Welcome back, peeps! It's been a long, long while. Time to once again come back to my favorite Genshin couple!
As per usual, any sort of feedback is always welcomed! Just don't be a prick about it :D
With further ado, enjoys!
It's been a good long while since Aether had arrived in Liyue. Due to the, "Asking the archon and adeptis," path ending up in a bust, the mountains and ruins have given him plenty to do as he scoured the nation for any sort of clues that might help him reach his end goal. He even ended up having to spend a little bit of time back in Mondstadt to see if he may have missed something. Not to mention, meeting the sixth Fatui harbinger whilst solving a meteorite mystery with a chuunibyou adventurer, and a broke astrologist.
But for now, he seemed to have hit a dead end.
It's been three hours since the two of them woke up, and it's been two hours since they took on the commissions that the guild had for the day.
And they were done with all of them.
Who knew that having the ability to utilize the teleport waypoints can have its downsides?
"We're done already!?" His flying fairy companion started to complain, "Paimon was just getting warmed up!"
"Warmed up to do what? Panic and float around erratically?" Aether teased as he stretched some of his sore muscles away, "At least that was a little bit of a workout…"
"Hey! Paimon was being a good watcher!"
"You mean spectator?"
"No. Watcher!" She said while crossing her arms with a huff, "A spectator would just sit by and watch you fight."
"Which is, correct me if I'm wrong…" Aether said slowly, "Exactly what you were doing?"
"I'll have you know…"
And with that, the two continued their banter even as they made their way through the entrance to Liyue Harbor. Attracting the attention of many passersby as some took notice of their banter, while others recognized the traveler who just about saved Liyue from catastrophe, all those months ago.
As they were passing by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, a familiar voice suddenly forced them out of their banter reverie.
"Traveler! Paimon!"
The two looked over to the direction voice to see one funeral parlor director bounding towards them.
"Hu Tao? What are you doing here?" Paimon asked.
"I was just dropping off some documents by the Ministry." She answered, leaning forward enthusiastically, "Didn't expect to see you two strolling about."
"Documents? Why would a funeral parlor need to submit documents to Civil Affairs?" Paimon asked once again.
"Why to pay taxes of course." The young woman said, "Though most of a parlor's work can be exempted, there are still some aspects of it that we need to pay taxes for. A parlor is also a business you know!"
"Whoa, and here Paimon thought that it's just: find dead people, bury them, and console their families." She said, rather crudely.
"A bit of an oversimplification there, Paimon." Aether swiftly quipped.
Hu Tao though, as one might think, took no offense. "Well, Traveler, she's not entirely wrong. However, there are other things that a director as worldly as I, would prefer to do other than funeral proceedings."
"Such as?" Paimon curiously asks.
"Why, cooking delicious food, of course!" Hu Tao gleefully exclaimed, "I was actually about to ask if any of you would be interested in testing out a few of my new recipes that I just concocted earlier today?"
A spectrum of reactions can be seen from the pair in front of her. Paimon began to drool in excitement due to the prospects of free food, while Aether, though showing no outward signs of reluctance, shuddered horrifically inside as he recalls a specific story about the funeral parlor director that he had heard from a certain green-haired demon conqueror.
Though I understood that she might have meant well… That irritatingly lively girl cannot cook to save a soul. Apart from a barely passable Almond Tofu, all her other dishes can only be appraised as… suspicious, at best.
"Ooooh, Paimon wants in!"
Aether was very close to dragging the fairy away with him. But his mind decided that she needed to learn a quick lesson on the topic of being sassy with him, so he internally, and manically, grinned to himself as he formulated a quick plan of evasion.
"I think you'd do just fine with Paimon." Aether said, pointing towards the guild, "I'm not entirely satisfied with today's activities just yet, so I'm gonna see if they've got some more commissions to do."
"Is that so…?" Hu Tao seemed to eye him suspiciously, while Aether tries his best not to squirm under her inquisitive stare, "I see… well then, Paimon, looks like you're in for delectable day!"
"Yessss! Free food all for Paimon!"
"I'll catch you later then, Traveler!" Hu Tao shouted out as the two started walking towards the parlor, while Aether merely replied with a small wave, and a quivering smile.
Godspeed Paimon…
He chuckled menacingly to himself.
But this is what you get for being snippy with me.
Soon after, he made his way to the adventurer's guild booth. Once again meeting up with Katheryne for the second time in just a few hours. The woman in question had a surprised expression as he nears the counter.
"My oh my, I knew you were in another level of adventuring, but I didn't expect even for you to have completed these commissions in such a timely manner."
Aether merely shrugged as he turned in the objectives of the other commissions, "Sometimes, being so far ahead can have its demerits." He leaned on the counter, looking at Katheryne expectantly, "I suppose you don't have another one lying around that would keep me busy for the rest of the day?"
Katheryne simply shot him an apologetic smile while handing him the remuneration for his work, "Sorry Traveler, but the only commissions we have left are for lower-level adventurers. We barely have any of those left for the day, let alone one that could keep you busy for the rest of the day."
Aether let out a long, despondent sigh. Groveling onto the counter more and more.
"For once, I beg of this world to give me something crazy for the day. Yet, nothing crops up."
For a short while, he remained in that almost-fetal position, until Katheryne suddenly perks up.
"Actually, now that you've mentioned it…"
The blonde's head immediately shoots up.
"What, did crazy tingle your senses?"
"Yes. Well, not quiet. But I think I've got something that might tickle your fancy…" she said. Her last few words garnering a look of confusion from the Traveler.
"Pardon?"
"Oh, forgive me." Katheryne said sheepishly as she tore through the cabinets under the counter, "Just a little something I picked up from Fontaine. I meant that it is something that might be able to pique your interest."
