Chapter 638

Diluc was staring at me like he was looking at the most horrific thing he had ever seen in his life.

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

“Yes, my reputation. Completely dead.” He returned without an ounce of hesitation. "Why…are you wearing that?”

“It’s the Adventurer Guild’s uniform.”

“I’m aware.” He groaned out loud. “You do know you aren’t required to wear it?”

“I think it looks quite good on me. It compliments my eyes.”

He twitched before bringing his palm up to his face and sighing.

“Honestly, I think it just makes me look charming.” I struck a pose that made him pale. “I intend to walk around the entire city like this while I take in the culture.”

You could practically see the spirit leaving his body.

“Alright, Wilhelm. I think you have tortured him enough.” Artoria patted my arm. “May I ask why you’ve come to find us? I do not believe it was a coincidence you are here.”

Diluc let out a sigh. “I was informed of what happened earlier today. I simply wished to make sure you were unharmed.”

“Yeah?” I looked him over. “It sounds like you wanted to ask something else, huh? I’m pretty sure the grandmaster should know the details; why not just ask her in that case?"

“Was I that obvious?” He muttered. “Very well, I admit it. However, I was concerned about your safety. I am more than aware of how vicious and dangerous the Fatui can be.”

Hoh, sounds like someone has a story there.

“We appreciate your sentiments.” Artoria, ever polite, thanked him for showing consideration. “However, Wilhelm speaks the truth. It did not appear as though you had a poor relationship with Grandmaster Jean. Why do you not simply ask her?”

Diluc looked away, shaking his head. “I do not agree with how the knights handle some matters, and we have had some heated discussions in the past. Even if there is no bad blood, it would be poor of me to approach and ask about confidential matters.”

He crossed his arms. “I would appreciate it—"

He noticed I was mimicking his mannerisms again, and he gave me a flat look.

Alright, it was really fun to mess with him.

“What do you want to know?”

“I was hoping you would explain to me the finer details. I don’t know the specifics, I only know that you were involved along with the Traveler, and the Traveling Bard. And the Fatui delegation that had rented one of the taverns in town had been arrested.”

“Oh? Already? That was only earlier this morning."

“The Knights of Favonius had surrounded the building earlier and had pulled out every member from Snezhnaya and taken into custody.” He repeated. “It’s rare for them to act so aggressively like this.”

Ah, that must be why he knows something substantial happened.

“Do you have a grudge against the Fatui?” I asked curiously. I noticed he had a slight reaction, and I think I hit the nail on the head. “Well, it’s none of my business. But one of their Harbingers showed up and attacked Venti. I walked in on it and intervened. She ran away.”

Diluc furrowed his brow. “A Harbinger? Here in Mondstadt.”

I shrugged.

I was unaware of the higher political situation, so I couldn’t comment on the arrogance or stupidity of what they did beyond the obvious.

I did notice the vision at his side.

His was red, and at this point, I was fairly sure the color corresponded to the element they controlled.

So Diluc here must control 'pyro.'

“You fought a Harbinger?” He sounded incredulous.

“Hmm? Is that a problem?” I tilted my head. “Well, it was more like I swung my sword once or twice. Then Artoria intervened.” I gave her a smile.

She returned to me that beautiful smile of hers.

Diluc was apparently very surprised by that information. It seems these Harbingers have a reputation that precedes them. I mean, that woman didn’t feel weak at all; in fact, she would be quite strong.

At our level, you could get a good gauge of someone’s strength in a brief exchange. Combined with the things I noticed throughout the encounter, I could make some guesses.

She was throwing around quite a bit of power without much effort, and I could tell she was holding back. 

Now, how much she was holding back, it was hard to say. But Venti even said that those Harbingers are dangerous, and I didn’t think he was being facetious or committing to his narrative about being stepped on.

He didn’t ask me, though, or pry into that. I think he wanted to but was being respectful.

Despite his sort of standoffish attitude or his overly serious expression, he seemed like a considerate guy.

I knew plenty of people like that. They just defaulted to this kind of stoic or professional demeanor in public even if they were soft inside.

“Why would one of the Harbingers attack the Bard?” Diluc asked, and I don’t know if it was directed at me or just a general question he was speaking out loud.

“He had something she wanted, apparently. Well, I have it now. Venti gave it to me for safekeeping," I stated.

His eyebrows raised. “What did he give you?”

"That's…a secret.” I held a finger up to my lips. 

