AN: No beta we die like hilichurls

Task 0: A Maid's Morning

The sound of an alarm clock blared throughout the room. Its arms pointed towards the sixth hour in the morning. A hand gently pressed against the alarm and the noise stopped.

Although the person it aimed to wake already was awake long before the sound. Evident from the complete attire, silky smooth hair, and bright smile on the room's resident's face as she walked out the door after checking her hair in the mirror one last time.

With a small physique and diminutive stature, a crooked fringe, and short, neck-length pale lavender hair. A braided part of her hair was pinned down with a gold shield clip on the right side of her face. Her eyes are a beautiful shade of olive green brimming with excitement to start a new day.

"Good morning, Noelle!"

She gave a bright smile. "A very good morning to you, Hertha!"

Noelle, the maid of the Knights of Favonius, was eager to start her day. And she would start it right the only way she knew how. With positive energy, and a smile.

Well, that and a good breakfast. Speaking of which,

"On the way to the cafeteria are we? Mind if I join you?" the coordinator of the Knights of Favonius asked.

"Of course! I'd be honored."

Maid and Knight traversed the halls of their headquarters together. It was still relatively early for most. The sun was barely up, today's produce was most likely being still being distributed amongst the establishments in Mondstadt. But these quiet times were scarce once Noelle started doing her tasks for the day, and she cherished her few moments of leisure just as she did her work.

"So, Noelle, what are you eating for breakfast today?"

"I will be purchasing-"

Hertha put a hand up to stop her. "And for the winds of Barbatos please don't say that salad again."

"..."

"You are, aren't you?" she put a hand to her face. "Noelle, do you… I don't know, ever get tired of eating the same thing every day?"

"No, never," she almost seemed proud. "I've been eating it for ten years now."

Hertha felt sad for her. She couldn't imagine eating the same thing for a decade, much less a salad! But Noelle looked so proud and happy she couldn't help but feel the urge to hug her and praise her for her tenacity!

"How about this? Let me buy you breakfast today. Just once so you can eat something different, anything you want?"

Noelle blinked. "But… a satisfying salad is what I want."

"Really? You don't want something like pancakes, waffles, or eggs and bacon on bread for breakfast? Come on! It'll be my treat."

Noelle shook her head. "It wouldn't do good for me to be indebted to a Knight." it might show that she was incapable of handling herself.

Hertha smiled. "How about a friend, then? Besides, it's my treat, I don't expect a single dime from you. Come on, just one meal where you don't eat vegetables, fruit, and a boiled egg?"

'A friend, I see,' Not that the alternative food choices were bad. It's just that if she wasn't careful, all the food would go down to…

Noelle furiously shook her head. Purging the thought to the Mare Jivare. "I suppose I would be fine with it on some days. Special occasions perhaps."

The coordinator cheered and pumped her fist in the air. Her enthusiasm made Noelle smile and chuckle. "Yes! Mark my words, I'll buy you the juiciest Sticky Honey Roast you'll ever see!"

When she was this happy about it, Noelle felt bad trying to deny her.

"Oh? What's this about a sticky honey roast I hear?"

"Ugh, Bruce, of course, you'd show up at the mention of food." Hertha moved behind Noelle to speed their pace, but the maid made that difficult.

Not that Noelle was purposely slowing down or that she was heav- ahem. It was simply because Hertha didn't have the strength to move her. Yes, that was what she would tell Noelle if she asked.

A rather portly man with light orange hair, clad in Knights of Favonius armor caught up to them.

"Ah come on, why the hostility?"

"Don't walk so close to us you drunk, you'll infect Noelle with your laziness."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean! I can still smell alcohol on you."

Bruce, to be fair, actually sniffed himself. He shook his head. "Nope. I just took a bath before I went out. And I haven't been drinking for 3 days now." he prided.

"Exactly! And I can still smell it."

Noelle quietly chuckled. It would be disrespectful to laugh, but everyone had gotten used to their bickering by now, and considering neither actually fulfilled their threats, everyone just took it as entertainment. And if by some chance they got too loud, someone would always be there to calm them down.

"Good morning, Bruce."

At Noelle's greeting, Bruce's expression immediately became docile as he smiled at the maid. "Good morning to you too, Noelle. I apologize for all the ruckus this morning."

Let it be known that Noelle's peaceful disposition was always useful for peace-keeping.

She was just too precious.

"Maybe if you got off and did some work for once you might actually lose some of that weight of yours!"

"Look who's talking! You do nothing but sit still and look ugly in front of that board post hoping for someone to come take chores off of it."

"That's already way more than you do and you know it!"

Another Knight who was eating at the same table sighed. He put down his plate of scrambled eggs, sausages, and bread and stood up. He went around behind the two, unnoticed as they were immersed in their 'discussion'.

"Quiet in the cafeteria!" he gave them both a dutch rub.

"Ah ah I got it, I'll behave!"

"Stop it, I'll play nice!"

Along the way to the Favonius Cafeteria, they met with other knights such as Swan, and Lizzie. Once they got there, they chose to sit at a table where Huffman already was sat on, simply waiting for his coffee to cool down.

He came too early and they hadn't finished cooking yet. He had simply chosen to have a cup of coffee while waiting, and he told them to take their time, and it was his fault too that he was earlier than scheduled.

And now, here we are, with Huffman giving Bruce and Hertha a noogie.

"Owie," Hertha rubbed her head as Huffman went back to his seat. "That's no way to treat a lady, Huffman! Do that to Bruce, not me." she pouted.

"Both of you are acting like children. Please be civilized, this is a place for eating." he sipped his coffee.

"Is this why you can't talk to the Deaconess? It's not professionalism but instead, you're just too awkward to make conversation?"

Huffman coughed mid-sip.

