Bab 7: City Of Freedom

Geoffrey and his family could currently be seen sitting outside of their house, sitting on the benches as they could be seen conversing with a young girl who looked no older than eighteen. The unfamiliar female had brown long hair, along with a red bow atop her head resembling that of ears belonging to bunnies.

Her overall outfit consisted of what looked to be a red top similar to that of a hoodie, along with having on a pair of brown leather shorts. Finishing it off simply, he was also wearing red stockings underneath a pair of white thigh-high boots.

"Do you know when this Kendric will arrived?"

"He said he'd be here soon." Geoffrey responded as he rubbed the back of his head. The group were all waiting for Kendric to arrive, which was why they were all just sitting down. "Do you mind if I ask what it is you wish to discuss with Kendric, Miss Amber?"

"I just want to speak with him about this village, I've never come across it before until recently." Amber explained simply as she turned her attention towards Geoffrey. "It was actually Jean that sent me here. After I gave my report about this place to her, she asked me to find the person responsible and hopefully bring them back."

Ever since Amber first came across this place a couple of days ago, she had avoided making contact, instead opting to report back to the Acting Grand Master first. She had never once come across such a village during any of her patrols, and those were not few in number.

When she first saw the place and all of these strangely crafted buildings, she was amazed by what she saw and was tempted to explore. However, even if she saw a bunch of civilians walking around, she didn't just rush in just in case they were hostile.

Thankfully, they weren't, evident by how nice Geoffrey and his family were.

Before anyone could speak up again, they flinched slightly when a loud song reminiscent of thunder roared through the area. Instinctively, Amber stood up immediately, summoning a bow into her arms as she looked around in high alert.

"Stay back, it might be an enemy!" Amber quickly warned the family, who all nodded in response as Amber narrowed her eyes and looked around. No matter where she looked, she couldn't see any source of the noise. 'What is that sound? It's getting closer!'

"Alright~!"

A scream all caught their attention as they turned towards one section of the small hills that surrounded the crop fields, and when they did, they saw something suddenly shoot up into the air in a flash of red. They widened their eyes as they saw a strange mechanical object flying through the air.

They continued watching as the object then landed on the ground, losing it's balance slightly as it swerved, though the balance was quickly regained as it continued heading towards them at incredible speeds.

Before anyone could make a comment, they watched as the strange object turned to its side and began drifting against the grass. Doing so, the object quickly began losing speed before coming to a complete stop.

"Wh-What is that...?"

The question came from Geoffrey, which was a question that was shared amongst the entire group. Amber didn't know exactly what it was either, so she remained cautious as she kept her bow pulled back, ready to fire an arrow in case it proved itself to be hostile.

"Man, that was unreal!" A male voice shouted, drawing all of their attention towards the owner. They had been too focused on the machine itself that they failed to notice the individual sitting inside, wearing what looked to be an angular crimson red visor helmet. "I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting for too long."

The person stepped off of the vehicle before taking off their helmet, revealing none other than Kendric himself.

"Big brother, you're here!" Rebecca shouted as she quickly ran over towards Kendric upon seeing his face. She received a pat on the head, courtesy of Kendric, before turning her curious eyes to the motorcycle. "What is this, big brother? It looks incredible!"

"It's called a motorcycle, a form of transport." Kendric explained as simply as possible, no need to go in depth about what a damn motorcycle was. Rebecca ran around the vehicle, looking at it in awe as Christian also came over and did the same. "So, are you this Outrider I was told about?"

"Y-Yes, that would be me!" Amber quickly responded upon being spoken to. She herself was also distracted by the supposed vehicle in front of her, but she quickly composed herself. "My name is Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius."

"I see, a pleasure to meet you." Kendric nodded as he rested his helmet underneath his arm as he extended one hand towards her, Amber accepting the gesture as they shook hands. "My name is Kendric Allenere, welcome to Eden."

"Eden, is that the name of this village?" Amber asked with a curious look on her face, to which Kendric merely nodded in response. "Interesting. Anyway, I was given instructions to inform you that Jean would like to have audience with you regarding this town."

