Falling for You

Chapter 54 - Not good

Xiao's POV

 "You retired?" Kazuha asked.

 Oh, god damn it! I said that out loud, didn't I?

 "I did..."

 "That's some news, isn't it, Xiao?" Beidou smirked for some reason.

 "You won't be telling Ningguang I hope."

 "Why, want to keep it a secret?"

 "Just from Venti."

 "I highly doubt Ningguang would go out of her way to tell your boyfriend." She laughed it off.

 "It's not Ningguang personally that I'm worried about..."

 The more people know, the more likely it is that Venti will find out. If he does find out, he will probably suspect my reason for retirement too.

 "Uhm, Xiao, did you really retire?" Kokomi asked uncertainly.

 "I did. A day before we left for Inazuma to be exact."

 "Then may I ask if you could-"

 "I don't intend to work during my first ever vacation." I cut her off.

 "That wasn't what I wanted to ask, well not all of it anyway. I wanted to ask if you could stay here for a few days. I wish to converse with you some more if you don't mind."

 "Well, I am stuck here for a while anyway, so I don't see why not."

 I have no idea when Venti would show up though.

 "Splendid!"

 A bright smile surfaced on her face before she seemed to have thought of something and the smile quickly disappeared.

 "Oh, look at me, I completely forgot why everyone came in the first place. I apologize for neglecting the subject."

 "There's no need for apologies, lady Sangonomiya. A lot happened since we arrived after all." The commissioner reassured her.

 "Still, I ought to at least explain the situation. You already know that the problem lies with a newly discovered underwater ruin, but that's only the start of it. A few weeks ago, some researchers succeeded in opening the door of a ruin and were sucked inside along with the water. Not long after, the researchers returned all in one peace, so everyone thought everything was fine."

 "Did something happen with the researchers after all?"

 "Just half a day after they returned, the researchers started acting violently and soon they even began attacking the people around them."

 "Oh, archons!"

 "It would have been fine if that was the end of it, but whatever affected them, started affecting the people around them too. Soon a whole bunch of people had turned violent, and we were barely able to contain them at all as a result of their sudden increase in strength."

 "And that's why you called us?"

 "I didn't know who else to call. You know how our relationship is with the Tenryou commission."

 The two of them continued on with their conversation, but I was too deep in my thoughts to follow.

  Sudden violence. Spreads fast. Increase in strength.

 "..iao. Xiao!"

 "What?"

 "You look a little out of it. Is everything okay?" Yoimiya asked concerned.