In Your Eyes: Empyrean Admonition

You Make a New Friend (Which is Actually an Old Friend)

Vimara Village, Sumeru

 Everybody listens as Alhaitham lays out his plan. Two teams will be made, one will join the auction while the other will be the vanguard. 

 Alhaitham's voice is calm and collected when he speaks, "Obviously, the Matra and I aren't in the infiltration team since these Eremites know who I am. Since the invitation is sent out to Captain Beidou, aside from her and some of her crew, Kaveh should join this team. Since Kaveh is actually working on renovating the ship, technically you aren't lying if you say Kaveh is there to pick up some antiques from the auction."

 "I have procured a list of items that they will be auctioning off," Captain Beidou says and you hear paper being distributed. "I think it will be safer if I buy other items than the Vision so they will not be too suspicious. I have a budget of ten million Mora, but I know masterless Visions can fetch for a higher price. The intricate holder of this Vision might place it three or four times higher than the last auctioned Vision that I remember." 

 The meeting suddenly goes quiet and you know what everyone else is thinking. 

 Ten million Mora is not enough to buy a Vision?! How can I ever repay that… I better start working if they will buy it off… 

 "Do not worry about the payment, I can handle it," Alhaitham replies nonchalantly. "I might also request for you to "buy" some of these books on the list, for my personal collection of course." 

 "Wait a second here," Kaveh's voice is shaking when he asks, "You have more than ten million Mora available? How the hell are you able to…" 

 "Being the Scribe is not my only means of income and it's not a nice thing for you to ask me about my financial situation. Furthermore, if our plan works I wouldn't have to pay a single Mora. Can I continue on discussing our plans or are you going to ask more questions about my money?"

 Kaveh's silence is enough for Alhaitham to continue. You shift in your seat, which has become quite uncomfortable now. 

 "We'll proceed with the auction until it reaches the bidding for the Vision. You can bid up until this much, Captain." He must have shown something to Beidou because the latter suddenly laughs loudly. 

 "Rabbit must be such an important person for you, Alhaitham. This amount of Mora is no joke, are you sure you have this ready? They might ask for proof."

 "Can I give you a check or do they prefer cash?"

 "The auction did not specify 'cash only' but they might ask for it if they see that the check is claimable only in Sumeru."

 "I'll give you a Northland Bank check then," Alhaitham replies calmly, as if he's not talking about millions of Mora. 

 "After the auction, or if we become outbid then we will enter the next part of the plan. The vanguard will make their move in a pincer strategy. I will lead the vanguard along with the Matra and the other members of the Crux. I will make sure that we will have very little casualties…"

 Kaveh interrupts him, "Isn't this plan a little too loose? The Eremites must have their own security detail and they have the Fatui and treasure hoarders on the auction as well. We can't just go in willy-nilly and hope for the best." 

 You hear a rustle of a scroll being opened before Alhaitham speaks, "This road as well as this one is already secured by the Matra in disguise. Aside from this one other way to the forest, there's no other means of escape not unless they know how to fly."

 "Your map is old school," Kaveh replies as you hear the scroll being removed from the table. "Mehrak, show the area." 

 You hear Mehrak's mechanical movements and people inside gasping in astonishment. You can picture Kaveh's smug face and Alhaitham's scowl right now.