Zephyr frowned. Compete with him for Fischl? Over his dead body.
Even though Fischl didn't know him yet, Zephyr still said, "I think the Knights of Favonius suit you just fine."
The knight was slightly surprised. "Eh? Why's that?"
"Because the Knights offer a stable job. Sure, it's not as free, but the work is steady, the salary's paid on time, and they never delay it.
Plus, working in Mondstadt is pretty safe. If you go off adventuring, you might not even make it back alive.
And besides, Fischl's just a little girl. She's nothing compared to Acting Grand Master Jean—now that's real style! Don't you agree?"
"Er… when you put it that way, it does make sense."
Zephyr covered one eye with his hand and smirked. Hmph. That's right. You think you can compete with me for Fischl? Dream on!
"Traveler, I feel like we were destined to meet… Wait a second—are you... the Holy Demon!?"
"What?"
The knight quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. "N-No, nothing!"
"Spit it out! This spot is a blind corner in Mondstadt. If you don't tell me, I'll just 'snap' you right here—no one will even know."
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
He swallowed hard and said, "After what happened yesterday, the whole Knights of Favonius felt ashamed. But after Amber brought that strange bird in last night, it kept muttering something about a 'Holy Demon'…"
"Figures. It was that damned bird!"
"Then, based on how the bird described you all, some people in the Knights started worrying that you might be a criminal.
So they sent Miles to follow you today. Wait, isn't he supposed to be following you right now? Where'd he go?"
Paimon said, "Ha! Paimon knew something was off about that guy. Turns out he's just a creepy stalker!"
"I-I swear, we were only doing it for the safety of Mondstadt…"
Zephyr patted his shoulder. "I believe you. Since you're thinking about Mondstadt's safety, I'll let you off this time."
"Waaaah, thank you! Thank you, Your Demonic Highness!"
"..."
"But listen to me—from now on, Fischl is my girl. Don't even think about her again!"
"I… o-okay… Waaaah, I'm sorry, Fischl…"
"What the heck is my reputation in Mondstadt even like now…"
Leaving Mondstadt, Zephyr gave a quick shout to his two bros—and cleared out a wave of pigeons for good measure.
"Fischl, huh… now that I think about it, I don't even know where she lives."
And she's a total chuunibyou too. Do I really want her in my team…?
Even Zephyr had a few doubts.
"Whatever. I'll stop thinking about it. Time to mine."
With the sun shining and the breeze blowing, flowers red, grass green, Zephyr cheerfully skipped along. A happy heart and a clear mind—the mountain paths hold no fear for me.
Paimon looked at the joyful figure of the Traveler bounding ahead and sighed. "Amber, Paimon is so sorry. You're working yourself to the bone, and this slacker's out here frolicking in the fields…"
About half an hour later, they reached the marked spot. The mining areas around Mondstadt were easy to spot—nothing like Liyue, where most ore was buried underground and a nightmare to find.
Zephyr pulled out the shovel Uncle Wagner had given him. Time to dig!
Ten minutes later, he finally unearthed the first crystal.
Zephyr muttered, "I'm gonna lose it… Ten minutes for one ore? This is so slow."
Paimon said, "You should be grateful. That's with a fully-refined shovel from Uncle Wagner. If you were using a one-handed sword, you'd be lucky to dig up one in thirty minutes."
Helpless, Zephyr had no choice. He sighed and continued the tedious task of mining.
Hours passed quickly.
Zephyr looked at the dozens of ores in his backpack and nearly burst into tears.
If this were the original game, in a few hours he could've mined over a thousand ores. But now? Just a few dozen. The efficiency was abysmal.
Paimon said, "Oh, come on, be grateful. You're already mining pretty fast. The spots Uncle Wagner marked on the map all had ore, and no one else got there first. If someone had beaten you to it, it would've been even worse."
It was largely thanks to how dangerous the wilds were—ordinary people didn't dare roam outside. Even adventurers usually focused on fighting monsters and collecting treasure chests. Very few specialized in mining.
If that hadn't been the case, Zephyr would've never gotten this lucky.
Zephyr sighed. "So tired…"
Lumine replied, "Excuse me, I'm the one doing the mining here. I haven't even said I'm tired."
"We share one body and soul. I'm bearing most of your exhaustion for you."
Lumine rolled her eyes.
But Zephyr wasn't exactly lying. Anyone would be on the verge of collapse after several hours of nonstop mining.
"Some people sure have no shame, just standing around doing nothing…"
Zephyr glanced over at Paimon.
"W-Why are you looking at Paimon like that? Paimon can't even lift a shovel!"
Paimon quickly found herself a perfect excuse.
"So you're just going to stand there and watch? Doesn't your conscience hurt?"
"P—Paimon get it already…"
Looking utterly wronged, Paimon reluctantly picked up a miniature-sized shovel and joined in.
But it was obvious—a tiny "sprite" barely over a foot tall wasn't exactly built for mining. Her speed was significantly slower.
Still, every bit helped.
Lumine couldn't bear to watch. "Paimon, maybe you should take a break after all…"
Unexpectedly, Paimon said, "No, it's okay. Paimon thought it over. The player made a good point—how can Paimon just sit back while you do all the work? Standing by and watching wouldn't make Paimon a real companion.
A real partner shares both joy and hardship, right?"
"Paimon…" Lumine was touched.
"Traveler, no need to get all emotional. Just treat Paimon to a big meal at lunch and we're even."
"I meant to say… your shovel grip is all wrong."
"You devil!!"
As they continued mining, Paimon suddenly felt something off. "Huh? Traveler, look! That ore looks different from the others!"
She lit up. "That must be the magic crystal ore Uncle Wagner was talking about! It really does look different."
She could feel the potent energy emanating from within it.
Zephyr brought down his shovel—and the progress bar didn't even budge.
"Damn, this thing's tough."
He went all in, and it still took twenty full minutes to dig out a single chunk of the blue magic crystal ore.
"Whew…" Even Lumine looked a bit exhausted.
Zephyr fell into thought. If he remembered right, crafting with magic crystal ore in the game used up stamina.
But considering his stamina wasn't of much use right now—the ley line blossom spots were way too far to reach—it might actually be worth it to burn some on making refined magic ore, if Uncle Wagner learned how to forge it.
"Alright, this spot's about done. Let's move on to the next one."
//END
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