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One peaceful day in Liyue's Bubu Pharmacy, just like any other days. Patients coming and going to and from the pharmacy that's currently ran by an Amurta darshan graduate named Baizhu. For a very long time, he was only helped by Qiqi, former champion of the Zenpan Budokai tournament held in Liyue and formerly a being that can be considered "undead", along with Gui, a rather capable martial artist who works mostly behind the counter in the past. These two are still around even now, accompanying the two new workers that have only been here for some months now.
"Careful, Shenhe !", The man with glasses tries to help Shenhe.
"Shut up, Cheng, I can lift all these on my own, and I know how to put stuff down, or do you need me to slam your head ?", The woman sharply gazes at the man.
"N-no thanks..."
The 2 new workers are Shenhe and Xin Cheng. Shenhe is Chongyun's aunt, completely isolated from the society during her lifetime long Adeptus training until she works in Bubu Pharmacy, which is Cloud Retainer's attempt to reintroduce Shenhe to the society. Xin Cheng is a former slacker who only expected everything to go in his way without really putting any effort until he realized how much Qiqi went through, and yet, she still wants to protect others despite the rather bitter treatment they gave her.
"Okay, so that's all herbs for now...how's Qiqi ? Has she returned ?", Shenhe asks Gui, who helps Xin Cheng examine the herbs.
"She returned half an hour ago, and is currently playing with a friend of her size, let her be, and have some rest for yourselves...", Gui informed Shenhe.
"Got it, I'll stay somewhere around the pond below if you need me"
And the woman walked away...
"Xin Cheng, I need you to process the Violetgrasses, Qingxins, and Glaze Lilies, can you crush them ?"
"I'll try my best !"
"Good, I'll deal with the other materials"
And the two men began processing some herbs...
Due to his less experienced hands, Xin Cheng was rather slow to finish his work with the technique Gui suggested him. Xin Cheng tried to use some techniques of his own, which turned out to not crush the herbs as perfectly as they should be crushed. Gui patiently guides him on how to do the techniques, while Xin Cheng tries his best to do what Gui told him to do.
After some time...
"Whew, that was hard...my wrists hurt..."
"I know, that's what I felt when I was still new...don't worry, you'll get used to it...eventually, hehe", Gui informed his junior.
"Fine...don't tell me it's going to take years..."
"It will, unless you practice a lot...like, a LOT"
"Oh, having fun aren't you ?"
Baizhu finally returned from his patient visitation. Due to his bad physique, he can't really go far in one go, and the calls were mostly around Liyue Harbor. There were 4 calls from 4 different patients, and he's exhausted after those calls.
"Oh, hi Boss, want some tea ?", Xin Cheng asks Baizhu.
"Sure, one herbal mint tea please", Baizhu sits on the counter because he doesn't want to sit on Qiqi's usual seat. He should go and buy some chairs for this issue.
"Alright, I'll get it !", The man with glasses searches for some tea under the counter. Once he found some, he started making some tea for the owner.
"So how do you like working here ?", The doctor asks the man with glasses.
"It's tough", He replied, "But it's honest work, so I'm feeling better that I can do some things to better myself, and the working environment here is great !", he pours some hot water into the glass.
"Glad to know that..."
Xin Cheng finally finished making the tea, "Here you go, and if I may ask, how was your visits ?"
"Thanks...", Baizhu takes a little sip to feel how hot the tea currently is, "I guess we can say it's...not like my other visits, thanks to that Furina...she's still yet to return to Fontaine, and she's REALLY noisy...she doesn't know when to stop talking...although I do admire her storytelling skills"
"What did she ask you ?"
"Nothing, my client was Little Lulu's father, and I found Furina playing with Lulu's two friends, which is great because I can bring Little Meng's orders right at him to shorten my work"
"Isn't that good ?", Xin Cheng asks as he returned to the counter.
"Yes, unless we talk about how she dragged me into playing dramas related to trials and charges with her...man, she's so loud...I feel bad for whoever had her in the court with them...", Baizhu facepalms.
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Meanwhile, in Streetward Rambler's usual hanging spot...
"More ?"
"No...haaahhh...I'm beat..."
