Su Xuan understood Lumine's meaning.
Her so-called active companionship meant traveling together, but since Lumine had to rely on her own hands to earn Mora at the Adventurers' Guild, after entering the main city of a country, the two could act separately according to their own needs. Su Xuan just had to remember to notify her before leaving for the next country, so they could leave together.
Calculated, the longest time Su Xuan and Lumine would spend together would probably be on the road from one country to another.
For Su Xuan, Lumine becoming his travel companion was certainly no problem. Moreover, Lumine herself was also a target he wanted to conquer.
"Of course, you and I are not native residents of this world. Traveling together, at least the journey won't be boring," Su Xuan nodded in agreement.
Lumine's tense mood immediately relaxed after hearing Su Xuan agree.
"Then it's happily decided!" Paimon danced with joy.
Su Xuan followed up, saying, "Since we've chosen to stay in Mondstadt for now, I'll first give you a tour of Mondstadt and find you a temporary hotel."
"As for the Mora, you don't need to worry about it. Just pay me back when you earn money."
"That's a must! After I'm familiar with Mondstadt, I'll immediately go to the Adventurers' Guild to take on some adventure tasks and pay you back as soon as possible," Lumine said with a serious attitude.
Su Xuan hummed in acknowledgment and didn't continue discussing this matter with Lumine.
But, he had to admit, Lumine was indeed a natural born workhorse.
She had only just arrived in Mondstadt and was already preparing to take on tasks at the Adventurers' Guild.
Under Su Xuan's guidance, Lumine and Paimon quickly became familiar with Mondstadt's environment.
When the three walked to Mondstadt's Plaza of the Anemo God, they saw many people gathered around. Under the Anemo God's statue, a young man dressed in green and white silk was telling them something.
"Look, it's the bard who followed us last night!" Paimon pointed in Venti's direction, surprised, "He's here again."
At the same time, Paimon and Lumine both looked at Su Xuan.
They both remembered that Su Xuan claimed this seemingly street-performing fellow was the legendary Lord Barbatos.
And his main purpose in appearing was to trick Lumine into helping him clear the Abyss's influence from Dvalin's body.
"Uh..." Paimon looked at Su Xuan, who was staring at Venti without saying a word, then looked at Lumine: "Lumine, Su Xuan, he's..."
"Hmm? The Diary Copy is glowing."
[Life is hard, Anemo God performs on the streets.]
[Lord Barbatos's street performance scene.jpg]
[The flowing wind brings poetry to the people, recounting the legendary story of Dvalin protecting Mondstadt five hundred years ago.]
[Of course, Barbatos's goal is to attract Lumine's attention with such a magical story, making Lumine curious and prompting her to ask questions.]
[He will seize the opportunity to tell Lumine that even if Dvalin is not defeated, the Abyss's corruption is frantically devouring Dvalin's life, until Dvalin burns his own blood and perishes.]
[And convey a thought-provoking message to Lumine.]
["A person like you is destined to be sung about in bards' poems. Standing in the sun, you will surely become a hero; standing in the shadows, you will also bring disaster."]
[Then he will turn and leave.]
[He actually wants to test Lumine's character.]
[Hmm... Of course, all of this should be the original trajectory of fate.]
[According to the turning of fate's gears, Lumine would have arrived in Mondstadt yesterday, helped the Mondstadters repel Dvalin's attack on Mondstadt, and been awarded the title of Honorary Knight by Acting Grand Master Jean.]
[While Lumine was entangled with Dvalin, a voice helped her, and this voice originated from Lord Barbatos.]
[Therefore, driven by curiosity and kindness, Lumine would pursue the departing Barbatos, wanting to ask him about the truth of some matters.]
[As a result, she fell into Barbatos's trap, got involved in the mission to save Dvalin, and ultimately helped Dvalin break free from the Abyss's corrosion.]
[However, my appearance seems to have broken the direction of fate's gears.]
[I'm very curious what Barbatos would do if Lumine and I just turned around and left at this moment.]
[Hmm... I have to complain, Barbatos's white silk stockings suit him very well.]
A group of beautiful girls was dumbfounded.
So, it was your appearance that changed Mondstadt and Dvalin, who should have been saved.
Moreover, the savior, the blonde aunt, who had originally turned away from Mondstadt, was now back in Mondstadt, and Lord Barbatos's plan could be implemented again.
As a result, Lumine was now with Su Xuan. With the Diary Copy's revelations and Su Xuan's on-the-spot explanation, would Lumine, who knew all the truth, still willingly approach?
The answer was obvious.
