Chapter 418: The Maid (2-in-1 Chapter)
"Phew, that hit the spot!"
Beidou leaned back against her chair after finishing her meal, taking a hearty swig from her flask, clearly satisfied.
"As expected of Xiangling's cooking! I feel alive again after eating her food. It's great when she's not forcing me to taste those new dishes made with slime condensate!"
Hu Tao gave Xiangling, who was busy cooking in Wanmin Restaurant, a big thumbs-up.
"I'm heading to the docks now. The Alcor should be back by now. I also need to finalize the shipping arrangements with the merchant guilds for tomorrow morning. I'll get going ahead of you all!"
Beidou stood up and bid her farewells.
"Alright, see you later, Beidou!" Nolan waved her off.
As Beidou's figure disappeared around the street corner, Keqing pulled out a small towel she carried with her and gently dabbed at her mouth.
She turned to Nolan and said,
"You really did the heavy lifting today—sorry to trouble you. The number of Treasure Hoarders under our control has been steadily increasing.
"With so many people, the dozen or so we initially controlled might not be able to keep them all in check. In a few days, I'd like to ask you to set Command Spells on the new ones we haven't dealt with yet."
Nolan, of course, didn't mind and readily agreed.
"Of course, no problem. It's important to see things through to the end, after all."
"Thank you again for your hard work!"
A rare smile graced Keqing's fair face.
[Keqing Has Developed Good Feelings Toward You. Obtained 280 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.7 (40/700)]
"It's nothing, really!"
Nolan, seeing the affection notification pop up, felt quite pleased.
"No, even though we're good friends, I can't just ask for your help without offering something in return—especially since this is work for Liyue Harbor," Keqing said, resting her chin thoughtfully on her hand before continuing,
"Given that our covert control over the Treasure Hoarders isn't exactly something we can publicly announce, the Liyue Qixing can't formally reward you.
"But you can tell me if there's something you want. If it's not too difficult, I'll take care of it personally.
"If it's something more complicated, I can discuss it with the other Qixing."
Nolan was both surprised and delighted by her words. He smiled and said,
"Well, since you're offering, any weapons, artifacts, or other valuable treasures will do.
"I'm just collecting them. My portable space has a special property—it expands when I collect valuable items."
He gave a brief explanation and straightforwardly stated his request without being overly polite.
"I see, so you need treasures. That's no problem. The next time I visit, I'll bring your reward with me!"
For someone like Keqing, a member of the Liyue Qixing, this was hardly a difficult request.
"Hehe, what about me? I tagged along too! Don't I get a reward?"
Hu Tao shot Keqing a mischievous look.
"You, Hu Tao, just wandered around with us. You didn't really help, did you?"
Keqing crossed her arms, looking at her with mild exasperation.
"Hey, companionship is a kind of contribution too!" Hu Tao said, shaking her head as if stating an obvious fact.
"Alright, fine. I'll cover the cost of this meal."
Keqing feigned resignation.
"Oh, come on, you were planning to do that from the start, weren't you?" Hu Tao muttered, folding her arms.
They chatted and joked for a while longer. After Keqing paid for the meal, she bid them goodbye, leaving just Nolan and Hu Tao.
"I'll walk you back to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor," Nolan offered.
---
Wonderland
After seeing Hu Tao back to the funeral parlor, Nolan returned home.
Everyone had already finished work and dinner, and they were relaxing in the living room. When Nolan came in, Lisa walked over, leaned in, and sniffed him teasingly.
"Oh my, I smell lots of unfamiliar girls' scents on you. Who did you go and mess with this time~?"
"Just making friends, nothing more," Nolan said as he wrapped an arm around Lisa's waist, pressing his lips against her soft, cherry-colored ones.
"Mmm." Lisa closed her eyes and responded to his kiss.
A few minutes passed.
Nolan held Lisa close, his left arm wrapped around her smooth, fair back, while his right hand supported her behind the knees, feeling the soft pressure of her thighs encased in black stockings. He lifted her up and carried her over to the sofa.
Then he lay down, resting his head on Jean's lap while still holding Lisa in his arms, letting her continue kissing him.
Jean sighed, covering her forehead with a hand in mild exasperation.
Can't you take this back to your room? Do you really have to use me as a pillow for this to be fun? She sighed again before saying,
"The Abyss Frontline Base has stabilized. The Adventurers' Guild will soon start inviting strong adventurers to explore the otherworld.
"Before that, I'd like you to scout the area around the base. If there are any overly powerful monsters nearby, it could cause significant casualties among the adventurers."
Because the monsters in the Beast Realm were incredibly dangerous, only elite adventurers would be invited. But even for them, entering such an unfamiliar environment could be risky—past experiences might not be reliable.
And that's when accidents are most likely to happen.
