Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had all started with Verr Goldet. Keqing was so going to murder her when the boss of the inn came back.

…

If she came back.

Always the unspoken word.

If.

If.

If.

If they survived another day.

If they didn’t lose someone else.

If the inn didn’t fall.

If the world wasn’t destroyed.

They had never found out why nobody had come back.

Did they…leave them all behind?

They were so…

Alone.

Lonely.

Desperate.

Their only hope was…

To escape.

Their only comfort was…

Each other.

Their only dream…

To live.

Chapter Text

Keqing sat at her desk, painstakingly filling out the paperwork application for a little-known merchant to open their shop on the outskirts of Liyue Harbor.

She had always believed that unimportant matters such as paperwork were dull and time-consuming, but Keqing was slowly realizing that it wasn’t so bad. Some of the matters were quite interesting to read through.

Besides, it would help the Qixing’s secretary, Ganyu. Keqing had never once seen the half-Qilin without a neatly organized stack of paperwork in her slender arms, despite the many Liyuean citizens urging her to rest.

Suddenly, a loud thud was heard from the halls, with a faint fluttering sound of paper. She immediately leaped out of her seat, racing out of her office and ready to summon her sword if there was an intruder.

But instead of a thief or con man, there was a timid half-Qilin hastily picking up dozens of papers.

The immortal glanced up at the Yuheng, and blushed in embarrassment. “I apologize for the inconvenience, am I blocking your way?”

“No, no,” Keqing said quickly, but Ganyu was already scooting to the side while frantically snatching the documents off of the floor. “I just heard you fall and drop the papers. Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” The qilin said, then her jaw dropped open as Keqing crouched down next to her and began helping clean up. “Ah! Lady Yuheng, you really shouldn’t have to stoop this low…”

Keqing shook her head, her voice firm. “All Liyuean citizens are equal, no matter their rank.”

Ganyu blushed, taking the final sheets of paper into her arms. “Of course, Lady Yuheng.”

“...Please don’t call me Lady Yuheng, it makes me feel old,” Keqing sighed, handing the papers that she had collected to Ganyu.

Ganyu blushed even harder. “Eek! I mean, sorry Lady Yu–Lady Keqing.”

Keqing rolled her eyes, then stood up and offered a hand to the qilin. “Could you just cut off the ‘Lady’ part?”

The secretary bit her lip in humiliation, taking Keqing’s hand. “I apologize…Keqing.”

The informal title felt like a spark in the air, igniting something that neither of the two had known to exist.

Now it was Keqing’s turn to blush, and she hastily turned and brushed off her dress. “Well, I should be off. The Tianquan just left this morning, and I have to attend the Qixing meeting.”

“Oh!” Ganyu jumped in surprise. “I’m also going to the meeting, to transcript for Lady Ningguang.”

Keqing smiled, holding back a laugh. “Well then, you might want to come with me.”

“Haha, yes,” Ganyu said sheepishly, tucking back her sky blue bangs.

Together the duo walked to the center of the Jade Chamber, where the rest of the Qixing were waiting for them.

“Secretary Ganyu, you are sixteen minutes late,” a member said sternly.

“Ah! I’m so sorry-” Ganyu began, but was cut off.

“Excuse me, but I am also sixteen minutes late,” Keqing pointed out, defending the qilin.

“Uh, well you’re a member of the Qixing,” the member replied uncertainly.

“Lady Ganyu has been the secretary of the Qixing for centuries,” Keqing retorted sharply, feeling anger surge through her. “You could stack up at least twenty of your lifespan before you even begin to measure up to her.”

“Um, it’s just Ganyu,” the qilin interjected softly.

“Let’s just start the meeting,” another member said tiredly.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Ganyu slipped away as the meeting ended, leaving the notepad full of transcriptions on the extravagant table.

She quickly exited the Jade Chamber with the help of Bu’yun, slipping into a dark alley. Once she was safely hidden from the public, she let herself let out her emotions.

The qilin began to sob, her shoulders shaking as her powerful emotions called down sorrowful rain. She hid her face in her sleeves, embarrassed although no one spotted her yet.

How am I supposed to do this?

“Hey, are you alright?” A soft voice asked and Ganyu looked up, her eyes wide.