"I am just as curious as you are right now about what this bard gentleman would do if we turned around and left," Lumine said calmly.
"Okay, let's try it. I bet he'll shamelessly come up to us," Su Xuan said with a smile.
"Really?!" Lumine suddenly felt a surge of curiosity: "He's Lord Barbatos, how could he shamelessly come looking for us?"
Su Xuan smiled faintly, said nothing, and gestured for Lumine and Paimon to turn and walk in another direction.
However, before the three had walked a few steps, an anxious shout came from behind: "Please wait!"
"He really caught up?" Paimon and Lumine exchanged glances, utterly surprised.
The moment they turned around, Barbatos had already arrived in front of the three.
He chuckled awkwardly, "Ehe, three esteemed travelers from afar, aren't you interested in the legend of the Sky Dragon?"
"That's the Sky Dragon, you know."
Paimon and Lumine squinted, looked at each other, and then their gazes simultaneously fell on Su Xuan.
Su Xuan propped his chin, scrutinizing Barbatos up and down, his eyes narrowing: "Let the legend aside for now. I just find you very strange."
Venti didn't mind, he chuckled, and replied, "My name is Venti, and I am a bard."
"To be precise, I am the reigning champion of Mondstadt's most beloved bard for three consecutive terms."
Su Xuan nodded lightly after hearing this: "Got it."
He turned and left with Lumine and Paimon, leaving Venti with a bewildered expression.
Only Venti was left in the wind, disheveled.
[Smiling foolishly Barbatos. Big face.jpg]
[Just as I predicted, if Barbatos saw Lumine not taking the initiative to ask, he would shamelessly approach.]
[But don't think that as the Anemo God, he has no shame; one can only say that this is Lord Barbatos.]
[Actually, when I first entered Mondstadt yesterday, Barbatos had already learned of my whereabouts through the messages carried by the flowing wind.]
[Unfortunately, due to the urgency of the Dvalin incident and my not having done anything to harm Mondstadt, Barbatos had kept his attention on Ying Mei, who could save Dvalin.]
[However, from the strange look Barbatos gave me just now, I realized that he should have already detected that I am an important factor disrupting his plan.]
[If nothing unexpected happens, he should find a private opportunity to talk with me later.]
[The general content should be that he hopes I don't interfere too much with Lumine.]
[Of course, I don't have such leisure to interfere with other people's thoughts. Whatever Ying Mei wants to do, and how she does it, that is her freedom.]
"And…"
"When Ying Mei learned that Dvalin was being affected by the Abyss and was about to die, I noticed a hint of sadness in her eyes."
"This is the Lumine I know; she is inherently kind and of noble character."
"But I am different from her; I do not possess a noble soul."
"Pfft!" Lumine burst out laughing, completely disarmed by Su Xuan's final comment: "I think your last statement is incorrect."
"Being able to help others, willing to help others, or unwilling to help others, are all perfectly reasonable things."
"It has nothing to do with whether one's soul is noble or not."
At this point, Lumine suddenly sighed and said, "I just feel that Dvalin's predicament is inseparable from Aether, and I…"
"However, Lord Barbatos's attitude in inviting me to act makes me very uncomfortable."
Concealing his identity and intentions, then using manipulative means to approach someone, is indeed difficult for people to accept.
"From what you're saying, if Lord Barbatos's attitude had been more proper, you would have accepted the invitation?" Su Xuan asked curiously.
Lumine nodded: "At least he could have honestly told me his purpose and identity."
Paimon, standing nearby, quickly added: "This is a mission to help Lord Barbatos save the Dragon Dvalin!"
"If it were at the Adventurers' Guild, we'd definitely earn a lot of Mora, right?"
"I think we should add one more condition: Lord Barbatos must pay us an equivalent amount of Mora."
Lumine nodded emphatically: "Yes, we still owe Su Xuan Mora, so Lord Barbatos has to pay up."
However, after hearing their conversation, Su Xuan's expression became somewhat strange.
Lumine and Paimon exchanged glances, unable to understand the reason for Su Xuan's change in expression.
"Su Xuan, why has your expression become so strange?" Paimon asked cautiously.
Could it be that Su Xuan secretly didn't want Lumine to help?
Fortunately, within a few seconds, Su Xuan gave the reason for his changed expression.
"If you mention Mora to Lord Barbatos, I think this transaction might just end there."
"After all, the wine-loving Lord Barbatos even has to 'borrow' wine from the tavern. Do you think he can pull out half a Mora from his pockets?"
Paimon, Lumine: "Eh?"
Lord Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, actually steals wine!?