If a large number of elite adventurers were to be lost, it would be a significant blow to Mondstadt. It's best to prevent such a situation from happening.
Furthermore, the collaboration between the Knights of Favonius and the Adventurers' Guild in exploring the Beast Realm is not meant for them to serve as cannon fodder.
The main objective is to conduct a geographical survey of the magical beast colonies within the Beast Realm.
Once enough information is gathered, a thorough plan can be formulated to clear them out—only then can the responsibility of the Knights be properly demonstrated.
This investigation requires a large number of personnel.
If there are heavy casualties early on, no adventurer would be willing to participate in future expeditions.
Naturally, Nolan agreed to this plan. After all, the "Sword God of Lumine" was already in the Beast Realm—he could simply control "her" tomorrow and have her scout around.
If any formidable magical beasts were discovered, he could take them down along the way, earning a large amount of Adventure EXP.
However, since he couldn't speak at the moment, he could only use the "Waymark" to send a message to Captain Jean: "No problem."
As he gently stroked Lisa's smooth, fair back, Nolan opened his character panel:
[Adventure EXP: 75,761]
Previously, he had spent some Adventure EXP to enhance the "Wavebreaker" sword technique, which left him with just over 18,000 points. Defeating the Geo Hypostasis had rewarded him with more than 57,000 points.
Adding it all up, he now had about 75,000.
Next, he planned to max out the "Cloudlancer Sword Style" that he had learned from Keqing.
After that, he would fuse it with the "Chihayaburu Kamisato My Style" and four other secret sword techniques. This time, surely it would finally advance to the "Arcane" level!
Nolan felt confident.
Adventure EXP - 44,999
Cloudlancer Sword Style · Secret Art Technique Lv.1 (1/1000) → Cloudlancer Sword Style · Secret Art Technique Lv.10 (Max Level)
Upon reaching max level, as always, three enhancement options for its original exceptional traits were presented.
After carefully reviewing them, he ultimately chose the one called "Phantom Blades."
The Cloudlancer Sword Style was already known for its speed and sharpness, and "Phantom Blades" further enhanced its swiftness.
A single thrust would now produce multiple afterimages, each dealing about half the damage of the actual blade.
It was extremely powerful.
Nolan then proceeded with the fusion, starting with "Wavebreaker Sword Technique" and "Chihayaburu Kamisato My Style."
The fusion resulted in "Chihayaburu Kamisato Wavebreaker Style," which only changed a single character in its name while gaining the "Phantom Blades" enhancement.
However, it still didn't advance to Arcane level.
He knew that whether he succeeded depended on the Cloudlancer Sword Style. But even if it failed, it would still strengthen the foundation of his existing sword techniques.
Cloudlancer Sword Style · Secret Lv.10 (Phantom Blades) + Chihayaburu Kamisato Wavebreaker Style · Secret Art Lv.10 (Snowfall, Clarity, Flowing Maple Autumn Plains, Shatter) → Thousand Phantom Cloudlancer Sword Style · Arcane Level Lv.1 (0/5000)
On his character panel, the two sword techniques distorted and fused, ultimately forming a brand-new skill—
Thousand Phantom Cloudlancer Sword Style! And, as expected, it had advanced to Arcane Level level!
Not only did it retain and further amplify all of its previous exceptional traits, but it also gained a new effect.
Unfortunately, just like Source Flow Sword Technique, he needed to max it out to unlock its true potential.
And maxing it out required 275,000 Adventure EXP.
Nolan glanced at his character panel:
Name: Nolan Walker
Level: Lv90 (0/900,000)
Race: Human
Titles: Honorary Knight, Distinguished Citizen of Liyue, Legendary Adventurer, Honorary General of Watatsumi Island
Innate Talent: Entangling Affection
Skills:
- Sword God of Lumine · Arcane Level (Sharp Intent)
- Source-Flow Swordsmanship: Okuden Lv.10 (Boundless Secrets)
- Thousand Phantom Cloudlancer Sword Style · Arcane Level Lv.1 (0/5000)
- Form Concealment · Secret Art Lv.10 (Domain)
- Martial Arts Lv.10 (Subtle Mastery)
- Anemo Manipulation Lv.10 (Max Level),
- Ninjutsu: Smoke Bomb Lv.1 (1/1,000)
- Ninjutsu: Stealth Technique Lv.1 (1/1,000)
Specialties:
- [Descender]
- [Maiden Savior]
- [Monster Slayer]
- [Abundant Life]
- [The Gospel of the Sky]
- [North Wind]
- [Harmony]
- [Spiritual Threads]
- [Millennium Body]
- [Blue Vortex]
- [Battery Body]
- [Elemental Immunity]
- [Command Seal]
- [Spiritual Core (Previous Soul Rank)]
- [Thoughtless Thunder]
Adventure EXP: 30,762
Only around 30,000 Adventure EXP remained. He would have to rely on the Sword God of Lumine to make a big haul in the Beast Realm tomorrow.
