Genshin Impact: Spoiling the Future

The next day, Lucian received his manuscript payment. The amount wasn’t much—just a few dozen thousand mora.

On one hand, this was because his novel only had its first act published so far, with limited content, so the pricing was low. Once the Mondstadt arc was fully released, a compiled edition would be published to rake in more money.

...No, wait. It wouldn’t be just for profit—it’d be for the readers’ convenience, of course.

On the other hand, Lucian was still a newcomer. The Steambird hadn’t anticipated such strong sales, so the initial print run wasn’t particularly large. Now, they were rushing to print more copies, planning to release the additional first-act prints alongside the second act’s launch.

”Making big money now, huh? Shouldn’t you treat everyone to something?”

Lucian thought it over and decided he should indeed invite the friends who usually helped him.

Come to think of it, ever since arriving in Fontaine, he’d been throwing parties left and right—practically a ”Party God” at this point.

Just as Lucian was lost in thought, there was a knock at the door. To his surprise, it was Clorinde.

Though they were acquainted now, this was the first time Clorinde had ever visited his home.

”What’s up?” Lucian asked curiously.

In his view, Clorinde wasn’t the type to drop by without reason. Sure enough, she had business with him.

”Mr. Lucian, do you have any particular hobbies?” Clorinde cut straight to the point.

This caught Lucian off guard. Why would Clorinde want to know his hobbies?

He wasn’t narcissistic enough to assume she was interested in him, so he considered the possible reasons.

First, he ruled out her having feelings for him. That left two likely options: either she was gathering intel for official business, or she was asking on someone else’s behalf as a personal favor.

The latter seemed unlikely—Clorinde wasn’t exactly sociable. Her demeanor also made it seem like she was just doing her job.

After some thought, Lucian landed on one person: Furina. If this was a task assigned by Furina, then it would indeed fall under official business.

But why would Furina want to know what he liked?

Had she noticed him sneaking glances at her and gotten annoyed? Was she planning to mess with him using his preferences?

Furina wasn’t the vindictive type, but she did enjoy playful pranks. When the Traveler first arrived, they’d nearly fallen for one of her tricks—Lynette had to step in to defuse the situation.

Lucian found this mischievous side of her endearing, but he wasn’t keen on being the target.

”I like Fisherman’s Toast,” Lucian answered.

Go on, report that back. I’ll never eat that thing in my life—let’s see how she plans to mess with me.

Clorinde nodded. ”Thank you for telling me. Farewell.”

In truth, Furina hadn’t instructed Clorinde to ask Lucian directly—she’d told her to investigate discreetly. But Clorinde figured personal preferences weren’t exactly classified information. Since she knew him, why not just ask?

Sure enough, Lucian had answered without hesitation. Now she could report back.

Though she hadn’t expected his answer to be that dish. Even as a Fontaine native, she couldn’t stomach it. Was this a Liyue thing?

”Wait a minute,” Lucian called out as Clorinde turned to leave. ”I’m planning a celebration party. Want to come?”

”...” Clorinde hesitated briefly before countering, ”Will Navia be attending?”

”I haven’t asked her yet, but I’m pretty sure she’ll come,” Lucian said.

He considered himself on good terms with Navia. If he was throwing a party, she’d likely show up out of courtesy. Hell, she might even try to foot the bill.

But this time, Lucian had his own money. No need for Navia to pay—next time, maybe.

Clorinde nodded. ”Alright, I’ll attend.”

After confirming the party’s location, she prepared to leave again. She’d report to Furina first, then return for the celebration.

”Huh? Miss Clorinde and Mr. Shikikan? Miss Clorinde is here too?”

Before Clorinde could leave, another visitor arrived—Charlotte, who had come to see Lucian and was surprised to find Clorinde there.

”Eh? Is Navia not with you?”

Charlotte had assumed Clorinde was accompanying Navia.

Instead of answering, Lucian asked, ”Charlotte? What brings you here?”

”Actually, this works out—I was just about to head to The Steambird to look for you.”

”For me? What a coincidence! I was looking for you too,” Charlotte said with a grin.

Lucian internally sighed:

What’s with today? Everyone I rarely see is suddenly showing up. Did they hear about my manuscript payment and come to freeload?

Of course, he was just joking. Truthfully, he was happy they’d come—it saved him the trouble of tracking them down.

”Here’s the thing, Mr. Shikikan. I came because of your novel.”

”The events in your story actually happened in real life! That’s huge news!”

”I need to go to Mondstadt to investigate, but before I leave, I wanted to treat you to that meal I owe you.”

”Oh, Miss Clorinde, you’re welcome to join us too,” Charlotte added.

Turns out, though she’d received the news a day later than others, she’d also learned of the incident.

Coincidentally, she’d just wrapped up her current reporting assignments and was planning a trip to Mondstadt to cover the story. Before leaving, she wanted to settle her debt with Lucian.

But fate had other plans.

This time, Lucian was the one throwing a party—and it’d likely be expensive. Letting Charlotte pay wouldn’t be right.

”Clorinde will be joining, but I’m the one treating,” Lucian declared.

”Mr. Shikikan is treating? Why?”

Charlotte was puzzled. Lucian wasn’t stingy, but he wasn’t the type to splurge on others either.

”Heh.” Lucian smirked proudly. ”My manuscript payment came in—dozens of thousands of mora!”

Previously, his closeness to Navia had led many in Fontaine to assume he was a freeloader.

Now, let’s see who could still call him that!

Besides, if he were living off someone, his first ”sponsor” would’ve been Hu Tao. Navia would only rank second.

Unfortunately, neither of the two seemed impressed by his earnings—well, Clorinde was, but not in the way he expected.

”That little?” Clorinde frowned slightly, visibly surprised.

She even wondered if The Steambird was shortchanging him and considered helping her friend demand fair compensation.

In her eyes, Lucian’s writing was excellent, and the launch day queues had been massive. How could his payment be so meager?

”Uh… It’ll increase,” Lucian muttered, his pride deflating instantly.

Charlotte, meanwhile, showed no reaction. She’d already known the amount and the reasons behind it.

What she hadn’t known was that Lucian had received the payment today—or that he’d planned to treat everyone.

”Huh? So does this mean I still can’t treat you?”

Was her promise to treat him cursed? Every time she tried, some unforeseen circumstance would thwart her.

===✧✦✧===

Character Voiceline · Lucian: About Manuscript Payments

”Don’t be fooled by my current earnings. Back when I started, my payments were pitiful—just a few dozen thousand mora. Truly a humble beginning.”