Mondstadt City, Knights of Favonius Headquarters.
Nolan greeted the two Knights stationed outside the door in passing, then entered the Knights' Hall without much hesitation. He proceeded to knock on the door of the Acting Grand Master's office.
As expected, Lisa had arrived early and was sitting at the square table on the right side, chatting with Acting Grand Master Jean while sipping tea.
This was part of their planned arrangement. Lisa would come to the Acting Grand Master's office for a chat between seven and eight in the morning, and Nolan would show up during this time to make it seem less deliberate.
"Ah, Honorary Knight, it's you. Is there something you need?" Jean took a sip of her tea and coughed lightly.
Although it was just a minor cold and fever, which Barbara had already treated yesterday, her body was still a bit weaker than usual.
"Uh—" Nolan had just intended to speak with the carefully prepared words from yesterday, but now facing Jean, he seemed to have forgotten his lines!
No, I need to stay calm, slowly recall it, don't rush!
Jean put down the teacup she was holding in her fair hand and looked at the stammering Nolan with a slight smile.
"We're all friends here, and you're the Honorary Knight of the Knights of Favonius. There's no need to hesitate if there's something you want to say."
She brushed back her golden hair, which was more radiant than sunlight, revealing her snow-white, delicate ears. The strands of hair gently rested on the back of her ear.
"Ahem, Master Jean, I have a small personal request."
Nolan cleared his throat, trying to ease his nervousness.
After all, he had an ulterior motive. It's natural to feel a bit tense; he wasn't a professionally trained spy.
Especially when it came to lying to friends, it indeed felt a bit awkward.
"Oh? Go ahead."
Jean looked at Nolan with a hint of curiosity. In her memory, the young adventurer rarely asked her for any favors.
He had never used his status as an Honorary Knight to gain any benefits from the Knights.
This made Jean think of Nolan as a humble, kind-hearted person who didn't seek petty gains, which was one of the things she liked about him.
Today, however, he had come with a specific request. Could it be something particularly important?
Jean wondered, her thoughts tinged with doubt.
Nolan relaxed his facial muscles, exhaled slightly, and smiled:
"Actually, it's nothing major. Recently, I've hit a bottleneck in my swordsmanship.
"So, I thought of seeking advice from Grand Master Jean, an expert swordswoman, and if possible, I'd like to learn a new sword technique to see if it can help me find a breakthrough."
"You want to learn my swordsmanship?"
Jean leaned back slightly in her chair and crossed her right leg, clad in white tight pants and long boots, over her left leg. She asked in confusion:
"But from what I've seen, your swordsmanship is already on par with mine. What could I possibly teach you?"
Even the proud guerrilla captain, Eula, had praised Nolan's swordsmanship, noting that he could derive extraordinary effects from ordinary sword techniques, elevating them to a secret art level.
This was something even Jean found difficult to achieve, and very few on the continent of Teyvat could do so.
However, perhaps it was precisely because of this that his understanding of ordinary sword techniques had reached its limit, and he was now seeking higher-level swordsmanship from her.
Jean pondered thoughtfully.
"Ahem, Grand Master Jean, I was thinking of learning the sword technique you used to slash out wind blades at Starsnatch Cliff."
Nolan said after some thought.
Although he could shape wind elements into wind blades himself, it differed slightly from Jean's technique, which involved weapon reinforcement and the use of sword skills.
In terms of game mechanics, it lacked the base attack power of the weapon and the skill multipliers, resulting in a significant difference in power.
Moreover, having brought up this request, even though it seemed sudden, he had to follow through; otherwise, the logic would fall apart, and Master Jean might become suspicious.
"You want to learn my Wind Pressure Sword?" Jean pressed her white index finger to her lower lip, a hint of surprise in her clear eyes.
Her Wind Pressure Sword was a secret-art-level sword technique that required mastery of the wind element to use. Without it, learning the technique would be merely ornamental.
However, she had heard that the Honorary Knight, aside from having Pyro Delusion given by Lisa, also possessed some knowledge of Wind Elements.
No need to worry about whether he meets the learning requirements; the problem is, she's been quite busy lately and can't find the time to teach swordsmanship.
"Um, um, is it okay, Master Jean?" Nolan looked at her with hopeful eyes.
"It's possible, but..." Jean's fair face showed a troubled expression. On one hand, she didn't want to refuse Nolan, but on the other hand, she had work to finish.
"But for the next two weeks, I won't be able to find any time. How about I come find you when I'm free?"
Ultimately, her sense of responsibility as the Acting Grand Master won over personal feelings, and Jean could only tactfully refuse Nolan's request.
"…"
So it's not possible after all.
Nolan wasn't too surprised. If it were that easy, Lisa wouldn't have needed to come along. Since Grand Master Jean had already said as much, if he continued to push, it might cause resentment. So, he nodded to show he understood.
Now it was up to Lisa. He'd done his best and hadn't revealed any flaws.
"Jean, don't you think you need a break? So why not take this opportunity to give yourself a holiday?"
Just as Nolan was about to leave, Lisa, wearing her purple witch hat with pointed tips, slightly parted her soft, moist lips and spoke.
"Lisa… but…" Jean understood her friend's intention, probably concerned about her illness last night.
"I know you're busy, but isn't responding to the Honorary Knight's request part of your job too?
"If the news spreads that the Acting Grand Master refused such a minor request from Mondstadt's hero, the Honorary Knight of the Knights of Favonius, people might look at our knight order with strange eyes, right?"
Lisa held her forehead, pretending to be troubled.
"…"
Indeed, Miss Lisa went with this approach, Nolan thought helplessly.
"Lisa!"
Jean's eyes widened slightly, not expecting Lisa to use her sense of duty to turn the situation around.
But she couldn't find any reason to refute, as she herself felt Lisa made a valid point.
"Hehe, how about just taking a day off? In the meantime, I can handle your work," Lisa said with a smile.
"So you two…"
Jean wasn't stupid; she quickly understood the main purpose of these two. No wonder Lisa didn't go back to sleep after getting up early to find her for tea.
"Sigh, fine."
She trusted Lisa's abilities, and she didn't want to disappoint the heartfelt effort these two had shown.
Happy Birthday Raiden Shogun!!
(End of Chapter)
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