"Rowan-nii, do you want fish?"
"Klee can help you blow up fish!"
Just as Rowan kept lazily fishing, a small, fire-red blur barreled into him from behind and dove straight into his arms, rubbing her cheek against his chest with kittenish enthusiasm.
Mondstadt's strongest combatant and most notorious escape artist—the Little Sun herself, Klee.
Ever since the Knights of Favonius headquarters started its renovations, Klee's solitary confinement room had been scrapped. On top of that, Seamus had slashed Jean's office hours, giving her more time to look after Klee. With that, "solitary" lost its point—and Klee finally had someone to play with.
The moment she learned Rowan was the one who'd pushed these changes, her affection for him shot through the roof. Every time she spotted him, she'd pounce—wanting to play games or go "blast-fishing."
Jean being freer didn't change Klee's love of blasting and eating fish. If anything, she felt more justified with Jean supervising: if someone's watching, she won't hurt anyone—so she could indulge without guilt. Not as wildly as before, sure, but Klee wasn't sad—in fact, she was delighted.
It proved a simple truth: what children need most is company.
Alice had no time to accompany her—protecting Teyvat came first. Now, at last, there were people by Klee's side. Especially Rowan. As a transmigrator who adored the game's precious daughter, he couldn't bring himself to refuse her. If he wasn't swamped, he'd go with her—blast fish, grill fish, wander the city, grab snacks.
More doting than her own dad—enough that Jean sometimes wondered if Rowan was Klee's long-lost father.
That fantasy, however, got shot down by the previous generation's Frederica and Seamus. They'd met the real one. He was a Mondstadter, not a traveler like Alice—so Rowan couldn't be him.
Today, Klee had dragged Rowan out to fish. First cast—he hauled up a treasure chest. Money only. No fish.
Fishermen are mysterious; they haul up everything except fish.
With Golden Rule on his side, he couldn't go home empty-handed—but the odds of catching actual fish plummeted. Unless there were fish made of gold… did those even exist?
"No need. I'm just fishing for fun."
"Klee, are you hungry?"
Rowan ruffled her hair and glanced down.
"Umm… a little." Klee rubbed her tummy, then peeked at the empty bucket. Half a bucket of water, not a single fish. After half an hour? If it were Klee's blast-fishing, Cider Lake might be missing by now. Such is the confidence of Mondstadt's munitions chief.
"Then let's head back to the city. I'll take you to Good Hunter for lunch. It's almost noon."
Yes, he checked a wristwatch. These last few days he hadn't just lazed around the palace. He'd swept Mondstadt's wilds clean—most of the treasure chests were done. He'd noticed something: chests seemed to reset after a while. But the system's one-time rewards didn't—open them again and the system paid nothing. Stingy.
Even so, Golden Rule kept paying out. He'd picked up several Noble Phantasms and quite a few thaumaturgical mystic codes.
Three headliners:
• Naito obu Ōnā (Knight of Owner)
— Imbues whatever you wield with the properties of a Noble Phantasm and lets you command it.
— Anything that can be recognized as a "weapon" (tree trunk, street lamp) becomes at least Rank D.
— Ownership doesn't matter—you can make another's treasure your own. Lancelot once used this to snatch several items from Gilgamesh's King's Treasure to counter his barrage.
• Tōei Majutsu (Projection Magecraft)
— Replicates real objects through magical "mirroring." The copy's strength depends on the caster's conceptual understanding.
• Ō no Gōhō (King's Signal Cannon)
— A long-range bombardment launched from the ramparts of Uruk; not only Gilgamesh, but the people of that age combine their might for a staggering strike.
Each had its merits, though the last was… underwhelming. The first two, though—fantastic. Especially Tōei Majutsu.
With it, Rowan's Excalibur (Sword of Promised Victory) was now effectively "Noble Phantasm on demand." However he wanted it, he could make it.
Better still, his Tōei Majutsu came without shackles: he could project anything he wanted. In plain terms, it was close to the Herrscher of Reason's authority—except his projections hit at roughly half the prototype's power. The system had "remixed" the usual Projection flaw; the new version let him create what he liked and stash it like Archer (EMIYA) did in his Reality Marble—though Rowan stored his in the King's Treasure instead.
There was one catch: cost.
The stronger the weapon or equipment he projected, the more mana it guzzled. With his current reserves, he'd tried to project Enuma Elish—the biggest trump card aligned with the King's Treasure—and nearly drained himself dry, barely managing a single blade.
Absurd.
Still, even a fifty-percent Ea would be more than enough to vaporize Teyvat. Not a bad place to be.
(End of Chapter)
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