He furrowed his brow again. “Very well. I thank you for the information.” He opened his mouth before taking a long breath. "...please change into something else.”

As if in a hurry, he pivoted and turned to walk away before stopping and giving a polite nod of his head.

Hmm.

“Why did you lie?” Artoria pulled on my sleeve. “You gave that Gnosis back to Venti.”

I watched him walk away. “Something tells me he’s going to go pick a fight with the nearest Fatui and try to get information out of him. Which may or may not have him reveal that Venti no longer has the ‘thing’ with him. Logical sequence of events will maybe lead them to believe I now have it.”

I stretched my arms out before putting one around her. “Call it…a thanks. The swords I got were worth more than the wine he took from me. And I didn’t really do much to ‘save’ him since he let her get away with everything.”

Call it potentially repaying a small debt. If they think I have it, they’ll leave him alone for now. Even if it’s only temporary until they realize it’s a lie, then so be it. I have no intention of getting involved in any nonsense, but if it wastes their time, then why not?

Fuck them.

In the end, they may not even take the bait. It was just a random thought anyways.

Artoria just smiled at me. “Do you want to do one of those ‘quests’?”

I perked up. “Absolutely!”

“I will bear with you wearing that outfit for the duration of this quest.” She said very plainly.

“Honestly, I think that’s more than fair.”

@***@

Being only lvl 1 adventurers, the jobs we took weren’t very good. But even still, we found an interesting one.

Apparently, we were tasked with getting some slimes off the roads.  They had been causing some minor damage to travelers, and someone had their leg broken.

I remembered the slime that Yasaka took home, and honestly, I was rather interested.

Artoria was kind enough to wait for me to finish binding the new swords and enchanting them properly like my others.

“It is rather beautiful here.” Artoria commented as we walked down the road. “I enjoy the modern era back home very much. But it’s hard to find the same appreciation for nature amidst the noisy cities.”

“I imagine it must be a lot different comparatively.” Nature pushed away to make way for civilization. Back home, for her, each town and village sat between green landscapes and forests.

Back home now?

Well, just take an asphalt road across a leveled field where all the trees have been cut down.

If you even leave the city, that is.

“Oh, wait.” I called out as I spotted something off the side of the road that I hurriedly ran towards.

“What is it?” Artoria followed right along.

I got on my hands and knees as I inspected it. A yellowish flower growing from the dirt, it had nothing extravagant about it from just a look, but as you got close to it, you could smell something a little sweet.

“I saw this on the ingredients list back in the tavern when I was looking. There was a picture of it. It’s called a sweet flower; it’s what they use to make sugar here.” 

Artoria’s eyes sparkled as she got down and inspected it with me. “How do you extract it?”

“It’s actually similar to sugar cane. The insides of the stalk, if you squeeze out the juice and boil it, leave behind a residue that can be turned into a powder.”

I carefully dug around the flower, making sure not to harm its roots before pulling it out of the ground.

She already knew what I was going to do as I stored it away.

A good sample to take home.

“Wilhelm! Look at that!” Artoria spoke with excitement that was genuinely rare for her. She all but scrambled over to the other side of the road, and I then saw what she was pointing out.

It was a mushroom; it looked like a normal mushroom, except about five times larger.

It was probably the size of her head as she plucked it out of the ground and held it up with such joy and happiness.

“I am keeping this one…for later.” She said the last bit a quiver before storing it away in her own bracelet storage.

She looked slightly embarrassed and didn’t meet my gaze.

Cute.

I’m glad she’s having fun.

I’m sure she shows this side to Rin when they go on adventures, but I don’t get to enjoy it as much as I would like.

She all but skipped back to my side as we continued onwards.

“They told us that this road leads to something called the Thousand Winds Temple eastward. And the Slimes had been seen about halfway.” Artoria spoke up. “The directions were that a fork in the road was the halfway mark.”

We did arrive at another fork.

There wasn’t an actual map given. Such things in civilizations like this were hand-drawn, which took time and effort, which meant they were expensive.

But I suppose we should spring for something like that; it’s not like money is of any real importance to us.

My nose twitched.

I felt something in the air, or tasted it. 

I followed my instincts until I heard a faint crackling sound. “Oh, what’s this?”

Artoria peeked over my shoulder.

There was a purple crystal emitting lightning. It would occasionally crackle and let out a discharge across the ground. The dirt around it had been scorched cleanly a long time ago, indicating it had been here for awhile.

