"Evernight? Can I ask you a personal question?" Amber asked me as we approached the city walls.
I thought for a moment and nodded.
"Go ahead, if I can, I'll answer," I said.
"Then, uh... do you have someone?" Amber asked me, blushing.
"What, you want to court me?" I asked with a smirk.
"NO! I mean, I'm just curious. Just looking at you, specifically your appearance, it seems like you're a cold beauty who doesn't care about others," she said, still blushing.
"So that's how you see me..." I said, and then I looked at Paimon and Lumine, who weren't even trying to pretend to eavesdrop.
"Do you see me that way too?" I asked them, to which they both simply nodded.
"When we first met you, we thought you were so distant, plus your unearthly beauty... basically, I thought you were a cold beauty!" Lumine said, blushing slightly.
"I thought so too," Paimon added.
"So that's how it is..." I said thoughtfully.
I wasn't like that at all when I met them. I was still in shock, due to the drastic change in my life, so they might have thought I was a cold, aloof beauty, and my looks didn't help either...
"Don't get me wrong! After meeting you, we realized you're not like that! Yes, you're beautiful, but you're not cold at all!" Paimon exclaimed, probably thinking I was offended, which was not the case at all.
"It's okay, I understand," I said, smiling. Then I looked at Amber, who had been following the conversation.
"No, I don't have anyone right now," I answered the very first question, which made her blush, and she simply nodded, continuing on her way.
"Look! There's someone there!" Paimon said, pointing.
Following her pointing, we spotted a strange, ugly creature.
"Hilichurl! And so close to the city! We need to get rid of them," Amber said.
"Well then, let's go beat them!" Paimon shouted.
"Wait," I said, and all three of them stopped and looked at me.
"Did something happen?" Amber asked, to which I shook my head.
"No, I just want you not to interfere, I need to test my strength," I said.
"Um... Are you sure? I don't see any weapons," Amber said, and after her words, a black umbrella appeared in my hands.
"Here's my weapon," I replied.
"Are you sure this is a weapon? I've never seen an umbrella used as a weapon! Will it break even if you hit a Hilichurl once?" Lumine asked.
"Just watch," I said, opening the umbrella and calmly walking toward the Hilichurl camp. As soon as we reached the camp, the Hilichurls noticed us and charged, but they couldn't reach us because they were within range of my weapon. They immediately froze and then shattered into tiny pieces, and within two seconds, not a single Hilichurl remained.
Turning to the others, I saw only surprised faces and gaping mouths.
"Evernight, you never said you were that strong!" Paimon exclaimed.
"Well, I just don't like bragging," I said, which was half-true.
In fact, I didn't need an umbrella or any other weapon, and they didn't even have to be within my supposed attack range. I could have just thought it and everyone in the camp would be dead, but I didn't want to shock these three, who might mistake me for some kind of goddess. Of course, I don't know what will happen with stronger opponents; perhaps things will be different, although somehow I'm sure it will be the same with them. If my theory is correct, I've caught the eye of some deity, who is imbuing me with a power from which there is no escape, or perhaps some cosmic force, unconscious, has influenced me, and I simply absorbed it. I could speculate forever, but for now I can't find out what happened to me.
Finally, there were a couple more questions, and we continued on our way to the city.
Soon we reached the main gate, beyond which lay the first city I would visit in this world, Mondstadt—a city of freedom with a rather horrific past.
As I passed the guards, I tried to ignore their stares as they saw me. As long as they didn't bother me or look at me inappropriately, I wouldn't do anything to them. Although I really didn't like the way they looked at me; there was amazement in their gazes, but thankfully no one stopped me, and we entered the city peacefully.
As soon as we entered the city, Amber turned to face us.
"Welcome to the city of wind, freedom, and dandelions!" she said, and then added,
"Mondstadt! The city where the Knights of Favonius are responsible for your safety."
"Well, finally, I've been dreaming of a proper bed and tasty food for a long time," Paimon said enthusiastically.
"But townspeople, you don't look very happy," Paimon added.
"It's all because of the dragon that was seen not far from town," Amber replied.
"But don't worry, everything will be fine with us, because we have Jean," Amber added.
"Jean, who's in charge in this city?" I asked, to which Amber looked at me and nodded.
"She's the current Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius and the chief protector of Mondstadt," Amber replied.
"So, she's the strongest in this city?" I asked.
"Well, yeah... Evernight? You're not planning on fighting her, are you? She's so busy that she even falls asleep at her desk," Amber said, her voice worried.
"Don't worry, I'm not one for fighting, unless it's an enemy. I was just curious, that's all," I replied.
"What a relief..." Amber sighed.
Apparently, she was still shocked by my previous display of strength, so she was worried about Jean.
"Anyway, here you go! This is the reward for helping with Hilichur," Amber said, handing me a pouch of coins.
"It's not much here, but it's enough for food and a couple of days at the hotel," said Amber.
"Thank you," I replied.
Now the money issue is settled for now, so we can…
"Ahem… Evernight, I hope you haven't forgotten that I'm still upset, and for me to forgive you, you need to buy me something to eat," said Paimon smugly.
I just rolled my eyes.
"As you say."
"Well, anyway, let's greet the Master first, and then we'll have lunch," I said.
"Okay," said Paimon, pouting slightly.
"Headquarters, it's not far from here, in the upper part of the city! Let's go," said Amber.
We followed her silently, and again I ignored the people who were simply staring at me, even blushing. Too many eyes were trained on me. Men, women, even children, but I simply ignored them all, not even glancing at them.
I thought she'd lead us to headquarters, but we ended up at a large statue of the Archon.
"Here you go! It's a glider that you can use to glide and quickly descend from various heights. Try it out," Amber said, handing Lumine a glider.
"Thank you, but I don't want to use it yet," I told her, and Lumine, in turn, walked to the edge and jumped, melting the glider. She returned soon after, and it was clear from her expression that she was pleased.
"Now, let's go see the Magister," Amber said, and we simply nodded.