Author's Note

Apologies for the two updates in a row, but I didn't have much schoolwork to do, so I figured I might as well write!

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Paradox Zealot: Thank you so much, I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far!

In Monstadt, the streets at night were typically dark and vacant, for the lackadaisical denizens of the city liked to carouse in the morning and sleep away their troubles at night. The exceptions to this rule, always, were Angel's Share and Cat's Tail, for the lights were on as long as the barflies were stationed there. Tonight, however, the home of Alice the adventurer found itself a part of this exception, for it was nearing midnight and from the window, it was plain to see that the lights in Albedo's room were still on.

Albedo was still on the case of deciphering what the powders Marjorie had given him were. The second vial, he had discovered earlier during the week, held a composition of crushed Lizard Tails, ground bits of Cor Lapis from Liyue, and what appeared to be chunks of condensed Energy Nectar; it was not a very useful mixture, but each of the materials in it was costly and perhaps, when combined together with some kind of catalyst, would be beneficial for transmutation purposes.

It had been somewhat difficult to categorize what exactly were the second vial's constituents, but the third one proved to be even more so. Albedo had already spent several days heating, soaking, filtering, and even drying the third vial's powder, but he still could not deduce what exactly it was.

He had decided earlier in the day that he would give himself one more chance to figure out what was inside the vial, and if he could not, he would return it back to Marjorie with an apology. He simply could not afford to spend another day on this project, especially when he was expecting a new assignment from Grand Master Jean any day now.

His latest plan was to dissolve crushed Horsetail and Noctilucous Jade in a beaker of boiling water, having read in an ancient alchemy scroll that the solution was extremely useful in bringing impurities and strange features of molecules out on their surfaces once the liquid itself had evaporated. Of course, the prerequisite was that the foreign molecules could not be water-soluble, which was fine; he had already tested and assured that the third vial's powder wouldn't dissolve in water.

Albedo had figured that by mixing the powder into the solution and letting the entire mixture evaporate, he would be able to recognize new characteristics in the powder molecules that he had not seen before. Hopefully, the new characteristics would be enough for him to form a conclusion as to what the powder was.

He had just finished pouring the contents of the third vial into the boiling Horsetail and Noctilucous Jade solution when he realized how late it had gotten. The sky was an inky black and the full moon glowered at him like a chastising eye.

He knew the importance of a good night's rest, so he was determined to be off to bed after he placed the delicate beaker containing the solution out on the front stoop. It was his hope that by the time he woke up, the water would have evaporated into the night air.

Albedo was opening the front door to go outside when he heard what sounded like tiny explosions coming from the direction of Klee's room. He frowned. Hadn't he tucked her in four hours ago? What could she be doing now?

"Klee?" he called, walking back inside with the beaker still in his hand. "Are you asleep?"

He heard panicked footfalls coming from the other side of her door as if someone were running back into bed. A moment later, the voice of Klee, who was clearly feigning grogginess replied, "Albedo? Is that you?"

Raising an eyebrow, he quietly pushed the door open and flipped on the lights. The moment he stepped into the room, however, he tripped over several small bombs that littered the floor. He rubbed his foot and looked toward Klee's bed, where he could see a docile-looking blond figure peeking out from underneath the covers, fake-snoring loudly.

"I know you're awake, Klee," he said, chuckling. He sat down at the edge of her bed as she bolted upright.

Klee pointed to the brown plush that laid next to her. "It was Dodoco's idea! She suggested we make some bombs after you left!"

He crossed his arms. "Do you remember what happens when you don't get enough sleep?"

"Yes, yes, I remember: 'If Klee doesn't sleep and is grumpy all day, everyone will get scared and won't want to play.'" She sighed and flopped back down into her pillow. "But I'm not sleep—oooh, what's that?" She pointed to the beaker in his hands.

"Oh, this?" He swirled the mixture around. "It's just something I'm working on."

Klee's eyes sparkled. "Is it a love potion? It's all pink and stuff!"

He frowned. He supposed that the combination of the powder and the Horsetail did make the mixture appear a very bright shade of pink. And the Noctilucous Jade shards certainly caused it to sparkle in the light. "No, actually—"

"Is it a love potion for Sucrose?" Klee interrupted, gasping.

Albedo flushed. "No, it's for—why—why would I even want to give her a love potion, anyway?"

Klee yawned as if the question didn't strike her as pressing, and suddenly rubbed her eyes. "I don't know. Klee's sleepy now." Another massive yawn escaped her, and Albedo smiled as she curled deeper under the comforter. "Don't worry, though, Albedo, Klee can see … that …" her voice was breathy and far away now, laden with sleep, "that … Sucrose likes you almost as much as Klee likes Dodoco …"

That wiped the smile right off of his face. Sucrose liked him as much as Klee liked Dodoco? But—but Dodoco was just Klee's best friend! He wanted to shake the sleeping child awake and demand what she meant by that, but he restrained himself. Coughing quietly to regain his composure, he thought, you should be glad that your assistant considers you a friend.

