章 25: Chapter 24
Later that day Lumine and I woke up to the sounds of Paimon groaning in pain. "Paimon are you alright?" I groaned as Lumine pushed her head between my arms and my sides so she could seemingly drown out the noise of Paimon.
"Ugh... We missed brunch!" She cried out and I was reminded how it was probably getting closer to lunch time and we certainly skipped breakfast as we did that little heist way too early this morning.
"Wait are you some kind of a Hobbit?" I asked incredulously as my mind went back to the first Lord of the Rings movie where that Hobbit was complaining about Brunch and all the other weird meals that glutinous Hobbits would partake in.
"What's a Hobbit!?" Paimon cried out before she rolled off her pillow bed and unsteadily floated over to us and began pushing Lumine around. "Lumineee! Wake up we need to eat! We uhm, need to go talk to Jean about the Lyre remember." Paimon said switching tracks so Lumine didn't have a choice as although we certainly could ignore Paimons's stomach growling, but we couldn't just ignore the likely chaos erupting around Mondstadt.
"Ugh." Lumine groaned as she rolled over away from me with her back turned to me as she sat on the edge of the bed then as she probably glared at Paimon for not allowing her to sleep in, Paimon gulped and flew around the bed to hide behind me as I myself began throwing back on my adventure clothes with the Schnee emblem on the back of the coat.
"Lumine let's get a quick brunch or whatever nonsense Paimon needs on the way to the Knights Headquarters," I said before I continued with an evil grin. "I hear Jueyun Chilis are also in season right now... Maybe Paimon would like a diet exclusively of those super spicy peppers."
Paimon briefly franticly denied such a diet but after got our meal and she actually accepted the local equivalent of a Quesadillas with those peppers she had to franticly drink some milk to offset the spiciness. "It's super spicy but it's really good!" She said weakly as her face was rather red and then the lady working the restaurant hearing Paimon speak of the food approached.
"Yeah, Jueyun Peppers aren't really a staple here in Mondstadt, they are much more common over in Liyue and the reason I had that on the menu is that a rather interesting chef from Liyue is in Mondstadt right now and we shared recipes a couple days ago." The chef and owner of the restaurant explained.
I blinked and then realized that Xiangling the teenage hobo chef was already here in Mondstadt and more importantly the Stove God, Guoba that followed her was around as well.
"Was there a weird teddy bear running around following her as well?" I asked and she confirmed it.
"Oh yeah... Guoba was it? Yeah, that sweety was following her, do you know Mrs. Xiangling?" She asked and I nodded as it wasn't all the uncommon knowledge in Liyue as far as I was aware.
"Yeah, she is one of the premier chefs of Liyue, if she settled down and made a restaurant, she would be raking in the Mora, but she prefers to be constantly on the move trying to create new dishes out of the local ingredients she finds as she travels," I said with my face twitching at how she had little to no filters on trying new dishes even adding things like the concentrated essence of slimes after they are killed to bind spices to meat as they are grilled.
"Well look out for her Honorary Knights of Favonius's it would be the shame of the century should that culinary genius be cut short before she can reach her full potential." The owner of the Restaurant said as she went back to her business.
"Jake, do you know where this Xiangling is?" Paimon asked obviously wanting us to drop Mondstadt and leave it to burn to the ground as we chased after one of the best chefs.
I looked over to Paimon with a dull look and thankfully she did seem to have some shame as she chuckled and looked away. "Not really but she if she isn't here in the city of Mondstadt then she is likely around the town of Springvale that's south of Mondstadt. Well either way let's get going to Jean I bet the Knights are in a panic about the Lyre being stolen."
Lumine quickly finished up their food and then we made our way towards the knights of Favonius.
-
As we walked into Jean's office I had to blink in surprise as I saw the large number of people within the room.
Jean and Lisa were there obviously but so was Venti and more surprisingly was how Eula, Noelle, Amber, and Kaeya were there. "Huh, I imagined this was going to be just meeting with Jean," I said wryly as the various Knights of Favonius gave me and the other two coming in varying looks.
"Hmph stealing one of the greatest items of Mondstadt's cultural heritage, masquerading as one of the Fatui agent, and then thwarting an actual Fatui Cicin agent from stealing it in the process... One could almost say it was too convenient if it didn't end up with us keeping the Lyre and not needing to register its whereabouts with the either faded Nobles or the corrupt civilians." Diluc said as he folded his arms over his chest. "Well better for it to be in the hands of the Knights of Favonius rather than actually in the hands of those damned Fatui!" He spat before turning away from the rest of the room to brood as he looked out the window.
Jean smiled awkwardly as she pointed at a couple of open seats next to Eula and Noelle. "Please have a seat. Don't worry, we had Lisa check the site where the Lyre was, and she was able to capture the essence of the Cicen mages Electro energy that she used to teleport so there is no doubt about there being one. Now let me introduce two other Knights of Favonius, that you both likely haven't met yet, first is Eula Lawrence Captain of the reconnaissance division and has just been recently recalled back so she can assist us as we have already found another one of Davlin's tears with the help of Lisa."
Eula stood up from her chair and lightly bowing to us with her hand against her chest before straightening up. "As Jean said, my name is Eula and I thank you for the assistance you have given to Mondstadt in its time of need. However please do not assume my gratitude is an excuse for any improper thoughts about us being friends yet." Eula said showing her Noble demeanor and wanting to I guess put a professional barrier between us.
Or she was just tsundere.
Eula had short blue hair and an amber eye and her clothes consisted of a black leotard which has a silver symbol of her clan at the sides of the bottom, and the back cut out. The upper body and sleeves are white and have the sides of the shoulders cut out and secured below her breasts with a black belt.
Then Noelle stood up and smiled gently to the both of us and the difference in Eula's cool and prim expression compared to Noelle's gentle and warm demeanor was almost startling as she put her hands together in front of her armored maid uniform and did a light courtesy dip. "My name is Noelle, and I am the head maid of the Knights of Favonius, would you three like some tea or some snacks while you all prepare for to leave for Dvalins tears."
Lisa gently poked Noelle and whispered something to her but I was unable to hear as Amber and Kaeya came began talking to us and Kaeya broke into a burst of deep laughter as I told him about how we mugged the Fatui agents last night.
"Alright I have finished all the paperwork and there shouldn't be any issues with us leaving the city as Razor and several others are here stationed around the city in the case of an emergency while we are gone," Jean said as she stood up with a groan and stretched.
"Jean, shouldn't we ask Lady Barbara and Rosaria to come assist as well?" Noelle asked Jean but Jean's face hardened for but a brief moment as she shook her head.
"No... It seems with the Lyre being taken last night by Jake and Lumine, that the Fatui seemed to go on a scavenger hunt and found one of Dvalin's that a Ruin Guard was protecting and now we will need to clear an active Domain filled with Hilichurls and other more nature monsters to get one, and then an unactive Domain that is being used as an outpost by a number of Fatui agents for the one they found."
Jean explained, and I knew she simply didn't want her little sister to see the slaughter we were undoubtedly going to inflict upon the Fatui as Barbara was still innocent and Jean likely wanted the ex-assassin Rosaria to stay here in Mondstadt to protect her sister while we were likely going to be gone for a couple days trekking across the countryside.
"Let's get going then. I will introduce myself once we get on the road... This place makes me feel ill" Diluc said with a grunt as he pushed himself off the wall and slammed the office's door as he left the room leaving the room in an awkward silence.
"Hmph I will have vengeance for his rude behavior," Eula said with a sniff and then she took Amber's wrist and brought her outside as well.
"Whelp time go on another trip Lumine," I said stretching as I got off the admittedly comfy chair.
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