Ding-a-ling~
The wind chimes rang.
Diluc, dressed as a bartender and sitting behind the bar, looked towards the entrance.
A couple walking hand in hand approached him.
"Traveler Jack, Liyue Qixing, ha! What a rare sight, and for you two to appear in such a manner. It seems the intelligence agency personnel need to be replaced."
"It's actually you behind the bar. It seems I'm in for a treat today."
Jack was no stranger to the red-haired, single-ponytail young man before him.
Diluc, the current head of the Ragnvindr family, one of Mondstadt's three great noble houses, was once a TO-tier human rights character at the game's launch. In the era when Pyro DPS was scarce, he was affectionately known as "Old Man Lu."
Later, due to power creep, he gradually fell to "Lu Guoba" and even "Count Lu Lu," but in reality, his strength is enough to rank him in the top tier in Mondstadt City.
What's commendable is that this usually noble and aloof big boss would put on a tight suit and a mask at night, traversing the streets of Mondstadt, a veritable copy of a certain Gotham City's Batman, affectionately called "Mr. Justice" by Paimon.
At the same time, he occasionally experiences life like an ordinary tavern owner, such as bartending at the tavern.
It is said that even the Anemo God would covet the fine wines he mixes.
"Give me a Death After Noon. A Qing, what would you like to drink?"
"The same as yours, please."
"Alright, two Death After Noons."
With that, Diluc did not immediately start mixing the drinks but instead reminded them.
"Death After Noon is a strong spirit that does not conform to traditional Mondstadt wines and is not very suitable for women to drink. Of course, if you insist, I won't press the matter."
From his impression.
Aside from that dark-clad nun and Eula, there were no other women who would drink such a strong spirit like Death After Noon.
So Diluc, out of goodwill towards Jack (10 levels of favorability), kindly reminded him about his female companion.
"No, no problem. It's just alcohol. I've had some before, at least."
Seeing Keqing's familiar stubbornness, Jack even felt that she might have never had alcohol before.
But since she wanted to try it so much, and he was there to watch over her, he would let her try. After all, she was his beloved wife.
Jack dotingly stroked Keqing's hair.
Keqing also leaned on his shoulder with a sweet smile.
Usually, Keqing, who never touched alcohol due to the nature of her work, was willing to break that rule for him.
Diluc, with his dead fish eyes, watched the couple begin to show affection, swallowed his urge to remind them again, and then put all his effort into mixing two fragrant Death After Noons.
"Here you go!"
"How much?"
"There's still some gold left from the last time you paid Charles, and given your past achievements in saving Mondstadt, for which the Knights of Favonius showed no appreciation, Mondstadt still owes you a lot."
"So you mean our expenses within Mondstadt are free?" Jack's eyes lit up.
Diluc's face darkened: "Only for Dawn Winery-related businesses."
"Diluc, you're actually quite nice."
Jack patted Diluc's shoulder.
"Alright, you two enjoy yourselves. It's time for me to get off work."
After learning that Jack was safe.
Diluc was in a good mood and planned to put on his tight suit and mask early today to be Mondstadt's good neighbor in the streets and alleys.
And so, the big boss's impromptu bartending work ended, and the proper bartender, Mr. Charles, came online.
...
There weren't many drinkers in Mondstadt in the afternoon, but the entire tavern was large, and the scattered groups of people added up to dozens.
In front of the bar.
Jack leaned down and whispered into Keqing's ear, introducing the departed big boss of Dawn Winery.
Keqing listened while taking small sips of Death After Noon.
Jack, in his previous life in modern society, was accustomed to various strong alcoholic beverages.
Therefore, even though it was his first time drinking Mondstadt's strong spirits, he didn't lose his composure; instead, his thoughts became even clearer.
But Keqing was different.
At most, she had only drunk drinks like Liyue's fermented rice wine and had never had strong spirits, nor was she accustomed to drinking, yet she still pretended to be a heavy drinker out of stubbornness.
In a short while, half of the strong spirit, at least 40 proof or more, was gone.
"He sounds somewhat similar to Ningguang, but Ningguang is much stronger than him. She built her entire fortune from scratch."
Keqing's cheeks were flushed.
In her words, she kept comparing Diluc to Ningguang.
Then she drew a conclusion.
Diluc had strength and influence but was frustrated, and the root cause lay within the Mondstadt Cathedral, within the Anemo God whom everyone worshipped.
"Yes, yes! A Qing, calm down, have some sobering drink!"
"Sobering? I'm not drunk, what sobering? Besides, you know Jean's situation. So many overgrown babies in Mondstadt need her to spoil them. If it were me, I would have had the Qianyan Army arrest these guys who eat their fill every day and don't do anything useful and throw them in jail for self-reflection."
Keqing's words drew everyone's gaze in the tavern.
Even bartender Charles kept winking, suggesting that Jack take this Liyue native, who was launching a regional attack, away.
But who was Jack?
A person who would spoil his wife to the heavens would not run away in embarrassment in front of these ordinary patrons.
Recalling the scene in the plot where the Grass God Nahida controlled everyone's minds, Jack imitated and activated his Aralia Element Power.
Buzz!
A circle of green ripples spread out.
Instantly, everyone in the tavern had their minds taken over by him.
Tavern, drunkenness, hypnosis.
If the gender of the gentlemen present were changed, Jack would probably appear in a different category.
But in reality, even if the gender changed, he wouldn't do anything extra. Jack, who roughly controlled dozens of people, felt like he had drunk two pounds of fake alcohol; his head was throbbing.
If there were any more stimulation, everyone would probably be released from hypnosis on the spot.
At that point, it wouldn't be a matter of silencing them anymore.
Subsequently, the Angel's Share tavern experienced the most bizarre afternoon in its history.
A Liyue native made outrageous remarks, enumerating the Anemo God's shortcomings.
A group of Mondstadt patrons applauded and cheered, the scene resembling a popular bard telling a well-loved story, making people exclaim that Mondstadt was truly "free."
...
At dusk.
Jack carried Keqing on his back towards Lisa's luxurious villa.
"Jack... was I very embarrassing just now?"
"It's alright. Some people want to sleep when they're drunk, and some people talk a lot when they're drunk. These are all normal phenomena."
"Hmm, but... I think I spoke ill of a god... Will Jean and the others dislike me if they find out?"
"You don't need to worry about that. Given the Mondstadt Anemo God's personality, he's the kind of person who would applaud you even if you cursed him to his face. He won't care about these things."
"Really?... How come I feel like you're just comforting me."
"Alright, don't think too much if your head hurts. Lisa's house should be tidied up by now. You should get a good night's sleep tonight."
"Hoo~ Okay... Hoo~~"
A strong scent of alcohol wafted from the breathing behind him.
Keqing had already fallen asleep on Jack's back.
To prevent her from being thrown off while walking, several vines wrapped around Keqing's waist, securing her to Jack.
"Ying~"
"My apologies, I accidentally touched a strange place."
Perhaps because he was getting more and more comfortable playing with the girls, the vines Jack created seemed to have a mind of their own, unconsciously tying themselves into a turtle shell bondage.
But his hands were occupied now, so he had to wrap another layer around the outside to prevent passersby from seeing this awkward scene.
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