Artoria reached out and touched it, her hair frazzled just a tad.

I did the same, but with my authority over the storm, it couldn’t do anything to me. If anything, it behaved like an obedient child.

Just as I was going to probe it further, the ground around it shifted, and two purple slimes popped out of the ground. Not in a literal sense; the dirt wasn’t displaced, but they emerged nonetheless.

They both crackled with the same lightning as the crystal.

“I think we found our slimes.”

“So it appeared.” Without hesitation, Artoria grabbed one into a hug. It was doing its best to shock her, but it must have felt like less than a tickle for her. The only indication that anything was happening was a few strands of her hair moving at the static. “Soft and bouncy.”

The other one jumped at me, right into my leg.

I could feel it, sorta. I mean, if I were a normal human, it would have knocked me on my ass there. I could see now why someone got their leg broken as well. And now that I recalled, Yasaka’s slime was very similar too.

But hers was water; these two are clearly lightning.

It seems the elemental energies around them can change their own existence to match.

Likewise, there should be seven different types of slimes in the world then, one for each element?

How interesting.

Out of curiosity, I kicked it.

Artoria looked aghast, giving me a look like, How could I do that?

The slime traveled a fair distance before hitting the ground, bouncing a few times, but otherwise not really any worse for wear.

In fact, it just immediately started hoping back towards us.

“Oh no, it’s coming right for us; protect me!” I feigned fear.

Artoria gave me an eye roll but had a little smile on her face.

But the humor disappeared quickly because I snapped my head up towards the sky. I saw a flash of purple descend, slashing through the slime. It popped, like a balloon, sending out an electrical discharge as it did.

I followed the silhouette as it flew up a bit, settling in a spot.

It was a bird, not one I had ever seen before.

“Hark, fear not, dear citizens, thy rescue hath arrived!” A girl came jogging over a hill before stopping, taking a few panted breaths. “Oz, what did I say about running off too far without me!”

“Forgive me, mein Fraulein.” The bird responded to my surprise. “Your subject's safety was in danger.”

“You are forgiven then, my knight. For the well-being of my citizens takes precedence!”

Artoria and I shared a look.

Actually, that bird was made of lightning; it took me a moment to realize. Just pure lightning construct.

Was it even alive?

"Hello," I waved. “Thanks for the…save?"

"Rejoice, wayfarers, for thou standest before the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, Sovereign of the Immernachtreich, whose gaze pierces the veil that shroudeth fate itself. By my grace, thou art welcomed into mine eternal dominion."

The bird landed on her shoulder, giving a short bow. "She says hello.”

Right.

And like that, I was so happy.

She was a quirky girl, just from looks alone. Blond hair, a purple and black dress with stockings, and an eyepatch over her left eye.

But her manner of speech is what truly grabbed my attention.

"Then allow this humble traveler to offer his deepest gratitude unto the exalted Prinzessin der Verurteilung, whose raven descended from the heavens to smite the foul beast ere it could unleash its terrible wrath upon our unsuspecting souls. Thy timely intervention shall forever be remembered."  I responded without hesitation.

I think I saw her eyes widen and her whole demeanor just perk up because I was playing along.

"...indeed," she said quietly. I think I caught her off guard, but she quickly recovered. “I see that you are fellow adventurers, seeking wealth and glory amidst the turbulent wilds. Allow me to introduce myself: "I am the Prinzessin der Verurteilung; my true name is Fischl. Summoned by destiny, I descend upon this realm." She struck a slight pose as she said that.

“And this is my most faithful knight, Oz.” She quickly added her bird's introduction.

The bird bowed again. “Greetings.”

Weirdly, the lightning bird was apparently the more normal one between the two of them.

But I was a theater kid; this was normal for me.

"Know then that I am Wilhelm Schweinorg, a wanderer who treadeth the innumerable paths that bind the realms together, forever in pursuit of wonders unseen by mortal eyes. The tapestry of fate hath woven many legends into my journey, yet today it hath granted me audience with the Prinzessin herself."

My hand swept toward Artoria.

"At my side remaineth the illustrious Lady Artoria Pendragon, guardian of honor and companion upon this endless pilgrimage. Together we seek neither throne nor conquest but the hidden marvels that slumber beyond the horizon."

Artoria was silent. She was usually very polite with greetings. But in this moment she had a blank look on her face.

