3

– Jean –

Reading through this month's reports, Jean glanced at her colleague who stood right in front of her desk, before returning to the paper in her hand. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary– less Hilichurl and Treasure Hoarder raids due to the traveler and other notable adventurers wiping them off the map.

The Fatui had little to no presence after the Dragon incident was taken care of and refused to make any effort to come back to Mondstadt, at the cost of Venti losing his Gnosis, but he seemed generally alright with it, so there's likely nothing to worry about. Crimes within the city were at an all-time low, in fear of the Knights of Favonius and the 'Darknight Hero'.

The only thing she was worried about was the Grand Master's expedition taking more than a year now, which came as a shock to Jean once she realized just how much time had passed since he departed, leaving her to act on his behalf as the temporary leader of the knights.

That had been the only thing that she felt concerned about until Kaeya came to her with news that added more to the stress.

"Are you absolutely sure he's a threat?" She asked him.

"As I said, I don't know what his intentions are," Kaeya answered. "But I know for damn sure that he can be."

"Someone without a Vision?"

"I don't think that really matters." He shrugged. "If I'm being honest, I don't feel confident in taking him on myself."

"That dangerous, huh." Jean put the paper on the desk and leaned forward with a thoughtful frown. "Do you think we're dealing with another Fatui Harbinger?"

"I doubt it." Kaeya shook his head. "As it's said on the report, he didn't know what a Vision was. This is something else entirely."

Not knowing what a Vision was was a common trait shared by the Traveler when she first came here, and like him, Lumine neither possessed a Vision nor needed one to fight on equal footing with one of their brightest. Was he the same as her? Someone from beyond the stars?

She did get him out of the interrogation room, so they knew each other, even if briefly. If he really was someone from a different world, then there was no saying what this Crimson is here for. Lumine proved herself to be a good-hearted girl who lent them a hand even though her only goal was looking for her brother.

But him? Jean didn't think it was wise to give him the same trust, not when Kaeya, her most laidback knight, showed genuine concern over something usually seen as insignificant. She'd have to trust her colleague's gut feeling for this one.

"Some unknown threat, then." She muttered. "Alright, it's better to be safe rather than sorry. Get a few knights to keep an eye on him."

Kaeya nodded, giving her a bow of respect before leaving her office. Jean leaned back and sighed deeply as the door closed. Just when things were finally looking up for her, another possible threat popped up.

She glanced at the open window, the orange light of the setting sun lighting up the office. She'd spent nearly her entire day here, working on three hours of sleep and caffeine far over the recommended limit.

This was going to be another terrible night, but as the saying went, a knight's job is never over.

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– Crimson Amamiya –

When they said adventurer work, I didn't expect myself to do trivial errands for other people, but I suppose that's on me. Yes, I knew it was a broad term that included hunting, exploring, and escorting, but why am I gathering mushrooms that only grow on buildings? Why am I looking for lost pets? Cleaning up the damned church? Seriously, it's like I'm doing chores for someone else. How lazy can you people be?

I know it's ironic coming from me, but at least I deserve to be lazy after eons of work. Plus, paying someone to do something so insignificant for you like picking fucking flowers is just dumb. No, I don't care if they're prickly, do it yourself.

Sighing, I look at the setting sun right outside the church after a day of work, the broom I used right next to me. Oh well, there's no use complaining about it. It is what it is, as I usually say. The faster I'm done with this the better. Also, the last job, which is helping to clean the church, had its benefits as well. The nuns there are nice and cute.

Their religion is kinda neat too. Unlike most churches I'm familiar with, the ones that get anal about their nuns doing anything 'naughty', this one is kinda laidback. They worship the God of Wind, Barbatos, whose main thing is freedom, so when I flirted with some of them, they either reciprocated my advances or acted adorable and shy about it.

I'm beginning to like this world. No generic demon lord trying to take over the world, no stupid wars waged between kingdoms, and no petty god being an absolute dick for literally no reason. Things seem to be looking up, for now at least. I only just got here a few hours ago.

