Afterward, Su Yuan and Aether arrived at Mondstadt's main shopping street. Before long, they found a bookstore, went inside, and asked the owner:
"Boss, do you happen to have The Alchemy Guide and A Complete Appreciation of the World's Famous Wines?"
"The World's Famous Wines is a work by the famous bestselling author in Teyvat, Lady Alice. And since so many people in Mondstadt love drinking, of course I have that one."
As the shopkeeper spoke, he walked over to the shelf, took down a brand-new copy of The World's Famous Wines: A Complete Guide, and handed it to Su Yuan and Aether.
"Didn't expect it to be another one of Lady Alice's works…" Su Yuan mused.
"I remember when I was in Fontaine, in the office of Duke Wriothesley at the Fortress of Meropide, I also saw The World's Famous Teas: A Complete Guide on his bookshelf."
"Klee's mother, the 'A' of the Hexenzirkel, Lady Alice… No wonder her footprints span all of Teyvat—she's truly someone who's tasted and collected knowledge of countless things!"
"But as for The Guide to Alchemy, I really don't have that one," the shopkeeper continued.
"That book is pretty dry, and its content is rather technical and complicated…"
"I'd wager not just my shop, but every bookstore along this street doesn't stock it."
"After all, who would order books that nobody buys? That'd just be losing money for nothing."
Su Yuan and Aether nodded, finding the reasoning sound, but still asked: "Then boss, do you know where we might get a brand-new copy of The Guide to Alchemy?"
"I doubt there are any newly printed copies these days. Since no one wants it, the printing houses wouldn't bother making money-losing runs." The shopkeeper shook his head helplessly.
"But if you're fine with a used one, you could try your luck at Mondstadt's second-hand flea market."
Aether then paid for The World's Famous Wines: A Complete Guide, and left the bookstore together with Su Yuan and Paimon.
They didn't fully take the shopkeeper's word for it, though, and continued checking other bookstores along the street to see if anyone stocked The Guide to Alchemy…
But after searching around, they confirmed what the first shopkeeper had said—none of the other bookstores carried that book either.
"Su Yuan, this looks like it might be a bit tricky now…" Aether furrowed his brow, looking worriedly at Su Yuan as he spoke.
"It seems like we just can't buy a brand-new copy of The Guide to Alchemy anywhere…"
"But we also just carefully checked the library's borrowing manual—it clearly states that compensation must be made with the same brand-new book…" Su Yuan replied, sounding concerned.
"If we try to use a second-hand book, it probably won't work…"
"How about we go ask Mona again, and have her use astrology to divine where we might be able to buy a brand-new Guide to Alchemy?"
Paimon thought for a moment, then spoke up:
"Or we could have the Knights put out a notice in Mondstadt, to see if anyone in private hands has an unopened brand-new copy of The Guide to Alchemy?"
Just as the group was worrying and discussing the matter, someone suddenly approached them and spoke up:
"You three—and this little flying lady—I noticed you've been going in and out of bookstores frequently, but with troubled looks on your faces. I'd wager you're trying to buy a book, but just can't seem to find the one you want, am I right?"
"That's right." Aether nodded, looking curiously at the man before him. "And you are…?"
The man gave a slight bow and said, "My name is Airi. As you can see, I'm simply a book dealer."
"If you're looking for a brand-new book, I have special channels to obtain them for you. The price, however… may be just a little above the listed retail."
Su Yuan and Aether both nodded.
Truly, they had searched high and low with no success, and yet here was the solution falling right into their laps!
As long as they could get a brand-new Guide to Alchemy, what did it matter if it cost a little more?
So Aether pulled out the battered, ruined copy of The Guide to Alchemy that Timaeus had damaged beyond recognition, and showed it to the man named Airi.
"This book—The Guide to Alchemy. Can you get us a brand-new copy of it? Price isn't an issue at all."
"Ah, The Guide to Alchemy, is it? Yes, yes, I can get it!" Airi nodded repeatedly.
"But the stock is out of town. I'll need to arrange for a transfer later today, so I should be able to deliver it to you tomorrow."
"The price… let's just round it up to 1,000 Mora!"
Although 1,000 Mora was indeed a bit expensive for a single book, the thought that they would have a brand-new Guide to Alchemy by tomorrow made Aether and Su Yuan feel it wasn't unacceptable.
So, after paying a 100 Mora deposit, Airi took his leave, agreeing to meet them back here first thing tomorrow morning to exchange the book for the balance.
"Didn't expect things to go smoother than we imagined." Su Yuan suggested, "Since we already have one book now, why don't we go find Lisa and try returning it first?"
With that, Su Yuan and Aether carried the brand-new Guide to The World's Famous Wines back to the Knights of Favonius library, where they found Lisa still there, not having gone anywhere.
"Cuties, you're back?" Lisa greeted them with a smile.
"How did the book recovery work go?"
"Lisa, while the vast majority of the books have been successfully recovered without any problems, there was still one book that ran into a little… accident."
As he spoke, Su Yuan handed the brand-new The World's Famous Wines over to Lisa.
"Cavalry Captain Kaeya borrowed a copy of this same book, but it seems he lost it somewhere. So we accepted his request and, according to the library's borrowing rules, purchased a new copy to compensate the library…"
After finishing his explanation, Su Yuan watched Lisa nervously.
Whether their plan worked or not depended entirely on this moment!
"Though it's a shame the original copy was lost, since you've replaced it with the same book as the library rules require, I have nothing further to complain about." Lisa replied with a gentle smile.
For the moment, Lisa showed no signs of becoming Eerie—but Su Yuan understood that Mondstadt's freedom as an Eerie might delay the onset of corruption…
Even after waiting for quite a while, Lisa still showed no signs of being affected.
"Phew… looks like our plan actually worked…" Everyone present let out a long sigh of relief.
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