"Huh...?" Ronava stared at the white flower in her hand, momentarily stunned. "Is this for me?"
"Yes." Tang Wang nodded. He was worried that Ronava hadn't heard what he'd just said. "If you don't like it, I can-"
"...No." After a moment's hesitation, she shook her head. "This flower is actually quite... delicate."
Unable to find a better word on such short notice, she couldn't help blushing bright red.
"It's all right. You don't have to force yourself." After some thought, Tang Wang decided to pick every kind of flower in Mondstadt. As her long-term traveling companion, he thought it was necessary to learn some of Ronava's preferences.
"Ah, I, um..."
While she was still stammering, unable to get the words out, Tang Wang had already turned and left. He really did have urgent business to attend to, such as staking out the Cat's Tail Tavern for Dulaj and asking about the whereabouts of Epitome Invocation.
"They appeared in the direction of Starsnatch Cliff." Elsewhere, Albedo had reported to the Knights of Favonius what the two had seen while picking flowers. "So please keep a close watch over that area."
"Interesting. You saw the Abyss Lector, the root of all this..." Rosaria challenged him, her voice betraying neither joy nor sorrow. "Why didn't you try to deal with it?"
"Because this kind of Abyss Herald really is exceptional. We weren't confident we could defeat it." Albedo admitted his own "weakness" without hesitation.
"But according to your account, you didn't even try to kill him." Rosaria pressed on. "What's wrong? Does Mondstadt mean so little to you?"
"It's not a question of how much it means. A wise scholar wouldn't waste his strength for nothing." Albedo shook his head.
"Mr. Diluc's fight with the Hydro Abyss Herald has made one thing abundantly clear: against monsters strengthened by the Abyss, conventional elemental reactions are meaningless."
"I don't know exactly how they defeated those two Heralds, but based on my knowledge of alchemy... I can think of only one possibility."
"The legendary Alienation Reaction."
"Oh?" Just then, an elegant woman in a witch's hat strolled over from the side. "Little one, are you really so certain?"
"Alienation Reactions are hardly commonplace. Aside from Snezhnaya, there seem to be few traces of them elsewhere."
"Indeed." Albedo nodded. "But Miss Linaya is, broadly speaking, a Snezhnayan."
"Even among Snezhnaya's Genshin Impact, though, the vast majority can't produce Alienation Reactions, can they?"
"Fortunately, she happens to be one of those who can." Albedo smiled. "Miss Lisa, you still don't quite appreciate the legendary S-rank adventurer's connections."
"If you can't believe it, think of Aunt Alice and her husband."
"Furthermore, based on that conclusion, I now have reasonable grounds to suspect that the helper he brought in is also very likely capable of producing an Alienation Reaction, one that can suppress the Electro Abyss Lector."
Meanwhile, Tang Wang had already taken a seat in the tavern.
The Cat's Tail Tavern was a little more cramped than the Angel's Share, but that was a good thing as far as he was concerned.
"Oh? I never expected a distinguished S-rank adventurer to be interested in drinking at a little tavern like this."
Before long, however, an unexpected figure came over with a glass of wine and sat down across from him uninvited.
"Eula? What are you doing here?" Tang Wang asked in surprise, holding an unfamiliar book.
"What? Do you think I should be out on a mission right now?" She gave a cold laugh. "Yes, that's how it should be."
"But thanks to the elders in my family, I've been suspended. Not until they're certain I really have nothing to do with those elders' schemes..."
As she spoke, the wooden tankard in her grip let out a terrible creak.
"Oh." Tang Wang's only response was a cold acknowledgment.
And so the two sat across from each other at the same wooden table. One read while keeping an eye on the tavern, while the other started to speak several times, only to return to drinking alone in silence.
"...Tang Wang, don't you want to... explain anything to me at all?" After one drink, an alluring blush began to spread across Eula's cheeks. Tang Wang, however, paid it no attention whatsoever and simply turned another page of his book.
"Explain? What is there to explain? Miss Eula, didn't you already accept the Bloodtainted Greatsword and my apology?" he asked.
"Huh? So you really are going to give up such a..."
"Yes." His merciless answer brought their conversation to an immediate end.
Now it was Eula's turn to be utterly baffled. She had chosen to approach Tang Wang simply because she felt there was something about him that attracted her.
During both of their encounters, she had noticed his attitude toward his companions: it was an exceptionally pure kind of friendship.
And she had never felt that kind of friendship from the people of Mondstadt.
"...Actually, I think becoming friends with someone like you might not be so bad." After three drinks, she finally stopped hiding what was on her mind. "Provided you're willing to sincerely admit you were wrong to me one more time."
"I'm not willing, and I'm not interested." Tang Wang cut her off again.
After being "shown no regard" again and again, Eula finally felt a little angry.
"What? Are you going to keep your distance from me because I'm a member of the Lawrence Clan, just like they do?"
"I don't care about that." His answer remained just as cold, as though he couldn't be bothered to say another word.
"Then why? Why are you treating me like this?"
"Treating you? What do you mean? Miss Eula, do we know each other that well?" He looked up at her in disbelief.
"You'd better give me a reason, or I'm not leaving!" Feeling the effects of the alcohol, Eula gripped the round table at the Cat's Tail Tavern with both hands.
"Do you really want to hear it? It's hurtful." Tang Wang still sounded casual and unconcerned.
"Tell me the truth! I don't care if what you say hurts!" She gave another little huff.
"All right." Tang Wang nodded. "Don't regret it, then."
"There's only one reason for the way I treat you... because you're weak."
Bang! Before he had finished speaking, Eula's fist was already flying toward his face. He raised a hand slightly and stopped it completely.
Eula, who considered herself no weakling, felt as though her fist had struck an indestructible iron wall. Even if she had the power to overturn mountains and seas, she couldn't move it an inch.
"See? That's what I meant," Tang Wang added. "Of course, that doesn't tell the whole story. What I mean is that you can't offer me any help."
"You've seen Linaya's healing abilities, and Danika's Star's Wedge can also create a Polar Star Radiance Field."
"And Ronava... what belongs to her will return, and I'm willing to help her recover her own power."
"But you, Miss Eula, let me ask you... as a warrior in the same role, are you confident you can defeat me within five moves?"