The grand square in front of the Church of Favonius.
Everyone had finished offering flowers to Lord Barbatos and making their wishes.
Just then, someone flew past overhead using Wind Gliders, like a giant graceful bird.
Xiangling looked up at the huge stone statue of the girl and whispered, "You guys don't know this, but you can actually climb up on that statue."
Everyone was surprised. "Climb up?"
Xiangling pointed at the giant folds of the statue's dress. "Right there — you can climb all the way up. Last year when I came to Mondstadt, I saw a bard in green clothes sitting in the statue's palm playing a lyre."
Chi Yu sounded doubtful. "Isn't that basically desecrating a holy statue? Didn't the Anemo Archon's worshippers beat him up or something?"
Xiangling shook her head. "Actually, everyone seemed fine with it — they thought he played beautifully and even clapped for him."
Diona was deep in thought. "Green clothes… bard… lyre…"
Why did this sound so familiar? Like she'd seen that person before…
Charlotte's eyes sparkled. "Why don't we climb up there too? The view must be incredible, and I could get some amazing photos with my Kamera!"
Mona quietly observed the nearby crowd and said, "We probably shouldn't. We're visitors after all… it'd make things awkward for Acting Grand Master Jean…"
Charlotte thought about it and let go of the idea. "You're right. If some foreign tourist tried to swim in the Fountain of Lucine in Fontaine, I'd call the guards on them too… such a shame… I really wanted some high-angle shots…"
Xiangling pointed elsewhere. "Then how about climbing up that windmill over there?"
Charlotte actually perked up. "That sounds like a great idea."
Xia Zhi couldn't help but laugh. "No need — I have a better way."
Charlotte turned to him right away. "Mr. Xia, what's your idea?"
Xia Zhi said, "Actually, I'm planning to make a few Wind Gliders."
The girls' eyes lit up. "Wind Gliders?!"
Xia Zhi nodded. "Didn't Amber mention by the campfire last night that there'll be a gliding competition during the Windblume Festival? Would you be interested in taking part?"
The livelier girls immediately cheered.
"Yes!"
"But even if we get the Wind Gliders, don't we still need a gliding license? Not sure if we'd have time to get one…"
"Let's go ask Amber later — she has a Wind Glider and knows all about this stuff!"
"Good idea!"
"Oh, and what's the prize if you win the competition?"
Xiangling thought for a moment. "I heard Amber say every time she wins, she gets some Mora and a gliding champion badge."
"That's it?"
"That's it…"
The girls felt rather underwhelmed.
After all, apart from Mona, who needed money to buy astrology tools, no one else really had much use for Mora.
Besides, food and lodging were all covered by the boss anyway.
As for the champion badge, it wasn't nearly as pretty as one of the stones the boss casually carved.
Xia Ci looked at Xia Zhi and said, "Cousin, why don't you do what you did with the Mahjong Tournament in Liyue and sweeten the prize a bit?"
Xia Zhi considered it. "Sure — how about this: whoever wins the Windblume competition this time will get a treasure chest?"
"A treasure chest?"
"Yeah, like those year-end bonus chests I gave you during Lunar New Year."
"!"
Charlotte's eyes lit up.
Come on, those were the chests that once produced a super long-range telescope!
Even if her own luck was terrible, she could have Miss Ganyu open it for her — with her incredible luck, she'd definitely pull something amazing!
Then she could mount that telescope on her Kamera and snap photos of Lady Furina in Mondstadt!
Say no more!
This time, she was going to win that gliding championship for sure!
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It wasn't just Charlotte who got excited.
The other girls were also clearly interested in what Xia Zhi had just said.
Because he hadn't mentioned only the gliding competition — he'd said "this year's Windblume Festival contests."
Which meant that during the Windblume Festival, if they won any other competition, they could also get one of those amazing treasure chests.
For example, the archery competition.
Diona used a bow as her main weapon, and she'd grown up hunting in the mountains with her father. Combined with the precision granted by the ancient bloodline of the Katzlein family, she had a pretty good shot at winning.
There was also Ganyu, who used a bow as well.
Even though she hadn't seriously drawn a bow in years, at her high level of skill, competing in something like this was basically bullying.
There was the poetry contest, the musical contest, the singing contest, the drinking contest…
There was even an eating contest, which Guoba and Xia Lin could both definitely join.
The girls began to discuss these possibilities with enthusiasm.
Xia Zhi smiled, gently holding Xia Lin's hand as they strolled along the plaza's corridor, eventually reaching the steps to the left where they'd come up earlier.
"Boss, shall we head down?"
"Mm, we're staying at the Church of Favonius anyway, and this big square is on our path every day, so no need to linger — let's go explore Mondstadt's streets a bit."
"Okay!"
They went down the steps.
As they passed the corner by the Knights of Favonius headquarters, a stranger walked straight toward them, waving with a bright smile.
"Good morning, everyone!"
