Ajax, thanks for the preliminary reading.
Although Diluc had every reason to be proud of protecting his office in the "Angel's Share" from any wiretapping, Lisa trusted only herself, because as soon as she crossed the threshold, she started checking this room with her spell.
"There's foreign magic hiding somewhere," she told Diluc.
"I told you it smelled like other people's traces," Razor supported her.
Diluc sighed, checked again with the talismans and the spell.
"There's nothing there. It's the remnants of another fruitless break-in."
"Kaeya," Lisa glanced at him, "what does your Cryo say?"
"Nothing at all."
Katheryne gestured that she hadn't noticed anything. Lisa looked around incredulously again, sat down in the guest chair, and said:
"Then let's recap. First, the results are good. The flows of magic are stable and strong, and the stock of building materials accumulated enough. The city will be rebuilt in two months and with a sensible layout instead of the nightmare it was. Except for the Cathedral and the Palace of the Order, of course, but they are in the back place and have no importance in the daily life of the city. Second, the suburban building material factories have already received large orders from Fontaine and Inazuma, and Liyue's merchants have also begun to show interest. The factories can hire a lot of workers again, which means the city will be spared the crowds of foreign and local refugees. There are many construction workers in the city, many workers in the suburbs, and everyone needs food, and everyone now has money for food. And there's a third benefit. Farmers are happy. Foreign merchants are happy because the demand for imported fruits and spices has increased. Small adventurers and mercenaries are happy because they are hired as guards and well-paid."
"The whole Adventurer's Guild is pleased," Katerina said. "I cut unemployment benefits in triple. Even the well-known boobies like Jack and Pallad have found work — they've been hired to watch over the mascots inside the village, without fighting monsters."
"Captain-Coordinator Hertha," Lisa continued, "has invested in the development of Mondstadt half of what she stole in the service of the Order. That's a lot of money."
"It was useless to arrest her," Diluc said. "She will either escape from prison by bribing the guards, or commit suicide if she is taken seriously, but she will not give back the money. And now she's even become profitable to Mondstadt."
"If Hertha completely bankrupts the Order in the process," Kaeya said, "I don't care anymore. I have nothing to lose by investing in the factories."
Lisa took a glass of wine from the table and took a sip. And said:
"Now for the bad part. Huffman, who, as we planned, was supposed to take over the defense of the city, was imprisoned in jail the whole time of the attack. Jean arrested him before this dubious quest for the dragon's tears. When she returned, she let Huffman out, apologized, and told him that Eula's letter about his betrayal was false."
"That was Eula's letter?!" Diluс was amazed.
"Yes. Only a suicidal man could commit deception in her name. Or Eula herself. Huffman isn't shining clever, but he does what little he is good at perfectly. Huffman isn't a strategist or even a tactician, he is a stormtrooper. To take the fortress, to defend the city - here, in a strictly limited task, Huffman is excellent. That's why only Eula herself could remove Huffman, and even so that she could use him afterward. Jean also arrested Athos and Wyratt. I didn't have time to stop it. They're free now, but... The only three people in the Order, who are useful and effective, were out of the events area."
"Lisa and I," Kaeya said, "taking into account that Huffman might be killed by an arrow. And we questioned him little by little about the defense. We prepared notes from Jean's name and from our names, dated the previous day. When Huffman didn't show up, we made sure the people found yesterday's notes with their daily orders and ran to carry them out before their shortcomings were noticed. And when they were on the spot and saw the attack, they began to act according to the Charter of Extreme Events. We picked the persons who were capable of doing the right thing. It wasn't the best replacement for Huffman's command, but better than nothing. The townspeople didn't die and even the injuries were all minor. And the fact that the damage is greater than planned... I told you from the start that the damage should be doubled."
"As soon as the interns left," Lisa said, "I teleported to Black Castle and turned off half the magic dissipators. It's enough to restore the city, but it won't drown in magic. When the magic starts to become excessive again, I'll turn the dispersers back on. But that's rubbish. Eula is the main problem."
"And the Prince of the Abyss Order," Kaeya added.
Lisa brushed him off.
"Nonsense. Only an idiot would take the Abyss Order seriously. You can use it to solve minor problems, but your strategy based on it is a guarantee of failure. This Prince doesn't understand that the Abyss Order isn't the whole Abyss. And Eula controls all the paths between Dornman Port and Mondstadt. She has the largest and very effective combat unit. But Eula hasn't come to help Mondstadt with defense. This can only mean one thing: Dornman is thinking again about independence."
