"We're back!"
Klee rushed back like a small red cannonball, tightly hugging an Old Wooden Box inlaid with star and moon patterns.
Hanging on the box was a Dodoco Charm she had personally tied, swinging back and forth as she ran.
Zane followed behind, carrying the thunder hammer, which was wrapped with several suspicious vines—it seemed they had experienced a fierce battle at Windrise.
"You're finally back. We were so bored waiting,"
Mona said without lifting her head, her slender fingers turning the pages of a Leather Diary with a gold-stamped cover.
Around her, Jesse, Elliot, and Matt were already playing Fight the Landlord, and Matt's mask was covered in slips of paper indicating lost rounds.
"I originally wanted to read a book to pass the time..."
Mona shook the book in her hand dismissively, her ankle twitching involuntarily beneath her Star Gauze Stockings.
"It turns out this is just some inexplicable diary, completely meaningless."
"It clearly fell out of Klee's bag! I thought it contained some Ancient Alchemy!"
"Never mind..."
Mona closed the book and prepared to stand up, but her abrupt movement aggravated her back injury.
"Hiss—"
She sucked in a sharp breath, then silently sat back down, forcing an elegant expression as she asked, "So, where is the box?"
"The box is here."
Klee handed the wooden box to her.
"Perfect!"
Mona excitedly flipped open the lid—then froze completely as if Frozen.
"Huh? Why isn't the box locked? Why is it... why is it empty inside?"
"Huh?"
The three people playing cards turned their heads in unison.
The Joker Bomb in Jesse's hand dropped to the floor, Elliot couldn't help but spit out the water he was drinking, and Matt accidentally crushed the remaining half deck of poker cards.
Klee blinked her innocent large eyes and explained, "Well, I borrowed this box to store the treasures I collected."
"Borrowed?!"
Mona's voice suddenly rose eight octaves, making the metal stars on her Astrologer's Hat rattle.
"You borrowed something this important?!"
She trembled as she pointed at the empty box, her fingertips shaking.
"What about the item that was originally inside? I need that!"
"Oh, you should have said so sooner!"
Klee suddenly clapped her little head, showing a look of realization, and pointed at the diary in Mona's hand.
"It's right there in your hand."
"Huh?"
Mona looked at the diary in her hand, still processing, and the next moment—
"Ah!!!"
Mona's scream startled pigeons for ten miles around.
She held the diary with both hands, trembling uncontrollably, her pupils contracting violently to pinpricks; she completely forgot about her back injury.
"So this book! It belongs to that Old Hag..."
Her voice was squeezed out through gritted teeth, and her trembling finger pointed to the gold-stamped signature on the title page—[Astromancer Barbeloth Trismegistus Apprentice Diary].
"Could it be that what needed to be recovered..."
Mona mechanically closed the diary, her face instantly turning pale.
"Is her embarrassing diary from fifty years ago!?"
"The item that needed to be recovered after fifty years... is her black history from when she was a girl!"
"Bang!"
Mona dropped heavily onto both knees, denting the ground with two small pits.
She tremblingly held up the diary; a Dangerous Purple Light flickering along the edges of the pages was clearly visible in the sunlight.
"I'm finished..."
Her voice was tearful.
"No wonder that Old Hag ground her teeth and said... I must never look at it, or she would tear me limb from limb!"
"D-did I cause trouble..."
Klee's small face instantly lost color, and her little red cape seemed to fade slightly from fright.
She retreated tremblingly, her little leather boots scraping an ear-splitting noise on the ground.
"Big Sister said she wanted the box!"
Klee suddenly shuddered, pointing a small finger at Mona, shouting with explosive survival instinct, "You didn't mention the contents! I don't know anything!"
The small red figure snatched up her satchel with lightning speed, not forgetting to stuff the scattered bombs back into her pockets: "I'm going to find Acting Grand Master Jean for my daily report first!"
In the blink of an eye, she darted over ten meters away, the weeds along her escape path parted down the middle by the wind pressure she created.
A deathly silence fell over the scene.
