paradoxical | genshin impact

25 : longing.

The situation was just as dire as you'd expected.

Once you and Sucrose made it to the lobby, you spotted Anthony speaking to Emmett with none of the charm he'd shown you earlier today. His brows were scrunched up with complete seriousness, but when he spotted you and Sucrose by the doorway, the owner's son perked up.

"First room down the hall," he said. "We've brought in all the insulation we can find."

Sucrose nodded brusquely, taking a hold of your wrist. "T-Thank you very much."

Despite Sucrose's meek disposition, the force in her grip was surprisingly firm. She led you to the room Anthony had described without giving you leeway to even greet Emmett upon your return. But when she twisted the knob to the door, you weren't able to contain the gasp that escaped your lips.

Five men laid in a flurry of beddings spread across the floor. The bed had been moved and raised to the side to provide ample room. When you tried to make sense of their identities, you immediately spotted Guy with his eyes screwed shut, lips deathly pale as he shivered.

It was the missing caravan.

Before you could react brashly, you let yourself scrutinize the state of the room. On the far end, the thick curtains had been drawn shut, and the bright yellow flames crackled in the hearth. But another source of artificial heat came in the form of a spherical contraption floating in the middle of the room. It slightly resembled an astrolabe, tapered with engravings too small for you to make out. But it glowed with a dull orange light—giving off the same sensation you'd always felt whenever Diluc used his Vision.

Speaking of your boss, he was crouched at Guy's side as he draped a thick comforter across the five of them. Albedo, on the other hand, was preoccupied with something on the vanity-turned-work table as he mixed volatile chemicals in the silence.

"What...happened to them?" you murmured, heart thundering in your ribcage. "Are they going to be alright?"

Diluc sighed before rising back to his feet—the apprehension never leaving his face. "Had Albedo brought them down the mountain much later, they would have perished from frostbite."

"Mister Albedo," Sucrose called out. "Is there anything we can do to assist?"

The Chief Alchemist sighed. "They're suffering from severe hypothermia, so there isn't much we can do aside from waiting."

"Then are we just going to sit here and do nothing?" Diluc asked incredulously.

"If you'd rather that I perform a cardiopulmonary bypass right now, then the option is certainly on the table."

Your lips parted in obvious confusion, and you found it a bit funny how you and Diluc both turned to Sucrose at the same time. The young alchemist's cheeks warmed at the sudden influx of attention as she adjusted her glasses.

"A cardiopulmonary bypass is where you drain the patients' blood for external heating before transfusing it back," she explained shakily. "It's a very risky procedure, though, and we don't even have the right equipment nor experience to perform it..."

"That's exactly why it would do these men good if we let their bodies readjust to the proper temperatures," Albedo pointed out, setting down one of his test tubes on the rack before him. "I'm trying to come up with a more potent fuel for the warming lamp, but if their condition improves within the next half hour, it might not be necessary."

It took you a moment to completely process his words. So Albedo and Sucrose managed to transport five men on the brink of death down the mountain and into Emmett's Bed and Breakfast. And they even had the foresight to bring the outlandish lamp with them, too. Vision-wielders really were something else.