Following the path Rosaria pointed out, they continued upwards and soon found Albedo in front of a cliff.
He seemed to have just finished sketching.
Just as Sucrose said, Albedo was a gentle and scholarly person.
From this angle, there was no need for Sucrose to describe him in detail; Albedo was very unique and could be recognized at a glance in a crowd.
"You… are the Honorary Knight and Miss Star, right?" Albedo turned his head to look at Star and Lumine. Without much thought, he quickly recognized the two of them.
"That's us," Star nodded, briefly sizing up the other party.
Albedo was unique, but this uniqueness wasn't in his temperament or appearance, but something else.
To Star, the other party felt like some kind of… non-human creature?
"Hello, Mr. Albedo," Paimon waved his hand and greeted him.
"Hello. I seemed to have heard your argument with Sister Rosaria just now…" Albedo's voice was steady and calm, showing no particular emotion.
"Uh, just a small misunderstanding," Star said, feeling a bit awkward.
"Hmph, we didn't have any misunderstanding…" Lumine muttered unhappily.
"Is that so? It's good that you're fine," Albedo pretended not to hear Lumine's words, carefully looked at the two of them, and then his gaze lingered on Paimon for a moment.
"Is there something you need from me?"
"Sucrose entrusted us to come. He said your research encountered difficulties and that you might need our help," Paimon took the initiative to speak, then showed a money-grubbing expression, "He also said you would give us a generous Reward."
"I see. Hmm, if it's you two, you should be able to give me a lot of help," Albedo stroked his chin in thought for a moment, then nodded.
He had always been very curious about the Traveler, who could use element power without a Vision, but he had never had the chance to meet him.
As for the other one… Albedo was a bit unsure.
He couldn't see through this Damselette at all, and there seemed to be something dangerous inside his body. Albedo instinctively didn't want to get too close.
"So, about the Reward…" Paimon looked at Albedo expectantly.
"Naturally, I won't let you help for nothing," Albedo came back to his senses, nodded at Paimon, and then looked at Star and Lumine.
"Traveler, I've heard about your performance during the Dragon Disaster, both your unusual control over element power and your constitution that can purify curses."
"As for Miss Star, although there are no special rumors, this meeting has already allowed me to feel your difference from others."
"I'll just state the conclusion directly—you two must have traveled a long way from another world, right?"
Although Albedo was asking a question, his gaze was unusually firm. It seemed he was very confident in this conclusion.
Of course, the truth was indeed as he said.
"Your knowledge is indeed well-deserved," Lumine nodded, a hint of surprise in his eyes as he looked at Albedo.
The two of them had not actively told others about traveling through worlds, but Albedo could see their difference at a glance.
He truly was the chief alchemist of the Knights of Favonius.
"Hmm, in that case, I presume my research will make great progress."
"So, what kind of research is it exactly?" Star couldn't help but ask.
"Ah, I apologize. You must be very confused right now. Where should I start… No, rather than words, it would be better to show you something," Albedo pulled out a twig from somewhere.
"For example, awakening life, allowing a dead branch to gain [New Life]."
That dead twig actually began to gradually grow under the influence of Albedo's power, even sprouting new branches in this icy, snowy land.
Star was dumbfounded. The alchemy he had witnessed before had not been able to reach Albedo's level.
"Alchemy can do such a thing!" Paimon also looked surprised.
"How amazing…" Lumine, compared to the two of them, was much calmer.
"However, there's a special seed that the previous method isn't very effective on," Albedo paused here, taking out the special seed. "This seed, like you, comes from another world."
"I want it to take root and sprout in this world. By carefully observing you, who come from another world, I might be able to find the answer."
"I see…" Star looked at the seed in Albedo's hand.
"However, perhaps the Honorary Knight is more valuable for reference than Miss Star," Albedo suddenly changed the subject.
"Huh? Why?"
"Although he also comes from another world like Miss Star, the Honorary Knight can use this world's element power, and he doesn't even need a magic organ like a Vision."
It was normal to say that Lumine was more valuable for research, as the seed from another world couldn't take root and sprout in this world, but the Honorary Knight from another world could use element power.
"So… there's actually nothing for me to do?" Star rubbed his head and couldn't help but ask.
"You can't say that. Perhaps you can serve as a control experiment," Albedo shook his head.
What he didn't explicitly tell Star was that he actually didn't dare to conduct any in-depth research on Star.
The dangerous feeling emanating from his body made Albedo feel very uncomfortable; he didn't even want to get close.
For safety's sake, it would be better to keep Star aside, lest something go wrong and endanger the safety of Mondstadt City.
"It's okay, Star. We'll equally share a portion of the Reward with you once we get it," Paimon said, comforting Star.
"Uh, thank you…" Actually, Star didn't really care about the Reward.
Next, the experiment targeting Lumine began.
Albedo first asked Lumine some very strange questions, such as whether Lumine had a second heart, a fourth stomach, and whether Paimon was linked to Lumine's body.
After receiving a negative answer to all of them, Albedo nodded and decided to attract some Slimes to observe the flow of element power within Lumine during combat.
Star could only watch, and he suddenly found himself with nothing to do.
A few Ice Slimes were naturally no match for Lumine, and the battle quickly ended.
"So… did you notice anything unusual?" Star looked at Albedo, who was deep in thought, and couldn't help but ask.