Keqing was sitting next to her, staring at her calmly as she patiently waited for a response.

“I-I’m-I’m fine,” Ganyu said, hiccuping. “I-I just need-need some t-time to co-compose myself.”

“Ah, that happens to me a lot,” Keqing said light-heartedly. “So, is there anything in particular stressing you out?”

“I’m used to having the pressure of h-helping to run Liyue as the secretary of the Qixing,” Ganyu began. “But…right before L-Lady Ningguang left, she gave me an…assignment of some sort.”

“What was it?” Keqing asked curiously, for it piqued her interest. Normally if Ningguang had a task that she could not handle herself, the other Qixing members or the Millelith would do it for her.

“Well…Lady Ningguang informed me that the funeral parlor consultant Zhongli had told her that the funeral director Hu Tao had told him that Zhonglin had told her that Verr Goldet had told him that they needed someone to take over Wangshu Inn for them temporarily,” Ganyu blurted out.

“E-eh?!” Keqing squeaked in surprise. “Aren’t they the owners of the inn?”

“Well, apparently a…moody adeptus has been causing issues for them,” Ganyu mumbled. “At least, according to Lady Ningguang. I didn’t call him that, please don’t tell him I said that.”

“...Are we talking about the Guardian Yaksha?” Keqing asked, perplexed. The great and mighty Guardian Yaksha of Liyue is a moody adeptus?

“Um, yes,” Ganyu squeaked, then looked up as if she expected the aforementioned person to leap out and attack her.

But then, for all Keqing knew the mysterious adeptus might be the type of person to do that.

“So, are you supposed to be the hostess of the inn for a while?” Keqing asked. “If it’s only for a month or so, I’m sure you can handle it!”

“It’s only for a month, and thankfully they’re closing the inn down partially,” Ganyu said. “They informed me that the only guests would be Xiangling, Xingqiu, Chongyun, Qiqi, and the honorary Yaksha of Dihua Marsh.”

“Well, it seems quite easy then,” Keqing replied, then immediately added, “I didn’t mean that it’s not a lot of pressure, though!”

Ganyu laughed softly, a sweet melody that surprised Keqing. “I know what you meant, don’t worry.”

“...Do you want me to help you run the inn?” Keqing asked suddenly. “I mean, there needs to be a boss and a host, right?”

Ganyu gasped in shock. “You would!? Really?!”

“Of course.” Keqing smiled warmly. “It’s not like I have a lot of things to do, anyway.”

“Oh, um, alright!” Ganyu said, flustered. “I have to go and check in with Verr Goldet and sign the paperwork, so I’ll see you soon.”

“I could come with you,” Keqing suggested. “Since I’m the boss of the inn.”

Ganyu nodded and stood up gracefully, calmly walking out of the alley and into the main street of Liyue Harbor, toward Wangshu Inn.

Keqing followed her swiftly, readjusting her cat-ear-shaped hairstyle as she went.

Chapter Text

Ganyu lightly stepped into the inn, skirting around a small quartet of three teenagers and a child who were gathered near the entrance. She looked around anxiously, immediately spotting Verr Goldet who waved at the qilin.

She walked up to the service counter, petting the cat that was perched elegantly on the table, its tail curled around its paws. “Hello, Verr Goldet. How are you today?”

The boss covered her mouth with the back of her hand as she let out a massive yawn. “I’m fine. Are you here to…check in?”

“No, I’m here to take over the inn for a month,” the immortal reminded her. “Do you remember the message you sent through Zhonglin?”

“Oh, yes,” Verr Goldet said quickly, bobbing her head up and down. “The four minors there are the guests for the month.”

The boss gestured toward the entrance, and Ganyu realized that she was speaking of the quartet. 

The deep purple-haired girl was trying to convince the sky-blue haired boy to eat something, with the dark blue-haired boy trying to hold back his laughter. The small child stood in the center of the group, observing the chaos around her.

Those little ones must be Xiangling, Chongyun, Xingqiu, and Qiqi, Ganyu thought, frowning. They seemed to be quite chaotic and troublesome, she noted.

A familiar figure suddenly appeared next to her, magenta hair falling down her shoulders in loose curls as she pointed sharply at the adolescents. “Are those the guests?”

