Seeing Ye Xi nod in agreement, Kujou Sara finally set her heart at ease.
She found herself rather looking forward to seeing just what the Adepti's blessed grotto-heaven was like!
To be honest, her knowledge of the Liyue Adepti went no further than mere hearsay.
The other youkai were all extremely tight-lipped about the Liyue Adepti; whenever the Adepti came up over drinks, every one of them would be struck with fear and trembling.
That was because the Adepti could subdue youkai and vanquish demons, and the very ones they specialized in subduing were petty youkai like themselves.
Kujou Sara was still a minor youkai herself; though she possessed some power, she knew full well that she was no match for those Adepti of Liyue who had lived for thousands of years.
This visit to an Adeptus's abode gave her the feeling of a mouse walking into a cat's den.
She was rather curious—just what was inside an Adeptus's abode?
Ye Xi, for his part, couldn't help but wonder again: what would happen if Kujou Sara were to catch sight of Raiden Ei back home, in that state of hers?
Just as he was pondering, Beidou's urging voice reached his ears.
"Master, it's time to head to the Guild, otherwise we may not even finish our discussions by this afternoon."
"Mm, let's go."
Ye Xi recalled that the main purpose of this trip was to negotiate business.
So, bringing Beidou and Kujou Sara along, he went straight up to the entrance of the International Commerce Guild.
At this moment, the International Commerce Guild was bustling to the extreme.
For the sake of profit, the merchants were practically scrambling over one another; quite a few of them crowded around Kurisu, hoping to land a chance to cooperate with the Southern Cross fleet.
Kurisu was at his wits' end as well.
He had already pleaded with the Kanjou Commission, but the answer Hiiragi Chisato gave was that the Southern Cross fleet had already changed hands, and Beidou was no longer in charge of the fleet's major affairs.
This left quite a few people who previously had connections with Beidou utterly dumbfounded.
They had assumed that, being on good terms with Beidou, they could pull some strings through her, only to come away empty-handed.
Now everyone pinned their hopes on Kurisu.
"I know, I know!"
"Everyone, please don't be impatient! I, too, have to wait for the Kanjou Commission's reply!"
"The Commissioner has gone to the Tenshukaku in Inazuma City right now, to have an audience with Lord Goshou."
"The Commissioner hasn't returned yet, so there's nothing I can do!"
Kurisu's attitude drew the dissatisfaction of quite a few merchants.
After all, everyone joined the International Commerce Guild and paid their membership dues precisely in the hope of receiving the Guild's help at crucial moments.
Ye Xi felt that time was growing somewhat pressing.
If Hiiragi Chisato returned and announced the news that Inazuma would also have its own cargo ships, these merchants would surely stop being in a hurry.
He had to seize this moment and quickly get the contracts signed.
He stepped up to the Guild's entrance, gave a dry cough, and spoke up: "Anyone who wants to cooperate with the Southern Cross fleet may come directly to me."
The instant these words were out, everyone turned to look.
Seeing Ye Xi, the crowd couldn't help but freeze on the spot.
The next moment, the people who had been crowding around Kurisu instantly swarmed around Ye Xi.
Like stars cupping the moon, they surrounded Ye Xi on all sides.
"Master Ye Xi! I want to cooperate with the Southern Cross fleet!"
"Master Ye Xi! Cooperate with me! Cooperate with me!"
"How much does it cost to ship goods with that giant steel vessel? I want in on the cooperation!"
"..."
Kurisu hadn't expected Ye Xi to actually show up here; he hurriedly sidled over and said with an ingratiating smile, "Master Ye Xi, welcome to our International Commerce Guild!"
"If there's any business to discuss, please come inside our Guild!"
"I'll prepare tea and a private room for you!"
Ye Xi nodded and followed Kurisu into the Guild.
At once the merchants all surged forward as well, squeezing in through the Guild's main doors.
After Kurisu had personally poured the tea, he inquired, "Master Ye Xi, could you tell us about this cooperation you mentioned just now?"
Ye Xi nodded and laid out the plan he had already drawn up in his mind.
There was actually nothing much to it.
He was no swindling merchant and wouldn't cheat these people.
If the merchants wanted to use the Southern Cross fleet to transport their goods, then naturally they had to pay freight charges.
He had already settled on the price of these freight charges just earlier, during the meeting with Hiiragi Chisato at the Tenshukaku.
When the time came, the cargo ships he would gift to Inazuma could serve as warships, and could also serve as vessels for transporting goods.
The warships would be managed by the Tenryou Commission, and the cargo ships by the Kanjou Commission.
Before the cruisers appeared, there had been many fleets like the Southern Cross fleet that handled transport.
The Kanjou Commission naturally wouldn't hand the cargo ships over to these fleets to manage.
Hiiragi Chisato's idea was simple: bring all these fleets into the fold and turn them into the [Veteran Hands] of the Kanjou Commission's transport department.
They would pilot the Kanjou Commission's cargo ships and carry out the transport of goods.
