[Location: The Angel's Share Tavern]
[Time: 20:45 PM]
Mondstadt at night was peaceful, but the tension in the air was thick. The Stormterror threat was suppressed, not solved.
I trotted behind Aether and Paimon as we entered the tavern. I had shrunk my size down to about the size of a large dog—big enough to be intimidating, small enough to fit through a door without breaking the frame.
"A tavern?" Paimon drooled. "Paimon wants apple juice!"
We pushed the doors open. The smell of wine and roasted meat hit my nose. It was crowded, but the noise died down instantly as people noticed the obsidian-scaled dragon walking in.
"Don't mind me," I projected casually. "Just here for the atmosphere. And maybe a roasted boar leg."
We sat at the bar. The bartender wasn't Charles. It was a man with fiery red hair, a black coat, and an expression that said he would rather be literally anywhere else.
Diluc Ragnvindr. The Uncrowned King of Mondstadt.
He was polishing a glass. He stopped when he saw me. His red eyes narrowed, analyzing me with the precision of a veteran warrior. He didn't flinch.
"We don't serve pets," Diluc said flatly.
"He's not a pet!" Paimon stomped in the air. "This is Raiden! He helped save the city!"
"Raiden..." Diluc repeated the name. He put the glass down. "The dragon the Knights are buzzing about. The one who eats Abyss Mages."
"News travels fast," I replied, hopping onto a barstool. I rested my front paws on the counter. "And you must be Master Diluc. I smell fire and... roasted grapes on you."
Diluc stared at me. Then, he did something unexpected. He poured a glass of grape juice and slid it toward me.
"On the house. For eating the Abyss Mage. I detest those things."
I sniffed the juice. High quality.
"Cheers." I lapped it up. "So, Diluc. Your last name. Ragnvindr."
Diluc paused. "What of it?"
"Ragnvindr... Ragnvaldr," I mused aloud. "In my previous... let's call it 'home,' my family name was Ragnvaldr. It means 'Ruler of Counsel' or 'God's Power.' It's an old warrior bloodline."
Diluc's eyes widened by a fraction of a millimeter. He leaned in closer. "Ragnvaldr? That is the archaic spelling of my clan's name from the Decarabian era. It hasn't been used in two thousand years."
He looked at me with new suspicion. "Who are you, really? A dragon that knows ancient human etymology?"
"Let's just say I'm a distant relative," I joked, though my [Great Sage] was pinging like crazy.
[Great Sage]
Well. That explains why I felt a weird kinship with the grumpy redhead. We were practically cousins separated by time and dimensions.
Before Diluc could interrogate me further, the door burst open.
A bard in green tights stumbled in, looking far too cheerful for the crisis outside.
"Yahoo~! Master Diluc! One Dandelion Wine, please!"
Venti. The Anemo Archon. Barbatos.
He froze when he saw me.
His eyes locked onto mine.
To everyone else, Venti was just a bard. But with [Magic Sense], I saw him for what he was: a massive vortex of Anemo energy compressed into a human shape. And he saw me—a void of hunger and foreign divinity.
"Oh," Venti said, his smile twitching. "A... dragon. A very... shiny dragon."
"Hello, Bard," I said, swiveling on my stool. "You smell like the wind. And apples."
Venti laughed nervously. "Ehe! I get that a lot. I'm Venti the Bard! And you must be the new arrival Dvalin was... complaining about."
"Complaining?" Aether asked.
"Oh, you know!" Venti waved his hand. "Wind carries whispers! Dvalin said something bit his corruption. Tasted like... spicy lizards."
"He's welcome," I grunted.
Diluc crossed his arms. "You know this bard?"
"I just met him!" Aether said. "But he says he knows how to save Dvalin without killing him."
Diluc's expression hardened. "Saving the dragon... The Knights will likely choose to slay it to protect the city. They are inefficient like that."
"Jean won't," I interrupted. "Jean wants to save him. But she's tied up by politics. The Fatui are pressuring her."
"The Fatui," Diluc spat the word like poison. "Those diplomats at the Goth Hotel."
Venti hopped onto a stool next to me. "To save Dvalin, we need to purify the poison in his blood. I have a plan! But we need a certain... catalyst."
"Let me guess," Diluc sighed. " The Holy Lyre der Himmel."
"Bingo!" Venti winked. "But the Church won't lend it to a bard. So..."
He looked at Aether. Then at me.
"We need to... borrow it permanently."
"You want to steal the National Treasure of Mondstadt," Paimon shrieked.
"I'm in," I said immediately.
Aether looked at me. "You are?"
"I'm a dragon," I grinned, showing a row of razor-sharp teeth. "Hoarding treasures is in my job description. Plus... the Fatui want it too. I can smell their grease all over the Cathedral's plans."
Diluc wiped the counter aggressively. "If the Knights can't protect their own treasure, they don't deserve it. But if the Fatui get it, Mondstadt is defenseless against the storm."
He looked at the group. A Traveler from the stars. A Bard who knew too much. And a Dragon who claimed to be his ancestor.
"Fine," Diluc grumbled. "I'll help. But we do this quietly. No fire breath inside the Cathedral."
"No promises," I muttered.
[Great Sage]
I hopped off the stool, my tail twitching.
"Diluc. Your tavern is surrounded."
"What?" Diluc frowned.
"Abyss Order. They tracked the Traveler."
I walked to the door, my scales shifting, hardening with [Steel Strength].
"Aether, Diluc. Let's show them what happens when you interrupt family bonding time."
I kicked the door open.
Outside, under the moonlight, three Cryo Abyss Mages were floating, chanting a ritual.
"Execute... the target..." one rasped.
I flared my wings, Anemo energy gathering around my claws (swirling with the Pyro from the tavern's torches).
"Great Sage. Play some battle music."
[Great Sage]
"Let's eat."