On the way back to the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
Lumine asked about the other faction present at the scene—
The Fatui of Snezhnaya.
Jean began explaining to them.
Snezhnaya is a nation that serves the Cryo Archon, one of The Seven.
Mondstadt and Snezhnaya are equals, both being one of the seven nations of this world.
Mondstadt is an independent city-state, not subordinate to any other nation.
Snezhnaya is simply structured differently in terms of governance, hence the difference in titles.
And the "Fatui" are the emissaries of Snezhnaya.
In terms of diplomacy, the Fatui of Snezhnaya are likely the most dominant faction on the continent.
Paimon chimed in.
"That's right! That woman from earlier was so obviously unpleasant just from the way she spoke."
Jean sighed.
"This is exactly why I said I didn't want to discuss these matters on the street."
"The fact that the Cryo Archon, one of The Seven, would covet the power of the Anemo Archon's familiar is highly suspicious."
Lumine voiced her confusion.
"Why would a diplomatic envoy dare to act so arrogantly?"
"Because the Fatui have Eleven Harbingers."
Paimon: "The Fatui Harbingers?"
Jean: "Correct. These Eleven Harbingers each have their own codename and ranking."
"The higher their rank, the stronger their personal power."
"That Fatui member mentioned 'The Fair Lady'—she is the Eighth of the Fatui Harbingers."
"That's also why their subordinate diplomats act so brazenly."
Earth Livestream
This was another short segment of new dialogue.
It revealed information about the Fatui Harbingers earlier than expected.
[If just the Eighth Seat is this arrogant, what about the ones above her?]
[Pfft, the Eighth Seat? You think our Brother Mu even cares about her?]
Guinaifen sipped her milk tea while commenting.
"Seems like the Fatui aren't all that impressive, huh?"
[Confirmed: This streamer is a Mu Yang fan. Didn't you see how even Acting Grand Master Jean couldn't do anything about them?]
[Minor spoiler: There's a scene with The Fair Lady later. I love bad women.]
[You 'love' a new one every day. You're just horny.]
"There's a scene with The Fair Lady later?"
Guinaifen was surprised.
"Will she fight Mu Yang? Given how our Mu Yang just acted, he didn't even spare her a glance."
[Streamer, don't get ahead of yourself. I also hope Mu Yang beats her up. I'm a Venti main.]
[Dude, stop spoiling!]
After entering the Knights of Favonius headquarters,
Lumine took out the corrupted crystal.
She was then granted the title of Honorary Knight by Jean,
who hoped she could uncover the truth behind Stormterror's rampage and the mystery of these strange crystals.
It was a matter of Mondstadt's peace.
"May the wind clear your eyes and guide you to the truth."
"If you discover anything new, we shall meet again here."
Afterward, Lumine bid farewell to the Knights and left the headquarters.
Once they were a fair distance away,
Paimon whispered sneakily.
"Hey... there's something you didn't mention earlier."
"Along the way, besides meeting Mu Yang, the dragon, and the crystal, there was one more thing..."
Paimon was referring to the green-clad figure who spoke to the dragon.
Lumine replied, "I don't think he seemed like a bad person. I wanted to investigate on my own first."
Paimon: "So you do remember him! That green guy."
"—He's dressed just as green as that random person downstairs!"
Lumine put her hands on her hips and stared at Paimon.
"What a coincidence. Even the shade of green is identical."
Paimon nodded. "Mhm, mhm."
Lumine karate-chopped Paimon's little head.
"Mhm your head! It's the same person! After him!"
Only then did Paimon react. "Oh! Oh!"
Lumine and Paimon chased after Venti.
What was Mu Yang up to?
He was at the Cat's Tail Tavern, watching the livestream to keep tabs on Lumine's movements.
The other patrons were giving Mu Yang strange looks—
though not because he was staring blankly at his glass.
(The system interface was, of course, invisible to others.)
But because Mu Yang was covered in cats.
The Cat's Tail Tavern.
As the name suggested, its main appeal was adorable cats.
It was similar to a cat café, though Mondstadters weren't like Fontaine's civil servants.
Aside from Jean, almost no one in Mondstadt drank coffee.
They only drank alcohol.
Hence, the Cat's Tail Tavern.
The most impressive thing about the tavern was that its bartender was also a cat—well, a catgirl.
"Ugh, you drunkards! Drinking so much in broad daylight—I'm not making anything else for you!"
Diona, the bartender, was as disdainful of alcoholics as ever.
She wanted to destroy Mondstadt's alcohol industry.
She aimed to mix the most disgusting drinks possible so these drunkards would never touch alcohol again.
Unfortunately, reality had other plans.
No matter what she concocted, the customers' reactions were always the same—
Delicious. Love it. Another round.
This frustrated Diona to no end.
Seeing her like this,
the customers knew she was tough on the outside but soft inside.
"Come on, Diona, I've only had one glass. Just one more, and I'll leave—I won't get drunk, promise."
Diona pouted.
"One glass after another—why can't you all just drink refreshing juice like that gentleman over there?!"
Diona was referring to Mu Yang.
When Mu Yang first entered the Cat's Tail Tavern,
he immediately sensed Diona's intensely unfriendly glare.
Knowing that little Diona disliked rowdy drunks,
he simply ordered a glass of juice.
It wasn't like Mu Yang was a heavy drinker anyway.
Hearing his order, Diona's expression instantly brightened.
She mixed his drink herself and brought it to his seat by the window.
Then, she froze in shock.
Nearly every cat in the tavern
had gathered around Mu Yang.
Even the ones that usually avoided strangers
were rubbing against him.
Diona set down the glass.
Mu Yang thanked her,
then asked, "Are the cats here always this clingy?"
"No, they're usually quite mischievous. Maybe it's because you're not drinking, so they like you."
As Diona spoke, she glanced at Mu Yang's face—
and suddenly felt her cheeks grow warm.
A strange sensation bubbled up inside her.
Then she realized her words could be taken another way—
that she was also a "cat" who preferred customers who didn't drink.
Too embarrassing.
"I'm going back to mixing drinks. Enjoy your drink."
With that, she hurried back to the counter.
Mu Yang was actually a little speechless too.
He knew why the cats were drawn to him.
He had activated the "Animal Affinity" setting he'd added earlier.
He'd added this setting for two reasons.
First, to make his encounters and companionship with friends like Fujin, Lingyuan, and Yaojun feel more natural.
(They counted as animals, right...?)
Second, to add a gap moe element to himself.
Genshin already had so many characters with gap moe—
so it made sense for him to have some too.
But he never expected
this "Animal Affinity" to be this overpowered.
It had literally attracted every cat in the tavern.
Some customers had been happily drinking while petting their cats,
only for their feline companions to suddenly leap away
and start rubbing against Mu Yang's legs.
Good grief, stealing people's cats in broad daylight.
Even more absurd, this "Animal Affinity" seemed to affect races like Diona's too.
The way Diona had blushed earlier...
was very concerning.
"If Lumine walks in later and Diona can't resist rushing over to cling to me..."
"With her petite appearance, this game would be so over."
Mu Yang could only pray silently in his heart.