"Mora-mice?"
Paimon's eyes lit up as she asked in amazement.
No matter how she thought about it, it sounded like Jiang Yan didn't need to do anything at all—just sleep on a pile of Mora while the money kept increasing on its own.
Wasn't that her ultimate dream?
"They're a type of mouse that spits out Mora," Jiang Yan replied calmly.
"Waaah!"
Paimon immediately rushed over and hugged his leg.
"Master Jiang Yan, please raise us too!"
Lumine's cheeks flushed slightly at that, but she wasn't flustered. Anyone with common sense knew Paimon wasn't being serious.
Jiang Yan shook his leg, but she wouldn't let go.
"I said before," he corrected her.
"Nowadays, I make money through the Good Hunter's business."
"The kind that spits out lots and lots of Mora?" Paimon asked hopefully.
Amber grabbed her without hesitation and answered on Jiang Yan's behalf,
"Of course they were all released."
"Released?!"
Paimon couldn't understand it at all.
Those were money-spitting creatures! Tools that could let her do nothing all day while Mora piled up!
"Obviously!"
"Do you have any idea how many treasure hoarder groups Boss Jiang Yan fought off back then?"
"If he hadn't released them," Amber continued,
"it wouldn't have just been bandits in Mondstadt and Liyue—treasure hoarders from all across Teyvat would've come after him."
"Honestly, it was because everyone was targeting Boss Jiang Yan that security in Mondstadt and Liyue was unusually good for a while!"
"That dangerous?!"
Paimon gasped.
"You might run into Mora-mice in the wild someday," Jiang Yan said evenly.
"When that happens, you'll see for yourselves."
Then he turned to Lumine.
"Here—this is for you. A set of equipment."
"Th-this…"
Lumine hesitated.
"What are you waiting for, Lumine?"
Paimon urged her.
"Opportunities like this don't come around easily!"
"Yeah—Boss Jiang Yan is being especially nice to you."
Amber added, clearly a bit envious.
Jiang Yan, who had fought countless treasure hoarders in the past, had long been one of Amber's idols.
"If you want some too, Amber, I'll give you a set later."
Jiang Yan said casually.
After all, if he wanted to level up, Amber was also one of his intended trainees.
A living tool for shooting explosive barrels and breaking mechanisms?
That was just game logic.
This wasn't a game with party limits.
Training one more person meant gaining one more source of combat power.
"That's amazing! Thank you, Boss Jiang Yan!"
Amber said happily.
She grabbed Paimon out of midair and cheerfully pinched her cheeks.
"Why do I always suffer?!"
Paimon struggled free and floated away, puffing up her cheeks in indignation.
"Lumine."
Jiang Yan called out from the loft entrance.
"Mm, coming."
Lumine followed with small steps, looking around the spacious loft with unconcealed envy.
Though it was called a loft, it was effectively the third floor of the Good Hunter—just occupying only half the area of the second floor.
Custom high-grade wooden flooring and walls, well-ventilated windows, and a bright skylight—just stepping inside made one feel comfortable.
Lumine almost wanted to stretch.
There were four rooms in total.
Along the narrow hallway—barely wide enough for one person—was a large room belonging to the Good Hunter's owner, Jiang Yan himself.
Instead of entering right away, Lumine took a few steps forward and peeked around the corner of the hallway.
She spotted two more doors, and the innermost space, hidden behind a curtain, was likely a bathroom.
One of the doors had a purple sigil carved into it, which caught her attention.
"Wow! Is it this one? Is it this one?!"
Paimon, who had rushed in behind her, had already pounced on a treasure chest, throwing her arms around it.
Lumine had no choice but to drop the thought of investigating the purple sigil and walked over.
"Mm."
Jiang Yan sat down on the sofa nearby.
"It's equipment I don't use anymore—kept in storage."
"Then I'm opening it!"
"Wait—"
Jiang Yan had just started to warn her when Paimon eagerly opened the chest.
A surging wave of elemental energy burst forth from within the sealed chest.
The small mascot-like figure was blasted straight into the ceiling with a bang, then fell back down onto the floor.
"Ow! Oww, that hurts!"
"Are you okay?"
Lumine picked her up and asked, exasperated.
Paimon, however, had no interest in responding. She immediately lunged back toward the chest—a textbook little money-grubber.
She lifted out a longsword.
Its slender blade was black and white, with ivory wings shaped like a pegasus curling back from the guard to the hilt, protecting the wielder's hand.
A faint glow flowed across the entire weapon.
"Wow, this sword flowing with Anemo energy—! It suits Lumine perfectly!"
Paimon said, awkwardly swinging it a few times.
"Elemental affinity," Jiang Yan corrected calmly.
It wasn't an Anemo sword. It only appeared that way because Mondstadt was saturated with Anemo, causing the blade to gradually gather traces of wind around it.
"Isn't that—"
Amber, standing at the doorway, widened her eyes.
"The Favonius Sword?"
"Favonius Sword?"
Lumine felt the name was familiar.
The Knights of Favonius… the Favonius Sword…
"This is the standard-issue longsword of the Knights of Favonius," Amber explained with a hint of bitterness.
"It usually requires approval from both the Acting Grand Master and the Church to be issued. It's the crystallization of Mondstadt's guards' diligence and craftsmanship."
She pouted slightly.
"Even I don't have one—and you're giving it to Lumine just like that, Boss Jiang Yan?"
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