"Jean?"

"She's the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, and the Defender of Mondstadt." Amber nodded as she spoke with both pride and admiration in her tone. Kendric merely crossed his arms with an interested look on his face. "She'd like to discuss some details with you and this town, and to also thank you."

"Thank me? What for?"

"Well, for saving these people." Amber smiled as she gestured towards Geoffrey and his family, who were all standing around Kendric's motorcycle, with Rebecca sitting on the seat with a big smile. "Geoffrey told me about how you provided them a new place to live after they were attacked by hilichurls."

"Ah, so that's it." Kendric nodded. "Well, I was already intending on going to Mondstadt at some point, so might as well go now. When do you want to leave?"

"Jean's expecting you, so I want to get going as soon as possible, as long as that's fine with you."

"Sure, let's get a move on."

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The City of Mondstadt was quite the distance from where Eden was located, a good solid week of walking that is. However, that amount of time was significantly cut down to only two to three hours with Kendric having been able to ride his new motorcycle the whole way.

He could currently be seen riding across the grassy fields, with Amber with him as she could be seen sitting directly behind him with her arms tightly secured around his stomach. Since the vehicle came with two helmets, Amber had the second one secured onto her head.

She was initially very embarrassed by how close in contact she was with Kendric, but that embarrassment was swept away as she felt the incredible speed and excitement from riding on the motorcycle. The machine that Kendric possessed was quite the incredible piece of work.

"I've been meaning to ask this." Kendric spoke with his voice being comparable to that of a shout as he amplified it using his powers. "How long did it take you to get to Eden? We've been riding for over two hours now, so a journey like that should take at least five days."

"Only a bit over a day or so, to and from!" Amber responded as she turned to face him. "I mainly used my wind glider to get around by riding the wind currents, and it helped cut down the time it took to travel!"

"A wind glider, huh?"

"Yeah, we use them to ride the wind! They used both by Outriders as well as the people of Mondstadt as a whole!" Amber seemed to perk up quite a bit as she began explaining this. "I'll have to show you them later! I promise you, you'll absolutely love the feeling of gliding!"

"I look forward to it then." Kendric smiled as he sped up, revving the engine as the motorcycle gave off multiple powerful roars. 'I wonder what kind of place Mondstadt is? If I'm not mistaken, the nations of this world are based off of real-life countries.'

"Kendric, look over there!" Amber's voiced caught his attention, causing him to turn his gaze up towards where Amber's hand was pointing in front of him. "You see that massive tree in the distance? That's the Symbol of Mondstadt's Hero!"

"A massive tree?" Kendric blinked at the explanation, and true to Amber's words, he could see the silhouette of a massive tree standing within a large flat grassy plain in the distance. "Is that where we need to go? Is the city beyond that tree?"

"There's no need, the City of Mondstadt should be coming into view any second now... there it is!"

Kendric looked on curiously as he saw a massive castle-like stone wall coming into view, one that looked to be located in a massive lake, with a stone bridge leading towards the large island that city stood upon. Just looking at it really reminded him of those medieval castle cities.

As they continued getting closer, Kendric could see a few people walking in and out of the place, along with a few people who were donning a form of silver plated armour. It wasn't anything grand though, and they were missing any form of head protection, at least from what he could see.

The closer they got, the more people began to notice the noise of the engine revving. Some who noticed sooner looked around in confusion, only to flinch in surprise when the motorcycle Kendric and Amber were on jumped over a small cliff before landing and drifting to a stop near the front area of the bridge.

"Oh my Archons!" One of the knights, who had unfortunately fallen over when the vehicle sped past him, shouted with a stutter in his voice as he stared at the stopping vehicle with eyes as wide as possible. "W-Wait, Amber?!"

"Sorry about that, Lawrence!" Amber giggled as she hopped off of the bike, Kendric doing the same as he placed both helmets into the secret compartment space on the vehicle. "This right here is Kendric, it's his first time here in Mondstadt!"

