"I don't remember anything like that."
Diluc's reply was calm and flat, utterly denying it.
But in truth, the vase Kaeya mentioned was still sitting safely at home.
From time to time, Diluc even instructed the maids to clean it carefully.
He treasured it far more than he'd ever admit.
There was just no way a tsundere like Diluc would say that out loud.
"But…"
Not far from the brothers, three small figures were sneaking closer—Lumine, Paimon, and Venti.
Lumine quietly took out the special pair of glasses and put them on, looking toward the table where Diluc and Kaeya sat.
What she saw made her blink in surprise.
Neither of them had an imaginary friend.
Paimon snatched the glasses over, refusing to believe it.
Yet after taking a careful look herself, she saw the exact same thing.
"Seriously? Just like you said, not a single adult here has an imaginary friend…"
She handed the glasses back to Lumine with visible disappointment.
Venti couldn't help but sigh.
"So it really is because they've lost their childlike hearts, huh?"
"Looks like adults are the same everywhere. Even in Teyvat."
Lumine nodded softly.
That was how she had grown up too, once upon a time.
Paimon spread her hands, face full of confusion.
"So when you grow up, do you just… become someone with no dreams?"
"In that case, Paimon doesn't want to grow up at all!"
After that, Venti turned to Lumine with a spark of curiosity in his eyes.
"So, how long do boys and girls usually keep their imaginary friends?"
"How old do they get before they lose them?"
Lumine shook her head—she wasn't sure either.
So Venti quickly came up with a "brilliant" idea.
"Why don't we test it ourselves?"
"We'll see for real at what age people lose that childlike heart."
Paimon perked up immediately.
"Okay, okay! Then who should we start with?"
"There are so many people in Mondstadt, and tons of kids too."
Venti propped his chin with one hand, thinking seriously for once.
"Hmm… how about Ellin?"
"At her age, her imagination shouldn't have completely faded yet."
Lumine and Paimon exchanged a glance, then both nodded.
They agreed with the idea, and the three of them headed off to look for Ellin.
On the way, Paimon couldn't help voicing a small worry.
"Uuugh… I don't know why, but I'm really scared we won't see her imaginary friend…"
A short while later.
They found Ellin at the training ground, still practicing her sword swings.
And sure enough, when Lumine put on the glasses—
There it was.
Ellin's imaginary friend.
Exactly who they thought it would be.
"It really is Jean!"
Paimon blurted out, unable to hold back her astonishment.
This girl, Ellin, deeply admired Jean.
Just like Noelle, she took Jean as her role model and had been working hard all this time to become like her.
Her imaginary friend being Jean made perfect sense.
Even though Jean was no longer the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius…
In many people's hearts, she was still their ideal, still their goal.
Still the Acting Grand Master they looked up to.
"What a seriously hardworking girl…"
Paimon sighed in genuine admiration.
Lumine nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. She really wants to become a Knight of Favonius."
"But she's still a bit too young. If she were older, she'd probably already be eligible to join the Knights."
The Knights of Favonius had undergone a sweeping reform.
Now, as long as you were sixteen or older and passed the examinations, you could become a full Knight of Favonius.
Even if you narrowly failed the exam, you could still join the Security Bureau.
The work wasn't as prestigious as that of a Knight, but it was still a respectable position—and not so different from what the Knights used to do before the reforms.
While the three of them whispered among themselves, Ellin finally noticed them.
She turned around, a bit puzzled.
"Huh? Oh, hi! Do you need something?"
"You've been training here this whole time, right?"
As the resident social butterfly, Paimon took the lead in striking up a conversation.
Ellin nodded enthusiastically and launched into a rapid explanation.
"Yeah! Today I listened to Mr. Stanley talking about his adventures—he was amazing!"
"His stories really got my blood boiling!"
"I hope that one day, I can become as outstanding as Mr. Stanley!"
Venti chuckled, teasing her lightly.
"Is that so you can fight side by side with Jean?"
A flush spread across Ellin's cheeks.
It was as if he'd pierced right through her secret little dream.
"I-I mean, of course I want to become a Knight!" she stammered defensively.
"If I could go on adventures with Master Jean, that would be even better! But… it's a shame she's not the Grand Master anymore."
By the end, her mood had sunk again.
There was no helping it.
Jean really had done an excellent job as Acting Grand Master—
But her tenure had also exposed a lot of issues.
Rowan had ultimately been forced to replace her.
"Uh…"
Lumine, Paimon, and Venti looked at one another, none of them quite sure how to comfort her.
Fortunately, Ellin only stayed down for a short while before she bounced back.
Not only that, she even invited Lumine—very earnestly—to spar with her for a bit.
Lumine nodded and agreed without hesitation.
A little later.
"Thank you so much! I still have a long way to go, huh?"
Ellin smiled broadly as she bowed her head to Lumine in gratitude.
"Don't worry about it! You're already really strong, Ellin."
Venti encouraged her with a warm smile.
But Ellin shook her head.
In her own eyes, she was still very weak.
"If I'm still getting tired from training, that just means I'm not mature enough yet."
"But someday, I'll conquer every wooden training dummy in all of Mondstadt!"
"…"
Several question marks practically popped up over Lumine's head.
Good grief.
So that was her dream?
She was training relentlessly… just to shatter every wooden dummy in Mondstadt?
Well.
You couldn't deny it—
The girl certainly had ambition.
Paimon, meanwhile, didn't notice anything odd at all.
She just clasped her hands over her chest and cheered earnestly,
"Do your best! You can definitely do it!"
"Thank you—oh no!"
Ellin suddenly froze, like she'd just remembered something terrible.
"I completely forgot I still had something to do!"
"I've been so focused on training that it slipped my mind!"
"But I'm so exhausted now, I can't move at all. Lumine, could you help me deliver a message to Jack?"
Lumine had thought Ellin had some big, serious mission undone.
Turned out it was just passing along a message.
Naturally, she agreed without hesitation.
"Where's Jack?"
She knew who he was.
She'd seen him a few times at the Adventurers' Guild—
A rookie adventurer, on friendly terms with Ellin.
Whenever Lumine came by to help Ellin with practice, she occasionally ran into Jack as well.
"It's like this: we originally planned to go over our adventure plans together tonight."
"Could you tell him that we'll have to meet another day instead?"
"I think he's probably out adventuring today at the Temple of the Lion."
"With Mr. Stanley!"
(End of Chapter)
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