Chapter 42: Honorary Knight, Neither Honorable, Nor Knight

The dark clouds over Mondstadt had dissipated by the time the Lady's carriage slowly entered the city.

"Why is the city so deserted?" the Lady wondered. She was unaware that Mondstadt had been attacked by Dvalin, the Wind Dragon, and was puzzled by the unusually empty streets. Her eyes wandered, eventually fixing on the Deer Hunter Restaurant—or rather, on a particular customer sitting outside the establishment.

The customer was a striking girl with cascading purple hair and delicate features, dressed in a purple kimono that added an air of elegance. She was seated opposite a green-haired woman, looking at her with a resentful expression while talking incessantly.

What caught the Lady's attention, however, was the girl's appearance—it was identical to someone from her memories.

Huh? Even for someone who had lived for centuries, this was a first. The Lady was momentarily stunned.

But the carriage didn't stop, and by the time she snapped out of her daze, it had already moved far away, leaving the figure blurred and indistinct. Was that just... an illusion? she thought, doubting herself.

No, that's not right! The Lady immediately dismissed the idea. Could it be "reincarnation," as the people of Liyue often say? Or... did she not die at all and has somehow survived for five hundred years?

As these thoughts raced through her mind, the Lady's heart began to beat faster. The idea that she might be able to "rekindle their past relationship" with this person brought an innocent, childlike smile to the face of the usually arrogant Fatui executive.

…

At the same time, Kujo Tsumugi was narrowing her eyes, watching the Fatui carriage disappear into the distance, a hint of doubt flashing in her gaze.

Thanks to her talent for foreseeing danger, she had detected the carriage long before it arrived and had guessed that the intense sense of danger was due to a Fatui executive. But strangely, as soon as the carriage passed, the overwhelming sense of danger vanished.

What's going on? Is my talent malfunctioning? Puzzled, Tsumugi scratched her head but found no answers. She could only turn back to her conversation. "So, the Knights of Favonius are actually a bunch of guys who take money but do nothing. Even if the Knights went bankrupt, it wouldn't affect Mondstadt's security."

"Do you really think I'm going to believe that nonsense?" Kuki Shinobu responded with an eye roll.

Tsk. That's the problem with smart people—they're too hard to fool, Tsumugi thought. However, what she said wasn't entirely wrong. The remaining Knights of Favonius in Mondstadt weren't particularly effective. In the game, the Knights only did two things during the player's adventures in Mondstadt:

Escort me to Mondstadt. Leave all the hard work to me.

Even after successfully defending the city from monsters, I had to clean up the chevaux de frise and Hilichurl arrow shields. The Knights of Favonius' real mission in Mondstadt was to convince the citizens they were being protected.

"Um... Excuse me, Miss Kujo?" A Knight of Favonius approached, interrupting the conversation between Tsumugi and Shinobu.

"Grandmaster Jean asked me to invite you to her office for a chat."

Looks like my plan worked, Tsumugi thought, a smile of success appearing on her face.

Before leaving Grandmaster Jean's office a few days ago, she had deliberately warned Jean to be cautious of Dvalin's attack on Mondstadt, ensuring that Jean would trust her intelligence. After all, if her information proved unreliable, her reputation as an intelligence dealer would be worthless.

"Alright then, Shinobu, you head back to the hotel and wait for me," Tsumugi said, standing up and bidding Shinobu goodbye. She then followed the Knight of Favonius to Grandmaster Jean's office.

"Honorary Knight? What's that?" she heard a clear, delicate female voice say as she reached the door.

"An Honorary Knight is just another term for someone being taken advantage of in Mondstadt," Tsumugi remarked, stopping the Knight of Favonius from knocking and instead pushing the door open herself. "So-called Honorary Knights have neither honor nor knighthood. They don't enjoy power but must fulfill their obligations to protect Mondstadt during critical times... like now. And the most important point is... Honorary Knights don't get paid."

Tsumugi's words made everyone in the room turn to look at her. In addition to Jean and Lisa, whom she had seen before, there was also a girl with golden hair dressed in white, exotic clothing. It was undoubtedly Lumine.

Floating next to Lumine was Paimon, about the size of a small child.

"What, no salary? Then we won't be Honorary Knights!" Paimon immediately protested, grabbing Lumine's hair and urging her to leave.

"Is that true?" Lumine asked Jean, not fully trusting Tsumugi's words.

Jean's face flushed slightly, and she nodded almost imperceptibly.

"But... this is all we can offer at the moment. We really appreciate your help in defeating Dvalin!" Jean said, her voice filled with sincerity.

"Is that so? Does that mean the Knights of Favonius have no Mora left?" Tsumugi asked, picking up on the subtle detail in Jean's words.

"This…" Jean hesitated, her expression growing awkward.

"Let me explain that part~" Lisa's lazy voice chimed in as she stepped in to help her friend. "As you know, Mondstadt is the City of Freedom, so its taxation has always been the lowest among the seven nations.

"Additionally, with Liyue so close by, Mondstadt struggles to export and earn foreign exchange... As a result, a significant portion of our Mora flows to neighboring countries. On top of that, Grandmaster Varka took a substantial amount of Mora for the expedition, leaving us with pensions and wages for a large number of retired Knights, and..." Lisa trailed off, glancing at Jean, who had lowered her head in shame.

"An upright character is a fine quality for a knight, but it's not the best for handling finances."