We arrived at the huge castle, and the guards stopped us, but with Amber's words, we got through.
I don't know what to think about this lack of security, they are trusting the words of a maybe 11-year-old girl.
"Please tell me it's not him" I said while looking at an energetically shouting man.
"No, it's not, he's from the Lawrence clan" Amber explained to me.
Said guy was screaming to nobody, as he was being ignored. Are the people around so used to this?
"Is that him?" I pointed at another shouting guy.
"No, he is selling vegetables" answered with a calm face Amber. Then why is he screaming 'aaaaaaaah'? Wouldn't it be better to shout what you are selling or the price?.
"Is that him?"
"No, he is just a weirdo"
"You know what, why don't you point me to him?". I will analyze the habitat I'm in later. This was too strange, a lot of people were just shouting in the middle of the road for no good reason.
"It's him" she pointed at a guy screaming like all those from before. He wasn't shouting louder than the others, just at the same volume.
But I guess this is like your room. If it's dirty, it's okay because it's YOUR dirt, but if someone comes into your room and puts a single thing where it doesn't belong, get water because I start a fire.
So it's my duty as a citizen of Inazuma to make this guy shut up. I will try the gentle approach.
He was so busy screaming at the waitress, demanding a refund after he ate everything and threatening with a thunderstorm that he didn't notice my approach.
"Excuse me, sir, as a citizen from Inazuma, I think you are causing a bad impression of our country with your attitude. I will ask you for your cooperation to slowly change your attitude so our countries, although far away, can form ever-lasting bonds of friendship and sisterhood" I said with a gentle smile.
"DO YOU KNOW WHO-".
SLAP!.
Everybody looked at us in surprise. It was almost a miracle, the previously deafening sound of people shouting turned into an eerie silence.
"WHAT DID YOU-".
SLAP!!.
I hit him even harder. The guy had a furious expression and raised his hand to slap me back. How could I not know the signs?
I calmly raised the medal I prepared beforehand. The medal I got from the Shogun herself.
He looked too angry to care about a medal, but when I put it in front of his face, he finally recognized it and paled.
SLAP!!
I hit him once again, to be sure he understood. Understand what? I don't know.
I couldn't use my position as a direct subordinate from the Shogun as I resigned, but he didn't know that. All he knew was that I had a medal that symbolized the Shogun herself.
Of course, I didn't return it. For starters, I should return it directly to the Shogun, and I don't know what would her reaction be, maybe she doesn't let me go. I could return it by giving the medal to Yae, but I would put her in trouble by giving it back to the Shogun, and lastly, I could use it.
Knowing how isolated Inazuma was, I will probably be able to use this medal forever.
"Do you know what you are doing? You are causing all the potential merchants from Mondstadt to avoid Inazuma like a plague. If you were a serious ambassador, you should know that we need to buy food to survive, so why are you scaring the merchants?" it was truly baffling. The guy was trembling, but I sensed the crowd was getting angry at him. They had swallowed his screams and threats, and now his superior was scolding him.
"People of Mondstadt, I am aware that nothing I could say will be able to repair the damage he has caused, but let me at least give you an explanation" I started. The guy looked at me with a pleading gaze, but I ignored him.
"This guy is a nobody. He is a member of one of the clans in Inazuma, nothing more and nothing less. He is not even an important one, just a random guy who got his position because of the political corruption in Inazuma". This kind of job does not belong to the Kujou Clan. They are in charge of the police and internal affairs, not this.
"He told us his boss is the right hand of the Shogun" a woman in the crown said, looking murderously at the guy, now trembling.
"There is one hand in Inazuma, and that's the Shogun herself. The rest are the puppets she uses to control the country, so there is no right hand" I explained. "I have this medal the Shogun herself gave me, meaning that I'm her direct subordinate, but even then I'm nothing more than an advisor. I'm probably more important than this guy's boss".
If you combine my position as the 2nd in Command in the Shrine and the position these people think I hold due to the medal, I'm probably the 3rd most important person in Inazuma.
"So people of Mondstadt, all I can offer you is to slap this guy until he is half dead. Don't kill him please, I need to take him back after all" I ruthlessly abandoned the guy. After the mess he is causing here, if this helps to salvage our relationship with Mondstadt, I will readily sacrifice him. He is not important after all.
I expected people to be uneasy or hesitant, but the woman who spoke earlier swiftly delivered a slap to his face. People from Mondstadt are different I guess.
And so, by the end of it the guy's head was thrice its normal size. The guards, who had been participating in the slapping took him to prison. I will take him back when I leave, or send a letter to Yae to order someone to bring him back. I really don't want this guy around me.
"See?. Problem solved" I said to Amber, who looked at me from the sidelines.
"You said you would gently convince him" she muttered.
"And gentle I was" I commented. A bit excessive, but I solved the problem while teaching him a lesson.
"Hahaha, I see that" a huge guy approached me, and ruffled my hair. Nobody touched my hair, but this guy's hand could grab my whole waist, so I didn't speak up.
"I'm Varka, the Grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius" he introduced himself with a smile.
"I'm Kenshin, a nobody from Inazuma" I replied in kind.
"Why would a nobody have that medal" he laughed, thinking I was joking.
"I worked for the Shogun but I resigned, it was too boring. I kept the medal to abuse other people of Inazuma with an authority they don't know I lost" I honestly replied.
"Hahaha, yes, that's a good reason" he laughed even harder. People from Mondstadt are really different. "Why don't you come to our headquarters so we can have a talk?" he said. I agreed of course. My experiences in Inazuma told me how important making connections is.
If the Kamisato Clan didn't know me, they could be dead by now. If Yae didn't vouch for me, I would be dead by now, either by the Shogun's hands or by some clan.