Kendric then turned towards the fallen knight with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

"I-I see... nice to meet you as well." The one known as Lawrence greeted with a nod as he slowly got back up from his position. "I welcome you to the City of Mondstadt, strange yet respectable traveller. We welcome you with open arms."

Kendric blinked at the rather unique greeting, but nodded nonetheless. He then swiped his hand as the motorcycle they rode was sent back into his inventory, the action received widened looks from both Amber and anyone else who saw, though that was it.

He had seen Amber do something similar prior to having set off for the city, that being when she seemed to have made that bow she held disappear into thin air. He wasn't sure if something like a pocket dimension was a common thing here, but at least he didn't need to worry about getting weird looks when using his inventory.

"Well, I'm going to show Kendric into the city. See you later, Lawrence." Amber spoke as the knight in question gave a simple nod in response. Amber then turned to Kendric with a big smile, then grabbing his arm and began tugging him towards the city gates. "Let's get going, Kendric!"

"Th-There's no need to rush."

As Amber dragged him through the city gates, Kendric immediately looked around curiously. When they entered, he was greeted by the sight of cobblestone streets lined with various buildings and shops. There was also a staircase in front of them, and strangely enough, he could see multiple windmills spinning in various locations.

"Welcome to the City of Mondstadt, otherwise known as the City of Freedom!" Amber declared with a proud look on her face, obviously due to seeing the curious look that Kendric sent the entire city. "As a member of the Knights of Favonius, it's my duty to officially welcome you!"

"You're certainly hyper." Kendric smiled amusedly as Amber laughed a bit, her face flushing a bit in embarrassment. "So, you said this Jean wanted to speak with me? I assume that she has an arranged place that she intends to speak with me at."

"Of course, we're going to need to head on up towards the Knights of Favonius Headquarters. Just follow me!"

With that, Kendric followed Amber through the city, he di make sure to glance around as they ran towards these supposed headquarters of the knights. As they made their way, he couldn't help but notice something, something a bit off about the citizens.

'Is it just me, or do they look a bit depressed...?' Kendric frowned a bit as he glanced to the side, noticing how a few of the people he ran and walked past had frustrated and saddened looks on their faces. 'Maybe I should ask Amber about it later? After my talk with this Jean that is.'

Aside from the concerning expressions of the citizens, Kendric had to admit that this city was very calming and relaxing. Especially the warm soft breeze that seemed to blow through the city constantly, it felt nice whenever it would brush against his face.

While he was and always will be a man of the modern era, he definitely could admit that he enjoyed this somewhat medieval scenery.

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It wasn't long before both Amber and Kendric had found themselves entering the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius. At first, Kendric was a bit hesitant to just enter, it didn't seem like a place he could just waltz in all willy nilly. Amber assured him it'd be fine though, both because she was with him and that certain parts were open for public visit.

One situation lead to another as Kendric was told by Amber to wait outside the office door, one of the doors in the hallway they walked into upon entering the building. He was merely leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets, his eyes glancing around curiously.

Despite the place being apparently open to the public, he didn't see many, if any, civilians wandering around in the place. The only people he saw were a few knights that were either walking around casually, or were standing tall and on guard just in case anything happened.

He also noticed them sending him a few wary glances, which he didn't at all blame them, it was normal for them to be wary of a foreign party. Especially if they were someone who was here to visit their supposed leader or whatever this Acting Grand Master's position was.

"So, you're the one that Jean was hoping to meet." An unfamiliar voice sounded, though Kendric had already long since turned his head to look at the person, he had heard the person's footsteps from outside the front door. "Quite an interesting one, I can't say I recognise your attire. If you don't mind, which land do you hail from?"

The male that asked this was a male in his early to mid twenties, with a tanned complexion and long navy-blue hair that was tied into a side ponytail. His attire consisted of a fancy fur-collared blouse, along with a pair of dark trousers and knee-length boots. What made Kendric raise his eyebrow slightly though was the eyepatch he could see underneath the male's bangs.

"I doubt you've heard of it."

"Really?" The male voiced with an amused tone, though his eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "I have been to my fair share of different lands, so I'm quite confident in regards to geography. I'm sure that I must have at least heard of your homeland before in passing."

