Chapter 21: Alibi I'm so sleepy typing

"Abyss Mage, I caught him."

Yi Bai picked up the Abyss Wizard like a hunter holding a rabbit and showed it to Sora.

Kong was a little terrified, afraid that the monster would suddenly attack and hurt people. He was at a loss for words about this scene, not knowing where to start.

Diluk followed from behind and explained to Kong: "This is what I discussed with Yi Bai this afternoon. If Yi Bai has enough time, I hope he can come over and help imprison an Abyss Mage with bubbles so that I can interrogate the Wind Dragon for information later."

He glanced at the half-dead Abyss Mage and paused:

"But if he doesn't come, this Abyss Mage will be killed right away. We won't have time to stay and interrogate him, or find a place to temporarily detain him. Then we can only rely on my other intelligence networks to find traces of the Abyss."

Although Diluk only expected Ibai to be in charge of the final detention, he was responsible for making the Abyss Mage lose his ability to move so that it could be better controlled by Ibai, but unexpectedly...

The child seemed to have some skills, and even made the Abyss Mage visibly lose his will to live.

This made Diluk feel a little bit contradictory. Logically speaking, if you want to put a monster into this state, you must have gone through a certain degree of torture and mental pressure...

Never mind. This isn't the time to be thinking about these things.

Diluk spoke to Sora, "Time is running out. We need to get back to the tavern before Hoffman comes back. Let's go. Ibai will take care of this for now."

Sora nodded.

Yi Bai also agreed seriously: "Leave it to me."

He raised his hand, and bubbles responsible for confinement emerged from Yi Bai's fingertips, locking the Abyss Wizard inside again.

Diluk has turned and walked towards the city gate.

Kong hesitated for a moment, then turned around. Paimon was waving at him from a distance, urging him to go. Not far after he walked out, Kong subconsciously looked back again.

The shadow cast by the white hair completely obscured the emotions in Yi Bai's eyes. He ignored the Abyss Wizard lying on the ground and squatted on the ground, looking somewhat pitiful.

Sora's pace slowed down for two seconds before he quickened his pace again.

...What is "Her Royal Highness"?

It seems that Xiao Yibai had a fierce conflict with the Abyss Mage... Why? Did they know each other?

But why did Yi Bai look so fragile and sad at the end?

However, Kong also knew that now was not the time to explore these things. Since he had chosen Yibai as his action partner, he would at least trust him unconditionally.

Trust him to handle his task well.

Sora didn't understand, but the player had heard of the title "Her Highness the Princess" before, and it was used to address a younger sister.

"It's a hammer. Yibai is the slime next to the firefly."

"So this is something that Diluc and I had planned long ago, but we didn't even mention it to the protagonist."

"Could it be that the scriptwriter wanted Sora to unconsciously follow the past at this moment and hear the words "Princess"?"

"Sora obviously realized this."

"So Ibai wasn't saving this Abyss Mage."

"Looking at the Abyss Mage's final state... it seems that Xiaobai's attack was quite ruthless?"

"At the first glance, Xiao Yibai's eyes were so cold and his movements were so fierce."

"Like a little wolf, I feel the tension a bit."

"Maybe Yibai wanted to conceal his identity, so he had to silence the Abyss Mage before Kong approached, so he was a little fierce?"

"As expected of my baby"

"But... the last time I saw Shiro squatting there, I felt like my whole body was about to break!!"

"What do you mean... I feel like Ishiro is under a lot of pressure. Is it the Abyss Cult that did something?"

After Sora and Diluc were out of sight, Ibai stood up from the ground and adjusted his condition.

It is somewhat mentally exhausting to accurately convey every signal and emotion that you want to send out.

This Abyss Wizard...even though it was just an unstable prop in my performance, I still feel a little sorry that I scared it like this.

Yi Bai turned back into a slime, ruthlessly threw the Abyss Mage into a special space that could barely store living things, and then slid towards the tavern.

The "performance" in the tavern was almost over, and Hoffman began to become suspicious because of a less-than-perfect excuse.

Fortunately, Diluk was well prepared, and the remaining drinkers followed the agreed-upon words and sent the confused knight away.

"So all the people left in the tavern are Master Diluk's men??!"

Paimon was surprised.

"At least I'm not."

Kaiya came out from the corner with his arms folded, with his usual unpleasant smile on his face.

Paimon's eyes widened: "Kaia!"

Sora asked, "Have you always been here?"

"Of course."

"It was a great show for me. This 'Alibi of the Dark Night Hero' is more intoxicating than any bottle of wine in the tavern."

Kaeya looked at Diluk, who still had a stern face.

"snort."

Diluk said nothing.

But Kaiya happened to read the information from this expressionless face.

He raised a hand and asked, "You knew I was always here?"

Diluk lowered his eyes. "Yibai mentioned to me that the recent cavalry captain seems to like to sneak into the corner of my tavern to drink."

