A few days passed, and I finally knew why Mondstadt was called the City of Freedom.
You are certainly free to do whatever you want. There are a few rules of course, but it was 'free' because you could be whatever you wanted to without facing discrimination.
I saw 2 girls openly kissing in the middle of the street, and nobody batted an eye. I saw people eating a soup with their hands and nobody cared, only the waitress reminded the client ot wash his hands before touching anything else. The guy agreed, and no problem.
I saw a guy barking and urinating near a tree, and nobody cared.
The last one was disgusting, but you get it.
If you don't disturb anyone else, you are free.
"And that's why, my blonde goddess, I think that this city, while it's beautiful in it's own way, it's also boring" I was talking to Jean while we got lunch. We struck an odd relationship where I would talk to her, and she would try not to blush like a tomato.
The interesting things is that no matter how much she got used to my flirty words, once I reached a certain point, she would inevitably blush, making her run away. For example, she got used to me calling her a goddess, but if I added 'sweet' she would run away.
She didn't answer. She blushed a bit, but readily looked towards her plate. I was curious, but decided to continue talking, hoping she would tell me what happened.
"I like causing trouble. Yes, don't look at me like that, it's at the prank level trouble. But here everyone is so accepting that they will ignore me. In Liyue if I wore a hilichurl costume and start shouting and jumping like one, they would look at me with disdain, even the guards would detain me. But here they will give me money so I keep dancing and amusing them. It's disheartening"
"So it was you?!"
"Yes, dear sight to sore eyes. I was" I already knew her limit, and I was still bored, so I couldn't let her run. I still didn't know what happened to her.
"I can't believe you" and with that she looked at her dish again.
"I'm tired of this. Woman, as the envoy of the God of Eternity I command you to tell me the problem that ails you" I said in an authoritative voice.
"You can't order me we are in the City of Freedom" she cheekily replied.
"Then I'm free to confess my undying love to when you are in a meeting at the Knights of Favonius. I will sing you a song while dressed on those gaudy robes the people in Liyue seem to like, with a bouquet of Windwheel Asters, I know they are your favourite" I said in a calm voice, making her panic.
"Okay okay I will tell you. Please don't do that" she pleaded and sighed. "It's my sister, my parents divorced a few months ago and she went with my father while I stayed with my mother. I don't know how is she doing" she said with an anxious face.
"Go see her then. I don't see the problem" I really don't.
"It's...complicated" she said averting her eyes.
"Are you stupid?" I asked. You have people like Hu Tao who can't see his dead grandfather, and Jean, who doesn't want to see her sister. Granted, there may be some circumstances, but still, for the City of Freedom it's such a stupid problem.
"Haaah, I will go see her" I said. I want to help Jean, after all she has been amusing me these past days and it's time for me to pay her back.
"Would you do that for me?" she asked with a hopeful expression.
"I said that, so quickly spit her location"
"She is usually in the church. She should be around right now, she is a part of the choir and they are practising now in front of the statue" she explained with an excited voice.
"My blonde goddess of chivalrously, you are really stupid. You care so much about her that you memorized her schedule yet you don't go see her. What the hell, if you squint you may even see her from here. Is that little girl, the second to last from the right?"
"Yes....." she blushed.
"Please don't tell me that's why you always eat here at this hour". That would mean that she is stalking her sister.
"....." she blushed and looked at the floor.
"You are stalking your sister" I confirmed the sad truth. She didn't answer me to this either. "Wait here, I will go talk with her. I will respect your so called 'complications', and that's the only reason I'm not dragging you over there, or dragging her here".
I stood up and walked towards her sister, forgetting to ask for her name. Just now they were having a little break, so I went towards the exhausted but content girl.
"Hey girl. I don't know you, nor do I know your name. I'm a friend of Jean, and she is worried about you but is too embarrassed to show her worry, so I came in her place to question you about your well-being". Smooth.
She looked stunned hearing me, but quickly looked towards the place Jean was waiting. I didn't even have to tell her where Jean was and she realized, which means that she was also aware of Jean's location. And yet, they didn't think of meeting, what a weird pair of sisters.
"Why didn't she come herself?" she asked quietly. Is this the start of the drama part?. Sorry, I got enough of that in Liyue.
"Why didn't you go to see her?" I returned her question.
"Because she is busy...." she said.
