Eleutheromania (Various Genshin x Reader)

Conqueror of Demons -31-

Jueyun Karst was a beautiful spot on the outer parts of Liyue with tall, steeply inclined mountains surrounded its low ponds. It was a magnificent spot to practice gliding in - one your father utilized for you frequently. You looked up towards the randomly floating mini-island that a Morax statue sat and reminisced the times you've jumped (or have been pushed off) from there with your iridescent glider on your back, the material of the wings glittering in the midday sun.

However, as fun as flying was, your favorite part was certainly the oddly placed stone statue of a majestic frog/toad that sat near the main pond. After all, it did have a little surprise only you and your father knew about.

"And, when I move it over just a bit... there should be something underneath," you muttered, grabbing the fat frog statue within the Jueyun Karst and using all your might to move the firmly planted object to the side.

Paimon twisted her lips into both a confused and suspicious look. "Huh? What would be under there? And how would you know?" She interrogated with narrowed eyes as you finally moved the artwork just far enough to get what you were looking for.

Reaching under the large stone frog, you grinned and wiggled a bag of mora in front of Aether and Paimon triumphantly who looked on in awe and surprise.

"My dad wrote a thesis paper about a phenomenon some birds like magpies, jays, or crows do called scatter-hoarding. Kinda like squirrels hoarding nuts for winter when food is scare. Kinda... ingenious! So dad started doing the same with mora," you explained, putting the small bag into one of your belt pouches, "Anyways, I'm sure he wouldn't mind us borrowing it."

The little pixie beamed in delight before becoming suspicious once more. "Woah! So cool~! Hey, hold on! Paimon thought people didn't dare cross into the Jueyun Karst. How come your dad was allowed in?" She questioned, hands propped onto her hips as she leaned in closer to your face.

You shrugged. "You think my dad cares? Plus, the adeptus Moon Carver resides here and, like the name suggests, has been said to only come up when the moon's out," you said, gesturing overhead to the darkening sky. You then gave the girl a teasing smirk as you leaned against the frog statue. "Then again, I can always put the mora back if you're not comfortable taking it."

"A-Ah!" Paimon suddenly spluttered out, "N-No! Plus, it belonged to your father so it's not necessarily stealing, right?" Reasoned the girl as she glanced at Aether for confirmation who simply shrugged in return. You only sweat dropped at the pixie's statement. It wasn't... entirely false but, at the same time, wasn't quite true.

Aether looked back up towards the sunset sky. After the fiasco at the Rite of Descension and Childe's dramatic entry, the three of you had spent the rest of the day gathering materials and tying up loose ends. You even managed to replenish your mini-food supply.

"The moon's almost over the horizon," the traveler noted, "are they gonna come out on their own or... are we going to have to summon them or something...?" Aether questioned, looking to you for an answer.

You opened your mouth to respond only to be immediately cut off by a low, slight distorted voice nearby. "And who might we be? Those that dare enter Jueyun Karst?" They questioned, an undertone of slight disbelief at the audacity of the three odd strangers.

Looking towards the slight incline of the ground, a giant deer adeptus stood. It had to be at least twice the size of a normal one with an earthy colored palette of green, orange, and brown - and much fluffier than an average deer as well. His eyes glowed yellow in wisdom as he stood leering down at the three of you who quickly gathered in front of him.

Aether blinked owlishly, looking like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. "W-We were sent here. Please take a look at this." He quickly implored of the deer, holding out the golden sigil in front of him like a shield.