"Ah, got it."
Aether had forgotten how he did not understand how Katheryne can be in multiple places at once. But he'd long abandoned his plan in trying to do so.
"Okay, here it is." She finally said, prompting Aether to stand up straight in attention, "It actually says very little about what the commission's supposed to entail. But it left an instruction for me that would help you meet up with the person in charge of the commission."
"Huh," Aether remarked, "No wonder it's been sitting here for long. People probably lost interest just from hearing about it."
"Quite the contrary, actually." Katheryne replied, opening her logs, "A lot of people actually tried their hand on this. It's just that, the lower-levelled adventurers would say that the commission is just well above their pay grade. While the higher-ranking ones simply handed it back, saying that it's quite nonsensical that one would have to be crazy to straight up take it."
"Interesting…" Aether hummed in contemplation, before giving her a thumbs up, "Sounds like something right up my alley."
"Indeed, it is." Katheryne beamed. Happy to have been helpful in the blonde's conquest to fight his boredom. "I'll set you up for the meeting then. Here's a map that pinpoints where you should go be on standby. In the meantime, I'll notify the commission giver as per the instructions."
"Alright then." Aether replied. Grabbing the map from her hand, immediately inspecting it. "Huh, the mines near Mingyun Village? I thought the mines there were all dried up?"
"Unfortunately, the commission does not specify any further." Katheryne said. "Would an hour be enough for you to prepare?"
"More than enough." Aether replied with a thumbs up, "Thanks a lot, Katheryne!"
As he was about to walk off, Katheryne stopped him for split second.
"Wait, Traveler. One more thing!"
He looked back with a questioning glance.
"How good would you rate your acting skills to be?"
Fast forward to just about an hour later. Aether found himself idly sitting under tree, perched on top of an overhang that has a view which just about encompasses the entirety of eastern Qiongji Estuary. He'd been passing his time by observing the many small activities that he had seen around the relatively quiet area, all while ushering away the two to three fatui skirmishers that been lurking nearby.
His thoughts ran back to that final, rather ominously put question that Katheryne had asked.
Acting skills? What acting skills? Lumine is the one good at acting her way out of trouble. I can barely pass acting as a stale celery.
Thinking of his sister, he ended up taking his time to contemplate on the next moves that he would make for the times to come. Even though Zhongli had urged him to find a way to get to Inazuma, it had proven to be far easier said than done. Everyone he'd asked about travelling to Inazuma had either waved him off, or just looked at him as if he's lost his marbles. Even Diluc, who he usually relies on for unorthodox solutions due to his massive underground network connections, hit a stump when presented with said predicament. Stating that when he asked her, even Jean herself hadn't heard a peep from Inazuma, let alone the Shogun.
I'm stuck here for a long time, aren't I?
He was stuck and muddled deep within his thoughts, so much so, that he hadn't notice the crunching noise of grass and leaves that slowly approached his idle spot.
It wasn't until the other person spoke; did he finally snap out of his reverie.
"Aether?"
He didn't know why exactly, but his senses immediately recognized that tone, and before he even fully turned to face the person, he had already uttered her name.
"Keqing?"
Right as he finished uttering her name, did his eyes found her amethyst ones.
"You're the commissioner?" She said, looking perplexed.
"You're in charge of the commission?" Aether shot back.
Keqing shook her head while sighing in exasperation, "And here I specifically wrote to find someone who can maintain a low profile…"
Aether sniggered in mock offense, "Excuse you. I most definitely can keep a low profile."
"Really, can you now?" Keqing replied, shooting him a tiny bit of a glare, "Mr. Honorary Knight of Mondstadt? The saviour of Liyue Harbor?"
Listening to her jabs, Aether couldn't help but sheepish scratch his neck, "Well… when you put it that way..."
Suddenly, she lets out a giggle.
Aether stops his scratching at the sudden change of pace, but welcomed it all the same.
"I'm joking." She admitted. This time, sighing in what seemed like relief, "Honestly, I'm just surprised that you're the one who took the commission. Had I known that you were in town, I would've personally sought you out myself instead of finding you through an ominous commission."
"I can think of plenty more terrible methods of seeking me out." Aether replied.
"That so?" She replied with amusement, before her expressions softened, "Are you sure you want to do this though? I know that you've been busy with the meteorite incident that hit both Liyue and Mondstadt. It'll be fine if you want to get back to resting."
"Oh, that thing? Honestly didn't do much other than fighting a bunch of things that were on meteorological drugs." Aether's expression then turned coy, unable to resist the urge to tease her, "Aside from that, seems like you've been keeping tabs of my whereabouts. I'm honored that the ever-busy Lady Yuheng spares her time to check up on yours truly."
A startled Keqing began blushing fervently. She clears her throat, followed by a firm crossing of her hands as she looks away to further hide the redness of her face.
"W-Well… I was only trying to make sure we would be well prepared to face those meteors in case more of them land closer to Liyue Harbor." She then waved him off, "Besides, it's not exactly my fault that you keep finding yourself involved in major events involving Liyue."
"Touché." Aether merely chuckled at her point, and gave her a smile in gratification, "I appreciate the offer to rest more, but I really am looking for something to do." Hands on his hips, he flashed her a grin, "Besides, I'd never leave a good friend hanging."
"Thank you." Keqing said with a smile, "And for once, I don't blame the people that have turned the commission away. It is quite demanding once you've figured out the details."
Aether had a look of surprise suddenly plastered on his face. For a brief moment, Keqing had thought that he had suddenly seen something that was out of the ordinary, but after a brief look around their vicinity, there was clearly nothing of interest happening around them.
After focusing back at him, it was clear that he was looking at her.
