"Don't rush." Kaeya shook his head at Lumine. "Stormterror's gone, but the aftermath isn't small. The Knights are swamped, and Acting Grand Master Jean is surely neck-deep already. Get familiar with Mondstadt first—Amber will bring you by headquarters shortly."
He half-bowed with a lazy flourish. "I'll report to the Acting Grand Master."
"Right! I need to help clear the streets." Amber jogged backward, waving. "Everyone's busy—stay safe!"
She darted off into the crowd.
Lumine and Paimon traded a look.
"We should help too," Paimon said. "Everyone's running around."
"Mm." Lumine's eyes slid toward Good Hunter. The black-haired adventurer still stood where the storm had found him—steady as a post. She jogged over.
"Hello," she said, stopping before him. "Just now—when I broke free of the twister and sped up—was that… you?"
Paimon blinked at the young man. Him?
Kairo nodded. "I tagged you with a little boost."
"So it was you." Relief brightened Lumine's face. She bowed. "Thank you. If not for that, I'd have been carried clean into the sky."
Kairo waved it off. "Even without me, you'd have been fine. You went on to fight Stormterror in the gale."
Lumine rubbed her ear, glancing up at the thinning clouds. "I thought I… hallucinated. Someone whispered about a power rivaling the Thousand Winds. And right before Stormterror left, I heard something like… a flute."
Kairo's expression didn't shift. Mondstadt had many musicians—and one bard in particular who liked to meddle. He didn't comment.
A familiar chill glimmered at the edge of his vision; the translucent panel bloomed again.
You chose to help the Nameless of the Astral Express—the Trailblazer, Stelle—who was fretting over a missing March 7th. Your aid earned her gratitude. Reward granted: Footprints of Fate (advance a Path you've stepped onto; if none, promote a Path skill).
You've now established initial rapport with the Trailblazer. She's new to the Underworld and short on local knowledge. In the face of her thanks, you wave it off; with or without you, she'd find March 7th. Still, given her unfamiliarity with this place, you decide to…
Option 1 — Build a link. Since you've helped, don't stop there. Deepen ties and learn more about the Astral Express. A reliable bond today could mean future cooperation—and unexpected gains. (Reward: Trailblazer's Bat — a mysterious bat bearing power to shoulder anything; indestructible.)Option 2 — Ask for payment. Help is help, but you're no charity. Name a condition—some assistance now or a favor later. (Reward: Thief's Instinct — a fragment of the Antimatter Legion's plundering will, shed by a Voidranger: Reaver.)Option 3 — Walk away. You've no interest in being tangled in Astral Express vs. Belobog. You know their road is lined with risk; you aren't a Pathstrider by nature, and your path lies elsewhere. (Reward: Conqueror's Will — the condensed resolve of a Voidranger: Trampler, steeped in the Legion's Destruction.)
Kairo stared. A… bat? That's the reward? The other two were useful Legion drops—but not what he needed.
"Option one," he murmured.
A weight flickered into his inventory—a smooth, well-balanced bat that seemed ordinary until his fingers brushed its grain. Power thrummed, subdued but bottomless, the Path of Destruction purring like a cat that had found a sunny window.
"By the way, what's your name?" Paimon asked, floating up until they were nose to nose. "I'm Paimon, and she's the Traveler—Lumine."
"Kairo," he said with an easy smile. "An adventurer of Mondstadt."
"An adventurer!" Paimon sparkled. "You must be super strong! Lumine said you made her faster—so cool!"
Before Kairo could answer, a shout carried from down the street. "Hey—lend a hand?"
A squad of Knights of Favonius waved them over. "Kairo, can you help? The twisters made a mess—we're shorthanded."
"On it." He headed that way.
"We're coming too!" Paimon chirped, glancing at Lumine. Lumine nodded, still chewing on the whisper of a flute and the feel of living wind in her bones.
All across the lanes, people were hauling debris, righting carts, sweeping glass. Adventurers groused as they worked.
"Stormterror hit the inner city this time," one grumbled. "What's next?"
"No telling where it'll strike again," another sighed.
"My subjects, thy safety warms my sovereign heart."
The voice sailed in like a gilded arrow.