"Damn!" said Diluc. "If an independent Dorman in normal times only means an increase in the number of customs duties, it's unpleasant but not fatal, then now it will lead to the Fatui destroying Mondstadt. Everyone is sympathetic to them because of Jean's stupidity anyway. It never occurred to me that she wouldn't leave the viceroy!"
"Such destruction would not have happened if Huffman or Athos or Wyratt had been in power," Kaeya nodded. "But still, don't discount the Abyss Order. It's changed a lot. The mage, whom I gutted his mental, was strong, and he wasn't stupid. And he was human, a native of Sumeru, not a weremonster. The appearance of the Abyss Mage is a martial attire."
"In Starfall Bay," said Razor, "it's a small one, there is behind Whispering Woods, not far from Starfell Lake... There are monsters that have a pier and boats in this place."
"Oh no!" Diluc groaned. "They can't build anything more complicated than a hut put together by a monkey or a beaver. And they can't swim!"
"Yes, they can't swim. I threw one off the pier, he drowned instantly. But monsters are well-trained in boating. That's why I called you all here. Boats are serious."
"And saboteurs of the Abyss Order are in the city," Katheryne added. "How did they get into the city if all the gates were shut immediately?"
"Guy let them through for money," Kaeya said. "So he did this for all the smugglers. The side gate is also a port. It isn't the biggest and busiest in our country, but it's a port and these goods. And that means smuggling. Guy hates his job, hanging out at the gates instead of exploits, he hates Mondstadt, which despises common Knights. But there's nothing else for him with his pedigree in the Order. I told the fool to go to the Adventurer's Guild, but "My dad wants me as a Knight of Favonius". Diluc pressed on Jean, though he knew how this would end for Guy."
"Guy's dad will soon buy a wine barrel factory," Diluc snorted. "He's always bragging about what rich trophies and what exciting letters of exploits Guy sends him."
"And you need your own agent in the smuggling system," Katerina added.
"But that's all baloney. Fatui is the problem."
"Knight Otto works for them," Lisa said. "I suspected him when he brought me the data on the affected citizens. It didn't match the data the interns were collecting. Otto was very unhappy that the townspeople were so pedantic and insistent about making a list of damages. This is strange for a Mondstadtian. But it's parred for the course for Snezhnaya to not give a damn about the common people."
"Who is himself?" Razor wondered.
"He's not as simple a person as Guy," Lisa answered. "And if Fatui promised him privileges, fame, position, or whatever else he went to the Order of Favonius for... It's not a place where a person of his status can make a career. Eula did become captain of the best fighting squad not just because she excelled at swordspersonship. Neither Varka nor Jean could leave a member of clan Lawrence in the city — no matter how hard they tried to whitewash her reputation, no matter how much they assured her that Eula was not responsible for the crimes of her distant ancestors, Mondstadt hated her. But Varka and Jean gave Eula the best fighter and all the far reaches of the city precisely because she was Lawrence. Although she herself never mentions her last name and dreams of seeing her whole family on the gallows. They ruined her childhood. That's why she fled to Mondstadt, which clan Lawrence hated when she reached the age of enrollment in the Order."
"And then the clever girl realized," Katerina said, "that she should work for Dornman, where nobody cares about her origins. And where they don't like the Order of Favonius, which became a dump."
"Eula figured it out even earlier," Lisa clarified. "It wasn't for nothing that donkey-eared hen Amber, that pain in the ass of every Montshtadtian, was the one to clear her reputation. Eula wanted a position far from the capital and close to Dornman. And now Mondstadt City was getting in the way of Eula's plans. And the Abyss Order... If we all use it to our advantage, how is Eula any worse? She knew we were organizing an attack, and she played her game."
"I couldn't imagine saying this," Diluc confessed, "but we need the authority of the Order of Favonius now. Or the townspeople, captured grievances and emotions, will support Fatui and the Abyss Order, and then the whole of Mondstadt will be lost. But Jean has shattered everyone so much that it is impossible to save Favonius. Athos is smart, but he is a scout, not a ruler. He is neither a manager nor a diplomat. Wyratt would have been a good Grand Master, but he couldn't show his talents openly, and bumps will fall on him for all Jean's mistakes, which will manifest themselves for a long time to come. Wyratt realized this himself and gave up the post before I even offered it. All the other Knights are as useless as Jean. But we can control her. And they will all be uncontrollable. We can't replace Jean. And we can't keep her. She's completely discredited herself. Mondstadt is doomed to disaster."