"W-What? Is there something on my face?"
"No, it's just…" Aether chuckled to himself, "I didn't think that you'd ever find any task to be too demanding."
"Oh. That. Well, demanding for others, yes." She said firmly, then proceeded to gesture between the two of them, "For people such as you and I, probably not."
"Ah, I see…"
Ever the same Keqing.
"Come." She beckons him to follow her, "Instead of telling you in detail, I'll just show it to you."
Following her up to the edge of a cliff, she pointed towards a small crevasse. It had looked pretty secluded compared to the variety of other chasm that littered Qionji Estuary, providing it with an entirely hidden area. Safe for a tiny body of water that looked to have been formed through tiny droplets of a nearby lake dropping from above, it didn't look all that interesting, until Aether saw a cave right around the side that had been completely out of his vision.
"You see that cave?" Keqing asked, waiting for him to nod, before pointing to another secluded section of the crevasse, "See that mining cart over there?"
Looking over at the entrance of the cave, he indeed saw the cart that she had been pointing. Normally, it wouldn't be of any strange occurrence to see a mining cart in an abandoned mineshaft. However, the cart in question had one particular detail that Aether immediately latched on to.
"The cart's full to the brim…" He pointed out, remembering the information he said earlier to Katheryne, "But I thought the mines around this place are abandoned?"
"I thought so too, up until a guard reported it to me a few weeks ago." Keqing affirmed, expression growing serious, "I checked around for permits regarding to mining in this area, and only one showed up. Owned by a man named Hi Jie, a fifth-rank noble who also lives in the harbor."
Aether perked up when the term "noble" was brought up. "Noble rankings exist in Liyue?" He chuckled inwardly, "And here I thought nobles and aristocrats are complicated enough."
"Only to those who cares anyways." Keqing said, eyes still locked on the cave entrance, "Nowadays, only old farts who thinks that their title is still worth anything are the ones who fuss about it." Her tone then grew somber for just a split second, "Archon knows that being one brought me more harm than good."
Remembering her background of actually being a noble herself, Aether frowned, but quickly hid it and steered the topic away from what it had been to prevent any further damage to her mood.
"Anything shady show up in the guy's records?"
Keqing visibly shook herself out of her reminiscing, focusing back to the task in hand in a flash. "The guy has all sorts of murky records. But nothing that stood out too much. The permit seemed all clear as well." She then began pondering about something else, "The business' finances on the other hand… had some big red flags."
"How so?"
"I had Ganyu run a check, and on the surface, it had looked somewhat legitimate." She had initially said, before once again, pointing at the minecart. "But tell me, what is that minecart piled to the brim with?"
Taking a closer look at the contents of the cart, Aether soon found the abnormality that Keqing had been referring to.
"It's just full of stones… Safe for a few iron chunks here and there."
"Exactly." Keqing spoke again, worry now lacing her tone, "Their manifest only accounts for iron chunks, and the numbers alone would probably fit that of a small business." She brought forth the manifest in question, displaying it for him to see. "But if they are simply selling stones amongst the iron, then the amount of such crude rocks required to even reach these numbers are astronomical."
Aether scrunched his nose in thought, starting to see more of her point. "Wouldn't that mean that they'd need more workers to account for how little a batch of those rocks are worth?"
"That's what I'm worried about." She points towards the numbers that had been labeled to be the costs of their operations, "If I were to think that their total sales consist of just iron, then the cost at hand would seem logical with the amount of workers they would need to get a relatively small quantity of iron in the quarter that they did."
"But if we take the crude rocks into equation…" Aether interjected.
"Then these costs just wouldn't make sense." Keqing said with finality, looking to the sky in the midst of her thinking, "Unless they found buyers who were willing to pay a ludicrous amount for such simple rocks or they've somehow found more ore veins, which are two highly unlikely scenarios. Then it can only mean one thing…"
Aether grimaced at his own conclusion.
"That they are underpaying their miners to death."
"Precisely." Keqing affirmed grimly, her tone becoming sharper afterwards, "Which brings absolute shame for me to say that this wouldn't be the first time I've seen such underhanded methods of running a business crop up among Liyuean businessmen."
"There are more people who used these kinds of modus operandi before?"
"Too many to count, and they all come from the same breed of people." Keqing began explaining, her tone slowly growing sour, "Those nobles who are sticklers for social hierarchy. They think that these workers are below them, and unfortunately for those workers, they simply don't have a choice."
"How so?" Aether inquired, knowing he wouldn't have liked the answer in any form.
"Because for those people, it's either that or… Join the treasure hoarders."
"Oh…"
Just as she said that, a miner carrying a wheelbarrow full of stones walked out of the shadows of the entrance. The two of them observed as he heaved the entirety of its content into the nearest cart. As soon as he slammed the wheelbarrow back to the ground, he visibly faltered and had to put his hands on his knees to stop himself from falling. It was clear that the man looked tired out of his wits, and was barely able to stand up straight. He just about wiped the heavy amount of sweat off of his forehead before another person, significantly larger than he was, went out of the entrance.
"What are you doing lounging around!? We don't pay you to sit around and do nothing!"
"B-But Sir…" The other man tried to reason, "We haven't had our lunch break yet and-,"
"Should I report your insubordination to the supervisor?" The larger man asked, a devilish grin plastered on his features.
The question quickly shirked the smaller, forcing to raise his hands in surrender and began trudging back towards the mine while tiredly mumbling, "N-No Sir…"
"That's what I thought." The larger man shot back, keeping his eyes on the other man as he past him back to the entrance, before going back in himself.
