Liyue Harbor, inside the Millelith dungeon.
At this moment, Ayin was sitting slumped on a chair in the interrogation room, eyes closed, dozing off, occasionally muttering in his sleep.
Compared to the Grand Sage next door who had been electrocuted into ecstasy by Raiden Ei, our resident troublemaker’s situation wasn’t much better.
It all started because he thought that since he was going to be on an indefinite vacation here, he certainly needed some initial capital!
So, he set his sights on that hidden Mora chest on the second floor of the Northland Bank in Liyue.
He remembered that in the game, that chest contained hundreds of thousands of Mora, enough for him to live comfortably for a while.
But he didn’t expect that guy, Tartaglia, to be handling business there at the time.
This directly resulted in him being caught red-handed by Childe as soon as he stepped onto the stairs, before he could even get his hands on the loot.
Thanks to the incident where he released the God, the relationship between Liyue and the Northland Bank was not very harmonious at the moment; the Qixing had even taken action to sanction the activities of the Fatui in Liyue.
So, the moment Ayin was caught, Childe, under the pretense that he was a Liyue local (he thought he was a Liyue local) stealing from the bank, sent him to the Millelith dungeon and used this as an excuse to propose diplomatic negotiations to the Qixing.
However, Ayin didn’t know the details of that…
“Ahem, wake up.
The prison is not a hotel; get up and stand trial!” Just as Ayin was resting with his eyes closed, a Law Officer of the prison walked over quickly and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hm?
Is it time to eat?
Give me more food today; last night’s wasn’t enough!” Woken up by the tapping, Ayin rubbed his eyes and then waved his hand while giving instructions.
“Eat, eat, eat, all you know is eating.
What do you think this dungeon is!
Let me tell you, you…” Seeing his sleepy appearance, the Law Officer was so angry that he slammed the table and shouted sternly.
Ayin, on the other hand, acted as if nothing had happened, picking his ear and listening silently to the lecture.
However, judging by his expression, he clearly hadn’t taken a word of it in.
After all, to him, this place was really no different from a hotel!
That’s right.
Originally, after being caught, he had intended to slip away.
After all, for an Emanator, unless Rex Lapis himself took action, no one in all of Liyue could likely stop him!
But after he entered the prison for the first time, everything changed.
Because Ayin discovered that the Liyue prison actually practiced humane management!
Not only were three meals a day provided normally, but the environment inside the cell was also decent—a single room with a bed.
Excluding the fact that the food was quite watery and bland, the room was very small, and the bed board was quite hard, there was really no difference between here and a hotel.
This made him, who was already penniless, instantly fall in love with the place.
After all, the people here spoke nicely, and they provided both food and lodging.
Ayin declared that he absolutely loved it here…
“Phew, alright, I won’t say anything more to you.
My main purpose for coming this time is to pass a verdict on your crimes.” The Law Officer, tired from talking, caught his breath.
After picking up the water cup on the side and taking a sip, he continued to ask in an interrogator’s official tone, “Do you know ~ what you have done?”
“I don’t know.
I heard the Northland Bank had money, so I came.” Hearing this, Ayin blinked his eyes and replied, feigning a look of extreme innocence.
“Hmph, because of what you did, the Northland Bank originally wanted to pressure Liyue, but later, after finding out you weren’t a Liyue local, they had to let it go.
Even so, what you did violated Liyue law, and you need to face a one-year prison sentence!” Seeing the guy playing dumb, the Law Officer didn’t mind and stated the verdict directly.
After all, to him, what kind of criminal hadn’t he seen?
Those who cried, those who made a scene, those who wanted to hang themselves—by comparison, his performance was considered calm.
“Tsk tsk tsk ~ That’s not right, Officer.
Think about it, I’m not a Liyue local.
Even if I commit a crime in Liyue, I should be deported back to my country before facing trial, right?” Hearing this, Ayin raised his index finger and shook it, refuting seriously.
“Uh…” Hearing this, the Law Officer was stunned for a moment, then stroked his chin and began to think.
It seemed that in previous transnational crimes, criminals were always sent back to their home countries before a verdict was made.
Even if there were damages to interests, they would wait until after they were sent back and the verdict was made to negotiate.
He seemed to have been inconsiderate this time.
“Ahem, that is indeed the case.
We will renegotiate and make a verdict, but before that…
I need to ask you a few questions first.”
Thinking of this, the Law Officer nodded and agreed to Ayin’s request.
But recalling that when he previously sent people to investigate this guy’s background, the results showed nothing—as if he had appeared out of thin air—he subconsciously remained cautious and continued to press with questions.
“Questions?
Sure, go ahead and ask.” Hearing this, Ayin’s eyes darted around, and a mischievous smile involuntarily appeared at the corner of his mouth, but he replied seriously.
“Name!”
“Aether.”
“I asked for your name!!”
“It’s just Aether.
My name is Aether.”
“Hm?”
At this point, the Law Officer was suddenly stunned, because he suddenly remembered that a few months ago, a Traveler had helped Liyue solve a big problem.
Afterward, they didn’t ask for any reward, only asking the authorities to post some missing person notices.
It seemed he was the one who handled that matter…
“Is your name really Aether?” The Law Officer looked at Ayin suspiciously from head to toe.
Blonde hair.
The reason he couldn’t find information before was that the other party might be the Traveler.
Thinking about it carefully, everything seemed to match up, but he always felt something was weird…
“That’s right.
Doesn’t it look like it?” Hearing this, Ayin spread his hands and responded with a sincere face.
“This…
then do you have a sister?” Seeing him so sincere, the Law Officer couldn’t help but believe him a little.
“That’s right, her name is Lumine.
Have you seen her?” Seeing him mention Lumine, Ayin hurriedly reached out and grabbed his wrist, asking with an anxious face.
If this acting were in the modern era, he would probably be awarded a Best Actor award.
“Wow, it really is you!
The Traveler Lumine is a great hero of Liyue Harbor; she was searching for news of you everywhere back then…
But as her brother, why did you go to steal money?” Seeing this, the Law Officer hurriedly stepped forward and unlocked his shackles, but there was still some doubt in his words.
After all, a hero and a thief—the contrast was really too great.
“Sigh, it’s a shame to say.
I got separated from Lumine because of some things, and my luggage was lost in the process.
I wandered all the way to Liyue Harbor.
If I hadn’t been starving, how could I possibly have gone to steal money~”
“Look at my hair, I originally had a braid.
To get some travel money, I sold it all to the person who collects long hair braids!” Seeing that he was about to believe his identity, Ayin hurriedly continued to use his Oscar-level acting skills, crying and complaining with snot and tears.
While speaking, he didn’t forget to reach out and point to his hair, and he even managed to force a few tears out of the corners of his eyes…