Qiqi and Yaoyao just finished some rounds of hopscotch. Yaoyao was exhausted because, compared to Qiqi, she's just a normal young girl with little to no skills at the moment, despite her potential that allows her to make it to the second round during the Zenpan Budokai and humble the "Almost Perfect-man", due to her being nothing like Lumine, who was so powerful that it'll be near impossible to beat her, even without nationwide power boosts. She's also quite physically proficient for any physique related things that don't involve heavy objects like her spear.
"Okay then, thank you for sticking with me to play ! Anything else we should do ?", Qiqi asks Yaoyao.
"No...Yaoyao's exhausted...that's all for now...", She sat on the ground.
"Oh, okay then ! Qiqi should visit Xiangling for a meal, then get back to the pharmacy, bye Madame Ping, Yaoyao !"
"Bye !"
"Bye"
And Qiqi left as the other two waved at her.
"It's nice to see Big Sis Qiqi happy..."
"Yaoyao, aren't you bored to say that ? You've been saying that for the 19th time this month alone, and that's only the ones I heard, I don't know how many more did you say when I'm not around", Madame Ping asks Yaoyao due to the infuriating amount of her saying that specific line.
Yaoyao was one of the few who knew what happened to Qiqi in the past, and has been doing everything in her power to help Qiqi. This includes her attempts to drive Taotao away, and asking Baizhu to make a cure for her.
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"Xiangling ! One Come and Get In !"
"Come and Get IT, Qiqi...IT !"
"But wheere's the comforting ? Qiqi used to forget a lot"
"Thing is, you're no longer excused, you can remember a LOT better now !"
Qiqi tries to order a Come and Get It in Wanmin Restaurant. The only one in the restaurant by that time was Xiangling, who seems upset with Qiqi's inability to say it right. The restaurant was quite peaceful and unpopulated at this moment.
"Okay, okay...Qiqi gets it...Qiqi gets it...", Qiqi told Xiangling.
"Alright, anyways...one Come and Get It, coming for you to get it !!"
Qiqi giggled at the joke.
Xiangling then left the little girl to cook for her, but someone won't just let the little girl feel lonely...
Qiqi heard Guoba noises coming from beside her...
"Guoba...!", Qiqi took the Guoba and hugged him, then rubbed her cheeks on him.
"So you like being with Guoba ? Play with him until your food's done ! You're a friend after all !"
"Thanks, Lingling !"
"No, thank YOU for keeping that adorable nickname ! I hope papa calls me that too !"
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"Have a nice day~ ! Come here again later~ !!"
"Sure !"
And Qiqi left Wanmin while Xiangling waved at her. She ran all the way to Bubu Pharmacy despite already knowing how to use Teleport Waypoints, which is because she simply enjoys the trip. Liyue seems rather peaceful, as usual, with a few visible changes from the Liyue she knew for years. Some buildings appear slightly different from the way they are, and there were some strange faces she never saw before, wearing completely unrecognizable outfits. She heard about an eccentric redhead wearing silver armor who keeps mumbling about beauty in front of Master Zhang's spears.
"Eccentric redhead with armor ?", Qiqi thought to herself.
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"This taste...isn't beautiful at all"
"Listen here, you weirdo...if you can't watch your mouth from your weird mumbles, I will be shoving the medicines through an orifice of your choice...!"
"Shenhe...calm down...!!"
"Gui...she's too strong...I don't know how long...can I hold her...!"
"Hold on, Cheng...just hold her a little longer...!"
Chaos unfolds in Bubu Pharmacy. Baizhu looks like he's trying to explain something about "If it works, it works" to an armored eccentric redhead, who kept mumbling about the "Not beautiful taste" and how Baizhu can get so much wealth with these "nasty" medicines. The pharmacy was messed up, with Qiqi's table flipped on the ground, and her chair lying on the entrance. Behind the eccentric is Shenhe, restrained by Gui and Cheng while she looks at the redhead with hostile eyes.
"Sir, with all due respect, if my medicines work, they work, never mind the taste", Baizhu repeats his point.
"Say that to the beautiful child who was sickly, and yet she refuses to take the medicines you take due to its ugly taste..."
Qiqi finally made it to the stairways leading to Bubu Pharmacy. Unlike all other times when she did it, she can actually feel something intense happening up there. Feeling that someone that poses a danger to Baizhu and the others is up there with them, Qiqi dashes towards the building.
