~•~•~
The next morning, Lyra finds Shenhe and her two travelling companions chatting with one another.
"Had a good rest, everyone?", she asks, once she is within earshot of them.
"I slept well. Thank you for asking.", Shenhe answers.
"Lyra! Why didn't you tell us that Shenhe was just an adeptus disciple and not an actual adeptus!", Paimon grumbles. Lyra raises an eyebrow at her.
"Oh? And pray tell, why would that matter? Adeptus or human taught by an adeptus, what difference is there? They are still people in the end and you shouldn't just treat someone differently because of it. Take Ganyu for example. She may only be half adeptus, but she is still an adeptus. However, the only reason others treat her a little differently than others is because of her position as the secretary of the Liyue Qixing. In the end, we are all just people. The only thing that divides us is our different background and different... 'race'. Don't be quick to judge someone because of that.", she berates the little Pixie.
Paimon sighs. "Alright, Paimon understands. Paimon's sorry for coming to conclusions."
"now then, let's go and see Baiwen to see how progress is doing. Then we can plan our next steps accordingly.", Lyra says, taking the lead.
~•~•~
As they approach the worksite, they can see a partially built Jade Chamber floating in the sky. "Look, look, Aether! The Jade chamber is floating into the sky! But it seems to be tied down by something...", Paimon says.
"That's because it's not finished.", Baiwen says, approaching the group with two more people.
"Hey, Baiwen! And hey, um... people Paimon doesn't know...", Paimon greets. Lyra chuckles.
"Hey there Beidou and Baiwen. Who you've got there?", Lyra asks.
"This is Yun Jin, probably the most famous figure in the Liyue opera scene. Oh, I should introduce myself for your two companions as well. Hey, I'm Beidou, Captain of the Crux, pleasure to meet you.", Beidou introduces herself and the other girl, now identified as Yun Jin.
Baiwen clears her throat. "Well then, the construction work has only been able to progress this rapidly thanks to the Plaustrite provided by you. Lady Ningguang is most grateful and looks forward to seeing more of your work.", she says, before bowing and leaving the group.
"So you are the one who brought in that huge hunk of Plaustrite huh?", Beidou inquires. Lyra nods.
"Correct. Are you two also here for the contest?", she asks.
"You bet we are.", Beidou laughs. "Anyway, time to introduce you guys. These are Lyra, a good buddy of Ningguang and I, and her two companions Paimon and Aether. I am sure you've heard of them before. And this is... uh.. sorry, but I'm not sure we've met.", she continues.
"Shenhe. I am their... friend.", Shenhe introduces herself.
"Hahaha... good to meet ya! A friend of a friend is my friend too – or as I like to say, a mate of a crew mate is part of the crew! Anyway, Ms. Yun needed to borrow a boat, so we came together.", Beidou says.
"It's an honour to finally meet you three. I've heard much about you. Ms. Shenhe, though we are only meeting for the first time, I have a feeling that we will get along very well indeed.", Yun Jin says, smiling at the group.
"To be honest with you all, I am in great need of this opportunity to ask Lady Ningguang a question. That's why I joined the contest. Thanks to my father's connections, I was able to acquire a specimen of the Plaustrite required. Fortunately, it was approved for submission, despite being a little on the diminutive side.", she reveals.
"Wow... so it looks like the three of us are competitors now!", Paimon comments, but doesn't say anything further due to Lyra nudging her.
"Excuse me for prying, Ms. Shenhe, but... are you competing as well?", Yun Jin inquires.
"No. I don't have any questions for Ningguang. I just wanted to help this trio win.", Shenhe shrugs.
"In that case... I have a proposal to make. Lady Ningguang said that the first three contestants to procure all three materials will be awarded the chance to ask a question. Well, there are three teams here. We can split the prize between us. Instead of competing against each other, we could work together to secure the top three places between us. What do you think?", Yun Jin proposes.
Lyra thinks for a moment, making Paimon and Aether look at her. "That sounds great. Would for certain make things easier.", she finally says with a shrug.
"But how does that change things, exactly?", Paimon asks.
"Haha... I think I see where you're going with this, Ms. Yun.", Beidou laughs out.
"The plaustrite was the most difficult item to source by a long shot. Luckily, all three of us managed to get our hands on it. The two remaining items aren't quite so rare, so as long as one of us finds a way to source it, the other two can hop on the bandwagon.", she explains.
Beidou then looks over at Yun Jin. "how'd I do? Is that what you had in mind?", she asks the opera singer.
"Precisely.", Yun Jin confirms.
"Huh... interesting approach.", Shenhe comments.
"Okay then! Alright. I'll go first. I have some leads on these 'wonder cores'. From what I've heard, the core itself is really not that difficult to make. The hard part is getting hold of the ore used as raw materials. I'm gonna head back to the ship and ask Suling if he's heard of them, you guys-", Beidou starts, but is cut off by Yun Jin.
"We will head into town and seek advice from Master Zhang of Hanfeng's Ironmongers. Thoughts, Lyra, Aether?", she says, looking at the two.
"Yeah, sure, leave Paimon out of the discussion.", Paimon grumbles under her breath.
"Sounds good to me. But if anyone knows best, it probably is Lyra. She is far too knowledgeable for someone her age and profession.", Aether answers.
Lyra lets out a small huff, looking at Aether. "We are both travellers, Aether. But if you want my opinion, I already know what we need. The only problem I have is that I have no idea where the materials, that we need, are. So let's ask Master Zhang if he knows where to find the materials.", she says.
"Wonderful. What do we need? So we're all on the same page.", Beidou asks.
"We need two different ores. Starsplinter Iron and Subrosium. I remember talking to Ning-Ning a bit about the Starsplinter Iron. It resonates with visions. The brighter a vision glows, the closer we are to the ore. As for the Subrosium... I am unsure of anything about that.", Lyra relays.
"Gotcha. Any info is better than none. So let's spit.", Beidou says before leaving the rest behind.
"Alright then... by the way, what question are you gonna ask Ningguang, Yun Jin?", Paimon asks.
The girl looks at the pixie with a small smile. "I'm looking for a venue to host the performance of our new opera. Lady Ningguang has excellent judgment, so I would like to hear her opinion.", she answers.
"Whoa... what's the opera called? Paimon want to go see it!"
"the opera is a Labor of love by my father. He wrote it based on a popular urban legend about an evil spirit and an adeptus. It's called 'the divine damsel of devastation'."
~•~•~