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Chapter 4: Here's Sampo Koski!

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Despite my original masterplan being to dodge the Fatui brigades by either bailing for Mondstadt or Inazuma, I found myself stuck in Liyue.

Admittedly, my flawless thinking had not taken a single issue in its glorious pondering: I had a very limited amount of Mora to my name. Sure, I did loot a few treasures around the path to the Harbor, but it was nowhere enough to get myself shipped to Inazuma.

Let's just say with Ei still stuck in her Emo Phase... the place was quite the treacherous destination to get to with a normal boat. So, it was deemed the most expensive route around. And I needed a lot of money so... I looked for available jobs.

Being an immigrant in Liyue is not a simple thing. Especially when everything had so much paperwork and it was all written in confusing Pseudo-Chinese gibberish. With the prospect of legitimate occuptation derailed by the outrageously complex bureaucracy, I decided that I was forced into a job of illegal intent. And I landed a most peculiar partnership in the process.

It's been five months since I reached Liyue Harbor and I had yet to be backstabbed by my associate. I doubted she had any of that in mind but... Liyue is Liyue, and Sampo is Sampo.

Today's task was simple: a little 'counter-heist' unfolding at an abandoned mining site near the Mingyun Village. Fatui agents had found out about a newly-found vein of Cor Lapis that some of the local miners had applied to claim leadership about.

Since the local administration was deeply in the Fatui's pockets, it goes without a saying that things had gone rough and sad... until we intervened.

As the Fatui agents were exploring the caves and a grunt fell asleep on guard duty over the two big crates stuffed with expensive stones, I snuck close to the guy and slammed a cloth stained with sleep powder against his face. He woke up alarmed, but his screams were muffled as the powder acted rapidly, and allowed me to get the plan going.

"Psst! Coast's clear."

My partner left the cover of the rocks while carrying a large bag with folded wheeled carts. Red eyes soon darted from me to the entrance of the cave, the brunette humming as she got the carts patched up for the rapid escape.

If there's something that the Captain of the Crux, Beidou, didn't like when it came to smuggling, was to deal with dangerous groups such as the Fatui. The rewards were always high, but there was a risk with each effort done against them.

"You sure they're going to be distracted?

"Quite sure, Dou Dou," I assured smoothingly. "Now, let's wheel out of trouble."

She groaned at the nickname, but her sour mood swung upward as we started to drive the carts through the slopes leading up to Yaoguang Shoal, her giggles painting the sky a brighter blue. From there, Beidou's ship would wait for us to board it with the crates and we would temporarily relocate to Guyun Stone Forest just to make sure we weren't being pursued.

Months ago, bad luck would have struck mid-loading and we would have had to really wait a long time before planning out who could buy the cheap Cor Lapis from us. Now? The loading process was swift and without any mistakes.

The ship sailed off to reach its hideout, while Beidou and I went to Liyue Harbor to... 'enjoy another victory'! Because the reason Beidou 'hated' my guts was due to how we were so similar and- and how we shared a single brain cell at time.

Comedy was predictable, especially since we both knew what buttons to press to tease one another and hardly dared to get into each other's pasts.

All that mattered was: 1) We liked to smuggle things; 2) we needed cash; 3) we shared a similar pleasure in the form of good wine. And that's why we were, at the ripe hour of 2 PM, looking for the nearest wine-giving establishment to get a bit drunk before going out sparring.

Or... that was the plan.

As we turned the corner, with Beidou telling me of this fancy new trick she developed with her claymore, we both froze as we realized that there was a hurdle in the middle of our path. Beidou and I shared a wide-eyed look as we couldn't believe it. She was out- and she was looking for our booties by the way she was staring daggers at us.

There was no doubt in our minds. Pale blonde hair kept short, tender amber eyes now narrowed in a twisted glare, and a precious gray and yellow dress that expressed more of her beauty - the Lady Ningguang, the rich businesslady, was hunting us again.

We both turned around, and our legs readied for a swift run.

"Dou Dou, I think we're facing the pretty lady herself. What do we do?"

"Run for the hills, and hope that-!"

Before she could have finished that sentence, a large barrier slammed in front of us and we both felt the caring hands of a rather annoyed girl reach to yank at our ears.

"Just the two idiots I was looking for," Ningguang grumbled, promising us a scolding with that tone alone. "No running."

"A-Ning, we were just going for... for a walk!"

"A-Apple juice, Ning Ning. We were looking for the sweet apple juice, nothing more!"

"...What?" Ningguang asked confused, then she seemed to realize what we were trying to do. "Oh, you two were planning to buy more wine...? Well, I guess that means you get a scolding after we're done with the serious stuff."

Her response left us both puzzled, but we were soon following her to her shop, a large general business that handled all sorts of trading to keep up with the trends of the harbor.

She was rich, but she wasn't born in money- the extensive amount of business she was producing was already dethroning several big names in Liyue, and Ningguang's meteoric rise was, as far as I was aware, going to cement her path to the Liyue Qixing in the span of a few more years on the trading business.

"The reason why I asked for you both is because this is a very important task," Ningguang muttered, taking us deeper into her shop and taking us to a special section of the large building dedicated to her secretaries' living quarters. "One of my assistants, Baishi... she is ill. And before you ask, I already asked the Bubu Pharmacy for assistance."

"And?" Beidou asked, and Ningguang sighed as she finally took us to see her secretary growing some dark green marks by her arms as Baishi was being tended by... little Qiqi.

"And they lack the rare plant that they require for the medicine," Ningguang remarked, giving us a grim look. "You both need to make it to Mt. Aocang and claim the flowers listed here."

I got the list, and the frowning. Beidou was equally confused.

"That's... Isn't that the place where Adepti are rumored to keep around? Like, holy grounds or something of the kind."

"It's rumors. And the situation is worthy of trespassing that territory just to get the plant."

My smile twitched at the chance of troubling some of the skittish people there and get frozen in orange rocks. But it wasn't like this was much of a choice- either we went and tried, or Baishi died or something.

I turned to Beidou, she had that same unsure look, but I walked up to her and whispered something. A glimpse of a plan involving the reward we may get. While not much would get a reaction from Beidou, what I told her had her wide-eyed. And Ningguang noticed as we both gave her bright smiles.

"Ning Ning, on behalf of our esteemed business, we are willing to do the job... with a single condition of reward."

Her eyes narrowed. "Which is?"

"A smile."

Ningguang snapped her annoyed look into one of confusion. "...A smile? That's all?"

"Yup! You never smile to us. Take it as us wanting to show you that we're all friends. Nothing else."

...

"I feel like there's more to it, but I am not willing to waste more time," Ningguang remarked with a sigh. "So, get going and you will get your smile."

I high-fived with Beidou and I got going with the pirate lady on tow. But while I gave my esteemed partner a reason to get this job done as smoothly as usual, I knew she was going to be quite a struggler when it came to the arduous path we were going to take.

After all, Beidou had faced tall waves, but the high mountains of Liyue were the kind of places a pirate shouldn't be feeling that pleased to wander to - especially if we were to face birds, deers, and a potential murderous human girl that is being trained in the region.

AN

Sampo's in Liyue! And he is friend with Dou Dou and Ning Ning!