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Arc 2 Ch 51: Springvale
🕑 Added 2024-03-12 00:00:09 +0000 UTCIt’s been three days since we met Venti at Windrise. Mondstadt is at peace and the citizens are smiling. Lumine is now an adventurer and we take commissions together. Currently, I’m being taught by Lumine on swordsmanship. In a month will be the Rite of Descension in Liyue. I asked if I could go with Lumine on her journey and she readily accepted.
‘Flashback’
We were on our way back to Mondstadt after our talk with Venti. Lumine asked me what I knew.
“So Jun since everything is over, isn’t it about time you told me what you know?”
‘Here I thought she would have forgotten about it.’
I only sighed at Lumine’s insistence “Should I really tell you?”
Lumine only got more stern. “Yes, When we met your eyes saw me as if you met me before, and throughout our time together you knew a lot more than you let on.”
I sighed at Lumine’s astute observations. “Okay… I’ll tell you everything,”
I told Lumine all about me and what I knew. How I was not from Teyvat and was an otherworlder like her, just not a traveler between worlds. How I knew of her and our friends as this world was portrayed as a game and she was the main character. Aether was the one leading the Abyss Order and they called him their “prince”. Needless to say, she was shocked and so was Paimon beside her.
“Wow… are we really from a game? This all sounds unbelievable.” said Paimon
I can only scratch my head. “I know right? Who would believe their entire existence was shown in a game.”
“I believe you.” said Lumine
My eyes widened. “You do?”
Lumine nodded, “Yes, it sounds unbelievable but it would explain your knowledge, and I can see it in your eyes. There were no lies.”
I smiled at Lumine trusting me. “Thank you, Lumine.”
“Hey, I would like to ask. Is Paimon popular?” Paimon asked with curiosity
“Well… yes you are popular because you are the poster child for the game.”
“Yey!” Paimon cheered
“But a lot of people find you annoying because of your high-pitched voice and your talking and explaining everything repeatedly. Lumine barely speaks and has no voice most of the time.”
“EEHH!~” Paimon got discouraged
Lumine ignored Paimon and asked me. “Jun, is Aether really leading the Abyss Order…” she did not want to believe it
“Yes… unfortunately. Although I don’t know why he leads them as the story has not gotten that far. But I know one person who might have clues. It is a person named Dainslief. He knows your brother and was also part of Khaenri'ah.
“I see… Aether…” Lumine was saddened about knowing about her brother.
I put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. “Don’t worry Lumine. Just continue your journey and everything will be unraveled. I’ll also help you to bring him back.”
Lumine smiled, “Thank you Jun.”
“So since I am going to help you, do you mind if I join you on your journey?”
“Sure, with you with me, I feel like we could do better. Besides the more the merrier.”
That was how I joined Lumine’s party on her journey
‘End Flashback’
*Swords Clashing*
Me and Lumine are sparring using swords in an open field outside of Mondstadt. I have been learning a lot from her but I have been getting my ass beaten by her. I keep slashing at her but she parries my attack with ease. With a flick of her wrist, she disarmed me and swept my feet off the ground. I landed on my back and my sword landed behind me.
“I think that should be good enough for today.” Lumine said without breaking a sweat.
I only grunted at how relaxed she was. She gave me a hand to help me up.
“How are you so relaxed without breaking a sweat?” I asked
“I have lived for a long time and experienced many things. And your strikes were weak.”
My pride stung a bit from that. “Just wait, I'll get better and at least beat you once!”
“Hahaha, I’ll look forward to that.” said Lumine
As we finished our sparring Paimon floated toward us. “Hey! Are you two done? I’m hungry! It’s already noon come on let’s go grab something to eat.” I only shook my head to Paimon’s antics.
We all headed back to Mondstadt and went to Good Hunter’s for lunch. While we were eating our food and Paimon was consuming our funds at a noticeable rate, I heard two men talking.
“Hey, have you heard of the girl that came from Liyue?”
“No, what is it about?
“I’ve heard she is running around Mondstadt gathering and hunting for anything she sees.”
“Huh? What a weird person. What is she doing with them.”
“I heard she is using these ingredients. She was even gathering slimes.”
“Slimes? As an ingredient? Who would want a slime for an ingredient.”
