Chapter 419: "Gold" (2-in-1 Chapter)

Mondstadt City, Maid Outfit Boutique.

A gentle breeze swept through the city, lifting Eula and Amber's silky, sunlit hair, revealing the delicate, fair contours of their ears.

In front of them stood a modest-sized shop specializing in all sorts of maid outfits.

According to Amber, this boutique had been in business for over ten years, with a consistently good reputation and high-quality clothing.

Moreover, the shop owner was known to be a reasonable person, someone who judged matters fairly.

She wouldn't treat Eula poorly just because of the bad reputation associated with other members of the Lawrence family.

After all, as the captain of the Reconnaissance Company, Eula frequently cleared out monsters in the wild, hunted down Abyss Order members, and protected Mondstadt.

With so much tangible work under her belt, it was impossible for people not to notice.

Thinking this, Nolan followed Amber and Eula as they stepped inside.

"Welcome! Oh, Honorary Knight, and Miss Eula and Amber... uh, do you all need maid outfits?"

The shop owner, a woman with golden hair, looked at the group with visible surprise.

She sold maid outfits—hardly the kind of attire she'd expect these distinguished guests to be interested in. Was something going on?

I've paid all my taxes properly, the shop owner thought nervously, wondering if there was a problem with her business.

Seeing the surprised look on the owner's face, Eula and Amber felt a bit awkward, quietly debating how to respond.

They couldn't just tell the truth. As Knights of Favonius, becoming maids would harm the image of the Order. But if they stayed silent, the owner might start overthinking things...

Ugh, we should've just sent Nolan to buy them by himself!

Noticing their discomfort, Nolan smiled and stepped in to explain:

"Actually, we're conducting a survey of the clothing industry. The Knights of Favonius are concerned about the quality of garments sold in Mondstadt."

He continued smoothly, "So we've randomly selected a few shops for quality inspections. And, well, your boutique happens to be one of them."

As soon as Nolan finished, Eula and Amber quickly nodded in agreement, as if to say, Exactly, that's the reason.

Phew... Thank goodness Nolan was quick on his feet—if they'd blurted out the truth in a panic, it would've been so embarrassing.

[Amber Has Developed Good Feelings Toward You. Obtained 120 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv. 8 (250/800)]

[Eula Has Developed Good Feelings Toward You. Obtained 150 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv. 8 (100/800)]

Their affection toward Nolan ticked up slightly, grateful that he had smoothed over the awkward situation.

"Oh, I see!" The shop owner sighed in relief. "I thought there was some issue with my shop."

She was confident in the quality of the clothing she sold, so a survey didn't bother her much.

Her smile returned as she said, "No problem at all! You're free to inspect however you'd like!"

"Hehe, then let's quickly pick out a few outfits at random. We still have other places to visit later," Nolan replied with a gentle smile.

While speaking, he used the Waymark to mentally ask Eula and Amber for their clothing sizes.

Maintaining calm expressions, Eula and Amber mentally relayed their measurements to him.

Once Nolan had the sizes, he scanned the shop with his spiritual power, quickly identifying maid outfits that fit their specifications.

In no time, he selected a few suitable sets and asked the owner to pack them up.

The shop owner smiled warmly and got to work, neatly folding four different maid outfits and placing them into bags.

"How much is it in total?" Nolan asked.

Even though it was technically a survey, they still needed to pay.

"Well, Honorary Knight, the outfits you picked are made from premium materials and belong to well-known brands. The total comes to 530,000 Mora."

She continued, "Of course, since it's you buying them, I'll give you a 20% discount and round it down—a total of 420,000 Mora. That's already very close to the cost price."

With over a decade of experience running her shop, the owner had honed her mental math skills to perfection, calculating the discounted price effortlessly.

"Alright, no problem!"

Nolan smiled and readily pulled out the Mora to pay.

As the Honorary Knight, he was entitled to a 20% discount when purchasing from businesses affiliated with the Knights, but private shops weren't obligated to offer the same.

That the owner willingly offered a discount was quite generous.

In their hearts, Eula and Amber thought, There's really no need to buy something this expensive, but Nolan dismissed their concerns.

When buying something for girls you like, you can't be stingy.

"Let's go to the next shop," Nolan said, carrying the bags with the maid outfits as he turned to Eula and Amber.