During the entire ordeal, Aether can only observe Keqing as she seemingly tried to steady herself, rage coursing through her amethyst eyes. Though it seems like she hasn't noticed, but her knuckles were visibly turning white as she lets out a shaky breath, a hollow scoff following suit.
"You know how disheartening it is to see these kinds of occurrences happening in a nation that you're trying to lead?" She averted her gaze to the palm of her hand, "Forget the law. The fact that these people have a moral compass so broken that they would subject others to such treatments…" She closed her fist, staring forlornly at the entrance to which that man had just went back into, "It only serves to show that there are some who are rotten to their very core. Which means that no number of laws created to counter them would be effective enough to be able to break the very principle that they've probably built their lives upon."
During his travels, Aether had always acknowledged the various realities that surrounds him. There are people who are better off than most, and there are others who doesn't have as much luck on their side. In Liyue however, apart from the obvious evil, the differences are far more subtle. Though wealth might be of importance to most, there are also plenty of people who are more than happy with the lives that they've built around them. Qingce Village is one of those places. Satisfaction is of a prevalent factor in the inner part of Liyuean life, more so than most places that he had visited in the past.
As much as he wants to understand her sadness as it is, he couldn't. Not necessarily because he doesn't want to, but he feels as if he doesn't have the right to try. He's never led a nation before, He wouldn't know how it truly feels like to watch as the people you're supposed to lead, suffer through their daily lives. What he does know however, is the feeling of failure. He's gone through it countless of times. Hell, he's lived long enough, and to see someone as strong as the Yuheng herself crack under the pressure of her dreams, just made his heart ache for her.
In the end, he can only do what he does best.
He placed a hand on her shoulder, urging her to look at him as her doubtful purple eyes met with his solemn and sincere amber ones.
"How can I help?"
Keqing herself had to try and keep her internal turmoil in check for quite a long time. The more people that rejected her commission, the more her desperation had begun to show. For the longest of time, she had personally infiltrated these sorts of illegal operations on her own. Dismantling them from the inside, finding witnesses and evidences to bring down the operation through legal means. However, due to the increasing work that she had gotten with the Qixing officially in charge of Liyue, she had barely been able to find the time to scout the location herself, let alone infiltrate it. Not only that, she finds that people have begun recognizing her more often, attracting unwanted attention, which also prompts her guards and the other members of the Qixing to discourage her from at the very least, going at her operations alone.
But she knows, more than anyone, that the longer she stays idle, the longer those workers would have to suffer under the tyranny of people who are far too deluded to ever be leading anything.
So, to have him by her side at this instance, is huge relief to her person. Not only due to his willingness to help, but also with the sincerity that he holds within his words.
"Thank you… You have no idea how much this means to me." She uttered to him, almost a whisper, "Trust me, I'll be sure to provide you with the proper remuneration for the time you spend on this."
"Worry about that later." Aether said without hesitation, "What's the game plan?"
"Right. So, essentially, you'll be disguising yourself as a worker." Keqing turns into work mode right away, the brief moment of vulnerability forgotten, "You'll be there to uncover the basic groundworks of the system that they have in their procedures. But most importantly, you need to see how the workers are treated." Keqing gestured to the cave, "As you can see from that man, it's clear that work conditions are far from suitable. Get as much details as possible on that aspect. Pay, breaks, environment, anything you can find."
"Got it." Aether replied in a snap, chuckling right after, "So this is why Katheryne asked if I my acting skills are any good."
"You'll be fine…" Keqing assured him, a smile once again returning to her features, "I believe in you."
"Then I shan't disappoint." He says with a grin, before gesturing to his clothes, "What about wardrobe? Even if I act like I own the place, I don't think anyone would ignore these clothes when they're so out of place."
"Don't worry about that." Keqing gave him a wink, which sent a tingle down his spine, "We've got you covered."
"I knew it…" Aether said, almost begrudgingly as he resisted the urge to scratch his itchy face. "You had way too much fun powdering my face with charcoal remains…"
Keqing, who was already struggling to hold her giggles in, merely choked out, "What makes you say that, dear Traveler?"
"Nevermind…" Aether replies with a chuckle, taking a look at the ragged clothes that he had been adorned with by Keqing's assistant, "Where'd you get such ragged clothes anyways? I wouldn't think that Yuheng wardrobe would account for emergency infiltration missions."
"Oh, but it does." Keqing said, walking ahead of him to check their surroundings, "I've been doing this myself for long enough, all I had to do was commission my assistant to find one that's a few sizes larger."
He had to stop walking to process her words.
It hadn't crossed his mind that she had been doing this whole thing herself.
As if he was on autopilot, he had already reached for her arm, and grabbed it by the wrist.
Forcing her to turn and look at him once more.
"You've been doing this sort of thing by yourself!?"
"Y-Yes…?" Came her hurried reply. Her reddening face going unnoticed by the blond.
"For how long?"
"For a few years now…" She said, lacking her usual confidence, still wildly distracted by his hand on her wrist, "Ever since I officially became the Yuheng."
"Ever since you…" Aether mused out, before he realized that he had apparently been holding her arm, and subsequently pulled his away, "O-Oh, sorry… I-I didn't mean to…"
Keqing could barely string out her words.
"I-It's… fine."
They looked away from each other. Both holding their own arms in trepidation while awkward silence slotted itself comfortably in the small space between them. Aether wondering to himself as to why he had suddenly felt the urge to just hold her, while Keqing attempted to calm a small voice in the back of her mind.
That voice that had somewhat wished that he hadn't let go.
Eventually, Keqing cleared her throat and faced him. Trying her best to both regain control of the situation, and herself.
"Aether, I'm only going to warn you once, so listen carefully." She waited until he gave her his full attention, before continuing, "During this mission, your biggest challenge is going to be the will to let things slide."