“Yes, they are,” Verr Goldet replied, squinting at Keqing. Then her eyes widened. “Lady Yuheng? Please excuse my lack of courtesy, I did not recognize you at first…”

Ganyu thought for a moment, frowning even more. If Verr Goldet was unable to recognize the extremely distinguishable Keqing, then she would have to be completely exhausted.

But what could have exhausted the constantly cheery boss of Wangshu Inn?

All of a sudden, the noise of shattering glass was heard from upstairs, and the inn shook slightly. Ganyu yelped in surprise, then accidentally dashed backward, leaving an Ice Lotus levitating inches from Keqing.

“Eep! Please, everyone back away!” Ganyu said worriedly, shielding Keqing as the lotus began to glow.

Then with a loud boom and an explosion of ice, the ice lotus disappeared. In its place was a small hole in the floorboards.

Verr Goldet sighed. “Don’t worry, our guest tends to break the windows often.”

“Why would the great and mighty and illuminated adeptus Yaksha of Liyue break windows in an inn?” Keqing asked curiously, putting emphasis on the words.

“Karmic debt,” Verr Goldet said shortly then tossed Ganyu a set of keys, which she fumbled before catching. “I’ll be taking my leave now, so take care.”

“W-wait!” Ganyu began, but the boss was already gone. The qilin sighed, already exhausted from the long day as she turned to the Yuheng. “Well, what shall we do now?”

Keqing thought for a moment before speaking. “Let’s check on the situation upstairs first. Then we can find suitable accommodations for the guests, then fix the floorboards here.”

“Alright,” Ganyu agreed. She quickly walked up the stairs to the second floor, already dreading the scene.

So…it wasn’t as bad as they thought it would be. Not all of the windows were broken, although a good number of them were cracked and quite fragile. The razor-edged shards of glass were already being blown away by the wind, thanks to their honorary guest.

“Hmph,” a derisive voice scoffed. “I’ve long forgotten the last time when a fellow adepti—excluding Zhongli, of course—came to Dihua Marsh. Here to visit the final Yaksha?”

“Um…” Ganyu mumbled sheepishly, noticing that the last sentence was spoken rather bitterly. “Well–”

“It does not matter,” Xiao said, appearing in front of her with a cloud of black and green smoke. “Verr Goldet has already informed me a sufficient number of times. Quite the intrusive mortal.”

“Is he always like this?” Keqing whispered to Ganyu.

“No, but it might just be a bad day to visit,” Ganyu hissed back.

“As an adeptus, especially one thirty centuries of age, should know that all adepti have excellent hearing,” Xiao said nonchalantly, his golden eyes boring into her.

Ganyu frowned. Was that her imagination, or was there a hint of darkness in his gaze that she had not seen before?

“Ah, yes, sorry,” Ganyu muttered, uncomfortable around the younger adeptus. Despite being several centuries older than him, he always had a way to make her feel like a child, unintentionally or not.

“You know you’re being really rude right now, right?” Keqing said sharply, glaring at the Yaksha.

Xiao hesitated for a moment. “...I regress.”

Ganyu blinked, surprised. When had the grumpy illuminated beast of Wangshu Inn begun apologizing to others?

“There is demonic activity near the west of Wangshu Inn, so stay wary.” And with those extremely comforting words, the mysterious adeptus disappeared in another cloud of smoke, causing Ganyu to cough.

“I didn’t realize that adepti could be so irritating,” Keqing commented, tossing her hair behind her. “Besides, aren’t you older than him?”

“I, uh…” Ganyu bit her lip. “We both lived through the Archon War, and he was close to the other Yakshas who died, unlike me.”

“He’s a jerk,” Keqing said stalwartly. “You can’t change my mind otherwise.”

“We should find a room for the guests,” Ganyu said, hastily changing the topic to avoid insulting the Yaksha further.

Keqing nodded, and went back downstairs while Ganyu explored the inn for guest rooms.

She examined the downstairs area, noting the simple but elegant designs.

Suddenly something resembling a teddy bear ambled into the room, and Ganyu let out a shriek and summoned her bow, already charging a shot.

“NO!” A shrill voice yelled, and the purple-haired girl leaped in front of the weapon. “That’s Guoba, the former Stove God!”