The Kanjou Commission would handle paying out these fleets' wages, while at the same time earning transport fees from the merchants.
This way, Inazuma would no longer have any independent fleets; all of them would come under the Kanjou Commission's command and fall under its direct jurisdiction.
With the Kanjou Commission's oversight, the fleet industry would become far more standardized.
What Ye Xi intended to do was sign contracts with the merchants ahead of time, siphoning off a portion of the Kanjou Commission's clientele.
This brought up the issue of freight pricing.
If his prices were high, then once the merchants later learned that the Kanjou Commission's cargo ship freight was cheaper, they would surely be displeased.
So he decided to set his prices identical to the Kanjou Commission's.
That way, coupled with Beidou's prestige, the merchants wouldn't have any objections.
After all, Beidou's strength was plain for all to see in both Inazuma and Liyue.
As for the contracts, naturally the longer the term, the better.
Upon hearing the terms and prices Ye Xi offered, the merchants let out cheers.
"Wonderful! This freight price is actually even cheaper than before! I must be dreaming!"
"I'm going to strike it rich! Looks like this year's going to bring great fortune!"
"What are you thinking? This ship can make the round trip between Liyue and Inazuma in a day or two, so the goods will naturally lose some of their value—don't forget, scarcity is what makes things precious!"
"Good point—but even if we lower the price of our goods, we can still make quite a lot!"
"The most crucial thing is, this method of transport is extremely safe! There's no need at all to worry about goods being lost!"
Hiring fleets in the past meant not only high freight costs, but also a high likelihood of shipwrecks.
Once a ship sank, everyone would lose their entire investment.
The appearance of the cruisers had all but eliminated the possibility of shipwrecks.
For the merchants, this was nothing short of the greatest of glad tidings!
At this thought, the merchants raised their hands one after another, scrambling to secure a partnership.
For a full half of the afternoon, Ye Xi was kept busy signing contracts with these impatient merchants.
Time flew by; Ye Xi hadn't even eaten lunch yet and was feeling rather famished.
Seeing that he had signed quite a few contracts, he came to a stop.
After all, he had to leave some for the Kanjou Commission too.
What's more, Hiiragi Chisato had already returned to the Kanjou Commission headquarters and made public the contents of what had been discussed at the meeting.
Once the merchants learned that the Kanjou Commission would also be dispatching giant ships, their enthusiasm wasn't quite so high anymore.
Just as Ye Xi had anticipated, since the freight charges were all the same, it made no difference whom they went to, so the merchants didn't complain.
There were, however, still quite a few of Beidou's old clients who insisted on coming to sign up in order to keep cooperating with Beidou.
Once he had dealt with them, Ye Xi officially called it a day.
Because Beidou had already secured many merchants' orders partway through, she had returned to the ship ahead of time to organize the crew and prepare to load cargo.
A great deal of the goods were to be shipped to Liyue Harbor.
In order to set out sooner and head back to Liyue Harbor, Beidou had the crew start hauling cargo without a moment's rest.
Having given out her instructions, she enjoyed a rare moment of leisure and returned to her own quarters to bathe and rest.
At this time, Ye Xi too returned to the ship.
"Master Ye Xi, I'd like to go back and fetch some luggage."
Kujou Sara was going to stay in the Serenitea Pot for a while.
She figured that since it was a Liyue Adeptus's abode, they would naturally be going to Liyue Harbor.
Having been away from Inazuma for so long, she had to give her subordinates a few instructions, and then bring along some daily necessities she would need.
Ye Xi explained, "They've got everything over there; you won't be short on daily necessities."
However, Kujou Sara lowered her head and stammered, "I... need to go back and fetch a [Statue of the Almighty Narukami, Great Lord Goshou]..."
"So..."
Ye Xi was utterly speechless.
He had nearly forgotten that this little Tengu was a devoted little bootlicker of Raiden Ei, so he could only wave his hand and say, "Go on, go on—just come find me at the ship this evening."
"Mm!"
Kujou Sara's heart leapt with joy; she hurriedly spread her wings and flew off in the direction of home.
Ye Xi, meanwhile, made his way alone to the captain's cabin.
He gave it a push, found the door already locked, and so had no choice but to ring the doorbell.
Before long, a voice came from inside: "Who is it?"
"Me!"
Hearing Ye Xi's voice outside the door, Beidou opened the peephole and took a look out.
After confirming it was only Ye Xi, she pulled the door right open.
Ye Xi was instantly stunned by the sight before him.
"You... how can you go without any clothes in broad daylight?"
That's right.
Beidou was actually streaking around the room all by herself!
Beidou, however, paid it no mind: "This is my own bedroom. Shedding all restraints in my room and gazing at the evening sun—now that's what I call comfort."
As she spoke, she walked up before the large floor-to-ceiling porthole and stretched out her body, letting the searing red glow of the setting sun fall upon her alluring, smoldering figure.
Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, Beidou's graceful silhouette grew all the more enchanting.
Ye Xi closed the door and locked it behind him with a flick of his hand.
....
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