Mom knows me so well. I wonder where she threw Carmine? If these worlds were supposed to suit us, then she's probably in a quiet place with a lot of good food. That's assuming this place doesn't have an annoying surprise villain or some equally bothersome shit.

After a minute of silent contemplating, I stand up from the bench and stretch my arms. It's about time I get my money. Hopefully, it'll be enough for a room at the inn, at least for the night. I don't know what the value of Mora, the currency, is. The commissions noted that they'll pay in the hundreds of Mora for these jobs. So I'm guessing hundreds aren't really much.

Still not a big fan of the working thing, though. I mean, if I'm going to work, then I at least want a fun job. While still not that fun, hunting the Goblin knockoffs sounds much better than menial work around the city because it pays more and I can level up doing it.

I leave the broom on the bench as I head out to go to the Adventurer's desk. I hear the doors of the church close behind me, prompting me to look back in curiosity. An adorable girl with ash-blond hair tied in pigtails, blue eyes, and wearing a white dress and hat, comes out of the church.

She spots me and rushes to me with a smile, taking my hand and shaking it profusely.

"Thank you so much for taking the commission, mister! The girls told me about you." The girl says. "It was long overdue and most nuns were too busy with cleaning duties. You're a lifesaver!"

"Eh, don't mention it. Just doing my job." I shrug. "Surprised no one else took the commission if it was long overdue though. Compared to other ones, it pays quite a bit more."

"Ah, most take more important commissions, like escorting or protecting villages." She responds, letting go of my hand. "But I knew someone would answer my calls eventually, so thanks. I've never seen you around, though."

"Cuz I just got here earlier today." I pat her head. "Name's Crimson. Newest adventurer around."

"I'm Barbara, the Deaconess of the Church." She beams at me. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Crimson."

I notice the blue pendant strapped on her hip emanating divine power. So she has one of these Visions too? This one is a different color and emblem when compared to the ones I've seen. The guy that interrogated me has a light blue one, Amber has orange, and this girl has dark blue. I'm guessing each color represents one of the elements.

Huh, I wonder how you can get one of these Visions around here. Is it a 'from birth' thing or can I actually get one for myself as I am now? I'm confident enough like this, but getting some elemental powers would be pretty sweet.

If I can't then I'll just keep leveling up until I get the choice to regain some of my draconic magic. That's still an option after all, and draconic magic is so much more versatile than simple fire or water.

"Deaconess? At your age?" I raise a brow, feigning surprise and buttering her up. "You must be really good at your job, eh?"

"N-not at all, I'm just doing my best, like everyone else." She waves it off, looking a little flustered as she touches her Vision. "I was just lucky if anything."

I was about to respond, but stop when I catch something in the corner of my eye. I blink and grin in amusement as I recognize what this is. How Cute.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Barbara, but it's getting late," I say before the girl notices anything weird. "I don't want to keep you here any longer, so let's meet again some other time, alright?"

"Sure, I'd love to know more about you." She nods. "Thank you again for the help!"

A ray of sunshine, isn't she? Could light up a funeral with that smile.

I give her one last wave before heading off to the guild desk, chuckling quietly at the people following me. Is that what they call tailing? They should be embarrassed if anything. I literally noticed them the moment they laid their eyes on me. Five people, two on the roofs, two disguised to blend with the crowd, one hiding in alleys.

None of them are a threat, or at least, they don't feel anywhere near as strong as the guy who interrogated me. Maybe I frightened him a little too much and now he's got some people tailing me in case I do anything suspicious. Would've been pretty troublesome if it wasn't funny.

But I'm a reasonable guy. I understand what he's doing, so no hard feelings there. If anything, I'd be willing to help his soldiers get a better grasp of tailing or even espionage. I'm pretty sure it'll pay a lot more than helping a kitten that's stuck on a tree.

Now I could easily lose them if I really wanted to, but that'll probably make him and the knights a lot more alert, and I'm not gonna be doing any crime. I'm just taking my rewards before heading straight to a tavern. Running around the city doing errands for hours is pretty exhausting.

As I arrive at the desk, the girl behind it, Katheryne if I'm not wrong, spots me and smiles politely.

"Yo, done with the work."