"Health is a beautiful thing, making it less reachable with such a preposterous flavor i-"
Thud ! Qiqi used the fleshpecker stance and attacked the eccentric's vagus nerve, instantly knocking him out and causing his body to fall to the direction of her attack.
"Are you okay, Doctor Bai ?! Everyone ?!"
"Niccccccce attack...", Changsheng speaks up, "I hate arguing with that guy...he'sssssss ssstubborn..."
"But do you really have to knock him out ?", Baizhu asks Qiqi.
"...Oops, Qiqi thought you're in danger...", Qiqi giggled awkwardly while rubbing the back of her head, "Sorry..."
"We'll talk about it later...for now, can you please treat him with me ? The others will fix this mess"
"Mhm", Qiqi nods, and then lifts the redhead using the princess carry.
"The rest of you, clean up this mess...especially you, Shenhe"
"Okay...", Shenhe regulates her breathing, and finally calms down.
"Let's get started !", Gui commands his juniors.
"Alright !", Shenhe and Xin Cheng obeyed him.
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"H-hey, why am I tied up ?", The redhead realized he was being restrained in a bed.
"You took a hit on the vagus nerve with a great enough force to instantly knock you out, so we treated you in Bubu Pharmacy's bedroom, which we used to treat patients that require urgent care"
"I'm not a patient ! I'm just here to get some medicine stocks !"
"I have to do this because of your attempts at stirring chaos in my store, nothing personal, but I still hate that you tried telling me how to do my job as if these bitter medicines aren't doing its job"
Baizhu stood in front of the bed with his arms folded, and standing right next to him is Qiqi...
"Anyways, who are you ? Who are you to barge into my store and start mumbling about beauty ?", He asks the redhead.
"Argenti, Knight of Beauty ! I am here to spread the message of beauty !", The eccentric began speaking loudly and proudly.
"Messsssssage of Beauty ? What messsssssage ?", Changsheng speaks up.
"That your medicines have bad taste ! So bad that the younger ones hesitate taking them when they need to !", Argenti points out Baizhu's mistake.
"But it works, so that's not my problem...if people can be healthier after consuming my products, then my problem's done, the bad tastes are just an unimportant side trait", Baizhu still arrogantly rejected Argenti's problem.
"But...do they really have to ?", Qiqi asks Baizhu as she looks at him.
Baizhu was silent...
"Doctor Bai...?"
"I don't know...", He turns to Qiqi, "That's a question for the customers, Qiqi...and you'll have plenty of time to figure it out", he smiles at her.
"You mean...?"
"Please deliver these medicines for Miss Herta and Miss Nahida", He handed a bag of medicines to Qiqi.
Qiqi nods silently, and moves away...
"Oh, anyways...I didn't see that girl earlier, was she the one who knocked me out ?"
"About that..."
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"What is this ?"
Qiqi thinks as she looks at what looks like a spaceship lying in the middle of the Yuehai Pavilion. Beside her was Keqing, guarding the spaceship...
"I don't know, but given the recent reports from the Milleliths about a certain redhead eccentric, and the color schemes the two share, I suspect this is the redhead's personal spaceship", Keqing thought to herself, "It seems to have suffered quite a small amount of damage...I would say around 88% intact...truly, this is something only an incredibly eccentric perfectionist would do..."
"Qiqi gets it...", She then turns to Keqing, "Say, Keqing...should good medicines be bitter ?"
"What- no ! I get Baizhu's intention, but if you can't have a good recovery, then what's the point ? Worst that can happen will be a damage of work performance when it's needed because you hesitate to take the medicine...sure, I can force myself to swallow them, but I don't trust others to be able to do so"
"Qiqi gets it...Qiqi will remember that"
"Good luck"
"Thanks...oh, anyways...Qiqi knows someone who can help on this, Qiqi will call her"
"Much appreciated"
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After calling Herta, Qiqi goes to Sumeru to deliver Kuu's orders to him. She heard from Herta that the Genius is a bit busy, and will take some time before she can leave her office, given her recent promotion into the Sage of Ksahrewar causing her schedule to grow increasingly tight. Herta only agreed to the offer because Qiqi knows how to operate Teleport Waypoints, meaning that Herta won't miss her important researches while doing Qiqi a favor.
