"By the way, where's Klee? I haven't seen her around."
Seeing suspicion flash across their faces, Jean quickly changed the subject.
There was no way she could let them find out about the couple charms.
Especially not Lisa.
If Lisa knew, Jean was certain she'd be teased to death.
"She's in the confinement room."
Barbara chuckled as she replied.
Earlier, while Jean was out dealing with the Stormterror crisis, Klee had snuck out to blow up fish again.
She had been having a grand old time—
Until she heard Jean was on her way back.
At that moment, her little face turned pale, and she hurried back to the confinement room on her own.
That place was practically Klee's private room by now.
It was famous throughout the Knights of Favonius.
Being confined was basically an everyday affair for Klee.
And every time she came out, she'd have invented a more powerful bomb.
Once, she had even managed to flatten the entire Windrise Hill.
In this regard, Klee truly was a bona fide genius.
Her title as Mondstadt's No. 1 combat power… wasn't entirely undeserved.
"Sigh, we can't let things keep going like this."
Jean rubbed her forehead and sighed.
It wasn't that she was dissatisfied with Klee—
In fact, the entire Knights adored her.
Otherwise, every time she messed up, they wouldn't just give her a token confinement.
But things couldn't go on like this forever.
Blowing up fish or damaging property was one thing—
The real danger was starting a forest fire.
After all, Mondstadt was surrounded by the Whispering Forest.
If that caught fire, it would be a serious disaster.
"How about this—we take her to read manga?"
Lisa suggested.
"Boss's manga is so fascinating, maybe Klee would like it. And who knows? Maybe she'd give up her bombs."
Jean fell into thought, weighing the idea.
"But what if she gets an even stronger bomb from the manga?"
Barbara said worriedly.
Her concern wasn't unfounded.
Boss's manga had all sorts of strange and bizarre things in it.
If Klee got lucky and pulled some kind of terrifying bomb…
The consequences would be dire.
Still, they couldn't just ignore her.
And Klee probably didn't want to stay in confinement forever either.
After weighing it over, Jean made a decision.
"I'll talk to her. As long as she promises not to do anything dangerous, we'll take her to the manga shop."
Even as she said it, Jean didn't quite believe it herself.
Every time Klee was confined, she promised not to blow up fish again—
And then a few days later, another explosion would ring out somewhere in Mondstadt.
"And if she does get some powerful reward?"
Barbara asked.
"Then we can do this—one of us will accompany her each day.
If it's just a normal reward, we let her keep it.
But if it's something dangerous—especially a powerful bomb—we'll hold onto it and give it back when she's grown up."
It was exactly like parents "holding onto" their children's red envelope money.
Jean looked a little helpless.
This was the best plan she could come up with—
To keep the danger under control.
Lisa and Barbara exchanged a glance.
Wait until Klee grows up? Are you serious?
Klee was an elf—her lifespan was extremely long.
By the time she was grown, the rest of them might already be old and gray.
Still, there was no better plan, so they nodded in agreement.
"Alright, I'll go talk to Klee now."
Jean nodded and headed for the confinement room.
Once she was gone, Barbara and Lisa leaned close and began whispering—
Not about Klee, but about Jean.
"Lisa, I feel like something's off with my sister."
Barbara said seriously.
"I feel it too. Probably has to do with that reward she got."
Lisa rested her chin on her hand and nodded.
The two of them—Jean's best friend and her little sister—
Were the people closest to her.
Naturally, they could tell Jean had acted strangely when talking about her reward—
As if she were hiding something.
"How about this—when you take Klee to the manga shop later, quietly ask Boss Han. He's bound to know."
Lisa suggested.
"Okay!"
Barbara nodded eagerly.
The thrill of uncovering her sister's secret was… exhilarating.
Besides, she didn't usually have much to do anyway.
She could take Klee to read manga no problem.
While the two were talking, the office door swung open again.
Two figures—one tall, one small—walked in.
"Lisa! Barbara! Are you taking me to read some fun manga?"
Little Klee rushed over, eyes shining.
Jean had just told her about a magical manga shop run by a big brother named Han Feng.
The manga inside was super fun!
And you could even get rewards from reading it—
Yummy food, tasty drinks, fun toys—
She wondered if there were awesome bombs too.
Jean hadn't told her.
"That's right, Klee. Do you want to go?"
Barbara squatted down and patted her head with a smile.
"Yeah! I really want to go! Let's go now!"
Klee grabbed Barbara's hand and whined playfully.
"Alright."
Barbara chuckled, then looked at the others.
"I'll take her now, okay?"
"Mm."
Jean nodded, then said seriously to Klee,
"Don't forget our promise. Otherwise, I won't take you to read manga again."
"Uh-huh! Klee will remember! Otherwise, you can lock me in the confinement room again!"
Klee put on an expression of absolute determination.
But Jean felt something was… off.
This scene felt awfully familiar somehow.
"Little cutie, don't forget our promise either."
Lisa winked, copying Jean's tone.
"Don't worry!"
Barbara winked back, then happily led Klee out.
"You and Barbara have a promise?"
Jean asked, puzzled.
"Nope, I just said that for fun."
Lisa covered her mouth and giggled, then turned toward the computer with delight.
"Oh, it's fully charged now!"
Jean: "…"
You're always like this—
Whenever a question's hard to answer, you just change the subject.
Jean had a bad feeling about this…
~~--------------------------------------
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