"Oh~" Kaya narrowed his eyes and looked towards Diluk's side, his eyes darkening.

Diluk added: “But he also mentioned that he felt our cavalry captain was not a snitch.”

"I think so too. Then there is no need to worry about it."

Kaiya smiled softly, glanced at Diluk's back, and said calmly:

"I didn't expect that Lord Bai actually knows me so well."

…

Ibai in slime form poked half of his body out from the counter behind Diluc, stretched out his little tentacles and greeted him in a friendly manner.

!!!

Sora and Paimon were startled, and Diluk turned around in surprise.

Paimon: "Little Yibai?! When did you come in..."

Kaiya seemed to remember something:

"With the body of a slime, it seems easy for Mr. Yibai to quietly go to a place to do something bad. Hmm... It feels very suitable for some secret missions."

Yi Bai was reluctant to accept the sudden and inexplicable extra work, and a sign of rejection gathered on his face.

Kaiya smiled and said, "Well... since our little knight has realized that his identity has been exposed to me, he should have made these preparations."

Diluc looked at the slime and thought in his mind that the last time it sneaked into the tavern, he could clearly feel the breath of the monster...but this time he didn't notice anything.

After all, still thinking about the Abyss Mage who was hidden somewhere by the slime, Diluk stood up and drove him away implicitly:

"The tavern is about to close, please go back."

Kaiya maintained his usual demeanor and a smile that never changed like his mask, and no one knew what he was feeling this time.

"Okay, okay, I'm happy enough tonight. At least I can see that Diluk and Xiao Yibai trust me..."

Kaiya paused, and his usual smile began to fade. A hint of truth appeared on his cold face. He continued, "Besides, Diluk, I feel strangely relieved that you have the help of these three assistants."

"Have a nice night, see you later."

The outsiders in the tavern had left one by one. Yi Bai jumped down from the counter. Before he landed, he had turned back into an elegant and refined boy.

He leaned against the wall and spoke:

"Brother Kaeya and Brother Diluk have a really good relationship."

“…”

With nothing much to say, Master Diluk chose to change the subject.

"What happened to that Abyss Mage?"

Yi Bai: "Well... He is in my bubble space. It doesn't matter how long he stays there. But it's already late today. Should I take him out tomorrow?"

Diluk: "Just give it to me tonight. You can go and rest first. I will tell you the result tomorrow..."

He thought for a moment, then took out a few bags of Mora from behind the counter. "By the way, this is a thank you gift. Thank you for your hard work. If you need anything in the future, you can always come to me for help."

Paimon was happy: "Wow! Thank you, Master Diluk."

Sora took the Mora bag and sighed:

"Both Little Yibai and Master Diluk are really reliable."

Paimon and the players strongly agreed.

The next morning, outside the door of Chenxi Winery.

The Tevarin Protection Association gathered again and again, but this time there was an additional young slime.

Qin looked at the white-haired knight following behind Wendy with a look of disapproval, "Mr. Wendy, is Yi Bai going to join us this time?"

Wendy cleared her throat, her blue eyes filled with sincerity, trying to fulfill her promise:

"Hey, Xiao Yibai has witnessed so much along the way with us, and his strength is obvious to all. Let's take him along this time."

Diluk didn't have any objections. He no longer regarded this slime as a human child.

Paimon couldn't help but add:

"Yi Bai is really amazing. Yesterday we..."

Sora tugged at Paimon: "Ahem!!"

“…”

Diluk said, "Yibai contributed a lot to the Abyss Mage's intelligence this time, so he should also be involved."

He looked at Qin: "In short, I can prove that with Yi Bai's own strength, there is no need to worry about his safety."

Wendy turned her gaze from Paimon to Yibai with interest. Yibai looked back at Wendy, with an expression that showed nothing but obedience. He was even better at concealing himself than Kaiya.

Wendy looked away helplessly.

Qin frowned, but seeing that no one objected, she reluctantly accepted it, "Okay, since Senior and Ms. Wendy both said so..."

Wendy brought the topic back to the topic:

"Okay, okay, let's get back to the Abyss Order. Does Master Diluk have any new information?"

"Well, the information is that the Abyss Cult has been appearing not far from the northwest of the winery recently. It may be related to the Wind Dragon."

Wendy: "So reliable, you are worthy of being Master Diluk!"

Paimon crossed his arms and looked at Wendy:

"So... why does Lord Barbatos of Mondstadt still need the help of humans..."

Wendy said confidently: "Hehe, that's because I am now the weakest among the Seven Gods!"

Under the speechless gazes of Sora and Paimon,

Yi Bai glanced over quietly with his aqua-blue eyes as if he could see through the nature of things.

Wendy accurately captured the difference and responded with an innocent expression. He raised his hand to ruffle Yi Bai's soft white hair and quickly moved on from the topic.

"Anyway, Wendy really needs your help right now, so let's start the hunt!"