"I've been told." She responds with a bow. "Thank you so much for taking these jobs. I know they're not exciting as hunting or clearing out Hilichurl camps, but they're still part of the profession."

"Don't worry about it. Everyone gotta start somewhere, no?"

"I suppose you're right." She nods. "Give me just a moment. I'll get your reward right now."

She goes through the backdoor of the small, kiosk-like "desk" as I await her for a few minutes. I gaze at the eyes of one of the guys following me, making him stumble and quickly hide away as I act ignorant about his existence. I barely contain my laughter at his reaction. Damn near gave him a heart attack

They're seriously not qualified for this kind of work. You don't panic if the guy you're following makes eye contact, that'll just give you away faster. Just act normal. You'd be surprised at how many people write you off as nothing if you do that.

"Here's your pay," Katheryne says as she comes back, putting a bag of coins on the desk. "Six thousand Mora for fifteen commissions plus a bonus."

"A bonus? What for?"

"Most of the ones you did were here collecting dust for a long time. You've done us a favor by taking care of them" She sighs. "Oh, also, you're now at rank three. Congratulations!"

"Already?"

"You've finished fifteen jobs in less than 24 hours," Katheryne explains. "Even if they're low ranked, that's a lot more than what most people can do."

"That so?" I take the bag, not really knowing what six thousand can get me here. "By the way, mind telling me where the closest tavern is?"

"Right over there." She points at a building pretty close to where we are. "Angel's Share. It's the best one around. A room for one night costs a thousand Mora."

Reasonable enough. I can get a room for a night or two, the rest of my money for drinks and maybe food, then just get more Mora the next day. Why spend so much on alcohol? Because this is the longest I've been sober in so many years, I miss being drunk already.

"Right, thanks." I wave at her and walk towards the tavern.

"Of course." She bows politely. "See you tomorrow."

A few minutes were all it took for me to reach the building, which is pretty big compared to the usual inns and taverns you see around. I can hear the chatter and laughter from the outside, telling me that it's still lively inside. It should be. If I were a guessing man, I'd say it's 8 or 9 pm right now. Places like pubs, inns, or bars should be still filled with people at this time.

I open the door and take a seat on a stool in front of what I assume is the owner, who looks at me and nods politely.

"Anything I can get for you, sir?"

"Strongest drink you got," I respond. "And something to eat."

"As you wish."

It took a while, but finally, I can now test what this world has in store when it comes to alcohol. In my experience, magical fantasy worlds like this usually have a lot of good stuff, so my expectations are high. Seriously, adding magic to your drinks makes them a lot better.

Sure, they're primitive compared to what I'm used to, but you should always keep an open mind, otherwise, you miss out on a lot of great things. Who knows, I might actually get inspired by them.

We'll just have to wait and see.

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– Venti –

When that Fatui Harbinger attacked and stole his Gnosis, he admittedly got a bit worried at first. Would that mean he won't be able to use his divine powers anymore? Was he as powerless as regular, visionless humans?

Thankfully, no. He still retained some of his powers regardless. Nowhere near as strong as he used to be, but he couldn't care less about strength. He just loved his Archon powers because they gave him his sense of freedom. He could still soar through the clouds of Mondstadt without an issue, doing some party tricks in the bar, or his personal favorite, shape-shifting.

"C'mon, just one- hic- one more glass," Venti said with a sultry tone, pressing his, or her breasts against a flustered guy's shoulders. "You wouldn't say no to a pretty girl like me, right? This bard can give more than just a show~"

"F-fine, I'll get you something." The man said, prying his eyes away from her huge chest. "But just this once, alright?"

"You're such a sweetheart~" She giggled.

He blushed at her wink and shook his head, calling the waitress for another glass of beer.

Most people knew her as the seemingly unaging bard boy, which was fair since that was the form she used the most, as it belonged to an old friend of hers, but not many knew that she was actually a wind spirit that could take on any shape, even that of a woman. She's also the god of this kingdom, but that's not really important. Only Lumine and her companion, Jean, and somehow Diluc knew that she was Barbatos anyhow, so it wasn't an issue.