"I'm finished... I spent all my Mora finding the Mondstadt Honorary Knights, but I didn't find the knowledge, and now I can't even go back..."
Mona lay sprawled on the ground like a salted fish, her blue hair covered in grass clippings.
"I'll be silenced by that Old Hag if I go back. How did things turn out this way..."
She tried to prop herself up with her arms, but her back suddenly let out a sickening "crack" sound.
The noise was so clear that even Jesse, who was studying the diary, instinctively clutched his own lower back.
"Yaaaaah!!!"
Mona's shriek startled the White Doves on the cathedral roof.
She curled up like a shrimp, her forehead hitting the ground hard, and her Astrologer's Hat rolled far away.
Her originally elegant Astrologist's Robe was crumpled like a rag, making her look like a life-sized doll that had been broken.
"This is great..."
Mona's voice was tearful, starting to speak sarcastically in despair.
"With this back injury... I'll have to stay in bed for the entire month... I can use this to escape that Old Hag's pursuit..."
"Ahem... my bad..."
Matt said awkwardly, scratching his head sheepishly.
After all, this was the first time in his life he had "held" a person with his palm, and he hadn't controlled his strength at all.
"Let's take her to see Barbara first."
Zane lifted Mona up like a claw machine.
"Be gentle! It hurts so much!"
Mona gasped in pain, tears welling up in her eyes.
Her back felt as if it had been run over by a Geovishap, and even breathing brought a stinging pain.
"Endure it,"
Zane said heartlessly.
Mona was carried horizontally like a dried salted fish, letting out painful groans with every step Zane took.
When they arrived at the entrance of the West Wind Cathedral, Mona was already rolling her eyes from the pain, muttering nonsense like "Old Hag, I hate you" and "Astrologers have no future."
"Honorary Knights? Are you bringing in a casualty?"
Barbara's sweet voice was like music from heaven.
The Deaconess held a thick Choir Score, her blue eyes looking concernedly at the "human bandage roll" on Zane's shoulder.
"Yes, this is Mona, an Astrologer. She has a back injury, and she's not a Treasure Hoarder. Please treat her."
The group arrived at the West Wind Cathedral's infirmary. Zane dumped Mona onto the hospital bed like unloading cargo, his swift and decisive action eliciting another wail from Mona.
"No problem, leave it to me."
Barbara gently tucked back a lock of blonde hair near her temple, Hydro Light already gathering in her hand.
But when she began the treatment, she covered her mouth in surprise: "Miss Mona? What injured you? This is so severe..."
"I was run over by the wheel of fate..."
Mona replied weakly, staring blankly at the Stained-Glass Window.
"Compared to the fate I'm about to face... this pain is nothing at all..."
Barbara tilted her head in confusion but professionally began chanting the healing spell.
"The injury is quite severe. You should stay in the West Wind Cathedral infirmary for now."
The Hydro Element Healing Halo in Barbara's hand slowly dissipated, and she gently wiped the sweat from her brow.
Mona's back injury was more difficult than she had imagined—not only muscle strain, but even a slight spinal dislocation.
If Matt hadn't pulled back his strength in time, the Astrologer might have become the "folded model."
"That would be absolutely wonderful..."
Mona weakly lay prone on the hospital bed, then froze as if realizing something.
"Wait... I don't have any Mora..."
She looked pitifully at Barbara, her eyes more wronged than a kitten drenched by rain.
As an Astrologer who was perpetually broke, Mona's wallet was cleaner than her astrolabe.
Her mind was currently calculating the medical costs—the Cathedral's advanced healing techniques, a single room, nutritional meals... all this combined would be enough to make her work for the Old Hag for another fifty years.
Barbara gently tucked the blanket around her, her clear blue eyes curving into crescents: "Don't worry, it's free."
She pointed to the wooden sign at the door of the ward, which read [Honorary Knight Special Cooperation Ward].
"The four Honorary Knights have solved so many problems for Mondstadt; the Cathedral can certainly cover these treatment costs."
"That's great then..."
Mona finally breathed a sigh of relief.