"Not yet. The external flow of element power is smooth, and the elemental reactions are reasonable. I haven't observed anything special," Albedo shook his head.
"If the external flow is fine, then next we can only look at the internal flow."
"Internal flow? How do we do that?" Lumine put away his Dull Blade, walked in front of the two, and asked.
He had obviously heard their conversation just now.
"It's simple. I can use alchemy to create a potion that extracts element power. If element power is stored or accumulated in your body in a physiological way, then it will produce an elemental reaction with this potion."
"Uh, will it Crystalize in my stomach?" Lumine's mouth twitched slightly, and he couldn't help but ask.
"Sounds, sounds scary…"
"It's fine. If everything is normal, it will only cause temporary discomfort and won't cause any DMG to the body," Albedo shook his head.
If that situation really occurred, he also had ample preparations to ensure that no danger would happen.
"Alright," Lumine nodded. Although drinking the strange potion made him a little uneasy, with Star here, nothing too major should happen.
"Hmm, in that case, please come back to my camp with me. On the way, we still need to collect some Starsilver Ore to use as a catalyst for the potion."
-----
Walking along the way, Star used his bat to mine a lot of ore, which was one of the few contributions he made in this experiment.
After all, the entire experiment was focused on Lumine, and he had nothing to do with it.
"We're here. My camp is just ahead."
Star looked up, and indeed, a small camp appeared before them.
There were several shelves here, the kind very common in various shops in Mondstadt City, filled with various bottles and jars that Star didn't understand.
He estimated that if he accidentally broke them, he would have to pay a lot of money.
Albedo first put the Starsilver Ore into the potion furnace and began to Craft the potion he had mentioned earlier.
"Mr. Albedo, you're back," Timaeus ran over and was a bit surprised to see Star and Lumine next to Albedo.
"This is Timaeus, my assistant. You should already know him."
"Yes, indeed, we see him often," Star nodded.
Before, he would always go to sell some materials dropped by monsters, and Lumine, needless to say, went to the Crafting Bench almost every day, so they were quite familiar with each other.
"Hello, I never expected you two to come back with Mr. Albedo," Timaeus smiled and greeted them.
"Timaeus, organize this data. These two are currently assisting me with an experiment," Albedo handed several documents to Timaeus.
"Yes, Mr. Albedo," Timaeus took the experimental data, glanced at it roughly, then walked seriously to the blackboard on the other side and began his own research.
While they were talking, Albedo's potion was already finished.
Albedo first took out a bottle and drank it himself.
"Hmm… As expected, it's drinkable," Albedo held another bottle of potion and handed it to Lumine.
Looking at the potion, Star even thought it might taste good.
Unfortunately, that thing should be useless to him, and he didn't know what would happen if he drank it.
Lumine took it. Seeing how Albedo had just chugged it down, it was probably to reassure him, so Lumine didn't hesitate much. He opened the bottle and drank it.
"…"
"How is it?" Paimon looked at Lumine with some concern.
"If you feel uncomfortable, be sure to take a deep breath," Albedo also couldn't help but remind him.
"Hmm… It seems, I don't feel anything?" Lumine licked his lips, tasted it carefully, and then shook his head.
He really didn't feel anything, as if he had drunk a bottle of plain water.
"No feeling?" Albedo frowned, a little surprised.
"That shouldn't be. This potion infuses element power into the body. Under normal circumstances, it should cause some rejection reactions…"
"Could it be that because Lumine's constitution is special, the potion hasn't taken effect yet?" Star offered a guess.
"It's also possible that this potion just won't have an effect on him… But no matter what, we need to observe it further," Albedo looked at Lumine, then at the sky, which had gradually darkened.
"I'd like to ask you two to stay here until tomorrow morning, just in case."
"This… isn't impossible," Lumine stroked his chin, then nodded and said.
They were originally here to explore the snowy mountains, or as Lumine himself put it, to "open up the map."
They hadn't scheduled when to return, so staying a bit longer wouldn't be a big problem.
"Hmm, I happen to have an extra tent here."
"...An extra one?" Stelle suddenly had a bad premonition.
"Yes, rest assured, it's enough for the two of you, even with Paimon," Albedo said, nodding and explaining, not noticing Stelle's sudden change in expression.
"Great! Then let's stay here!" Lumine's voice and tone changed noticeably, making Albedo think it was the effect of the potion, and he couldn't help but look at Lumine a few more times.
After confirming Lumine was fine, he slowly spoke again: "If you follow this path, you'll reach my Camp Two. There you'll find the tent I mentioned, as well as some daily necessities and first-aid supplies. It's only a two-minute walk from here. You can rest there tonight."
"If anything happens, there's a signal emitter there, and I'll arrive within a minute."
"..." Stelle didn't speak, but she was already starting to back out in her mind.
Albedo simply didn't understand the seriousness of the situation; he even had a separate camp for the two of them to use.
Of course, perhaps Albedo was being kind, thinking that two girls might find it inconvenient to stay with him and Timaeus, and the camps weren't far apart, so a separate space would be better.
But after so many lessons, how could she dare to sleep alone in a tent with Lumine again!
No, she had to find a way to leave...
"Miss Stelle." Albedo suddenly spoke.
"Ah?" Stelle was startled, then looked up at Albedo with a bewildered expression.
"If possible, you might need to stay up a bit late tonight and observe Traveler's condition more closely."
"..."
Alright, Albedo's words made it impossible for her to find an excuse to leave.
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