The sun shines bright on Bubu Pharmacy. Customers come in and out, receiving their prescriptions and treatment from the professional staff.
"Qiqi. Please go check on our patient will you?" A green haired man requested with his back turned.
"Yes, Baizhu." The child behind him, nodded with an emotionless gaze as she stepped out of his office before heading towards the wards.
"Wait.... Which patient should I check up on again?" The girl muttered as she took out her notebook. Opening to a certain page, she read through it, her finger sliding under the ancient characters.
"Ah I see. There's only one patient staying on our ward today. And he has no name... How interesting..." She muttered as she put away her notebook, opening the door and entering it.
She stood in front of a bandaged man who was sleeping soundly. She stared at him for a while. "Patient seems normal although he's been out for a few days." Qiqi muttered as she stared at the man. "Baizhu said he got into a fight.... Hmm, what did he fight again? I forgot." Qiqi mumbled as she took out her notebook again.
The girl had trouble retaining memories and can quickly forget about people if she doesn't continually reinforce herself with an impression of them. That's why she keeps her notebook with her at all times in order to be able to constantly remind herself.
"Oh, he fought against the Ruin Serpent." She said, with no surprise in her tone or expression at all. She didn't even know what a Ruin Serpent was, but if the patient was in this kind of condition, then this Ruin Serpent must be very powerful.
"Hmm?" Qiqi then looked at the man who was starting to squirm a little. After a few moments he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Hey you... You're finally awake..."
.....
The first thing Lars saw as soon as he woke up was a small emotionless girl wearing a purple zombie attire with a talisman stuck on her hair.
"Hey you... You're finally awake..."
"Huh?" Lars rubbed his eyes and winced a little, feeling a stinging pain near his chest. He looked down to see himself shirtless and bandaged like a mummy.
"Hey... So where am I?"
"You're at Bubu Pharmacy. You've been sleeping here like a corpse for days now." Qiqi replied almost instantly in that emotionless dull tone of hers.
"I see....May I ask for your name, little girl?...."
"My name is Qiqi. What about your name, mister? Even Baizhu doesn't even know your name."
"Name's Lars." Just as Lars finished introducing himself, the two heard a loud growl.
"Is there a monster in here?" Qiqi wondered, thinking whether or not she should take out her blade. That question caused Lars to chuckle.
"No, that's just my stomach complaining. I'm quite hungry to be honest."
"Ah, I see. But first I must inform Baizhu that you are awake." After that, Qiqi exited his ward. Lars stared at the door for a while before sighing.
The fanboy in him was screaming at the fact that he just met another one of the game's characters. But he quickly shook those thoughts off. He shouldn't act like a fanboy as these are now real, living, breathing people, and he should treat them as such.
'Didn't expect that I would meet Keqing so soon too.' He added before sighing with a smile. The Yuheng was more beautiful than he imagined. The fanarts definitely don't do her justice.
"Well, I'm in Liyue now. Congratulations to me I guess..." He looked out the window, admiring the view of the pharmacy's pond and flower garden.
Now Lars had to think about what was next. It was obvious that he would be hospitalized for the next few weeks or even more. And judging by the fact that there was no attempt of the Chasm's barrier being unsealed before he came along, the Traveler hasn't arrived at Liyue yet. Maybe he, or even she, wasn't even awake yet.
'Wait, is the Traveler a boy or a girl. Ah I should've asked the old man about that when I had the chance.' He thought back to the old man who sent him to this world. He still hated him for making him appearing in the chasm. Though he can't deny it, it was a pretty good starter location if he wanted to get strong quickly, or face an early death.
'Let's not think about that. I'm alive and I should be grateful about it.' He exhaled. The door to his ward opened again, and in came Qiqi holding a tray full of food.
"Baizhu told me to give you a meal. He also told me to feed you since you're still recovering and can't move all that much." Qiqi explained as she placed the tray near the stand beside his bed. She then pushed a chair a size bigger than her near his bed, before sitting on it.
"This is century egg porridge with chicken meat. It's very tasty, although I don't know what it tastes like." Qiqi raised the spoon full of porridge near Lars' mouth.
"Is it hot?"
"Yes. The pharmacy chef just took it out of the cooking pot."
"And you didn't blow it." Lars raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you wanna burn my mouth or something?" He asked in amusement. Qiqi blinked once, then twice.
"Sorry. I forgot you're not like me and can feel with your tongue."
"It's fine, Qiqi. You should write it down in your notebook if that's the case."
"Wait, how do you know that I use a notebook?"
"Uh, because I see that you carry it around?" Lars chuckled at her question.
"Ah yeah, I see. How do you spell your name again? I don't know how to write it." Qiqi said, forgetting that she was supposed to feed him and focused on her new objective.
"It's Lars. L. A. R. S. " Lars said as he watched the child write it down slowly in her notebook. "You have really nice handwriting, Qiqi." Qiqi looked up at him.
"Really?"
"Yup. Mine looks like a ghost drew a painting compared to yours." Qiqi blinked before looking down.
"Thank you, Lars."
"No problem, Qiqi." Lars smiled as he patted her small head. Qiqi blinked as she felt the gentle hand on her head.
