"Stelle! So you're here!" Paimon's voice came from behind, and Stelle immediately turned around.
"You guys are back! How was it, did everything go smoothly?" Stelle saw them and quickly walked over.
Looking at them, it seemed they hadn't encountered any danger, and there wasn't even a hint of fatigue.
It seemed they had a very relaxed day.
"It went really smoothly! The storm above Mondstadt has disappeared, so the citizens' daily lives should be able to recover somewhat now," Amber looked very happy.
All of this was also thanks to Lumine's help.
After all, the temples of the Four Winds were not suitable for sending too many Knights to clear; too much commotion would cause some trouble.
Furthermore, the Knights of Favonius themselves were understaffed and simply didn't have the spare capacity.
So the best option was to form an elite team to complete the task.
Originally, everyone was still worried about the selection of this team, and Acting Grand Master Jean even considered asking Diluc for help.
But Lumine's sudden appearance solved their worries.
Her powerful combat ability allowed this task, which was expected to take a long time to complete, to be finished in less than two days.
"Lumine is really amazing," Amber exclaimed sincerely.
"Oh, it was just a small, insignificant matter," Lumine smiled a little self-consciously.
If her power could recover, this would be even less of a big deal.
Unfortunately, she could only rely on her element power now.
"It's good that you're all fine." Stelle also smiled when she heard them say that.
"Anyway, to celebrate, I'm treating everyone to a big meal tonight. Stelle, you should come too!" Amber looked at Stelle with anticipation.
Although the Dragon Disaster wouldn't end because of this, Stormterror, having discovered the problem, would surely attack again.
But no matter what, this was one of the few positive developments since the Dragon Disaster began, so a small celebration was perfectly fine.
"This…" Stelle hesitated slightly.
After all, she hadn't contributed at all, so wouldn't it be a bit rude to freeload at their celebration dinner?
"Come on, Stelle, this is a rare opportunity! Just eat to your heart's content," Paimon quickly urged.
"It's not your treat… But you're right, come along, Stelle," Lumine first teased Paimon, then also invited Stelle.
"Alright then, I'll gladly accept." Stelle nodded.
It was good to get a free meal; although she wasn't broke now, saving a little was always good.
--------
The group quickly arrived at Hunter's Deer and ordered their meals.
Everything seemed just like last night.
Even the person treating them hadn't changed, which made Lumine feel a bit embarrassed.
"How about I treat this meal instead?" Lumine offered proactively.
Mainly, it was because Paimon could eat so much.
Amber and Stelle combined probably didn't eat as much as Paimon. She really didn't know how tiny Paimon could eat so much.
She wasn't worried about money; after all, she had helped the Knights of Favonius so much, Acting Grand Master Jean would definitely give her a Reward.
It would probably be much higher than the Adventurers' Guild's commission Reward.
"It's fine, it's just one meal, it won't cost much Mora," Amber waved her hand with a smile.
She usually didn't have many expenses. Most of her Knights of Favonius salary, apart from paying fines for flying within the city, was saved up.
While she wasn't exactly rich, she didn't care about the cost of a few meals.
Lumine insisted for a bit but ultimately couldn't win against Amber.
After ordering, the group chatted idly.
Amber first recounted her and Lumine's experiences with a few others in the Four Winds temple today, and then she also explained more detailed knowledge about the Four Winds to Stelle.
This included the fact that the so-called Stormterror was once one of the Four Winds, a familiar of the Anemo Archon.
"A familiar of a god…" Stelle recalled the first time she saw that giant dragon in the forest.
A young man in green seemed to be comforting the dragon.
An ordinary person wouldn't be able to do that, right? Could that young man be the Anemo Archon… or perhaps someone related to the Anemo Archon?
"Speaking of which, Stelle, how was your commission today? Did it go smoothly?" Lumine suddenly asked.
"Oh, right, this is your first commission, isn't it? How was it, did you successfully complete it?" Amber also quickly looked at Stelle.
"It went pretty smoothly. The task itself wasn't difficult, I just met a strange nun on the way."
"A strange nun? You're not talking about Rosaria, are you?" Amber blinked, then immediately asked.
If there was any nun in all of Mondstadt who was considered strange, it could only be Rosaria.
"Yes, it was her."
"She, she didn't do anything to you, did she?!" Amber reacted strongly, even taking Stelle's hand and looking at her with concern.
Amber and Rosaria didn't have much of a friendship, but Rosaria was quite well-known in Mondstadt. Ordinary people's understanding of Rosaria was probably limited to "the nun who neglects her duties."
But Amber was different; she and some high-ranking members of the Knights of Favonius were well aware of Rosaria's work behind the scenes.
Sometimes, when encountering overly suspicious individuals, Rosaria would take very extreme actions.
Evidently, Stelle looked just a little bit suspicious…
"It's fine, she's a really good person. If it weren't for her, I might not have been able to get back before dark," Stelle was a little confused why Amber was so nervous, then honestly recounted what happened between her and Rosaria.
"That's good…" Amber breathed a sigh of relief.
Then she remembered she was still holding Stelle's hand, and her face instantly turned bright red.
She pretended to naturally take her hand away, feeling a strange reluctance in her heart.
Stelle's hand was soft; even though Stelle was wearing gloves, she could still feel that touch.
"What's wrong with that nun named Rosaria, why are you so nervous, Amber?" Just as Amber was feeling extremely awkward, Paimon spoke up to help her out.
"Ro-Rosaria is very wary of outsiders, and not very friendly, and her personality is also a bit… However, she's actually a good person," Amber composed herself, then explained to the two.
She didn't say too much, and didn't really want Rosaria's reputation to worsen in others' eyes because of her, even if Rosaria probably didn't care about such small matters.
