If you really have the power to purify the poisonous blood, that would be an enormous help to us!" Jean looked at Lumine in surprise and delight. "We've been struggling to figure out how to help Dvalin once we made contact with him, but your appearance solves the biggest problem!"
"Then let's do our part to help resolve the dragon disaster too!" Paimon said enthusiastically.
Albedo handed the strange crystal over to Jean, who planned to have Lisa conduct a deeper investigation into it.
After getting Klee's approval, Jean arranged for Lumine and Paimon to stay at the old alchemy workshop Klee used to use. Ever since Shen Qin arrived in Mondstadt, Klee had mostly been running between the Knights of Favonius and his place, leaving her former workshop unused for quite a while.
Meanwhile, Shen Qin gifted Lumine a top-tier flying skateboard—but she would only be allowed to use it after passing the flying license exam. To speed up the process, he had even arranged a highly skilled instructor for her.
"Shen Qin even picked this meeting place specially for us. He's so considerate! I officially declare he's now the second-best person in the whole wide world!" Paimon said, staring hungrily at the delicious food spread out in Good Hunter.
Lumine smiled and asked, "Then who's the number one?"
"Of course, it's you!" Paimon grinned, then eagerly suggested, "Since we're just waiting here anyway, why don't we order something? I heard Good Hunter has some signature dishes that are super delicious!"
"No," Lumine rejected firmly. "We just had lunch at home, remember?"
"But—it's different! These are signature dishes—they must taste uniquely amazing! It'd be such a waste not to try them." Paimon reasoned seriously, "Plus, I burned a lot of energy flying over here, so I'm hungry again."
"If you want to eat, you'll have to pay for it yourself," Lumine said, crossing her arms and staring at her blankly.
Paimon widened her eyes: "But you have all the Mora! I don't even have pockets on my clothes to carry money!"
"I don't have any Mora on me either."
"Liar! I saw you stuff a bunch of Mora into your pocket when we bought ingredients earlier!" Paimon pointed accusingly. When it came to food, her memory was unbelievably sharp.
Lumine put her hands on her hips. "That's our budget for the next few days. If we spend it now, what are we supposed to do later?"
"We can just take commissions from the Adventurers' Guild to earn more!" Paimon said, as if it were obvious.
Lumine smiled sweetly at her. "And who would be the one actually doing the commissions?"
"...You," Paimon mumbled, glancing away guiltily.
It was their third day in Mondstadt. Yesterday, Lumine had joined the Adventurers' Guild and spent an entire day doing commissions to earn enough Mora to live on for the next five days. She needed to pass her gliding license exam within those days, then continue doing commissions while searching for her brother's clues.
To save money, she normally bought ingredients and cooked at home. But after tasting Xiangling's incredible cuisine, Paimon had grown curious about Mondstadt's specialty dishes—something Lumine unfortunately couldn't replicate.
"Sigh... Life is so tough without Mora," Paimon sighed dramatically.
Just then, an energetic voice called out behind them—
"Huh? Blonde hair and strange clothes... and a floating white emergency food? You must be the person Shen Qin mentioned!"
Paimon turned around in disbelief. "What?! Floating white emergency food? That's how Shen Qin introduced me? Hmph! He's officially a bad guy in my book now!"
"Hello, I'm Lumine, and this is Paimon. And you are?"
"Paimon? What a strange creature," Amber said curiously, studying her. She then turned to Lumine. "I'm Amber, an Outrider of the Knights of Favonius. Shen Qin asked me to train someone's gliding skills. That must be you, right?"
Lumine nodded. "Yes."
"How rude! Calling me a strange creature!" Paimon stomped her foot angrily.
"Ah—I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that," Amber quickly apologized. "Here, to make it up to you, I'll treat you to some Good Hunter's Sticky Honey Roasted Carrots!"
"Sticky Honey Roasted Carrots! Yay!" Paimon clapped her hands excitedly, but noticing Amber's gaze, she quickly composed herself. "Ahem, since you're so sincere, I'll graciously forgive you!" But her twitching little feet and beaming smile gave away her true feelings.
Lumine sighed helplessly. "You're so obsessed with food. One day, someone's going to lure you away with it."
"I'm not stupid! I just can't resist good food, that's all!" Paimon protested.
Amber laughed. "Alright, alright. Lumine, I'll treat you too! You'll need a full stomach to train your flying skills—mastering the Wind Glider takes a lot of energy!"
"Huh? I thought I was supposed to learn how to fly a hoverboard?" Paimon asked, puzzled.
Lumine was equally confused. After all, Shen Qin had arranged the flying lessons precisely because she couldn't use her flying skateboard freely within Mondstadt.
Amber explained, "Well, Shen Qin said you'll probably travel to all sorts of strange places in the future. In some special areas where you can't use a flying skateboard, the Wind Glider will come in handy! Oh, and I happen to have a brand-new Wind Glider for you too."
"Plus, I'm Mondstadt's gliding champion! With me teaching you, you're guaranteed to pass the flying license test within three days!" Amber said proudly.
Paimon frowned, thinking hard. After a few seconds, she finally remembered something. "Wait a second—Klee told us that Shen Qin is the flying champion of Mondstadt!"
Amber's eyes widened, and her face turned a little red. "What? That's because back then he suddenly pulled out a way better flying board! I was only using a Wind Glider, that's why he won! If we were both using skateboards, there's no way he could beat me!"
Paimon scrunched her eyebrows again, recalling more details. "Klee said you stormed up to Shen Qin and told him that even if he used a hoverboard, he still couldn't beat you, mmmph—"
Lumine quickly covered Paimon's mouth, while Amber's face turned completely red.
"Ugh! So unfair! It's all Shen Qin's fault!" Amber huffed. "Next time, I'm going to make him treat me to a huge meal here at Good Hunter—and I'm gonna eat him broke!"
Behind the counter, Sara couldn't help chuckling. She covered her mouth and said, "Amber, I'm afraid that won't work. We at Good Hunter have decided to let Mr. Shen Qin eat here for free from now on. Even if he books the whole restaurant, it's on the house."
"What?!" Amber's eyes widened in disbelief. "You mean I can't even scam a free meal off him anymore?!"