章 26: Crimson Crystal

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***

Both Hu Tao and Yomite somehow managed to take everything from the chest, not leaving a speck of dust behind, but it was quite challenging. They almost had no more space left to put things into.

'Where is the famed inventory skill when you need it...fuck I should have asked for that...' Yomite complained but it was way too late and besides, it wasn't guaranteed Sia would just give him what he wanted.

He should just be happy about the nice bonus of a strong body he got.

The moment they left through the portal, they appeared in the same camp they were in before, with the only change of there being Amber, leaning on the entrance of the gate.

"Hey there guys!" She waved at them, both of them looking at her in confusion.

"Shouldn't she be with the second group right now? Why is she here?" Yomite asked while gazing at Kaeya, asking for an explanation.

"Well it appears the second group was so good, they managed to finish the last temple as well! Saving us time and effort!" Kaeya laughed, while somewhat happy that he didn't need to go to another boring temple.

Amber chimed in and explained, "Well, we managed to finish our temple yesterday, so we moved onto the last one, but as you never showed up and it was getting dark, we decided to enter the last one. We cleared it fairly quickly and once we got out and you still weren't there, Lisa was worried so she sent me here to check up on you, whilst the Traveler and Lisa went back to the city of Mondstadt."

Yomite nodded, "I see, well the temple wasn't that hard, we just entered it not too long ago as Kaeya wanted us to wait till the morning."

Amber frowned as she stared at Kaeya form up close, Kaeya looking away frantically, "Sir Kaeya...you were being lazy again, weren't you?"

"..."

Kaeya didn't speak and instead shook his hands in denial, but that didn't seem to be working.

Amber's gaze turned into that of a slight disgust as she spoke, "You are becoming really irresponsible..."

After another series of harsh scoldings, the group quickly returned to Mondstadt as the puppy needed immediate healing from the Deaconess.

As they entered the city, they went towards the direcition of the church. Once there, they gently knocked on the large door leading inside.

Soon enough, a nun poked her head outside and asked, "Hello, can I do something for you?"

Amber explained the situation, making the nun look at them in suspicion, thinking whether they were joking or not.

A request to heal a wild animal? That has never happened to them before.

Still, she led them inside, towards the Deaconess.

"Deaconess Barbara, some people are requesting an urgent healing procedure."

"I see! I will get to it immediately!"

A charismatic individual and a gentle voice. Those were the first things Yomite saw, the second thing was, a pair blue eyes, a pair of ash blonde pigtails.

Her build was petite and Yomite guessed her age to be something around fourteen to sixteen years old.

'A Deaconess that was this young? That's a fantasy world for you.' He thought as he stared at the weird, unorthodoxed style of clothing.

She had a pair of white tights, Yomite could have sworn he saw somewhere before.

She was in no way dressing up as a nun, nor a Deaconess, that's for sure.

Her Vision was attached to a gold-adorned spell-book with a light blue cover and a small cross charm hangs at her side, attached to a black strap held together with a gold hoop.

Amber brought the puppy to her and while surprised, Barbara immediately activated her Vision, summoning water droplets resembling musical notes that formed a Melody Loop and healed the puppy fully after a couple of seconds.

After healing the puppy, she looked at them with a smile and wondered, "Is anyone else injured?" Her voice was calm and soothing, making it seem like she was whispering whilst talking normally.

"No, we are good to go, thank you and bye!" Amber gave her a salute and the rest of the group waved at her, saying their goodbyes.

As he was leaving, Yomite couldn't help but feel like there was sadness in her eyes, but he couldn't just care about every random person he met now, could he?

As they were coming out of the church, Yomite saw a familiar person in the distance, "Hm, isn't that Acting Grand Master Jean?"

"Looks like it. It seems like she is having an argument with someone." Kaeya revealed a cheeky grin. It's been a long time since someone other than him was being scolded.

A woman, in her late twenties, wearing a raven-like mask covering her eyes, was yelling at Jean, who was trying to act calm and collected as always. She was an Acting Grand Master, it was below her to just join this woman in her 'shouting competition'.

"Which is what has brought us to this point in the first place! If you are incapable of promptly dealing with the Stormterror threat, then leave the defense of Mondstadt to the Fatui! Some of your knights could be classified as Hilichurls at this point! They are too useless! The Fatui will put an end to the Mondstadt's dragon issue. All we need to do is to bring that monster to the—"

"—Monster? Excuse me?" Jean frowned, her shoulders stiffening.

"Yes? What's your point?" The woman grinned knowing she hit the weak spot.

Jean took a deep breath and replied, "Ah...With all due respect, I'd expect a more professional attitude from the Fatui diplomats. Yet you are saying you want to "put an end" to one of the Four Winds of Mondstadt? One of the Guardians? I won't be having any of this nonsense in front of the Knights of Favonius."

She was seemingly upset but still managed to maintain her composure. The woman in front of her just wanted to make her feel furious, but such light provocation was nothing.

