It must be said, Durandal underestimated Lumine's obsession with Primogems.
Every day after finishing her business at the Adventurers' Guild, this person would come to her, asking if she had anything for her to do.
Durandal couldn't resist the expectant look in this person's eyes, so she would casually give her a few things to do. Each time, she would complete them within half an hour, earning ten Primogems from her.
It really is useful, this thing. Durandal pondered the number of Primogems she still had. At the current rate, she probably wouldn't run out even if she worked for her for several hundred years.
Every time she saw Lumine's excitement after obtaining Primogems, she would also take some time to research whether there was anything she didn't understand about Primogems.
But no matter how much she researched, she couldn't find what was contained within. Perhaps it was a difference in power systems. Although her power was among the strongest on this continent, asking her to research the contents within was a bit too difficult.
One day, Durandal uncharacteristically had no patients. Using this free time, she decided to go out for a walk.
Normally, she was either healing people in Mondstadt or with Klee and Lumine. This time, she wanted to be alone and decided to go somewhere remote.
The nearby Stormterror's Lair looked quite nice, but that was Dvalin's territory. If she appeared there, he would surely misunderstand, so she went to a distant place in Mondstadt—Dragonspine.
Due to perennial snow, the temperature here is very low, and ordinary people cannot stay here for long without wearing warm clothing.
Like Lumine, for example, Durandal had never seen her change out of her usual outfit, other than the one she was wearing.
Hmm? You say Durandal also always wears this Gothic Lolita style dress? Please, she's a God. The dress she wears can be said to be an extension of her body, it's part of her.
As long as she wills it, a single thought can remove all impurities from her clothes. Can Lumine do that? She can't, right?
It was Durandal's first time coming to Dragonspine. Everything here was unfamiliar to her, and it was also her first time touching snow.
Due to her constitution, she was unaffected by the cold and could freely walk in all parts of Dragonspine.
Even the path to the summit was walkable, although the way up was obstructed by a certain power. But this couldn't hinder her, and there was nothing for her to do up there anyway, so she might as well walk around below.
She had originally thought this place would be desolate, but unexpectedly, there were quite a few people. Besides the Adventurer teams camped at the foot of the mountain, she occasionally saw Treasure Hoarders and members of the Fatui stationed there.
The presence of the Fatui here meant that there must be something in Dragonspine that they were after. Based on what Durandal knew, the only conclusion she could draw was Stormterror Durin, who had once died here.
The facts proved her conjecture correct. She did indeed find a gigantic skeleton in certain places, and in a hidden location near the skeleton, she found a heart.
That heart was undoubtedly Stormterror Durin's. Although so many years had passed since he died, his heart still maintained strong vitality, and the power he left behind continued to influence Dragonspine.
"Durin's heart..."
Durandal reached out to touch the heart. The moment she touched it, she felt a power attempting to flow into her body.
It was a life force, but this life force contained an ominous aura. If ordinary humans ingested this life force, their bodies would undergo changes.
Durandal was not clear what effect this vitality would have on ordinary people, but it belonged to a type of [Poison], so it could become a part of her body.
If she absorbed all the vitality from the heart, this hidden time bomb would not detonate at some point in the future, right?
But she couldn't do that. She could change some things slightly, but she couldn't delve too deeply into any event. This was her agreement with the Heavenly Principles; no matter what, she had to abide by this contract.
She would gladly accept this vitality. She would likely use this power in the future, but for now, she would set it aside and see how things developed.
Leaving Wyrmrest Valley, Durandal walked towards the other side of Dragonspine, in the direction of the sea.
There was a lake nearby, and this lake was not frozen, though its temperature was certainly very low. An ordinary person entering this lake would surely be frozen stiff.
But to Durandal's surprise, she saw someone soaking in the lake, bathing naturally, as if the water temperature was normal, making one wonder how she endured it.
Upon closer inspection, the person taking an ice bath was Eula, whom she had met a while ago. She seemed to notice Durandal's gaze and looked over with a serious expression.
Only after seeing that the person by the lake was Durandal did she breathe a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't a man, everything was fine.
Eula just couldn't understand why Durandal would appear here. Dragonspine was not a place ordinary people would come to. What was she doing here?
With someone nearby, Eula no longer felt like continuing her bath. She emerged from the lake, changed her clothes, and approached Durandal.