Qiqi went there by running all the way from Liyue to Sumeru, finishing her trip at around 2 hours as she made it to Sumeru. After making it there, she immediately went up to the Sanctuary of Surasthana
"Nali~ !"
"Hm, oh, Qiqi !!"
The Leek, who sat on a perimeter of the area, stood up and ran towards Qiqi, resulting both hugging each other.
"How are you ?!"
"Good, Nali...you ?"
"Good ! You want some candies ? Nali just made some !"
"Sure !"
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Minutes of talking about random topics later...
"So...Nali, what do you think good medicines should be ?"
"Hmm...", The Leek thinks while sticking her finger on her lip, "If you ask me, they have to be good at what they does, and how they do it, so they have to be able to treat people well, and make people willing to consume them for their own betterment"
"Hmm...let Qiqi remember that..."
"To put it simply", The Leek turns to Qiqi with a smile written on her face, "Slap a child to make her sweep and she will have no obligation to be polite to you, but kindly ask her and she will be more willing to sweep for you...both the process and the outcome decides people's attitude on you, and this is where Baizhu's flaw has always been in his business : He only cares about the outcome"
Qiqi was a little shocked, "You know Qiqi was here because of Doctor Bai ?!"
Nahida giggled, "Baizhu was an Amurta student himself, and his classmates know all too well about that part of him...he was quite the loner, never wanting to share his knowledges and insights to the other students, and he left his experimental medicines bitter tasting as long as they work, he was lucky that the evaluators didn't care about how easily the go to people's throat, allowing him to be one of their best graduates"
"Ooo..."
"Still, Nali wonders if he did send you, and why ?"
Qiqi takes another one of the green and white candy with a rather hard to spell name, "There's this guy called Argenti making chaos in Bubu Pharmacy, he said Doctor Bai's medicines taste nasty, and somehow, Qiqi thought of asking Doctor Bai if his medicines have to be bitter, and he said that it's not his to decide, but the customers"
Nahida nods, "Understood...let's stay here a little longer until Kuu and Herta came along...Nali wants to know what kind of insights will a Genius Society member like her brings to us"
"Qiqi wonders about it too..."
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"Look ! It's them !", Nahida points at two individuals walking beside each other with some gap.
They were Kuu and Herta, both bringing their own stuff...both little girls let the two walkers come close to them before striking a conversation...
"So...how's your academic activity, Mister Hat Guy ?", Nahida asks Kuu, giggling.
"I thought I told you to stop calling me that ages ago...", Kuu is visibly annoyed.
"Hat Guy, hehehe...", Herta giggles.
"Ugh...now a Genius Society member is laughing at me...can you please stop treating me like I'm a momma's boy ?"
"Every male living beings are, in a way, momma's boy", Herta giggles even more.
"...Shut up, Heartie"
"YOU shut up !"
"Alala~ Heartie Heartie Heartie~ !"
Qiqi giggles awkwardly, "Looks like we'll have to wait for these two to calm down..."
"I see your point..."
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The two finally calmed down. After Nahida suggested them to sit down, they both sat down in front of the little girls.
"Okay, let's go straight to the point, I have something I wish to discuss with all of you..."
"Speak up, I need to be fast, especially since I don't know how long will repairing a Knight of Beauty's ship will take", Herta puts her right leg above her left.
"Okay", Nahida clears her throat, "What do you think is best for a medicine's flavor ? Should they stay bitter ? Or should they be sweeter ?"
"They can stay bitter...", Kuu folds his arms.
"State your reasons, this is an open discussion~", The Leek spoke to him.
"Because that's what facing reality is, it's bitter...no need to kid yourselves that life will be sunshine and rainbows, or how bitter stuff have a sweet aftertaste, it's about learning to endure it"
"I disagree"
Qiqi spoke up, "Wow, a direct disagreement..."
"Why ?", Kuu laughs a bit, "Is reality too much for you to handle, Miss Genius ?"
"Sometimes yes, sometimes, all the insignificant feeling I get by learning the truth are getting overwhelming that it nearly drove me insane...and at the same time, it's mesmerizing...so...mesmerizing...the mesmerizing part is proof that reality can be sweet, while the feeling of insignificance is a bitter part, so bitter that I have to put on the face of an arrogant narcissist just to keep feeling that I am something...took me a while to finally get along with that fact and focus on living life...do you know that beyond this fake sky is a real sky so vast that there are more stars in it than there are water molecules in this entire world ?"
