seven | VII

                                    

                                          

ミ☆
     "wow! you made quick work of that, didn't you?" verr goldet complimented upon (y/n)'s return from her patrol. flashing a thumbs up, she held up various horns and damaged masks as proof of her endeavors.
     "you should be set for a while, although there weren't many 'churls around to begin with. whoever you had on the case last did a good job at keeping them at bay," she chirped, holding up a mask to her own face to see what it was like. it wasn't very comfortable.
     "ah, well, we have some pretty decent warriors around here,"
     "i imagine that adeptus is a big help, huh?"
     "i suppose that's it. i don't expect him to keep everything around here pristine, so thank you for helping out. how was your stay last night?" the inn-owner inquired, paying little attention to the tuxedo-patterned cat meowing for affection on her desk. (y/n) caved in instead and supplied chin scratches.
     "i was having some vivid dreams for a while there, but for some reason, they stopped halfway through the night," she thought aloud. "either way, i'm glad that was the case. i feel a lot better this morning."
     verr crooned in acknowledgment. "you look a lot more lively than you did during our last conversation, at least. speaking of, smiley yanxiao should be returning soon from liyue harbor with his ingredient haul, so you have a few more hours to kill until then."
     "i see," (y/n) carefully inspected her body, which had accumulated a thin layer of dirt and dried blood splatter since this morning due to her various monster encounters. "i think i'll go wash this off in the meantime."
     verr left (y/n) to her own devices as she departed shortly from the inn to find a spot to bathe in peace. cicadas sang heartily as she walked a short distance towards the southwest, stumbling upon a large rock in a nearby spring that allowed for a perfect blockade from the view of the path. glancing around just to be safe, she waded into the water and kept her clothing on until she was out of sight. while wet clothes were quite uncomfortable, they still needed to be washed too, so she proceeded to remove them and scrub any remaining dirt off the surface. 
     once they were to her liking, she splayed them across the rock to dry in the sun and moved on to washing herself. from her mystical inventory, (y/n) summoned a scented bar of soap that she had bought from an inazuman imported goods vendor in the harbor. the suds from the cleanser lazily drifted with the movement of the water and around the boulder that sheltered her. after a few moments, she plugged her nose and dunked her head under the water. 
     on the other hand, xiao was on the hunt for the aforementioned girl. while sitting by her side all night, he decided he would formally apologize and hear her out on what she had to say. he couldn't help but feel guilty about the situation. he blamed it on her oddly familiar aura. he was perplexed to find that she wasn't in the vicinity of the inn, so he took it upon himself to search for her. it didn't take long for him to find a disturbing clue. 
     as he crept along a lightly trodden path, he noticed a familiar outfit splayed out in the sun in the middle of nowhere. were they... (y/n)'s? had someone hurt her in some way and left her clothes behind? xiao felt trepidation as he advanced towards the rock, uncaring that his pant legs were getting wet, and inspected the items. they were definitely hers. his jade spear appeared in his grasp on command as he became alert of the surrounding area. a gasp of air from the other side of the rock attracted his attention. 
     making his presence unknown, he climbed onto the structure and peered over the edge, prepared to leap to someone's aid. instead, he slapped a hand over his mouth and retreated, eyes wide with shock. (y/n) had in fact not been kidnapped but had decided to bathe in these waters.