When the Wolf King's massive steel body landed heavily in front of the Mondstadt city gates, the entire ground shook three times.
The pigeons on the city gate took flight en masse, the fish in the moat leaped out of the water in fright, and the eyes of the two Knights of Favonius guarding the gate
—Lawrence and Swan—were already dead.
"They're here again..."
Lawrence's hand rested on the sword hilt, but he had absolutely no intention of drawing it.
Swan mechanically flipped open the register: "Name?"
"Jesse/Elliot/Zane/Matt!"
The four Hilichurls answered in unison, with Matt's voice, like muffled thunder, shaking the dust off the city gate.
The Wolf King elegantly reverted to its three-meter-tall Werewolf form, took the register, and signed elegantly with a claw: "Also the Traveler Lumine and Paimon, and I, the Barbatos Emperor Seat Sirius Type."
Swan watched the twenty-meter-tall Gundam transform into a Werewolf, his mouth twitching as he wrote: "Shape-shifting Werewolf... one."
After watching the group noisily enter the city, Lawrence slumped into his chair: "How many nights of good sleep do you think we'll get after they arrived?"
"Sleep..."
Swan's eyes were vacant.
"Just surviving is enough... Do you know what they did in Inazuma?"
"It's spread throughout all of Teyvat, except for Natlan—they're currently at war there, so the news travels slowly."
Lawrence pulled out a copy of the "Steambird," the front-page headline boldly reading: "Shock! Four Hilichurls Changed Inazuma's History!"
The newspaper detailed the quartet's "great deeds": they used a certain ability to create a pile of chess pieces, which could transform into corresponding creatures and obey their commands.
Using only Hilichurl chess pieces, they nearly annihilated both the Shogunate Army and the resistance, and then used an even more outrageous ability to resurrect all the dead, forcing both sides to negotiate peace.
"That wasn't all."
Swan lowered his voice.
"I heard they later beat up the Raiden Shogun, and the next day the Vision Hunt Decree and the Sakoku Decree were abolished, and two extra Raiden Shoguns appeared."
Lawrence flipped to the second page of the newspaper: "The Snezhnayan Empress issued an overnight command, prohibiting the Fatui from making enemies with the quartet, specifically naming 'Dottore'."
The two sighed simultaneously, looking toward the city—where the first explosion and Captain Kaeya's loud laughter could already be heard.
Meanwhile, the Knights of Favonius Headquarters was in chaos.
"Quick! Lock up all the valuable books in the library!"
Lisa directed several Knights to move the books.
"Especially that copy of 'Teyvat Continent Travel Guide'!"
Acting Grand Master Jean rubbed her temples: "Kaeya, you are responsible for monitoring them... no, accompanying them."
"It would be my honor~"
Kaeya twirled the coin in his hand.
"I suggest preparing enough cider, after all, that 'Sea Emperor' will start performing 'Conquering the Abyss' after just three cups."
He had drunk with Elliot, knew his tolerance, and could only say, what a piece of trash.
Amber, standing nearby, was worried: "Should we protect the statue of the seven first?"
Before she finished speaking, a loud "boom" sounded in the distance, followed by Matt's panicked voice: "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to touch the statue of the seven's hand! It fell off by itself!"
Jean's face instantly turned pale: "Barbara... prepare Healing Prayers... lots and lots of Healing Prayers..."
Meanwhile, inside the Angel's Share tavern, Venti was tuning his Lyre.
Charles the bartender looked serious: "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Of course~"
Venti blinked.
"I specifically composed the 'Hilichurl Rhapsody' for them, and I've prepared a special cider—with one-third water added."
He lowered his voice conspiratorially.
"After all, if that 'Sea Emperor' gets drunk, he might actually summon a tsunami and flood Mondstadt."
Diluc, wiping a glass, said coldly: "I hope they can behave this time. If not, send them out to the wilderness; the Abyss Mages have been increasing lately..."
Just as he spoke, the tavern door was violently pushed open, and Elliot stood in the doorway striking an exaggerated pose: "Citizens of Mondstadt! Your God of Wind... Ow!"
Zane slammed him into the floor with a hammer: "Shut up!"
He then explained to the stunned tavern patrons.
"Don't mind him, a Crab pinched his head."
Jesse skipped over to the bar: "Venti! Play us a few songs! Three bottles of wine as Reward!"
Matt carefully crouched in the center of the tavern—his head was already hitting the ceiling—and whispered: "Um... do you know where Mona is? I want to see her..."
Paimon floated in the air counting on her fingers: "One explosion, one damaged statue of the seven, one tavern door broken... and they've only been in the city for ten minutes!"
Lumine had already given up on the situation and found a corner to quietly drink grape juice.
The Wolf King elegantly ordered from Charles: "Please bring me a cup of black tea with two slices of lemon. Any damage caused by my masters will be compensated in full by us."
Charles looked at the entire wine rack accidentally knocked over by Matt, then looked at the bag full of Mora handed over by the Wolf King—which was stamped with the Raiden Shogun's personal signature—and took it with a trembling hand.
Outside the city, Lawrence and Swan listened to the continuous commotion within the city, simultaneously pulling out earplugs.
"I bet five Mora they'll tear down the Cathedral of the Favonius bell tower tonight."
Lawrence said.
Swan shook his head: "I bet ten Mora they'll first 'improve' the moat, just like they dyed the hair of the Raiden Shogun's statue rainbow colors in Inazuma."
The two exchanged glances and sighed simultaneously: "Mondstadt, take care."