Sai felt the sun shine in his face as he slept. He felt like sleeping more, for he was having a pleasant dream about a… never mind that.
He straightened himself in a hurry, for he realized he had slept for too long. He needed to think about his next steps before meeting up with the characters. 'I should really change how I address them'. It was always a risk to get involved in a transaction without information or a plan.
Besides, he could be summoned by the player at any moment, and that scared him a little.
He went for the washroom as soon as he could properly walk, as is the routine of the modern man (most of them, at least). After he felt clean, he went to the reception to ask for a meal.
And that is how he spent the next few hours: thinking, exercising when he felt a barrier in his thoughts, and eating when the food arrived. As a matter of fact, Sai didn't usually exercise, he was more of the intellectual type, but he liked playing soccer and some other sports a lot. Hence, his body wasn't strong, but it was lean and healthy.
He had no watch, but the sun was past midpoint in the sky when he heard the knock on his door.
"Mr. Sai. There is someone by the name of Amber here to see you." Sai recognised the voice as the receptionist of the inn.
"I was sent by Grand Master Jean to bring you to her office. She said it is urgent and apologizes for the inconvenience." Amber's voice followed.
Sai was slightly bothered by this. Jean had claimed he could come whenever he wanted throughout the day, but she sent Amber to pick him up.
"Wait a moment, I'll be out in a second." Sai yelled.
After fixing his appearance however he could, seeing as the mirror on the room was of poor quality (made of a cloudy bronze), he immediately opened the door.
A little girl about 1.6m tall greeted him with large, blinking eyes. 'I don't usually like children, but she looks really cute.' She had long dark-brown hair, gold eyes and wore an extravagantly red outfit. Was she about fifteen? He wasn't sure.
"You must be Sai." She said, nodding to herself. "Hi! I'm Amber! Outrider for the Knights of Favonius!" She innocently smiled towards him.
"Hey, Amber, you came to pick me up?" He smiled.
"Uhum! Let's get going, she stressed that I was to quickly bring you there." Amber pulled him by the arm as she talked.
"Alright, alright. I won't run away. Say, Amber. Do you remember seeing me yesterday?"
She looked at him in confusion as they walked.
"This is the first time I'm seeing you, I'm sure of that."
"Oh… I made a mistake, then."
Sai fell into thought.
…
"Amber, why don't you tell me about Mondstadt?"
"You are not from here, right? You asked the right person! No one knows more about this nation than me, trust me. What do you want to know?" She seemed happy to help, as her eyes glittered in his direction.
Sai was aware of her personality, but he still was a bit shocked. 'Reminds me of my little sister…' He strangled his laughter and answered:
"Let's see… How long has it been since the Traveler defeated Stormterror?"
Amber wondered why that was the question he wanted to ask.
"Let's see… It has already been a couple of weeks. The reconstruction is taking some time, because they say the materials are low on supply right now…" She was mumbling at the end.
"And can you tell me the date?"
"The date? Today is the 13th of January." Amber stated confidently, albeit confused.
"And the year?" Sai urged. He already suspected that the dates were the same, due to the characters sending gifts on their day of birth.
"Year?" Amber thought. "It's been 2600 years since the fall of the Tyrant and 1000 years since the creation of the Knights of Favonius." She seemed proud to have remembered that.
Sai fell into thought again. There didn't seem to be a precise year count, like on Earth. Also, he was slightly knowledgeable about Mondstadt' history due to Jean's backstory, so he naturally knew what those two events meant. They were probably the biggest events in Mondstadt history since the Archon War.
Sai glanced at Amber and realized she had been waiting for a praise.
"I see. Thanks, Amber, you really know your stuff." He smiled.
"Hehe. That's obvious." She had a pleased, smug look on her face. "Oh, we are here."
Amber led him inside, the guards not questioning either of them as they made their way to the top floor.
Once Amber knocked on the door, she announced them both:
"Outrider Amber has brought Mr. Sai from the inn, Master Jean."
"Come on in."
That voice sounded delightful to Sai, even from behind the door.