Who would have thought they were still walking? Although Mondstadt was within sight of the two of them, it was still too far away.
"Lumine... can we take a breather? Paimon is tired..."
Paimon gasped.
"Stop joking me, Paimon. You're clearly floating like that, how can you be tired? Also..."
Behind the two of them was a newly-acquainted figure named Jotaro.
"Why is he tailing us? I thought we all went our separate ways."
Lumine sighed. She finally sat down next to a tree to catch her breath.
"Lumine... Do you think Jotaro is in the same situation as you?"
Paimon sat on Lumine's shoulder and asked her curiously.
"Why do you say that? I don't see anything suspicious about him."
*crisp*
"Paimon finds his outfit rather strange. Especially the hat and the chains on the collar."
"Maybe it's just his own style of fashion."
*nom nom*
"Or... Star Platinum?"
"Uhh..."
Lumine had no intention of refuting Paimon's words. She also immediately noticed the unusual points from the first time she met this man. Let alone...
"Your cooking is quite good. You were lying when you said you couldn't cook."
"Shut up, woman."
She still needed to find her brother. Ever since the two of them were separated by a mysterious goddess until now, the mysterious goddess sealed her powers and put her into hibernation for about... 300 years? 400 years? 500 years?
She doesn't know, nor does she cares about it. No matter how many years passed, she still had to find her brother's traces, because he was her family.
"Hey."
A tall figure stood over her, along with it was a plate with 2 skewers of chicken and mushrooms. A tall figure stood over her, along with a plate with 2 Chicken Mushroom Skewers
"Yay, food!"
Paimon took a skewer from the plate and enjoyed it, leaving one skewer left for the other blonde.
"Why did you..."
"She wants me to bring you a dish."
"He did it himself. Looks like he wanted to ask you to help him with something."
The voice of an adventurer named Lynn said from behind the tree where Lumine was sitting.
"Shut up, woman!"
Jotaro snarled back, before sighing. He sat down at the opposite side from her, before lighting one of his cigarettes.
"So... What do you want me to help you with?"
Lumine said before she dug in the mushroom on her skewer.
"...You know that. I need you to help me get back to my world."
Jotaro let out a puff of smoke from his mouth.
"Ah, *nom* turns out Paimon was right. You don't belong in this world as well."
Somehow she was able to speak correctly with the food in her mouth.
"But *nom* I refused."
Lumine spoke bluntly, before continuing.
"It's not that I doubt you or anything. I lost my power to get to that place. And I have no intention of leaving either because I still need to find my brother. "
Lumine explained, she thought Jotaro would just sigh and leave, but...
"So if I help you find your dumbass brother, that means he'll have to bring me back to my world, right?"
Jotaro said.
"Huh?"
"Do. You. Understand?"
Lumine was a bit surprised by this offer. But she had no reason to doubt him, for he also had a motive of his own to help her.
"I'll take your silence as a yes."
Jotaro said, not allowing Lumine to say no. Just as they were about to leave-
"Hey, you! Stop right there!"
Someone's voice rang out from afar. Accompanied by the sound of footsteps rushing towards their place. And before they knew it, a figure shot out of the nearby hill and landed in front of them.
She has long dark brown hair, yellow eyes, and fair skin. She wears an overall consisting of a pair of leather shorts, a hoodie style, and red long socks, along with a pair of white turtleneck boots with gold trim and emblems.
"May the Anemo God protect you, strangers. I'm the Outrider for the Knights of Favonius, Amber."
She introduced herself solemnly, before looking back at the three of them in suspicion.
"You don't look like citizens of Mondstadt. Please explain." She asked them, causing Paimon to be a bit confused by her words.
"Calm down, we're not the troublemakers here..."
Paimon tried to explain the matter to the girl in front of him. But in response, Amber just crossed her arms and looked back at them suspiciously.
"Last time I checked, all the troublemakers have said that."
Amber said, causing Lumine to sigh.
"The name is Lumine. And this is..." Lumine held out her hand, pointing at Jotaro, gesturing for him to introduce himself. But he still stayed silent as usual.
*nudge*
"Jotaro Kujo."
He said a single sentence, but it was enough for an answer.
"...Doesn't sound like a local name to me."
Amber said again with a question, with her gaze now headed at Paimon.
"And this... mascot? What's the deal with it?"
"We're friends-"
"Emergency food."
Jotaro said, bluntly cutting off Lumine's words. Hearing that, Lumine froze, before the blood poured off Paimon's face.
"Hey! That's worse than being a mascot!"
Paimon pouted in discomfort, but Jotaro only looked back at this girl in confusion.
"Huh? Isn't that what the blonde woman said that herself?"
Jotaro said cryptically, before glancing back at Lumine. This caused Paimon to turn around and look at Lumine with obvious anger on his face, causing Lumine to just raise her hand and bear the agony.
"E-Ehh... Maybe I did ..."
"You are completely wrong! Why did my value didn't even equal to a mascot?!"
Paimon shouted angrily, making Lumine cover his ears in defeat, and Jotaro could only sigh at these two.
"So to sum it up, you are traveling partners, right?" Amber said, interrupting the contradiction between the traveler and 'emergency food'.