“"It is an honor to make thine acquaintance," she replied quickly, if with a little bit of glee in her tone. “Pray tell, what doth call to you both this far upon the untamed wilds?”

“A quest, bestowed upon us. These foul creatures are wreaking havoc across the lands. To bring order and peace upon the roads unto the kingdom.” I gestured to the slime in Artoria’s hands.

“Oh no, did I accidentally steal your quest?” Her eyes widened. “I mean—This Prinzessin merely sought to cast judgment upon those who would threaten her subjects, yet it appears I have fouled two fellow adventurers. Should mine actions have wrought misfortune upon fellow travelers, then let the annals of fate record this transgression! This Prinzessin shall stand before the tribunal of destiny and accept whatever judgment the heavens decree!" 

“She means that she’s sorry for interrupting your quest. And that she will explain everything to the Adventurers' Guild and make sure you still receive credit." Oz iterated right after her.

“That’s very kind of you, but it’s no trouble.” Artoria smiled. “The quest stated to clear the road of slimes, and there is one remaining; thus, it is still completed by removing it.”

The now-named Fischl looked at the slime in her hand and definitely noted that Artoria wasn’t getting harmed by it, despite it trying to shock her.

“Thy fortitude is impressive.” She noted. “It appears as though thy strength was underestimated by this Prinzessin.

Fischl placed a hand upon her chest, her expression regaining its regal composure.

"Then the stars have shown this Prinzessin a path by which the scales of destiny may yet be balanced. Beyond yon ridge lurks a tribe of Hilichurls, whose wanton revelry has long disturbed the peace of these lands and cast unease upon honest travelers."

She extended an arm dramatically toward the hills.

"Should thee accept this decree, then let this Prinzessin entrust unto thy capable hands the judgment that awaiteth those uncouth fiends. Thus shall the debt borne by my untimely intervention be repaid, and fate itself restored unto its proper course."

Oz gave a polite cough.

"There's a Hilichurl camp just over the ridge. They've been harassing travelers for the past few days. Mein Fraulein believes the two of you are more than capable of dealing with them, and she'd like to leave it to you as thanks for your understanding.”

I could catch the meaning.

Basically, ‘Sorry for ruining your quest; I can give you one of mine as an apology.' It might be some sort of social taboo she accidentally stepped past and is trying to make amends.

I gave a small bow, placing a hand over my chest.

"Then this humble wanderer doth gratefully accept the sacred charge bestowed by the Prinzessin der Verurteilung. May the echoes of our triumph carry thy noble decree unto the stars themselves, and may fate smile kindly upon this chance encounter."

Fischl's smile widened ever so slightly.

"Excellent!" She cleared her throat, remembering herself. "Then go forth, valiant souls, and let the heavens bear witness unto thy glorious deeds. This Prinzessin shall await the tale of thy inevitable victory."

Oz inclined his head. "She wishes you good luck."

"Thank you," I smiled. "It was nice meeting both of you."

Artoria nodded politely.

"Likewise. We hope your own journey is a safe one."

Fischl gave a regal nod before turning with a dramatic flourish of her cape.

"Come, Oz. Destiny summoneth us onward. There remain many souls within this realm who unknowingly await the Prinzessin's guidance."

Oz took to the air with a flap of his wings, soaring to the sky as Fischl disappeared down the road.

Neither of us moved because we saw that same purple streak flying down from the sky.

Oz, the bird, flew down, gently flapping its wings in front of us. "Thank you for indulging me, Mein Fraulein." Oz inclined his head. "She enjoyed your conversation more than you may realize. I imagine she shall be in rather high spirits for the next several days." 

“It was nothing. I was a bit of an actor in my youth, so I know the type.” I responded casually. “She seemed like a nice young lady.”

“I shall return to Mein Fraulein’s side, thank you, adventurers, until we meet again.” He shot back up into the air, this time disappearing from sight.

“He was a polite bird.” Artoria commented.

“I don’t even know if he was alive. I was curious and wanted to ask, but I also thought that would be rude. Would it be rude if you asked someone to their face if they’re a living, thinking ‘person’?”

Artoria tilted her head. “If they were not, could they be offended by such a statement? Offense lends itself to evidence of the fact.”

Huh.

“I remember that Klee called those masked things 'Hilichurls,' right? They’re apparently a pest that they remove around here. Let’s go check them out.”

Artoria took my arm.

It was like we were on a date.

A date to go, presumably, to kill some monsters.