"If you say so." Kendric shrugged. "I come from NSW, otherwise known as New South Wales. More specifically, I live within the city known as Sydney."

"New South Wales? Sydney?" The blue haired male repeated those words under his breath as a look of confusion flashed across his face. "Seems like you win this one, I've never heard of those places before. Kaeya, Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius. A pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Kaeya. Kendric Allennere, just call me Kendric."

"Alright, you can come in no- Oh, Kaeya!" Amber, who had just opened the door, widened her eyes before exclaiming in surprise upon seeing the familiar face of the blue-head. "I see that you've already met Kendric! He's the one that I brought back from that village I reported about."

"Indeed, I have deduced as much." Kaeya nodded with a small smile. "Jean wants to talk with him, right? I'm also interested, so let's not keep her waiting."

Both Amber and Kendric looked at one another before nodding, the three of them then walking into the office. When inside, Kendric looked around to see that there were a multitude of bookshelves lining the walls, along with a simple wooden desk at the other end of the room.

However, it was the two people already inside the room that caught his attention the most. Both women who were around the same age as Kaeya, one with light wavy brown hair, and another with blonde hair tied into a ponytail on the back.

The woman with brown hair looked to be wearing a purple outfit that looked similar to the young witches you would see in things like anime and video games, and the blonde, she wore a white strapless shirt with a blue tailcoat attached, along with having a pair of disconnected sleeves and white tights that were embroidered with a pattern of golden diamonds.

The blonde turned her gaze towards Kaeya. "Kaeya, I'm glad to see that you're able to join us."

"I just happened to see Amber heading over, I was merely curious."

"Whatever the case, it's better that you're also here to hear about everything." The blonde nodded before turning her attention towards Kendric, who had his arms crossed over his chest, a neutral expression on his face. "You are Kendric, correct? I welcome you to Mondstadt. I am Jean, Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius."

"I am most grateful. And yes, my name is Kendric Allennere. A pleasure to meet you."

"Oh my, and what a cutie you are~."

"Excuse me... what?"

"Don't mind it, sweety." The woman wearing the witch's attire gave an amused giggle upon seeing Kendric's rather uncomfortable and confused expression upon hearing her previous words. "My name is Lisa, the resident librarian here in Mondstadt."

"I see, nice to meet you..." Kendric nodded, although with an unsure expression. Next to him, Kaeya gave an amused chuckle while Amber just smiled nervously. Shaking his head, Kendric then looked towards Jean. "I was told that you wanted to discuss something with me."

"That's correct, but before that, I'd like to give you my sincerest gratitude." Jean spoke as she gave him a small bow. "Amber informed me about how you were the one that helped those unfortunate victims from Alcorn Village. In the name of the Knights of Favonius, I thank you."

"It's no problem."

I have to apologise as well. Due to how short-handed we are at the moment with most of our knights away, we don't have enough people to help patrol and protect the surrounding settlements." Jean explained with a sigh in her voice. "If you hadn't been there, the situation would have been a lot worse."

"As I said before, it's no problem. Though, I wasn't there for the attack, I only gave them a place to call home." Kendric made sure to correct her, he wasn't going to take credit for something he didn't actually do. He didn't save the villagers, he wasn't even there during the attack. "Though, if you don't mind me asking, where are these knights that are away?"

"Off on an expedition." Kaeya was the one that answered, gaining Kendric's attention. "I'm sure you noticed how we call Jean the Acting Grand Master, that's because she's only temporarily the Grand Master until the Grand Master returns. When he left, he took more than eighty-percent of our knights."

'An expedition? If this Vakar took literally over four-fifths of the military force, then that must be one heck of an expedition. What is he doing, going to war?' Kendric couldn't help but think after hearing this. "That's interesting... well, we shouldn't stray off topic. What was it that you wanted to speak to me about?"

"While the main reason was to give my thanks personally to you, I would also like to discuss your relationship with Mondstadt." Kendric didn't say anything and waited for her to continue. "You're obviously a new settlement here in the nation, so I'd like to know if you'd want Mondstadt's support."

