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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 22: A Sage's Free Day

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c

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"A free day?"

Nahida was a bit surprised with this notion, but John merely shrugged at this.

"Yeah, I have been keeping you around to help with work for a long while now. Time for you to enjoy a much-deserved break."

That was something nice. Nahida was actually pleased to hear this as her surprise was aimed at how suddenly this good thing came to her. But while part of her wanted to find some mysterious reasons to explain the sudden circumstance, the little sage knew that the truth of it was... John just wanted her to enjoy some free time now that he could involve himself on some work for a few days.

Plus, she was quite sure that questioning this moment of good luck would result in a halved free day, which would irritate her no little. Taking this with a smile and a thank you, Nahida was off to the streets of Liyue with a large pouch filled with Mora coins. It wasn't like she had plans to buy something, but there was nothing wrong having some 'emergency funds' in case she had to buy something to eat or drink.

Her stroll took her left and right, from one end of Liyue to another as she stopped to play with some kids and, a few hours into the wandering, she struck friendship with a peculiar girl. Zombies were not a sight Nahida was accustomed to, but this friendly one sure offered some insight on the concept of barely-living humans.

Qiqi's mind was what really had Nahida intrigued the most- it was clear that the cause of her first death had caused her mental functions to decline until her awakening, with her brain no longer capable of remember things for long if without some clues to keep her remembrance intact.

This illness was indeed a daunting one considering that it was something that had been ongoing for many years now. But Nahida, ever so the studious and curious one, decided to find her own sense of completion for the day by analyzing this trouble herself.

To say that Qiqi was perplexed would be an understatement, but the perplexity in the zombie girl's mind soon melted for genuine interest as she realized how some of Nahida's advice was not as bad as she had expected it to be. In fact, rather than just tell her what she remembered wrong, the fellow child took extra care in tell her 'why'.

The cocogoat? She had it confused due to two different circumstances. The former being the real thing she was craving for at times- which was coconuts and their milk; but the one thing that had her thinking that the milk comes from a living being was the frequent client that is Lady Ganyu. Her horns did resemble those of goats and her upper clothes of dark coloration over her round bosom made Qiqi think of coconuts.

A bit of a surprising revelation, but one that filled Qiqi with some embarrassment. Luckily for her, Nahida was keen to not bully her on this topic as other children would. In their respective oddities, they found each other pleasant individuals to share a few hours of freedom together.

But all niceties tend to end when unforeseen disruptions happened, and this one was both a surprise and an annoyance to Nahida.

The 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao, was definitely not someone that Nahida had planned to met. She heard she had a bit of a reputation, but she had refrained from making any thoughts in that regard as, like her 'father' had shown her, first impressions through acts mattered more than mere rumors.

That was her neutrality. And then Hu Tao proved to be a bit of a troublemaker in her own interest to... 'relieve Qiqi of her plights via her burial'.

"How about no?" Nahida replied flatly, the smiling Hu Tao getting no mercy from the child as Qiqi stood safely behind her.

"That would be a wrongful stance, I suggest- H-Hey, don't leave just like that."

But Nahida just took hold of Qiqi's hand and walked away with her, the Director giving a bit of a slow-paced chase, but ultimately failing to catch up to them. It was a bit of paradoxical to retreat back to her 'workplace' during her free day, but Nahida knew better than start a fight with someone that could have some authority over her by the law.

Qiqi just complied with the plan as she was somewhat intrigued by what was going to happen and-

"Come on, I just want to free her from her plights," Hu Tao was whining, but no longer with Nahida and Qiqi, but someone that was being quite the wall against her.

"Nope, and you better not try to push your pretty ass into my property to harass my daughter's friend or I will treat you like an insolent brat," John Bukharin replied sharply while standing in front of the Director, the girl whining a bit at this complete rejection.

"...With a slap on the wrist and some scolding?"

"With a spanking session until you can't sit down for a full week, you lil' adorable-assed imp."

That last comment was unwarranted for, but Nahida learned that it was the sort of speech pattern that diverted in 1) crass cat-calling and 2) unbalancing trouble through unexpected but rude flattery.

Hu Tao blushed. "I-I am not an Imp."

"Well, get that sorry cute butt out of my sight because I will have the Millelith remove you. So, what's going to be?"

A big pout ensued on the girl's face but... "Fine, but it will not be the end of it, Mr. Bukharin!"

The young director was soon out of sight and John shrugged, going back to work while Nahida showed Qiqi her drawings. Despite that odd bump along the road, Nahida was happy to say her free day was quite a pleasant opportunity to unwind...

Unaware that, however, the next few days were going to be quite interesting as this year's Rite of Descension was around the corner and Liyue's present shall be deterred in a new path.

AN

Small chapter with Nahida befriending Qiqi and... the Liyue Arc for John Impact is starting next chapter. This one is small because I didn't have much to bring up, but the next one will go crazy-ass in terms of elements brought up. After all, the Fatui are about to be more active... thus forcing our beloved Monkee to move and crush the subterfuges they had in mind with his bonking club.

[Monkee vs. Tartaglia when!?]