She did find it weird that nearly nobody recognized her in this female form of hers. It's quite literally just her male one but a bit taller, slightly more feminine voice, and with big tits, plump thighs, and hips. Even the outfit, while admittedly a bit more skimpy, was nearly identical. That's all it took for people to not notice anything weird.

Granted, most people here were either drunk or tipsy at the very least, but still. Not even a question? And it's not like this was the first time she had done it. She'd been doing it for over half a year now.

Going back to the shapeshifting thing, it was her favorite because there were so many, uh, 'nice people' who were more likely to buy her a drink when she talked to them all nice like this. It was both funny and sad seeing that she was too broke to buy her own stuff.

And it's not like she was scamming them. Venti did give them a show as 'payment' every once in a while, and everyone liked her music after all, even if some people, like a certain red-haired jackass, acted indifferent about it.

Honestly, she'd take Paimon's 'tone-deaf bard' nickname over Diluc's sheer apathy towards her and her songs. Something about it kinda offended her, but it's not like she'd try anything drastic of course. He had a monopoly over the alcohol here with his winery. She wasn't gonna piss him off.

"Here's your beer, miss." The waitress said, offering the drink on a tray.

"Thank- hic- thank you, love." She said, taking the ice-cold glass before winking at the boy she took advant- er, convinced. "Here's your reward~"

As the waitress left, Venti pulled the rim of her tight shirt just enough to show the boy what was hiding behind it. He almost passed out from how much blood rushed to his face as she did that, but unfortunately for him, it only lasted a second. She would've done more if he ordered something better than beer, but she also didn't want the other patrons or waitresses to notice this. She didn't want to get kicked out again.

Also, scamming people is wrong and bad. She doesn't do that.

Venti giggled and left the boy alone as he short-circuited, drinking the contents of the glass in one gulp before putting it on an empty table, wiping her mouth to look for another victim– nice person. She scanned the tavern and noticed another lone man drinking on his own. She couldn't see his face from this angle, but he had black hair, a lean body, and was quite tall.

Venti smiled mischievously. Perfect.

She approached him and sat on the stool next to him, leaning forward to take a good look at his face before freezing in shock. The man noticed Venti, glancing at her with his blood-red eyes for a few seconds before smirking.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." He said.

Venti blushed and almost stammered, but managed to get a hold of herself rather quickly, flirting back.

"A picture is never as good as the real thing~" She responded.

Right, well, she hadn't expected she'd be meeting the most handsome man she'd ever seen in this long life of hers, but that didn't change a lot. She might be willing to do a bit more for him, but good-looking or not, if she didn't get her drink, she won't be doing anything.

…There's some weird, ominous presence around him though. She'd probably be on edge if she was sober, but with her survival senses shut down from how much alcohol was in her system, she ignored that tiny part of her that was telling her to be careful.

The man checked her out, eyes going up and down her body, then his smirk widened, which may or may not have made her feel a little hotter.

"Gotta agree with you there, ma'am." He winked, raising his glass.

Venti inched closer to the handsome stranger, rubbing her thighs together as she kept eye contact. He seemed utterly unaffected by her usual tactics when most of the time, this was enough to turn a lot of people into a stuttering mess. Perhaps it's time to get a little bold.

"I haven't seen you around before, mister," Venti said, gently touching the man's arm. "Certainly no one as handsome as you. Are you new?"

"I am. Only got here today." He responded casually, not rejecting her slow advances. Good.

"And what's someone like you doing in Mondstadt?" She questioned, getting closer to him.

To her surprise, the handsome stranger put a hand around her waist, pulling her to him. Face already flushed went even redder at this unexpected response of his, but she didn't mind it. She felt weirdly into it even.

"A vacation. I've gotten sick of home and decided to travel for a few years." The man said. "Must say, I'm already enjoying myself, but what about you?"

"I'm this tavern's bard. It's only natural that I love my time here, otherwise I'd have left a long time ago." Venti licked her lips as she felt his hand get lower, resting on her butt. She's… strangely not against it. "Though, maybe you can make this night a little more pleasant for me?"

He snorted and raised a hand, getting the owner's attention. "Give us the best you've got."

