About the Teyvat Syndicate
Venti accepted the glass and took an eager sip. "Ahh, now that's the taste. Not bad at all — it's almost catching up to dandelion wine."
Having whetted his appetite, he set the glass down and turned to Gin with a smile. "So, what did you want to ask me? Since you're the one buying, I'll answer just about anything — as long as it's not a secret, of course."
Gin couldn't quite fathom how a division head of the Teyvat Syndicate could be won over so easily with a few drinks, but he hardly cared whether this was a trap.
After a moment's thought, he decided to feel his way forward. "How many divisions does the Teyvat Syndicate have in total?"
"Seven," Venti said. "Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru, Fontaine, Natlan, and Snezhnaya."
Vodka listened quietly from the side as Venti recited the names of the seven divisions, and a quiet admiration stirred within him. He had always thought the organization's name was a little odd, but now that he'd heard these division names, they struck him as stranger still — as if they carried some hidden significance.
Gin shot a glance at Glenlivet — the Wanderer. It matched the brief overview of the Teyvat Syndicate that Glenlivet had given him before, which meant this Mondstadt division head wasn't lying.
Not that it surprised him. With a question that simple, there was no realistic way the man could feed him false information.
The pity was that Glenlivet — whether out of genuine ignorance or simple unwillingness — had never said much about the Teyvat Syndicate at all. And since he was now a codename member of the Organization, Gin couldn't lean on him too hard.
Gin had long been irritated by Glenlivet's defiant streak. If the man had been more obedient since joining the Organization, Gin wouldn't have to triple-check even the most superficial scraps of information.
These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, yet nothing of them showed on that glacial face of his. He simply moved on to his next question. "Kaeya is a member of the Mondstadt division too, isn't he?"
Gin had noticed an ornamental bead on Kaeya similar to the one Venti wore — or rather, everyone he knew of in the Teyvat Syndicate carried some kind of similar trinket. But Kaeya's matched Venti's in one particular detail, and that was what had emboldened his guess.
"That Ningguang, along with Keqing and Ganyu from her company — they belong to another one of the Syndicate's divisions, don't they?" He paused, then added the line himself.
It was phrased as a question, but his tone carried the weight of certainty.
Venti, meanwhile, was lounging comfortably in his chair, the wineglass cradled lightly in his hand as he slowly tipped another mouthful past his lips, eyes half-closed in careful appreciation of the mellow flavor.
At Gin's question, he blinked, as if surfacing from his reverie, then nodded without a moment's hesitation and raised a thumb in approval. "Mm-hm, you've got it exactly right! Ningguang and the others belong to the Teyvat Syndicate's Liyue division. They handle all the financial affairs for the entire organization — and believe me, they're very good at it."
He paused, then went on. "Here's a bonus piece of information for you, free of charge: Liyue's division head reached retirement age and stepped down, so these days everything in Liyue is run by Miss Ningguang herself. She's essentially the division head in all but name."
With that, Venti took another sip of his wine and went back to savoring this rare moment of leisure.
At the information Venti had offered, Gin's eyes narrowed slightly.
He hadn't expected that. He'd known that with Ningguang's capabilities, her standing within the Teyvat Syndicate couldn't be low — but he hadn't imagined it was this high.
And also — a division head retiring!?
This was the first time Gin had ever heard the word "retirement" applied to a criminal organization, let alone to a division head. The Teyvat Syndicate's boss must have nerves of steel — wasn't he afraid that this so-called Liyue head might harbor ulterior motives and sell the organization out?
But that was another organization's internal affair, and Gin couldn't be bothered to fret over it.
It was the sidelong glance he caught of Glenlivet — utterly unconcerned, even idly looking around the room — that sent a flicker of vexation through him, and Gin, uncharacteristically, changed his mind.
Originally, once Venti had confirmed Liyue handled finances — and knowing from Kaeya that Mondstadt handled diplomatic liaison — he'd intended to ask what the remaining divisions were responsible for. Instead, he asked a different question entirely.
"Glenlivet. Or rather, the Wanderer. Which division did he originally belong to? And..."
Gin's long, cold eyes glinted with malicious light, locked unblinking on the Wanderer, who — having just heard the question — slowly turned his head to meet Gin's gaze with an icy stare of his own.
Facing the furious warning in those eyes, the corners of Gin's mouth lifted into a bone-chilling smirk, and without a beat of hesitation he pressed on. "And which division is his dear mother the head of?"
"Wow, great question." Venti, for his part, breezily ignored the low-pressure front radiating from his "companion" beside him and answered honestly. "Hat Guy — ah, I mean the Wanderer — he was originally one of the Fatui over in Snezhnaya, codename Scaramouche. He and the Fair Lady were colleagues. And let me tell you, even by our organization's standards, the Fatui have a pretty rotten reputation."
With that, he shook his head sympathetically. "Ahh, working with him — you poor things. It must have been exhausting."