"What? Do I need to greet you whenever I want to go somewhere?"
"No, no. It's just... I didn't expect to run into you here, and without little Klee around, ahaha~ ahaha~"
Amber smiled somewhat reluctantly. She had initially thought they were outsiders from another place, but she didn't expect one of them to be someone she had met before and who had left a strong impression on her.
With Durandal's personality, even Amber didn't know how to approach her. She was quite popular with Children in Mondstadt City, so why didn't it work with Durandal?
"Klee? Is Klee in the city? I haven't seen her recently, what happened?"
"Little Klee, a while ago when Acting Grand Master Jean had her in solitary confinement, she accidentally blew up the wall of the confinement room while researching bombs. Now, Acting Grand Master Jean has punished her by making her repair the wall with Noelle."
At that time, she was still greeting people she knew in Mondstadt City when she heard an explosion from the direction of the Knights of Favonius. She thought it was an enemy raid on the Knights of Favonius.
But when she rushed over, she found the blown-out wall, Klee with her head bowed nearby, and Jean with a soot-covered face.
She knew what had happened without needing to think. That day, when she returned after her mission, she heard the news that Jean had Klee repair the wall with Noelle.
According to Jean, doing so was to make Klee understand that such actions were wrong and would cause trouble for others.
If Klee dared to do such a thing again in the future, the next punishment would not be so light.
"Um~" Paimon interrupted Amber, who was about to say something else, "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but we're still here. Did you want to ask us something earlier?"
"Ah! I'm sorry, I almost forgot about you. Ahaha~ But, what are you?"
Amber had never seen such a magical existence as Paimon before. She could float freely in the air, and her body was so small. What was her race?
"How rude! Paimon isn't a 'what'! No, Paimon is a 'what'. No, Paimon isn't a 'what'. Ah, no. This... that... Ahhh!!! So annoying!"
No matter what she said, it didn't sound right. A conflicted Paimon grabbed her head and shouted, a scene that made Lumine and Amber burst out laughing.
Although everything about her was suspicious, it had to be said that Paimon was still very cute. Her actions just now dispelled her suspicion of Paimon.
If she were a bad person, then this bad person would be too stupid. With such intelligence, she probably couldn't deceive anyone.
"Hello, I'm Lumine. I plan to travel through the Seven Nations. Nice to meet you."
"Oh! I'm Amber! Reconnaissance Knight of the Knights of Favonius. Hello, Lumine. You're the Traveler, so what is she?"
Lumine glanced at Paimon, recalling the trouble Paimon had caused her during this time. Under Paimon's expectant gaze, she said, "She's my emergency food."
"That's not true! Why do you always introduce me as food when you introduce me to others?! Paimon isn't delicious at all!"
She had already caused Durandal to misunderstand her as a mascot before, and now she was planning to make others think she was food too?
"Cough! Cough! Anyway, you two have a good relationship."
Being able to joke like that was enough to prove the relationship between Paimon and Lumine. Although she didn't know how they met Durandal, she could be sure they weren't dangerous.
"Never mind, if you want to enter the city, go ahead. I originally wanted to escort you in, but because I have a mission, I can't go in with you. Just give my name, and the guard Knights will let you in."
"A mission? What are you going to do?" Paimon asked curiously.
"A Hilichurl camp was recently discovered nearby. To prevent that camp from growing and causing trouble for passing merchants, I need to go and clear it out."
"A Hilichurl... camp?"
Paimon and Lumine looked at each other and asked, "Is there a treasure chest in that camp you're going to?"
"A treasure chest? I don't know. What's wrong? Why ask that question?"
"Because on the way here, she already eliminated all the Hilichurl camps along the way and opened all the boxes in those camps."
Durandal, who had been silent, couldn't help but step forward and pat Lumine's arm, saying, "The Hilichurls nearby should be mostly cleared out, so you don't need to go."
Amber made a very interesting expression, looking at Lumine in bewilderment. She hadn't expected such a slender girl to have such great combat power; she felt a bit like Noelle.
"You cleared out all those Hilichurl camps?"
"Not all, but the camps with treasure chests have basically all been visited."
Even though she hadn't done any work, Paimon looked very proud, hands on her hips, and said, "How about it? Isn't the Traveler amazing?"
"Indeed, very amazing. One person completed a task that would take the Knights of Favonius a long time to finish."
Amber nodded and asked curiously, "Can you tell me what you were doing when Lumine was fighting the Hilichurls?"
"Hmm? I... I, of course, I was cheering on the Traveler!"
"Oh, I see. You didn't do anything, right?"
Simply put, she was hiding behind and shouting "666," not playing any role at all.
Paimon was so angry at Amber's summary that she wanted to retort, but she found that Amber's statement seemed to have no problem at all, because she was just hiding behind and watching, doing nothing.
After this conversation, Amber's relationship with Lumine and Paimon became much closer. Since Lumine had already helped her deal with the Hilichurls, she could now escort them into Mondstadt City.
"Since someone is already guiding you, I won't go with you."
