Amber held back her urge to complain and said:
"Even though this place looks a little over the top, thanks for clearing out the hilichurl camp.
The Knights of Favonius don't have enough manpower right now, so we can't clear everything."
She then asked, "By the way, what brings you two to Mondstadt?"
Lumine, who wasn't mute in reality, finally spoke:"My brother and I got separated. I came to Mondstadt hoping someone might have seen him."
Amber leaned forward with interest.
"Could you describe what your brother looks like?"
Lumine gave a brief description. Amber shook her head apologetically.
"Sorry, Lumine, I haven't seen him."
Koji thought to himself: Of course you haven't. If you'd really seen Aether, the so-called Prince of the Abyss, he'd lose all sense of mystery. Probably only old ones like Zhongli or Ganyu would know of him, since they've lived long enough.
As a prince of the Abyss Order, Aether wouldn't just wander the cities of the Seven Nations. The Archons would never allow such a dangerous figure to stroll around in the open.
"It's fine," Lumine replied, unsurprised. She had expected this answer.
If she was safe, then her brother surely was too. Maybe he was living carefree somewhere right now.
Koji smirked inwardly: You guessed it right.
"Since you already dealt with the hilichurls here, I'll take you into Mondstadt now," Amber offered with a smile.
Even with the dragon disaster, Mondstadt wouldn't reject outsiders without reason.
"I may not have seen your brother, but others in Mondstadt might have," Amber added warmly.
"Thanks, T—Koji," Lumine started, but Koji interrupted quickly with a grin:
"Thank you, Amber."
Amber blinked, confused.
"?"
Lumine sighed. "Don't mind him, he's just quoting from tokusatsu shows."
"Oh? You've watched those too?" Koji's eyes lit up.
"Of course. I've seen Ultraman. Haven't been to the Land of Light though."
"We should go together sometime."
"Definitely."
Amber scratched her head. She couldn't keep up with their conversation. Paimon also felt out of place—these two were always spouting strange jokes she didn't understand.
"Ahem… let's head to Mondstadt," Amber said, coughing lightly.
Suddenly, Paimon spotted something moving in a bush nearby.
"Who's there?" she cried.
Koji had already noticed the small presence but stayed quiet. Paimon's shout gave it away.
"…Klee?" Amber said, recognizing the stuffed Dodoco doll poking out.
Sure enough, a little blonde girl crept out, leaves still stuck in her hair.
"Hehe… Amber, what a coincidence~"
Klee, the little Spark Knight, had snuck out of confinement again. With the dragon disaster still raging, this was dangerous.
Amber sighed. "Klee, you sneaked out again. Jean is swamped with work, so come with me. After this is over, you can play."
"Okay…" Klee pouted. She was just too bored. No one had time to play with her, so she had gone out to fish-blast again.
"Hello, Uncle, Auntie. My name is Klee!"
"Uncle?" "Auntie?"
Koji and Lumine froze. That… stinged.
Koji thought: Really? I'm only seventeen. I can't be an uncle already!
Lumine's smile turned dangerously sweet. "Klee, what did you just call me?"
Paimon shrieked and hid behind Koji. Too scary!
Amber winced. "Klee! They're still young, you can't call them that."
Klee tilted her head innocently.
"You should call them big brother and big sister."
"Okay~ Koji-nii, Lumine-nee."
That soft, milky voice melted their hearts instantly.
So adorable. Both of them suddenly felt like adopting her on the spot.
Amber introduced proudly:
"This is our Spark Knight, Klee. Don't be fooled by her size—she's very powerful."
Koji nodded. In truth, Klee was one of Mondstadt's strongest—plus, with her mother Alice's backing in the Hexenzirkel, her connections ran deep.
"Do you want to go fish-blasting with me?" Klee asked, eyes shining.
Koji's lips curved.
"Klee, what about blasting a huge fish? Bigger than a house."
Her antenna-like ahoge twitched with excitement.
"Wow! That big?!"
"Yes. It's called the Devouring Whale, a sea monster in Fontaine. Someday, I'll take you to blow it up."
"Promise?" she asked, bouncing with joy.
"Promise," Koji said with a grin.
Amber sighed, shaking her head. If they could get Jean and Albedo to agree, maybe Klee could really go. But that wasn't for her to decide.
(End of Chapter)
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