jolly wave before heading back inside the building he had arrived from and slamming the door.
Bennett and Albedo stood in his wake silently. Albedo twisted his finger, once again realizing that he knew nothing about the young adventurer who now stood by his side, and it was very likely that Bennett knew very little about him, as well.
However, before they could make proper introductions, Katheryne held out a hand to Albedo expectantly. “Your payment of one thousand Mora, please.”
As Albedo handed her the Mora, Bennett scratched his head nervously and said, “So, you’re the Head Alchemist, huh? That’s pretty cool!”
All politeness, Albedo responded, “Yes, that’s me.” He cleared his throat. “And you? You’re one of the adventurers in the Guild, then?”
“Yep! I’ve been with the Adventurer’s Guild all my life! They’re good people. I’m proud to be one of their number.”
Albedo nodded, beginning to walk thoughtfully to the Favonius Cathedral, motioning for Bennett to follow him. If Bennett had spent so much time with the Adventurer’s Guild, perhaps he could explain to him more about the adventurer Katheryne had assigned to him. “You said you’ve been with the Guild all your life? Perhaps you’ve heard of Tommy, then? We’re set to meet him at the Cathedral.”
Bennett nodded after narrowly avoiding crashing into Flora’s flower stand. “Oh, yeah, I know Tommy! He’s a nice guy. I think he has a thing for your assistant, Sucr—” Bennett’s eyes widened and he clapped his hands over his mouth. “Wait—that’s supposed to be a secret! Uh, pretend you didn’t hear any of that!”
It was too late. This adventurer Tommy had a thing for Sucrose? Albedo didn’t know why, but something prickly bloomed in his heart with this new information. He couldn’t explain it, but the thought of someone fawning over Sucrose made him feel sick and scratchy. He supposed he couldn’t blame Tommy, though. If there was anyone in Mondstadt worth fawning over, Sucrose definitely was the person.
Still … how did he manage to get someone like this assigned to him?
“It’s out of my mind, I promise,” Albedo lied, well aware of the fact that this secret was going to haunt him forever.
Bennett, seemingly bereft of his initial awkwardness, prattled on as the two of them made their way to the Favonius Cathedral. Albedo chimed in when he could, but the young adventurer’s cheerful soul kept the conversation lively. Unlike when Cyrus rambled on about his adventures, Bennett’s misadventures were much more interesting to Albedo, who almost forgot about meeting that Tommy right up until they opened the doors to the Cathedral.
Bennett, who had previously explained that he spent a lot of time in the Cathedral, getting nursed and bound up by nuns whenever his adventures took a dangerous turn, seemed to know his way around the enormous church, and made a beeline toward the Deaconess, who was diligently rearranging hymnals at each of the seats.
“Hey, Barbara,” he exclaimed, tapping the Deaconess’ shoulder lightly. “Cleaning up after the service?”
Albedo stepped back when Barbara turned toward them, her normally placid face looking troubled. When she nodded stormily, Albedo, despite not knowing her well, asked, “Is something wrong?”
Barbara’s face became red and she turned away, abashed. “Ah, it’s nothing!” She cleared her throat and changed the subject. “Is there something I can help you two with?”
“Yes,” Bennett affirmed, “but are you sure nothing’s up? You look upset.”
Barbara flushed even more, before hugging a hymnal close to her chest. “It’s … it’s just that the service didn’t go very well today.” She sighed. “Sometimes, the sisters and I hire someone else to lead the choir, you know, to give our voices a bit of rest. Well, Sister Rosaria was in charge of choosing who to bring, and, since she wasn’t very involved in the ‘Stormterror Incident,’ she went ahead and hired that … that impish bard who broke the Holy Lyre der Himmel!”
“Oh … no?” Bennett guessed, matching Albedo’s confused expression as to what the great dilemma was.
“That’s not all!” Barbara cried, shaking her head. “As you know, the choir leader is supposed to lead the congregation in songs of worship and praise to Barbatos! And the bard did! Only instead of singing of his great deeds and feats, the bard only smirked and sang … praises regarding … other … characteristics of Barbatos!” Her face turned vermillion. “Such vulgar things! And in the Cathedral!”
Albedo couldn’t imagine what kind of bard would be so brazen as to go so far and do that. His curiosity bade him ask, however: “What kind of things did he sing?”
Just then, Sister Rosaria appeared from the leftmost door of the Cathedral, holding a feather duster limply in one hand, and answered, “‘Oh, there is no other god that I would pick / to sing of than Barbatos with his amazing fifteen-inch-long di—’”
“Sister Rosaria!” screeched Barbara, dropping the hymnal to cover her ears with her hands. She flushed even deeper. “Not inside the Cathedral!”
Rosaria shrugged, giving one of the seats a half-hearted sweep with her feather duster. “I was just answering his question.” She examined Albedo and Bennett, and upon realizing that both of them were standing unscathed, she asked, “You two looking for the welp?”
At Albedo’s immediate “yes” and Bennett’s “do you mean Tommy?” Rosaria nodded and pointed behind her. “He’s getting patched up by Sister Victoria.”
Albedo felt a tiny, tiny flicker of hope alight in him. “Is he okay?” Perhaps he wouldn’t have to interact with Tommy after all if he was hurt.
“Oh, yes, Tommy’s fine,” assured Barbara. “He just had a few minor scrapes is all. He should be done right about … now.”
As if on cue, a young man with cropped brown hair exited from a door on the right.