In front of the large bridge leading to Mondstadt City, Durandal looked at Lumine and Paimon and said, "I still have things to do, so this is where we part ways."
"Okay! Thank you, Durandal. Next time we meet, we'll treat you to something delicious. You must come!"
...Hmm.
The three watched Durandal gradually walk away. Amber couldn't help but say, "I didn't expect you two to become friends with her. I thought she only liked little Klee."
"What? From your tone, Durandal seems hard to get along with?" Paimon asked, puzzled.
"How to put it? She's just a bit unapproachable."
Amber scratched her head: "My first meeting with her was in the wild. At that time, she was with little Klee. When I was about to talk to her, she glared at me."
"Glared at you?" Paimon pressed.
"She just looked at me with her eyes, even though it was the same expression as just now, I felt like she was glaring at me."
How long had it been since she had been looked at with such eyes? She remembered the last time she was stared at like that was when she was very young. She didn't expect that even as a Knight now, she would still be looked at with those kinds of eyes.
"Did you do something bad? I think Durandal is quite friendly, it's just that she lacks some common sense."
Lacks common sense? Amber rubbed her head, not quite understanding what that meant.
"I didn't do anything; it's just that little Klee was sleeping on her shoulder at the time. I was going to say hello, but she gave me a look, warning me not to speak loudly."
"Then that's your problem. Although I don't know who this little Klee you mentioned is, she obviously didn't want you to disturb little Klee's sleep, which is why she glared at you. It has nothing to do with her; it's entirely your problem."
"Boo hoo~ That's true, but her gaze is so scary, so I'm a bit afraid to approach her."
Amber also understood that it was her problem, but she was so scared by that gaze that she didn't know how to interact with her.
"Does she live in Mondstadt City?" Lumine suddenly asked.
"Eh? Hmm~ Probably not. I basically know all the residents who live here, but I've never seen her in Mondstadt City, nor have I heard of anyone who knows her."
Ever since she last saw Durandal, Amber had been inquiring about Durandal's information in Mondstadt City, only to find that Durandal did not live in Mondstadt City.
This was strange. Could she be a resident of Springvale? But she was dressed so elegantly; if she lived in Springvale, she should be very famous, but she had never heard any rumors about her.
"Doesn't she live in Mondstadt City?"
"Hmm, but she and Klee often appear around Cape Oath. If you want to find her, you can try your luck at Cape Oath; you should be able to see her."
Lumine and Paimon looked at each other. They had originally thought Durandal was a resident of Mondstadt City, so they could see her during their daily activities.
They hadn't expected her not to live here, which was a bit of a pity. Could their agreement to eat together not be fulfilled?
"There will be a chance."
Paimon said with a smile, "We've already agreed, and Durandal has accepted our invitation. I believe Durandal won't break her promise."
Lumine thought for a moment and nodded. She also felt that Durandal wouldn't lie. Although they might not see her often, Durandal might come to find them at some point.
"Alright, let's not stand here. Come in quickly. Today, I'll be your guide and introduce you to the City of Wind and Dandelions' Pastoral Song. Welcome to Mondstadt City."
Amber walked ahead as a guide, enthusiastically introducing things about Mondstadt to them. Paimon listened curiously, while Lumine walked behind, silently looking at the place where Durandal had left.
"We'll meet again."
Durandal, who had returned to Cape Oath, felt something and looked towards Mondstadt City. They should be entering the city by now, right?
She wondered if they would ever meet again. They probably wouldn't stay in Mondstadt City for too long, so perhaps this parting meant they would never see each other again.
She had finally met a human who interested her. Although it was a bit regrettable, this was her fate.
Shaking her head with some regret, she then turned her gaze back to Venti, who was pinned beneath her.
"Did you hear everything I just told you?"
"I heard it, I heard it! Let me go, quickly let me go! My arm is about to break, my arm is about to break!"
Like in a wrestling match, Venti kept tapping the ground, signaling her surrender and asking to be released quickly.
At Venti's plea, Durandal released her before Venti's arm twisted into a strange position.
"Honestly, I was just greeting you, and you pinned me to the ground. That's so rude."
"It's because of your strange actions. It's one thing to greet me like that normally, but why did you touch my body?"
Normally, Venti was clingy but wouldn't do anything strange. This time, when she leaned in, she put both hands on her Slime when Durandal wasn't paying attention.
She didn't understand the meaning of this action, nor did she understand the feeling in her heart, but her body reacted automatically. She grabbed Venti's right hand and pinned her to the ground.
Venti was a bit embarrassed: "That's something people with a good relationship do. It's precisely because my relationship with Durandal is good that I would do such a thing to you."
"Really?" Durandal asked suspiciously.
"Of course, how could I lie to you?"
Although she didn't understand what Venti was up to, she would just assume it was that for now.
Do people with good relationships do such things? Humans are really strange. What's so good about touching there?
Looking at her slightly rising and falling chest, Durandal tilted her head. Even though she had maintained this body for thousands of years, there were still many things she hadn't figured out.