A letter arrived at Mondstadt, carried by a green shadow who was delivering letters at a breakneck pace.
One of the people who received a letter was opening a chest with an excited expression, that only darkened when he saw a cabbage.
"Haahh, I'm still unlucky" said a sad Bennet. He hadn't been able to find a single 'shiny rock' in a month now.
He still received a lot of money from his friend Kenshin, who had sold some of the numerous shiny rocks she had found over the years.
But it was strange, those rocks were all he was able to find, but the moment people knew they could sell them for a lot of money, he suddenly stopped finding them.
Bennet was just unlucky.
"Are you Captain Bennet" a sudden voice woke him up from his musings.
"Y-Yes" he said, a bit intimidated by the short guy with a scary mask.
Xiao gave him a letter and promptly disappeared. He needed to find a lot of people.
'Maybe I should let Barbatos deliver them. Yes, that's a good plan' he thought to himself.
Bennet stood still for a while in shock, but he opened the letter in excitement. There was only one person who called him 'Captain'. Regretfully, nobody wanted to be in the same team as him.
'Hey Captain!
I hope your enemies are cinder under your special move and your pockets are filled with money. I'm giving you enough for a lifetime after all.
I don't have a lot of time, so I will be quick.
There has been some trouble in Inazuma, and a lot of people will leave. They will go to Liyue, but some will need to relocate to other countries.
I'm telling you this because my parents will probably go to Mondstadt, and I hope you can escort them from Liyue.
Unlike me, my parents don't like adventures that much, and they are simple people. I know that Mondstadt is filled with bandits, so I hope you can safely escort them.
I could ask some people from Liyue, but I want them to get to know someone from Mondstadt a bit better, and you are one of the guys I trust the most there.
If you want to accept the Commission, please escort my parents to the Knights of Favonius HQ, and let them talk with Varka.
I think he will leave for that big expedition in a few months, so there should be enough time.
Greetings from your friend.
Kenshin'
'Of course I will' thought Bennet with a big smile. How could he refuse when Kenshin trusted him this much?
So Bennet left for Liyue at that exact same moment, not caring about anything else other than fulfilling his friend's request.
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"Again!" a woman shouted before lunging towards an exhausted girl, who tried to parry the woman's attack but was thrown to the wall, leaving cracks on it that showed the strength the woman was using.
"Again!" the woman shouted, and the girl tiredly stood up, but had a firm expression. "That's a good face, now, try to parry my attack!"
She lunged again, but a letter suddenly came between the eyes of the 2 women, leaving them stunned.
"What is this?" said the woman trying to grab the letter, but almost as if it had a will of its own, it escaped her hand and landed in the girl's face.
The girl grabbed the letter with a curious expression and looked for the sender.
'To my Radiant Knight' was elegantly written.
'Oh no' she thought and tried to school her expression, but who was her mother?
She was Frederica Gunnhildr, one of the strongest knights to ever appear in the Gunnhildr family.
"I see, it is a letter from my son-in-law. Read it" she said with a serious expression.
"I'm always telling you, he is not your son-in-law" Jean said with a red face, as she is still easily embarrassed.
"Say that after you learn how much money he is giving us as the dowry" but as always, Frederica doesn't hear her. "He proposed to you with a letter that even Barbatos himself allowed the whole Teyvat to listen, he is very handsome, rich, and caring. What else do you want?".
"How do you even know he is handsome and caring? You didn't even see him!" argued a red-faced Jean.
"I saw you writing that poem, how was it? 'With eyes that shine like the most beautiful amethyst, with-'"
"STOP!" shouted Jean covering her face. She regretted leaving that in the open, or at least what her mother considered the 'open'. It was in a safe box under the bed.
"And for being caring, do you think I would miss the books he sends you every single week? You are running out of space to keep them, you will need to build another basement for them" Frederica said something scary with a calm voice.
"..." Jean opted for opening the letter.
'To my Radiant Knight, whose beauty shines mor-'
"Jean, I told you to read the letter aloud" Frederica sternly said, and Jean felt like dying but obeyed.
"To my Radiant Knight, whose beauty shines more than the sun itself, reaching even the stormy land of Inazuma, dispersing the clouds over my heart with its tantalizing rays of pure gold..."
"Why are you stopping? Continue now" Frederica said. A bit sappy, but at least he loved her daughter.
Jean could only nod.
"I feel like vomiting, but that makes you blush, I'm all for it".
'Maybe he is not one of those pansies who like to write that shit they call poems. I approve'. Frederica liked direct people, and poems were anything but direct.
"I write you because I'm probably going to piss people off here in Inazuma, and I fear for my parents, so will send them to Mondstadt.
I sent the Pyro Archon to escort them, but I trust you in the administrative affairs, and I hoped that with the money I have from the JRK, you could buy them some land. Take all the money you need, it's there for something".
