Aside from these three strong contenders, the Six-Fingered Demon Harpist also revealed the existence of another individual.
This person was just a little girl in red clothing, yet her strength was terrifyingly astonishing.
Her power was so immense that it could directly alter the terrain! Wherever she passed, devastation followed.
But how could a little girl possess such shocking destructive power?
Thus, the Six-Fingered Demon Harpist reasonably suspected that she must be wielding some kind of treasure.
Upon hearing about treasure, Paimon immediately perked up—where there's treasure, there's little Paimon!
Paimon and the Traveler decided to ask Jean for information. As the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, she should know very well who the strongest combatant is.
However, unfortunately, the ever-busy Jean simply had no time to compile any data on the strongest fighters.
Not only did the Traveler fail to obtain any intel, but they were also assigned to deal with some Abyss Mages lurking around Mondstadt.
After bidding farewell to Jean, the Traveler had just stepped out of her office when a little girl came running straight at them.
With a thud, she crashed right into the Traveler's arms.
Luckily, Lumine had a bit of "safety cushioning," which provided some buffer.
If it had been Hu Tao or Furina, one could only imagine how much it would have hurt.
Lumine helped the little girl up, and Paimon asked:
"Are you okay?"
Klee rubbed her little head and replied: "Mmm! I-I'm fine! Sorry for bumping into you."
Those unaware of the truth would say: What a polite little child.
Mondstadt locals would say: Don't be fooled—she's the Bombing-Fish-Confinement Adeptus.
In the book, Lumine picked up a note Klee had dropped, which read:
[Setting off fireworks in the city? Straight to the confinement room!]
[Hurt someone with a bomb? Jean will come knocking!]
[Burn down a mountain? Klee's done for!]
Upon seeing this, the people of Mondstadt nodded in understanding, but outsiders were confused.
She's just a little girl—if she likes setting off firecrackers, let her! Why lock her up for that?
Especially the people of Inazuma: If setting off firecrackers warrants confinement, then Yoimiya would be serving a life sentence!
Klee: "Huh?! Th-this... this is what big brother Kaeya summarized for me... mmm, survival rules!"
The Four Talents of the Tavern were gathered together reading as usual.
Diluc couldn't help but say: "Why are you involved again?"
It's normal for you to appear in your own stories, but why are you also in Jean's, mine, and Klee's stories?
Your appearance rate is even higher than the Anemo Archon's.
Kaeya grinned and said: "What, jealous?"
Diluc shot Kaeya a sidelong glance. "It'd be better if you actually did something productive in these stories."
Venti took a sip of wine and didn't dare to speak.
Rosaria ignored the bickering foster brothers and continued reading the story.
In the story, the reason Klee was in such a hurry was that the treasure she had hidden in Whispering Woods had gone missing.
Paimon immediately latched onto the keyword—treasure.
Dealing with Abyss Mages could wait—finding the treasure came first!
The Traveler followed Klee, who was happily humming and skipping, to Whispering Woods.
At this moment, Klee was overjoyed because she had made friends outside of Razor and Albedo.
Klee had placed a wooden sign next to the treasure, making it easy for the Traveler to find the buried loot.
However, this "no silver buried here" tactic also easily attracted unwanted attention.
For example, the Abyss Mage Jean had mentioned had already dug up the "treasure" and was holding it in its hands.
The Abyss Mage had been waiting there to "deal with" Klee, but since she had brought backup, it had no choice but to retreat for now.
Upon reading this, the Four Talents of the Tavern—along with Jean, Amber, and Eula—all frowned simultaneously.
This Abyss Mage was targeting Klee!
"Looks like I'll have to ask Charles to cover for me," Diluc murmured.
"No need to trouble Master Diluc. I believe the Knights of Favonius will handle this," Rosaria said, glancing at Kaeya.
Though she said that, Rosaria was already preparing to eliminate that Abyss Mage.
"No need to rush~" Venti reassured everyone.
"The wind has already told me that Abyss Mage's location."
Meanwhile, inside the Knights of Favonius headquarters, Jean had actually set aside her paperwork for once.
"Lisa, I'll step out for a bit. Can you handle these for me?" Jean said as she walked out of her office.
"Huh?" Lisa sighed and sat down at Jean's desk to start working.
I only came here to read the story with you—now I have to work overtime?
"Such impatience, Jean~" Still, "We really can't let Klee be in danger."
Amber and Eula were the most anxious—they wished they could fly back to Mondstadt immediately to deal with that Abyss Mage.
However, due to their current mission, they were still outside the city, quite far away.
Thankfully, Albedo was still sketching in Dragonspine and hadn't been reading, or else that Abyss Mage would've been blown to smithereens.
Lucian's book was a prophetic text, while Sucrose and Albedo studied alchemy, so they hadn't paid special attention to Lucian's works.
Thus, they hadn't immediately purchased this newly released book.
Perhaps only when Lucian publishes the "Princeps Cretaceus Chapter" (Albedo's Story Quest) will they take greater interest.
Given the current situation, since this Abyss Mage was targeting Klee, almost all of Mondstadt's capable individuals had sprung into action.
Now tell me—doesn't the title of Mondstadt's Strongest Combatant suit her perfectly?
Back to the story—Klee and the Traveler ventured into the domain, defeating monsters along the way until they found that Abyss Mage.
The Abyss Mage brandished Klee's "treasure," declaring:
"We've gathered detailed combat intelligence from human rumors."
"This little girl in red possesses Mondstadt's most powerful treasure."
"Now that it's in my hands, there's nothing you can do."
"I'll use this treasure to deal with you!"
Seeing the Abyss Mage about to activate the "treasure," Klee urgently tried to stop it.
"No! D-don't touch it!"
The Abyss Mage ignored Klee's warning and directly triggered the "treasure."
Then—BOOM!—it exploded, leaving not even ashes behind.
"Ah! 'Hurt someone with a bomb? Jean will come knocking!'"
"It's over... it's all over... Waaah..."
Klee was heartbroken—she had violated her survival rules, and Jean would surely scold her.
Upon returning to Mondstadt, Klee obediently went to Jean's office.
"I... waaah... I surrender."
"My... my bomb... hurt someone."
"Waaah, I broke the survival rules... I'll never see the sun again..."
Jean was even more alarmed than Klee. As her guardian, if Klee had hurt someone, it would reflect poorly on her supervision.
She urgently asked: "Klee, first tell me—where's the injured person?"
Lucian recalled one of Signora's lines: Not even ashes will remain!
In the book, Lumine quickly clarified—the one who died was an Abyss Mage.
Only then did Jean relax. She had thought Klee's bomb had harmed a Mondstadt citizen.
If it was just an Abyss Mage, then it didn't matter—in fact, Klee deserved a reward!
How about letting her participate in the next Ludi Harpastum?
But before that, Klee's attempt to hide bombs for fishing had to be addressed.
Straight to the confinement room it is.
"So even if we leave you alone, you'd still die," Venti poked the Abyss Mage in front of him.
Surrounding the Abyss Mage stood Jean, Kaeya, Diluc, Venti, and Rosaria.
H-have I committed a crime against the heavens? The Abyss Mage wept bitterly.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voiceline · Klee: About the Prophecy Book
"Prophecy book? Oh, those fun stories! Klee can't read them well, but they're super interesting!"