Good Hunter Restaurant
"I'm full."
"Jiang Yan… thank you."
Mona didn't leave a single leaf behind on her plate of Satisfying Salad.
Just as she was about to stand up and quietly slip away—
Jiang Yan shot her a look.
"Sit down."
There was a saying: Once you've eaten someone's food, your mouth goes soft; once you've taken their help, your hands go short.
Mona felt that in front of him, she would forever be the one lowering her head.
Even if Jiang Yan were to make some outrageous adult demand, she honestly wasn't sure she'd be able to refuse.
She gave a small, guilty "oh," and sat back down.
At that moment, the aroma of the Three-Immortal Poultry Minced Soup had just begun to spread.
Mona sniffed.
The rich scent of meat, mixed with the umami of matsutake, drifted straight into her nose.
Despite having just eaten her fill, she suddenly felt… hungry again.
It was unbelievable.
What Mona didn't realize was that this was her body's instinctive response—nutritional need asserting itself.
Knock, knock, knock.
Outside the Good Hunter.
A Knight of Favonius knocked on the door and called up toward the open second-floor window.
"Boss Jiang Yan? Boss Jiang Yan, can you hear me?"
"Oh, it's Miles."
Jiang Yan recognized the voice.
Mona, by pure habit, stood up to go open the door for him.
Jiang Yan glanced her way.
Mona immediately sat back down obediently, eyes straight ahead, hands folded, not daring to move an inch.
He had no intention of letting that knight come upstairs.
If someone discovered he was developing a new dish, then tomorrow the entire nobility and citizenry of Mondstadt would beBlock the door—
the whole fountain plaza packed to bursting.
It had happened before.
Sure, Mora poured in—but city order went straight into chaos.
If anyone stirred up trouble, it'd be hard to clean up.
Especially now, when Mondstadt was crawling with Fatui.
They were staying openly in the Goth Grand Hotel under the banner of a diplomatic delegation.
Even Jean couldn't act unless she caught them red-handed.
And aside from the Fatui, there were even shadier types lurking in the dark—Treasure Hoarders, for example.
"I'll go down."
Jiang Yan checked the heat on the soup, then jumped straight from the second-floor railing into the first-floor hall and opened the door.
"Miles, what's up?" he asked.
"Well…"
Miles scratched his head awkwardly.
"I was patrolling Market Street and spotted that traveler who fought the Stormterror."
"She was acting a bit sneaky. I didn't feel right questioning her directly.
I heard internally that she's under your care, Boss Jiang Yan, so I came to ask."
After all, that girl had helped repel Stormterror earlier that day.
Even if she looked suspicious, he couldn't just interrogate her like usual.
"Didn't they go to an inn?"
Jiang Yan frowned.
"What are they running around for now?"
Market Street had plenty of inns.
They'd already eaten at the Good Hunter—surely they weren't out for midnight snacks.
"Inns?"
Miles froze for a moment, then said,
"There aren't any inns operating tonight."
Market Street was his patrol area—he knew the situation clearly.
"…So she was actually looking for an inn?"
Miles replayed the scene in his head and suddenly understood those "suspicious" actions.
He laughed awkwardly.
"So it was just a misunderstanding."
"Uh…"
Jiang Yan rubbed his forehead.
"So Lumine didn't book an inn after all?"
He stopped Miles, who was about to return to patrol.
"Where are they now?"
"Probably still on Market Street. They were sitting on a bench just now."
"Wait for me."
Jiang Yan said.
He went back upstairs and instructed,
"Keep it on low heat and watch it for a bit. Mona."
"Got it."
Mona nodded briskly.
Despite living on salads, as someone perpetually hovering at the poverty line, she had all the basic survival skills down pat.
"Lumine… what do we do now?"
Paimon slumped over the back of the bench, weakly asking.
After digesting all that food, she just wanted to find somewhere warm and sleep.
Lumine's arms would be perfect—but she couldn't crawl in now.
If she did, she'd fall asleep instantly.
Lumine thought for a moment.
"…Should we go sleep in a tree outside the city?"
"Okay."
Paimon nodded.
When there's no cave, sleeping in trees is the safest option.
As travelers, they had to get used to all kinds of situations.
The two stood up.
At that moment, two figures walked toward them.
Backlit by the streetlamps, their faces weren't clear at first.
"In a city this big, you end up deciding to sleep in a tree outside the walls.
I honestly don't even know what to say to you."
"And here's a bit of Mondstadt trivia for you—
in situations like this, you can go to the Cathedral."
"They specifically take in little kittens who've wandered the streets like you.
They even provide a rough breakfast."
"Of course, if you hadn't lied next time, you probably wouldn't end up like this again."
One of them spoke.
"Jiang Yan!"
Lumine recognized his voice instantly.
She was about to run over—
then suddenly realized her current predicament, and that he'd heard everything she and Paimon had said.
Her face flushed red.
She froze in place, awkward and at a loss.
It felt like being caught red-handed doing something embarrassingly shameful.
So embarrassed she almost wanted to bolt.
"Boss Jiang Yan, I'll resume patrol then."
Miles said from beside him.
Since the misunderstanding was cleared up, he no longer lingered and returned to his duties.
"Mm, thanks."
Jiang Yan replied.
The night breeze stirred softly over Market Street.
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