Got It

Li Qiuzhi carried the unconscious debt collector over to Lucaer. He frowned at the blood around the man's mouth.

"Mr. Lucaer, are you all right? How are you feeling?"

"Cough, cough... I'm fine. Thank you so much for saving me." Lucaer coughed twice. Judging by his complexion, he really was all right; his injuries weren't serious.

"Are you with the Knights of Favonius?"

Leaning against the wall, Lucaer slowly stood up. Clearly, after hearing Li Qiuzhi introduce himself, he had assumed that a Knight of Favonius on night patrol had noticed something amiss and happened to come over in time to save him.

"No!" Still holding the man in his hand, Li Qiuzhi admitted frankly, "Your old friend Sanborn hired me to investigate you. He found out that you inflated the prices of your goods to deceive him."

"...I see."

So he's an Adventurer. Lucaer fell silent for a moment before sighing.

"I wronged Sanborn. I never imagined his commission would end up saving me tonight. Life really is unpredictable."

"I simply had no other option. Northland Bank was pressing me so hard that I started getting crooked ideas." As Lucaer spoke, he felt his face flush and couldn't bring himself to lift his head.

After all, deceiving a friend was something to be deeply ashamed of, no matter where you were.

"Forget it. You should tell Sanborn all this yourself.

"I also overheard what you were discussing earlier. Mr. Sanborn told me to help you if you really were in trouble, but since you owe Northland Bank money, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."

Li Qiuzhi looked helpless. That really was how things stood. He had taken the commission to earn Mora. Who could have imagined that its ultimate goal would be helping Lucaer repay a loan? Wasn't that a contradiction?

Unless Sanborn was willing to put up the money-but how could that be possible? A loan taken out to fund research couldn't be small, and Sanborn was only the owner of a Fishing Tackle Shop.

"No, I'm already very grateful to you. The new fishing gear has only just been successfully developed. Mass production would still require a huge investment. All I can do now is lose everything and go to prison."

Although Lucaer still couldn't accept it, he had no way to change that reality.

Without the organization behind Christie and his associates mediating with Northland Bank, the bank would soon sue him. The inevitable verdict would be to seize his assets to repay the debt, then send him to prison.

"All right. Before you go to prison, come with me to Mr. Sanborn's place and explain the situation. That'll count as completing my commission."

Although Li Qiuzhi had saved him, he didn't feel sorry for him. He was someone who had deceived a friend, after all. It was a shame Sanborn had trusted him so much.

"...Uh, I'm already going to prison. Could I just not go?" Lucaer truly couldn't face him.

Li Qiuzhi rested a hand on the hilt of the Dull Blade at his waist and said threateningly:

"What do you think?"

"Th-then... all right."

Even with the wall supporting him, Lucaer felt his legs weaken, and his words came out in a stammer.

After bringing Lucaer to Sanborn's Fishing Tackle Shop, Li Qiuzhi had no interest in watching the awkward encounter between the two old men.

He asked Sanborn for a length of thick hemp rope, then found a secluded spot, trussed the debt collector up like a rice dumpling, and slapped him awake.

Christie's head felt groggy. He was trying to open his eyes when a voice reached his ears.

"What's your name?"

"Christie."

Christie gave his name instinctively, then immediately snapped awake when he realized something was wrong.

He remembered that he was supposed to be in a fight. Oh... right. I got knocked out.

Christie struggled to open his eyes. Sure enough, the man before him was the bastard who had knocked him unconscious. Ah, forgive me, Your Majesty. I've brought shame upon you.

He also discovered that he was tightly bound in a corner outside some building. Was this fellow planning to interrogate him about the Fatui's internal secrets?

But how would a nobody like me know any?

"What do you want?" Christie watched Li Qiuzhi warily.

Li Qiuzhi crouched down to meet Christie's eyes, trying to appear approachable as he spoke.

"Please relax, Mr. Christie. To be honest, a kind person like me finds the idea of killing someone to silence them very distasteful.

"You look quite young without your mask. You've still got plenty of years ahead of you. If neither of us says anything, no one will know what happened tonight. You can just go back and tell them Lucaer refused, right?"

With no one looming over him and looking down at him, Christie's body relaxed a little. At Li Qiuzhi's words, his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

He seems to have a point.

"What do you want?" Christie asked resignedly.

Seeing that his scheme had worked, Li Qiuzhi's lips curved into a smile.

"Look, whatever I say, you'll probably still have your doubts. How about helping me whenever I need it? That way, we'd be on the same side, and you wouldn't have to worry about me selling you out, right?"

"Sorry, my loyalty will always belong to Her Majesty the Tsaritsa alone!"

Christie's expression was calm. To think this bastard wanted to shake his loyalty to Her Majesty the Tsaritsa. His intentions truly were sinister.

Fortunately, he had received professional training.

"I'm not asking you to betray your Tsaritsa. Just think of us as friends. When I need you, all you have to do is give me some information from inside the Fatui. I promise I won't ask you to do anything that goes against the will of the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya. How does that sound?"

Li Qiuzhi smiled. These Fatui really were loyal to the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya. With no other option, he chose to take a step back.

Sure enough, once Li Qiuzhi made that concession, Christie began to waver. He was still young, and he still wanted to serve the Tsaritsa.

As long as he wasn't asked to do anything that would harm Her Majesty the Tsaritsa, there was nothing wrong with reluctantly giving a verbal agreement.

Christie's inner struggle showed on his face. The corner outside the building was quiet; the building itself was probably an empty warehouse.

After a short while, Christie, whose hair beneath his hood was pale blond, took a deep breath and spoke calmly.

"All right. I agree to your request."

He had no way to defy Li Qiuzhi right now. He had no choice but to agree, and even having his sacrificial knife in hand wouldn't have changed that.

"Good. I'll untie you now."

Li Qiuzhi smiled happily, then began undoing the hemp rope around Christie. As he worked, he asked with apparent casualness:

"Christie, how do you use that stealth technique of yours to turn invisible?"

This was Li Qiuzhi's real goal. Whether Christie, the Fatui debt collector, agreed to work for him didn't really matter. All he wanted was that stealth skill.

Asking for it outright would most likely make Christie resistant. But if he first made a more difficult demand and Christie agreed, this request would probably be no problem either.

If Christie refused, Li Qiuzhi could still make another concession and ask for the skill instead.

By then, it would be rude of Christie not to take the hint. What surprised Li Qiuzhi was how readily he had agreed.

Well, even though the sun hadn't shown itself much today, Li Qiuzhi's luck was still pretty good~

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