"I will continue our lesson. Tell me what you learned from this" Frederica stopped Jean and asked her seriously. She was teaching Jean not only how to fight, but also how to understand how people thought based on their words and mannerisms. Frederica was what you could call a superwoman.
"That he is making people angry in Inazuma, he fears for his parents, and wants me to buy them a house" said Jean with a deadpan face.
She trusted her mother, but Frederica had her views a little skewed. There was no way she got this right, but it's what she got from the letter.
Everyone in Mondstadt was a bit touched in the head, and in her mother's case, she usually heard what she wanted to hear.
"What a disappointment" said Frederica with a sharp gaze. "He is going to anger important people, putting him in danger, but he is still going to do it, which shows how determined he is to fight for what he believes is right. He is thinking of his family first, and the fact that he is writing this letter shows that he will remain in Inazuma, despite the danger".
Jean could only nod, but she still didn't know how her mother thought all of that. Maybe Kenshin had pissed off someone because of a prank, and he wanted to have even more fun so he stayed.
That sounded like him.
"Then the fact that he is sending them to Mondstadt is because he trusts that they will be safe here, and that is only possible because he knows that someone will protect them, someone strong. Who better than you?"
Barbatos sneezed but quickly resumed delivering letters, thinking about the wine Kenshin sent him.
"You are the closest person to him in Mondstadt, and I don't know who this 'Pyro Archon' is, but only a handful of people are stronger than you, even if you are still green."
Jean could only shake her head. That was a very big jump in logic, but as always her mother heard what she wanted to hear.
"And finally he is trusting you with all his money, which symbolizes not only how much he trusts you, but also his disposition to share everything he has with you, and finally he is not a greedy person, he knows how to spend money. The first thing he has done with his money in these years is to spend it for his parents, he will take care of you well" Frederica nodded. She liked this Kenshin more and more. "Continue the letter".
Jean quickly resumed reading, despite her blush thinking about the 'take care of you'.
"My parents are simple people, so they won't ask for anything. They will be happy with a farm they can work on and some company they can talk to. I trust the people of Mondstadt the most so I don't think they will have trouble with that, but my parents don't like wine that much. 'A clouded mind is an unruly body', they say".
"I APPROVE!" shouted Frederica. "Such an honest couple can't have educated this kid to be a wastrel. And in this damned country, not a single one can live without alcohol in his veins. I am furious just thinking about that walking pile of shit".
"Mother...." Jean was appalled hearing her mother say that about her father.
"Continue" said Frederica, feeling extremely happy. People who thought that wine was a poison was something unique in this country. Finally, she will be able to socialize with someone whose idea of talking doesn't involve ingesting liters of alcohol.
"They said that in my life I should follow 3 tenets, to call it something. Be honest, try to help and work hard" Jean stopped, because she knew what her mother would think about that.
"If you don't get him, I will do it myself" Frederica said with a serious expression.
"Mother!" shouted Jean, alarmed. She didn't want to call Kenshin 'dad', she liked some peculiar things, but that wasn't one.
"I may have exaggerated, but you should know that those 3 'tenets' are identical to what the Gunnhildr family stands for" explained Frederica with a serious voice. "We are Knights who have sworn to defend Mondstadt. Being honest is something I taught you all your life. Trying to help is what we live for. Working hard is what allows us to help others. You should know that you have been educated in an extremely similar way to this kid".
"I know" nodded Jean with a blush. She had known Kenshin for years, and she knew how he thought. She was able to see it first-hand when he sacrificed his sight for a friend and was able to smile about it, considering his friend's life worth his sacrifice. She didn't know it then, but she got her first crush, and it wasn't going away.
"I had a lot of problems with your father because we thought too differently. We fell in love and were too hasty in our marriage. I don't regret having you 2, but I regret not waiting for a little longer" Frederica said with a nostalgic voice, but her expression turned dark soon after. "But after a while problems started to appear. I wanted to train, he wanted to go drinking. I wanted to go on an expedition, he wanted to go to Liyue with his friends. I wanted to train you, he wanted to coddle you. In the end, we were too different".
"Is that why you divorced?" asked quietly Jean. Her mother never spoke about it.
"Yes. It was not that we didn't have time together, but our motivations were different. I was active and hard-working, he was laid back and lazy. I couldn't tolerate his laziness but I knew he wouldn't change, so I decided to start my life anew, and I'm very happy about that decision. That's why I say you should grab this kid" Frederica said in a serious voice.
"But we probably won't have too much time to enjoy together" Jean said some of her worries. After hearing her mother, maybe Frederica could help her.
"Jean, the moment you accepted being a Knight, you were accepting not having time to yourself" gently reminded Frederica. "The only kind of guy that will have all the time in the world to spend with you is a lazy guy like your father.
Jean thought about it seriously. Could she?
.....