"Miss, let me tell you something. I have a special power. Do you see my eyes?" she looked at my face for the first time, and saw my glowing purple eyes. "They are special. I can see when someone is lying, and just now you lied to me" I explained.
She looked ashamed at having been caught and I'm getting tired of this. The damn alchemist has not arrived yet, and now I'm dealing with this problem that is not a problem at all.
"Miss, here is what we are going to do. I will grab your hand, and will talk to your sister. Ask her anything you want, and I will tighten my hold on your hand every time she lies. I will do that twice when she is silent and is nervous okay?. She doesn't know my ability, so she won't notice anything" I explained.
"O-okay" she said a but nervous about meeting her sister for the first time in a while.
Still, why did she believe me so fast?.
'Kenshin, you don't look yourself at the mirror, but from what Yae told me your eyes are getting 'prettier' as she put it. The more your ability grows, the more they shine' explained the always helpful Guizhong.
'Prettier huh'.
"Okay Miss, I know your sister, and she will try to run when you approach, maybe you can ask her about that too. Try to ask yes or no questions okay?. We are going to run so she can't escape, she still needs to pay after all. Ready? Go!" and we ran towards Jean, who had a betrayed expression.
"Nu huh, you don't run now. I run more today than in the last year" I said.
"That was around 50 meters" said Jean's sister, a bit surprised.
"I reaffirm myself" I said with no shame. I walk a lot, every time I want to visit somewhere I need to go down the whole mountain the Narukami Shrine is in, but running?. Never.
I gestured to Jean's sister to start the questioning.
"My blonde goddess of victory, Miss sister here has a few question for you. As a Knight of Favonius an a member of the Gunnhildr house, you must face all challenges in your way with bravery and courage" I warned her.
"Goddess?" asked a confused little sister.
"Yes. Do you see how she is blushing and moving her feet?. I find that amusing so I say that to her every time we see each other. If I could get that reaction, I would call her cow, butterfly or street-light, but goddess seems to get the biggest reaction out of her" I explained. "Anyway Miss sister, start".
"My name is Barbara you know..." she said, but quickly asked with a timid voice. "Why didn't you came to ask me how I was?"
This girl, I told her to ask yes or no questions.
"Ehem, blonde nun, I will reformulate yourquestion. Was the reason you didn't talk to her disdain or disregard?"
"No!" she exclaimed. Even Barbara could see that she didn't lie here.
I looked at Barbara with a warning gaze, and she remembered how she should formulate her questions.
"Did you want to see me?" she asked in a hopeful voice. Jean didn't answer and just looked at the ground.
I sighed, released Barbara's and and kicked Jean in the ass.
"Ouch!" she squealed, and looked at me with an angry face.
"Don't get angry and answer your sister. You are being rude" I chastised her, taking again Barbara's hand into mine.
"Yes" Jean quietly answered. If you are not going to lie, why am I here?.
And Barbara asked, and asked, and asked. To the point I thought that woman Alice was about to enter Mondstadt.
"Jean, do you love your sister?" I asked with a bored voice. "Don't look at the ground, or I will kick you again"
"....yes...." she muttered, but Barbara heard her, and seeing that I didn't tightened my hold on her hand, quickly hugged her sister while crying, making Jean cry. But still, all I needed to do was kick Jean in her soft yet firm ass.
What am I doing here anyway?. I left the place feeling that I lost my time, there were no 'complications' at all.
And then I saw a soul I hadn't seen before. It was different from the gods, youkais of adeptus. It was of a fiery red, but encased in a jail of ice. It made a beautiful contrast, unlike that girl's, Shenhe I believe. So of course, I did what I had to do.
"Miss, what are you?" I asked the tall woman with a weird eyepatch and ostentatious clothes.
"....." said woman looked at me in astonishment, followed by anger. "Brat, are you mocking me?".
"Of course not. Your soul was pretty strange, so I wanted to ask. If you don't want to answer, never mind" I said and prepared to leave.
"Wait!" of course I did. "Tell me what you saw, and how you did it" she commanded me.
"You should say please, but whatever" I was tired and wanted that damn alchemist to come. "I can see souls with these pretty eyes of mine, and your soul is like a huge fire encased by a ice jail. Now answer me, what are you?"
The woman looked angry at my description of her soul, making the fire grow, but it was still inside the jail. How that ice was able to contain such a fiery soul was amazing.
