But on second thought, the two of them had crossed mountains and valleys all the way from Inazuma. What had happened earlier was probably nothing more than a coincidence, rather than something deliberate.
Besides, Kamisato Satoru was wearing a blindfold the entire time.
He was probably blind and couldn’t see anything, right?
Eula comforted herself with that thought and finally felt a little better.
"You two have traveled all the way from Inazuma to Mondstadt. May I ask what brings you here?"
Eula questioned them in an official tone. As a knight on patrol, it was part of her duty.
"My brother and I simply wanted to travel around and see the world. We don’t have any particular ulterior motive," Ayaka answered softly.
Eula, however, remained skeptical.
It would have been one thing for ordinary people to claim they were traveling, but for two high-ranking Inazuman nobles to appear in the wilderness of Mondstadt?
No matter how she looked at it, something seemed suspicious.
"There’s no need to overthink it, Miss Eula. Just treat us as ordinary tourists passing through."
"Neither of us had ever left our homeland before, so we wanted to get away for a while, relax, and clear our heads."
Noticing Eula’s wariness, Ayaka quickly offered a gentle smile to ease the atmosphere.
"In that case, I’ll lead the way from here and escort you both to Mondstadt City," Eula said as she bent down and picked up the belongings she had left by the lakeshore.
"Then we’ll be in your care, Miss Eula."
Ayaka gave a slight bow.
"Hey, Eula, there’s something I don’t get. Why did you come all the way out to this frozen wasteland just to take an ice-cold bath?"
Eula: "(￣～￣)..."
"Eula, does soaking in freezing water when it’s this cold make you feel especially refreshed?"
Eula: "(｀⌒′メ)..."
"Eu—"
"SHUT UP ALREADY! (╬￣皿￣)!!"
Eula finally reached her limit and roared.
Her beautiful face was red all the way down to her neck as she glared furiously at Kamisato Satoru, who was acting as though they had been friends for years.
She had almost managed to put that embarrassing misunderstanding out of her mind, only for this bastard to keep bringing up the one subject she least wanted to discuss.
And judging from how smoothly and effortlessly Satoru walked, Eula was now absolutely certain that this guy could see.
The thought that a grown man might have seen everything made her feel as though her entire life had turned bleak.
"Brother, could you please act a little more mature and stop causing trouble for everyone?"
Ayaka covered her face in embarrassment.
She felt as though all the dignity she had accumulated throughout her life was about to be completely squandered by her own brother.
She was even beginning to vaguely regret agreeing to travel with him in the first place.
"Oh. ⊙▽⊙"
Satoru sheepishly shrank back.
He could tell that Eula was currently a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest spark.
If he kept teasing her, she would probably pull out that enormous Song of Broken Pines and bring it straight down on his head.
"Eula, now that we’ve met like this, I suppose we could consider ourselves friends, couldn’t we?"
Ayaka tentatively broached the subject.
"You actually want to befriend someone from the infamous Lawrence Clan? I’ll remember this grudge."
Eula lifted her chin, her tone remaining stubbornly firm.
However, both Satoru and Ayaka clearly caught the trace of delight she could not quite conceal in her eyes.
Because of her family’s history, the residents of Mondstadt usually avoided her like the plague whenever they saw her. Some would even openly curse and insult her.
As a result, Eula’s social circle in the city was extremely small, and she had almost no genuine friends.
As members of Inazuma’s upper class, the Kamisato siblings surely knew about that history.
Yet there was not the slightest trace of prejudice in their eyes.
For Eula, that brought an unfamiliar warmth to her heart.
"Look! More test subjects just walked right into our hands!"
"You picked the wrong opponents this time! Tough luck!"
Just as the three were preparing to descend the mountain, more than a dozen masked Treasure Hoarders suddenly sprang out from the bushes beside the road.
Satoru’s lips twitched at the painfully familiar opening lines.
Seriously?
Could their dialogue get any more cliché?
Had competition among the Treasure Hoarders gotten so fierce these days that they had to set up roadside robberies even in a godforsaken place like Dragonspine?
"Since the opportunity has presented itself, Miss Eula, please grace us with a demonstration of that elegant sword dance of yours."
Satoru put on airs and made an exaggerated gesture inviting her forward.
Unfortunately, his unserious expression completely ruined the mood.
"Hmph!"
"Freeze!"
Eula gave a sharp cry as the massive Song of Broken Pines instantly materialized in her hands, radiating a bone-chilling cold.
The Cryo Vision on her shoulder shone brilliantly.
A thick layer of ice crystals spread across the blade, releasing an icy white mist.
As Captain of the Reconnaissance Company, Eula’s strength was certainly not to be underestimated.
Before her magnificent swordsmanship, every movement as graceful as an aristocratic dance, the dozen or so Treasure Hoarder grunts could barely last a few exchanges before they all collapsed to the ground.
"Bad luck. You really did choose the wrong test subjects."
...
Realizing the situation had turned against them, the Treasure Hoarders hurriedly threw smoke bombs onto the ground.
A cloud of smoke erupted around them, and by the time it cleared, they had fled without a trace.