Departure

"Renovation of the Shrine... Lacking Funds... Tsurumi Island..." Raiden Lu murmured as he skimmed through paperwork in his official office.

Which is the previous room of the puppet Shogun. Presently in the custody of Ei, she talked about making some adjustments for it of some sort.

"I'll leave the shrine to those two. The lack of funds is about to be solved sooner or later..."

"Tsurumi Island is the only one left with the old visions because of how tricky it is to get there... Should I ask Lumine to take care of it?..."

"No, we can't keep on relying on her without proper compensation. But no one is currently available to go there... We've been too busy nowadays." The deity sighed, and slumped on his seat.

"I'll just put a request on the adventurer guild with my name on it. Though it will require more funds..." He sighed once again.

"The Tsaritsa must be pretty cunning to come up of something like this. I would've done the same if I received my memories much sooner..." The continuously sighing deity was disturbed by a sudden knock on the door.

"Come in!" Lu shouted. What walked through the door was his old friend who was recently caught slacking during the festival.

"Dainsleif? Any reason for the unexpected visit?" He welcomed him with his usual smile.

"Don't try to stand up old man. I won't be responsible for your back." The knight joked as he made his way to sit in front of him.

"My body is as good as new. There's no need to worry about any incidents like that." Lu smirked.

"I can see that. You're even much youthful than me. Catching women one after another." Dainsleif said as he was handed a calming tea.

"You're just too rigid. And don't be mistaken. They came to me, not the other way around." The deity corrected him as he sipped his own tea.

"Yeah. Sure. It doesn't change the fact that you got both of the twins. One wasn't enough to satisfy you?" The male blonde inquired.

"Double the trouble, double the fun." The bastard blatantly stated.

"Double the trouble, indeed. One wrong move and you're dead."

"It's fine... They won't do anything... As long I don't, I guess..." Lu wryly smiled.

"Do what you want. Just don't die too early on me old man. You need to keep your promises." Dainsleif shrugged.

"Anyway, what's the reason for your visit? I doubt you came here to just banter with me about women." The older male asked with a skeptical look.

"I'm leaving." Edgy man said bluntly.

"Leaving?"

"My wounds are already gone, so I'm leaving." Dainsleif restated.

"That's way too sudden. Any reason for it?" Lu questioned.

"I got way too comfortable in this place. At this pace, I might get rusty. So I decided to set off on a journey." He explained.

"You just want to let loose then. Here, check this out..."

"A map?... What's the marked places for?" Dainsleif asked as he scanned through it.

"Inazuma has a lengthy history of wars. Meaning, a lot of treasures of the past was buried somewhere underneath. I asked Ei and Makoto to help me mark the spots. How about it?" Lu proposed with his usual smile.

"I'll have to pass... I'm certain you already have somebody else in mind to take care of this anyway." The knight said as he returned the map.

"You know me so well..." The deity faked a tear.

"Cut the nonsense. I won't buy any of it."

"The Crux Fleet. A group of pirates currently around the seas between Inazuma and Liyue. Ever heard of it?" Lu questioned.

"A bit. It's impossible to not hear any gossips as you roam the streets of Inazuma."

"Glad that we are on the same track. Do you know where is Lumine right now? I need her help in getting in contact with them, but I can't seem to detect her around the Archipelago." He explained.

"I thought you would know based on my intuition. And other possibilities I surmised..."

"Huh?" Dainsleif let out a confused grunt.

"What do you mean, huh?"

"That's strange... Yes, she did meet me. Lumine told me you instructed her to meet me to learn about my Abyssal power. Naturally, I agreed with her request. The last thing I remembered is her experimenting on creating rifts." The blonde said in detail.

"But I didn't... You got tricked." Lu chuckled.

"M-Me? Got tricked by Lumine? Impossible..." Dainsleif couldn't believe such a thing

"Maybe you're getting too old... and also rusty. Like you said." The deity smirked.

"All the reason for me to leave then. I really got tricked... by that girl nonetheless." The knight said in a grieved tone.

"Don't take her lightly. She's been changing a lot these days."

"It's all your fault, old bastard! She probably learned these nasty tricks from you!" He retaliated to the smug tutor.

"What can I say? She learned from the best!" Lu boasted with a chunni pose.

"There's that, I guess..." Dainsleif sighed.

"Where are we again? Oh, yeah... I'm leaving old man. Take care."

"Can you not just wait until Lumine convinced the other Archons?" The deity asked.

"You know very well that I do not suit the role of a bystander, Lu."

"Stop acting so cool... Here, take this." Raiden Lu jested, as he threw something towards his departing friend.

"A vision? Didn't you already handed me one?" Dainsleif asked, as he meticulously scanned the item.

"That one is just a camouflage to hide your abyssal abilities from the others. That's the genuine article. It's special like Lumine's."

"Hmm... It does feel better. I advised Lumine to not use the somewhat abyss element too much since there's a chance it might corrupt her powers. Maybe even hindering her in using other elements." The knight in black said.

"But with this... I'm confident enough to not hold back. The corruption inside me got weaker as well..." He added in surprise.

"Once you figure out the problem, it's easier to find a solution. Think of it as a temporary cure for your special illness..." Lu adjusted his nowhere to see monocle, once more.

"Thank you... I'll make sure to return the favor. For this... and the other things." Dainsleif said genuinely.

"No need-... He's gone. That child is always too stubborn." The deity shook his head as he stared at the abyssal rift in front of him.

"Maybe I'll send another letter... This time, for the dark prince..."