Inside the acting Grand Master's office, Jean's shapely hips rested on the Executive Desk, the wooden corners almost sinking into their fullness.
Jean anxiously glanced at the clock's hands, then, as if having made a decision, stood up and walked outside.
"Jean, you're too impatient. Didn't we agree to wait for them here?"
With a 'thud' of a book closing, a woman with emerald-like eyes, dressed in a purple witch's outfit, turned around.
It was Sister Lisa.
Jean stopped at her words, but her tone was still urgent: "Stormterror not only entered the city this time, but the destruction it caused far exceeds previous incidents! I hope that after I see them..."
"No need to rush, I'll go help later too." Sister Lisa walked over and leaned against the railing, revealing a pair of beautiful legs in black stockings that almost reached her thighs, clearly exuding a strong charm.
Just then, the door opened, and Kaiya and Amber walked in with Orion and the others.
"Acting Grand Master, I've brought the people."
Hearing Kaiya's voice, Jean looked at Orion and the others behind him. Seeing that everyone was safe and sound after fighting the giant dragon, Jean revealed a relieved smile.
This smile was too dazzling... "Mondstadt welcomes you, Travelers who arrived with the wind."
After listening to everyone recount the events, Jean, the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, and Lisa, the librarian, officially welcomed them.
Furthermore, Jean and Lisa also explained to everyone the harm Stormterror's resurgence had caused to the areas surrounding Mondstadt.
Stormterror was originally Dvalin, the Dragon of the East Wind, also known as the East Wind's Guardian, and a familiar of Barbatos, the Anemo God.
Before Dvalin's last slumber, he and the Anemo God together slew Durin, the evil dragon that attacked Mondstadt, but he himself was contaminated by poisoned blood. Now, for some unknown reason, the awakened Dvalin has become a Dragon Crisis himself.
It's worth noting that in reality, there isn't just Springvale near Mondstadt; various villages, big and small, have also suffered varying degrees of impact from the Dragon Crisis.
"It sounds like this evil dragon isn't that bad." Orion deliberately led the topic: "From your description, Stormterror seems to have intentionally avoided human settlements with weaker resistance to disasters, mainly threatening and warning passing merchant caravans. And this time seems to be its first time entering Mondstadt City?"
Amber also clapped her hands: "Oh right! Both Sister Skirk and Orion said that Stormterror seemed to be corroded by something?"
Skirk nodded and briefly said: "Abyssal Power."
""Abyss?!"" Jean and Lisa exchanged glances. They didn't know the connection between the evil dragon Durin and the Abyss, but they knew another name: "Could it be the Abyss Order?"
"No wonder. I was wondering why the ley lines and elements have been in such a mess recently, making my skin worse..." Lisa said, frowning.
Subsequently, everyone formulated an action plan, just like in the game's plot.
Simply put, the Knights of Favonius believed that the first step to counterattacking Stormterror was to weaken its power. This required dispelling the Anemo God's residual power in three of the four temples guarding Mondstadt City. This way, Stormterror would no longer be able to manipulate elemental energy on a scale covering all of Mondstadt.
And everyone needed to be simultaneously vigilant against the intervention of the Abyss Order. Once any clues were found, intelligence must be immediately shared.
Orion nudged Lumine with his elbow: "You're going with them too, right?"
"Me?" Lumine pointed to herself: "What would I do there? I still need to find the Anemo God."
"You can go and deepen your understanding and application of elemental power. After all, you don't have a Vision; you're just an existence that was blessed with elemental power by the Anemo God just by touching an Anemo God statue. Perhaps you can utilize the power within the Four Winds Temples?"
Upon hearing this, Jean and the others all showed surprised expressions.
No Vision, yet able to use elemental power with her physical body just by touching a statue?
It's as if other wizards need a wand to cast a fireball spell, while your fireball spell involves you transforming into a master of control (The Avatar).
This sounds exactly like a savior sent by the Anemo God!
Finally, at everyone's enthusiastic invitation, Lumine and Paimon decided to go along.
"What about you?" Paimon asked.
"I'll help inquire about the Anemo God in the city." Orion shrugged: "Skirk, are you coming?"
"No, I'm going to find our lodging, and then meditate there for a while." Skirk replied.
Jean walked over to Skirk: "Then I'll take you to find it. The largest hotel in the city is currently occupied by the Fatui. If you try to find accommodation yourselves, it might be troublesome. With my help, it should go more smoothly."
"...I appreciate it." Skirk reluctantly agreed.
So, everyone split up... "Where should I start looking?"
Orion originally thought of going directly to the Anemo God statue to look, since Venti was just there, but when he ran over, he found that the drunkard had long since vanished.
The enlarged Mondstadt City had many more taverns, and most of them had bards performing, which made it difficult for him to find Venti at a specific location.
Even in the game, there were two taverns, Angel's Share and Cats Tail Tavern, that one could go to.
"Ah, speaking of which, I forgot to ask about Klee. And I should have shown them their card faces from Seven Saints Summoning just now, that would have been fun."
So, Orion sat on a long bench next to the Church, staring blankly at the white clouds in the sky.
Suddenly, a voice like a clear spring came from beside him:
"Are you alright?"
Orion looked back to see a cute young girl, dressed in a white priest's outfit, with two twirling Horsetails, just like an idol.
Orion stared at the girl and asked, "Are you a priestess? Why do you ask?"
Barbara leaned closer with some concern: "Hello, my name is Barbara. As you said, I am a Deaconess of the Church of Favonius. In fact, I saw you bravely saving people in the city this morning, but boys your age tend to act tough, so I'm worried... I'm worried that after you caught such a heavy building, you might have sustained internal injuries and are resting here, but are too embarrassed to enter the Church for treatment..."
Orion stared blankly at the cute girl in front of him, slowly raised his right hand to his chest, pressed hard, and squeezed out a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth: "Cough cough cough cough... Is that so? I didn't expect that even though I thought I performed so well, I was still seen through by the attentive Deaconess. Can you keep it a secret for me? Deaconess, it's rare for a young man to show off in front of others, and I don't want the first step of my lifelong dream of becoming a hero to be tarnished..."
Barbara suddenly frowned, placing her hands on her slender waist: "Honestly! How can you still say such things at a time like this? Of course, your body should come first!"
But then, her expression calmed down a bit: "You people, you really disregard your own bodies for your ideals, to save people, for everyone in the Knights of Favonius... Sigh, never mind. If I personally treat you, will that count as keeping your secret?"
She must have thought of Jean Gunnhildr, the workaholic, Orion thought, while flashing her a brilliant smile and saying, "Thank you, Barbara. May I call you that? My name is Orion."
"Okay, Orion, you can certainly call me that." Barbara was somewhat moved by Orion's smile. She returned a sweet smile, and worried that Orion couldn't stand up by himself, hesitated for a moment, then decided to help Orion up and walk towards the Church of Favonius's private treatment room (which was essentially her office).
"Oh, by the way, Barbara, do you know if our Church has any methods for treating curses?"
"Curses? We have some, but it's hard to say if they're for a specific type of curse."
"Oh, okay..."
"Why, are you cursed?"
"Sort of. It's a... uh, it's—on a full moon night, yes, a curse that turns you into a werewolf if you see the moon on a full moon night. I've heard of a way to break the curse, but..."
"Do you need anything?"
"Hmm... I'm not sure if it works. There's a saying about a physical curse-breaking, which supposedly requires the touch of a pure maiden..."
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