Fischl had wanted to get closer to him.
But when the moment actually came, all she could really do was blush, panic, and accept the fact that Kairo had seen right through her "I-only-came-to-summon-you" act.
"R-remember… the Prinzessin only tolerated this because you were late…" she muttered from under the quilt, cheeks still pink.
Kairo, already at the door, glanced back and couldn't help smiling. "Then, Your Highness, please rest. Mondstadt's still busy today."
He tugged the blanket up properly over her shoulders so she wouldn't catch a chill, ruffled her slightly messy blond hair, and said, "I'm going out with Acting Grand Master Jean and the others. If everything with Dvalin goes smoothly, I'll be back by tonight."
Fischl's amber eyes wavered. "You… must return. The darkness of the Immernachtreich will await your report."
Which, translated to normal Mondstadt: don't stand me up again.
"Got it." Kairo chuckled, turned, and left.
On the roof, Oz watched him go and then looked back through the window at the bundled-up girl. "My lady, I suggest you rest. You rose early, rushed to the Guild, and then launched an 'infiltration operation'… an ordinary person would be exhausted."
"Hmph… I am no ordinary person…" Fischl mumbled, but her voice was already getting sleepy. The bed was warm, Kairo's scent still faintly there, and Mondstadt's morning was quiet. Very soon, the Prinzessin fell back into a peaceful doze.
Outside, Mondstadt had fully woken.
Sunlight lay over the stone streets, and the air still held the coolness of dawn and the smell of dew. Merchants were talking about only one thing:
"Did you see? The Knights really sealed off the Snezhnayan Embassy."
"No joke. Whole squad posted there. Must've been a serious theft."
"Well, the Holy Lyre der Himmel isn't just a musical instrument…"
Kairo didn't stop. He followed the familiar little street toward Angel's Share.
He pushed open the door.
The tavern was still quiet — early-morning quiet — warm light over wooden tables, the faint smell of wine. Three very familiar figures were already there.
"Kairo! You're late!" Paimon flew right up to his face, arms on her hips, puffed cheeks, righteous indignation written all over her. "Do you know how late you are? If you were any later we'd have stormed your house!"
"Sorry, sorry. Overslept." Kairo picked an empty seat and sat down like this was all normal.
"Hmph!" Paimon huffed again, but she didn't keep nagging.
Lumine, sitting beside her, swept a glance over Kairo — sharp, traveler-sharp. For half a second she looked like she'd smelled… something she couldn't place. Her golden eyes narrowed. Then she lifted a hand, drew on Anemo, and let a small, clean breeze swirl around him.
The faint, out-of-place smell was gone.
"Better," Lumine said calmly.
Kairo: "…thanks."
Across from them, Diluc sat arms folded, expression the same as always — serious, unreadable, clearly thinking about something beyond just this escort trip.
"Where's Acting Grand Master Jean?" Kairo asked.
"Already waiting outside the city," Paimon answered, kicking her legs above the chair. "She said she can't show up here too openly right now. Something something 'let's not make the tavern the center of attention again.'"
"Fair," Kairo said, and stood. "Let's go."
They stepped out of Angel's Share and through Mondstadt's gate.
They hadn't walked long before two figures came into view on the road outside the city — one in white-and-blue Knight's uniform, standing very straight; one in green, holding a very familiar lyre.
"Good morning, everyone," Venti waved, smiling like this was all just a morning outing.
"Morning." Jean gave them a small nod, eyes sweeping the team to make sure no one was missing. "Looks like everyone's in good condition."
"Of course we are!" Paimon patted her chest. "We're always ready! …It's just that we always have to run so far."
Venti grinned. "I did say last night — let me play something for you."
He lifted the Holy Lyre der Himmel.
"Wait, right now?" Diluc frowned slightly.
But Venti was already playing.
The notes flowed out soft and bright, like wind over Cider Lake. The air itself seemed to move in time. Then — whoom — a breeze gathered around all of them at once, not wild, not rough, just a steady pushing wind, like invisible wings.
"Eh?!" Paimon's eyes went round. The wind circled her and pushed, and suddenly floating was easier than ever. "This is… wind protection?"
Kairo felt it too. The element was gentle but… responsive. It wasn't their Vision power moving; it was wind coming to them.
Jean, who used an Anemo Vision every day, felt it most clearly. Her eyes flashed with real surprise.
This wasn't Vision output. This was wind… coming on its own.
