Controlling Lumine, Zephyr guided her hands to pick up Baron Bunny.
"What are you doing? I'm warning you—don't try any funny tricks!"
"One, two, three—go!"
Just like an amateur shot put athlete, he flung Baron Bunny with all his might.
"Hahaha! You're throwing a toy at me? What are you trying to do?" the strange bird scoffed.
Baron Bunny landed successfully and began to dance right in front of the strange bird.
The man clutched his stomach, laughing. "Hahaha, what is this? A toy—?"
Unfortunately for him, he didn't know Amber. So, naturally, he had no idea how terrifying Baron Bunny could be.
BOOM!
It was as if Baron Bunny were saying, "You can either come with me to the afterlife—or I can send you there myself."
"AAARGH! You despicable—!"
The strange bird was blown to the ground. Luckily, he wasn't seriously injured, but the emotional trauma was severe.
Zephyr was already getting ready to throw another one.
"You… You guys are really from the Knights of Favonius?! This is way too underhanded! I just stole a little something—do you really need to throw bombs at me?! Are you trying to kill me?!"
Amber calmly brought her hands together and said, "The wind favors those with courage."
Zephyr, fiddling with another bomb, added, "If we finish you off here, who's going to know the Knights were involved?"
"Holy sh—!"
The strange bird's eyes widened in panic. He scrambled to activate a mechanism, and suddenly a hidden door appeared in the wall behind him. He quickly dove through it.
"Don't run!"
Zephyr and Amber gave chase. There was a small button on the wall; pressing it revealed the door again.
But once inside, everyone was stunned by what they saw.
"H-Heroes! Please have mercy!"
A row of Treasure Hoarders were kneeling on the ground. Right in the middle was the strange bird.
"You guys… what's with the sudden cowardice?" Zephyr said with a strange expression.
The strange bird wore a miserable look. "W-We didn't have a choice! The guys at the door saw what happened to me and… we talked it over. We decided it was better to surrender. There's no way we can resist… not when we're up against the Red Demon and the Holy Demon..."
"Red Demon? Holy Demon? What the heck are those?" Zephyr asked.
The strange bird stammered, unable to answer.
Paimon pondered, "Hmm… Paimon think 'Red Demon' might be referring to Amber, and the 'Holy Demon' is probably the Traveler."
Amber said, "I can understand the 'Red Demon' thing—I am wearing red. But what's with 'Holy Demon'?"
"Uh… maybe it's because the Traveler's clothes look kinda sacred?"
The strange bird quickly chimed in, trying to please: "Yes, yes, that's it! This noble knight looks so pure and divine, with that golden hair—it's like an angel descended from heaven!"
Lumine replied flatly, "So that makes me a Holy Demon, huh?"
Her voice was calm, but the strange bird trembled in fear.
Zephyr sighed. "Wow, you guys folded fast. Weren't you all 'we'd rather die than surrender' before?"
"No, no, no! We're just Treasure Hoarders—we don't have that kind of backbone!
And besides, the Knights usually just capture people. We didn't expect things to get this serious today. We swear—we'll never steal again!"
"Yeah, yeah! We won't steal ever again!"
"Never again!"
"…"
Paimon blinked. "Um… what about me?"
The strange bird blinked back. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"They've both got cool nicknames. What about me?"
Amber muttered, "Are these really cool nicknames though…"
"Uhh…" The strange bird looked awkwardly at a loss for words.
"Hmph! Paimon is mad now! Traveler, take them out!" Paimon huffed.
"Wait, wait, wait! I've got it! How about… Little Angel?"
"Little Angel?! Paimon is a divine being who once ruled all of Teyvat six thousand years ago, and you call Paimon Little Angel?!"
"I was wrong, I was wrong! Then… Great Demon Overlord?"
"That's way too edgy! And it sounds like a guy's name!"
"Then… how about Snack Fiend?"
"Paimon will eat you instead!" Paimon snapped viciously.
Zephyr offered, "How about… Sovereign of Devouring Heaven and Earth?"
The strange bird clapped. "Now that is a good name!"