Kuu was silent. It seems that he immediately understood Herta's point, and who knows what the vastness of the universe may be able to do to him and his mental health...
"So your point being...?"
"They should be sweeter so we can have some warmth in our bitter and cold pursuit of knowledge"
Nahida was impressed by Herta's answer, "Brilliant answer worthy of a Genius Society member...moments of comfort can make great changes to our performances"
"I like how you just mercilessly crushed him with that, Herta...", Kuu spoke.
Surprised, everyone turned to Kuu's direction, and noticed how his symmetrically scaled, blue eyes turned to red and asymmetrical ones. There is one individual whose eyes look like that...
"Member X...welcome to the discussion", Herta greets The Red Eyed.
"Gege...", Qiqi whispers to herself.
"Oh, did I just interrupt a discussion ?", The Red Eyed said to the others.
"I won't say that you INTERRUPTED a discussion", The Leek told The Red Eyed, "If anything, we are waiting for you to give your own thoughts on this matter"
"What matter ? I need to be sure"
Qiqi spoke to him, "Should good medicines be bitter ?"
The Red Eyed immediately answers, "My past self would say yes, but current me will say no...why ? Because people grow in different conditions best...you can't expect the cacti to grow faster in the same environment as the loti when they grow fastest, and vice versa...some require compassion to grow ideally, while others need raw toughness to achieve the same thing...this is what past me didn't see"
"Thanks...gege"
"Don't mention it, I am merely doing what the defeated side of a war has to do", The Red Eyed explains to Qiqi, "You won the war, you make the rules...I lost the war, I follow it, simple as that"
"Thank you for your contribution in this discussion...as a psychopath, you are able to give insights most of us do not wish to have, and your insight shall be an important thing to note if an argument ends up being inevitable", Nahida complimented him.
"If you insist mentioning it...", The Red Eyed then turns at Herta, "So...want another round of 100-sided Physics die ? We're doing it with a material with the restitution coefficient of 0.9 so there are more bounces to calculate, you can bring as many papers as you wish"
"I'd rather die than play die with you..."
"Good pun by the way"
"AS IF-"
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"Here are the antidepressants you ordered, Nali !", Qiqi handed Nahida's order.
"Thank you ! Kuu's gonna like it !"
Kuu sighed in disdain, "Do you really have to mention it ?"
"Why not ? You need to calm your mind so you can break free from your despair and get along with the past ! You're not The Psychopath who can get along with his past simply because he wants to, despite how his past is just so gruesome and unforgiving, so you're gonna need help for it !"
"Tsk...fine..."
"And here are your Violetgrass tea, Herta-chan !"
"Drop the chan, it gives me goosebumps", Herta folds her arms after taking her orders.
"Never~"
"Ugh..."
"Ok, bye Nali~ !"
"Bye Qiqi~ !"
And so, Qiqi took Herta away using the Teleport Waypoints...
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"Alright Herta-chan, we'll walk up from here, stay close to me"
"Lead the way"
And Qiqi walked with Herta up to Yuehai Pavilion. The trip was quiet, due to Herta not really interested in starting a chat...finally, they made it to Yuehai Pavilion, where they met...
"Ahhh~ hello there, Qiqi~ !"
"Hi Furina !"
They met Furina in Yuehai Pavilion...
"What were you doing in Yuehai Pavilion ?"
"I was just examining this thing while I wait for a guest ! I intend to have a little tea party with him, so I waited here, since this is a good spot...but the spaceship is something I didn't expect showing up !"
"Speak of the spaceship, yes, this is a genuine Knight of Beauty's spaceship", Herta spoke while crouching and touching the spaceship.
"So...", Furina turns to Herta.
"It also has quite a damage, not necessarily enough to force you into landing somewhere...but given how the Knights of Beauty are, I can see them asking for a repair at a state like this..."
"But why land here ?", Qiqi asks the Genius Society member.
"I'll get to it after I'm done feasting my eyes with this ship"
Furina was confused by Herta's act, "Is she this weird ?"
"Maybe...", Qiqi told the drama queen, "Oh, and while you're here...what do you think a good medicine should be ?"
