"Rowan, you're amazing! You beat that big hilichurl so easily!"
"Clap clap clap!"
Watching the Stonehide Lawachurl get defeated so effortlessly, little Klee enthusiastically applauded.
Rowan folded his arms across his chest and bragged smugly.
"Of course. Who do you think I am? I'm Mondstadt's Knight King."
"I'm not some nobody with an empty title."
As he spoke, the few Skyward-series weapons lying on the ground turned into streaks of golden light and vanished.
It wasn't because those things had been used up and dispersed—it was because the weapons had returned to King's Treasury.
The weapons projected by King's Treasury would automatically be reclaimed.
With just a thought from Rowan, even if an enemy managed to grab one, it would still dissipate.
Not to mention that inside King's Treasury, only a few weapons were genuine.
The rest were all projections Rowan created himself, so naturally the control over them was in his hands.
"Alright. The obstruction is gone."
"Klee, check the area for clues. Who took the chest?"
Rowan only bragged for a moment, then stopped caring about it.
It was just a Stonehide Lawachurl.
He'd fought that thing countless times in the game—there was nothing satisfying about it.
If one day he could pin Il Dottore, that dog, to the ground and hammer him… then maybe Rowan would feel a sense of achievement.
But hilichurls? Forget it.
As the game went on, Rowan found it harder and harder to bring himself to attack hilichurls.
There was no helping it—back then, too many innocent Khaenri'ah civilians had been cursed into hilichurls.
Those people were innocent. They didn't know about Irmin and the Five Sinners' plan.
But because of those crimes, all of Khaenri'ah ended up cursed.
So whenever Rowan searched for treasure chests in the wild, he tried not to attack hilichurls.
Because honestly… it hurt his conscience.
The more you knew, the more guilty you felt when killing hilichurls.
Now he didn't need any breakthrough materials anymore. There was no point killing them just for a moment of satisfaction.
As for the Knights of Favonius clearing out hilichurls, that had nothing to do with him.
That was the Knights' job—what did it have to do with Rowan?
Rowan had a conscience… just not that much of one.
"Okay, Rowan! I'll take a look!"
The moment she heard she needed to find clues, Klee perked up and started exploring inside the dug-out pit.
Not long after, once Lumine and Paimon realized the Stonehide Lawachurl wasn't chasing them anymore, they quietly returned.
When they saw the materials dropped after the Lawachurl's defeat, they were immediately shocked.
"You beat the Stonehide Lawachurl?"
"No way—don't tell me Klee did it?"
Paimon flew over in surprise, circled Rowan twice, then shook her head—Rowan didn't look like a powerhouse at all.
The way he looked, he was just like Venti: not the fighting type.
Then she looked toward Klee, who was still searching for clues, and asked.
Lumine, however, held a different opinion.
Just now, she hadn't heard Klee's signature explosion at all.
Which meant the Stonehide Lawachurl had been taken out silently.
And on the scene, besides Klee… there was only Rowan.
Did that even need to be said?
Was there anyone else here besides him?
"…You did it?"
Lumine's gaze turned a little complicated as she looked at Rowan.
She hadn't expected Rowan to be this strong.
After arriving in Mondstadt, she'd heard plenty of rumors about how strong Rowan was.
But rumors were rumors—she treated them like jokes.
Seeing is believing; hearing is unreliable.
Lumine understood that well—especially after she learned Venti was the Anemo Archon.
The Anemo Archon in legends was wise and great: guiding Vanessa to overthrow the old nobility, fighting the dragon Durin five hundred years ago…
All of it sounded so noble and magnificent.
But then you looked at Venti in reality, and… he was just a drunkard.
If you told people he was the Anemo Archon, ninety-nine percent of Mondstadt wouldn't believe you.
So before she saw Rowan's strength with her own eyes, there was no way she'd acknowledge it.
But now, a Stonehide Lawachurl she couldn't easily deal with… had been solved by Rowan, silently, just like that…
Rowan's strength spoke for itself.
"What, hard to believe?"
"I'm Mondstadt's Knight King. If I didn't have combat power, do you think they'd accept me?"
"To me, strength is authority. Without strength, do you think I could rule Mondstadt just because the Anemo Archon appointed me?"
"You're overthinking it. Before you prove your worth and ability, plenty of people would smile to your face and disobey behind your back."
Hearing the implication in Lumine's words, Rowan couldn't help reaching out and giving her a head-pat.
Lumine rolled her eyes and tried to pull away, but then she realized she couldn't break free at all.
Only then did she understand—Rowan was doing it on purpose.
As the Traveler, her strongest point right now was physical strength, because her special abilities had disappeared.
But her combat experience and physical conditioning hadn't changed.
That was also why she dared to roam and fight in Mondstadt's wilderness alone.
Even with her physique, taking on a Stonehide Lawachurl one-on-one wasn't a problem.
The reason she ran earlier was because her elemental power wasn't enough to break through the Geo elemental strength covering its body.
And she didn't want to stand there holding a trash weapon and do gua sha on it.
So the best option was to retreat.
If she had a couple five-star weapons in hand, forget gua sha—
She'd have cleaned it up in minutes.
Running?
What even is running?
Too bad, right now, she only had a three-star blue weapon.
Forget gua sha—she couldn't even break its defense.
And now she was pinned by Rowan so thoroughly she couldn't move.
From that alone, Rowan's physique already surpassed hers.
And with both of them being transmigrators, how could Rowan not have something special?
"Alright, alright, I get it."
"Can you let go of me now?"
Lumine said it in a "fine, whatever" tone.
That left Paimon on the side staring in confusion.
What was going on?
What was Lumine even talking about?
(End of Chapter)
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