Ganyu lowered her weapon, confused. “That teddy bear…is a God?”

The girl nodded frantically. “Xingqiu and Chongyun know it too! Just ask them!”

“Hm, you must be Xiangling then,” Ganyu mused. “I apologize for my reaction, Stove God and Xiangling. I thought that you were a monster of some sort.”

“Haha,” Xiangling laughed uneasily. “That tends to happen quite of-Wait! Aren’t you Ganyu, the secretary of the Qixing?!”

Now it was Ganyu’s turn to laugh awkwardly. “Haha, I am. But I have an assignment to be the hostess of the inn for a month.”

“Oh, now it makes sense!” Xiangling exclaimed. “You see, the consultant of the funeral parlor Zhongli suggested for us to stay at Wangshu Inn for a month, saying that all expenses were covered and that it would help some people greatly.”

“I didn’t know that the Qixing had decided to give me additional support,” Ganyu said.

“No, actually I believe Zhongli personally arranged it,” Xiangling said.

Ganyu frowned. Why would Rex Lapis have requested for those teenagers to come to the inn?

“It was a favor that he owed from a wandering bard of Mondstadt,” Xiangling added. “I met him at the last Lantern Rite, I think his name was, uh…”

Xiangling turned toward the staircase. “Xingqiu! What was that bard’s name from the previous Lantern Rite?”

The sound of light footsteps was heard, and the dark blue-haired boy appeared. “His name was Venti.”

“Oh, yeah!” Xiangling smiled warmly, but she looked worried. “Is everything alright for today?”

Xingqiu nodded tiredly, tossing his head to get his bangs out of his eyes. “Mm-hm, Chongyun is doing fine.”

“I was talking about you, dummy!” Xiangling clarified. “Hasn’t your dad really been pushing the family recently?”

Xingqiu sighed. “My older brother is taking most of the lectures, and as I’ve already left to go here I don’t know what’s happening anymore.”

With that nice statement the boy left the room.

“Sorry, I think he’s a little tired after taking care of Chongyun all night,” Xiangling explained. “Chongyun has a pure-yang spirit, and he accidentally ate a Jueyun Chili Pepper.”

“Oh,” Ganyu said, unsure of what that meant. “But Xingqiu said he’s alright now, so that’s a good sign?”

“Yeah, Chongyun’s episodes usually only last for a few hours at most.” Xiangling said. “Back on topic, Venti asked Zhongli if he could get someone to look after…him.”

Xiangling pointed toward the balcony where Xiao was sitting on the railing, looking out into the distance.

“...Why would a random bard from Mondstadt ask a funeral consultant for someone to watch over a two-thousand-year-old adeptus?” Ganyu asked, trying to maintain a straight face.

“I…have no clue.” Xiangling laughed. “Anyway, do you know if there are any open rooms?”

Ganyu looked around, spotting an itinerary. She took it, skimming over it. “Hmm…it appears that there are only two open rooms.”

Xiangling choked on air, and Guoba hurriedly slapped her back with a fluffy paw. “W-what?! Oh god, Xingqiu’s going to be happy about that…”

“I may be overstepping the line here, but are Xingqiu and Chongyun…dating?” Ganyu said, immediately wanting to facepalm as she misspoke.

“Actually, you pretty much hit the bullseye there,” Xiangling admitted. “Although they claim they’re not dating, it seems…obvious.”

“What do you mean?” Ganyu said, confused. She had thought that if they were fine with sleeping together, then they might be dating.

“They don’t really get romantic in public, but people either think that they are dating, or that they will start dating.” Xiangling snorted. “At least I know that they’re not dating yet-oops!”

The girl looked extremely flustered, and hid behind Guoba. “You, uh, you didn’t hear that from me!”

Ganyu laughed softly. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

Xiangling was obviously relieved, and resumed their conversation. “So yes, it’s fine if there’s only two open rooms for us. But what are you and Keqing going to do?”

Ganyu looked over the itinerary once more, and her mouth dropped open.

There was only one room left.

One room.

One.

Room.

For.

The.

Two.

Of.

Them.

Ganyu blinked out of her daze, glancing at Xiangling who was giving her a concerned look. “I-uh-I-I have to go! You can find your rooms underground, hallway to the right and staircase to the left!”

