The next day,
Keqing still couldn't make it to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and ended up resting at home again.
Yesterday had been way too intense, so she had no choice but to stay in and recover. Luckily, Hand had gone out and learned level-one medical arts, so Ryou gave Keqing a proper treatment session and finally got her feeling a lot better.
Only after settling Keqing down did Ryou get up and head to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
"Ryou-sama!"
"Ryou-sama!"
…
A lot of the Ministry staff greeted him with clear respect.
Ryou glanced around at them. "Nothing happened yesterday, right?"
A middle-aged woman spoke up. "Ryou-sama, we took care of everything yesterday. All the documents have already been placed in Keqing-sama's office."
"Good." Ryou gave them a brief look, then walked into the office.
With Darkened Mode active in his brain and Hand, Ryou wrapped up all the paperwork in half an hour.
Today, though, he didn't leave the Ministry right away. He took the chance to enter his pocket world and kept building with his mind.
As the house's outline appeared and the details filled in, his mental energy dropped fast. In under half an hour, exhaustion hit him hard, and sleepiness weighed down his eyes.
[Ding! Kidney entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding! Kidney Darkened Mode active. Your mental energy increased by 20%. Current upgrade progress: 50%!]
As the alerts sounded one after another, Ryou snapped a bit more awake. The crushing fatigue from earlier eased off.
He wondered if he could use this chance to boost his mental energy further, so he poured it right back in.
This time, he finished a complete house inside the pocket world.
Then his mental energy drained to nothing in an instant. Sleep slammed into him, and before he could even react, he collapsed onto the desk.
[Ding! Kidney Darkened Mode active. Your mental energy increased by 50%. Current upgrade progress: 100%!]
[Ding! Kidney Darkened Mode going wild. You obtained the talent Steadfast Will. When you focus on a task, your mental energy drains more slowly, and for every hour you keep at it, your mental energy increases by 10%!]
Unfortunately, Ryou didn't hear any of it. He was already asleep.
By the time he opened his eyes again, it was afternoon.
Ryou rubbed his eyes and pushed himself upright. Right after that, the delayed alerts rang out, and understanding dawned on him. "No wonder I recovered so fast. My mental energy went up by 50%."
He paused, thinking it over. "Steadfast Will is pretty good. Maybe I should use this chance to finish the pocket world properly."
"Mm. I'll handle all that first, then go find Zhongli."
With that in mind, he entered the pocket world again. With 100% mental energy, he quickly finished the house and the surrounding decorations with his consciousness.
The drain was still heavy, but it was a lot better than before—he had about 20% left.
After a long stretch, Ryou left the Ministry.
When he reached Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, he noticed the door wasn't closed. It was only half-ajar, and faint voices drifted out from inside.
"Consultant, you have no idea how outrageous Keqing is! She said she's going to keep an eye on me, and if she catches me, she'll lock me up for a whole month!"
"Consultant, if I get caught, you've got to speak up for me!"
"Alright, alright. I heard you."
"Hm? We have a visitor."
…
"A visitor? Who?"
Hu Tao found that strange and got up to check the door. The moment she saw Ryou, she froze, her expression turning a little stiff.
"Ryou… y-you… why are you at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?"
She almost blurted out something like did someone in your family pass away, but yesterday flashed through her mind and she swallowed it back down. She'd heard about Ryou's family background—she couldn't afford to offend him.
"Director, I didn't blame you for yesterday. You don't need to be nervous," Ryou said with a smile. "Still, watch what you say. Trouble starts with loose lips. I'm here to see Zhongli-san today."
Hu Tao was bright and mischievous, the kind of person people naturally liked. It was just that her line of work scared a lot of people off, so she didn't have many friends.
Yesterday had really just been friends joking around, and Ryou hadn't taken it to heart.
Hearing that, Hu Tao finally relaxed. She held the door with one hand and called inside, "Zhongli! Someone's here for you!"
[End of chapter]
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