Facing Durandal's gaze, she coughed lightly a few times and asked, "What are you doing in Dragonspine? This isn't a place ordinary people come to; it's very dangerous."
"Do you think I'm an ordinary person?" Durandal retorted.
Uh... Eula was stumped. Thinking about it carefully, Durandal didn't seem to fall into the category of a normal person. Her peculiar abilities didn't seem like something a normal person would possess.
Although she hadn't seen Durandal fight, it was clear from her unruffled state that she hadn't encountered any trouble.
"What are you doing here again?"
"Me? I received intelligence and specifically came here to investigate. Due to my constitution, I can delve deep into Dragonspine quite well. As for what I'm doing, it's a mission, and I can't tell you."
Eula regarded Durandal as an ordinary citizen. This matter was a mission for the Knights of Favonius, and she didn't want to involve unrelated people.
"Cough! Cough! You still haven't told me, what are you doing in Dragonspine?"
"I wanted to find a place where no one was around to stay for a bit. I hadn't been here before, so I came to take a look."
Durandal sat down on a tree stump nearby: "I just didn't expect it to be livelier here than I imagined. Hilichurls, Fatui, and some other things. I'm afraid even if I climb to the top of Dragonspine, I won't find a quiet place."
Eula looked at Durandal. She... seemed different from the other people in the city. Although she was bothered by members of the Lawrence Clan last time, she didn't show any aversion towards herself, who was also a member of the Lawrence Clan.
She... should be approachable. She shouldn't reject her like the other residents in the city.
Thinking this, Eula's pupils flickered. She had originally planned to leave but suddenly wanted to have a good chat with Durandal.
"I see. That's true, many people have been looking for you recently, haven't they? Because you can cure those difficult-to-treat diseases, many people have come to find you."
Eula sat down on another tree stump and said, "Your matter has spread to other countries. I heard that some people have already contacted Jean, wanting you to go to other countries to treat their people."
In the past few days, Durandal had basically resolved the issues within Mondstadt, with only patients from other countries yet to be dealt with.
Those people had set their sights on Durandal's ability and hoped that the Knights of Favonius could help them arrange for Durandal to go to their countries to handle such matters.
"No interest," Durandal said without hesitation. "No one can force me to do anything. If they really want to see me, then they should come in person. I owe them nothing, and they shouldn't even think about forcing me to do things."
Upon hearing this, Eula couldn't help but look at Durandal a few more times. She had originally thought Durandal was a kind girl. After learning about this, even if she had affection for Mondstadt, she would probably hesitate whether to go. She didn't expect her to be so decisive.
Thinking carefully, Durandal's words were not wrong. She owed no one anything, and her helping others was out of kindness. No one could threaten her or force her to do anything.
"Your idea is not wrong, but some people are already too ill to move. It's unrealistic to ask them to travel all the way to Mondstadt. What if you encounter someone who absolutely requires you to go?"
"Then I won't save them. They are already at their wits' end. There's no way to cure them anyway, and who can guarantee that my intervention will definitely cure that person? I imagine that when those people come to me, they probably don't really believe I can do it. Since they don't trust me, why should I do such a thankless thing?"
"What if they resort to force?"
"Then let a few more people who were supposed to die join them. Anyway, dying alone is a bit lonely, so having a few more people to accompany him would be a good thing for him."
The killing intent in her tone made Eula look at Durandal in surprise. She became increasingly certain that Durandal was no ordinary person.
At least, such killing intent could never be displayed by a girl like her. She probably had an identity that Eula didn't know about.
"We've been talking about my affairs all this time. Can we talk about yours now?"
Durandal looked at Eula and said, "When you took away that person who kept claiming to be from the Lawrence Clan, that person said you were also the last descendant of the Lawrence Clan, and other residents' evaluations of you were also very bad. What's going on?"
Durandal voiced her confusion: "You are different from that person. You are also a member of the Knights of Favonius. As someone who protects Mondstadt, you should be respected. But they reject you and dislike you. Why is that?"
Eula fell silent. She wasn't very keen on answering this question. She had told her so many things earlier, so she couldn't refuse to answer just because it touched on privacy.
Moreover, the reasons behind it were no longer a secret.
"Because... I am the last descendant of the Lawrence Clan, a descendant of Sinners."