"By the way, have you noticed that there are far fewer Windwheel Asters in Mondstadt lately?"
Windwheel Asters are a type of fungus that grows in Mondstadt, usually found on houses.
Because they are edible, some shops collect these Mushrooms as ingredients, and some children, upon seeing these Mushrooms, will also gather some to roast and eat with their friends.
Lumine and Paimon were among those who frequently collected Mushrooms. These Mushrooms grew very quickly, and new ones could be found on the eaves of Mondstadt every so often.
Before, they would specifically set aside time to collect these Mushrooms, but recently, for some reason, they haven't seen any trace of them. Could they have been collected by others?
It wasn't impossible, but usually, there would still be a few Windwheel Asters left. However, they hadn't found even one during this period, which was very suspicious.
"Could it be that someone doesn't have Mora for food, so they're targeting this free ingredient?"
Shenhe rarely offered his opinion. Compared to others, he was someone who could even eat grass as food, so this type of fungus was naturally within the scope of ingredients.
If one had no Mora, didn't want to starve, and didn't want to go outside the city to find ingredients, the only way was to collect these Mushrooms that grew within Mondstadt to fill their stomach.
"Hmm~ That makes some sense, but who would be so poor that they wouldn't even spare these Mushrooms?"
Lumine simply had a collecting habit, and she didn't come to collect Mushrooms every time they finished growing.
As for Mora... finding a job in Mondstadt shouldn't be difficult. If there were difficulties, there were also kind-hearted people like Noelle and Amber to help. Mondstadt also didn't have bad industries like gambling, so Shenhe's possibility was unlikely.
"Could it be someone who spends money without restraint, exhausting all their earned money in advance? To avoid starving before the next paycheck arrives, they can only resort to such methods to fill their stomach?"
Some people like to be frugal, while others like to be extravagant. The latter easily spend all their salary in advance; they belong to the type who live lavishly for the first half of the month and then eat dirt for the second half.
"Heh~ Spending money without restraint, that's also a possibility. But, who could it be?"
Paimon crossed his arms, shaking his head, thinking curiously.
Lumine, with nothing else to do, also joined in thinking about potential culprits. There were many residents in Mondstadt, and they didn't know everyone, so they could only start with the people they knew.
Lumine and Paimon tacitly thought of one person. Their gazes simultaneously turned in one direction.
"Could it be Mona?"
Paimon hesitated for a moment, then voiced his guess. Lumine had the same thought.
Of course, it wasn't necessarily Mona, but among the people they knew, only Mona had this possibility.
Mona, who came from elsewhere, didn't have much money to begin with. It wasn't yet clear how she generated income, but as an adult, she should be able to take care of herself.
However, considering that she was starving when she came to Mondstadt to find Klee, could she really take care of herself?
"Should we go see her? What do you think?"
They hadn't been too worried at first, but the more they thought about it, the more they felt Mona's situation was bad. Had she already fainted from hunger?
She didn't have any other friends in Mondstadt. If something like that really happened, without friends, she would be in danger.
To prevent Mona from becoming the first of their acquaintances to starve to death, the group went together to the house Mona rented.
They had found this house for Mona. The previous occupant, for some unknown madness, had set up a seal outside, preventing others from moving in.
After Mona broke the seal, the house owner decided to give her a cheaper rent to let her stay.
This rent was much cheaper than what Durandal and the others paid at the inn, but even at this price, it was a bit too high for Mona.
[Thump! Thump! Thump!]
"Mona! Mona, are you there? Hey! Mona! Can you hear me?"
The group called out for a long time outside, but there was no movement from inside. This made everyone a bit anxious. Had Mona really fainted from hunger inside?
Lumine took a few steps back, planning to kick the door open and go straight in to see what was happening.
"Don't be reckless, there's no one inside. She must have something to do and has temporarily gone out."
Durandal stopped Lumine, who was about to break into the private residence, preventing her from kicking down the door, and explained.
"Eh? Gone out? If she still has the energy to go out, it means she's doing well. Could our guess be wrong?"
Paimon didn't doubt Durandal's words. Others might make mistakes, but Durandal truly couldn't.
If Mona was inside and unwilling to open the door, Durandal could completely use her own abilities to teleport herself in, thereby opening the door "without damage," without having to do anything else complicated.