"Let things… slide?" He asked, eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Yes. You have to be able to let things happen." She said firmly. Her stance resolute, "I've been on my fair share of these shady businesses, and the things that I've seen are far from pretty." Her breath had a hint of shakiness as she continued, "It's in your nature to help, I know that. Which is why I was slightly hesitant about asking you to do this. But we've gone too far now for us to just turn back."
Aether looked at her expectantly, waiting for her instructions.
"However badly those workers are getting treated in there… You mustn't help them whatsoever."
"No matter how bad it gets?" Aether asks tentatively.
"No matter how bad." Keqing confirms, face almost regretful, "I know it's a lot to ask, but it's for the sake of the mission, and our end goal."
A brief moment of contemplation flashed through his person, before nodding firmly.
"Understood. I can't give you my guarantee…" He said, "But I'll try my very best to hold back."
Keqing nodded in acceptance, "Good enough for me…" She turned towards the direction of the cave, peeked around the corners, and gave him a thumbs up, "Alright, the coast seems clear." She handed him a pickaxe that had been lying near the chasm entrance, "The thing about these kinds of places, is that the guards rarely notice personnel count. So, you should just be able to go in, blend with the others, and they wouldn't suspect a thing."
"Got it." He replied in affirmative, holding the pickaxe with confidence, "Wish me luck."
"Good luck." She said with a smile, a hand of her chest, "And please, if you feel uncomfortable at any point during the job, don't hold back with me. Tell me when we meet up to review, and I'll promptly call it then and there."
Though she knows deep inside, that even if he was uncomfortable, he wouldn't tell her.
"Will do." He smiled reassuringly back at her, and began to make his way towards the cave, "I'll catch you later then."
"Right, be careful." She nodded as he went past her.
She watched as he made his way to the cave, stopped at its entrance, gave her a quick wave, which she promptly replied in kind, before stepping into the darkness.
"See you later…" She whispers to his shadow, staying in her position for a few more minutes before making her way back towards Liyue Harbor.
Admittedly for Aether, since the moment he entered the cave, it took a long while for him to get his head into the game. His mind still very much stuck on the little moment that had happened with the Yuheng.
Why had he been so worried?
Unfortunately, his surroundings gave him no chance in wondering about other things. The moment he paused his movements, another worker had suddenly nudged him. Snapping him out his reverie then and there.
Looking at the worker, Aether can immediately tell that the man is right around the middle-aged range. Clothes almost as ragged as his, minus the cape that he had sported to hide his features, the man looked both concerned, and for some reason, almost regretful.
The man began talking, voice somewhat hoarse, almost as if his throat was close to being completely dry.
"Kid… Are you new around here?" he began asking, which Aether merely answered to with a nod. His response somehow amplified the tint of regret that had laced the man's expression, "How unfortunate… Is the world today so unforgiving, that young ones like you are forced to turn to these lines of work so early on?"
Aether kept his silence. Looking at the section of the mine that the man seems to be heading towards. This gave the man an inkling, "Since you're new here, I'll guide you around which stations you need to be in. Don't want the supervisor to be catching you slacking around." The man extended his hand, "The name's Li Shu, and you are?"
"I'm… Pan Zi." Aether quickly gave him the fake name that Keqing had supplied him with, pulling his hood further down, "Nice to meet you."
"Huh, funny name." Li had said, nodding towards the branches of the mine, "So, what are you assigned to today?"
"Uuuh…" Aether internally cursed himself. Trying his best to come up with a sensible answer, "The uuhh… mining?"
Li merely scoffed at his answer, "Kid, we're all miners down here. I meant whether you're assigned to stones or chunks today."
Ah, that's what he meant.
Taking advantage of his newfound information, he immediately answered, "Oh, then it would be the stones."
"What a coincidence." Li said, pointing to himself, "I've just been assigned to take over the reins around this section, so you're following me from now on."
Noticing another opportunity, Aether asked out of curiosity, "What happened to the previous guy in charge?"
Li answered with a nonchalant expression, "He got fired for taking a break, two minutes too early."
Aether managed to contain his bewilderment to himself. Instead opting to match the tone that Li had steered the conversation to, "Seems kind of… excessive, if you ask me."
"That's the tough side of the business, kid." Li said with a grim finality to his tone, "As much as we want to protest, the moment any of us lifts a finger, you can consider your job to be poof." He sighed forlornly as he gazed to the ground, "You're lucky you got no one to look out for other than yourself. A lot of the men down here are doing what they do to support their own families. We can't act as rash. Our wages are barely enough to make it through the month for ourselves, much less for those who has other mouths to feed."
Once again, Aether had nothing to say and merely nodded in understanding. Soon after, Li led him into a branch of the mines that had looked like it had only seen stretches of rocks for its whole lifetime. Even the small number of ores that he would be able to get from a teensy deposit out in the wild would still outnumber the amount that he probably would've gotten from that one tunnel, seeing as there are no ores or chunks for as far as he can see.
"So, your job is simple enough." Li said as he picked up one of the large baskets that had been lying around, "Chip away the walls for rocks of this size," he says as he took out a stone that was pretty much sized as a white iron ore. "Fill it up to the whole basket. The supervisors are always looking for two baskets full from each worker, but if you're somehow strong enough for more than that, then be my guess." He threw the rock back into its pile, shrugging as he looks back at Aether, "The happier they are, the more likely that all of us can actually last through the month."
"What do you mean?" Aether asked. Wary of the ominous nature that the man had said it in.
"It's not rare for some of us to be cut off early due to injuries sustained at work. They do make us lift an insane amount of weight." Li began explaining, pointing to his wrist, "I had a close call a few months back. Hurt my wrist and was barely able to fill my quota for the day."