She ran out, leaving a bewildered Xiangling and a sleepy Guoba downstairs while she raced up the stairs. What the what the what the whatthewhatthewhatthe?!

“Keqing! Keqing!” Ganyu said, breathing heavily after running. “There aren’t enough rooms!”

“Haha, did you think that there would be that many rooms in an inn like this?” Keqing asked, laughing. “There are two beds in the room, so we’ll be fine.”

“Um, are you sure?” Ganyu asked nervously.

“Yes, it’s not like we’re strangers!” Keqing said lightheartedly. “It’s just for a month, and if necessary I’m sure we can find different rooms.”

“A-alright…” Ganyu said uncertainly. She supposed that if they were just friends, then spending the nights together in a room wouldn’t hurt.

“Don’t worry!” Keqing said, laughing.

Keqing’s calm mood helped to relax the qilin, who decided to complete her examination of the inn’s accommodations.

Ganyu slowly ascended the stairs once again, pausing when she realized that she had reached the very top of the building.

She looked up at the clouds wondering if her qilin brethren were staring back at her, solemnly awaiting her return to the skies.

It had been eons since she had drifted freely through the skies, elements washing over her with every gust of wind.

“Are you missing them?” A voice said, and she felt a soft wave of karma wash over her.

“A little,” Ganyu admitted, turning to the Yaksha. “Do you…do you miss your fellow Yakshas?”

Xiao sighed. “...Yes. But the world does not pause for one’s grief.”

“That seems like a very cynical point of view,” Ganyu noted. “Besides, hasn’t time…metaphorically paused for you?”

“What do you mean?” Xiao asked warily, his eyes narrowing.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like you’ve matured any further than you have since…a thousand years or so?” Ganyu said meekly. “I mean, I met you when you were young, and you were already acting like a full-fledged Yaksha.”

Xiao stared at her. “As we are both adepti, is it not natural for us all to mature at an early age?”

“Um, yes, but…” Ganyu bit her lip. “Morax never told me the details, um, about…what happened…”

A mask seemed to cover his face, under which no emotion was seen.

Xiao disappeared in a thick cloud of green-black smoke.

Ganyu felt embarrassed.

Rex Lapis had specifically asked her to not ask Xiao about his past, but after centuries of silence her curiosity had gotten the best of her.

She sighed, then continued scouting out the place.

Chapter Text

Keqing heard a soft thump from outside, and she immediately pulled out her sword. She crept toward the door, opening it and thrusting her blade at whoever was there.

But to her surprise, there was only a stack of papers, with a small note attached to the ribbon tying the files together:

Have fun.

From the additional secretaries at the Jade Chamber

Keqing rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed that the hired secretaries were sending their papers to Ganyu and herself. They were already busy enough as it was, having to run an inn and take care of children.

“Are you okay?” A soft voice asked, and she spun around.

Xingqiu stood in front of her, smiling although there were shadows under his eyes, although there wasn’t much to be happy about, although there were so many things to worry about.

“Y-yes, why wouldn’t I be?” Keqing said, attempting to put as much pride and arrogance as she could muster into her voice.

“Ganyu told me to inform you that there are monsters approaching the inn,” Xingqiu said, his smile fading away rapidly.

Keqing now realized that his relaxed expression was a mask, under which his true emotions were. But she didn’t have time to ask him, for Chongyun entered the room and Xingqiu’s gloomy expression disappeared under his fake smiles once again.

“Chongyun, it might be dangerous at the inn,” Xingqiu said quickly, obviously struggling to keep his smile plastered on his face. “Maybe you should stay on the second or third floor?”

“I’m an exorcist,” Chongyun replied calmly. “I fight against monsters all the time.”

“I know,” Xingqiu said, laughing awkwardly. “But maybe you’re getting tired of battling against them so often?”

“Xingqiu, don’t be so worried!” Xiangling called out from upstairs. “We’ll all be fine, we have Ganyu, Keqing, and Xiao here after all!”

Xingqiu was silent, and Keqing didn’t know what to say to comfort him. She was good at inspiring speeches, but she wasn’t skilled in small pep talks.

“Uh, I’ll definitely protect all of you!” Keqing said, smirking as she twirled her sword.

