Morning in Mondstadt.
At the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius, Acting Grand Master Jean was already at her desk, buried in paperwork.
Although the Stormterror crisis had been resolved, there was still a mountain of follow-up matters to handle.
And on top of that, she had another very important responsibility—Han Feng's Solace Book House.
That manga shop possessed mysterious abilities. Even an ordinary person could, by chance, have their life completely changed there. The risks were unpredictable, and so Jean had to remain vigilant.
If anyone happened to gain something dangerous from the shop, she needed to deal with it immediately.
But when she thought of Han Feng himself… Jean's face faintly flushed red.
Just then—
The office door suddenly opened, and a small figure in red bounced inside.
"Klee? Why are you here so early in the morning?" Jean smiled in surprise. She had never seen Klee get up this early.
"Captain Jean, let's go to Brother Han Feng's manga shop, okay? Klee wants to read comics!" Klee said, her face full of anticipation.
Ever since yesterday's visit to the manga shop, Klee felt as if a whole new world had opened up for her.
There was the cool and handsome Brother Han Feng.
There were all those fun and exciting manga.
And after reading, she even received rewards!
Especially after eating that Magical Mapo Tofu, Klee had been buzzing with excitement the entire night.
So this morning, she woke up early, eager to go back again.
"I see, so that's what you're excited about."
Jean couldn't help but laugh wryly. Aside from bombs, she had never seen Klee so obsessed with anything else.
Still, this was good news. At least for now, Klee's attention wasn't fixated on explosives.
But Jean's smile quickly turned into a troubled frown. She still had urgent matters to deal with at headquarters, and Barbara and Lisa weren't awake yet either.
"…Then let Eula go with you."
Helplessly, Jean decided to entrust the task to Eula, who had only recently joined the Knights. Without someone to supervise Klee, Jean really couldn't feel at ease.
Of course, what Jean didn't know was that Han Feng had already promised Klee privately—
if there was ever a manga about bombs, he'd let her know right away.
If Jean ever found out about that promise, she'd definitely regret letting Klee anywhere near the shop.
Fortunately, Eula happily agreed to the request. She wasn't busy, and she had the time to bring Klee along.
"Yay! I get to read manga again!" Klee cheered, hopping with joy.
Soon after, Eula led her toward the Solace Book House.
Although it was still early morning in Mondstadt, the streets were already bustling with people.
"I heard about it? Last night, the Good Hunter introduced a new dish—Golden Fried Rice!"
"Really? I was at home sleeping."
"I know about it! Supposedly the dish glowed—it was magical."
"I was there! The whole restaurant lit up like gold—it was like a legend come to life."
"Whoa… that's amazing? Since when did Good Hunter serve something like that?"
"They say it came from the manga shop as a reward."
"No way, you sure you're not just pulling my leg?"
"It's true! Miss Sara herself said so. A lot of people are planning to go check it out today."
"If that's real, then I'm definitely going too!"
Clearly, overnight, the fame of Golden Fried Rice had spread like wildfire. And naturally, people's curiosity about the mysterious manga shop had grown as well.
Hearing the chatter along the streets, Klee tugged at Eula's sleeve.
"Eula, have you tried that Golden Fried Rice? Is it yummy?"
Having tasted the delicious Mapo Tofu yesterday, little Klee was now very interested in food too.
"…No."
Just the mention of Golden Fried Rice made Eula feel a pang of frustration.
Last night, she and Amber had been delayed by that Abyss Mage. By the time they rushed to the Good Hunter, the fried rice was already sold out, and they never even saw the fabled golden glow.
It was a real disappointment. Not to mention, the two of them had barely eaten anything all night.
The more Eula thought about it, the more irritated she felt—so much so that she and Amber vented their anger by teaching that Abyss Mage a harsh lesson.
The Abyss Mage: I just came to read manga, why must you bully me like this…?
Shaking off her thoughts, Eula realized something.
"With things like this happening, Han Feng's manga shop will probably get flooded with customers soon."
If a dish like Golden Fried Rice could really shine, people would surely want to try their luck at the shop.
Even if they got nothing, at most they'd lose 100,000 Mora.
But if they got something valuable—like the fried rice—then it was a massive gain.
Thinking of this, Eula remembered the letter she had sent yesterday.
Yanfei should have received it by now.
Before long, Eula and Klee arrived at the Solace Book House.
The two greeted Han Feng together.
"Boss, we're back again!"
"Brother Han Feng, Klee came to read manga again!"
"Welcome, Miss Eula. And welcome back, little Klee," Han Feng said with a warm smile.
He hadn't expected his first customers today to be these two. Especially Klee—she had only come the evening before, and now she was back first thing in the morning.
Well, she was a child, after all.
"Brother Han Feng, here's Klee's 100,000 Mora."
Klee carefully fished out a pouch from her backpack and handed it over. Jean had given it to her earlier.
Otherwise, with her allowance of just 50 Mora a month, there was no way she could afford manga.
"Go on then, the books are on the shelves."
Han Feng patted her head lightly and pointed toward the rows of manga.
"Yay!"
With her backpack bouncing behind her, Klee dashed to the shelves, already knowing exactly what she wanted to read today—
Yu-Gi-Oh!
The Mapo Tofu reward was delicious, sure…
But that bard who got a card deck yesterday—his prize looked way more fun!
If she wanted food, she could just eat Golden Fried Rice at the Good Hunter.
"Ehehe~"
Clutching the manga tightly, Klee happily plopped onto a sofa and started reading.
Meanwhile, Eula also handed over her 100,000 Mora.
Taking the money, Han Feng asked curiously,
"What happened to that Abyss Mage last night?"
"We let it go."
Eula sighed. Honestly, she and Amber had wanted to lock the creature up—or worse.
But Jean had thought things through more carefully. The mage hadn't truly caused chaos in Mondstadt—well, aside from knocking out a few people and stealing from them. But that wasn't the real issue.
The key point was this:
Jean realized that the manga shop's secret could never stay hidden for long. Once people knew, they would inevitably come flocking to Mondstadt—no matter the cost.
And since Han Feng treated all customers equally, as long as they came to read and didn't cause trouble, he didn't interfere.
That meant Mondstadt was destined to become a hotspot of attention. Countless powers, both open and hidden, would arrive.
Inevitably, trouble would follow.
Jean couldn't stop it. The only thing she could do was keep the situation under the Knights' supervision, to minimize any potential crisis.
That was why she had decided to release the Abyss Mage.
The message was simple:
Want to read manga? Fine.
But it'll be under the Knights' watch.
They wouldn't pry into rewards, but no one was allowed to cause a scene.
"Miss Jean really is impressive," Han Feng praised sincerely.
As expected of the Acting Grand Master—she had quickly found the most balanced solution, minimizing Mondstadt's risks.
"By the way, Boss," Eula asked, "are there any new manga today?"
That was one of her main reasons for coming early—to be the first to know about the latest release.
"There is," Han Feng said with a smile. "It's called Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious. It's a very special one."
Overly cautious to that extent—it couldn't be anything but special.
"Very special…?" Eula murmured.
Just how special could it be?
With curiosity in her heart, she walked over to the shelves, picked up Cautious Hero, and settled into a sofa.
Then she opened the manga—and began to read.
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