“Eh???”
Venti clearly hadn’t expected things to unfold this way.
After freezing for a second, he turned and bolted.
But Su Yu, who knew his habits well, had long since prepared for this.
One large hand pressed firmly on Venti’s shoulder, pinning him in place.
“Where do you think you’re going, Venti?
I haven’t even treated you to drinks yet.
What are you running for?”
“Th-this, good sir, truth be told, my stomach hurts.
Ate something cold today.
Got to use the toilet.
Wait till I’m done and I’ll come find you!”
Venti’s heartfelt performance didn’t fool Su Yu one bit.
Venti’s words?
Not even dogs would believe them!
Su Yu didn’t take the bait.
He only gave a mysterious smile and said:
“Venti.
One of the seven school directors of Teyvat Advanced Academy.
Mysterious disappearance a while back, caused quite the uproar.
But fortunately some information was left behind proving your safety, so the commotion didn’t last too long.
So—does your stomach still hurt?”
“Alright, since you’ve found me out, there’s no helping it.
So what do you want?
Money or power?
I’ve got no money, and I’m not giving up power!”
Venti, rarely this tough, stopped struggling and just looked at Su Yu.
“For money, I’ve got people to earn it for me.
For power, I don’t need it yet.
My goal is simple.
Tell me where Zhongli is.”
Hearing this, Venti’s expression shifted.
Then, as if remembering something delightful, the grin on his face could no longer be contained.
His eyes squeezed into mere slits from the smile.
“Ehe, well now, look at this.
One family speaking two languages!
You should’ve said so earlier!
If you’d told me sooner, I would’ve told you right away.”
Heh.
That Zhongli.
It’s about time someone went and taught him a lesson.
He ran off without bringing money, and now he’s found some mastermind to be his “wallet.” Living the sweet life, isn’t he?
Meanwhile I’m scurrying around here, hiding east and west, and now an opportunity has practically fallen right into my lap.
Not to use it would be an affront to heaven itself!
While making his little calculations, Venti sidled up in a chummy manner, draping one arm over Su Yu’s shoulder.
His eyes radiated sheer sincerity, making Su Yu look on helplessly.
That sort of thing was hardly rare.
“Zhongli?
He’s drinking tea at the little teahouse on the next street over.
At least, he was just now.
If you’re any later, no telling if he’ll still be there.”
Hearing this, Su Yu didn’t doubt him.
“Many thanks.
Shall I pass along your regards to Mr.
Zhongli?”
“That—that won’t be necessary.
I’d like a few more days of peace!”
Venti crossed his hands in refusal.
Su Yu wasted no more words, setting off from the alley at once.
No sooner had he left the alley than, after just a few steps, he happened to run right into Jean and Lisa, who were just coming out of the café.
Because Su Yu had just promised Venti not to reveal his whereabouts, and now the very people looking for him stood before him, his gaze couldn’t help but drift aside guiltily.
And that one glance was all it took.
Lisa, who hadn’t originally planned to ask anything, thoughtfully stretched out a hand to block Su Yu, who had been about to slip away sideways.
Normally speaking, a normal male, exchanging glances with two bright and lovely young girls and shyly averting his eyes.
That would be perfectly understandable.
But the keen-eyed Lisa had still caught a hint of something off.
“Sir, might I ask, have you seen a boy about this tall, with two little braids, whose clothes were probably mostly green?”
Jean was baffled by her friend’s sudden initiative, but Lisa never did anything without purpose.
So Jean too looked at Su Yu expectantly.
“Uh…”
“Never mind, Jean.
Let’s go.”
Before Su Yu could even answer, his eyes had already given Lisa the answer.
She grabbed Jean’s arm, and just like that, the two disappeared around the alley corner not far off.
“Venti, I can only wish you luck.
I did slip up, but it was absolutely unintentional, so you won’t blame me, right?
After all, you’re the one who said we’re family.”
Su Yu curved his lips, not minding in the least that Lisa had caught his subtle, almost deliberate eye signal.
Being dragged along, Jean asked, puzzled:
“Lisa, you don’t even wait for an answer before you finish questioning?
That’s way too perfunctory!”
“You…
ah, you.
In some matters you’re utterly reliable, but other times you’re a bit too slow.
That young man just now had the answer written all over his face.
From the direction of his gaze and the route he came from, I can roughly judge that he definitely knows something about our objective.
Though he was trying his best to seem natural, I couldn’t shake the feeling he was suppressing something, like some ulterior motive, straining to hold back a laugh.
And I don’t know if it was my imagination, but I felt his gaze toward us was off somehow.
Almost like he was looking at old friends.
Yet I’m quite certain we’ve never met him.”
Jean thought it over and said:
“Could it be that he knows us, but we don’t know him?
After all, our reputations precede us.
You’re the rarest genius the Academy of Sciences has seen in a century.
Even Lady Alice can’t stop praising you. The source of this chapter is g.com.
And I’m a sword prodigy who’s won awards in international competitions.
It’d be normal for someone to recognize us.”
“Hahaha, Jean, since when did you learn to praise yourself as a genius?
Though it’s the truth, it’s still rather cute~”
Before the blush on Jean’s face could fully rise, Lisa pressed her advantage and kept teasing:
“Hey, what do you think?
Could it be that the young man just now was smitten with you?
Because he was paying too much attention to you, that’s why my first impression was that he seemed so familiar with us.”
The moment Lisa finished, Jean immediately spoke up:
“Lisa!
It seems I need to have a word with Lady Alice about why a certain someone, who claims to have so much to do, can’t assist with her work on time: the reason being coffee and naps!”
“Ahem, enough idle chatter.
Let’s focus on finding Venti.
This is…
some rather messy footprints.
Along the direction we’re heading, judging by the traces, they were probably left just recently.
Mm-hmm.
Knowing where Venti is, helping cover his tracks yet not fully covering them.
I’m growing more and more curious about that young man.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Lisa’s gaze fixed on the footprints on the ground.
The footprints had been disguised, some pointing forward, some backward, but the alley was remote and seldom visited after all.
From the freshness of the prints and the distance of the false ones, one could roughly determine the true trail.
Having drawn a preliminary conclusion, Lisa lowered her brows and said with keen interest:
“If you’re interested, then take the time you’d spend drinking coffee and go look for him.
Right now, the pressing matter is finding Venti.
Does he really understand how busy a school director’s work is?
I’m still a student, you know.”
Hearing Jean’s words, Lisa replied:
“Out in the outside world, that would be another matter entirely.
But the people of Teyvat Advanced Academy should long since be used to this, no?
Classmate Yae Miko, who set up Yae Publishing House at such a young age.
And classmate Xiangling, who became the head chef of Wanmin Restaurant using only her spare time.
And those folks at Fool’s Entertainment.
Every one of them has over a million followers.
Quite a few of them are still enrolled students at the Academy.
As long as you have talent and ability, the Academy basically doesn’t interfere with anything else you do, even if you become a CEO.”
“Lisa, you’re shifting concepts again.
The point is, I’m just someone skilled with a sword, and yet I’ve been specifically named to temporarily fill the post of one of the school directors…
having to learn everything from scratch…
So you’ll help me, right?”
“Time waits for no one.
Every second we delay, Venti could be in more danger.
I’ll go on ahead.”
Without waiting for Jean to say more—after all, she already had to go to school every day, help Lady Alice with experiments, and now take on one more task of assisting the acting school director with work; something that sounded like a hassle just hearing it, Lisa expressed utter resistance and simply chose to go on ahead.
Seeing the rare look of discomfort on her friend’s face, Jean could only shake her head helplessly.
Could she really say she’d only been joking?