Xingqiu gave a small smile, this time genuine. “I know you will, I just worry anyway.”

“That’s fine,” Chongyun said.

Keqing watched as the Cryo Vision user let his fingers brush against the other boy’s, waiting for Xingqiu’s reaction. The dark-haired boy’s eyes widened, and he slowly intertwined his fingers with Chongyun. Chongyun blushed, his face turning a light pink that matched Ganyu’s eyes in the sunlight.

Keqing walked outside, giving the two some privacy as she prepared to fight against the monsters. Suddenly a voice spoke close to her ear, startling her.

“Did you think that you would fight against an army without me~?” Ganyu said sweetly, her eyes shining. “It’s been so long since I’ve had a proper battle…around a few centuries, at least.”

“I’ll take care of the stronger ones, just don’t get too close,” Xiao informed them. “I don’t need any additional casualties.”

Keqing nodded slowly, surprised that they were helping her. Everyone in her life had always expected her to take care of issues such as these, they had claimed that it would give her more experience about the real world. Ningguang had eventually told her that her family had only been manipulating her from the very beginning, using her to do the work they had despised so much.

Keqing saw the first mitachurls appear over the hill, but they were suddenly enveloped in a thick fog. A small figure appeared from the mist as it dissipated, revealing the mitachurls collapsing to the ground as they dissolved into dust. She smiled, knowing that Xiao was likely helping them with the weaker ones anyway.

More monsters rapidly appeared, surrounding the inn. Keqing spotted a group of hilichurls running towards the stairway and she raced after them, readying herself. She jumped into the fray, dodging their clubs and stones as she struck any openings she could find. She kicked kneecaps, slashed off fingers, and detached limbs. The hilichurls immediately exploded into a cloud of dust, and she looked around for Ganyu. Keqing’s eyes widened in shock.

Ganyu was in the center of a group of shield mitachurls who were violently swinging their wooden shields at her. The half-qilin dodged their attacks with ease, but the constant attacks kept her from infusing her arrows with Cryo. She repeatedly hit the shields with her non-Cryo arrows, with little success. She turned toward Keqing for a moment, before the monsters blocked the Yuheng’s line of sight once again.

Keqing took a deep breath, summoning Electro around herself and nearby Ganyu. She teleported a short distance, stumbling from the effort as she landed in front of Ganyu. But there was no time to recover from the technique, so she swung her Electro-infused blade at the shields, sparks of electricity bouncing off her sword from the blows.

“Thank you–” Ganyu shot a mitachurl in the eye. “--For coming to help me.”

“No problem,” Keqing replied, sending more Electro into her blade.

A sudden wind picked up, too powerful to occur naturally. Keqing squinted her eyes as the icy energy from Ganyu’s arrows swirled into the wind, freezing the mitachurls. Keqing thanked Xiao under her breath, before shattering the beasts into frozen shards of flesh with a flick of her sword.

A loud clanking noise sounded behind them, and Keqing turned around. A massive Ruin Guard was bearing down on them, the glowing orange orb in its circle-like head pulsing every second. It swung its coiled arms toward Keqing and she ducked, knowing that there was no other way to dodge its powerful attacks. Ganyu abruptly whipped around, racing towards the entrance of Wangshu Inn. What was she trying to do?

Keqing took a deep breath, analyzing the Ruin Guard's structure. If she tried to climb up to attack its core, she would be crushed in an instant by its constantly rotating arms. The Ruin Guard's head swiveled down to look at her and it turned around, hunching its shoulders.

Keqing's eyes widened, realizing what it was about to do. Missiles launched from the Ruin Guard's back, straight toward her.

Chapter Text

Keqing gasped as a missile slammed into her stomach, sending her flying backward through the air, before suddenly disappearing. She frowned in confusion, too winded to get up. But the Ruin Guard lurched backward, then crumbled into red-black dust that floated away on the breeze.

Had Ganyu managed to defeat it that rapidly? But she hadn’t noticed any arrows flying towards the monstrous machine before it had been obliterated. Then, smoke exploded outward, covering the entire battleground. Keqing drew her sword, using it as a cane to support herself as she stood up.

Abruptly, a hand grabbed her wrist and she lunged back, startled. But she could smell the faint scent of Glaze Flowers, and she knew it was Ganyu.

