Lumine left with Kaeya, and Amber had asked Stelle if he wanted to come along.
But Stelle shook his head, having no intention of going with them to meet the Acting Grand Master.
To put it bluntly, it was Lumine who had repelled the giant dragon earlier, not him.
Even if he went, he would probably just be there to make up the numbers.
So, the Knights of Favonius valued Lumine.
Although Stelle himself wasn't weak, he had never shown his true strength to the others. Their impression of him was probably at most "a slightly more powerful ordinary person."
After all, he couldn't even use elemental power.
So Stelle chose to first sell some of the broken masks and other items he had gotten from the Hilichurls earlier to get some Mora.
"Then, let's meet at Hunter's Deer Restaurant tonight. You must come, I'll treat you to Honeyed Carrot Stew with Meat!" Amber sighed helplessly but didn't try to persuade Stelle to come with them anymore.
"Hmm, I'll definitely be there," Stelle nodded.
Are you kidding? He was definitely going. He was penniless now, so how could he refuse such a good offer of a free meal?
Amber waved goodbye to Stelle, reluctantly taking Lumine and Kaeya with her.
Stelle also stretched, heading towards the shops in Mondstadt City where he could exchange his items.
Of course, calling it a shop didn't quite fit; accurately speaking, it should be called an alchemy station, right?
"Hello?" Stelle greeted first.
The person guarding outside was a young man, staring blankly at a strange device in front of him.
"Ah, hello, welcome. If you wish to use the alchemy table, I apologize, but you'll need to wait a moment," the man replied, snapping out of his daze when he heard Stelle's voice.
"Uh, no, I wanted to sell some of my, hmm… alchemy materials." Stelle took out the items he had collected.
They were all common drops from Hilichurls, plus some Slime Condensate he had gotten while out in the wild earlier.
Amber had seen these items before and said they wouldn't be worth much, but Stelle didn't have too many demands. As long as he could get enough for a meal, or a night's lodging, that would be fine.
"Ah, okay, let me see…" The man took the items from Stelle's hand, examined them carefully, then nodded, "These are all very common materials, no problem. I can give you about 5000 Mora."
"5000?" It was only then that Stelle suddenly remembered that she didn't know the prices in this world.
Was five thousand Mora a lot or a little?
"It's understandable if you think it's too little, because during the Dragon Disaster, monsters kept appearing near Mondstadt City, and Adventurers and the Knights of Favonius kept dealing with them, which resulted in us receiving a large pile of similar materials every day. If it weren't for Mr. Albedo's research consuming a relatively large amount, we might not even accept them anymore."
The man seemed to think Stelle was complaining about the low price, so he explained.
"Uh, no, actually, I'm a Traveler from afar, and I'm not very clear about the prices in Mondstadt. I want to know what 5000 Mora can buy." Stelle quickly said.
"I see…" The man nodded understandingly. "Don't worry, even during the Dragon Disaster, prices have risen somewhat, but compared to the neighboring country of Liyue, it should still be cheaper."
"For 5000, you can probably buy five portions of Fisherman's Toast at Hunter's Deer, plus one Mushroom Skewer."
"…"
Simply put, it's enough for one meal, two at most?
Well, it did meet her initial expectations.
After thanking the man, Stelle began to wander around Mondstadt City.
With Lumine and Paimon not around, she didn't know what to do for a while. Mondstadt City was so big that she didn't dare to go too far, as it would be troublesome if she got lost.
"Sigh… I still need to find a job." Stelle looked at the sparse crowd on the street and couldn't help but sigh.
She was still a bit confused about the future, having inexplicably arrived in this world and lost contact with the train crew.
Now, hope seemed to lie with Lumine, but Lumine herself wasn't sure if she could regain her former power and travel between worlds again.
So, for now, she could only consider immediate matters, which was to survive in this world.
And the most important thing for survival, obviously, was money.
It was the same everywhere; without money, you couldn't move an inch.
The future felt completely dark…
Thinking this, Stelle unconsciously walked to a familiar place.
"Is this called Cat's Tail Tavern?" Stelle looked up at the sign with a small cat design hanging on the wall, and as if by some strange impulse, she stepped inside.
Amber said the bartender here was very cute, so she wanted to see just how cute she could be.
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Diona hadn't been in a very good mood lately.
The Dragon Disaster was one thing, and these drunkards were another.
Even in this disaster-stricken situation, the adults in Mondstadt City hadn't forgotten to come here for a drink.
Although there were far fewer people than usual, Diona was still not satisfied enough.
Shouldn't they be working hard to prevent disasters at a time like this? Why were they still coming to drink?
Admittedly, alcohol had the effect of dispelling worries… but that was just deceiving oneself. After sobering up, the world would still be the same.
So, Diona, who had just mixed a drink with a look of disgust, sat sullenly on the counter, spacing out.
Then, the tavern door was pushed open.
It was probably another drunkard; Diona knew most of the people who came to drink these days.
However, when she looked up, she found that things were not as she had thought.
It was a stranger.
"Wel-welcome to Cat's Tail Tavern…"
Normally, Diona wouldn't say this to drunkards, or rather, wouldn't say welcome so kindly to drunkards; she would basically just deal with them with a look of disgust.
Although she didn't understand why many adults seemed to like it, always showing a look of enjoyment every time.
But this time, facing this unfamiliar tall, gray-haired older sister, she was uncharacteristically kind, and even unconsciously nervous.
This older sister exuded an aura that made her feel very comfortable. Although her expression seemed a little cold, Diona subconsciously believed that she was definitely a very good person.
In her heart, she even had a desire to go up to the other person and act spoiled, asking her to pat her head…
No, no!
Diona quickly shook her head, shaking off the strange impulse that had just popped into her mind.
"Is your tavern's bartender here?" Stelle's eyes lit up when she saw Diona.
Cat girl!
And a little cat girl!
Cute, want to pet, no wonder it's called Cat's Tail Tavern.
The signboard girl is actually a real cat girl!
"I am." Diona looked at the gray-haired older sister in front of her with some confusion.
"Huh? You're the bartender??" Stelle's eyes widened.
Such a small child serving as a bartender?
If it was true, then what Amber said was indeed correct… she really was so cute.