Chapter 429 - 428: What exactly is it for?

"Alright, it’s not like we’re not coming back. You don’t need to all come and see us off like last time. Go back and do your own things; you don’t need to specially bid us farewell."

Unknowingly, it had been some time since they arrived in Mondstadt City. After the matters here were temporarily concluded, Lumine was almost ready to embark on her journey.

As they prepared to leave, Jean and the others were again ready to come out and see them off, but Durandal sternly refused.

Do these people understand? It’s not like they’re not coming back; they’re just leaving for a short while. Is it necessary to be so grand?

"Well, I’m worried about Klee, so I came along."

Jean pulled Klee out as a shield. Facing Klee, Durandal’s expression instantly softened, causing the others to complain about "differential treatment."

"I’m leaving again. If anything happens, contact me through Diko. As long as I have time, I will respond to you."

"You can’t let what happened last time happen again, Sister Durandal. Otherwise, even Klee will get angry."

"Ah, I promise you that will never happen again."

She would no longer be as lost as she once was. No matter what happened, she would never again leave without a word like before.

Klee certainly didn’t want to experience that again. If Durandal acted like that again, then she... she... she would ignore Durandal for three days.

"This time I’ve prepared a gift for you. Put it in your room; don’t bring it out, okay?"

"A gift? What kind of gift?"

As expected of a child, her attention was instantly diverted, and the curiosity of the others was also piqued.

A gift from Durandal? It wouldn’t be some divine weapon, would it? Thinking of this possibility, Jean couldn’t help but worry.

She was afraid that Durandal had given Klee some powerful Catalyst, making her jumpy dumpty (bomb)’s power even stronger, which would increase her headaches.

Fortunately, Durandal knew her limits and had no intention of giving Klee a weapon. She took out a doll that was very suitable for a child, but this doll was a bit special... it was a Q-version doll made in Durandal’s image.

This was specially made by Durandal for Klee. Although it was a Q-version, its appearance and clothing were exactly like Durandal’s, only the expression was a bit strange, as if she were angry, with a small frowning face.

Klee loved it at first sight. She hugged the doll tightly, looking at Durandal with surprise and a beaming smile.

"Thank you, Sister Durandal. Klee loves this gift very much. Klee will keep her well in her room and won’t let her get damaged at all."

"Then you must take good care of it, and be careful not to let anyone steal it."

Patting Klee’s little head, Durandal’s gaze turned to a hidden spot. Venti was not present at the scene this time, but she knew he must be watching from somewhere.

She must have been eyeing the doll in Klee’s hand, but Durandal only made this one; there wasn’t an extra for her. If she wanted this doll, Klee would either have to give it to her, or she would have to steal it from Klee.

Although she usually acts quite annoying, she is a God, and an adult at that. She shouldn’t stoop to snatching a child’s toy, right?

After a simple farewell to everyone, Durandal was ready to leave, but before she took a step, she noticed Lumine’s farewell was taking a bit longer than hers.

This guy... she really talks a lot. Compared to Durandal, who has few friends, Lumine has countless more friends than Durandal. She also talks more than Durandal, making Durandal wait for an unknown amount of time.

By the time she was mostly done talking, Durandal was already getting a bit impatient, and her expression had turned somewhat sour.

Seeing that Lumine had finished, she snorted coldly, turned, and walked with Shenhe towards Liyue Harbor.

Seeing this, Lumine could only follow with an apologetic smile. This farewell wasn’t sad, because everyone knew it was just a brief separation; they would meet again very soon.

"Hey, Durandal. That doll you just gave Klee, does it have special abilities?"

Lumine couldn’t believe that after this incident, Durandal, who loves Klee so much, wouldn’t add some extra protective measures for her.

Even if Diko was already by Klee’s side, there was no harm in having a few more precautions.

Earlier, during the resurrection of Raiden Makoto, Durandal had made a mini version of herself for Raiden Makoto. The doll she gave Klee this time should have a similar function, right?

As soon as this was said, Durandal, who had been walking ahead in a huff, suddenly stopped, stroking her chin, seemingly deep in thought.

"That idea... sounds pretty good, but unfortunately, I didn’t do that."

"You didn’t? I thought after this incident, you’d be even more worried about Klee."