"I don't know why you got angry, but the fire suddenly grew a lot. Hey Miss, can you introduce me to the one who made that jail?. It sounds like a good thing to know". If I knew that, maybe I could finally have a way to defend myself.
"Heh, what can a kid like you offer me?" she mocked my age. What a mature woman.
"I can seal anything". It's the most valuable thing I have. Discerning lies and emotions is not worth enough, I think.
"Anything?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. I sealed a bunch of curses in Liyue. Ah, I can't seal the soul of something that is alive, I can only restrain their souls with the adequate materials" like I did with Shenhe, but I don't have much confidence in that. The ribbon I used with her was honestly pretty amazing, I didn't saw anything near as strong as that in the Shrine, and Shenhe's soul was still weak.
Even if you give me the strongest material on the planet, sealing a strong soul is impossible.
Even so, I will keep the fact that I can seal the Remnants of God a secret. I don't know this lady after all.
"Can you seal gods?" she asked me with a serious face.
"No, they are too strong. Even if I could, I won't do it" that's looking for a free enemy.
She was studying me with an appraising gaze. "When you say that, you are saying that you have seen a god" she said, fishing for information.
"Yes, I have this" I showed her the medal I got. Seeing that she didn't recognize it, I knew she was not from Inazuma. "That's strange, I thought you Fatuis were knowledgeable about these things".
Hearing that, she narrowed her eyes.
"Did you know from the start?"
"That you were a Fatui?. Of course, who do you take me for. I can see how those 2 are looking at you in deference" I pointed at 2 guys that were dressed with the same clothes the Fatuis in Inazuma did.
"And you still asked me" this woman said slowly.
"As I told you, I was curious. I have seen youkai, adeptus, gods, humans, ghost, spirits....but never a soul like yours" I counted with my fingers.
She looked at me for a while, before speaking again.
"If you want to know more about this, come to Snezhnaya. And kid, don't go telling that kind of secret, you might be in danger"
"I don't think so. I know Barbatos after all, I would like to think he would save me" I confessed. I knew what she wanted, but not why, and my curiosity was getting the best of me.
I knew the Fatui were a big problem in Inazuma, but we didn't know their purpose. Maybe I can get something from this lady. She looks important.
"You know" she said in a dangerous tone.
"That you are looking for Barbatos?. I confirmed it just now. You soul trembled when I said I know gods, and you are pretty far from Snezhnaya, so yeah, a god in Mondstadt, it's Barbatos" I admitted. "But I don't know why, can you tell me, please" I asked politely. She looked aghast at me.
"If you tell me where is he" she said.
"Okay, but my answer is going to be vague" I warned her. I don't want trouble with her after she doesn't like my answer.
"I will be vague too" she replied.
"Okay then. He is everywhere" I honestly said.
"I'm going to need a bit more than that. That is not vague, it's not even an answer" she said with a dark face.
"It's what you are going to get. He is a wind spirit, he IS wind. It's everywhere around us, even now. So he knows where you are and who you are" I informed her. Barbatos is way stronger than this woman, and he is not going to be caught if he doesn't want to, so I'm not putting him in any trouble.
The woman thought for a while, but deemed my answer satisfactory as she answered her part.
"I want something he has" and with that, she left. "If you come to Snezhnaya, come to see me. Ask for 'La Signora'" and she entered the hotel.
I should write a letter to Yae informing her of this. The Fatuis were going for something Archons had, and only them. Talking to Jean I learned that there are other strong beings around, you could call them almost-gods, like a dragon or a giant wolf. They seem to be a lot weaker than Barbatos, so why didn't she go for them?.
"Kenshin, are you okay" asked an approaching Jean, looking to the place Signora had gone to."They are Fatui, be careful about them".
"I know, in Inazuma they are being a pain in the ass too" I told her.
"I need to go now, it's time for me to return to my work" she said and left, not without leaving a parting comment. "Thank you for helping me with my sister, I appreciate it" she said with a blush, and then she left.
'I dread to think how are your teenage years going to be' commented Guizhong.
'However they are, I will do whatever I need to do to have no regrets'.
Still how are kids like Jean working in something so dangerous?. In Inazuma Sara and I were an exception, but here it seems to be the norm. Maybe they are trainees or something like that.
Freedom rules here, so child labour was a thing.