Lin Mo's furious glare and Mona's tear-streaked, aggrieved face made the two girls realize they'd messed up again. But this wasn't their first rodeo, so they weren't exactly panicking. After all, they had that high-ranking official from Snezhnaya backing them up.
The two brats stepped forward, still full of attitude, shouting, "Hey, what's with the scary face?"
"It's just a stupid outfit! How much could it cost? We'll pay you back!"
"Heh..."
Lin Mo's voice grew colder. "This was left to her by someone important. You think money fixes that?"
"Well, we'll just give you more money then!"
One of the girls yelled back in a huff.
Without a word, Lin Mo grabbed a rope from the nearby curtain and tossed it indifferently toward the two kids.
"What... what are you doing?"
"You can't tie us up!"
No matter how much they screamed and struggled, it was useless. The pair of troublemakers ended up bound tightly to a chair by Lin Mo.
"You dare do this to me? I'll have the Fatui end you!"
"I'll remember your face! You're dead meat!"
The kids kept yelling arrogantly. It was clear just how spoiled they'd been by that Snezhnaya official.
But Lin Mo couldn't care less. Snezhnaya? Unless the Tsaritsa herself showed up, he had nothing to fear.
Ignoring their shouts, he picked up the chair they were tied to and carried it to the basement stairs.
"What... what are you gonna do?"
"If you lock us in the basement, you'll be in a water prison by tomorrow! No, tonight!"
The brats were still acting tough.
Lin Mo just said flatly, "Count yourselves lucky I don't hit kids, or you'd be done for."
With that, he gave the chair a light toss down the stairs leading to the basement.
Thud!
Crash! Bang!
The chair tumbled down heavily with the two kids on it.
"Ow... it hurts..."
"My... my knee's scraped..."
"Wah... my shoulder's hurt too..."
"Waaah... it hurts so much... I want my dad..."
Lin Mo's expression didn't change a bit. He just slammed the basement door shut and headed toward the mansion's main entrance.
There, Mona was a mess—her clothes torn, looking utterly defeated. She was kneeling on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Her trembling shoulders tugged at Lin Mo's heartstrings.
He hurried over, took off his coat, and gently draped it over her. "Mona, the Snezhnaya folks should be back soon. Put this on for now."
"Waaah..."
Mona huddled inside the coat, her tear-filled eyes full of helplessness.
Lin Mo peeked through a gap in the coat and saw that the kids had really done a number on her. They'd ripped her upper astrology outfit into three pieces. It was basically unwearable now, and all she had left below was her black stockings.
"Mona, get dressed first."
He patted her back gently. "I'll figure out a way to fix your torn clothes later, okay?"
"It's... it's from my teacher..."
Mona sniffled softly. "I... I haven't seen my teacher in so long... This outfit... it's the only thing she left me..."
"Yeah, I know."
Lin Mo smiled. "I'll make it right somehow. Just get covered up so no one gets an eyeful when they come in."
"Lin Mo..."
Feeling the warmth of his coat, Mona's teary eyes softened with gratitude. She knew talk of fixing it was just to comfort her, but his kindness eased the ache in her heart anyway.
She quickly slipped into the coat properly, wiped her tears, and said firmly, "Lin Mo... thank you."
"No problem. We'll get our payment soon, and I'll see if I can squeeze some compensation out of them for you."
"Compensation..."
Mona looked down, dejected. In her mind, no amount of money could replace the outfit her teacher had given her.
Just then, she remembered the two kids. She looked around anxiously, noticing the house was empty of them. But from the basement, faint, miserable cries echoed.
"Lin... Lin Mo, what did you do to them?"
Mona asked in a panic.
"Hm?"
Lin Mo raised an eyebrow, as if it were obvious. "They were too rowdy, so I tossed them in the basement to cool off."
"But... won't that make the client mad?"
Mona worried.
"Mad? Who cares."
Lin Mo shrugged. "Don't worry about it. This is on me, not you."
"But... how can that be? We took this job together..."
Before Mona could finish, footsteps approached from outside.
"Hahaha, those Mondstadt folks are such suckers."
"This deal... Snezhnaya's gonna rake it in big time~"
An elderly chuckle rang out as the mansion door swung open.
A rotund official, flanked by two Snezhnaya envoys, stepped inside.
"Hm? Who are these two? Where are my darling daughters?"
The official eyed them curiously.
One of the envoys, Ludmilla, quickly bowed. "Sir, these are the temporary staff we arranged to look after your daughters."
"Oh? So where are my little angels?"
The official glanced at Lin Mo and Mona, puzzled.
"Those brats? I chucked them in the basement."
Lin Mo grinned cheekily. "Listen closely—their wailing sounds pretty good, doesn't it?"
"You!"
The official's face twisted in rage.
Thanks to Lin Mo's tip, he could indeed hear the heart-wrenching sobs from the basement.
He didn't waste a second, storming toward it.
But Lin Mo stepped in his way.
"Looking for death?"
The official snarled.
"Payment for babysitting the brats: forty thousand Mora. Compensation for them ripping my partner's clothes: one hundred thousand Mora."
Lin Mo said calmly, extending his hand with a smile. "Total: one hundred forty thousand Mora. Pay up."
"Heh..."
A murderous glint flashed in the official's eyes as he grabbed Lin Mo's collar and growled, "Kid, you really don't value your life, do you?"
The words had barely left his mouth when—
Clang!
Splurt!
The sound of a sword unsheathing, followed by blood spraying, stunned everyone in the room.
The official's chubby arm, which had been gripping Lin Mo's collar, dropped limply to the floor.
"Ah!!!"
"My... my arm, my arm..."
Mona stood frozen, completely terrified.
Ludmilla and Mikhail snapped to attention first, stepping in front of the official and coldly addressing Lin Mo: "Lin Mo, do you have any idea what you're up against?"
Lin Mo's gaze remained steady. He planted a foot on the severed arm on the ground.
Turning back to the official writhing in agony, he repeated: "One hundred forty thousand Mora. Pay up."
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T/N:
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