The young man had slightly tanned skin, short indigo-blue hair streaked with a lock of silver, and a long braid hanging down from the back of his head on the left. Two uneven tufts of hair stuck up on top like cowlicks, and a blue teardrop-shaped earring hung from his left ear.
What stood out most were his eyes — he wore a black eyepatch over his right eye, while the visible left eye was a striking gray-blue, with a quadrilateral star-shaped pupil that seemed impossibly deep.
He wore a white shirt open at the chest, a blue jacket, and a long blue-and-white cape with white fur around the collar. His black trousers and boots were complemented by conical bracelets and fingerless black gloves, and on his brown belt hung a Cryo Vision.
From Xia Zhi's god's-eye perspective, there was a golden progress bar floating above this stranger's head: Progress [0%].
The girls found this stranger's easy familiarity a bit odd, except for Xiangling and Diona, who recognized him.
Xiangling waved happily. "Captain Kaeya! Long time no see!"
"Long time no see, Xiangling, and you too, Guoba. Everyone at the Knights still misses your cooking."
Kaeya chatted with Xiangling for a bit, then turned his gaze toward Xia Zhi.
Even though Jean hadn't told him much about Xia Zhi, Kaeya had already noticed in just a few minutes that this sunglasses-wearing man was clearly the core of the group.
Everyone naturally clustered around him. When they walked, they followed his lead. In conversation, they deferred to him.
So even without a Vision, Kaeya immediately treated him as the primary contact, offering a knightly salute.
"Honored guests from Liyue, I am Kaeya, Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius. Acting Grand Master Jean has sent me to welcome you."
Xia Zhi smiled. "Hello, Captain Kaeya. When you say 'welcome'… you don't mean about borrowing books from the library, do you?"
Kaeya shook his head with a chuckle. "No, not about the library. You're new here, and in a foreign land, it's inevitable you'll run into some troubles. I'm here to help you with any of those."
Xia Ci grinned playfully. "So that's it. Acting Grand Master Jean is very considerate."
Meeting Xia Ci's eyes, Kaeya felt for a moment as if she'd seen straight through him. He quickly looked away and went on smoothly, "During the Windblume Festival, I'm in charge of security in Mondstadt. If you run into any trouble while you're enjoying the festival, just inform the nearest Knight of Favonius, and I will come help right away."
Xia Zhi nodded. "Good, then we'll count on you, Captain Kaeya."
"No need to be so formal, everyone. I still have patrol duties to attend to, so please excuse me."
"Safe travels, Captain Kaeya."
Kaeya turned and left.
From his god's-eye, Xia Zhi watched the golden progress bar above Kaeya's head and fell into thought.
He had just arrived in Mondstadt, yet already he'd run into three people with golden progress bars.
Based on his treasure-chest-hunting experience back in Liyue, anyone with a golden progress bar was either exceptionally powerful or possessed some extraordinary trait.
First was Klee.
Second was Jean. According to Amber, the Acting Grand Master had incredible sword skills and the bloodline of the Gunnhildr Clan, one of Mondstadt's three major noble houses.
And third was Kaeya, whom he'd just met — and who was merely a cavalry captain.
Either he was hiding his true strength, or he was hiding a certain bloodline or unique trait…
Finding out was actually simple.
From his god's-eye, Xia Zhi selected Kaeya.
The system's voice rang in his mind.
"Do you wish to use [Skill Steal] on the target?"
"Yes."
"[Skill Steal] successful. Learned skill: [Khaenri'ah Bloodline]."
"[Khaenri'ah Bloodline]: Passive. This bloodline is cursed by the laws of this world, rendering the bearer ageless and immortal, but subject to doubled [Erosion]."
Xia Zhi read the skill description on the system panel, eyes glinting.
So this Mondstadt cavalry captain was a Khaenri'ahn.
Kaeya… Khaenri'ah…
Even his name seemed to be a shortened form of "Khaenri'ah."
Five hundred years ago, when the Khaenri'ah cataclysm happened, the Seven Archons had intervened, and five fell in the process.
Xia Zhi had always been curious about that monumental event, but his cousin and sister seemed bound by some restriction, unable to tell him the answer he really wanted.
But now, from Kaeya's [Khaenri'ah Bloodline] description, he could glimpse something interesting:
Ageless and immortal — it sounded like a blessing, but to a mortal's fragile mind, it was actually the cruelest curse imaginable.
Xia Zhi understood this deeply, having once seen, in Furina's Corridor of Fate, what five hundred years of [Erosion] could do to a person — a mind on the verge of collapse.
And compared to Furina, the Khaenri'ahns had to endure double the [Erosion] thanks to their curse…
Xia Zhi doubted many Khaenri'ahns could possess Furina's kind of unbreakable will.
It was easy to imagine that the Khaenri'ahns must have committed some kind of forbidden act back then, crossing a line the heavenly laws had deemed absolutely untouchable, which was why their entire people had been struck with such a devastating punishment…
For Xia Zhi, this passive skill was of no use, so he simply disabled it.
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