"Oooh," Lizzie leaned in. "What's this about the Deaconess and our very own Huffman, Bruce?"

'Miss Barbara?' Noelle listened while she took a spoonful of salad.

"Right, I guess you wouldn't know. I've only heard of it in Angel's Share."

Hertha scoffs as she stabbed her fork into a sausage. "Of course, you'd get your info there you-"

"Shush, Hertha, the adults are talking." Swan put a palm in front of her.

Hertha looked ready to blow, and Noelle noticed. Wisely, she simply drank her tea.

She'd jump if it got serious. Barbatos knows she's down that more than a handful of times when she was new. But now, she learned to discern when they were simply playing and teasing each other. It was wonderful to see such a display of friendship.

"Word is that Huffman was given an autograph by the Deaconess herself 'cause he, and I quote, always maintains professionalism when he sees her, unlike the other members of her Fanclub."

Lizzie gasped. "Our very own Huffman is part of the Fanclub?" she smirked and nudged him with her elbow. "And here I thought you were all work and no play."

Huffman cleared his throat. "Yes, I am part of the Fanclub. She does enough work as it is, I see no problem in wanting to give my appreciation for what she does. I maintain my professionalism because it is what is expected of me, not for an autograph."

Lizzie pouted at the aforementioned response. "You're such a stick in the mud. Can never have any fun." she sighed. Everyone else also went back to finishing their breakfast. The table set into a comfortable silence, only the cutlery could be heard all around.

"You say that, but you have it framed beside your bedpost don't you?" Bruce idly said.

Huffman stabbed and brought down his hand onto the wooden table rather loudly.

'Ooops.' Bruce thought.

"O-Oh would you look at that? I'm already done with breakfast! I'll be going now! Ineedtokeeplookingforpeopletohelpuswiththeothertasksandallthatbye!"

"Y-Yeah! Same here, I gotta get back to work!"

"W-What they said!"

Bruce stood up and reached out for them. "Wait! Hertha! Lizzie! Swan! Come back here don't leave me!"

He ran after them as fast as he could. Contrary to his portly appearance, like any knight, he was still quite agile. Though Huffman could easily catch up to him, he made no move to do so.

He sighed as he looked at the unattended trays his comrades left behind. He shook his head.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Noelle."

Noelle smiled as shook her head. "No worries. It was very interesting to see such a conversation between friends."

He sweatdropped. "Yeah, friends," he chuckled. "When you grow up, Noelle, make sure you pick better friends."

"I… do not understand. Do you not like them?"

Huffman pursed his lips. "It's hard to explain. They're annoying, brash, and they make fun of me most of the time, but I can always count on them in a pinch. And I wouldn't give them up for anything in the world."

"I… see." She couldn't exactly understand. But she could tell he was being honest.

Huffman smiled. "Don't worry. You'll know when you're older. People who you would want to be with every single day. And who knows, you might find that one person you want to spend your whole life with in the process."

Noelle slowly nodded as she put her finished bowl down onto the tray.

Huffman finished his food just a moment later. He stood up and started piling on the trays together.

"Oh, let me help you." Noelle started doing the same, even scrubbing down the table.

"Are you sure? You do enough on a daily basis already."

"Of course! All in a day's work," she smiled and cheerfully picked up all the trays with a single hand.

Truly, Noelle was a very affable person.

Walking down the hallway, Noelle made her way to the Grandmaster's Office to receive her duties for the day.

She volunteered to help clean the dishes, but she was turned away. She pouted. She just wanted to help. She would've insisted if not for Huffman telling her to get a move on.

They knew how well she could clean the dishes, she was sure of it. Perhaps they needed a reminder? She nodded to herself. That settled it. She'd wake up extra early tomorrow and even help out with the cooking too!

Eventually, she reached the doors of the Grandmaster's Office. She dusted herself off, double-checked her appearance with a hand mirror, and fixed her headdress.

She wasn't a Knight after all. She was a maid with the aspirations of becoming a Knight one day.

She knocked. "Master Jean? It's Noelle, may I come in?"

"You may enter."

Every moment, every impression, and every action she took could be several of the factors to consider in the future when she took the selection test. Do as a Maid should, and act as a Knight would.

She walked into the office with a smile on her face. She bowed and let her hands rest on the front of her dress.

"Good morning, Noelle."

She may not yet possess the qualities required of a knight, but she was always learning. Constantly taking notes on what defines a knight while working as a maid at the Knights' headquarters. One day, she would join their ranks. One day, she would finally reach her dream. All she had to do now was do what she's always done from day one.

Just had to keep trying her hardest every day at everything she does.

"Good morning, Master Jean! What are my tasks for today?"

AN: Here we go. Something that isn't a one-shot? Oh, dear hell has frozen over.

I had this idea when I was thinking of something I could write as a longer series instead of the one-shots I usually do, but I also had to think of something I wouldn't tire of doing since that's why I usually do one-shots.

So this is what I thought of. Noelle's bizarre adventures, one chapter at a time, the fanfictionalization. Wacky hijinks, situations, people, and probably cause it's Noelle she'll end up breaking a lot of things accidentally. She's just so adorable. Keep in mind, that the individual chapters will be shorter than most of my one-shots, but I'll do my best to make them just as satisfying.

This chapter was more of just a set-up. To show what most of the story would be about, what some characteristics of Noelle are, and that I will be using NPCs in the story liberally.

Anyway, I hope this goes well. I'd like it to, I find myself liking this premise a lot (totally not cause it has Noelle in it). I have a lot of fun plans for future chapters involving not just the playable characters, but NPCs as well.

PS. Update rate? Uh… I'm not sure. I'm planning to make it a weekly thing. If not that, every two weeks. But it's still too early to tell.