Ruby Red Blood (Genshin X F!Reader)

Smiley And The Ghost

"Let's take a look. Paimon reckons he'll be on the balcony. Heh, doubt we're going to find him in the kitchen." they walked down the stairs and to the lobby, where a lady was behind the desk. She had brown hair, very unusual for people from Liyue.

"Hello!... a distinctive but illusive dress sense. defined yet atypical facial features, and followed around everywhere by a floating elf companion and a young beautiful girl with a red dress and /(h/c) hair. Hmmm.... nope, can't place you."

"Can you tell us about that Adeptus?"

"Oh? You've already met Xiao? Not bad. Not often he's in a good enough mood to agree to see people."

"That's his good mood?" Paimon exclaimed.

"Oh yes, the Adepti are very hard to come by. Many people go their whole lives, praying to them, never once actually get to see one. When the Geo Archon built Liyue, he borrowed power from the Adepti. But most of them only know how to protect Liyue by fighting. So for many millennia, it has been instead humans who have led Liyue, whilst the Adepti have lived hidden away in the outskirts."

"You really know a lot, huh boss lady." was Paimon's reaction.

"It's not "boss lady", it's just boss... Anyway, seen as you have the favor of the Adepti, things should be a lot easier. Well... if you wanna know my opinion... if you keep Xiao in a good mood, things should be okay."

"Good mood? Can't really imagine what a "good mood" looks for that "Vigilant Yaksha"."

"Paimon, now we'll only get cabbages..." (Y/N) joked, but she got a terrified gasp in return.

"Oh no, Paimon didn't think of that! Paimon wants good treasures!"

"Haha! Will be interesting, won't it?" Verr Goldet only laughed, but she seemed to be thinking something more serious. "How 'bout this - you go see the chef for a bowl of Almond Tofu, and a plate of whatever it is you are best at making. Almond Tofu is one food he few human foods Xiao likes. The other dish is up to you."

"Up to us, eh...? Aether, what do you think you're the best at cooking?"

"Perhaps a Maha Manjusaka Hot Pyro Slime?" Aether said sarcastically, but the tone went unnoticed by the flying food.

"But if we're gonna be cooking for an Adeptus, perhaps the Satisfying Salad would be the safer choice..."

"Can we borrow the kitchen?" the red-dressed girl asked Verr.

"Go ahead, it's over there." she nodded and then they walked to the kitchen were Aether prepared a Satisfying Salad.

"Let's see... cabbage... slice the apples... boil the egg and potatoes..." he made the salad within a minute and then proudly showed it to his companions.

"Tada!" he said happily.

"Great job, now to find the chef... I think I saw him outside." Aether nodded and then they searched the chef.

Outside the sun was still orange, but a brighter one, and people were soon heading to the lobby to order dinner. But a big an still stood there, white as a sheet in his face.

"Can't you see I'm on a break kid? Scram." he grunted and crossed his arms, but Aether still tried.

"Excuse me, we'd like an Almond To-" he got interrupted.

"Scram!" he raised his voice and Paimon flew backed scared and Aether looked shocked, but (Y/N) didn't move an inch, and her eyes was still as emotionless.

"We were just asking the chef for Almond Tofu. You are the chef, no? And won't you make Verr Goldet her Almond Tofu?" his face changed a tiny bit.

"... I see. If it's for the boss, then I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" he sighed and looked as if he was about to shoot his best friend. "But my heart's not really in it right now, not enough to make a dessert as painstaking as Almond Tofu."

"And why is that?" Paimon was now curious, watch out chef.

"A fencer's hand must be steady, so too must be the hand of a chef. But my hands, I'm... they're not steady..." he looked down. "Because ahh... a traveler once told me that this inn... is haunted. And then, just now - just now! In the kitchen... I saw something... something not right. I keep thinking... even Wangshu Inn isn't safe. I-I can't keep a steady hand for something like Almond Tofu."

"Alright." Paimon then said with a steady tone, despite just now being scared by the chef's raised tone. "In the name of high-quality Almond Tofu, we need to go check this kitchen out, our little cooking trip wasn't enough to spot ghosts." and then they walked to the kitchen once again, leaving a frightened chef.

They were now downstairs, but nothing seemed weird by the first look.

"Doesn't seem to be anyth-" but Paimon had spoken too fast, for a second later she spotted a little ghost child running by the stairs up to the lobby. "@%&*!" was her reaction.

"We must tell Smiley Yanxiao about this, it's his kitchen after all." Aether ran up the stairs. So Smiley Yanxiao was his name, huh? He didn't look or resemble a smiley at all. But (Y/N) just shrugged and ran after the young boy.

"What?! You saw it too! There really is a ghost! What... How can I..."

"Okay, so he's useless now. What do we do? Forget it. Let's just go see the boss lady again."

"Hehe... scared of something so insignificant. Hard to believe he was once a notorious bandit."

"You don't seem that afraid of ghosts, boss lady."

"Gods and ghosts, I've seen it all before." (Y/N) just gave Verr a look that said "I-get-you-girl".

"Come to think of it, others don't seem to know there's an Adeptus here at the inn, except boss lady..."

"Shhh! Say any more and you'll be divulging my little secret. Right. Best you two be off. Go see to it that little ghost doesn't go scaring anybody else. Not that I'm ordering you around. It's like the Adeptus say, mortal souls are not as robust as those of the Adepti." oh Khorne, Verr Goldet is a very knowing woman, she seems to be best friends with Xiao. "So as to not be harmed when dealing with the Adepti, you can start by practicing with that ghost."

"But how should we persuade the ghost?" Aether seemed confused.

"There is a calligraphy painting in the inn known as the Witness Sigil. It's been in circulation for over a thousand years. Go take a look at it. Once you have, look for a place outside where you can see the exact same Witness Sigil formation."

"Thank you." (Y/N) said politely and Verr flashed her a smile.

"I understand why rumors about you spread so fast, your politeness and beauty is fascinating."

"I should not hear that from a woman who owns and leads the biggest inn in Liyue, clearly smarter than most, and with lovely brown hair."

"I'm flattered. Now, off you go! Don't want you standing around here when you have things to do."

I'm happy, I finally posted another chapter.

Sorry for the wait, my computer restarted three times and I had to search my script video all over again...

I finally got friends in real life who play Genshin, and I was ready to smash their bosses (I'm AR 45 and they're on 18) and then... we're on different servers. Dammit.

1,254 words, 3.5 pages (*/ω＼*)