"ε=(´ο｀*))) Ah~ Finally here. I'm so tired."
"What are you tired from? You were either flying or eating; you barely walked at all, did you?"
Not far outside Mondstadt City, Paimon stretched widely, looking at the familiar scenery. Compared to Liyue Harbor, the wind here in Mondstadt felt more comfortable. Was it because Mondstadt's god was the Anemo Archon?
Over the past few days, Mona had successfully integrated into their group. Although some aspects hadn't changed, she could already be considered a good friend.
"Alright, before we head back to Mondstadt City, can you take me to Windrise first and give me the box, Klee?"
"No problem! Klee will take Sister Mona to Windrise right away to find the box."
Klee took Mona's hand and ran towards Windrise. Durandal and the others followed, arriving at Windrise.
It was still as vast as before, with nothing much to see except for the occasional small animals and Hilichurls passing by.
From just now, small animals excitedly came up to Durandal one after another. In just a short while, Durandal was surrounded by small animals.
"Alright, alright. I know you're all happy, but can you wait a moment? I'll play with all of you."
These small animals also held great significance for Durandal. Before she met Klee and the others, these little darlings were her companions at Cape Oath.
This was the first time she had been away from these small animals for so long. Durandal really missed them. It seemed there were quite a few new members among them. Had they found partners?
The place where Klee buried the box wasn't far. Soon, they found… a Grass Slime that had eaten the box into its belly. It only exposed the leaves on its head, completely entering a state of concealment.
Klee wanted to use a jumpy dumpty to blast it out of the ground. Before she threw the bomb, Durandal stopped her. Doing so could easily damage the box. Even if the box might be made of special materials, they still needed to be careful.
Durandal walked directly in front of the Grass Slime, very simply gripped the grass on the Grass Slime's head, pulled it directly out of the ground, and made its large eyes look at her.
This was the first time the Grass Slime had been treated so roughly by anyone. Just as it was wondering which human was so bold, it saw the terrifying figure that Slimes feared.
With just one look at Durandal, the Grass Slime's large eyes welled up with tears.
Why… why was this terrifying person here? She had finally disappeared for a while, had she come back to torment them again?
Durandal simply and roughly took the box out of the Grass Slime's belly. Klee took the box Durandal handed her and thanked her with a smile.
Mona was about to take the box, but found that Klee had no intention of handing it to her. She directly opened the box, took out the contents, and slowly put them into her backpack.
"Wait… wait a minute! This… this box isn't locked? What's going on? Why are you putting the contents of the box away?"
"Eh? Because everything inside the box is Klee's treasure. Since Sister Mona, you want to take the box back, Klee naturally has to take her things back."
"The box is full of your things? You used this box to store things?"
"Yes. This box is very useful, and boxes are for storing things. Is there a problem with Klee using it to store her own things?"
"Pro… problem, no, there isn't, but… but where did the original item in the box go? I don't just want the box, I want what's inside the box too!"
Are you kidding me? If it was just a box, that Old Woman could easily get a new one herself. What was the purpose of her traveling all this way, spending all her Mora?
"Oh~ So Sister Mona, you wanted what was inside the box. In that case, didn't you already get it a few days ago?"
"…Got it a few days ago?"
"Yes. It's that book Sister Mona found when Klee was rummaging through her backpack that day. That's what was in the box, and it should be with Sister Mona now, right?"
Mona's body stiffened, and with a look of disbelief, she pulled out the diary she had read countless times during this period from behind her.
Before, because she suspected whether there was some secret hidden in this book, she had specifically studied it several times, even taking notes and pondering the meaning of some of the words within.
But after several attempts yielded no discoveries, she finally gave up on the idea of deciphering it, keeping it with her to see if she could find any clues when she became smarter in the future.
And now… now Klee was telling her that *that* book was what was in the box? This… this… "If I'm not mistaken, this box was given by the Old Woman to Alice. Which means… this diary belongs to the Old Woman. The 'Fifty-Year Promise,' this was given by the Old Woman to Alice fifty years ago, so… so this is…"
"This isn't the Old Woman's embarrassing diary from her Damselettehood! No wonder… no wonder she didn't allow me to look at the contents of the box. So that's what she meant!"
