Adventures of ZHONGLI [Genshin Impact]

Dangerous Friends

"Good Morning, (Y/N)." Ganyu smiled brightly at you as you walked into the building.

"Good Morning, Ganyu." You had grown quite close to the girl within the time you were here in Liyue and working with the Qixing.

"If it's not too much to ask of you, I have a special task for you today." The adepti-beast's smile was unwavering as she spoke. Shaking your head, Ganyu continued to speak. "Wonderful. I'll be sending you over to the Northland Bank to inquire about some missing taxes."

With that, Ganyu had given you a small map and a checklist. After waving farewell to the blue-haired girl, you head in the direction the map indicated. You were mildly confused about where to go. You were sure you were in the right place, but where was the door?

"Hmm? Are you alright, Miss?" A tall, ginger man had peered at you curiously as you frowned at your map.

"Oh, yes. I'm fine, thank you. Say, do you know how to get to Northland Bank?" Looking up at the male, you were entranced by his ocean blue eyes.

"Northland Bank, huh? I was just heading there." The man cracked a smile towards you as he held out his hand. "Tartaglia, the 11th of the Fatui Harbingers, at your service." He took a deep bow as you stared at him, confused.

"Fatui Harbingers? Is that some sort of authority system here? I'm (Y/N), by the way." Tilting your head innocently, Tartaglia had looked at you with a hopeless expression.

"They're a group of- ah, never mind. What brings you to Northland Bank, young lady?" On the way to the bank, Tartaglia had created a bit of small talk with you.

"I was sent by Ganyu, a secretary for the Qixing. Something about tax collection?" You clutched the documents close to you as the two of you reached a pair of doors.

"Tax collection? I thought we had paid our taxes last week." Tartaglia tipped his head towards a man in a strange outfit before opening the doors and stepping inside. The bank was huge. Many stalls were vacant, but there weren't many people in the building at the time. At the back of the huge bank, a large stall was managed by a woman dressed in the same clothes as the man outside.

"Hello, Tartaglia, how may I be of assistance?" The lady's mask creeped you out as you shivered.

"My dear Ekaterina, I'd like to take out a bit of mora." Passing the woman a piece of white parchment, Tartaglia smiled brightly.

"Of course." After taking a glance at the paper, the woman had disappeared behind the wall and emerged with a pouch of coins. "Is there anything else I can do for you, Tartaglia?"

"I was wondering about our taxes? Didn't we pay them just last week?" You hadn't gotten a chance to say anything because Tartaglia had said everything you wanted to say.

"Our t-taxes?" You could see the woman visibly sweating as she tripped up on one of her words. "Of course we did." Ekaterina gave a forced smile and you could see this was going nowhere.

"Hello, I'm (Y/N) from the secretaries of the Qixing. On records, it says you have not paid your taxes and they are much overdue. You are owed quite a sum of mora." Showing a document to the receptionist, you frowned at her. You mustered all that courage you had gotten from following Ganyu on her errands.

"But I'm sure we had them paid! You can ask Nadia, the guard here at night. She had seen another secretary come and pick up our taxes." Ekaterina frantically waved at the door.

"At night? I need you to hand over the sum now." You were firm. There was no room for leniency as Ganyu had taught you.

"What? But we do not have that sum right now. If we hand you that money, we would have nothing to give to the people!"