Success!

…Though, even then, she didn't feel quite satisfied. Something about how he held himself urged her to break through his defenses, to see him get flustered. He was as confident and proud as a peacock—the desire to see him stammering burned within the Anemo Archon.

"To think you'd be as kind as you are handsome~" Venti giggled, hand rubbing his leg. "But is it fair if you didn't get your fair share of fun?"

"Oh?" He turned to look at her with a brow raised in interest after finishing his drink. "And what do you have in mind?"

Venti didn't respond verbally as she pulled him by his collar, smashing her lips against his in a hot, passionate kiss. To her surprise, he quickly reciprocated and even easily dominated her, making her plan backfire as she moaned into his mouth once his hand roughly squeezed her buttocks.

She tried to pull away once she realized that he was even more skilled than her, but she couldn't. It was as if her own body refused to let go of the pleasure his tongue was making it go through. Venti rubbed her thighs together as her crotch began to dampen and nearly whined loudly once he broke off the kiss.

Venti's face was bright red as she caught her own breath, shuddering under the lustful gaze of the man in front of her. That… did not work as intended. Not one bit. Now he got the wrong idea and she's too dazed to think clearly. This was bad.

…but was it really?

"You look like you enjoyed this more than I did." He chuckled, caressing her cheek. The man leaned forward and whispered the next part, making her bite her lips. "You know, the noise around here has gotten a bit irritating. Why don't we go somewhere nice and quiet?"

A wise person would've cut their losses right here. Any more could be dangerous, but for the life of her, she couldn't say no or even shake her head. Venti even completely forgot about the drink he ordered for her as she leaned against his chest, looking straight at his eyes.

She should probably snap out of it, but would it really be bad to have some bedroom fun every once in a while? She's familiar with the pleasures of the flesh, in both sexes really, so it's not like she was some blushing virgin as they'd say.

Eeeh it wouldn't really hurt. Not like this was the first time she had a fling with a random guy or girl from the tavern. Besides, if his skill in kissing was any indication, then Venti was about to have quite a memorable time.

With that in mind, she nodded.

The man's smirk widened, gently grabbing her arm and leading her upstairs. Venti felt the gazes of some of the patrons on them, likely focusing on the handsome stranger with glares of jealousy, because the whole time, his free hand was still on her butt, as he didn't even try to hide it.

He led her to what she assumed to be the room he rented, entering and closing the door behind. The man pushed her onto the bed, getting on top of her once he threw his shirt and jacket away. Venti had a second to admire his muscular body before he locked her into another wet kiss.

The handsome stranger didn't waste time and took her top off, kneading and squeezing her soft breasts prompting her to moan louder. Venti pushed him away a bit and took a moment to breathe, her sultry grin never leaving her face.

"You know, if you want me to scream it later–" She started, rubbing his hard erection through the cloth with her knee. "I'll need a name~"

"Crimson." The man introduced himself, one hand going under her as his knuckles rubbed against her wet slit.

"You can call me Venti." She responded with a shiver. "Don't worry about being gentle. I can take it~"

His response was a quiet chuckle, almost sounding more like a scoff than anything, but Venti didn't pay it any mind as two of his fingers penetrated her folds, making her flinch. His other hand that was on her breast pinched her hard nipple. She trembled violently as he toyed with her body, taking her words to heart and not showing any mercy.

Two fingers inside her spasming insides were joined by one more, easily bringing her to the edge in seconds. He didn't stop there though, seemingly not satisfied with one orgasm as he brought her to orgasm after orgasm. She damned nearly begged him to stop, the pleasure quickly overwhelming her brain.

Thankfully he wasn't so cruel, giving her a moment of respite. Venti moaned loudly once Crimson pulled his fingers out, her pussy gushing out her juices and staining the bed. She looked down at his handiwork, thighs still trembling from the euphoria she just went through.

"Wow…" Venti breathed heavily, light-headed and watching him pull his pants down.

A dopey grin crossed her face once she saw the hard, twitching shaft aimed at her recently-flooded entrance.