The two girls sighed almost imperceptibly but had no choice except to follow him out of the shop.

They had no intention of visiting another store. Instead, after turning a corner at the street's edge, they opened a spatial rift and stepped into the Wonderland.

At this hour, the space was typically occupied only by Mona, who busied herself with star chart research in the study area. Occasionally, she would return to her rented lab in Mondstadt to mail out manuscripts and collect her payments.

In the original storyline, Mona had much the same lifestyle—holed up in her lab conducting research whenever she wasn't fretting over Mora.

"Let's change into the outfits, Eula. It might be fun to experience the life of a maid, just for a change." Amber's fair face lit up with a smile, her excitement about the upcoming roleplay evident.

Eula brushed her icy blue hair behind her ear and nodded slightly. "Alright. But first, let's have the clothes cleaned with Hydro. It's better to wear them freshly washed."

New clothes, after all, collected dust from hanging in the shop. A quick wash would make them feel more pristine.

"Sure thing."

Nolan took the outfits and gently cleansed them using Hydro energy, then skillfully evaporated the remaining moisture. The process was quick and effortless.

With that done, Eula and Amber headed to the bathroom to change, leaving Nolan waiting expectantly on the sofa.

But just as he sat down, barely feeling the cushion beneath him, a new discovery from the Lumine's Sword God caught his attention.

---

The Abyss, approximately 60 kilometers northeast of the Shadow Bear Territory

Since morning, Nolan had been remotely piloting the Lumine's Sword God around the outskirts of the Shadow Bear's domain. The landscape was a barren stretch of desert and rocky wasteland, where even spotting a single plant felt like a miracle.

But as the Lumine's Sword God passed by a cliffside towering dozens of meters high, he noticed something unusual at its base—a crack, about two to three meters wide.

At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary fissure.

Nolan hadn't thought much of it until he saw a green-eyed raven emerge from the crevice.

Instantly, his mind flashed back to the Beastrealm creatures they had encountered at Wuwang Hill alongside Hu Tao and Lumine—those green-eyed ravens.

Could this be their nest? Nolan stroked his chin thoughtfully.

He vividly remembered how troublesome those creatures had been, especially the time his sword-formed avatar was dispersed by some entity's psychic power from within a spatial rift.

While he couldn't be certain these were the exact same ravens, finding Rift creatures here was reason enough not to let the opportunity slip by.

He needed the Adventure EXP.

And if they were the same ones, he wasn't about to let old grudges go unpaid.

With his decision made, Nolan guided the Lumine's Sword God down towards the crevice in the cliffside.

In just a few seconds, the avatar hovered at the edge of the fissure.

Relying on the fact that his sword-formed projection was immune to physical attacks, he didn't hesitate to send it inside.

If it were his real body, he might have been more cautious. But avatars? They were made for taking risks.

Through the Lumine's Sword God's eyes, Nolan saw the inside of the crevice was incredibly narrow—just wide enough for a single person to squeeze through.

Luckily, the avatar faced no such limitations. Even without a proper path, it could slip through effortlessly.

The deeper it flew, the darker it became. After about ten minutes, the narrow crevice opened into an ancient corridor, dim but no longer pitch-black.

Glowing spherical stone orbs lined both sides of the corridor, casting an eerie light in perfectly spaced intervals.

The structure bore unmistakable signs of artificial construction.

Could people have been here before? Or perhaps it's the work of an intelligent species native to the Abyss? Nolan's mind buzzed with questions.

He steered the Lumine's Sword God further inside, eyes sharp for any clues.

But before he could uncover anything substantial, the bathroom door in the Wonderland creaked open.

Eula and Amber stepped out together.

They were dressed in high-quality, black-and-white maid outfits.

The differences between them were subtle but distinct.

Eula's skirt was longer, cascading over her shapely legs, which were clad in sheer black stockings. The hem brushed just above her black high heels, revealing glimpses of her fair skin through the semi-transparent fabric.

Amber's maid outfit, on the other hand, featured a shorter skirt. She wore white over-the-knee socks instead of black stockings, leaving the soft, pale skin of her thighs exposed above the sock line.

Both women approached Nolan, lifting their skirts slightly as they performed a curtsey, right leg stepping back half a pace in unison.

