The Knights of Favonius Headquarters.
As one of Mondstadt's greatest powers, the Knights of Favonius occupied the best location in the city, second only to the Cathedral. Their base was a three story stone fortress with an underground library and a loft at the very top. Inside Mondstadt, there was no second building like it other than the church.
Jensen had never officially joined the Knights, but he was someone who had received a Favonius Sword personally approved and issued by both the Grand Master and the Church. Inside the Order, his reputation was actually quite considerable.
"Jensen?"
"Do you need any assistance from the Knights of Favonius today?"
The two knights standing guard at the entrance greeted him warmly.
"Is Kaeya in?" Jensen asked.
"You are looking for Captain Kaeya?"
"He is here. He should be in the main hall on the first floor talking with Wood."
The two knights answered, placing their hands over their chests in salute as they stepped aside to let him pass.
On the first floor, in the main hall.
Kaeya stood with his arms folded, leaning casually against the wall as he chatted with Wood, the knight responsible for watching over the confinement room.
On the surface, Kaeya was the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius. He had distinctive navy blue hair, cut short, and dark skin. He wore a white shirt open at the chest under a blue outer coat, with a pale blue cloak draped over his shoulders. His Vision hung at his brown belt, and his lower half was clad in black pants and high boots.
No matter how one looked at him, there was a lazy, roguish air clinging to him.
For the girls of Mondstadt, a dashing Cavalry Captain like this was more than qualified to be the man of their dreams. In terms of popularity, perhaps only the wealthy Diluc could overshadow him by a bit.
"Lord Who Crosses the Frozen Sea!"
Jensen raised a hand in greeting.
Since he was facing the door, Kaeya spotted him the moment he stepped inside.
"Jensen, I have asked you so many times, please do not call me by that nickname."
Kaeya brushed his bangs back and covered his forehead with one hand. "Besides, why am I the only one who gets a nickname personally bestowed by Jensen? Should that honor not go to Acting Grand Master Jean first? A small fry like me is hardly worthy."
Even that gesture of flicking his hair would have been lethal, if there had been any Mondstadt girls watching.
"To think you would call yourself a small fry. That is so very like you."
Jensen laughed.
He exchanged a brief greeting with Wood, who stood nearby.
"Klee is in there again?"
Jensen asked.
If she was not, Wood usually did not have to stand guard at the confinement room door.
"Acting Grand Master Jean locked her in. Apparently she was bombing fish again," Wood replied, his expression twisting in pain.
All the fish in Mondstadt's rivers and lakes were public property, belonging to the citizens as a whole. They were not to be harmed without due cause, that rule was clearly written in the Knights' code.
But if Klee wanted to test her bombs, she could not blow up mountains or cliffs. What would they do if a forest fire broke out?
So the bombs always ended up getting thrown into the water.
Then the problem followed naturally, there were always fish in the water.
Which meant Klee was always breaking that particular rule.
Wood was just as desperate as the fish. He did not want to stand guard outside the confinement room every single day, and he had to live with the constant worry that Klee might conduct some dangerous experiment in there. If there was suddenly a loud boom and the entire Knights' headquarters went up in smoke, what then?
"I will talk to Jean later. I will take Klee out to play for a while," Jensen said.
Now that Lumine had arrived in Mondstadt, the training plan he had shelved for an entire year could finally begin.
"Uuu, I am so moved," Wood sniffled.
Jensen silently took one step farther away from him.
"So, Jensen came to the Knights just for this?" Kaeya asked with a smile.
"Of course not, I came specifically to find you."
"Oh?"
Kaeya raised his brows in mild surprise and placed a hand over his chest in a knight's salute. "To be of use to Mondstadt's pride is an honor for me."
"You can save those pretty flattery lines," Jensen said dryly, getting straight to the point. "I am here to ask the Knights to help evacuate Mondstadt's citizens."
"Evacuate the citizens?"
Kaeya looked at him, puzzled.
According to his information network, there had been no sign recently of the Abyss Order preparing for a large scale assault, nor any indication that the Fatui were about to make a move.
"If nothing unexpected happens, Stormterror should be coming," Jensen said seriously.
"Does Jensen have eyes and ears somewhere?"
That was Kaeya's first reaction.
"Do you think an informant can be faster than Stormterror in the sky?"
"Also true."
Kaeya fell silent for a moment. "But does Jensen have any basis for this? If we mobilize everyone for no convincing reason, the Knights can just obey the order, but Mondstadt's citizens will definitely be unhappy."
The Knights acted under command, so lower ranking knights did not need a reason.
The people of Mondstadt, however, would need an explanation.
Kaeya himself was also very curious what Jensen was basing this on.
Jensen could hardly tell him the truth, that the increasingly irritable Stormterror would finally lose control and attack the city.
He stretched out his hand, and a swirl of Anemo gathered in his palm.
"The wind," Jensen said. "The wind's direction."
...
"Dun dun dun dun!"
"Here it is, this is the one, the Wind Glider!"
At the plaza of the Anemo Archon statue, Amber held up the glider she had brought and presented it proudly in front of Lumine and Paimon.
"With this, Outriders can operate in the skies, and Mondstadt's citizens love using it too."
"I asked you to come here so you can experience just how great it is," Amber explained, full of enthusiasm.
"That is the tone of someone passionately recommending a product," Paimon clapped.
"Of course. After all, the wind is the soul of Mondstadt," Amber said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"The wind, huh..."
Lumine fastened the Wind Glider to her back and reached a hand out, feeling the breeze flowing in from the high mountains beyond Cider Lake. She murmured softly to herself.
"Pay attention to the wind, huh?"