"Y-you're impressive in more ways than one, I see." She said. "Most handsome, most skilled, and now the biggest I've had~"

"Still sure you don't want me to be gentle?" He whispered as he leaned close to her face. "If that just now wasn't any indication, you might never want to go back."

"You're such a gentleman, but I'm not a quitter." Venti responded. "So go ahead and break my pussy~"

Crimson simply shrugged, then rammed his entire length into her in a single motion.

Venti nearly passed out from the pleasure, eyes rolling back into her skull and mouth open in a silent scream. Crimson pushed her legs forward as he began to mercilessly pound into her, bringing her to climax with virtually every thrust.

She cried high and low as his cock ruined her for every other man in the world. Venti, in her burning lust for the man on top of her, grabbed him by the collar and forced him in a kiss, her legs wrapped around his waist for the sole reason of giving him better access to destroy her pussy.

"Harder!" She screamed as she pulled her lips away. "Break me! Make me yours!"

Her begging prompted him to give her what she wanted, speeding up his pace. Her tightening folds from the seemingly unending climax finally got a grunt out of him. Where she would moan and scream in pure pleasure, all she got from him was a single grunt, but she knew for certain that he was enjoying himself as every inch of his shaft destroyed her insides.

Crimson's thrusts got more and more erratic until finally, he stopped completely. Venti blacked out for a second as she felt his seed fill her up, rope after rope. She was quivering uncontrollably once he pulled out with a sigh of satisfaction, feeling his hot cum escape her folds and stain the sheets.

Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, but to her dismay, Crimson picked her up and without warning, pushed his still hard member back inside, drawing a cry of delight from her. He was even rougher with her this time as he pushed her against the wall, thrusting over and over without mercy.

She was still sensitive from earlier, and she tried to tell him that, but all that came out of her mouth were shrieks and squeals of joy as she once again wrapped her legs around him. Nobody had ever been this rough with her, all the partners from before had either tried too hard or passed out after the first round. This was so beyond every other experience she'd ever had as a woman, and she quickly realized that his warnings were not unfounded.

Once again, Crimson's movement was getting faster and faster. Venti understood what that meant, looking at him right in the eyes as she panted, a lust-crazed expression on her face.

"Inside!" She cried out. "Please! I want it all inside me!"

He only grinned as a response and did what she begged him to do, climaxing inside her once again. Venti threw her head back, tongue lolling out and eyes rolling back inside her skull. Her whole body twitched and trembled until Crimson let out the final spurt.

He pulled out and gently let her down, this time actually giving her a moment to rest. However, she realized he was still hard as his large cock throbbed in front of her face. Venti licked her lips and kissed the head, her green eyes never leaving his red ones.

Crimson patted her head as she licked the underside of the twitching member before he suddenly forced her to deepthroat his entire length. Of course, he wouldn't be this gentle this time either, she should've known better, but that little head pat had made her think otherwise. Oh well, it wasn't like she was against him choking her with his huge cock.

Which was exactly what he did, forcing her to clean his throbbing member with her mouth. Chokes, slurps, and gags were all that could be heard inside the bedroom. She could barely breathe, which only added to her excitement as she began to play with herself. If she hadn't gotten addicted to the mind-numbing pleasure from earlier, then she was definitely addicted to his taste now.

Seemingly tired himself, Crimson didn't last as long as the previous times, and simply pumped his seed directly through her throat and into her stomach, prompting her to squirt her juices on the wooden floor. Crimson pulled out just to paint her face white with the last few ropes, and she answered this gesture by opening her mouth and catching whatever she could with her tongue.

Crimson stepped back, chest heaving in exhaustion as an odd, annoyed frown took over his face. Venti made no mention of it, still trying to recover from his pounding and rough play that probably ruined her for other people. In fact, her eyelids felt a bit heavy right now. A few minutes of rest wouldn't be too bad, right? She was sure he'd let her be this time around, as he seemed tired as well. A small break was fine.

She felt herself getting carried suddenly, but was too weak to do anything about it. She expected another spike of pleasure that would jolt her awake, but that never happened. Instead, she felt herself being gently laid down on the soft bed.

Not even a minute passed before Venti started to snore, drifting off to dreamland.