Early the next morning.
Amber had already hurried out the door at dawn.
She left a note for Stelle, along with a simple breakfast.
The content of the note was straightforward.
She briefly explained what she needed to do, that she had to leave early, and also apologized to Stelle for suddenly fainting the previous night…
In truth, there was nothing to apologize for.
If anything, Stelle should have been the one taking the blame.
But Amber didn’t know that.
Instead, she felt guilty that Stelle had ended up taking care of her.
Stelle scratched her head as she looked at the note, then carefully put it away and settled down to enjoy the breakfast Amber had left her.
She didn’t know whether Amber had made it herself or bought it outside, but it tasted quite good.
“Looks like I really stayed up too late last night.” Stelle glanced at the clock hanging in Amber’s house.
It was already past ten in the morning.
The time system in this world was exactly the same as the one she was familiar with, with a day divided into twenty-four hours.
This breakfast could practically count as lunch.
But there was nothing she could do about it.
She shouldn’t have looked through her phone gallery last night.
She kept staring at those familiar faces, over and over, and the more she looked, the lonelier she felt—so lonely that she couldn’t fall asleep.
“Sigh…” Stelle let out a quiet breath.
After thinking for a moment, she took out the pen and paper Amber had left behind and wrote a note of her own.
She wrote that she would also be heading out today, that she didn’t know when she would be back…
and that she might not return at all, since she had no idea what kind of commissions she might receive from the Adventurers’ Guild.
That was why she left a message for Amber, so she wouldn’t worry.
“All done.” Holding the note she had written, Stelle looked around the room and placed it somewhere noticeable.
The language and writing system of this world were actually different from those of her own.
But as a Trailblazer, traveling across different star systems and encountering various civilizations had long been the norm.
Thanks to the synesthesia beacon invented by the 56th member of the Genius Society, Elias Salas, she had no trouble communicating with different civilizations.
Of course, if she hadn’t merely arrived on a planet in some star system, but had instead come to an entirely different world…
then the reason she could still communicate without barriers might be something else entirely.
But no matter what, being able to communicate freely with the people of this world was a good thing.
Next…
“Time to head out!” Stelle pushed open the door to Amber’s house.
…
“Amber, why do you look so distracted?” Paimon keenly noticed something was off about Amber.
Whether it was when Lumine spoke to her earlier or while they were traveling just now, she had clearly been zoning out.
No one knew what she was thinking about, and from time to time, her cheeks would suddenly flush red.
That was why, during their break, Paimon finally couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked.
“Ah?!
N-no, it’s nothing!” Amber was startled by the question.
Then she suddenly recalled the scene from last night—Stelle wearing that loose white shirt, her expression blank as her golden eyes stared at her without blinking.
Amber hurriedly shook her head, growing flustered.
Her reaction only made Paimon even more confused.
Lumine, however, seemed to have a guess.
She looked at Amber thoughtfully.
“Amber, did Stelle sleep well at your place last night?” Lumine asked tentatively.
“Th-that…
she should have, I guess.
Haha…” Amber scratched her head awkwardly.
“When I left, she was still asleep, so I left her some breakfast.” “What’s with that?
She’s even lazier than me,” Paimon couldn’t help but complain.
Their meeting time had been set fairly late, so Amber wouldn’t have left too early either.
Lumine suddenly glanced at Amber.
Could it be…
Probably not.
Amber didn’t seem that old.
She probably wouldn’t do something like that.
Besides, Stelle could resist if she wanted to.
It shouldn’t have come to that.
“No, it’s just that she went to sleep very late last night.
I vaguely heard some things…
she was probably missing home,” Amber sighed softly, her expression dimming slightly.
After she fainted last night, she had actually woken up quite quickly.
She had intended to check on Stelle and apologize to her.
But just as she reached the door, she heard Stelle talking to herself.
Though she couldn’t hear everything clearly, she caught phrases like “Where are you?” and “I miss you so much.” In the end, her hand, which had been about to knock, slowly lowered.
She couldn’t bear to disturb her.
“I see…” Lumine nodded, letting out a subtle sigh of relief.
She had intentionally kept some distance between herself and Stelle, but at the same time, she didn’t want others getting too close to her either.
It was a contradictory feeling.
Lumine knew she was likely being influenced by Stelle, but she couldn’t control it.
When Amber invited Stelle over yesterday, she had a bad feeling about it, but she didn’t have any good reason to stop her.
Fortunately, nothing had happened.
But missing home…
Lumine also sighed softly.
If she could, she wanted to help Stelle too.
But she hadn’t regained her own power yet, nor had she reunited with her brother.
Who knew when she would be able to travel between worlds again.
“When we go back today, let’s go check on her too,” Paimon suggested to Lumine.
Hearing Amber’s words had made her a bit worried about Stelle.
“Yeah, I was thinking the same,” Lumine nodded.
“But she’ll probably go to the Adventurers’ Guild to pick up some commissions today.
I don’t know when she’ll be back,” Amber added.
“What’s the Adventurers’ Guild?” Paimon asked curiously.
Neither she nor Lumine had interacted with it before.
“Oh, that…
the Adventurers’ Guild is…” …
“The Adventurers’ Guild is a support organization established for adventurers across the seven nations, helping new adventurers better adapt to adventuring life while allowing experienced ones to explore more freely…” Stelle listened quietly as the receptionist in front of her, named Katheryne, introduced the Adventurers’ Guild.
“By the way, the Adventurers’ Guild operates year-round without breaks,” Katheryne added at the end, stating something rather terrifying.
“Sounds pretty good…” Stelle was, of course, not referring to the part about no holidays.
She meant the organization itself.
It seemed that becoming an adventurer had no particular requirements.
“Then…
if I want to become an adventurer…
do I have to wear those green uniforms too?” Stelle asked with some hesitation.
“That’s the uniform of the Adventurers’ Guild.” “Hm?” Stelle tilted her head in confusion, but quickly understood.
“So…
adventurers and members of the Adventurers’ Guild are two different things, right?” “That’s roughly correct.
However, most people choose to become members, as it comes with more benefits and protections.
Of course, there are corresponding obligations as well,” Katheryne said with a smile.
“The situation varies by region.
Mondstadt is relatively more relaxed in that regard.” “Got it.” Stelle nodded.
Since ordinary people could still accept commissions and earn rewards, there was no need for her to specifically become a member of the Adventurers’ Guild.
She didn’t need those benefits anyway.
Besides…
those green outfits were just too ugly.
“In that case, could you show me the commissions currently available?” “Of course.” Katheryne didn’t say much more and quickly presented the list of available commissions to Stelle.