“I can’t see anything in this smoke…can you?” Ganyu whispered, worried that there were monsters nearby.

“No,” Keqing replied, narrowing her eyes in a futile attempt to see through the thick smoke. “Back to back.”

The duo went to each other’s 6 o’clock, pointing their weapons straight ahead. But there was no need for precaution.

“You can put your weapons down. The smoke should clear in several seconds.” A calm voice spoke firmly, and Keqing felt her weapon being forced to point at the ground.

A small yelp of surprise from behind told her that Ganyu was facing the same predicament.

“Xiao, are there any monsters nearby?” Keqing asked, although she doubted it.

When the reclusive Yaksha set out to do something, he never left it half-done.

“None within several miles,” he replied. “I apologize for being unable to stop the sixth missile from striking you.”

Ganyu whipped around, a frown already plastered on her face, grabbing Keqing by her shoulders. “Are you alright?!”

Keqing nodded, relieved that the smoke was gradually dispersing into the atmosphere. “It’s already a miracle that you were able to block five of them.”

Xiao curtly nodded then teleported away, leaving the two of them alone.

“Why did you run back to the inn?” Keqing asked, trying to not sound hurt by Ganyu’s actions.

But her emotions seeped into her words, her voice cracking as she blinked rapidly. She had thought that she could rely on Ganyu, that perhaps they would become friends of some sort.

Ganyu’s eyes widened in distress as she took in Keqing’s emotional state, and immediately apologized.

“I’m so, so sorry, Keqing…” The qilin looked downward, her sorrowful expression masked by her bangs. “A monster had slipped through and was almost inside the inn, and I was so worried that the children would be injured…”

Keqing swallowed hard, pushing down her injured pride. “Ah, I see. Paperwork arrived earlier to the inn, I must go and review it. Please go and scout the area.”

Ganyu flinched at Keqing’s cold tone and she immediately felt a spark of guilt, but it was too late to take back her sharp words.

Keqing turned around, kicking aside broken hilichurl masks and Ruin Guard cores as she headed back inside the inn. The teenagers and single child crowded around her, firing question after question at her, but she simply squeezed past them and returned to the front desk, picking up the stack of files once more.

It was mostly business requests, along with the odd complaint or misconduct report. Keqing wondered why the secretaries had sent them such menial tasks, when there were much more serious issues going on within the government. Of course, she wasn’t complaining about the lack of top-priority assignments that were due at the most absurd dates.

Keqing’s mind wandered to her conversation with Ganyu, wondering why she had felt so hurt and betrayed. She had lived through so many betrayals, yet each new one felt like a knife to her heart. So why was Ganyu able to repair their mutual trust with just a few words?

“Why…are you…so sad?” A wispy voice murmured, and Keqing turned around in surprise.

The child that had been with the teenagers earlier had crept up on her, silent as new fallen snow. Keqing hadn’t paid much attention to the child earlier, and she took this chance to memorize the girl’s features as much as possible.

Waist-length lavender hair, magenta eyes with a piercing gaze, and herb gatherer’s clothes. An adepti charm necklace rested on her shoulders, the finishing piece for her unusual appearance.

“Can you…hear…Qiqi?” Qiqi asked, a finger resting on her lips as she thought.

Keqing blinked, then gave the child a warm smile. “Hello, young one. I trust you were not injured from the battle?”

“What…battle?” Qiqi said, her expression twisting in confusion. “And Qiqi…is not young. Qiqi is…old.”

Keqing laughed softly, recalling what Madam Ping had stated about young children being imaginative. “The battle that just occurred.”

“Oh. Okay.” Qiqi blinked. “What is…your…name?”

“My name is Keqing. Keqing Yuheng.” Speaking her full title made her feel ever-so-slightly more confident, sure of herself, knowing that she was a powerful, independent person who could make her own decisions.

She scanned her surroundings, spotting a small stool under the front desk that was the perfect size for Qiqi. She elegantly hooked one of the stout legs with her foot, dragging it next to her. “Come, sit here.”

“Keqing….Keqing….” Qiqi repeated her name as if it was a mantra, her expression darkened with a shadow of worry. “Keqing is too young to die.”