"And in the case where you haven't been able to do so?"
Li merely scoffed.
"Then I wouldn't be the one here talking to you."
"But your injuries were caused by unsuitable work conditions…" Aether stated, both out of confusion and his need to uncover more information, "Wouldn't that warrant the business to be the party responsible for your injuries?"
"Maybe in other businesses, yeah…" Li admitted, once again shrugging in resignation, "But when you're in this side of the country, you'd be hard pressed to find any kind of work, kid. So, you gotta go with what's available." He gestured to the rest of the workers, "To the big guys, we're just tools that they can find more of if any of us decides to call it quits."
Seeing that Li had practically surrendered his fate to the supervisors, Aether saw no more reason to try and persuade him to fight back against the obviously corrupt higher-ups. In the end, all he can try to do is to help alleviate some pressure from the workers.
After a moment of silence, Aether asked Li just to make sure if his plan can actually work, "So, you're saying that as long as everyone can turn in two baskets at the end of the day, they'll be fine for another day?"
"In general, yeah."
"Alright, then tell the others…" Aether said as he grabbed two extra baskets for himself, "If they see more than two full baskets by my side and they haven't fulfilled their quota, feel free to take one of them."
"Wait kid, are you crazy?" Li almost shouted, bewildered beyond his mind, "Even the strongest of us could only do four in a day, and that's pushing it! You're gonna tire yourself-,"
"Please, just tell them that." Aether said. Cutting him off as his own mind was starting to understand why Keqing had a bit of hesitation to give him this mission. She knew that he'd want to do more for them, but it really wouldn't fit with the end goal of her purpose, "For now, it's the least that I can do for all of you."
As much as Li had wanted to ask, there was a look in the younger man's eyes that had discouraged him from asking any further. Naturally, he just decided not to question, "Well then, whatever you say, kid. Don't be too tough on yourself."
"I'll keep that in mind, Li." Aether said with a sad smile. "Catch you later."
From there, Aether walked off to the end of the branch to begin his session. Li could only watch from afar as the blonde stretched his body and began to chuck away at the wall. A part of him could only watch on regretfully, as once again, he had to bear witness to another young soul finding their selves on a path that is full of desperation.
He can only shake his head in disappointment, aimed at no one in particular, as he walked off to deliver the young man's message to everyone else.
Hours passed by and the horizon had finally begun to reveal its crimson colors. The hardships of labor and the cruelness of the conditions continue to ravage Aether's surroundings, yet he powers through it. Though things in the mine seemed to have gone as it normally would in its operating days, the supervisors had yet to latch on the chatter that had gone around the rock miners.
"He's been going at it non-stop."
"Is that kid even for real?"
"I don't give a damn. It's more free time for the rest of us."
Were among the lines that had been spurring around the workers that evening.
The subject of the conversation had paid no attention to any of those words whatsoever. They watch in a not-so-subtle manner as he stopped for a moment to wipe his sweat and seemingly gather his wits, simply nodding with a thin smile as another worker sheepishly approached him and simply gave him a slight bow as he took another one of his baskets that he had finished filling up for the day.
Truth be told, Aether himself had lost count in regards to just how many of those baskets had he filled and been taken away by one of the workers. Not that he cared anyways, as long as he has two full ones by his side, he knew that he'd be doing those in need a good deal of help. He took note of the fact that none of the workers had bothered directly asking about his presence, which was somewhat of a relief on his part since he'd rather not have to constantly evade the question of why he is doing such a thing for people he had never met.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, he felt a presence suddenly sidle up next to him. He immediately judged from the fact that the person hadn't bothered to grab his attention nor one of his extra baskets, that he or she is looking for a conversation.
He internally sighed to himself. Mentally preparing to spout all sorts of evasive conversational maneuvers that he had up his sleeve.
Until the person spoke, causing him to realize that he won't need to be doing any of that.
"Had I known that you'd embark yourself on this idiotic road of selflessness, I would've just come with you from the beginning."
He couldn't help but chuckle dryly. Continuing his work as he knew that he can just focus most of his energy there, "And what part of any of this is completely out of character for me?"
His response elicited a sigh from the other person, "I suppose that's true. I should've seen it coming." A pickaxe landed itself next to him, "But Aether, you have to look after yourself first and foremost."
Slamming his pickaxe in a sudden burst of frustration, lodging it on the rocks, he took a sharp turn to his side and met her worried gaze, "And what would you have me do, Keqing?" A piece of his consciousness cursing himself as he saw how hard he had caused her to flinch, and how it had clenched his own heart, "How can I look after myself when I know that these people are struggling to even get by the hour!?"
Regret immediately replaced his frustration. He knew better than anyone that she was the last person that he would ever need to shout such a statement to. Leaning against the rocky walls, he released a shaky and uncertain breath. Hand over his forehead, he weakly said, "I-I'm sorry… I had no right to say that. You of all people would know-,"
"No, please. Let me apologize." She said as she leaned on the space next to him, granting him clear view of her person, along with the guise that she had on as her attire, "It's an oversight on my part. I shouldn't have left you to go at this all alone."
"Under any circumstances, nor should you." Aether interjected, making sure to keep his eyes on her to further press his point. "Please, Keqing. If the conditions are always going to be as it is, I don't care who'd you have to drag if I'm not around. Whether it's an adeptus or a random fisherman, I don't care, just please, have someone with you."
"I'd wager that the adepti would rather subject their selves to eternal exile than set foot on a place like this." Keqing said with a smile, which was only met by Aether's stare of intent, "Don't worry, I'll put it under close consideration."
After staring at her a few more seconds, he finally relented, "I guess that's about as close as I'll get to a 'yes'."
