Lumine left with Kaeya, and Amber had also asked if she wanted to come along.
But Stelle shook her head and had no intention of going with them to meet the Acting Grand Master.
To put it bluntly, Lumine was the one who had driven off the dragon just now, not her.
Even if she went, she would probably just be standing there as a bystander.
So, the Knights were interested in Lumine.
Stelle herself wasn’t weak, but she had never shown her true strength to them.
At most, their impression of her was probably “a slightly capable ordinary person.” After all, she couldn’t even use elemental power.
So Stelle decided to first sell the broken masks and other items she had taken from the Hilichurls earlier in exchange for some money.
“Then…
let’s meet tonight at the Good Hunter.
You have to come, okay?
I’ll treat you to Sweet Madame!” Amber sighed helplessly, but didn’t continue persuading Stelle to come with them.
“Mm, I’ll definitely be there.” Stelle nodded.
No way she’d miss it.
She was completely broke right now—how could she refuse free food?
Amber waved to Stelle and, a bit reluctantly, left with Lumine and Kaeya.
Stelle stretched lazily and headed toward a shop in Mondstadt where she could exchange her items.
Well, calling it a shop didn’t seem quite right.
More accurately, it was an alchemy workshop.
“Hello?” Stelle greeted first.
The person stationed outside was a young man.
He was staring blankly at a strange device in front of him.
“Ah, hello.
Welcome.
If you’re here to use the alchemy table, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a bit,” the man said, snapping back to his senses.
“Uh, no.
I want to sell some…
alchemy materials.” Stelle took out the items she had collected.
They were all drops from ordinary Hilichurls, along with some slime condensate she had gathered earlier in the wild.
Amber had looked at them before and said they weren’t worth much.
But Stelle didn’t have high expectations—just enough for a meal or a night’s lodging would be fine.
“Ah, alright.
Let me take a look…” The man examined the items carefully, then nodded.
“All common materials.
No problem.
I can give you about 5,000 Mora.” “5,000?” Only then did Stelle realize she had no idea what prices were like in this world.
Was five thousand Mora a lot or a little?
“If you think it’s too little, there’s nothing I can do.
During the dragon storm, monsters keep appearing around Mondstadt, and adventurers and the Knights keep clearing them out.
We receive a huge amount of similar materials every day.
If it weren’t for Mr.
Albedo’s research consuming quite a lot, we might not even be buying them,” the man explained, thinking Stelle was dissatisfied.
“Uh, no, that’s not it.
I’m actually a traveler from afar and don’t really understand Mondstadt’s prices.
I’d like to know what 5,000 Mora can buy,” Stelle said quickly.
“I see…
don’t worry.
Even though prices have gone up a bit during the dragon storm, it should still be cheaper than the neighboring nation, Liyue,” the man said, nodding in understanding.
“With 5,000, you could probably buy five Fisherman’s Toasts and one Chicken-Mushroom Skewer at Good Hunter.” “…” So basically one meal, maybe two at most?
Well, that was still about what she had expected.
After thanking the man, Stelle began wandering around Mondstadt.
With Lumine and Paimon not around, she didn’t really know what to do.
Mondstadt was large, and she didn’t dare wander too far—getting lost would be troublesome.
Sigh…
I still need to find a job.
Looking at the sparse crowd on the streets, Stelle couldn’t help but sigh.
She was still uncertain about the future.
She had arrived in this world for no clear reason and had lost contact with the Astral Express crew.
Right now, her only hope seemed to lie with Lumine.
But Lumine herself wasn’t even sure she could regain her former strength and travel between worlds again.
So for now, she could only focus on the present—surviving in this world.
And the most important thing for survival was obviously money.
No matter where you go, without money, you can’t take a single step.
The future looks pretty bleak…
Thinking this, Stelle unknowingly walked to a familiar place.
“This place is called…
the Cat’s Tail, right?” She looked up at the sign hanging on the wall, featuring a small cat.
For some reason, she found herself stepping inside.
Amber had said the bartender here was very cute.
She wanted to see just how cute.
…
Recently, Diona’s mood hadn’t been very good.
The dragon storm was one reason.
The other was these drunkards.
Even in a situation like this, the adults of Mondstadt still hadn’t forgotten to come here for a drink.
Although fewer people were coming compared to usual, Diona was still dissatisfied.
At a time like this, shouldn’t they be working hard to prevent disasters?
Why were they still drinking?
Sure, alcohol could drown one’s sorrows…
but that was just deceiving yourself.
When you sobered up, the world would still be exactly the same.
So after mixing a drink with a look of disgust, Diona sat gloomily at the counter, lost in thought.
Then the tavern door opened.
Probably another drunkard.
She had already gotten familiar with most of the people coming in these days.
But when she looked up, she realized it wasn’t what she had expected.
A stranger had arrived.
“W-welcome to the Cat’s Tail…” Normally, Diona wouldn’t greet drunkards like this.
At best, she would deal with them with a look of disdain.
For some reason, many adults actually seemed to enjoy that, showing expressions of satisfaction every time.
But this time, facing this unfamiliar tall gray-haired woman, she was unusually gentle—and even a little nervous.
There was a comforting aura about this woman.
Although her expression looked slightly cold, Diona instinctively felt that she was definitely a good person.
Deep in her heart, she even had the urge to walk up to her, act spoiled, and ask for a head pat…
N-no!
Diona quickly shook her head, throwing the strange impulse out of her mind.
“Is the bartender here?” Stelle’s eyes lit up when she saw Diona.
A catgirl!
And a small catgirl!
So cute—I want to pet her.
No wonder it’s called the Cat’s Tail.
The poster girl is actually a real catgirl!
“I am,” Diona replied, looking at the gray-haired woman with confusion.
“Huh?
You’re the bartender?” Stelle’s eyes widened.
Such a small child working as a bartender?
If that was true, then Amber wasn’t wrong at all…
she really was incredibly cute.