"Grandmaster, what did you need?" a blonde girl my age approached us on Varga's call.
"Jean, show Kenshin around. I will finish some business and talk with him later. Bring him to HQ after an hour" and he went away. The girl looked at me with her blue eyes.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Jean Gunnhildr, serving as a Knight of Favonius" she introduced herself with a serious expression.
"Well, I'm Kenshin. A nobody from Inazuma that came to Mondstadt with the purpose of finding a way to craft a body that could house the thousands-year-old soul of a friend who is looking for love" I introduced myself seriously.
'Kenshin!. Why are you saying that!' Guizhong asked in outrage.
'Calm down. We need to find clues here, and we have no idea of where or how to start. If we tell some people in important positions about what we are searching for, we could save a lot of time'.
'But what if someone steals my slip?' she asked in a worried tone.
'Don't worry about that. I don't need to touch the slip hear you, I have a lot of range so you can tell me where are you. In the worst case, I will swallow the slip and vomit it later. It will not be fun, but it's the safest method'. I prefer that to fail a friend.
"....." Jean looked at me with a stunned expression.
"No matter what do you think about it, it's the truth. So please Miss Knight, do you have any idea?" I asked her.
"No, I'm sorry" she shook her head. "Maybe you should ask for a person who goes by the name of Alice, she knows about a lot of things".
"Some weird things right?" That's the feeling I got from what Jean just said.
She blushed and averted her eyes. When was the last time I saw someone so innocent? Ganyu on her first days maybe?
'The fact that you can't see them is because standing by your side will make anyone lose their naivety' Guizhong scornfully said.
"Okay, thank you. May I know where said woman can be?". I am finally feeling excited about finding a clue. Yae only knew about the puppets from the Shogun, and I couldn't ask in Liyue because we would get caught. And Barbatos was... Barbatos.
"She is out right now. She should be back in a few years" Jean said with her calm expression.
"Oh sweet yet cruel goddess, why must you torment me?" I asked falling to my knees in front of her.
"Swe-sweet goddess..." her face went atomic red and she started stuttering.
"Indeed, my sweet goddess, with eyes calm like the ocean and blond hair similar to the most beautiful piece of gold. Why must you direct me to a path to success, only to cut it short by such heartless words?" I asked dramatically, hugging my chest as if I was in pain.
"I-I don't-" she was stuttering even more. How needy is this girl? I only said a few tame things and she is like this. She must not be getting a lot of love in her home. How sad.
"Can my beautiful goddess indicate another path to victory, while avoiding the taunting maws of defeat?"
"N-No so-sorry, I need to go" and she ran. Coward.
'You knew how nervous she was and still continued. And you complain when I call you cruel' Guizhong reprimanded me.
'I never complain about you calling me that. I complain about your lack of vocabulary'.
Now that I had no guide, I went looking around. Bought some food, some flowers, some wine...wait wine?.
I looked at the guy in the bar I found myself in.
"What, do you want another one?" he asked me.
"Why are you selling me this?". Selling alcohol to a minor was a little....you know?
"Ahh, you must be from outside Mondstadt" he nodded. "This is the City of Freedom, anything goes."
"Anything?"
"Anything".
That's weird. How can I cause trouble if they are even worse than me?
I don't think Mondstadt is going to be as funny as I thought it was going to be.
"You can just go outside naked?". I was not eager to do that, but I wanted to be prepared in case I saw someone with 3 legs.
"Of course not!" he replied in outrage. I see they have some rules after all. "You need to wait until night when there are no kids around".
I take it back. This place looked very normal while I was getting food and flowers, but there was a jarring reality on the underside.
I went out of the bar feeling stunned. But well, they do them I guess. I saw Amber's ribbon in the crowd, so went to talk with her.
"Hey Amber. What a day uh?"
"You were the reason" she wryly said. "Do you need me for something?"
"My guide ran away, so I don't know what to do. Can you tell me where can I find a hotel to pass the night?" I asked her. The first things to look for in a new city are food and a place to stay the night.
"I will give you the tour" replied happily Amber- She gave me the tour while we talked.
I asked about Mondstadt and she asked about Inazuma. By the end of the conversation, she didn't look that interested in Inazuma. Can't blame her, it was a very boring place compared to the lively Mondstadt and the busy Liyue.
"Amber, I asked before to the cowardly guide who abandoned me, I need to find a way to 'craft' a body. Do you know anything that could help? Preferably in a short time, I can't wait years for that woman called Alice to come back" I tried again. At this point, if we don't find anything of use it would be better to go to Sumeru or try to find this mysterious woman.
"I don't even know how can you craft a body" she shook her head. "But maybe Albedo does. He is an alchemist, and saw him call Alice 'aunty' before. Maybe he knows how to find Alice".
"Oh, that's great!" I was feeling hopeful again. "Please tell me he not away for years".
"He's not. He is on an expedition in Dragonspine, but he should be back sometime within the week" she said, and my world was full of colour again.
"Yes, thank you so much! Ah, my sweet bunny, how delicious your words sound in my ears" I was feeling genuinely happy now, so much that I didn't realize the words that escaped my mouth. I noticed Amber saying something, but I was too busy discussing the news with Guizhong.
'Kenshin, calm down. We have nothing yet, don't get your hopes up' Guizhong words finally made me regain my sanity again, only to realize that Amber had left at some point.
'I know Guizhong, but it's the first time we may know something else about this mess. No matter how much I investigated it, in Inazuma I couldn't find absolutely anything useful. I feel for the first time that we are moving forward'
'I know me too. But you need to be prepared for a long search, and not expect this alchemist to suddenly give you a magical solution.'