“The weirdo who gathered them. If that person is gathering ingredients, she must be a chef. But using slime… I don’t even want to find out how that would taste.”
‘A girl running around gathering ingredients? Must be Xiangling. I would like to meet her. Although the ingredients might not seem unappetizing. She is an amazing chef. I should see where she is. If I remember she is probably around Springvale.’
Lumine noticed me pondering. “What is wrong Jun? What is making you think so deeply.”
“Yeah! If you don’t finish your food Paimon is going to finish it.” Paimon said while reaching to grab my portions.
I slapped her hand. “Ouch!” “Don’t touch my food.” I wanted Paimon
“It’s just I heard someone from Liyue came to Mondstadt. If I think it is who it is. I want to meet her.”
Lumine was intrigued. “Why do you want to meet her?”
“It is because she is a fun person. I knew her when I was still playing and getting to know her will help us in Liyue.”
“Who is this person?” said Lumine
“Her name is Xiangling. She is an amazing chef and her family runs a popular restaurant in Liyue. She also knows a lot of people who can help us on our journey.”
“Heh~ she sounds interesting. I want to meet her.” said Lumine
“She is also a chef. Do you think she can cook Paimon some dishes?” Paimon said with her mouth salivating
A sweat dropped from my forehead. “I’m sure she will be Paimon. If I remember correctly we should meet her in Springvale.”
“Then let’s go and meet her!” said Paimon excited
We paid Sara and our wallets were very light. We headed to Springvale to find Xiangling. When we got there we saw a small village. It was a nice and peaceful place. The hunters hunt the wild boars in the forest to control their population and to get meat. They also fight and defend against hilichurls in the area.
We entered the village to restock supplies and ask for directions. In the distance, I saw Draff. He should be able to help us.
We walked up to him and asked for some help. “Excuse us, may we know where we can hunt wild boars?”
Draff looked at our little group. “Oh? You three don’t look like hunters. Are you sure you can hunt them?”
“I’m sure we will be fine. We may not look like it but we are pretty strong.”
He looks at us a bit more before nodding his head. “Okay, the boar's habitat is deeper in the forest in that direction.”
“Thank you.”
“Dad!!!”
We heard someone shouting in the distance. It was a little girl with pink hair, cat ears, and a tail. Her center bangs are pulled into a stiff, upward pigtail at the front of her head.
She wears a large dark indigo cap, along with shorts of the same color with gold paw-print decorations. She also wears a dark midriff-baring sleeveless turtleneck shirt with an orange-yellow scarf, pale pink sleeves, a vest of the same color, and white gloves with light pink paw-like patterns on the undersides. In addition to this, she wears a cat collar with her initials written on the tag and an orange handkerchief tied around the base of her tail. Hanging from her waist is a cold drink canteen, attached to which is her Cryo Vision.
“Oh! Diona, are you going to work right now?”
“Yes, Margaret is calling me. She needs help with Stormterror finally calming down. People are now coming in more. Hmm? Who are these people?” said Diona looking at us
“Nice to meet you, my name is Jun and these are my companions Lumine and Paimon. You work at Cat’s Tail, am I right?”
“How did you know?”
‘Of course, I know you from the game’
“I know Margaret and since you work for her. It was only putting two and two together.” I lied to make it sound logical that I know her
“I see, I work as a Bartender at Cat’s Tail. If you ask me for a drink, be prepared. I will serve the most awful and disgusting drink you will ever have! I’m going to destroy Mondstadt’s wine industry!”
‘Although you prepare the best-tasting drinks ever. Hahaha, it must be a curse for her instead of a blessing for her.’
“Yes, I will take up your offer someday.”
Diona looks at me weirdly. “You’re weird, who is willing to want a drink when someone says they will serve an awful drink.”
I only chuckled at her. “Well, let’s just say your drink will exceed my expectations.”
We said goodbye to Draff and Diona to go search for Xiangling. Lumine came up to me and asked. “Is she someone you know?”
“Yeah, you could say she is another character. We should go to Cat’s Tail to ask for a drink from her sometime.”
Lumine only shrugged her shoulders before we went deeper into the forest to find Xiangling. As we went deeper into the forest, we found no traces of her. Paimon was looking at butterflies and Lumine and I were just chatting. Suddenly a hand went to grab us and pulled us into the tall grass and bushes. Paimon noticed our disappearance and tried to find us.