Keqing have him a brief smile, before lowering her voice, "So, how are things around here."
"All around? Absolute dogshit." Aether just blurted out, voice once again weary, "The pickaxes are dull. Food was practically non-existent, so is break time. There are only rocks for miles on this branch, I've totaled about a dozen people so far walking around with injuries, yet still carrying on with work. Don't even ask about the pay." He sighed once again, "It's a mess, Keqing."
"I know… Just hang in there for a little bit more, okay?" She said earnestly, all while pulling a piece of paper out of her cloak, "Cause with this, and a few witness testimonies, we should be able to bring the corrupt higher ups, down to their knees."
"And that is?"
"Their actual manifest. They had to have one lying around somewhere, given how careless they are with everything around here." She tapped on it, "With this, we know what they're selling, and who they're selling it to. With testimonies from you, other workers, and my own investigation, we should have enough to indict the owners for a lot of labor and market violations."
"Wait, I just need to know." Aether cuts her off while raising his hand, "These workers… If we do take this business down, what would happen to them?"
"Rest assured, all of them would be employed elsewhere." Keqing replied, happy with the relief that she saw from his features, "Not only is the Chasm reopening, but there are still several industrial and labor sectors under the new Qixing initiatives that are severely underemployed. I've assigned Ganyu to help with managing those who will be in charge of recruiting people, so it should be relatively smooth sailing from there."
"Good…" Aether's shoulders visibly relaxed as he sagged to the wall, "That's good…"
Keqing observed him for a moment, genuine curious over his thought process, "You really do care about these people, huh?"
"How can I not?" Aether said with sincerity, eyes glazed with an emotion that Keqing can't quite put, "These people represent the future of your dreams. Dreams that I truly want to see come to fruition." He seemingly stared at the open palm of his hand, "People like you are ones that I would always come to admire. Those who lead and truly strive for the betterment of those that they lead." He clasped his hand, before once again locking his gaze on hers, "How can I not care about the dreams of someone who is giving her absolute everything to provide a better future for her people, even when she is constantly battling her own demons? How can I not want to protect that?"
For a while, all Keqing could do was stare. For the longest of time, she's had a dream. A dream where a person, glowing in their radiant glory, stood next to her as they brought the New Liyue into a prosperous path of growth and bountiful future. For the longest of time, she had casted the vision away as a pipe dream, thinking that there would never be a single person who can meet up to her expectations, as her dreams had charted for her. For the longest of time, she had no reason to believe that the decision of casting that dream away was in fact, a naught one.
Yet here he is. Though currently muddled physically, is shining brighter than any star in her eyes. A person who's looked past her hardened exterior, and had tried to protect the vulnerability that is contained within. A person who views her passion and worldview as something to protect and look forward to.
Someone who she can see as a shoulder to lean on.
She smiled to herself, mumbling softly, "Maybe you are the person of my dreams…"
Aether tilted his head to the side, "Pardon me?"
"No, it's nothing. I just-,"
"Hey! What do you two think you're doing?"
The sudden voice quickly caught their attention and promptly put the two of them fully back on their feet, no longer leaning on the wall. Keqing internally cursed herself for being so absentminded that she had forgotten about the supervisor shifts, knowing that one was about to patrol these branches soon.
"Taking it easy, huh? Well, let's see what we have here." The supervisor had an obnoxious look plastered on his face, as if waiting for such insubordination to happen, "A couple of new faces, eh? It's countdown time then. Get your baskets in line!"
It was right then, did Aether just realized that Keqing does not even have one by her side. He had completely forgotten to supply her with her own quota.
Crap, maybe she hadn't accounted to have been staying here for long.
However, he caught the quick look that she had flashed to him. A signal for him to line his own baskets up. His eyes widened in protest, which she replied to with a wave of her hand from behind her body, telling him that she'll be fine.
Reluctantly, he dragged his baskets out for the supervisor to see. Lining a grand total of four baskets up for him to see. All while Keqing remained still.
"Hmm… aren't you quite the mule." The lanky supervisor had said with an arrogant sneer, causing Aether's blood to boil. And it boiled even more when the man averted his attention towards Keqing and brought her chin up to face him, "And what about you little missy? Where's your quota for the day?"
Keqing merely stood her ground. Boring her glare through his skull, which was not well received the man, who then roughly grabbed her chin with more force, bringing his own face closer, "I asked you a question, you useless wench…"
It took every fiber of his being to stop himself from lunging at the man, and he thought he wouldn't need to after the man released her from his grip.
That was until the man suddenly rolled one of his sleeves up.
"Well… I'd hate to ruin such a pretty face." He said with a slur, before cocking an arm back and prepping for hit, "But you worthless slaves needs to be disciplined every now and then."
Screw it.
Keqing had braced herself to receive the hit, closing her eyes as she saw his fist sing towards her, only to find that nothing had happened. Opening her eyes, she saw that the man is now struggling to get back on his feet, a good few meters away from where they had been standing.
And between the man and herself, was Aether, who's shoulders were quaking out of visible rage.
"Aether…"
"I've been willing to let a lot of things slide by me today, Keqing."
She was about to carry on with her protest, yet he held a protective arm over her, making sure that she stays securely behind him.
"But seeing you get hurt isn't going to be one of them."
…
I really should've seen this coming too, huh?
"Fine…" She sighed, trying her best to sound exasperated, yet a faint smile lined her lips, "Go easy on him, go it?"
"With pleasure." Aether replied with a grin, seeing as he'd been itching to give one of the cocky supervisors a good lesson, "I'll make it short."
"You imbeciles… I'll show you not to mess with people of my status." The lanky man said, visibly seething, "You'll have nowhere to go to once I throw you out of here! You hear me!?"
