"I say, have you forgotten that we are enemies? This is the second time you've come to find me in such a short period. It seems you're more idle than I imagined."
At dawn, Durandal secretly arrived at Mt. Tianheng and met with Aether there.
As soon as they met, Durandal's expression was terrible. Could this person possibly think that she wouldn't teach him a lesson out of consideration for him being Lumine's brother?
Don't forget how much he made Lumine suffer, and given Lumine's current attitude towards Aether, even if she beat him black and blue, Lumine would probably praise her for doing a good job.
"Sorry, black plague. I didn't mean to find you at this time, but... there are some things I want to understand from you."
If he could, Aether wouldn't want to find Durandal, but the recent news from the Abyss Mages forced him to seek out Durandal to inquire about the situation.
"Understand what? Do you think I'll answer any information for you? Prince of the Abyss."
Aether ignored Durandal's words and pulled out a wanted poster with his image on it. Below it was a lot of content, among which the bounty amount was eye-catching.
"Five million. It seems she earned a lot of Mora during this Lantern Rite Festival, and all of it was spent on you."
It seemed that besides lanternss, Lumine also put all the Mora he earned from other projects into the bounty. Most people, seeing a wanted poster with such an amount, would surely eagerly search for him.
"This... was it posted by Lumine?"
"Of course. Otherwise, do you think I'd spend money on such a boring thing? I have to say, the last meeting caused him too much DMG. To prevent you from appearing freely in Mondstadt and Liyue, she posted many wanted posters in both places."
"Next, this wanted poster will also appear in Inazuma, Sumeru, and Fontaine, and the amount will definitely increase. Take a good look at the Mora on it; the more Mora, the more he cares about you."
"..."
Should one say Durandal has made great progress? Or that she was always so eloquent? These few sentences almost broke Aether.
Looking at the wanted poster in his hand, Aether shook his head and put it away.
The fact that she could draw him so vividly meant that Lumine still remembered him, and at least this brought him some comfort.
"Oh right, you're going to Inazuma next, aren't you?"
"Yes, that's right. Going to Inazuma will hinder your Abyss's actions there. What? Do you want to stop us?"
Aether shook his head. Not to mention whether he had the ability to stop them, what the Abyss was doing in Inazuma was not as simple as Durandal thought. For a long time, he wouldn't have to worry about the Abyss's plans being affected.
"In Inazuma, the Fatui's movements are significant. According to the intelligence I received, several Fatui Harbingers have appeared in Inazuma this time, and they will be making big moves."
"Oh."
"Among these Harbingers is The Lady. She seems to have appeared there as an envoy, and she is the Fatui representative who usually meets with the Raiden Shogun."
"Oh?"
Upon hearing The Lady's name, Durandal's reaction was slightly more pronounced, almost unable to resist rushing directly to Inazuma.
"What is your purpose in telling me all this? Do you want to use the Fatui to divert our attention, so as to facilitate your Abyss's actions?"
"Hmm, it might be just as you think. Why would I tell you such insignificant intelligence?"
Aether shrugged, not paying much attention to Durandal, and turned to walk into the Abyss portal that appeared behind him, disappearing without a trace.
Staring intently at the direction the other party left, Durandal pondered the reason for him telling her these things. Was he trying to divert their attention, or simply trying to warn them of something?
Hmm~ Durandal leaned towards the former, but she didn't care what plans the Abyss had in Inazuma, because Lumine was going to that nation.
After so many events, everyone understood that Lumine had a very special constitution: she loved to get involved in major events.
Although her purpose in traveling to various countries was to meet their respective gods, she always found herself unwittingly drawn into certain affairs.
Previously, in Mondstadt, she was involved in the Stormterror incident; in Liyue, she was involved in the assassination of the Geo Archon. This time, going to Inazuma, she would surely be drawn into something as well.
It wasn't that trouble arose wherever she appeared, but rather that wherever trouble arose, she would appear at the first opportunity and get involved.
Even if at first she would say, "This has nothing to do with me," or "I'm not here to do this," she would eventually get involved due to a series of reasons.
"And Inazuma seems to be in a mess. It looks like some quite interesting things are going to happen."
——————
The next day, Durandal and her group set off on the road to Mondstadt.
They were returning to Mondstadt for the Windblume Festival. These two festivals were quite close to each other. Although it hadn't officially started yet, it was more relaxed to arrive early and wait for the festival to begin.
"I feel like we haven't been away from Mondstadt for long, and we're already going back. I wonder how things are in Mondstadt, and if everyone is doing well?"
