Ren
"So the merchant guild liaison arrives in two hours," Ganyu said, running her finger down the schedule. "They'll need confirmation of the distribution routes before they'll release the goods to us. I'd suggest having that ready before they arrive rather than during the meeting."
Ganyu and Ren stood next to each other, a giant board placed behind them. She pointed to a piece of paper that made Ren give it a closer look.
Ren squinted his eyes at the small writing. "How specific do they need it? Route names, or actual timings?"
"Timings. The guild is very strict about window commitments during Rite season. They've had contractors promise flexibility and then fail to deliver it, so they tend to be… pushy."
She glanced at him and put a finger under her chin. "Do you have a sense of how long the upper district run takes with… Nue, was it?"
"Yup," Ren nodded and tried to think of a rough number in his head. "Forty minutes, give or take."
The secretary of the Qixing took the information and wrote it down in her notes, and Ren couldn't help but stare as she did so.
He'd heard stories of how Ganyu could do all the work of the Qixing by herself and things would still go on just fine. Seeing it up close made him think those stories might be true.
'She's so focused.' He looked at her as she darted her eyes from the board back to her notes. Of course, he knew about her tendency to overwork, but this was the first time he'd seen it up close. 'Are all half-adepti this dedicated?'
His mind went back to another half-adeptus who was his legal advisor.
Shaking his head, he focused back on the moment.
"I'll note that as the committed window, and we keep the buffer internally." She muttered, tapping a pen on her cheek. "The temple administrators from Yujing Terrace come at the ninth bell. They're primarily concerned with the ceremonial items—"
She continued to mutter on for some time, leaving Ren confused on what to do.
After a while, she seemed to notice she was rambling and stopped. "O-Oh, sorry about that. I tend to overexplain."
Ren had to hold himself back from laughing at the embarrassed expression on her face. "It's alright. I heard you say something about the timing. Isn't the sequence of the items arriving more important?"
"Yes, actually." She seemed pleasantly surprised he pointed that out. "A few of our previous logistics contractors miss that. They focus on getting everything there and don't account for the order."
The way Ganyu described it with such annoyance, especially for someone like her, made Ren curious.
He couldn't imagine how bad the previous contractors were to make Ganyu of all people miffed.
'I feel a lot more nervous now…'
"How do they even miss something like that?"
"Well—!" She stopped herself, looking around the area to check if anyone was listening in. Once she finished, she leaned close, "Don't tell anyone I said this, but most contractors are prideful and have an ego as tall as the mountains. They always say they have it handled when they didn't!"
"They must have made quite the impression, huh?"
"Don't get me started." Ganyu put a hand on her head, as if the mere memory was about to give her headaches. "I'm actually really glad I'm working with you. At least I know you're the responsible type."
"Haha, sure am."
'No pressure at all.'
Oblivious to his thoughts, she continued, "Alright, let's go over the merchants coordination."
Instantly, Ren's mood went a little sour.
He's good friends with a couple of merchants here and there, sure. But most of them were snobby and annoying people that just wanted to take all your money.
The number of times he was tricked by merchants when he first started his business left a sour taste in his mouth.
They continued discussing further about the merchant coordination. Going over the timeline, budget, and the additional help that the Shadow Courier was going to receive.
"If I'm being honest, I don't think the additional help is going to do much."
Ganyu raised a brow. "I hope you understand the scope of this operation. This is a lot, even for someone like me."
"Let's just say that I'm very confident in my employees," He smirked. "I'm sure my people can do more than your average courier firm. I even have Shenhe as an employee, you know?"
"Eh???" Her eyes widened in shock and confusion. "How did that happen? The last time I saw you two together was when she tried to kill you."
It was only now that it occurred to Ren that he never actually told Ganyu that her sister in arms was his employee.
Whoops.
"Is that why I've been seeing her around the harbor more often?" She asked, more to herself. She gave him an accusatory stare. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Ren put his hands up. "I'm gonna be honest. I forgot."
…
…
Ganyu looked at him with a varying mix of emotions, but eventually let out a small sigh and smiled at him.
"No offence, I sometimes wonder how you can even run a business with memory like that."
"Hey! My memory is above average, I'll have you know." He countered playfully.
She chuckled as they went on to discuss more logistics.
/ — /
Shenhe
"Is our boss on a date right now?" Meifen said, stopping next to Shenhe. "While we're working, no less."
Meifen was looking across the staging area toward where Ren and Ganyu were standing, the duo pointing to different parts on the board.
She seemed to be amused at the sight, with a flicker of jealousy she didn't dwell on.
"How does someone like him get the attention of the secretary?" She shook her head.
Shenhe's entire body halted its functions the moment her eyes locked onto the sight.
"You're mistaken. They are simply working in a professional manner."
Her coworker gave her an unimpressed look. "He's leaning closer to her as she's explaining stuff on the board. They are basically shoulder-to-shoulder right now."
As much as Shenhe wanted to say otherwise, it was hard to deny the sight in front of her.
Ganyu said something that made Ren laugh out loud. It had gone past a professional environment and was more like two friends talking to each other.
