The Venti Trap

"You're underage. I can't sell you alcohol."

Diluc stood expressionless, his arms folded across his chest.

"Nooo!"

Ellin cried out in dismay, pleading, "Master Diluc, please make an exception! I promise I won't tell anyone!"

"No!"

Diluc's expression remained cold. "Selling alcohol to minors is against Mondstadt City's laws. I won't break them for you!"

"Fine..."

Ellin's face fell, but paired with her angelic features, that helpless expression made her look like an injured kitten, pitiful beyond words.

"Sorry for bothering you. I'll be going, then."

Ellin pursed her lips, planning to pay someone to buy the alcohol for her once she left, or ask her father, Hermann, to do it.

But just then, as Diluc watched the dejected Ellin leave, a barely perceptible twitch crossed his stern face.

"Wait!"

Diluc called out.

"What do you need the Special Apple Cider for?"

"It's very important to me. There are things I can only get done with it!"

Ellin stopped in her tracks, then looked at Diluc with wide, delighted eyes. "What is it? Have you changed your mind?"

"Sigh..." Diluc remained expressionless. "I've already told you, I can't sell alcohol to minors. That's the law in Mondstadt."

"Then why did you stop me?!" Ellin rolled her eyes and started to leave.

"However!"

Diluc continued, "If you say you're buying it for your father, I can sell it to you!"

"???? What did you say?" Ellin froze.

Though Diluc still wore a sour expression, he was unusually patient. "I said, as long as you tell me you're here to buy alcohol for your father, I can sell it to you!"

At those words, Ellin's big eyes gradually lit up.

With him spelling it out that clearly, how could Ellin fail to understand what Diluc meant?

She strode straight up to the counter, scratching her head sheepishly as she laughed.

"Hahaha! Right, right! I'm here to buy alcohol for my dad! Master Diluc, please pack up ten bottles of Special Apple Cider for me!"

"Certainly. Eight hundred and eighty thousand Mora!"

"That expensive?" The price startled Ellin, but she didn't dwell on it and readily paid.

Holding the ten bottles of Special Apple Cider, Ellin looked as happy as a kitten that had just gotten some dried sardines.

She heartily slapped Diluc on the shoulder, laughing all the while.

"Hahaha! Thanks, Master Diluc! I'll remember this favor. From today on, we're brothers! If you ever need anything, just say the word. If it's something I can do, I'll do it for you!"

Ellin's repeated slaps on his shoulder left Diluc thoroughly bewildered.

Still, Diluc kept his cold expression and waved a hand. "Go on. Don't linger here!"

"All right! I get it! I get it!"

Ellin grinned from ear to ear. "I'm off, then. Thanks, Master Diluc."

With that, Ellin strode out of the Angel's Share, carrying the bottles.

After Ellin left...

"Well, well, you actually sold her the alcohol. What is it? Taken a fancy to her?"

A slightly dark-skinned man wearing an eyepatch over one eye came over from a table in the corner, his tone tinged with teasing.

"What? Finished your drink? Then please pay your bill and leave!" Diluc shot Kaeya a cold glance.

Kaeya remained unbothered and raised an eyebrow. "That was Special Apple Cider! I begged you for ages at New Year's, and you only gave me three bottles."

"Yet you just sold ten bottles in one go. Ten bottles of Special Apple Cider!!! I'm so jealous!"

"And? Did you come over to penalize me?" Diluc remained expressionless.

"Of course not!" Kaeya grinned. "I just thought it was such a rare sight to see this perpetually frosty iceberg finally thaw for once that I had to come over and make fun of you."

"Phew..." Diluc let out a long breath, seemingly struggling to hold himself back.

"Are you done? Then pay your bill and leave. One hundred thousand Mora in total!"

"Why is it so expensive?!" Kaeya shot up from his seat in shock. "I only ordered one Death After Noon!"

Diluc's expression was icy. "The price went up!"

"You!!" Kaeya gritted his teeth. "Fine, then. I'm fining you for selling alcohol to a minor. One hundred thousand Mora!"

Diluc remained utterly impassive. "Very well. Pay your bill, then. Two hundred thousand Mora in total!"

"Why is it another hundred thousand?!"

"Because the price went up again!"

Meanwhile, in Stormterror's Lair, in the Mondstadt region.

The bard searching for the dragon was sitting beneath an apple tree, munching on a wild apple.

This was his eighth day searching for the dragon. But after being struck by an arrow in Mondstadt City and clashing with the Knights of Favonius several times, the dragon's hatred for the city had grown beyond any hope of reconciliation.

No matter how he called out, the corrupted dragon refused to listen.

Even so, he couldn't bear to watch the dragon suffer like this, nor did he want to abandon his companion.

"Sigh, what should I do..." Venti propped up his chin, his face full of worry.

"A nice drink would be perfect right about now."

"Unfortunately, I'm out in the wilderness, with neither alcohol nor Mora. Sigh..."

Suddenly, a few hunters passed by.

Venti recognized them. They were hunters from Springvale.

"Did you hear? When I took some boar meat to Mondstadt City for Good Hunter today, I heard about an interesting commission."

"Oh? What was it?"

"You know Ellin from Mondstadt City, right? The one hailed as the cutest girl in all of Mondstadt."

"She posted a commission at the Adventurers' Guild, looking for someone with an Anemo Vision to teach her how to control Anemo!"

"And the reward she's offering is three bottles of Special Apple Cider!"

"That's three bottles of Special Apple Cider! Damn it! If only I had an Anemo Vision!"

The hunters continued chatting as they headed into the woods. Clearly, it was nothing more than idle conversation to pass the time during their hunt.

But what they said in passing caught someone else's attention.

Upon hearing the words "Special Apple Cider" and "three bottles," a certain bard beneath the apple tree instinctively swallowed.

"Though I don't have a Vision..." He glanced at the glowing glass orb hanging at his waist. "This should work, right?"

"That's Special Apple Cider, and three whole bottles! I don't get to drink three bottles in hundreds of years!"

"If I miss this chance, I'll regret it for centuries!"

With that, he immediately hurried toward Mondstadt City. Eventually, even running felt too slow. He stamped his foot, and a great rush of Anemo gathered around him, lifting him straight into the air and carrying him toward Mondstadt City at high speed!

That afternoon.

A white-haired girl sat alone on a small stool in the Training Ground.

"How can I use Anemo to break all these training dummies at once?"

The girl propped her chin on one hand, looking troubled.

Suddenly, a bard in a green cape walked down the steps.

"Hey, sorry for the wait. I'm here!"

The bard waved to the white-haired girl.

"Huh? Who are you?" Ellin feigned surprise.

"All right, all right, you're a terrible actress!" Venti chuckled. "Haven't you been waiting for me all along? Why pretend you don't know me?"