Furina folds her arm, eyes looking up, "Well...sweeter they are, the better they are..."
"...Oka-"
"Wait wait wait wait !!! Maybe not TOO sweet ! Yeah yeah, the sweetness should be fair at best, otherwise, I WILL get sick just to have a taste of it...yeah, it needs to be sweet, but not to sweet...yeah"
"Umm...okay ? Qiqi will remember it, thanks Furina"
"De rien !"
Qiqi turns to Herta, "Herta-chan, Qiqi will go to Bubu Pharmacy now, please repair the ship before the owner gets here !"
Herta stood up, "Where's the owner ?"
"In Bubu Pharmacy !"
"I see...I'll repair this as fast as I could"
"Thanks, Herta !"
"Don't mention it"
And so, Qiqi left the two girls in the same area...
"So...can you explain to me how are these-"
"Shut up, I need to repair this first"
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The Bubu Pharmacy no longer feels so tense compared to earlier, yet there were a little bit of tense coming specifically from the back bedroom. Qiqi went there, and finds Argenti still tied in the bed, while Baizhu doesn't even seem to care about him.
"Oh hello Qiqi", Baizhu greets Qiqi, "Did you deliver the orders ?"
"Mhm, are they prepaid ? Because none of them paid"
"They are prepared", Changsheng told Qiqi, "You sssssserioussssssly thought they're that dumb ?"
"Nope"
Baizhu walks towards Qiqi until he's only one meter away from her, "So...tell me, Qiqi...what did the customers say ?"
"I sssssmell an argument coming..."
"Most of them said that the medicines should be sweeter so that it can be consumed easier, while there was one who says otherwise, his claim on how life is about enduring the truth was broken by Herta-chan, who claims that pursuit of truth alone is cold and bitter enough, some moments of warmth and comfort in our way"
"And why should we trust this Herta ?", Baizhu folds his arms, "I get that she's the new Sage of Ksahrewar, and the most likely candidate to be the Grand Sage of The Akademiya, but should we trust her for philosophical matters ?"
"No, we don't, but-"
Baizhu interrupts Qiqi...he's seriously trying to argue with her, "Then what's the-"
"Let Qiqi finish", She interrupts him, "But we don't have to trust him to see the point...Doctor Bai, what do YOU feel like doing after doing something exhausting ?"
"Stopping by to enjoy the scenery, or have some tea if I'm on a safe enough place, and then have a nap if necessary"
"That is a moment of comfort that even you took, and sick people don't feel well, they are exhausted, shouldn't be forced to swallow stuff they don't even want to swallow normally"
Baizhu thought of it for a moment, "But how come most people picked my medicines ? They taste nasty, yet people still love them"
"They don't, they need to take them to be healthy because of how effective your medicines are, but if someone else's medicine works as well, and tastes good, a lot will leave yours for medicines they actually love to have"
Baizhu then nods, "I see then, but what if they end up liking the medicines more that they get sick willingly ?"
Qiqi smiles, "Then don't make them TOO sweet...a bit of sweetness is fine"
Baizhu nods again, "Fair point, you'll be helping me come up with recipes for my medicines after you do something with me", he then asks Qiqi something, "Anyways...I don't recall you being this good at speaking, so where and when did you learn it ?"
Qiqi giggled, "From everyone else, especially gege...he was a great leader"
Knowing what that word means, Baizhu just thought that this "gege" is probably someone she got along well enough, Baizhu ignores that part, and went with the flow, "He must be such a great leader..."
"Hey, are you finally making sweeter medicines ?", Argenti finally spoke after observing the pair.
"We'll bring you some of that...and some more to everyone else for testing purposes"
"That's a great idea- I mean...fabulous idea thou has cometh with...now, set me free"
"After I finished on my medicines, monsieur~ !"
"H-hey !"
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"Finally free~ ! Thou have my utmost respect, beautiful white haired damsel...!"
"Silence, redhead...or should I shove that spear through an orifice of your choice ?"
Shenhe sets Argenti free after Baizhu and Qiqi finished their medicine, but she finds his attitude unbearable...
"Calm down, calm down", Cheng restrains Shenhe to keep her from attacking Argenti.
