Cat's Tail Tavern.
The girl who'd visited yesterday came again.
She wandered around the Mondstadt General Goods store, looking everywhere, but still couldn't find the sunglasses-wearing man she'd seen here the day before.
Her eyes showed a hint of disappointment.
She'd followed him for a while yesterday, but then went home for dinner and lost track of him.
She thought maybe she'd run into him again today.
But clearly, her luck wasn't great.
On her shoulder, the night raven spoke up. "Milady, perhaps we should try looking elsewhere."
The girl frowned. "Your suggestion… Hmph. Very well."
She left the shop and wandered aimlessly through the streets, still finding nothing.
After all, Xia Zhi was busy drinking tea with Jean at the Knights of Favonius HQ right now.
Before she realized it, she'd wandered to the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild.
Katheryne's familiar voice rang out, "Ad Astra Abyssosque! Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild."
The girl looked up at the bustling guild, thoughtful.
Looking for someone all by herself was too inconvenient.
If she posted a request through the Adventurers' Guild, it'd probably be a lot easier.
With that thought, she stepped inside.
She had an Adventure License, after all. She was technically a investigator.
Though she was still young, her family didn't let her leave the city or fight monsters, so most of her commissions were simple errands like finding people or delivering letters.
Inside the guild, there was a big wooden board covered with commissions.
The more prominent the spot, the harder the job—and the better the pay.
She glanced longingly at the monster-hunting commissions.
As the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, it was her duty to bring divine punishment upon the wicked! …Well, maybe next time.
She shifted her gaze to the corners of the board.
Finding people, delivering messages… These were the simple jobs she was allowed to take, usually paying somewhere between a few dozen to a few hundred Mora.
She was about to walk to the counter and ask Katheryne to post a commission when the raven on her shoulder reminded her, "Milady, did you forget? You lost all your allowance playing mahjong yesterday afternoon."
The girl froze, her feet stopping mid-step.
Ah, right.
Yesterday after lunch, when she failed to find that man again, she'd gone to Cat's Tail Tavern and tried mahjong for the first time.
But she was a newbie, terrible at the game, and had rotten luck. She ended up losing her entire month's allowance.
She'd been super frustrated at the time, but after a good night's sleep she'd conveniently forgotten about it this morning.
She fell silent for a moment. "Mere material wealth… hmph."
Well, there was no helping it.
Without money, she couldn't post a find-person commission.
Technically, she could post one for free, but nobody would bother taking it even if it was pinned front and center.
Sullen, she left the guild.
At the entrance, she spotted a boy scratching his head.
He had bright white hair, green goggles on his head, a white bandage across his nose, and a yellow armband on his right arm. He wore the standard short gear of adventurers and carried a small pouch at his waist, with a red Pyro Vision embedded on it.
She recognized him.
Bennett. An adventurer—and leader of Benny's Adventure Team.
He loved going on adventures, though it was said his luck was notoriously bad, and somehow his teammates' luck got worse too.
She walked up to him and greeted him in her usual over-the-top tone, "O unfortunate youth! My Eye of Condemnation has already witnessed the despair that the world has heaped upon you…"
The raven on her shoulder translated calmly, "She says hello."
Bennett looked up, flashing a warm, enthusiastic smile. "Oh, hey, Fischl! Hi, Oz! I'm just looking for new members for Benny's Adventure Team. One of our members got hurt again and had to leave. If I don't recruit someone fast, Miss Katheryne might disband us."
An adventure team was a special system set up by the guild to help adventurers support each other and reduce risks.
Each team needed at least three to four regular members, or else the guild would shut it down.
Bennett suddenly looked at her and invited brightly, "Fischl, why don't you join Benny's Adventure Team?"
Fischl blinked. "Huh? I, the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, join your team?"
Oz muttered, "Milady, it's actually not a bad idea. This way, Bennett can help you look for that person."
Fischl hesitated.
She remembered Bennett's "bad luck."
Other adventurers said that his teammates all started out with decent luck, but after joining his team, they constantly failed commissions and got into accidents. Everyone thought it was because of Bennett's misfortune rubbing off.
But she—she was the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, blessed with noble blood! There was no way she'd be affected by something like that! Even if the rumors were true, her lineage would never succumb to bad luck.
Oz was right. Joining his team meant she could ask for help finding that mysterious man from yesterday.