No wonder when she warned her, the Old Woman's expression was so serious, even genuinely showing killing intent. So it was because it contained secrets that couldn't be discovered by others!
Just thinking about the Old Woman's expression when she found out Mona had peeked at the diary's contents, Mona looked as if the sky had fallen, slumping to the ground.
"Eh? What… what's going on? Did Klee do something wrong again?"
Seeing Mona's reaction, Klee thought she had done something wrong again and nervously looked at Durandal and Lumine, asking.
"No, you didn't do anything wrong, little Klee."
Paimon comforted her, looking sympathetically at Mona, who was crying on the ground. She hadn't expected to violate the request in such a way. She really was pitiful.
"So what do we do now? As long as we don't tell anyone, Mona's secret won't be known, right?"
"Impossible. Haven't I told you that as long as the Old Woman wishes, nothing can be hidden from her? Although there's a rule against casually prying into other people's affairs, this diary is very important to her. Do you think she won't do a divination?"
Hmm, that's true. If it were them, they probably wouldn't feel at ease and would divine whether Mona had peeked at the contents out of curiosity.
"Then… then why don't you just wait until you forget the contents of that diary before going back? She probably didn't specify when you had to bring the item back, right?"
"That's also impossible. I've been studying the diary's contents all this time. Some of the contents I can already recite by heart. How can I forget it?"
Alright, Paimon had no ideas left. This was a situation where Mona was left with absolutely no way out.
Not only did she peek, but she also thoroughly read the contents. If the Old Woman found out, Mona would probably be finished.
Durandal, who had been observing for a long time, stepped forward.
"What's your master's name? Where is she, Mona?"
"Eh? My master's name is… Do you need something?"
Mona looked at Durandal, puzzled. Why was she suddenly asking her master's name? Was she thinking of going to plead on her behalf?
"Aren't you worried about being eliminated by her? If that's the case, why not take the initiative and eliminate her before she deals with you? Then there'll be nothing to worry about."
On account of Mona taking care of Klee these past few days, Durandal decided to spend a little time helping Mona get rid of her Old Woman and eliminate her worries.
As long as Mona gave her the address of the other party, no matter where she was, she could arrive at the fastest speed, solving the matter in just a few hours.
"Wait... wait a minute, wait a minute, you're going to kill the Old Woman?"
Mona's eyes widened, and she didn't care how terrifying Durandal was anymore. She stepped forward and grabbed Durandal's shoulder, asking.
"Yes, that's right. It's a permanent solution, isn't it? Since she warned you that if you looked inside the box, she'd make you regret it, and you can't forget the contents of that diary, isn't eliminating the danger the most appropriate thing to do?"
"Th-that's true, but... but..."
Durandal's words were not wrong, but she couldn't bring herself to watch her Master, who had always taken care of her and taught her astrology, die at Durandal's hands.
After a long hesitation, Mona sighed deeply and shook her head.
"Forget it, there's no need to go to that extent. I'll stay in Mondstadt for now. When the Old Woman's fate reaches its end, I'll be free."
"Fate reaches its end? What does that mean?" Paimon asked, puzzled.
"It means dying a natural death," Lumine explained.
But when Mona's Master would die a natural death, who would know?
Mona could try to understand this through astrology, but would she really use astrology to divine her Master's death? From her reaction, probably not.
Paimon and Klee ran over to comfort Mona, while Lumine went to Durandal's side and whispered in her ear.
"Hey, did you intentionally say that just now to see Mona's feelings for her Master?"
"...No, I really wanted to go and get rid of her Master."
After a moment of hesitation, Durandal was as dishonest as ever.
Looking at Durandal, who had turned her head away, Lumine smiled and hugged her shoulder, making Durandal look disgusted.
"Alright, we still need to help Mona. After all, she doesn't have any money right now. If she wants to stay in Mondstadt, she might not even be able to eat if we don't help her."
"Mm."
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