"Only this much time has passed, so everyone is probably still the same as usual. Except for a certain annoying Bard, I don't expect much change."
Hmm, a certain annoying Bard, that guy is probably in Mondstadt right now, eagerly awaiting Durandal's return.
"No, and Mona," Shenhe suddenly said. "I wonder if, without the worry of rent, she'll become even more reckless and spend all her Mora on purchasing astrology-related items."
Mona's previous situation left a deep impression on Shenhe. She greatly admired this person who would disregard everything for the sake of research.
When discussing Mondstadt, Shenhe's first thought was of this beautiful young lady whose attire was very similar to her own. She... should still be alive, right?
"Mona? Oh right, Mona! Speaking of which, it's almost time to collect rent. Hehehe~ If she doesn't have Mora, can I take the opportunity to do something?"
Lumine rubbed her hands expectantly. The contract she made with Mona was that she would help with the rent, and Mona would pay her back next month. If she couldn't pay, Lumine could do something to her.
Now, Mona most likely couldn't pay her rent. If that's the case, does it mean she can do something?
"Is now the time to talk about that? Get a grip, Traveler!"
"What's not normal about it? I'm talking about collecting rent. The house is mine, and she doesn't have money. Can't I do something in exchange for rent?"
"Then wipe your drool first before saying something like that. You look very… very unapproachable right now, you know?"
"Drool… Drool? Where?! You're lying, Paimon! How can a beautiful Damselette drool?!"
"Where did that logic come from?!"
Hearing their complaints, Durandal scratched her head. She knew very well what a beautiful Damselette referred to, but do beautiful Damselettes not drool?
Durandal thought about all the girls she had seen so far; they could all seemingly be called beautiful Damselettes, and none of them seemed to have ever drooled.
Could it be… that beautiful Damselettes really don't drool? What a strange thing to say.
"Besides not drooling, are there other things they don't do?"
"Too many, so many that I can't even finish listing them." Hearing Durandal speak, Lumine excitedly explained, "Let me tell you, beautiful Damselettes have many privileges. Besides the things they don't do, there are also…"
"Don't tell Durandal those strange things, you idiot Traveler!"
Paimon quickly flew over and covered Lumine's mouth. Before, she had taken advantage of Durandal's lack of common sense to trick her, and now, seeing that Durandal didn't understand this kind of joke, she was eager to mislead her.
Wuwu~ It seems that besides teaching Durandal some common sense, I also need to explain these common memes to her, otherwise, she'll easily be fooled by that bad guy Lumine.
Lumine and Paimon started their usual bickering. Seeing that Lumine couldn't continue the topic with her, Durandal could only go talk to Shenhe.
Durandal and Shenhe's conversation was quite normal, just some discussions about their abilities. Besides Shenhe holding Durandal's hand, there was nothing else noteworthy.
As they were about to go to Wangshu Inn to rest and have lunch, a very large bird descended from the sky and landed in front of Durandal.
"Agalu? Is there anything you need to report?"
The others gathered around curiously, watching Durandal and Agalu communicate. Agalu was clearly just chirping, but Durandal could understand what she was saying.
This situation was like people with animal characteristics; they could understand what animals were saying through the frequency of their calls.
She didn't know if Diona had this ability. Logically speaking, she could be called a cat. She would ask next time she encountered other beast-like beings.
"Hmm, you did very well, Agalu. This is your reward. Keep up the good work, and you will evolve."
Injecting Humus Power and life force into Agalu, the bird, feeling herself become stronger, chirped excitedly a few times, nodded to Durandal, and then flew off impatiently.
No one could stop her now; she was determined to be a worker! As long as she created a little more merit, she could evolve. Thinking of this, she was ecstatic!
Watching Agalu fly and chirp, Durandal tilted her head in confusion. Was it a bit too soon when she gave her the name Agalu?
"Durandal, is that your reconnaissance animal from Mondstadt? What did she need to tell you?"
Such a human-like bird must have been created by Durandal. It specifically flew to Liyue to find Durandal. Had something happened?
"Nothing, just a routine report on task progress. During my absence, it has completed the tasks I assigned to it very well."
Although its behavior became increasingly strange with the growth of its intelligence, its abilities were undeniable. Not only did it find a hidden Fatui secret base, but it also successfully added something to the pots in the Fatui camps in the wilderness, making their digestive systems more… unobstructed.
"Let's go to Wangshu Inn first. I'll tell you about the rest when we eat."
"Okay!"
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