The Treasure Hoarders joined in the applause. "That name's awesome!"
"So meaningful!"
"Truly worthy of the Knights—what a name!"
Zephyr nodded. "Alright, it's settled then. From now on, you'll be known as the Sovereign of Devouring Heaven and Earth."
"Hey, hey! Paimon haven't agreed yet! Who decided this?!" Paimon shouted.
…
"Forget it. Let me ask you—what's up with the hilichurls inside the ruins?"
"Uh… we deliberately brought them in to act as guards."
Paimon said, "Told you so! With a hilichurl's intelligence, there's no way they could have cracked those mechanisms."
"I got it now, oh Great Genius Sovereign."
Amber then went around handcuffing them one by one. The mission was finally over.
Zephyr sighed. Not even a quest was triggered by all this. Truly depressing.
"Mission accomplished! Captain Jean's definitely going to praise me!"
Amber smiled foolishly.
"…"
"Ahem, what I mean is—Captain Jean will definitely praise me, and then she'll reward me with a bunch of nice things. Then I can give them to you as a gift!"
Zephyr's eyelid twitched. "Why does that make it sound like I'm some freeloader living off you…?"
"Aiya, don't sweat the details."
"What about my exam…?"
"Of course you passed!"
Lumine said, "Yay!"
Paimon pouted. "Ehh~~ That's it? Paimon think it should've been harder."
"Are you getting cocky now?"
Amber said, "Paimon, actually, today's test was already super difficult. I based it on the Flying Champion standards, after all.
So Traveler, I have one very important tip for you:
To master flying, 70% is technique, 30% is instinct, and the remaining 90%—is all about courage. You must remember that!"
Paimon said, "What kind of nonsense math is that…"
"Aiya~ Traveler, your situation today was just like mine during my first flying exam—really nervous, but still managed to pass without any accidents.
Too bad I never felt that same tension in the later exams… Always felt like something was missing."
Amber looked over at the strange bird. "Hey, how about I let you guys go, and we do this all over again?"
The strange bird and his group immediately began to tremble, hurriedly protesting, "No, no, no! We've decided to turn over a new leaf!"
"Yes, yes, we've decided to become good people—productive members of society!"
"We won't ever steal again! Please spare us, Lady Amber!"
"Sigh, what a shame."
Paimon muttered, "Somehow, Amber feels completely different from when we first met."
"Hehe, maybe this is the real me all along."
"Paimon think you met someone and got corrupted by them."
Zephyr snapped, "Hey, you little runt, can you quit it already? I didn't even say anything to you and you're throwing shade at me?"
"Paimon didn't name anyone. Why are you so worked up?"
Amber cleared her throat. "Ahem. Once we're back in Mondstadt, your flying license will be officially issued.
But even if you get your license, remember—there are many no-fly zones in Mondstadt. If you violate the rules, your license could get revoked."
Paimon said, "Wait—revoked?! That's a thing?!"
"Mhm! Take me, for example. I've had my license revoked so many times that I've had to retake the test fifteen times already."
"Fifteen!? Okay, maybe Paimon misjudged you, Traveler."
Paimon patted Lumine on the shoulder. Looks like Amber's not so simple after all.
Amber puffed out her cheeks and huffed, "Hmph! I passed every retake on the first try, okay?"
"Is that really something to be proud of? You're the Flying Champion—what's shocking is that you didn't pass the first time!"
"Hehe, come on, it's not that big a deal."
"Paimon wasn't complimenting you!"
Paimon held her head. "It's over. Amber's been completely corrupted by Zephyr."
"…"
"Alright, let's head back."
Using a teleportation formation, they returned to the outskirts of Mondstadt. Leading the strange bird and his crew back to the city, they handed them over to the Knights of Favonius. After that, Amber handed Zephyr a license.
"This is your flight license. Oh, and by the way—I already signed you up for the next Mondstadt Flight Tournament!"
"I fly so fast, no one can keep up. Always flying alone gets a bit boring, you know?"
Paimon: "Uhh…"
Zephyr: "I have a question."
"Go ahead, Traveler-Knight!"
//END
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