Otherwise, there was no way to quickly earn over 200,000 Adventure EXP in the short term.
Having obtained a new Arcane Level level sword technique, Nolan was in a good mood. He hugged Lisa, rolled over, and pinned her beneath him.
---
The next morning.
Upon waking up, Nolan first checked on the status of Divine Salt in the warehouse. Then, together with Lumine and Paimon, he teleported to Yoimiya and headed to Tenshukaku.
After finishing their research on Temporal Power with Raiden Ei, he practiced swordsmanship with the Shogun before taking leave, stating he had personal matters to attend to.
Raiden Shogun did not refuse and allowed him to go, continuing to instruct Lumine on her own.
As Nolan left Tenshukaku, he saw Kujou Sara walking inside. He greeted her before teleporting to Eula's side.
The sky above Mondstadt was clear, with only a single white cloud resembling a Sweet Flower drifting lazily. The weather was bright and pleasant.
Today marked the first day of Eula and Amber's agreed time off, during which they promised to be his maids for a few days. Naturally, he wasn't going to miss this.
He had also agreed last night to help Captain Jean scout the area around the front-line base in the Beast Realm, and that task was running simultaneously.
Splitting his attention between tasks wasn't difficult for Nolan at this point.
He could easily enjoy the maid services of Eula and Amber while simultaneously controlling the "Sword God of Lumine" to scout the Beast Realm.
At present, he was already maneuvering "Sword God of Lumine," just like last time, circling swiftly around the Shadow Bear's territory and gradually expanding outward to investigate.
While this method was a bit slow, it was thorough and ensured nothing was overlooked.
The area near the Shadow Bear's territory was still dominated by red wastelands, and so far, there had been no significant findings.
I'll just keep looking for now.
"By the way, hasn't Amber arrived yet?" Nolan asked Eula beside him.
"She's probably delayed on the way," Eula replied, her hands resting lightly on her abdomen as she gazed thoughtfully at the fountain nearby.
They were at the fountain plaza in front of the Good Hunter restaurant in Mondstadt, where they had agreed to meet before heading out to buy maid outfits.
After all, wearing the maid outfit was the defining mark of being a true maid—there was no doubt about that.
"Well, I'll just ask her," Nolan said, preparing to use the "Waymark" for a long-distance call to Amber.
Before he could, a fiery red figure leapt down from the street above the fountain plaza, landing right in front of them.
A pair of red bunny-ear hair ties, goggles hanging around her neck, the female Knights of Favonius uniform hugging her frame, and her legs wrapped in white over-the-knee boots.
Of course, it was none other than Amber.
She took a few deep breaths to steady herself before saying, "Sorry! On my way from the Knights, I stopped to ask Noelle for some tips on being a maid, and we got so caught up chatting, I almost lost track of time."
After speaking, Amber scratched her cheek sheepishly.
"See? I told you she got held up," Eula said, spreading her hands and glancing at Nolan.
"Haha, it's fine. We haven't been waiting long anyway," Nolan chuckled, nodding.
"And next time, just teleport over—you don't have to tire yourself out running."
"Uh, well... I kind of wanted to get some exercise," Amber replied, awkwardly shifting her gaze.
In truth, she'd panicked when she realized she was running late and instinctively dashed over, forgetting she could teleport.
Ugh, that's so embarrassing…
"True, there's really no need to rush. Just treat this like a vacation," Nolan said with a smile before continuing, "Alright, let's go buy those maid outfits.
"Do you two know which shop is the most popular?"
"Well… I don't really pay much attention to that kind of thing," Eula replied, shaking her head.
As a member of the Lawrence clan, she was never warmly received in clothing stores, even if she wanted to shop.
The Lawrences were notoriously arrogant, unable to let go of their past glory. Most of them believed that clothes sold by commoners weren't worthy of their status.
Rather than visiting those shops, they preferred to make their own clothes.
The Lawrence family did have a clothing business, but they didn't operate in Mondstadt. Instead, they made garments and sold them abroad.
After all, Mondstadt wasn't exactly a friendly environment for the Lawrences.
Most family members would get their clothes from their own businesses, believing that only their people truly understood their needs.
As for Eula, her current attire was custom-made by the Knights of Favonius, so she had no need to shop for clothes elsewhere.
For all these reasons, Eula honestly had no idea which clothing store in Mondstadt was the best.
"Hehe, leave it to me! I patrol the city all the time—I know Mondstadt like the back of my hand!"
Amber raised her right hand enthusiastically, volunteering herself for the task.
(End of Chapter)
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