The woman giggled as a response, "Heh...Hehehe... Your Guardian is periodically attacking this city, causing both your Dandelion Knight Friends and the citizens to suffer. It's not as crazy as you make it sound, but fine let's end the negotiations for today. At this stage, it's simply an amicable exchange of constructive opinions, no? I reckon you're pretty smart, so you'll see what's better for your people and give in eventually. It's just a matter of time." With that, the woman turned around and left with a smirk on her face.

"Fine. Do as you wish." Shaking her head, she noticed an arrival of a certain party.

Jean's eyes widened and she let out a relaxed smile, seeing this group. "Ah. Welcome back. I am glad you are safe. Thanks for your help. The elemental flow is now finally stable. The aftermath of Stormterror's last attack is finally settled for the moment, however, the pressure from the delegation has become too big to be ignored..."

"A delegation?" Hu Tao tilted her head, "From Liyue Harbor or Inazuma?"

Jean shook her head, "Snezhnaya. They choose to follow the God of Cryo. Their envoys go by a particular name: The Fatui. Ever heard of them?"

Hu Tao nodded and her face turned bitter, "They are super infamous...Aiya...They always come during my parting rituals and bother me. What a bunch of rascals. I thought they only operated in Liyue."

"What did they want this time?" Kaeya inquired.

"They proposed we should kill the Stormterror, or else they will take care of it...And I believe they have enough manpower to beat it, but I simply don't think killing it is the right course of action. The Cryo God's Fatui has always coveted the Anemo God's power. I don't believe they have Mondstadt's best interests at heart." Jean hung her head low, resting her hand on her chest.

"I see, the situation is certainly complicated." Yomite thought out loud, "So a bitter power struggle is ongoing. To recapitulate it, a different country called Snezhnaya wants to take over Mondstadt and its power, and in return, they would take care of the dragon for you, however, you don't wish to kill the dragon. It's actually becoming really cliche."

Jean affirmed, "Well, you summarised it to the most part but let's not talk about it here out in the open." Jean let out a tired sigh and continued, "We wouldn't want citizens to spread rumors and break into chaos. Let's go back to Headquarters, for now, there was something the Traveler Lumine wanted to show us but kept waiting for you guys to arrive first."

"Sure."

"Sure~!"

"I am too tired but alright."

"Roger that!"

The group nodded with some taunts and got moving.

Mondstadt and Snezhnaya were considered the same in status. Mondstadt was independent and didn't belong to anyone.

It was a city of freedom and despite being regarded as a city, in reality, it was a country, a prosperous one at that.

"Snezhnaya diplomats are usually the most aggressive out there. They will get their hands on everything valuable without regard for losing face." Jean mentioned along the way, reaching for the door handle of the entrance to the Headquarters.

"Makes sense, that woman just now was so insufferable! Why is everyone so mean lately?" Amber spoke in an irritated voice.

They talked for a bit before arriving in front of Jean's office.

Once they walked in, the group saw Lisa who was reading a book sitting on a couch while sipping on her herbal tea, and Lumine, playing with Paimon in her hands, while leaning on a nearby wall with an adorable expression on her face.

The moment they stepped inside, both of them stopped their relaxing activities and welcomed them.

After a brief period of explanations, Lumine pulled out a burning red crystal seemingly out of nowhere.

"That thing looks like it's expensive. Any way to check the price, Mr. Pirate?" Yomite turned to Kaeya who studied it carefully, "Hmm...The bids shall start at 20 Million Mora. How does that sound?"

"Pretty good. Not going to lie."

"Looks pretty!" Hu Tao chimed in.

"It fits my clothes! I could wear it as a necklace," Amber beamed.

Seeing everyone's nonchalant attitude, Jean sighed. She turned to Lisa and asked, "It's a crystal embedded with some kind of dark power... Lisa, are you able to analyze it?"

"Let me take a quick look." She brought a magnifying glass and zoomed in on the structure of the crystal. "Hmm... I can see many impurities within the crystal but upon further inspection...No, unfortunately not. Give me some time. I will take a look through the library's restricted section,"

Upon hearing the word Library, Yomite's interest peaked.

'She did say a restricted section, so I doubt I will be able to access it, but the normal section should be fine, right?'

Once everything has calmed down, Yomite planned on finding some kind of library, but it seems like he didn't have to look too far. It was inside of the Knight's Headquarters, waiting for him to explore.

"Alright, I am counting on you. I will leave the research to you then, Lisa."

Lisa nodded, "Understood, I will notify you if I make any progress. Though I wouldn't go getting your hopes up that much. I am nothing that amazing. They are incredibly ancient texts, not to mention—" She reached her hand towards the crystal, floating in the mid-air, and quickly pulled it back upon the contact, a red spark burning her glove and a bit of her skin, "Ouch! Gosh, that hurt!" She caressed the palm of her hand and sighed, "It hurts when I touch it...The impurities within the crystal might be behind it..."