"I'm back~"
Baizhu returns after personally handing the medicine to the exact mother and child pair that often have problems with his bitter medicines. In the pharmacy was Argenti, leaning on the counter, along with Shenhe, who was being restrained by Xin Cheng, and Qiqi, sitting on a chair while writing some things on her notebook in the other side of the room, while Gui stood beside Qiqi's table. Baizhu stopped in front of Argenti and between Shenhe and Qiqi.
"So...how did it go ?", Gui asks Baizhu.
"The child was willing to take the medicine, without any needs of making commotion"
"I have told thou, that thy medicines taste ugl-"
"Ssssspeak normally !", Changsheng is starting to lose patience over the Knight of Beauty.
"Your medicine tastes bad, and you need to change it"
"Yeah, changes can be necessary sometimes", He looks at Qiqi, "You look pretty happy, Qiqi...what are you writing ?"
"You finally made better medicines, and I can help you make medicines, Qiqi thinks that she must write it down !"
Baizhu giggles, "Good to know", then turns to Argenti, "So, Mister Knight of Beauty, anything else you want to do ?"
"Some medicines please, do you accept IPC credits ?"
Baizhu was confused, "I'm sorry...IPC ? Insanely Problematic Condition ?"
"Interastral Peace Corporation, you don't know ?"
"I don't know"
Argenti restrained himself from saying a bad word, "Okay, so how do I pay ?"
"With mora"
'What's a mora ?"
Baizhu facepalms, "This world's global currency"
Argenti shrugged, "I don't have any of those"
Qiqi gets down from her chair and gets between the men, "Qiqi help", and prepared a bag of mora, "What do you want, mister ?"
"5 bandage rolls and a large bottle of alcohol"
"That'ssssss all ?", Changsheng spoke to Argenti, "Why bothsssser making sssssuch a fussssss ?"
"It is my duty as a Knight of Beauty to spread beauty everywhere I go"
Qiqi thinks for a while, then took out some mora coins, "That'll be 25 thousand"
Baizhu reluctantly accepted Qiqi's payment, "...Thanks, Qiqi"
"You're welcome !"
"Thank you for your aid, little girl...", Argenti told her as she went to collect the items behind the counter.
Qiqi handed him his orders while telling him to check, "No problem !"
Argenti checked the orders, and found that they're all exactly what he ordered, "Thank you again, and if you don't mind...may I have some...uhhh...tea ?"
"Qiqi would recommend Violetgrass tea !"
"Same here, Herta the Genius is one of our loyal customers, regularly ordering Violetgrass tea", Baizhu starts advertising.
"Okay, 1 Violetgrass tea !"
"Incoming~"
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Finally, the chaos related to bad tasting medicines are over. Argenti decided to get back to his ship in Yuehai Pavilion to reexamine the damage and try to make repairs, or possibly hope he can find someone to repair it, only to find Furina and 2 guys having a tea party near Madame Ping's usual spot, and...
"Wow, Genius Herta, what are you doing here ?", Argenti looks at her body, and sees no puppet joints, "Wait...you're the real deal ?!!"
"I live here, and yes, this is the real deal...what are YOU doing here, Knight of Beauty ?"
"As you see, my ship suffered quite some damage, so I need to get it repaired, but it also...ran out of fuel...so I had to land here in emergency..."
Herta folds her arms, "I knew it...anyways, the reparations are done, and the main problem is that there's a fuel tank leak, which I solved, no need to pay me, as for the fuels, I fear that I don't know who should I trouble to get my ship so I can siphon my ship's fuel into yours, as I have a tight schedule nowadays"
"No need to trouble yourself into it, Madam Herta...I'll figure it out myself", The Knight of Beauty sniffs a rose, "But before that, I have a little something I need to do..."
Noticing the Knight of Beauty looking at her, Qiqi tilts her head, "What do you want with Qiqi ?"
Argenti walks in front of her, "The way you greeted me was the utmost preposterous kind, truly despicable...but you changed that doctor's mind, and I believe you attacked me out of nowhere because you thought I'm a threat, both of which hold a beauty of its own...therefore...", the knight draws his spear, "Let us fight, fair and square this time !"
