A short while later, Jensen had already made up his mind.
"Lumine, Amber, you two head back to the city first. I need to go somewhere."
He spoke up.
"Can't we go together?"
Lumine tugged lightly at his sleeve.
"It is something that is not convenient for you to know."
Jensen was very straightforward about it.
Both he and Diluc had ties to certain underground intelligence networks in Teyvat. With others present, the less that was said, the better.
"Alright then."
Lumine sounded a little disappointed.
"Jensen is going after that annoying guy?" Paimon stood with her hands on her hips, still upset.
"He is the richest man in Mondstadt."
Jensen said suddenly.
"What?! That red haired guy is actually richer than you?"
Paimon was instantly distracted, just as expected.
"Of course. I only own Good Hunter. That man not only has a winery estate outside the city and a tavern in town, he also controls the largest share of Mondstadt's wine trade."
Jensen added calmly, "Alcohol is Mondstadt's most important commodity."
"Huh? So that means the red haired guy basically controls most of Mondstadt's assets?"
Paimon squeaked.
Then she shrank back a little, her bravado shrinking with her. "We cannot afford to mess with him then."
Paimon had always proudly upheld the fine virtues of bullying the weak, fearing the strong, and cherishing her own life.
"Sorry, Amber."
She floated over to console her.
"It is fine. Master Diluc has never been particularly fond of the Knights of Favonius. That is a historical problem."
Amber waved it off, telling her not to worry.
"But Lord Diluc must be a very just person," she said firmly.
"T-then I will reluctantly forgive him."
Paimon declared without the slightest hint of shame.
Jensen took a ring of keys out of his system inventory.
"If you have nowhere else to go, you can wait for me at Good Hunter."
He handed the keys to Lumine. "I closed the stall early today. Sara should have put away quite a lot of cold dishes. If you get hungry, just heat something up and eat."
"Alright."
Lumine nodded obediently.
They parted ways for the moment.
Jensen walked into the nearby grove.
Amber, Lumine, and Paimon watched his back disappear between the trees, then finally turned and headed back toward Mondstadt.
...
"Jensen, you are not going to keep playing with your little Knight girls?"
Diluc heard the movement behind him, crossed his arms, and asked with mild amusement.
Jensen spread his hands. "Amber is doing serious work. Could you maybe not be so sharp tongued?"
"I just think that if Jensen keeps mixing with people from the Knights, and ends up catching their habit of inefficiency, it would be a great loss for Mondstadt."
Diluc's tone was one of regretful criticism.
"Yes, yes, our dear Darknight Hero."
Jensen shot back.
"Tch."
Diluc clicked his tongue, a trace of displeasure in the sound.
Even so, his elegance and composure did not slip in the slightest.
"What is the situation this time?"
Jensen fell into step beside him.
"This attack on Mondstadt by Stormterror has traces of an Abyss Mage behind it."
Diluc replied. "You just came out of the Temple of the West Wind Eagle. You should have noticed."
Jensen nodded. "I did. That crystal full of dragon energy could not have been placed there by Stormterror itself."
With a door like that at the top of the temple, the dragon would barely be able to squeeze a claw inside, let alone its whole body.
Besides, in its current distorted state, Stormterror no longer had the intelligence it once possessed. It could not possibly come up with that kind of plan.
Most importantly, he already knew this was the Abyss Order's handiwork.
"If the intel is right, the Abyss Mage should still be inside one of the temples and has not had time to retreat," Diluc said.
He was going to hunt that Abyss Mage down.
"I see."
Jensen almost smacked his own forehead. He had nearly forgotten about that part.
If he remembered right, it was in the Temple of the North Wind Wolf.
And if he remembered even more clearly, that mage was either Cryo or Hydro.
If it turned out to be Cryo, and he and Diluc did not go...
Kaeya was done for.
How was an ice user supposed to break a Cryo elemental shield?
"In any case, we should hurry."
Jensen suddenly lengthened his stride.
"What is wrong?"
Diluc broke into a jog to keep up.
"Kaeya went alone," Jensen said.
"With Kaeya's strength, that should not be a problem, right?"
Diluc might not care for the Knights, but that did not mean he denied the abilities of certain people among them.
That would not be rational.
"What if the mage is Cryo?"
"Then..."
Diluc fell silent.
Cryo against Cryo. An Abyss Mage could draw elemental power directly from the ley lines, while humans had to recover by drawing power from the surrounding elements. Over time, Kaeya would clearly lose in a battle of attrition.
"And you too. Running off alone like this. What if you run into a Pyro Abyss Mage?" Jensen continued.
"I would strike it down with a heavy blow before it could raise its shield. I will not give it any chance to chant."
Diluc answered with confidence.
Jensen shook his head. There was nothing he could do about that.
That was simply the kind of man Diluc was. Confident, stubbornly sure of his own judgment, with a will like steel.
Then again, without those traits, he would not be the "uncrowned king" admired and yearned for by so many women in Mondstadt.
Night had fallen fully out in the wilds.
Under the ruins of a thousand winds.
From a distance, the two of them saw that the temple gate of the North Wind Wolf was already open.
They shared a glance.
Then both men dashed inside.