She didn't even know why she wanted to find him, but she was bored, had no money for mahjong… so why not?
…Very well. She'd accept.
Fischl nodded solemnly. "Since you so earnestly plead, I shall bestow upon you my grace and consent."
Bennett's face lit up. "That's great! Thanks, Fischl! And Oz, too! Oh, you said you wanted to find someone, right? Leave it to me! I'll help! But first, let's go register with Miss Katheryne."
They walked up to the counter.
Katheryne glanced at Fischl, hearing Bennett's request.
She really wanted to tell Fischl the truth—that it wasn't just one member who'd left Benny's Adventure Team.
All the other members had quietly jumped ship.
But… that news was too heartbreaking, so she hadn't told Bennett yet.
-----
At the stone bridge by Mondstadt's main gate, a flock of plump pigeons pecked lazily at breadcrumbs scattered on the ground.
Carriages from merchant caravans rumbled through the center of the bridge now and then, but the wheels clattering against stone didn't scare the pigeons in the slightest.
They'd long since been domesticated by Mondstadt's townsfolk, their wild instincts dulled away by daily feedings.
The knights of the Knights of Favonius stationed at the gate diligently questioned each caravan and recorded their details in their ledgers.
Their attitude was noticeably more thorough—and more friendly—than during ordinary days.
That was per Captain Jean's direct order.
On one hand, they needed to stay alert for infiltration attempts from the Abyss Order; on the other, they wanted to give travelers and merchants visiting Mondstadt for the Windblume Festival a good impression.
When the guards reached one particular carriage, a small girl wearing diamond-shaped glasses hopped down from it. She flashed a professional merchant's smile and greeted them cheerfully. "Good afternoon, everyone!"
"The Knights of Favonius greet you as well… May I ask you to provide your identification, please?"
"I'm Dori Sangemah Bay, a traveling merchant from Sumeru. Here's my identification, officially stamped by the Akademiya."
One of the knights took the document Dori handed over and carefully examined it for authenticity.
Another knight lifted the carriage's canvas cover to inspect the cargo.
A few moments later, after confirming everything was in order, the knights returned her papers, logged the entry, and waved the caravan through.
The merchant team smoothly entered Mondstadt.
Seated in the front of the lead carriage, Dori watched the bustling festival streets and couldn't help but curve her lips into a big money-making grin.
Compared to last year's Windblume Festival, she'd actually arrived a few days late this time.
Mainly because she got caught up in an unexpected situation in Liyue that delayed her.
She had been all packed and ready to set out when the Summer Shop over on Feiyun Slope suddenly started holding all kinds of lively promotional events.
And if you were a member of the Liyue Bank, you could enjoy all sorts of discounts.
As a traveling merchant, Dori kept accounts in every nation's bank, so of course she had a Liyue Bank membership.
Curious, she stopped by to check it out—and found the place packed with customers.
Seeing those strange yet extremely effective marketing tricks in action, Dori realized she'd learned quite a bit from Liyue's Tianquan Star, Ningguang.
No wonder she's even richer than me!
Wanting to study these new money-making tactics more, Dori stayed in Liyue for a few extra days. Only today did she finally arrive in Mondstadt.
Although all the good inns in the city were already full, that didn't bother Dori at all.
After all, the first time she came to Mondstadt to do business, she'd gone ahead and bought herself a big house right in the city. She even hired a housekeeper to manage it for her.
Coming back to Mondstadt now felt just like returning to her own little version of the Palace of Alcazarzaray.
The caravan moved through the streets and soon reached a luxurious house.
Her housekeeper was already waiting at the door. When she saw the merchant caravan pull up, she hurried over.
"Master Sangemah Bay!"
Dori nodded, hopping down from the carriage. "Is the hot water ready?"
"All prepared, Master!"
"Good. Get everyone else settled—I'm going to take a bath first."
Dori headed inside.
The housekeeper quickly called after her. "Master! There's one more thing to report!"
"What is it?"
"Miss Lisa stopped by. She seems to have known you were returning today."
"Oh? Miss Lisa?"
"Yes."
"Where is she now?"
"She's having tea in the sitting room. Would you like to meet her first or bathe first?"
"I'll go meet her first. Bring me the crate of books from the second-to-last carriage."
"Yes, Master!"
----
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