The End of a Contract - Xiao X Reader

1 : Arrival

3RD PERSON POV

The land of Teyvat is filled with many wondrous places, from the icy winds of Snezhnaya, to the windy fields of Mondstadt. From the highest mountains in Liyue, all the way down to the deepest caverns of Sumeru. 

There are so many places to go to, so many flowers to find, so many enemies to fight, it would be a waste to not explore everything this world has to offer, no ?

These were the thoughts of a novice adventurer from Mondstadt, dead set on discovering every little secret Teyvat has to offer. Although they knew how big of a task it was that they were taking on, they still would not let fear and worry trample all over their dreams.

Y/N'S POV

"Thanks for the ride !" I wave off to the friendly merchants who let me ride their cart from Dawn Winery all the way to Stone Gate. What nice people they are ! I smile to myself thinking of the stories me and some of the merchants shared in that cart.

"Welp, better get going ! Teyvat isn't going to explore itself, after all." And with that I ran off.

I walk around Stone Gate for a while asking for directions from the people around and thankfully, one of them gave me an updated map of Liyue. I thank the person who gave me the map before I left.

"All right so to the east of here should be Qingce Village... but straight ahead is... Wangshu Inn !"

Thank Barbatos– er, should I say Morax now that I'm in Liyue ? Ah forget it, thank the archons there's a place to stay nearby, I don't think I could handle another night in the wilderness... even after all I learned from training with Noelle and Kaeya, I'm still not exactly confident in my ability to fight.

But I am confident in my ability to kill and cook boars ! So I do just that right before I start making my way to Wangshu Inn.

3RD PERSON POV

"Welcome to the Wangshu Inn ! How May I— oh my ! What happened to you ?" Asked Verr Goldet, the owner of Wangshu Inn.

"I'm... fine... can I have some food ? And a place to stay ?"

"Oh of course ! Talk to Smiley Yanxiao and go grab a bite to eat and then come back to me so I can take you to your room."

"Actually, can I take a shower first ?"

"Ah well, usually I'd ask for payment before letting you use one of our rooms but this seems like an emergency so follow me."

Verr Goldet signaled to the chef of the prestigious Wangshu Inn to prepare a meal so that Y/N could eat right after getting out of the shower.

Now, while Y/N is in the shower, let me explain to you how they got so injured, it's quite a funny story really, they were simply taking a look at the fine umbrellas laid out as decoration near the bridge leading to Wangshu Inn when suddenly, a group of slimes ambushed the poor adventurer !

And while Y/N did have proper training with the sword beforehand, they had never applied their studies in a real battle before. It was always practicing with a dummy or sparring with Ellin so it's no surprise even weak creatures such as those slimes were able to wear down such an inexperienced fighter.

Y/N'S POV

I close my eyes and stare up at the ceiling, letting the cold water drench my body as I stand here, deep in thought. I think to myself, 'I want this, this has always been my dream, don't let something so minor like getting beat up by some slimes stop me from achieving my goal.'

I took a deep breath and stopped the water from pouring before getting out of the shower and drying my hair. I then got dressed in some casual clothes before going back to Verr Goldet.

"Hello, thanks for letting me use the shower. Anyway, um... how much does renting a room here for two nights cost ? Oh and how much are the meals ?" I asked slightly worried since I'm not exactly 'financially stable.'

"First of all, I'm glad to see you're doing better. Secondly, since you got attacked on land owned by Wangshu Inn, I feel it's only right you get your first night here free, and all your meals will be on the house too, so all in all it'll only cost around 5,000 mora, is that alright ?"

"A-are you sure ? That seems like a pretty big discount..."

"I can remove them if you'd like to pay full price."

"Ah no never mind ! I'll take it, thank you !"

"It's our pleasure." Verr Goldet smiles at me "Now go down to the kitchen, Smiley Yanxiao should be finished cooking you your meal. I hope you enjoy it ! And once again, I apologize for the inconveniences you experienced."

I nod and walk down to the kitchen to see a gorgeous plate of Golden Crab on the table. "Eat up, kid, oh and your room is upstairs in case Verr hasn't already told you." says Smiley Yanxiao.

I thank him and dig in to the food. I literally almost start crying, I've never had food this delicious since I was 5 years old ! I finish the food a little too quickly and right after, I went up to my room. But before I entered, I catch a glimpse of a person by the balcony.

I blink for a second and they're gone. I rub my eyes thinking I'm just seeing things, I might just be hallucinating since the fight from earlier left me kinda dizzy. I sigh and turn to open my door when to my surprise, the person I saw on the balcony is now in front of me.

I jump back from shock while the person just... stares at me ?

"Uh, nice to meet you ?" I extend my hand hoping for a hand shake but instead the person just stares at my hand.

"Who are you ?" I immediately tense up, their voice feels so cold and intimidating that I struggle to open my mouth to reply.

"I-I'm an adventurer staying here at Wangshu Inn, um... ah ! My name is Y/N and I came from M-Mondstadt ! Nice to meet... you ?"

The person looks down at my hand and says "Relax, I won't hurt you."

They whisper under their breath, just loud enough for me to hear "Why are people always so intimidated by me..."

 They sigh before taking my hand and shaking it. "Xiao."

Is that their name ? Sounds cool ! "Nice to meet you Xiao, if you don't mind me asking, what were you doing on the balcony befo-- ah. He's gone."

It's so strange how easily they appear and disappear just like the wind... I wonder what's up with them... I should ask Verr about him tomorrow, but for now I need sleep.

I walk into my room and get into bed, I fall asleep as I think about who that person was... why did their hair glow green ? Does Liyue have some sort of special neon hair dye ? I'll think about it more tomorrow...