'What is this feeling? It's warm, but not the kind that makes me feel rotten. Must ask Baizhu about this... ' Qiqi thought as she wrote a command for herself in the notebook. A sudden growl broke her train of thought.
"Qiqi, sorry to interrupt, but can you feed me now? I'm quite hungry ya know?" Lars chuckled, rubbing his noisy stomach.
"Ah yes, sorry I forgot about that. Wait, you said you want me to blow the porridge before feeding it to you, right? Let me write it down first."
"Hehe. Sure, take your time Qiqi."
...
"What an interesting individual. Don't you think so, Keqing?" A white beige haired woman wearing a white qipao dress commented with a small intrigued smile, having just finished reading the report written by the purple haired woman in front of her.
"Yes... But he is as dangerous as he is interesting." Keqing replied sitting in front of her. Ningguang set down the piece of paper as she properly looked at Keqing.
"Though I'm sure you already have plans, backup plans, and backups for those back up plans, don't you?" Keqing mumbled. Ningguang could only smile.
"You know me so well, Keqing." The purple haired Yuheng resisted rolling her eyes at her.
"Of course you already do." She grumbled. "So we're somehow going to turn him into our ally, yes?"
"Yes, though there are already signs of cooperation from him already. As you said, he only stood there and didn't attack you and the Millelith soldiers. I believe that's a good sign."
"Ningguang, you do realize that at that time he had multiple broken ribs and was painted with wounds right? He's in no shape to attack us."
"True. But when you described the scene of the Ruin Serpent's lair, I believe that he was in desperate need to defeat it, and it was during that desperation that he unlocked his Armament Haki." Ningguang commented. Keqing stayed silent, letting the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing get her point across.
"His desperation of surviving ended when he broke the barrier. He could've thought of you and the soldiers as enemies threatening his survival. But instead, he chose to fall into your arms."
"Hey! Stop making it sound weird! He told me to catch him, how could I not when he literally fell towards me." Ningguang giggled at Keqing's flustered expression.
"It's proof that your charm is amazing, Keqing. Once he saw you, he couldn't help but fall for you." Keqing's flustered face was as red as a tomato.
"It wasn't like that! Stop twisting the story for your own entertainment Ningguang!" Ningguang continued to lightly laugh. The banter was interrupted as a light blue haired maiden with goat horns entered the office.
"Yes, Ganyu?" Ningguang smiled at the general secretary of the Liyue Qixing.
"The mystery patient has woken up." Ganyu reported as she approached Ningguang's desk. "I presume you want to meet him. Should I reorganize your schedule so that it doesn't coincide with your meetings?"
"Yes, please do." Ningguang nodded, appreciating Ganyu's efforts. "I would like your opinion, Ganyu."
"Ah, y-yes, do ask away." Ganyu nodded, mentally preparing herself for whatever question the Tianquan was about to throw at her.
"How do you propose we make that mystery man our ally?" Ganyu blinked as the cogs in her mind started spinning.
"I think.... We shouldn't do anything."
"Oh?" Ningguang raised an eyebrow, intrigued at her secretary's suggestion. Ganyu nodded, her hands behind her back.
"Even if we subtly tried something, I'm sure he would catch on eventually. And no offense, Miss Ningguang, your efforts of making one your ally, isn't exactly.... subtle. I'd say it's luxurious." Ganyu grinned sheepishly at the Tianquan who smiled, understanding what she meant. Keqing silently smirked.
"It is true that my way of intrigue isn't exactly... modest per se... But how exactly is 'doing nothing' going to ensure Liyue's safety?" Ningguang questioned.
"Well, judging from the report, I'm sure keeping an eye on him won't work. If he has Armament Haki, then what's to say he doesn't Observation Haki? He might feel threatened."
"So, you want him to just find his way around Liyue? " Keqing wondered. Ningguang nodded.
"I see your point, Ganyu. Essentially, we just sit back, relax, and continue on with our duties like nothing ever happened. That way he won't feel threatened by our constant surveillance, and therefore lessening the chances of him acting against us. But still... " Ningguang narrowed her eyes.
"I still need confirmation from him that he won't try anything. I could just sit back like you said. But that man broke the Seven-Star Array, the array that I created. My duties as the Tianquan still stand."
"Heh, just say your ego is hurt, Ningguang. Don't worry, we listen, we don't judge." Keqing crossed her arms and smirked at her. Ningguang raised an eyebrow at her.
"Who gave you that impression, Keqing? I'm not as easily offended unlike a certain someone who gets mad when I say a guy fell for her at first sight."
"He fell on me! Not for me!..... Wait that sounds weird! I take that back! " Keqing huffed and stood up. Ganyu lightly covered her mouth to stop herself from giggling.
"Meeting's over, Ningguang." Keqing grumbled as she stepped out of the office. Ganyu looked at Ningguang and bowed a little.
"I'll take my leave too." Ningguang smiled at her before Ganyu turned and walked away.
They left her alone. Ningguang sighed as she leaned back against her chair, rubbing her forehead.
"It seems Liyue is slowly entering a new era. I have to prepare for it now.... "
To be continued.....