Then Shenhe's mind, entirely without her permission, produced the image of Ren eating together with her and Master at a family dinner table.
"To think that our boss—Woah Shenhe?!" Meifen's comments were cut short when Shenhe suddenly put a fist over her mouth and made a gagging sound.
"Hrughh—!"
Meifen put her things away and immediately went to check up on her, "Did you eat something bad? What's going on?"
But Shenhe's mind was currently elsewhere.
'I acknowledged the possibility of Ren becoming Ganyu's mate, and thus a part of my… my family. But this is too soon!'
Her eyes unwillingly went back to the duo to see them both touching hands as they were about to grab a pen, blushing and muttering apologies after they brushed fingers.
'Rex Lapis, have mercy!'
/ — /
Ren
"Am I seeing things?" A woman walking the streets of Liyue said, looking up at the sky in disbelief.
"It's a bird!"
"It's a plane!"
"It's a—Wait, what's a plane?"
The people of the harbor looked up in awe and slight fear as a large shadow flew past them.
It was Nue. Spearing its wings wide as it cruised across the calm harbor breeze.
"This is so much better than walking!" Ren couldn't help but shout, resting his hands backwards.
As part of the contract for becoming the logistics contractor, he was given the permits and permission to use any of his shikigami in the harbor itself.
And oh boy did he make the most of it.
He'd never even attempted to get the permits to fly in the harbor himself. Getting it for business outside the harbor is easy, but inside is where he has to deal with all sorts of parties needing to get involved.
But with the upcoming Rite, the Qixing immediately let him do what he wanted.
'The harbor looks so beautiful from up here.' He'd seen it from the sky before, but never this close.
He turned his head to Ganyu sitting behind him. The half-adeptus wasn't fazed in the slightest at the altitude, and even leaned over to see the sights below.
"The jade shipment from Mingyun should be arriving at the third pier in about twenty minutes," Ganyu said behind him. "If Nue can intercept it before it gets processed through the standard harbor intake, we save about an hour."
"Got it!"
"The intake process isn't slow on its own, it's just that today it's going to be backed up. Everything is backed up today."
"Tell me about it."
He looked out at the harbor below, where the streets were completely covered in carts and crates. The Rite of Descension was good for business, but that meant everything was going to be hectic.
"You doing alright with the height?" He asked.
Ganyu actually stood and walked to sit next to him. She looked past the harbor and towards the towering mountains, a small smile slowly found its way on her face.
"I've been flying since before Liyue was created, you know. This height doesn't bother me at all."
"Oh yeah. I kind of forgot you've been alive for— Wait…" He turned his head towards Ganyu in shock. The sudden action made her jump. "You can fly?!"
It took her a second to process his question before laughing out loud, "Of course I can, Ren. All Adepti can fly in some way or form. It doesn't just have to be with wings, you know?"
"I see…" His eyes gained a small glint. "So… Can you teach me how to fly?"
"Eh?"
/ — /
Meifen
"Alright, we should be good to go now," Meifen muttered as she checked a crate marked incense. "It's still weird to me why we need to trade a crate of normal incense for ceremonial ones. Why don't people just take Mora?"
"Some see a fair trade more desirable than mere currency," Shenhe said, lifting another crate and putting it in her vision storage.
"It still bugs me how you Vision Wielders can just do that." Meifen stared at the vision on Shenhe's person. "Don't you feel the weight at all?"
"No." Her colleague shook her head. "The storage space increases the more elemental potential the wielder has. I just have plenty to go around."
"Well, that's just cheating." She sighed and picked up a small crate and put it on a large wooden cart filled with crates. "Let's get going. If we're quick, we could finish this in two days."
"Indeed." Without another word, the two walked out of Liyue's gate, prepared for the long trek ahead to Qingce Village.
/ — /
Xiaosi
'Crap, I'm not built for this.' Xiaosi anxiously thought as he stood in front of a line of sailors that looked like they wanted to beat him up.
He'd been given the task to coordinate and negotiate with sailors for transportation purposes, but clearly he had been woefully unprepared.
Sailors were a prideful and mischievous bunch, and Xiaosi was warned that they would try to charge him more than what's normal, even for the Rite of Descension.
Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself. 'I can't let boss down!'
"Right." He stepped forward toward the nearest one, manifest in hand. "I'm here on behalf of the Shadow Courier. We need to confirm transport arrangements for the Rite preparation."
The sailor looked him up and down. "Shadow Courier, huh? Don't think I've heard of you."
"We're relatively new, but we're the official Qixing contractor for—"
"Sure, sure." The sailor cut him off and handed him a piece of paper. "Base rate's standard. No issues there."
'Standard rate?' Xiaosi read the paper carefully, noting the price estimations for the amount of cargo. 'This seems reasonable.'
"Now, thing is—" The sailor scratched the back of his neck like something had just occurred to him. "With the Rite coming up, we've got about four other operations asking for the same windows. So there's a bit of a priority situation."
"A priority situation?" He tilted his head.
"You want your window locked in, we lock it in. Small fee, nothing crazy." He handed another piece of paper. "Protects you more than us, honestly."