That's not how my Vision works, she thought.
Even Diluc, who dealt with Anemo users a lot, glanced at Venti. The bard's control over the element was way too natural.
Venti blinked innocently. "Well? Isn't this easier than running on your own?"
"It does make us faster." Jean nodded, though a line stayed between her brows. "Thank you, Mr. Bard."
"Just call me Venti."
Paimon had already started enjoying it. "Hehe, this is so good! I feel like I could fly all the way to Dawn Winery!"
"Speaking of which," Venti said, twirling the lyre, "we'll regroup at the Dawn Winery later. There's a crystallized Tear of Dvalin there — I'll collect it."
Jean raised a brow. "You know the exact locations already?"
Last night he'd only said "three locations." Even after she checked Knight records, what they had was "probable" locations — not guarantees.
Venti only hugged the lyre, smiled a little too knowingly, and said, "The wind told me."
Jean: "…"
Diluc: "…"
They looked at each other and decided not to argue with a bard.
"Then that's settled," Jean said, slipping back into command tone. "We set off."
They started along the mountain road.
Venti's wind wrapped around them, lifting them, pushing them — running really did get a lot easier.
Then, after a minute, Paimon suddenly spun in the air and pointed at Kairo. "Your turn, your turn, Kairo! That one! The weird fast skill!"
Lumine's eyes also slid to him — she remembered very clearly what his "system" had done before.
Kairo smiled. "Alright."
He raised his hand.
A pulse ran out from his palm like a ripple across still water — except it wasn't a Vision pulse, and it wasn't Anemo. It was quieter, deeper, like a path being drawn underfoot.
The ripple spread.
In an instant, everyone felt it.
Their bodies got lighter again.
Steps smoothed out. Breathing eased. Even the air seemed to part for them.
Jean's eyes narrowed sharply. Again? Even on top of Venti's wind, her speed climbed. Her boots met the ground with less weight, her energy consumption was lower — this wasn't elemental assistance.
Diluc felt it too. His stride picked up without him consciously pushing Pyro or strengthening his legs. He tested it — no elemental feedback, no Vision resonance.
This is not an element, he thought, gaze cutting sideways to Kairo. This is something else entirely.
Up ahead, Paimon was half-laughing, half-panicking. "Too fast, too fast — Lumine, wait for Paimon! Paimon's a flying emergency ration, not a race car!"
Lumine just laughed, reached out, and towed her along by her collar.
Jean, meanwhile, was fully in Knight mode now. She adjusted her breathing, shifted her center of gravity, and deliberately tested the rhythm of this strange buff.
It's… stable. It's not surging like Anemo. It's more like… a road someone built for us, and we're just running on it.
She glanced back. "Kairo. This power of yours — it can cover multiple people at once?"
Kairo didn't deny it. "Yeah. As long as you're inside the range when I cast it."
"Duration?"
"Long enough to reach the winery," Kairo said. "As long as we don't waste it."
Jean was quiet for a second.
Then, for the first time this morning, a real smile flickered in her eyes. "That will save us a great deal of time. And… we won't have to spend the night camping by the road."
Paimon's eyes sparkled. "So we can sleep in real beds?!"
"After we secure the Tear," Jean said, but her tone was lighter now. "I'd prefer not to have the Honorary Knight and her companion sleep outdoors after a day like this."
Up ahead, Venti was watching and strumming idly, a very Bard-of-Barbatos smile on his face.
"Not elemental… not Vision-based… and yet it accelerates the whole group," Diluc said at last, voice low, eyes on Kairo. "What is that, exactly?"
Kairo met his gaze, calm. "A different kind of power. In my world they call it a Path."
Diluc's pupils tightened slightly.
Jean, too, committed that word to memory.
A power that wasn't elemental, that could be shared, that made an elite team march faster than Knights on horseback — and the one who wielded it was currently registered in Mondstadt as… just an adventurer.
Jean didn't press. Not here, not on the road, not in front of Venti and Diluc.
But she'd made her decision: after they recovered Dvalin's Tear, she was going to have a proper talk with Kairo at the Knights of Favonius Headquarters.
For now, she lifted her hand, feeling the wind and the unfamiliar Path power carrying her onward, and said, "Everyone — move out. With this pace, we reach Dawn Winery before sunset."
No camping.
No sleeping in the open.
And, if Kairo's "Path" really was as controllable as it looked…
…then Mondstadt had just gained a new kind of strength.
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