Fischl rounded the corner, cape fluttering, eye patch impeccable. Her face lit when she spotted Kairo; she quickened her pace—then slowed as she clocked Lumine and Paimon at his side.
"Pray, what realms dost thou hail from?" She tilted her chin, suspicious and regal all at once.
Paimon and Lumine froze.
"Us? We're… Paimon and the Traveler," Paimon offered, baffled. "And you are—?"
"Hmph. Etch this into thine hearts: I am Fischl, Prinzessin der Verurteilung, sovereign of the Immernachtreich—the eye that judges all sin and pierces all veils."
Paimon and Lumine stared.
"…She means she's an investigator with the Adventurers' Guild," croaked Oz, alighting on her shoulder.
"The raven talks!" Paimon yelped.
"Think little of small wonders, mein freund." Oz's wings rustled warmly. "I am Ozvaldo von Hrafnavines, familiar to Her Highness of the Immernachtreich."
"So impressive…" Paimon scratched her cheek. "I'm Paimon, this is Lumine—nice to meet you!"
"You said… another world?" Lumine asked, uncertain. Is she… also from beyond?
"Spend time with her and you'll understand," Kairo said dryly.
Lumine and Paimon exchanged helpless looks.
"A mere traveler need not grasp the abyssal splendor of my realm at first glance," Fischl declared magnanimously. "I forgive thine ignorance."
"…She means 'hello,'" Oz translated gently.
Those… are not the same words, Lumine thought, deadpan.
"Hey, Your Highness—why the eyepatch?" Paimon blurted.
"My left eye is the Eye of Judgment that beholds the truths of both this world and the other," Fischl said proudly. "The burden of such sight is not for the unprepared. Besides, knowing every lie and delusion would be dreadfully boring. Hehehe."
Paimon: "…"
Lumine: "…"
Kairo: "…"
Two poor kids, thoroughly bamboozled, Kairo thought, shaking his head as he moved to lift a toppled fruit cart. Fischl, Lumine, and Paimon joined in, the four of them folding into the rhythm of a city knit together by hands and breath.
Meanwhile, at the Knights of Favonius Headquarters—
Jean looked up from her desk as Kaeya entered. Tired warmth touched her smile. "You're back."
"I am." Kaeya's steps were light, but his eye was thoughtful. "Didn't expect to return into Stormterror's jaws. Things are getting… lively."
He leaned against the doorframe. "More surprising: a traveler claiming to be from another world. Young. Composed. No Vision—and yet she wielded Anemo strongly enough to help drive Stormterror off."
Jean's brows knit. "A traveler from another world… with that kind of power?"
"Amber met her," Kaeya said. "Her dress isn't Mondstadt or Liyue. And again—no Vision."
"Another who commands the wind without a Vision…" Jean's expression cooled, thoughts ticking. "First Kairo. Now the Traveler."
"You asked me to hurry back—you found something?" Kaeya straightened. "Any lead on that aura of Destruction?"
Jean nodded and slid him a neatly bound dossier. "Albedo and I reviewed everything. All signs point to the adventurer Kairo."
Kaeya flicked through pages—Cider Lake's explosion; Eula's report; the blast at Albedo's workshop; the Whopperflower remains Klee hauled in, humming with a ruinous resonance. Interviews. Timelines. Connections. A picture, sharp as a thrown knife.
"Incredible," he breathed at last. "I've crossed paths with him—considered inviting him to spar, maybe even to the Knights. I didn't expect this."
"He shows no Vision, no special pedigree, yet in a short time he's amassed resources and left a trail of anomalies." Jean folded her hands. "Now you tell me a second outsider with no Vision manipulates Anemo freely. I have to wonder if the two are connected."
Kaeya closed the dossier. "One way to find out."
Across the city, Kairo tested the balance of a bat no one else could see. Power purred along the grain, quiet and patient.
Somewhere not far away, a cheerful, yellow-eyed girl touched down on a rooftop, a shopping bag on one arm and a familiar bat slung over her shoulder.
"Hey," she called to the wind, grin bright enough to cut cloud. "Seen a pink-haired girl with a camera?"
The sky held its breath—and answered with a flute.
To be continued…
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 50 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/ZeusOp