"Good morning, Master. Is there anything you need us to do?" they intoned solemnly.

Nolan blinked, taking in the sight of them in their maid attire. They looked incredibly cute, but even with their perfect mimicry, something felt a bit off—they were missing the authentic maid aura.

Not that it was surprising, considering neither of them had ever worked as maids before.

He chuckled softly, covering his mouth with a loose fist and clearing his throat. "You don't have to be that formal. It feels kinda weird."

"That won't do, Master," Amber said cheerfully, patting her half-exposed chest. Her brilliant white teeth flashed in a smile. "Eula said if we're going to do this, we should do it right! Just give us any orders you like!"

Eula shot Amber a sideways glance, raising her right hand—covered in a black, silk sleeve patterned with delicate lace—and touched her forehead with a sigh. "Amber… A proper maid doesn't flash her teeth when she smiles. Movements should be gentle and measured, reflecting the poise and elegance of a true lady."

"Eh? Really? I thought putting on the outfit and calling you 'Master' was enough. Noelle didn't teach me any of that…" Amber scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

"Haha, it's just a little roleplay for a few days. You don't need to overthink it," Nolan laughed, unable to hide his amusement.

At that moment, he noticed something strange through the "Sword God of Lumine," and turned to Eula and Amber, saying:

"How about this—since everything's already tidy here and there's nothing much to clean, how about you both give me a shoulder massage?"

"Massage, huh? Hmm, that does seem like something a maid would do." Eula pondered for a moment, then nodded and added, "Since it's Honorahem—since it's Master's request, we must of course comply! Amber, you take the left side, I'll handle the right!"

After speaking, she glanced at Amber, then sat down on Nolan's right, placing her hands—covered in black silk with intricate patterns—on his right shoulder and began to knead gently.

Nolan felt the soft touch of the girl's fingers on his shoulder. Though there wasn't much technique to it, just the sensation of Eula's delicate hands was enough to leave him thoroughly satisfied.

"Got it! No problem!" Amber chirped, giving a slight nod before excitedly sitting on Nolan's left and joining in with her pale, soft fingers kneading his other shoulder.

Leaning back into the sofa, Nolan enjoyed the massage from Eula and Amber while focusing most of his attention on the "Sword God of Lumine."

After flying through the ruin corridor for a long time, the "Sword God of Lumine" finally reached a more open space.

Wooden crates were stacked on both sides, and ahead lay another passage leading deeper inside.

Nolan didn't immediately press forward. Instead, he chose to search the area to see if there was anything worth finding.

First, there were two wooden crates on the left. He manipulated the "Sword God of Lumine" to summon a golden longsword and slashed the lid of one crate horizontally.

Puff!

A cloud of purple mist burst from the crate as if something had exhaled.

Nolan instinctively had the "Sword God of Lumine" dodge, but then remembered that whether it was poison gas or something else, it couldn't actually harm his sword projection.

So he stopped dodging and simply waved out a gust of sword wind, dispersing all the purple mist.

Soon, with the mist cleared, the "Sword God of Lumine" floated back to inspect the crate and discovered that inside wasn't just any random item.

It was an exquisite treasure chest!

Nolan felt a twinge of confusion. A treasure chest? Isn't that something you'd only find in Teyvat? How is there one here in the Beast Realm?

Earlier, when the "Sword God of Lumine" scouted around the Shadow Bear Territory for so long, there wasn't even a sign of an ordinary chest.

But now, inside these ruins, not only was there a treasure chest, it was an exquisite one, hidden inside a box filled with purple mist.

This is way too strange… Could it have been brought here by someone from Teyvat?

When thinking about someone who might do that, only one person came to mind: "Gold"—Rheindottir, the creator of abyss monsters in the Beast Realm and Albedo's master!

With that suspicion in mind, Nolan had the "Sword God of Lumine" lift the exquisite treasure chest from the crate and place it on the ground.

No matter how strange this is, he thought, for an adventurer, finding a treasure chest means opening it—that's the greatest respect you can give to both the chest and yourself!

The "Sword God of Lumine" dismissed her golden sword, placed her solidified hand on the chest's lid—

Click!

With a soft sound, the contents of the exquisite treasure chest were revealed before the "Sword God of Lumine."

(End of Chapter)

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