A crowd had begun to gather around their vicinity. Li being one of the people among them. Murmurs reverberating around the mines created an atmosphere that slowly caused the air to grow thick.
Aether merely smirked.
"Trust me, I would've thrown myself out regardless."
Not even half an hour later, they'd already found their way out of the cave and were comfortably on their way back towards the camp that Keqing had set up for him to retreat to once it was all over. The workers who Aether had helped promised to present a fake scenario to the other supervisors who were definitely going to notice the ruckus, and their unconscious subordinate. Saying that if all them were to present the same case, then the other higher-ups would just chalk up today's events to that supervisor's incompetency.
"Don't worry, kid. Think of it as our thanks for all your help today."
"Guess letting them take a few baskets for their selves paid off in the end, huh?" Aether asked with a teasing smile.
"Whatever you say, Mr. Traveler." Keqing said with a hum, hands behind her back as she chose to enjoy their stroll instead, "But please, for the sake of my own sanity. Don't try to take on a whole dozen worker's load all by yourself anywhere else. I know that you're probably worth way more than that on a battlefield, but I'd rather you don't strain yourself anymore than you need to."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Keqing looked at him with another exasperated gaze, sighing as she admitted defeat, "And that's also as close as I'll get as a 'yes' from you, huh?"
"Two can play at that game, miss Yuheng." Aether said, flashing her a cheeky grin while materializing an object in his hand, "But in Liyue's case, I can get by a lot nonsense with this pretty thing."
It was the insignia that she had given him after their first meeting.
"Y-You still have that thing?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Aether asked with a tilt of his head, "Even if I didn't have a use for it, it's clearly something of importance to you. So, for you to have entrusted it to me, shouldn't I cherish it?"
There he goes again, making her feel all warm inside. A feeling that she really wouldn't mind getting familiar with.
"Well then… as long as you don't abuse it, then I'm happy that I left it in such trustworthy hands."
"Oh, trust me." Aether said, an incredulous expression taking over his features, "The number of merchants and peddlers that immediately offered me a massive discount just because they think that they can get a favor out of someone associated to the Yuheng is insane."
As he continued on his tangent, Keqing started to phase out of reality. Her mind had begun wandering to the events of the day, her thought process that had been filled with him, and only him. How worried she had been as she reached the harbor gates, the look of confusion that the millelith had given her when she had suddenly began bolting back towards the direction that she came from. How she realized that his actions would be so far out of her predictions. Out of the norms of the actions of others that she had grown irately accustomed to as she went further into her own path of efficiency.
Just how much he had done for her state of mind.
She herself hadn't noticed, but she was starting to lag behind from his pace. Only when Aether himself realized that the lilac-haired woman hadn't been keeping up with his pace, he turns around.
"Hey, Keqing. Are you okay?"
Another beat of silence came across them, before Keqing finally took a sharp intake of air, "Aether, I… wanted to thank you, properly, this time." Shuffling her feet together, trying her best to string together the best words, "Apart from preventing any harm to come my way, today's been quite the eye opener for me." She closed the distance between them, "Thank you for being there for me. Thank you for what you did for my people. Thank you for showing me that some dreams are more than just a pipe dream."
Aether can only gaze at her. His orbs once again glazed with an emotion that she can't quite put a name to. She had begun worrying that her expression of gratitude had been too much. Just as she was about to enact what she thought would be damage control, he let out a hearty laughter that filled the air with warmth.
"I'd do it over and over again. Whenever you need a helping hand, I'll do my very best to be there." He said, voice firm and soft, before it became tinted with curiosity, "Though I'll admit, I'm not entirely sure what I did that had anything to do with dreams of any sort."
It was Keqing's turn to laugh. Her own timbre mixing with the one he had left in the air around them, unknowingly bringing warmth to the blonde who watched her intently as she walked past him.
"That's up for you to decide." She said, bopping his nose playfully, "Until then, it'll be my little secret."
"Secret, huh?" Aether feigned a hurt expression, "And here I thought you trusted me."
"Oh shush, you big baby. You'll find out soon enough."
Aether merely chuckled, and joined her on continuing their stroll back to the city.
"Though on the topic of secrets." Keqing suddenly said, eyeing him curiously, "You did a good job on hiding the fact that you were interested in some of Liyue's geopolitical condition."
"I'm interested in what now?" He looked at her as if she was hallucinating.
"The Mingyun Village mines." She said, oblivious to his bewilderment, "You knew that it had ran dry. I didn't tell you that, nor did Katheryne. She said you made that statement before she even said anything even remotely related." Keqing's pose of deduction revealed itself, "Foreigners, let alone travelers of your schedule would barely have any time to find that out. So, I can only surmise that you seeked that information out of personal interest, no?"
"Ah, well, about that…" His voice uncertain, "It's a complicated story. I don't think you'd believe me anyways."
"Really? With all the things that has happened since I met you, I doubt much would surprise me." She said as matter-of-factly.
Aether gave her a skeptical, before Keqing attempts to lull him into spitting it out.
"Come on… Promise I won't laugh?"
He sighed, finally relenting.
"Alright, fine…"
She prepared herself with the intent to not miss a single detail of his story.
"It all began when we thought we heard a talking tree…"
Days later, a rumor began spreading around the Liyuean mills. Some of them revolves around the scandalous arrest of a low-ranking noble who was found to have broken so many laws that fingers can no longer count them.
But one that interest people the most, is the Yuheng's blatant evasion of ever going to Mingyun Village, and whenever anyone brought it up when the hero of Liyue is present, it is a surefire way of making the usually stoic blonde to instantly crack up.
Suffice to say, Keqing most certainly didn't laugh.