GI Chapter 24: Rewards (II)

Jean cleared her throat, realizing she let emotions get the better of her. What could she do though? She had been waiting for the new edition of the Heart of Clear Spring for so long. The finale of the forbidden love between a spring fairy and a human kept her on edge for these past few months.

“Lisa, that’s going too far. After tea. I’ll open the treasury for your reward.”

Jean walked up to her Grandmaster's table and warmed up her body with a long stretch of her arms. She sprinted out of the room, her Vision leaving a turquoise trail in her wake.

Lisa sighed. “Jean won’t stop until all the meteorites are taken care of.” Lisa turned to Orion with a smile and winked. “She can be reckless when helping others. Look after her out there for me, alright?”

Lisa was like a doting mother asking her daughter's best friend, or perhaps lover, to take care of her daughter. Orion still hadn’t forgotten the brief hostility Lisa showed. From unwanted anger to trust. Lisa’s thoughts were as mysterious as her background.

“I don’t think she needs any help,” Orion said, his blunt manners exceeding that of the astrologist sitting beside him. “Jean can handle herself.”

He wasn’t going to spout cliche answers like ‘I’ll protect her’ or other things. Jean was frankly deadlier in battle than him, an inexperienced god.

Lisa wagged a finger at him. “Wrong answer.”

“That’s your subjective opinion.”

Lisa chuckled amusingly at his stubborn reply. “By the way, Orion. Are you new to Mond?”

“Yes, indeed.” Mona nodded. “We arrived today, and fate threw us in a brawl with a dragon!”

“Oh dear, quite the first day you two had. That creature is inevitably the greatest adversary of Mond these days. You three deserve more recognition for this feat… I’ll ask Kaeya to apply for a boost in your Adventurer Rank.”

Orion gladly accepted the Librarian’s kind gesture. Higher ranked adventurers received harder commissions as well as some precious rewards every few ranks. Nobody hated free things.

“Lisa…” Mona said. Stirring the tea in her cup, she explained why she was in Mondstadt. “Fate ordained me to surpass my rival in both knowledge and status. Only then can I surpass my master.”

Mona grew more fervent the more she spoke about surpassing her master.

Lisa remained undeterred in the face of an enthusiastic astrologist. “Is she another witch from Hexenzirkel?”

Orion memorized the Hexenzirkel name, which might possibly be a powerful faction.

“Well, yes.” Mona nodded in response to Lisa’s question.

Lisa gave a small smile that lacked any joy, a fleeting smile full of emptiness. Her green eyes showed no warmth or any emotion, just staring in a trance at Mona. Sparks of lightning behind only intensified the air in the room.

“I won’t allow you to lay a finger on her successor.”

Mona tilted her head in confusion. “What? Why?”

Orion poured himself another cup of tea while witnessing the legendary clash between Mona and Lisa.

The witch stared at Orion for a moment. As her lips parted to answer Mona, Jean returned with three hefty pouches. She assumed a strict posture and handed a bag each to Orion, Mona, and Fischl. The distinctive clink of Mora in the bag made Mona’s eyes wide.

“Each bag has 150,000 Mora, 450,000 in total… It’s the most I can do for now,” Jean said, a hand on her chest. “Please accept the gratitude of the Acting Grandmaster for protecting Mondstadt from the vile claws of Ursa the Drake. After we deal with this threat, I’ll formally bestow a title on your party.”

Jean couldn’t express her gratitude in words. This past year, the Fatui scrambled to find a way to put Mondstadt in their debt. Had the Fatui defeated or slew Ursa the Drake instead of Orion’s party, Mondstadt would be in a dire state.

Orion acknowledged Jean’s gratitude with the same gesture, getting a glimpse at his increasing heartbeat. Jean’s manner of handling things was brilliant in his opinion. One hundred thousand Mora was more than enough to live carefree for a few months. However, he wasn’t holding onto the money. Everything was going into his decent equipment.

‘Do artifacts exist in this world?’

“I don’t need the title!” Mona didn’t even ponder for a moment and straight-up rejected the title. “The titles and authority matter not in the path to reveal the truth.”

No one believed her passionate declaration when she was gazing relentlessly at the bag of Mora.

Jean just nodded as if she anticipated this outcome. “I’m not forcing the title on you.”

“Which title are we talking about?” Orion inquired curiously. He wasn’t taking a post in the Knights of Favonius, or any other for that matter. He loved his freedom.

“Honorary Knight,” Jean replied. “You will become one of the Knights of Favonius without any obligation for knightly duties.”

The title players, or the Traveler, received after helping Jean with the four temples. He unintentionally walked the same path despite his goal of laying low and gaining strength.

‘What a mess.’

“A free pass to lesser authority,” Lisa summed up the title. “A more practical reward for flourishing heroes.”

Orion slipped the heavy Mora bag into his pocket. “No strings attached?”

Lisa giggled. “No strings attached.”

“I’ll think about that. Before we go, Jean, I have a favor to ask of you.”