Commission To Slay a Black Dragon

Chapter III: Supper Date

Albedo cannot multitask...surprising, Aether stared, committing to memory another Albedo fun fact into the existing list in his head.

The alchemist jabs a piece of moon pie with his fork as a signal that he had arrived at a new hypothesis.

"I think it might actually be a dragon."

Aether leaned in, eagerly awaiting for Albedo to continue.

"During my previous research on Durin, I studied the bone structure of its corpse," Albedo began, his fork now circling the plate,

"And the bone structure of its tail matches the description of what the Tea Master witnessed."

Aether's eyes widened, terror and confusion replacing his previous excitement to know the truth. With Dvalin still recovering from his corruption and Venti practically useless, Mondstadt will not survive without suffering irretrievable losses if Durin attacks.

Albedo took a moment to label Aether's expression, before quickly assuring the paranoid traveller that Durin is dead, and its bones in Dragonspine are proof of it.

"I think, that this dragon may be Durin's offspring. It may have taken much longer to hatch because of the cold in Dragonspine."

Aether absorbed the theory like a sponge. It sounded bizarre, yet it made solid sense. Moreover, the chief alchemist is almost never inaccurate with his hypotheses.

Now that Aether pretty much knew what kind of dragon he was hunting for, the only mystery left would be the commissioner, who the traveller initially had zero clue on. However, now that Aether is convinced of the dragon to be similar to Durin, he had a strong inkling that the person he was looking for might be Venti.

Aether thinks quietly to himself, it made sense given his weakening state. Furthermore, posting a commission would alert the Adventure Guild, and consequently the Knights of Favonius, at least allowing the small city of Freedom to brace themselves for any incoming attack. The only part that wouldn't fit was...where would Venti get half a million mora to pledge as reward?

"What are you thinking?"

A soft voice interrupted Aether's chain of thought as he looked up. He chucked aside his theories for the moment and eagerly shared in a hushed voice about his suspicions on the Anemo Archon. Albedo raised his brows but did not comment - it seemed like he didn't really care who the commissioner was.

Then, Aether caught a tinge of red behind Albedo. A white feather wriggled and poked out from behind his shoulder. Aether held back a giggle, deciding to side with the red.

Albedo quickly caught the hue of devilry in the traveller's eyes, but before he could question him, little hands slowly reached out from behind.

"BIG BROTHER ALBEDOOOO!"

A pair of arms seized Albedo behind, bringing down a merciless sea of tickles with tiny wriggling fingers.

"AHH, AAHHH- Klee stop!" Albedo jolted so harshly that Aether feared the chair would topple under him, tightly cupping his mouth to keep bursts of laughter from exploding out. The traveller, on the other hand, cackled heartily, as if he was the victim of the tickles.

After a series of broken huffs from Albedo begging the girl to cease her torture, Klee finally spares her brother. While Albedo breathed heavily to compose himself, the girl plops herself onto his lap and brings herself in for a tight hug.

"Klee misses you."

As if hesitant, Albedo lightly rests his hands on the girl's tiny shoulders to return the hug, "Where did you go today? You're out late."