"Not necessarily wrong. At least she did complain about not having Mora. And when she comes back at night, she often brings back some ingredients she found outside."
According to information from bird living nearby, Mona's recent life was indeed not good; one could say it was quite miserable.
Just when everyone thought Mona couldn't adapt to life in Mondstadt and had been struggling, Durandal revealed other information she had obtained from the bird.
"She occasionally buys some very large items. Although it's unclear what those things are used for, they seem to have cost a lot of Mora. But she has no complaints at all; on the contrary, she's quite happy. She keeps mumbling about having bought good things and such."
"What did she buy!"
Paimon couldn't help but shout: "She has no Mora for food because she bought other things. Is there anything more important than eating!?"
Paimon couldn't understand. In his opinion, eating was the top priority. How could anyone rather go hungry than buy expensive things?
"I have an idea. How about we help her?"
Paimon suddenly thought of something, and evil thoughts arose: "She's not home right now, so we'll sneak in, sell all her things, and when she comes back, give her all the Mora from the sale. She'll definitely thank us."
"I think that's a bit ill-considered. Since Mona can learn Astrologist, it proves she's not a fool. If she's willing to spend Mora on those things, it means those things have a certain value to her. If you really do that, she'll hate you for life."
Think about it. If you spent a fortune collecting those figurines, and one day you came home to find your parents had sold them as scrap for the price of plastic toys, what would you think?
"Wuwuwu~ What do we do now? Wait here until she comes back tonight and ask her how she's been?"
They were friends, after all, and concern between friends was natural.
Facing their concerned inquiries, Mona should tell them the reason why she bought those things, right?
"If you want to help, I do have an idea. Not only can it help her, but it can also allow you to naturally gain the upper hand when you chat with her later."
What does gaining the upper hand mean? It means being able to bully Mona, and Lumine naturally wouldn't miss such a good opportunity.
"How do we do it?"
"We'll do this..."
————
In the evening, Mona, who had been out, finally returned to Mondstadt.
In her hands, she carried a pair of cabbage, carrots, Apples, and other fruits, as well as a few pieces of Fowl and beast meat. It was a good harvest.
"Tonight, I can finally have a good meal."
She hadn't had a proper meal for some time, due to her Astrologist research.
All her Mora had been used to purchase precise instruments, and she had no extra Mora to eat out. To compensate for these expenses, she chose to go out and find ingredients herself.
Although she couldn't eat her fill every day, she could still satisfy her hunger, so she wouldn't starve to the point of not being able to sleep at night.
"Hmm? Someone broke into my house?"
Before even entering her home, Mona noticed something unusual. Even without Astrologist, she could hear movement coming from inside.
Someone broke in while she was away? What... what should she do? Should she report it to the Knights of Favonius and ask them to help?
No, it wasn't that troublesome. With her combat power, she wouldn't panic even if she encountered a Fatui vanguard. She wasn't afraid at all.
She wanted to see which ignorant person dared to run into the house of the great Astrologist—Mona.
Opening the door, Mona first felt a very fragrant smell and heard sounds coming from the direction of the kitchen.
This intruder was cooking in her house? Did they consider this their own home?
Mona was angered. She found a place to put down the things in her hands and stormed into the kitchen... only to see Durandal and Lumine busy in the kitchen.
"You... why are you here?"
Seeing these people, Mona's anger completely subsided. These were her friends, friends who had always taken care of her, so she naturally wouldn't get angry at them.
"Because we were worried about you, we came to check on the situation. And as expected, you have no Mora for food and can only pick Windwheel Asters to eat."
Mona was a bit embarrassed by Paimon's words. She had told them not to worry, that she had found a way to earn money and could take care of herself.
"Traveler and the others will finish dinner soon. After we eat, we'll talk about other things."
"Other things? Is there anything you need my help with?"
Mona was very curious. With Durandal's strength, was there still something they needed her help with? Were they asking her to find someone?
"No, it's Goth, the old man, who asked us to come. He said the rent is due soon and asked us to come collect it. You... you should have Mora to pay the rent, right?"
"..."
Mona's heart instantly dropped to freezing point, with only two words left in her mind.
It's over.
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