"Hmm, I think so too. Although she's a bit strange, she really is a good person," Stelle nodded in strong agreement.
Especially since Rosaria was rarely unaffected by her constitution, which made her like Rosaria even more.
"So that's how it is… Ah, all the dishes are here!" Paimon quickly cast aside the matter of Rosaria and focused on the food.
Lumine, however, paid a little more attention to Rosaria. Judging by Amber's reaction just now, Rosaria should be far from as simple as she made her out to be…
"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do…"
"March 7th, calm down," Himeko said helplessly to March 7th, who was pacing back and forth.
Since this morning, March 7th had been like this, as if it would help her calm down.
"But Himeko, how can I calm down?!" March 7th hugged her head, finally collapsing onto the floor.
Stelle was missing; how terrifying was that? How could she calm down?
Although Stelle used to leave the train to do tasks from time to time, she never left without a word, and now they couldn't even reach her by phone.
After realizing something was wrong, March 7th had thought through every bad outcome she could imagine, and the more she thought, the more she broke out in a cold sweat.
"She was just sleeping with me yesterday, and then she disappeared this morning." March 7th hugged her knees. She still remembered Stelle inexplicably crawling into her bed last night.
Although she complained about Stelle acting like a child, she was very happy inside.
Unexpectedly, when she woke up this morning, the person beside her was gone.
She was incredibly worried, especially since Stelle was so naive. What if she was tricked by some bad woman outside?
"She probably didn't leave on her own," Danheng walked over at some point, frowning slightly.
It was the first time a crew member had mysteriously disappeared from the train.
"I checked the logs; no one has voluntarily disembarked from yesterday until now."
"Is that so…" Himeko set aside her coffee, a hint of worry on her face.
As an elder, she had to remain calm, but in reality, the turmoil in her heart was not much less than March 7th's.
"Maybe she got caught up in some special event, Pam," Pom looked at everyone, offering his guess.
"But what kind of person and what kind of power could take someone away from the train so silently…"
"I contacted the Xianzhou, the Space Station, and even Jarilo-VI, but there's no news of her," Welt also walked into the Observation Car, speaking slowly.
A living person had just disappeared so inexplicably.
And it happened right under their noses.
"Could it be related to the Stellaron Hunters…?" Himeko felt this was a strong possibility. No one knew what methods and secrets that group possessed.
Moreover, Stelle was left behind by their group, so it was highly possible she was taken away by the Stellaron Hunters.
"But even the Stellaron Hunters, taking her off the train silently would be quite unlikely, wouldn't it?" Although Danheng also felt that group was highly suspicious, he didn't think the Stellaron Hunters were powerful enough to do such a thing.
The Observation Car fell silent. Even the most boisterous March 7th was now looking melancholic, lost in thought.
Just then, a sound similar to communication data converging suddenly came from the train.
A person's projection appeared on the train.
"Long time no see, everyone from the Astral Express." Kafka stood in the center of the group, holding an umbrella.
"It's you! Give Stelle back!" March 7th was startled for a moment, then quickly stood up, pulled out her bow and arrow, and aimed it at Kafka.
The arrow was already glowing, as if March 7th would shoot Kafka through if she said anything that displeased March 7th.
"Sanyue, calm down, this is just a communication projection." Welt quickly pressed down March 7th's hand, lest she excitedly shoot a hole in the observation car.
"Stellaron Hunters, Stelle's disappearance, is it really related to you?" Himeko stood up, looking sharply at Kafka.
She didn't even want to call Kafka by her name.
"I did come for this, but this matter has nothing to do with us." Kafka smiled slightly, her expression not visibly changing due to their questioning.
"I hope you can give us a reasonable explanation." Welt pushed up his glasses, looking at Kafka's projection, his gaze equally unfriendly.
"I'll tell you everything I know, after all, this is something outside the script..."
------
A few system hours ago, on a certain planet.
A black cat squatted high up, looking at the distant scenery motionless, like an exquisite statue.
"Elio, what happened?" Behind the black cat, a beautiful woman in a dark coat walked slowly, the blade in her hand slowly retracting.
She looked like she had just finished work.
The black cat, called Elio, turned its head to look at Kafka, then extended its paw and licked it.
"The future has become confusing, what I once saw has become blurry." The black cat slowly spoke.
"Oh?" Kafka looked at Elio with some surprise, but didn't rush to ask, instead waiting quietly for him to finish speaking.
"Stelle, has disappeared." Elio looked up at Kafka, saying words that made Kafka's pupils slightly constrict.
"Specifically?" Kafka couldn't feel emotions like fear, but now hearing Elio's words, she seemed to be able to understand what that feeling was like.
She knew Elio wouldn't lie, much less joke with her.
Stelle was very important to her; she didn't want to lose Stelle.
Moreover, even setting aside her personal feelings for Stelle, as the protagonist-like existence in Elio's script, if she had an accident, it would mean that everything they had planned would undergo major changes.
All the efforts made over such a long time would be wasted.
No wonder Elio said the future had become confusing.
"I'm not clear either, everything happened silently, without any warning."
"Even you can't see it…" Kafka found it hard to imagine what kind of power could hide from Elio.
Could it be an existence at the level of a Star God?
"But one thing is certain, she's still alive." Elio finally delivered some good news.
"Kafka, your next mission is to find her and get the blurry future back on track."
"Mn." Kafka nodded.
She didn't need Elio to say anything more; she would definitely find Stelle.
"Before that, you should go to the Astral Express first; this matter also requires their participation."
After all, the people of the Astral Express are very closely connected to Stelle, and their help in this matter would undoubtedly be very beneficial.
"Elio, can you still see my future with Stelle?"
"If you can find her, then nothing will change."
"I see…"