Keqing, who was looking at Argenti's spaceship, turned around and greets him as he asks Qiqi to fight, "You must be the Knight of Beauty Herta spoke of, no ? Anyways, I'm Keqing, Yuheng of the Qixing, who are in charge of this place"
"I am Argenti, Knight of Beauty~ ! Pleased to meet thou, Madam Keqing...", Argenti bows in a knightly fashion.
"No need to be so formal, mister...anyways, you said you wish to fight Qiqi ?"
"Yes, may I fight her here ? I demand a duel of beauty against Qiqi"
Knowing how strong Qiqi is in combat, Keqing allowed it, "Sure, just try not to do property damage...do you wish to have audiences ?"
"No thatnks, I'd like to keep this duel as personal as possible, with least spectators as possible"
"Very well, have at it Argenti, I'll prepare the mats-"
"No need to..."
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Qiqi and Argenti stood against each other. Everyone else in the site gathered around them, including Furina and the 2 guys.
"Ehe, who do you think will win, Zhongli ?"
"I fear this might be too easy for Qiqi, given the scope of her martial prowess, but I am not sure of what kind of surprise this Knight of Beauty really holds"
"Shh, why don't you two just stick to the show ?", Furina silenced both.
"Here I cometh !"
Argenti charges with his spear on hand, launching an impale at Qiqi, who evaded to his attack blind spot. Qiqi then swings her sword diagonal upwards with her right hand, which Argenti evaded by sweeping his right foot, which was in the front side, half a rotation, clearing himself from Qiqi's range of attack as she moved her sword to her other hand and launches another slash diagonal downwards. Argenti then launches his strongest attack, spinning a full rotation as he closes the distance from Qiqi, before unleashing a limited version of his best technique to attack her. Noticing this, Qiqi rotates backwards with her front foot as a fulcrum, then does a 5/4 rotation, launching a left handed slash in a somewhat poor timing, fractions of a second too early to stop Argenti's attack.
Except that wasn't what Qiqi planned. What she planned was to use her small and light body, along with the attack's momentum, to "jump" above the Knight of Beauty's spear attack. She knew from the way he moved that it's a finisher, meaning he will have a bigger opening than in other strikes. Qiqi evaded Argenti's attack, and then does a heavy attack at Argenti mid air, hitting him with the sides of her sword.
Thud ! Fell the Knight of Beauty
"I admit defeat", He raises his arms, "Congratulations for being able to best me, Qiqi...your techniques are beautifully efficient and elegant, but I'm curious...how are you this good at martial techniques despite your physical age ?"
"About that...", Qiqi giggled, "Qiqi's been practicing martial techniques since she was 3...wait, maybe less ? I don't know..."
Argenti was dumbfounded...along with everyone else in the area.
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Around an hour later, Argenti refueled his ship from the materials he bought from a refuel station. As for how did he manage to...he freeloaded the Astral Express to the nearest refuel station, which is 3960 Parsecs away from Tevyat. Tevyat exists in a particularly "dead" space surrounding it, causing it to be somewhat tricky to access, with only a few spaceships capable of going in and out of there with ease, and Argenti's ship is among them, but his fuel tank was damaged during his battle against some Stings in Astral Express within the "Dead zone". Keqing didn't understand much about spaceships despite seeing the fuel tank leak, and how the fuel tank of Argenti's spaceship not looking like a typical fuel tank further confuses her, hence her inability to determine the core issue. As for why Argenti landed on Tevyat...he sees what looks like a habitable world despite how the "Partially shattered egg" looks somewhat terrifying, both from outside and from inside.
The Knight of Beauty is ready to continue his trip...
"Where are you going now, mister ?"
"To wherever my search leads me...to wherever Idrila the Beauty may be"
"Idrila ? The Beauty ?"
Herta spoke to Qiqi, "Aeon of Beauty, Aeons are cosmic entities with their traits being incomprehensible, far beyond what this world call Archons, but still not Almighty, to put it simply"
"You do have a point", Zhongli confirmed Herta's explanation, "Director Hu told me that once"
Argenti sniffs a rose, "Pleased to meet thou in this vast universe...may our paths intertwine once more in the future..."
He then boards his ship, does a "See ya" gesture, then starts his ship and leaves.
"Bye mister !"
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"A vast real sky beyond the fake sky...", A wanderer with large hat utters as he saw a fast object leaves Liyue. He then smiled, "Looks like the SKY is real after all..."