I felt a little zap go down my arm. She was still holding the slime while holding my arm.

I had a feeling that if I asked her to get rid of it, she would pout at me. And I couldn’t let that happen.

“Hold my sword for me?” I asked.

“Of course.” She responded without hesitation.

I took my Divine Sword from my waist and handed it over as she fumbled it into her own waist without letting go of her slime.

I put my Lion’s Roar away and took out my two new swords.

With a thought, they left my hands and floated in front of me as we walked down the road some more. 

Fischl said, "Up the ridge," and after we passed a few jutted cliffs, we found what we were looking for.

More of those masked things, some huts set up, a fire, and some basic idea of a ‘camp’ that they had set up.

There were about a dozen of them, going about their daily lives. From what I gathered, the Knights of Favonius were a good bunch. If neither Artoria nor I picked up anything strange about them so far from the few members we met, then I think it’s safe to say they're on the up and up.

Extending that to the adventurer's guild, there wouldn’t be a quest to kill these things unless they were a genuine menace and needed to be killed.

So, I didn’t hold back.

My Skyward Blade shout out first.

There was no sonic boom despite it breaking the sound barrier, as contradictory as that was. The Divine Blessing upon the blade made it nearly soundless when it swung through the air.

It pierced through the first of those things easily. From a mental state, I felt no resistance whatsoever, and the others didn’t even react, as from start to finish, it had been almost completely silent.

Really, they only got startled when the body hit the ground.

The first to turn around and look at the body of its companion, it couldn’t utter a word before its head was lopped off by the returning blade.

Swiftly, it danced between several of them, taking them all out before they could cause a commotion.

Exactly six of these Hilichurls dropped dead in the blink of an eye before the sword returned to me.

It hovered over my hand with a faint shimmer around the edge of the blade. It didn’t have a single drop of blood on it.

My other swords, I don’t think they would have been half as fast with the same effort.

In this brief reprieve though, the remaining ones noticed what happened and started shouting and panicking in their strange language.

Summit Shaper shot off next.

Honestly, it was probably the slowest of my swords. Speed wasn’t something I really measured about them before, as they were all about the same there. But it was now something I took into consideration before these new swords.

I increased the weight of Summit Shaper by a hundred pounds and had it shoot right at the first Hilichurl.

It didn’t cut as easily; it hit the thing’s shoulder and utterly demolished its skin and bones as it pushed through him at high speeds.

It was significantly more visceral. I wasn’t trying to be bloody, but I needed to check the abilities of my swords in a more real situation.

These things seemed intelligent enough to use weapons. One had a shield and club that it was holding up.

I increased the weight of my sword again, doubling it as it swung through the air right at the Hilichurl's shield. The wood shattered immediately in a loud explosive boom before cracking its arm and hitting it hard enough that its body went flying away.

The others didn’t fair much better. I continued to increase the weight, and I could feel it becoming a burden on my mental command.

I would need to get used to how this works and increase and decrease the weight properly in combat.

One Hilichurl remained, and I shot my sword up into the sky above it about thirty feet. Then, I pumped it up until it weighed about 3000 pounds.

Then, I let it drop.

The result is what you would expect. The splattered remains of the Hilichurl were all over the place before the blade returned to me.

Thankfully, these things were apparently self-cleaning, meaning their remainder dissipated into a sort of smoke and disappeared. Leaving behind no blood or body parts or anything like that.

The summit shaper returned to me, and I caught it.

I blinked because I realized my mistake; holding it above my head, the momentum carried it ever so slightly, and I fell over because I didn’t remove the increased weight on it.

“Ow.”

Definitely going to need to practice this a bit more.

But I was very happy with my two new swords.

I looked up to see Artoria standing over me. “Are you happy with your testing?”

“Yeah, it was good enough for now. Where’s your little friend?” The slime was nowhere to be seen.

“I released him into the wilds away from the roads, so it should be fine.” She smiled happily. 

I let out a breath.

It was a good day.

“Wilhelm.”

“Hmm?”

“Let’s take a short break.” Artoria lifted up her dress, up to around her waist, before stepping forward until she was hovering over my face. 

Oh.

Well, the sun disappeared rather quickly as she decided to use my face as her chair.

Not that I was complaining.

Today was a really good day.

@***@

A/N

Just a chapter of them getting used to the world, exploring it a bit, meeting some characters, and Wilhelm testing the new sword.