At the Good Hunter restaurant—
"I'm full."
"Thank you, Jiang Chen."
Mona finished the Satisfying Salad, not leaving even a single leaf behind.
She stood up, preparing to quietly slip away.
Jiang Chen glared at her.
"Sit down!"
As the saying goes—when you've eaten someone's food, you're in their debt.
Mona felt that in front of him she could only lower her head and behave meekly.
Even if Jiang Chen made some… "adult" requests, she wasn't sure she could refuse.
She let out a small "oh" and sat back down, feeling slightly guilty.
The aroma of the Three-Immortal Bird Mushroom Soup had just begun to spread.
Mona sniffed.
The rich scent of meat mixed with the fragrance of matsutake drifted into her nose.
Even though she had just eaten, she suddenly felt hungry again.
It was unbelievable.
What Mona didn't realize was that her body itself needed the nutrition.
Knock knock knock.
Someone knocked on the restaurant door.
From outside, a Knight of Favonius shouted toward the open window on the second floor.
"Boss Jiang Chen! Can you hear me?"
"Oh, it's Miles."
Jiang Chen recognized him.
Mona stood up automatically, ready to open the door for him.
Jiang Chen shot her a look.
Mona immediately sat down again, staring at the tip of her nose like a disciplined student, not daring to move.
Jiang Chen had no intention of letting the knight come upstairs.
If anyone discovered he was making a new dish, then tomorrow the entire Mondstadt aristocracy and citizens would gather here.
The whole plaza outside the fountain would become packed with people.
This had happened before.
Yes, he could make a lot of Mora.
But the city's order would also become chaotic.
If someone caused trouble, it would be hard to control.
And right now Mondstadt was full of Fatui agents.
They were openly staying at the Goth Grand Hotel under the excuse of being a diplomatic delegation.
Even Jean couldn't take action without evidence.
Besides the Fatui, there were also other shady groups lurking around—like the Treasure Hoarders.
"I'll go down."
Jiang Chen checked the heat on the pot and jumped directly from the second-floor railing into the dining hall.
He opened the door.
"Miles, what's going on?"
"It's like this."
"While patrolling Market Street, I spotted the traveler who fought Stormterror today."
Miles scratched his head awkwardly.
"She was acting kind of suspicious, and I didn't want to interrogate her directly."
"I heard inside the Knights that she's under your protection, Boss Jiang Chen, so I came to ask."
After all, that girl had helped repel Stormterror earlier that day.
Even if she seemed suspicious, they couldn't treat her like an ordinary suspect.
"They didn't go to the inn?"
"Why are they wandering around again?"
Jiang Chen said, puzzled.
Market Street had plenty of inns.
Since they had already eaten at Good Hunter, they shouldn't need late-night food either.
"Inn?"
Miles looked confused.
"No inns are open tonight."
"My patrol area is Market Street—I'm sure of it."
Jiang Chen paused.
"So that traveler was actually looking for an inn?"
Miles replayed the situation in his mind.
Suddenly everything made sense.
He laughed awkwardly.
Turns out he had misunderstood the whole thing.
Jiang Chen rubbed his forehead.
"So Lumine didn't actually book an inn?"
He asked,
"Where are they now?"
"They should still be on Market Street."
"They were sitting on a bench just now."
Miles replied.
"Wait here a moment."
Jiang Chen said.
He returned upstairs and instructed Mona:
"Keep the fire low and watch the soup."
"Got it."
Mona nodded quickly.
Even though she usually lived on salad, as someone struggling at the poverty line she had learned many basic survival skills.
Meanwhile—
"Lumine… what should we do now?"
Paimon leaned over the bench backrest weakly.
After digesting all that food, she only wanted to find somewhere warm to sleep.
Inside Lumine's arms would be ideal.
But if she climbed in now, she'd fall asleep immediately.
Lumine thought for a moment.
"…Let's go sleep in a tree outside the city."
"Well… okay."
Paimon nodded.
Without a cave, sleeping in trees was usually safest.
As travelers, they had to adapt to all kinds of situations.
The two stood up.
Two figures were walking toward them.
Because of the backlighting, they couldn't see clearly.
"In a city this big, the solution you came up with was to sleep in a tree outside the walls."
"I don't even know what to say."
"And let me tell you a little Mondstadt fact."
"In situations like this, you can go to the Mondstadt Cathedral."
"They take in stray little cats like you and even provide a rough breakfast."
"Of course… if you didn't lie next time, you probably wouldn't end up in this situation."
One of the figures spoke.
"Jiang Chen!"
Lumine recognized the voice instantly.
She was about to run toward him—
Then suddenly remembered her current situation.
And the conversation she and Paimon had just had.
Her face turned bright red.
She froze in place, completely embarrassed.
It felt like being caught doing something shameful.
She almost wanted to run away.
"Boss Jiang Chen, I'll continue my patrol."
Miles said.
Now that he understood the situation was just a misunderstanding, he returned to his duty.
"Thanks."
Jiang Chen nodded to him.
The knight walked away.
And Lumine stood there—
red-faced, awkward, and completely exposed.