"Well look, there's been a large dragon sighted around Mondstadt recently. Best you get inside the city as soon as possible."
She reminded them, but what she received was a 'doubt' look from Paimon.
'A dragon? Is it the same dragon that we encountered?'
"Oh? Are you out of the city for some other reason?"
Paimon asked back in doubt, but Amber simply replied:
"Of course there is, but..."
"But what?"
Jotaro asked back, with some doubt. But Amber just rolled her eyes at his attitude.
"Eh, my mission was to clear a nearby Hilichurl camp, but when I got to the scene... There was nothing there, even one of them had an arrow pierced through the body."
Hearing the 'arrow pierced body' part, Lumine easily realized where the Hilichurl camp this girl was talking about was, and she just smiled a little embarrassedly.
"Yeah, it's terrible to hear you say that..." She whispered when she knew who did it.
"Besides... I'm not sure if I can trust you three just yet!" Amber began to become more 'serious' to all three of them, creating a somewhat awkward situation. Jotaro just sighed in exhaustion, before lowering his hat again.
"Really? That's a rather rude way to speak to guests." Jotaro said.
"Oh, ah... You're right. Probably not something I should say as a knight." Amber faltered a bit at Jotaro's words, as his words were true to what she was doing. "I'm sorry, uh... strange yet... respectable traveler." That apology was enough to solve this problem for them, but not to Paimon.
"That sounded so fake!" Paimon retorted the words of this girl Knight. Amber looked back at Paimon towards Paimon, her face clearly showing displeasure.
"Do you have something against the type of language usage prescribed by the Knights of Favonius Handbook?!"
Controversy broke out, and Jotaro, of course, could only sigh at these annoying people.
Timeskip.
"Ehhh..."
"Let me guess, your next line will be: What is a 'Stand'?"
"...What is a 'Stand'?"
*gasped*
Paimon was immediately startled by her own words, which strangely matched Jotaro's prediction. But in response, Jotaro just sighed and looked back at the floating girl.
"You've asked this question three times already, don't you know when to give up?" Jotaro said when he had to slow down only to hear an annoying fish hovering next to him asking the same question four times in a row.
"Hey! How could Paimon believe that some ghost would suddenly appear and threw an arrow that pierced through the chest of a Hilichurl standing at such distance?!"
Paimon spoke in understandable wonder, but Jotaro said nothing, as he explained to both Paimon and Lumine that the Stand was the embodiment of spirits based on the fighting spirit of the so-called Stand Users.
But this floating girl kept asking about how a Stand was made when that was a question he didn't have an answer to either.
And this girl had asked this question four times already, and it made Jotaro just want to summon Star Platinum and throw the little girl as far away from him as possible.
[Genshin Impact Ost - Main Theme]
"Let me officially introduce the city of the wind, dandelions, and freedom. Travelers under the protection of the Knights of the Favonius - Welcome to Mondstadt!"
She put her hand over her chest, introducing the city of Mondstadt they had gallantly entered.
"Finally, no more having to camp outdoors!"
Paimon groaned wearily, but Jotaro beside him paid no attention to them. He just turned away and took out a cigarette and a small lighter, lighting another cigarette. Smoked came out of his mouth, as he looked around the unusually orderly and deserted streets of Mondstadt.
"Sorry if I'm wrong, but it seems... the city lose its hype."
Lumine said when she just looked at it with her eyes, she could see the difference between this city and Amber's words. Hearing that, Amber just lowered her head slightly, her face a bit sad.
"Everyone's been put out of place by Stormterror recently, so it's no point in hiding it anymore."
She let out a small sigh of sadness before she regained her composure and looked back at them, in confidence.
"But everything will turn out fine as long as Jean's with us!" Amber asserted with absolute certainty in her words, as with absolute confidence in someone named 'Jean'.
"Hmm? Jean?" Lumine tilted her head slightly to the side, her eyes filled with curiosity about this person named Jean.
"Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius - Jean. Defender of Mondstadt. With Jean on our side, surely even the vicious Stormterror will be no match for us."
Her confidence seemed to make the three of them forget about the gloomy atmosphere of this city. After a while of silence, Amber seemed to realize she forgot something.
"Before I take you guys to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters, I have a present to give you, Lumine, as an apology for the incident earlier."
Amber said, eager to get something out of her back. Both Lumine and Paimon were curious about this strange item, but especially Paimon since this little girl had no name on the recipient.
"H-Hey! Why don't Jotaro and Paimon have a part?"
"
Paimon pouted like a child, but the Detective Knight only chuckled back at Paimon's overreaction.
"Um... Because this reward is useless to you, Paimon. But I'll treat you to a Mondstadt delicacy: Sticky Honey Roast."
This tempting invitation calmed the irritated Paimon, making her shake her body eagerly.
"Sticky Honey Roast!"
"Huff..."
Jotaro blew out a small puff of smoke from his mouth, looking back at the blue sky high in the sky, in a confused understanding of the many things present around him.
Classical building architecture, magical powers, dragons, and... 'emergency food'.
Well, his Stand is already a magical thing. But what he saw was a different story, when the other things should only come from works of fiction.
"Good freaking grief..."
That's his catchphrase, every time he gets tired of something. And this time, it is no exception.