"Support, as in what exactly?"

"Protection, you'd have a few of our knights stationed in your village... Eden, if I'm not mistaken. While the people who lived in Alcorn Village previously didn't particularly worship Barbatos like the rest of us, they were still citizens of Mondstadt and had our support."

"Hmm..." Kendric didn't answer immediately as he held his chin in thought. He wasn't exactly against having some knights to help protect the place, but that in itself had some complications. "Wouldn't it be difficult for the knights though? Eden is located at most a week away on foot. Can you really afford to station any away from this city?"

"Although it does pain me to admit this... yes, that would be true."

Kendric watched as Jean sighed as she buried her face into her hands, he could tell just how stressed she looked. Considering how she was pretty much running this city, it was no surprise that she'd be stressed. He could understand her, though she definitely had it worse than him.

Lisa then chimed in as she added. "It is quite unfortunate, especially with the recent disturbances that Stormterror has caused us all. We really can't afford to send out any more of the knights, Springvale isn't even that far, yet sending them out that far was already a bit much."

'What the fuck is a Stormterror?' Kendric couldn't help but asked himself as he heard the... name? Title? Whatever the hell it was, he certainly had no idea. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is this Stormterror you're talking about?"

"Stormterror, an individual that has caused our people a handful of issues recently." Kaeya was the one that answered. "Stormterror is a dragon, I'm sure you've noticed or heard of his presence during your stay here."

"Uh... nope."

"In any case, it is indeed true that Stormterror has caused us serious issues in many fields. If this wasn't the case, stationing some knights at your village would be much easier." Jean sighed once more before focusing entirely on Kendric. "Aside from all this, I've said all I wanted. Is there anything else you wish to discuss with me?"

"...You want some new clothes?"

At that, everyone in the room gave him confused looks as they blinked at him.

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'Holy... fuck.'

When Kendric had come here with one of his objectives being to advertise some clothes, he hadn't expected the crowd of people to become this damn big. He had only just recently finished his talk with Jean and the other Knights of Favonius.

He had made some basic discussions regarding how he wanted to establish a trade between them, he'd export the clothing that Eden made, and in return they'd obviously pay for the clothes that they received from them. He had brought quite a lot of clothes with him, but he hadn't expected to literally sell it all.

What he had initially were around sixty basic shirts, around the same number of pants and skirts, he had even brought quite a bit of underwear as well, selling those were a bit embarrassing. Anyway, he had literally run out of stock, including the underwear!

Of course, the clothes he had brought along weren't anything fancy, but they were definitely better both in quality and fashion compared to anything anyone here had been wearing. He had determined the prices based on the items he saw being sold at the local stores here, and just assumed that the amount they costed here was equivalent to what they'd be back in his world.

"I've been sucked dry..."

"Hahaha~! Your clothing has certainly made quite the impact." Turning his head, Kendric saw Kaeya walking over while laughing, in his arms were a few shirts he had been taking a look at. "With Stormterror's disturbances, gathering materials for clothing hasn't been easy. The market had been struggling as of late, so it's no wonder you sold this well, especially considering this quality."

'Jeez, this Stormterror's having THAT much of an impact on these people?' Kendric thought to himself as he watched the people around showing each other the new clothes they had just bought, he even saw Lisa, Jean, and Amber a few meters away looking at the clothes they too had purchased. 'Well, this was what I was hoping to do anyway.'

Quickly checking his inventory, he could see the Mora he had made stashed safely away. Not including the amount he already had, he had made over 250,000 Mora from that small stash alone. With some basic math, that's probably around 2,700 Australian dollars.

'The issue now though is how the hell am I going to constantly export these to Mondstadt?' The only way right now was for him to bring them here himself, which he didn't mind doing, but it wasn't like he could all the time. He needed a reliable method. 'I definitely don't have enough credits for a train, ocean isn't possible, neither is through the air...fuck! I'll think of something later!'

For now, he had to focus on finalising the details regarding the exports with Jean and such.