"No" she finally said. "I want someone who is making an effort in his life, like me. Someone who wants to help people, like me. And someone who will love me dearly, just like I will".
"And what is that if not honesty?" Frederica nodded in approval. She liked how Jean knew herself, and was sure of what she wanted. Maybe she wouldn't fail in the same way she did. "And now tell me that Kenshin doesn't tick all those boxes and even more. You consider him handsome, he is sending you books every week, is resourceful as the JRK shows, and is caring towards his family. Do you think these kinds of people are common?".
"No". If her mother says it like that, it sounds like she is extremely lucky.
"And you are already talking with him weekly, and exchanging presents. Do you see now how lucky you are? Do you see now why I insist on grabbing this chance" Frederica looked at Jean with tender eyes. She would need to know this guy personally, but from what she knew, she could imagine Jean living a happy life by his side. "Finish the letter, Jean".
"Sorry for talking about my parents this much, it's just that they had to abandon their home and it will affect them. Anyway, I will try to send you more books, I got a lot of ideas from some people nearby".
"Wait" asked Frederica with a strange look. "Are all those books written by him?"
Jean could only pale. She didn't know about it, and she had a 'fun time' with some of them. Didn't it mean she was having a 'fun time' with things Kenshin had written?
"Why do you look surprised?" Frederica asked Jean, who quickly schooled her features. "I need to read those then".
"You won't" said Jean with a dark face. "They are private". She didn't want her mother to learn the kind of books she was keeping.
"Are they? Doesn't that mean that he has written all those books only for you?" Frederica asked in surprise. There were more than 50 books in Jean's room.
Jean felt conflicted learning that Kenshin was writing smut exclusively for her, so she decided to end the letter.
"The Shogun has put the entire country in lockdown, so I will probably be unable to write or send books. To be honest, I'm going to be busy so I probably won't have time.
But of course, I will try to find the time for it. Everything for my Radiant Knight.
Ah, I wrote an adventure book about the Radiant Knight. She is a girl with no special powers that wanders in her world trying to help people with nothing but hard work, searching for a reason to continue fighting.
It has some dramatic moments and fight scenes, but it's most of all a trip of self-discovery. Of course some humorous moments, but it mostly tells the story of a simple girl who wants to help.
Of course, as a Radiant Knight, she has blonde hair and blue eyes. What a coincidence.
I sent them to a library in Liyue, and they should be on sale by now. 'The Radiant Knight and the Poor Village', that's the first volume.
If Barbatos is not being lazy, it should have arrived with the letter. If it didn't I won't give that Blood-Maiden wine to him.
Anyway, I hope you like it.
Best wishes from your friend from distant lands.
Kenshin"
Frederica looked at Jean with a stern look.
"Tell me a single reason you shouldn't marry this jewel of a kid" Frederica said. He was even writing a book with a character based on her daughter, and it was going to be on sale. She will ignore that whole Barbatos thing as it will distract her for now.
"I-I-I don't thi-think he is a jewel" Jean stuttered with an atomic blush. Kenshin a jewel? Her mother probably didn't know about his pranks.
"I don't care. You are marrying him and that's final. You will have to share, but that's expected" Frederica dismissed all complaints Jean could have. Seeing her daughter's weird face, she knew what she was thinking. "Even after all this, you still think other women won't be attracted?"
"Well, yes, but maybe-"
"Jean, stop dreaming and go to Liyue now. Go and buy a hundred copies of that book. People in Mondstadt need to know about this" Frederica mercilessly instructed.
"Please no!" Jean begged, not wanting the people around to mock her more. She was already known as the Radiant Knight, and she even received a few wedding gifts from some extremely confused people.
"What are you being shy for? People here already know about his confession, what you need to do now is to brag about this and stake your claim over him. You need to be the only woman in Mondstadt with a relationship with him. That's your mission" Frederica mercilessly said.
"But-"
Plop!
A lazy Wind Archon saw that he was not going to get his wine if he didn't deliver the book, and came back.
Frederica took the book from the ground and looked at it with curiosity. It had a worn-out brown cover, not something you looked for in a book in a library. With an intrigued look, she opened it, and read what Kenshin had written on the first page.
'You may feel disappointed by the poor state this book is in, but I know you will appreciate it. This is the first book of the Radiant Knight to ever appear in this world, the only one I personally wrote. I used that machine Guizhong invented to write the one I sent to the library, so no one but you has seen this book. I wrote it with that special ink, so even I have not seen it. You are the first and only person to ever read this.
I wanted to tell you how deeply I appreciate of friendship over the years, and I hope we will be able to keep being friends many years to come.
Now, as the Radiant Knight would say, 'There are people out there who need me, so goodbye!''
"Jean" Frederica said with a warning look, handing Jean the book.
"I know" Jean quietly said, holding the book to her chest. "I know".