Xiaosi hesitated, but it still seemed pretty reasonable so—
"And look, I'll be straight with you—" The sailor leaned slightly on the dock railing, "The handling crew's been working extra hours this week. Rite season, you know how it is. They're getting overtime either way, but if you want them prioritizing your cargo over the other operations—"
"There's a fee for that…"
"There's a small consideration, yeah." He said it like Xiaosi had come up with the idea himself. "Honestly, most contractors just factor it in."
'Seriously?!'
Xiaosi wrote it down. His total was climbing in a direction that was making him uncomfortable.
"Oh, and one more thing—"
'You can't be serious?!'
"Weather contingency. Non-refundable, but it covers both of us if conditions change. Given the season, most people grab it."
Xiaosi looked at his running total and compared it to his budget.
…
…
'I'm going to get fired.'
But just as Xiaosi was about to lose hope, a familiar voice called out behind him.
"How are things looking, Xiaosi?"
He turned around to see Daquan walking closer, giving an odd look to the sailors around him.
Without a word, Daquan took the papers in Xiaosi's hand and gave them a close inspection. His usually composed and flat expression grew more severe the longer he read.
Xiaosi thought he was about to get scolded. But he was unaware of the sailor behind him who was growing increasingly nervous.
"Xiaosi…"
"Y-Yes?!"
"Is this the sailor you were just talking to?"
"Yes?"
Daquan glared at the man, and he froze in place, too afraid to say anything that might anger the behemoth that is Daquan.
"Y-You know what—" The sailor picked up his ledger again. "Let me just double-check some of these numbers. I think the handling consideration might have been the peak rate, not the standard. And the weather contingency—" He glanced at the sky one more time. "Yeah, conditions look fine. We can drop that."
One by one, the numbers went down.
Xiaosi crossed out his previous total and wrote the new one. It was almost exactly what his estimation had suggested it should be.
'Oh thank the Archons.'
Behind him, Daquan kept glaring down at the sailors who came next—literally daring them to try anything with him present.
And Xiaosi was none the wiser.
/ — /
Ren
'Looks like the first day is going pretty smoothly.'
Ren and Ganyu flew up into the sky on Nue again after they had finished with the third pier.
Though there was some trouble with some Millelith who wanted proof that he actually had permission to use Nue in the harbor. But with Ganyu's presence, everything turned out alright.
Nue banked south toward the next pickup point.
"Eastern district merchants next," Ganyu said.
"Got it!"
/ — /
???
On one of Liyue's many high towers, two individuals sat across each other. A man leaned boredly into his chair as he looked at the cowering person in front of him.
"P-Please, let's not cut our contract just because of one mishap—"
"You got greedy and lost yourself the position of Logistics Contractor for the Rite of Descension. Our entire deal was built on that, and you couldn't even fulfill it."
"This was—"
"Get out of my sight."
Dejected, the man realised that arguing more may risk more than his finances. But that didn't mean his pride wasn't hurt.
"I bid you well, Tartaglia."
The contractor bowed his head before leaving.
Childe sighed, 'I guess that's that.'
He stood to look over the railings. Below him, the harbor was running at full Rite season capacity. The perfect opportunity for him to gain intelligence for his objective.
Unfortunately, everyone other than him was completely useless, so he'd need to get creative.
He put a hand over his face and sighed. This was always the duller part of his job.
Fighting? Easy. Give him a worthy opponent, and he was in his element. Any battle, wherever the location, would easily be the highlight of his day.
But contractor management? Intelligence cultivation? Sitting in rooms and listening to weak men explain why things didn't go according to plan?
"Damn you, Signora."
But he knew he was the only one available for this mission. Understanding how a normal Rite of Descension ran and the mechanisms beneath its preparations was key to how he, as a Harbinger, could exploit it for the Fatui's purposes.
The contractor he assigned was supposed to be his eyes inside the preparation, giving him information while also giving him a way to inspect things himself.
Now he had nothing.
'Back to square one.'
He'd have to find another approach. Someone else with access. Another arrangement to cultivate, another conversation to have, more time sitting in rooms listening to—
Something moved across the harbor sky.
'What the?'
He stopped thinking.
A giant bird that exuded a wave of negative energy squawked as it banked south over the harbor with two figures on its back.
One was the half-adeptus secretary.
The other…
"...Wait, is that?"
Childe's mind immediately went back to the letter he received about the compound operation near Sumeru. A personal warning from Commander Ivan about an individual named Ren Roman.
A man who single-handedly slaughtered easily over a hundred people during both operations he was involved with.
An unpredictable variable that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. And one that got the personal attention of a few of his colleagues.
'Why would he be with the secretary? It couldn't be for leisure, especially in a time like this…'
He walked back to his table to look for a file he wasn't able to read before his meeting with the previous contractor.
It was the official notice of the Rite of Descension preparations and the parties involved.
"Would you look at that."
Ren Roman, boss of the Shadow Courier, had become the main logistics contractor for the Rite of Descension.
With full access to every supply chain, every coordination point, and every party involved in the preparation for the next two weeks.
Everything he needed.
"I don't know if fate favors or despises you, comrade." He smirked at the flying figure growing smaller in the sky. "Let's see what you're made of."