Chapter 17: Paimon: I Haven't Even Gotten on the Ride Yet!
Paimon: "Is it tasty?"
Su Han: "No, it's more interesting than tasty."
With that, he pulled out the black stockings he had obtained earlier as if performing a magic trick, and in a high-pitched little-bell voice announced: "[Black Stockings]!"
Lumina: "Pervert…"
Paimon scratched her cheek, clearly troubled: "Su Han, I didn't expect you to have a… cross-dressing fetish."
Both of them gave Su Han a very strange look.
They thought they already knew all there was to know about him, but apparently this guy's bottom line went far beyond what they imagined.
He always managed to make their vision go black at the most critical moments.
Su Han let out a pleased hum: "Heh heh, ignorant fools, watch closely."
In a flash, he pulled the stocking over his head.
Lumina's face went blank. "Who are you?"
Su Han smiled but said nothing, then removed the stocking.
Lumina stared in shock. "Su Han?!"
He put the stocking back on his head again.
Lumina, once more, was completely dumbfounded. "Who are you?"
Hehe, this is fun.
On, off; on, off; on… Pffuh—
Lumina looked at Su Han with the expression one might give a particularly idiotic child, and while he was playing around, she delivered a swift elbow to his side:
"Don't take me for a fool."
"Anyone watching you fidget like this would know there's something seriously wrong with you."
"Still… thank you for trusting me enough to show me something so important."
Paimon frowned: "It looks like a good thing, but… why does something so good feel off when it's in your hands?"
Lumina nodded in agreement.
"Just an emergency snack, and it dares to question my taste?"
Su Han glared at Paimon, earning a fearless hands-on-hips stare in return: You got a problem with me, Paimon?
Lumina: "Stop fooling around. Look over there!"
The two ceased their antics and followed Lumina's gaze, spotting a young man in green smiling at them.
Paimon: "That green guy looks familiar… same shade of green as the one we ran into in the forest."
Lumina: "That must be him…"
Su Han: "Paimon, have you forgotten how much Mora I owe you? I'll pay you back now."
Paimon grinned from ear to ear: "Fifty thousand Mora!"
Yeah… the memory loss seems serious.
The breeze swirled, and in an instant, Su Han and Lumina arrived in front of the young man in green, leaving Paimon behind, utterly baffled: "I haven't even gotten on the ride yet!"
…
"It's neither Anemo nor any other element."
"Without borrowing any elemental power, you can move such a distance in an instant. You truly are fascinating."
The boy's emerald-clear eyes twinkled as he smiled.
Lumina eyed him warily. "Who are you? What do you want following us?"
The boy laughed. "No need to be so tense. I mean no harm."
"You're the ones who scared off Tevalin back then, right?"
Su Han furrowed his brow and stepped back quietly.
The earlier close proximity allowed him to detect a faint dandelion-like fragrance emanating from the boy.
After mentally picturing the faces of Captain Jean, Lisa, and Amber, Su Han looked back at the boy.
Yep, I still prefer women, Su Han thought silently.
Paimon scratched her head. "Tevalin… who's that?"
Lumina: "…"
Su Han, utterly exasperated, reminded her: "The Anemo Hypostasis. Didn't you forget?"
Paimon's eyes widened. "Oh! I remember now. But don't most people just call it the Anemo Hypostasis?"
"Why do you call it that… are you… close?"
The boy smiled faintly: "Guess."
Paimon: "Hmm… something about this guy feels off…"
The boy placed a hand on his chest. "Let me properly introduce myself. I am the bard, Venti."
"More precisely, I'm the three-time consecutive champion of 'Mondstadt's Most Beloved Bard.'"
"I was on my way to perform at the cathedral, but fate brought me here. So… are you looking for me?"
Paimon: "Since you already recognized us, there's no need for explanations. Of course, it's about the Anemo Hypostasis."
Venti feigned confusion: "Huh?"
Su Han shook his head. "Your acting is worse than Paimon's."
Venti glanced at Paimon: "Eh? Really?"
Paimon stomped her foot: "Not true! Traveler, show him that thing!"
Lumina nodded and reached to retrieve the teardrop-shaped crystal, which should have been glowing red.
But no one expected the crystal's color to have changed.
Now, floating above her palm, the teardrop-shaped crystal shimmered in a clear, azure-blue light, pure and translucent, no longer glaringly red.
Venti: "Oh! This is—"
Paimon: "Huh? The crystal's purified? Since when?"
Lumina shook her head slightly. "Last time I saw it, it was full of impurities. Somehow… it became like this."
Su Han said: "The only ones who have touched the crystal recently are Lumina and Lisa. So… the answer is obvious."
Paimon: "Eh? You mean Lisa purified the crystal?"
Su Han: "…"
Venti: "This is Tevalin's…"
He paused, correcting himself: "These are tears shed by the Anemo Hypostasis in pain."
Paimon: "Tears…?"
Venti produced an unpurified tear from the Anemo Hypostasis, letting it float above his hand.
His expression was tinged with sorrow. Softly, he said: "It was once a gentle child… now it has become so sad, full of rage…"
"I also have a teardrop crystal here. Could you purify it?"
Lumina tentatively extended her hand. Under her focus, the impurity-laden crystal emitted a brilliant red glow, gradually being purified into the same pure azure-blue.
Paimon gaped in amazement.
The crystal was then smoothly collected by Lumina.
Su Han: "…"
Venti's face turned solemn. "You truly possess incredible power…."
"Someone like you is destined to be immortalized in the songs of bards."
"Standing in the sun, you can achieve greatness; standing in the shadows, you can even guide calamity…"
Su Han: "You always sound like you're implying something."
Venti: "Hmm, that's just your imagination."
He continued: "I have no time to compose a new ballad for you right now."
"Even if Tevalin isn't attacked, its life force will rapidly diminish…"
"It will burn itself out in anger…" Venti bit his lip in sorrow.
Lumina's eyes were full of sympathy. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Venti: "Purifying the tear crystals is already help enough. I'm grateful."
Su Han then draped an arm over her shoulder, introducing her to Venti:
"Venti, I think it's time I introduced you to Mondstadt's new honorary knight."
"I suggest you turn yourself in alongside the Anemo Hypostasis. We can split the bounty three to seven. Don't be ungrateful."
Paimon chimed in excitedly: "Me too… me too—"
Venti smiled mischievously. "Eh heh, don't be so heartless—"
Seeing the sun nearing the horizon, Venti stuck out his little tongue: "Ah, I have to hurry to the cathedral square and perform my ballads for the people."
At that moment, the system suddenly popped up with options.
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