"According to the divination results, the person from another world is nearby. Where are they?"
Mona's hydromancy orb glowed with a faint blue light under the sun as she carefully pushed aside the grass.
The proud Astrologer looked a bit disheveled at the moment—she had been trekking for an entire day to track down the four legendary visitors from another world.
"Strange... the stars show they're right here..."
The moment she lowered her head to check her hydromancy orb, a crisp "crunch" sound suddenly came from the ground beneath her feet.
"Hm? Waahhhhhhh—!"
The carefully disguised turf collapsed, and Mona's scream echoed in the pit.
When she fell awkwardly onto a soft pile of hay, the metal stars on her hat jingled and rolled far away.
"Such an obvious trap?!"
Mona trembled as she straightened her Astrologer's hat, staring incredulously at the pit wall—where "Welcome!" was written in glowing paint, accompanied by a Hilichurl's smiling face.
"Are you the one who's been following us all day?"
A cool female voice came from above.
Mona looked up to see Lumine's sword tip reflecting a cold light, and Paimon wearing exaggerated toad-eye glasses, holding a wooden sign that read "Interrogation in Progress."
Even more terrifying were the four masked Hilichurls—Jesse's nunchaku dripped with slime condensate, Elliot's Folding Stool was covered in Abyss Mage hair, Zane's thunder hammer crackled with electricity, and Matt was crushing a rock... "Gulp."
Mona's throat bobbed.
She could feel the palpable killing intent emanating from these people—it was not the kind of pressure ordinary adventurers could accumulate, but a terrifying aura formed after slaughtering all the monsters in an entire region.
"I just wanted to ask for your help!"
Mona's voice suddenly rose eight octaves as she frantically waved her hydromancy orb.
"I'm not a bad person! Really! I just want to..."
"Whoosh—"
A stone Elliot casually tossed flew past her hat brim, smashing a deep pit in the rock wall.
Mona instantly crouched down, covering her head, moving so fast she left an afterimage.
Her master's warning flashed through her mind: "If those four beings get serious, even the Seven Archons would have to temporarily avoid their edge."
Even more terrifying was the future she glimpsed through hydromancy—the scene of the quartet brutally beating the Raiden Shogun was replaying before her eyes.
Everyone exchanged glances, and Matt's massive hand, like a claw machine, "fished" Mona out of the pit.
The Astrologer was now like a startled cat, curled into a ball in the Electro Lawachurl's palm.
Zane's mask popped out the character "Trial" (Trial): "You followed us all day for this?"
"I just wanted to go to Mondstadt to find the magic successor's box!"
Mona's scream was tinged with a sob, her starry sheer stockings covered in grass clippings.
"Divination showed you were also going to Mondstadt... I thought having local guides would be more convenient..."
She suddenly realized she had let something slip and quickly added, "I can help you with divination for free! Really! Please put me down! My waist is going to break... Ouch!"
"Did I squeeze too hard?"
Matt's voice came, and he loosened his fingers slightly.
Mona immediately slumped in his palm like a pancake, her long hair spreading out like a small waterfall, looking like a dehydrated mermaid.
Everyone looked at Lumine in unison, and Jesse suggested, "Aren't you looking for your brother? This is a good deal."
Lumine's golden eyes flickered slightly, and she took a few steps forward.
Standing before Matt's palm, she wasn't even as tall as Mona's leg, yet she exuded an inexplicable sense of pressure: "We'll help you find the box, and you'll divine my brother's whereabouts."
"Deal..."
Mona weakly made an OK gesture, then suddenly gasped.
"Hiss... my tailbone..."
Elliot's mask oozed tears of guilt (fake): "How about we get you a stretcher?"
"No need for such trouble."
Zane pulled out a plaster from his four-dimensional pocket—it was printed with an advertisement: "Specializing in bruises and sprains, even Hilichurls say it's good."
"Wait! Where are you going to stick it... Ow!!"
Mona's shriek startled Crystalfly within a ten-mile radius.
Zane's plaster accurately slapped onto her waist, instantly emitting a "sizzling" heating sound.
Three minutes later.
"How do you feel?"
Paimon flew a circle around Matt's shoulder.
Mona, sitting on the Electro Lawachurl's shoulder, was clutching his horn tightly, her face alternating between pale and flushed.
"B-better than walking..."
Mona squeezed out the words through gritted teeth.
Every step Matt took beneath her, the ground trembled, making her stomach churn.
Jesse suddenly remembered something: "Right, what does this successor you mentioned look like?"
Mona's hydromancy orb showed an image: "Red clothes, young and promising, also a Knight of Favonius, and, a very hot girl."
"Klee!! ×5"
Amidst everyone's exclamations, a "boom" of an explosion suddenly came from the direction of Mondstadt City in the distance, and a Mushroom cloud slowly rose.
Mona's hydromancy orb flashed wildly: [Extremely Dangerous · Auspices Extremely Unfavorable].
But at this moment, the Astrologer couldn't care less—she was clinging desperately to Matt's horn, terrified of being thrown off.
"Accelerate!"
Elliot charged out first.
Lumine looked at the four rapidly receding figures and sighed, rubbing her forehead: "I hope Acting Grand Master Jean doesn't faint..."
Paimon counted on her fingers: "Last time they came to Mondstadt, they blew up five windmills, and now with Klee's bombs..."
The two exchanged glances, both shivering simultaneously.