There it was—his assistant.

Sucrose was simply his assistant.

An assistant he longed to see smile. An assistant who made him feel warm, hot, even, on the inside. An assistant that went out of her way to ensure that he was happy.

As he flicked off the lights and tiptoed out of Klee's room, Albedo had to console himself with the notion that whatever inane feelings brewed inside of him whenever he thought of Sucrose, she had to be nothing more than his assistant.

"Head Alchemist, I need you," Grand Master Jean announced the next morning, marching purposefully into the alchemy workshop at the Knights of Favonius Headquarters.

Albedo, who had been carefully sifting the sediment that remained in the beaker after the Horsetail and Noctilucous Jade mixture had evaporated, glanced at her before asking, "Yes, what is it?" After pouring the powder back into the vial Marjorie had originally given it to him in, Albedo turned to Jean, granting her his full attention. He assumed that she was here to give him his next assignment.

Normally, he was free to experiment and research whatever he pleased, but twice a month, Jean would give him a specific assignment that was essentially a run-of-the-mill quandary a typical Knight of Favonius would have dealt with. These assignments usually involved doing field research and occasionally forced him to engage in combat. He didn't mind them that much; they kept his skills sharp.

"A group of hilichurls has been terrorizing the fish at Starfell Lake. I need you to go subdue them," she explained.

Albedo raised an eyebrow. Hilichurls were terrorizing fish? Was she sure that that wasn't just Klee? And while he wasn't certain it was his place to question the Acting Grand Master's orders, he had to wonder why this particular mission was being assigned to him. Surely there were other Knights who could see to something as trivial as this. But all he could say was "I'll go see what the matter is, then."

"Thank you. The reason why you're the one being sent on this mission is the hilichurls seem to be afflicted with some kind of powerful aura. Every time they dive into the water to catch a fish, some of the aura washes off them and seeps into Starfell Lake. They're contaminating the water and the Black-Back Bass population there is decreasing steadily. I'd like you to suppress the hilichurls, discern what the aura is, and then find a way to remove it." With this, she nodded at him and walked out of the workshop.

Albedo rubbed his chin, deep in thought. He supposed he could see now why Jean was sending him on this mission. If anyone else went, the matter of qualifying the aura would still fall to him, so sending him by himself in the first place would be much more efficient.

Setting Marjorie's vials aside, he packed up a basic kit of alchemical wares, writing supplies, and his sword, and made his way up to Starfell Lake.

Upon arriving at the shore of the lake, Albedo was greeted to a sight that was exactly as Jean had described: a bevy of hilichurls diving into the water. They launched themselves off the Statue of the Seven that stood on a minute island in the center of the lake. With every splash of the water, up went a dark indigo miasma, leeching off the hilichurls' bodies and into the crystal blue expanse that was Starfell Lake.

Albedo surveyed the prospect. There were about seven hilichurls in total and none of them looked particularly strong. He was sure he could take them all on, but he supposed it would be most prudent to keep one alive so that he could examine what the indigo aura covering it and all its group members was.

He made quick work of the first six, hurling some upward as he timed his Solar Isotoma to project exactly underneath them, and his powerful Transient Blossoms obliterated those that he was not able to kill by taking advantage of fall damage. Albedo never cared much for his Vision except for its alchemical uses, but he understood that without it, there was no way he would be able to subdue enemies such as these so quickly.

When there was only a single hilichurl remaining, Albedo raced toward it and made one succinct cut across its chest. The hilichurl fell to its feet, and Albedo began to examine the murky presence that surrounded it.

He had never seen anything like this before. The miasma was dark and cloudy, and it seemed as if it did not affect the hilichurl in any way besides obscuring its presence in an indigo fog. Albedo reached into his bag, pulled out a jar containing a blend of desiccated Wolfhook and Small Lamp Grass, and sprinkled the contents on the hilichurl.

The fog dissipated in seconds.

He nodded. The miasma must have just been the work of some wayward catalyst-user or potions expert and thus, could easily be removed. However, as he turned back into his bag to count how many jars of the blend he had left, and how many more he would need to completely clean up the waters of Starfell Lake, the hilichurl, sensing his distraction, lunged at him.

Albedo staggered for a moment, cursing himself for not paying more attention to the creature, but before he could draw his sword and defend himself, the hilichurl growled and dug its spindly fingers deep into his arms, pushing him hard into the direction of the lake. He quickly regained his footing, but he lost it just as fast when the hilichurl kicked his knee.

Completely off-balance, Albedo grimaced as the hilichurl shoved him into the lake and held his head under the water for several seconds. Blackness tinged his vision like a terrifying vignette, but before long, he felt someone yank his body out of the water and drag him to shore.

All he registered before the darkness took over was a familiarly sweet voice crying, "Anemo Hypostasis emulation!" and the defeated moans of the hilichurl.

Author's Note II

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