Lumine and I looked to see who grabbed us and saw a young lady in yellow. Her bangs are swept to one side by a golden hair clip with a paw motif, and the rest of her hair is braided in a looped bow-like updo at the back of her head resembling panda ears when viewed from the front, fastened with a small orange ribbon.
She wears a black leotard with a golden overcoat, resembling a qipao dress, which is decorated with tangerine-colored ribbons in the front and back, and the back being larger, holding a bell. She wears a gold belt, which she uses to hold her Vision and carry around a small red panda plush. Additionally, she wears brown fingerless gloves and boots, as well as a braided red garter belt around her left thigh and right arm and adhesive bandages crossed in an X on her right knee.
She was the person we were looking for, Xiangling. She gestured to us to keep quiet and lay low. She pointed to a clearing and saw a herd of boars. Her eyes turned into stars and her mouth was watering and drooled. She wiped her mouth and smiled like a hunter about to catch her prey.
“Shh! Keep it down, I'm hunting… I've always heard about the wide range of ingredients you can find in Mondstadt, and it looks like it's true!”
Lumine must have noticed this was Xiangling but decided to play dumb. “Are you a hunter?”
“No — I'm a chef! A chef on a mission to find rare and exotic ingredients from all corners of the world! My name's Xiangling, I'm from Liyue Harbor. And you three are?”
“My name is Lumine.”
“Name is Jun, it is nice to meet you.”
“Paimon is Paimon!”
“Paimon!” Xiangling looked at Paimon intensely
Paimon was weirded out. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“What an exotic creature, is it edible?”
“Dig in.” I said
Paimon got pissed. “No! For the last time, Paimon is NOT EMERGENCY FOOD!”
“You seem like good friends. I have a good friend too, called Guoba.” said Xiangling
“Isn't that the name of a Liyue snack?” Paimon was confused
“Hee-hee... Both the snack and my friend have a special place in my heart. Anyway — can you all do some hunting for me? There's lots of game around here that would be amazing to cook with. I can't catch anything to save my life and I don't want to miss out!”
“Sounds like a bit of an ordeal…” said Paimon
Xiangling put her hands together as a request “Don't be like that... C'mon, I'll whip you up a tasty snack later!”
“Ooh, you had me a tasty snack! Don't worry, we're the bestest hunters ever!”
“Whose side are you on!?” said Lumine
“Hee-hee, don't worry about it, your friend has already given me a response. I don't care how it's done, so long as you bring me back some raw meat. Great, then I'll leave you to it!”
…
Lumine and I were running around the forest trying to catch boars. We stumbled and fell down, having dirt on us. Eventually, we were able to catch a few and skinned them to get their meat. The excess was stored in our inventory for future use. We went back to Xiangling to give her the meat she requested
“Wowee! This is great! Some of it I'll shallow fry, some of it I'll deep fry with mushrooms— ooh, and I wonder how well it goes with Slime Condensate…” Xiangling said ecstatic
“She's off in her own world…” said Lumine
“Paimon thinks she's forgotten about us…”
“Well, at least she is dedicated to her craft.”
Xiangling snapped out of her wondering. “Uh, sorry! I got all excited thinking about new recipes. As promised, a tasty snack! Go on, try it! And tell me what you think.” She presented us with a snack.
“Are we your food testers now?” said Paimon but she still took it and ate it “Oh gosh, this is... delicious! Can you tell us how to make it?”
Xiangling happily obliged. “Hee-hee, sure! The only thing is I haven't written down the recipe yet, hmm… I got it! I'll make another one now so you can watch. I'm sure you'll pick it up straight away.”
“This seems pretty hard to make, it'll take more than that to learn how to make it. And we don't have a frying pan or any condiments.” said Paimon
“Come on, it's simple! We can fry on a slab of stone and cook using some boar fat. Build a stove from rocks, use dry grass for kindling, twigs for firewood… Sweet flowers will do for sugar. As for salt, I found a load of rock salt in a cave the other day, there's still plenty left.”
“Seems like she's done this a million times before…” said Lumine
Xianglin continued to talk for a while
