"Big brother has to work again?"
Teucer asked sadly when he saw what was happening.
"Yes, Teucer. Some new salesmen from our homeland just arrived. Your big brother has to go teach them."
Tartaglia turned around and explained apologetically.
"Wow, that's great!"
"I want to be a toy salesman in the future too! Can I come listen?"
Teucer ran up to him, his eyes full of excitement.
"Well…"
"You're still a bit young, Teucer. A lot of the things we talk about will be boring and hard to understand."
"How about letting the Traveler sister take you to play instead?"
Scratching the back of his head, Tartaglia quickly thought of a solution and glanced toward Lumine and Paimon.
"You're just dumping him on us like that?"
Lumine asked with her hands on her hips.
"But… but…"
Teucer clasped his hands behind his back, still wanting to say something.
"I have to go now, Teucer. There are a lot of people waiting to see your brother."
"See you later."
With that, Tartaglia left together with Felix.
Watching them go, Paimon turned to Qiu Nian and Lumine.
"He clearly dotes on his brother so much, but he still had to leave him behind."
"Childe's job must be pretty tough…"
"Honestly, keeping up the act seems even harder."
"If he just told the truth, things wouldn't be so complicated."
Lumine voiced her thoughts.
"Yeah."
"It's all because he insists on calling himself a toy salesman."
"He said he doesn't want his family exposed to… the darker side of things."
"He's really going all out for it."
Paimon spread her hands helplessly.
"Childe's way of protecting him is a bit excessive."
"If one day Teucer learns the truth, who knows how he'll react."
"In a way, that approach is somewhat irresponsible."
Qiu Nian said calmly.
"Yeah…"
"While we're in Liyue, we should just play along with him."
Paimon nodded.
"But we should still report the situation here to the Millelith."
"The Fatui stationed troops in Liyue without the Qixing's permission. Doesn't that seem strange?"
Qiu Nian added thoughtfully.
"Now that you mention it… it is kind of strange."
"But the Fatui are always like this. We're used to it."
Lumine shrugged.
After all, the Fatui had always acted boldly.
Still, it was surprising.
The Millelith alone numbered six hundred thousand soldiers.
They had heard that from Instructor Feng Yan.
Every Millelith soldier was well-trained and armed with weapons like White Tassel spears.
Most of them were stationed across Liyue, regularly clearing monsters.
Feng Yan had even mentioned that Ningguang thought the army was too large for a peaceful era and was considering downsizing.
Maintaining six hundred thousand soldiers was extremely costly.
Even so—
a small Fatui force still dared to station troops in Liyue.
It was hard to say whether that was confidence or recklessness.
"Hm… I still have some matters at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to handle."
"I'll be heading back soon."
"After you destroy the ruins producing those Ruin Guards, just report the Fatui presence here to Daipai."
Qiu Nian said with a casual wave.
"Got it."
"But wait… where's Teucer?!"
Paimon turned around and suddenly froze.
Teucer had disappeared.
"Haha…"
"He probably snuck off to follow Childe."
"Let's go take a look."
Qiu Nian chuckled.
The three of them headed in the direction Tartaglia had gone.
Halfway there, they passed an elderly man dressed in Liyue clothing.
"Sigh…"
"What am I supposed to do…"
The old man hunched over, shaking his head in distress.
"What's wrong, sir?"
Qiu Nian asked curiously.
"Sigh… nothing."
"You'll understand when you're my age."
With that cryptic line, the old man shuffled away.
Qiu Nian stood there awkwardly and gave a bitter smile.
Lumine and Paimon burst out laughing.
"You'll understand when you're my age—"
"That's too good!"
Xuehua laughed until tears formed.
The chat exploded.
[I can't breathe LOL]
[Qiu Nian: Actually I passed that age a long time ago]
['When you reach my age']
[Reverse aging]
[Qiu Nian the eternal youth]
[Peak irony]
After that small incident, the three continued walking.
Sure enough—
they soon found Teucer staring intently into the distance.
"Teucer! There you are!"
Paimon put her hands on her hips angrily.
"Shh!"
"Quiet! Big brother is giving a speech!"
Teucer whispered urgently.
"Is it starting again?"
Qiu Nian watched Tartaglia in the distance and almost laughed.
Once this famous scene finished—
he planned to return to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
After all, he was being paid a generous salary.
Yet most days he only told stories, gave lectures, and wandered around sightseeing.
He felt a little guilty.
He might as well help out around the parlor later.
Then in the evening—
he could eat at Wanmin Restaurant with Morax.
After dinner, perhaps listen to Yun Jin perform opera.
Another perfect day.
Meanwhile—
Tartaglia began his speech.
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