EN | An encounter she will never forget | ᴄʜɪʟᴜᴍɪ

2 - The preparations

Once they arrived at the office of the Acting Grand Master located in the headquarters of the Knights, Lumine knocked on the door. When a muffled signal from the other side invited them to enter. Lumine pushed the wooden door open and entered the impressive room, followed suit by her flying friend.

Once inside, Lumine stopped after taking a few steps. She saw Jean, sitting at her desk as usual, her blond ponytail glistening in the natural light filtering through the window, and her blue-grey eyes quickly scanning the documents spread out before her on the desk. She also saw Lisa, leaning against a cupboard, a book in her hand, with her beautiful blue witch's hat stuck on her chestnut hair. Finally, she noticed a last presence playing with a coin, which she didn't expect. The peculiar petrol blue hair and eye patch told her it was Kaeya, a Cavalry Captain in the Knights of Favonius. As they entered the room, the three faces they had come to know since their arrival in Mondstadt turned to the two friends. Jean greeted them as usual with a warm smile.

"Hello Lumine and Paimon! To what do I owe the honor of your visit?"

"Sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt," apologized Lumine for interrupting what sounded like a meeting.

"Don't worry, we were done anyway," replied a charming voice belonging to the Cavalry Captain.

"Did you need something?" asked Lisa, the Mondstadt librarian.

"Actually, we need a map of Liyue," Paimon replied instead of Lumine.

It's handy that she can tell what I'm thinking.

To justify their request for a map, the little pixie explained the quest they had agreed to do for Katheryne. As soon as she finished her presentation, a barely contained laughter could be heard in the room. Without a doubt, it was Kaeya. Not understanding what could be funny, Paimon and Lumine looked at each other doubtfully. Their eyes then returned to the Captain to watch him pull a familiar book from his back pocket.

"You remember this book, don't you?" he began. "This is the Adventurer's Guide, given to every new recruit of the Knights and to adventurers. It contains a whole lot of useful information, like the weak points of certain monsters, edible food in the wild, or even maps."

It was once he had finished explaining these basics, which reminded Lumine vaguely of something, that she asked Paimon if they had this book. After a short while, a pop was heard as the book appeared in Paimon's hands after she summoned it from her private world.

The two companions instinctively exchanged a guilty look: they had never opened the book that had been given to them when Lumine had been made an Honorary knight following the Stormterror affair.

It didn't take much for Jean to sigh with exasperation.

"Ah la ah la, it's not right not to read a book that is given to you. A book that can be useful for your survival, what's more," Lisa's melodious voice continued. "You may have uncommon abilities, but it's better to take precautions in the wild."

The Traveler could only nod while glancing quickly at her flying companion while Lisa and Jean gave her a dressing down.

"You're as stubborn as ever," Jean concluded, still smiling in amusement. "When did you decide to leave for Liyue?"

"Tomorrow," Lumine replied. "Just enough time to prepare some supplies and get my weapon serviced."

"I hope you'll come back soon," replied Jean. "You don't want to miss the Ludi Harpastum festival!"

"We'll be back by then, don't worry!" replied Paimon cheerfully, probably thinking about what dishes will be served at this Mondstadt's festival.

"You should go see Diluc, he'll certainly give you a good bottle of dandelion wine for the road," Kaeya boasted ironically. He knew very well that the bartender was adamantly refusing to serve Lumine alcohol on the grounds that she was too young, and it was precisely for this reason that he enjoyed bringing the subject to the forefront.

In reality, she was much older than anyone she knew thought she was. About 400 years old according to her memories. But in this world, she barely had the physique of an 18-year-old. With nothing to prove to him that she was of age, Diluc refused to serve her alcohol, much to her regret.

Not changing her habits when Kaeya chided her about it, Lumine glared at him before leaving the room.

As they had told Jean, Lumine and Paimon took advantage of their day to stock up on supplies in the stores of Mondstadt, as well as to have Lumine's sword sharpened. As the sun dropped below the horizon, signaling that the day was coming to an end, Lumine decided to visit Diluc in his tavern.

As soon as she entered the bar, which had a sweet smell of alcohol, the two companions were greeted by the owner serving a drink to a customer. Diluc was true to himself: dressed entirely in black and brown in clothes that must have cost a fortune and that showed a certain socio-professional category, his red hair fizzing against his carefully chosen outfit, and his serious, almost impassive look. Approaching the counter, Lumine took a stool to sit at the bar right in front of Diluc, while Paimon just flew by her. Without her even having to say anything, a glass was brought forward in front of her—grape juice.

"When can I have some alcohol, Mr. Diluc?" Lumine asked with a discouraged look on her face.

"When you are old enough to drink it."

Lumine let out a sigh, as she did every time he made that remark. Deciding that it was useless to launch into the complicated explanations of her age for a poor drink, she began to sip her grape juice, resigned, as if it were a glass of wine.

"Diluc, have you ever been to Liyue?" asked Lumine, taking her eyes off her drink.

"Once, for a delivery. But I didn't go far from the Dawn winery."

The Dawn winery was Diluc's property, where he made his exceptional dandelion wine. It was actually a huge mansion in the middle of many, many vineyards. It seems that controlling more than half the wine market in Mondstadt helped pay the rent...

"Are you planning to go there?" he asked the two ladies in front of him.

"Yes, we're going to give a letter to someone at Liyue Harbor," began Lumine. "We'll certainly stay there for a while to visit—"

"And taste the local specialties!" Paimon cut in with a huge smile on her face.

Lumine sighed again. Not out of annoyance, though. Despair. Despair at the thought of having to feed this ogre disguised as a fairy.

Diluc, on the other hand, seemed amused. Slightly. It was hard to tell, as Diluc never showed his emotions clearly. Taking advantage of the moment to question him, Diluc gave them the little information he knew about Liyue while serving drinks to his other customers from time to time. As they were leaving after thanking the bartender, he warned them.

"I heard that the Fatui of Snezhnaya are very active there. They are commanded by a different Harbinger than the one in Mondstadt. You'd better watch out."

Without really assimilating what he had just told them, Lumine nodded and headed back to her small camp with Paimon. It was only on the way that she began to think.

Snezhnaya. A country where winter is the only season. It seems that their ruler, the Tsaritsa, is the Cryo Archon, who has given some of her power to the eleven Harbingers she has appointed. From what I've witnessed, they're not playing around with diplomacy. I don't like the way the Fatui are going about their business. I hope I don't run into another one of those famous Harbingers...

These thoughts robbed her of a tired groan. It had already been a long day of running around doing last-minute shopping, but now she had to use all her brainpower to gather the information she had about the Harbingers.

Paimon looked at her puzzled, but she didn't seem to know (for once) what Lumine was thinking.

Once they reached the camp. Paimon disappeared into her world for the night with her usual pop, while Lumine fell asleep by the comforting warmth of the fire.

[1398 words]