"There are two hundred commoners families living in the palace of the clan Gunnhildr who lost their home in the attack," Razor said. "That can be used to justify Jean."
"Everyone knows it was Barbara who made her do it," Lisa objected. "Some say the reason is Barbara's good heart, who too lost her mother's house, others say revenge on her sister for past and present hurts, and the third group is sure of a mixture of the two, but no one thinks Jean did it herself. I agree with Diluc: the Order of Favonius will collapse any day now, and it will be extremely bad timing because now the wreckage of the Order will bury Mondstadt under it. We have to think about our own escape to better places and about helping the Mondstadt diasporas in other countries, because Favonius will not be saved."
"I assumed that someday I might need to save Jean's reputation and post," Katheryne said. "And I found something in my Guild library. One ancient, forgotten, but still effective spell. We can arrange a magical meteor shower, which is called the "Star of Deceitful Dreams". There is no harm from it, people fall asleep only if they touch the stone, but if they stand even half a meter away from it, there is no effect. And a person will wake up as soon as the stone is destroyed. But the monsters will become much more aggressive because of these meteorites, and Jean will show herself as the savior of the city and the country, just swinging her sword, which is the only thing she does well and usefully. Here's the spell," Katheryne handed out sheets of paper to everyone.
"Oh, all the magical layers are copied," Lisa said approvingly. "But I'd change this line. Then the meteor shower would affect Liyue and Fontaine, and the Mondstadt people wouldn't have any suspicions that the whole thing was rigged. But if Mondstadt helps Liyue and Fontaine, it will weaken the influence there of Fatui and the Abyss Order."
"We should show this to Barbara," Razor said. "This magic will enhance all the healing herbs within ten meters of the meteorite. If people gather them carefully, no one will be hurt. But Barbara won't like people falling asleep against their will! Hopefully, this amount of free strong medicine for the poor will help convince her. And I need more proof that sleep is harmless. Barbara will never break her oath as a healer!"
"And this line should be changed," Lisa pointed out. "Then the destruction of the meteorite will release energy useful for the talismans. It is urgent to buy more empty accumulators, while they are cheap. The Order will raise its prestige by selling good talismans and energy crystals at affordable prices, and most importantly, by giving them to the right citizens and farmers."
"Tell Barbara," Diluc said, looking at Razor, "that the Medical Corps will recruit many adepts. Barbara often complains that Mondstadt only drinks and trades, there aren't enough healing students. And after the "Star of Deceitful Dreams", quite a few Fontaineans will want to live in Mondstadt. If the country accepts only those who will be healers or apothecaries, the Medical Corps will improve its affairs."
"And even the dumbest knights," Kaeya said, "will show themselves useful as long as they destroy the meteorites. Not even Bruce and Miles would spoil such a simple matter. How can those idiots even be taken anywhere?!"
"Have you forgotten what families they come from?" Diluc replied. "They're the aristocracy. Not famous clans as Gunnhildr or Lawrence, but very ancient nonetheless. They benefited well when they supported Vennessa. But the descendants turned out defective. However, nobility matters to the Order."
"The hell with them!" Kaeya brushed them off. "Lisa, let's go make purchases."
"I'll take care of the upgrades of the spell, we need to calculate everything well, and strengthen the safety. Katheryne, help Kaeya with the purchases, please. I'll give you my personal share of this. And let Hertha do the buying for Order, that's her job. She'll pay back some more of what she stole because it's profitable. Diluc, kick Guy, tell him to shake down all the smugglers he knows. Official shipments of empty accumulators won't suffice."
Everyone liked Lisa's plan and went off to do their part. Lisa hurried to the library of Favonius.
And when the office was empty, Klee popped out of the candle flames. The flame might be cold, but it burned — so the ignorant mages of Pyro and Cryo, uneducated in alchemy, didn't catch it. The werewolf, however, smelled her. And an Electro mage too.
Klee wanted to hurry to tell Albedo about this. And everything else, too. It would be foolish to pass up such a chance to grab ourselves a fat slice. Oh, and Jean should stay Grand Master — the Order won't be as comfortable for Klee without that silly girl.