Debt Collector

Mondstadt City, Dandelion Street.

A lantern hung from a post, casting a dim yellow glow that drove back the surrounding darkness. Li Qiuzhi concealed himself behind the houses along the alley.

He had been about to visit Lucaer's home at 86 Dandelion Street when he saw a middle-aged man, slightly younger than Sanborn, come out with a worried expression.

That should be Lucaer. Where was he going so late at night?

Sensing that something was wrong, Li Qiuzhi followed him from a distance.

Although Li Qiuzhi was not particularly good at tailing people, the darkness and the complicated layout of the nearby houses helped. As long as he kept himself from making any noise, he could follow an ordinary person without being noticed.

They did not go far before Li Qiuzhi saw Lucaer enter a dead-end alley.

Was he meeting someone?

The streetlights did not reach very far inside. Li Qiuzhi could only approach slowly and silently, then climb onto the roof from the other side of a house, making no sound throughout.

That was thanks to his control over his physical strength.

Lying flat on the red-tiled roof, Li Qiuzhi felt a little nervous. He was afraid he might accidentally loosen a tile and alert Lucaer in the alley below.

Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened.

Li Qiuzhi raised his head slightly to peek into the alley, and the sight gave him a small shock.

Deep in the alley, beyond the reach of the streetlights, darkness shrouded everything. Even with the remarkable eyesight his powerful physique afforded him, he could only just make out a masked, cloaked man standing in front of Lucaer.

That outfit was all too familiar. Wasn't he one of the Fatui's Debt Collectors?

Their duties apparently involved more than collecting debts for the Fatui. They also carried out assassinations, gathered intelligence, and so on.

Their specially made ritual blades could be imbued with Pyro, and they had mastered an assassination technique that allowed them to turn invisible briefly. They were extremely dangerous Fatui operatives.

How had Lucaer gotten involved with them?

Li Qiuzhi did not stare down at them without restraint. After all, an operative with specialized training might notice that someone was watching him.

Fortunately, their conversation was audible from the rooftop.

"Mr. Krishti, please give me a little more time. I'll definitely scrape together enough money to pay you back."

With an anguished expression, Lucaer pleaded humbly with the man before him, whose mask and hood concealed his face.

At Lucaer's request, Mr. Christie spread his hands helplessly.

"We've already done you a favor by not going straight to your home. You wouldn't want your wife and child finding out you've secretly buried yourself in debt, would you? Like we told you, if you get us Tarn's newly developed fish-trapping net, we'll cover the Mora you borrowed from Northland Bank."

In the shadows of the alley, Lucaer gritted his teeth.

"No way! That's our hope of establishing Tarn in Mondstadt, even in the international market. Once we can mass-produce it-"

"You don't have a choice!" His words were cut off.

The hooded, cloaked Debt Collector, Christie, spoke through his black mask.

"Your loan agreement with Northland Bank clearly specifies a repayment deadline. Arranging a three-month extension for you was already the most we could do.

"If you still can't repay it, Northland Bank has the right to ask the Knights of Favonius to transfer your house and your shares in Tarn to the bank. If that still doesn't cover the debt, you'll face imprisonment.

"Then you'll have nothing left, and your reputation will be ruined!"

Lucaer went pale at his words. He was right, but how could Lucaer possibly find that much Mora in such a short time?

"You only have your own greed to blame. You actually took out a personal loan to invest in your company's project in exchange for shares and dividends. It was a good idea, and development of the new fishing tackle has been going smoothly, but it seems you won't last until it reaches the market."

More mockery came from beneath Christie's mask.

"You bastard! You just want to steal the fruits of our work!" Lucaer shouted furiously.

"...Hey, hey, keep it down. If you draw the Knights of Favonius on night patrol over here, I'll expose you outright."

Mr. Krishti laughed, sounding amused.

"...Whew."

Lucaer fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a much calmer tone.

"You're only after money anyway. You can have the fish-trapping net, but I must keep my right to dividends. Otherwise, I won't give it to you, no matter what."

"Even if your reputation is ruined, your family falls apart, and you spend a few years in prison?" Who gave you the confidence to make a demand like that? Mr. Christie wondered.

"Yes!"

"..." Mr. Christie tapped his ear, wondering if he had misheard. After a brief silence, he said, "Fine. I accept your terms."

To carry out Her Majesty the Tsaritsa's plan, the Fatui indeed needed enormous funds. That was why they went to such lengths to obtain money through all sorts of means.

This time, the reasons disclosed in Tarn Fishing Tackle Factory's loan application had informed Northland Bank that the factory had developed a rather unusual fishing net, one capable of actively luring and trapping schools of fish.

Northland Bank's senior management judged that this fishing gear had considerable potential. However, as a legitimate foreign bank, they could not openly resort to underhanded tactics, so it was time for the Debt Collectors to act.

Mr. Christie simply had not expected the old fellow to suddenly show such backbone.

So what if I agree? Once you're dead, you can go to the divine realm and ask your Lord Barbatos for your dividends.

Beneath his black mask, Mr. Christie wore a sinister smile.

"Really?" Lucaer looked surprised. This devil had actually agreed.

"Of course." Mr. Christie took two steps forward and patted his shoulder, then gave him a final sideways glance. "But hurry up. We don't want to wait any longer. Hmph."

Mr. Christie paid no further attention to the pitiful Lucaer and walked toward the mouth of the alley without looking back.

Just then, a glint flashed toward him from the left. Mr. Christie narrowed his eyes and swiftly seized the attacking wrist with his right hand. It held a sharp dagger, its blade chilling in the lightless night.

"Naive!"

With a twist of his hand, Mr. Christie disarmed Lucaer, who had attacked him from behind, and flung him into the wall.

"How many years has it been since you last exercised, sitting in that sales manager's chair? You're worse than a Slime. Far too sluggish." Mr. Christie's voice was icy. "Some things are better left unspoken, yet you had to overestimate yourself!"

He drew an oddly constructed Mercenary Ritual Blade from behind him and continued, "You need to understand that while you're important, you aren't indispensable!"

"...Cough...cough..."

The violent impact against his back left Lucaer coughing uncontrollably. Bloody spittle stained the hand he held loosely over his mouth.

As he watched the alloy edge of the ritual blade draw closer step by step, Lucaer seemed to see his wife and child reflected in it, along with the old friend he had deceived and the first half of his life spent struggling to get ahead.

In the end, it had all been an illusion.

From the beginning, he had intended to take the other man down with him if negotiations failed. He had never imagined he would be so helpless.

On the rooftop above the alley, Li Qiuzhi watched the situation inexplicably turn into this and realized things had gotten serious. He could not let anyone get killed.

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