"I am a little, but Mondstadt is also constantly growing. Besides Noelle, who has been receiving our guidance, Abe Shao has also joined as an important combat force this time. With Mondstadt’s current combat power, even if the Fatui want to do something, they’ll have to think twice."

Even if there aren’t enough people, there’s still the trump card, Dvalin. In his prime, he isn’t so easy to deal with.

(The Indestructible: Don’t think that the Dvalin solved weekly is his full power; you’re only dealing with the poisonous blood on his head.)

Plus, with Venti observing in secret, there’s no need to worry about Mondstadt’s safety. At worst, if a problem arises, she can rush back as quickly as possible.

However... Lumine’s suggestion is still quite necessary. But that doll, compared to a body she creates herself, is too restricted in its actions. It’s better not to make a fuss over the doll; just create a clone to guard Klee instead.

But then, what if Klee finds out about it and later insists on the clone coming out to play with her?

There are simply too many problems to deal with; she doesn’t know what to do.

"Seriously, why do the Fatui still cause trouble in Mondstadt? Haven’t they already gotten what they wanted? There’s no need for them to act in Mondstadt anymore, right? Why do they still do such things and damage their reputation?"

"Paimon thinks they don’t have any reputation to begin with. As for why they still do those things, Paimon doesn’t know."

Lumine and Paimon only saw the Fatui’s actions to obtain the Gnosis, but they didn’t see... or saw very little, and didn’t understand how much darkness still existed within it.

"...The Fatui want more than just the Gnosis. Don’t forget the Children from various nations they’ve abducted. To research the power of the Gods, they experiment on those innocent Children. Ordinary kidnapping methods certainly can’t meet such experimental demands."

"They can use certain things as threats, ostensibly conscripting soldiers, but actually using those conscripted people as human experimental subjects."

"Or, through poisoning and deliberately guiding monsters to a certain area, they ostensibly take in homeless orphans, but actually train them to become future Fatui soldiers."

Durandal doesn’t know much about it yet, but she believes the Fatui have done far more than what she’s mentioned.

After hearing Durandal’s speech, Lumine, Shenhe, and Paimon’s expressions all turned grim. They knew the Fatui were despicable, but they didn’t expect it to be to this extent.

"What they’re doing is even worse than the Abyss Order!"

Paimon couldn’t help but exclaim. After shouting, she realized and tentatively looked at Lumine’s reaction. Seeing that she had no dissatisfaction, she continued.

"At least the Abyss Order acts covertly; they just openly do bad things! They pretend to be allies, but in reality, they just treat other nations as tools. They’re utterly shameless!"

At this time, they should be uniting to face the potential threat of the Abyss, yet Snezhnaya is acting like this. Do they have no sense of the bigger picture at all?

Have they forgotten the disaster that happened five hundred years ago? That disaster caused immense DMG to the world. Do they really think they can fight against it with their own strength?

"Perhaps that’s Snezhnaya’s way of thinking: unwilling to trust other nations, completely trusting in their own strength, believing that even by themselves they can fight the Abyss, and not caring what others think."

"Most importantly... what is their main goal? Do you think the Fatui, operating in various nations with the Gnosis, will ultimately be trusted?"

They were lucky in Mondstadt and Liyue. The reason Venti willingly gave up his Gnosis is unknown, and Zhongli did so because of an unknown contract.

It was mainly these two who voluntarily relinquished their Gnosis, which allowed the Fatui to obtain them relatively easily.

But it won’t be that simple in other nations. To achieve their goals, the Fatui will definitely offend people. Under such circumstances, how can they build good relationships with other nations?

"However... some of them haven’t been corrupted; we can’t treat all of them as bad people."

"Durandal?"

This inexplicable remark greatly surprised Lumine and Paimon. They both thought that the Fatui were unforgivable in Durandal’s eyes, but they didn’t expect there to be exceptions.

"Why so surprised? I’m only referring to a minority. Even if they’re not members of the Fatui, some people’s actions are despicable; we just haven’t seen them yet."

"...That’s true. We can’t condemn everyone with one stroke, and the Fatui are no exception."

Lumine nodded. She had almost, in her anger, categorized all Fatui as utterly evil, but on second thought, things were indeed as Durandal said.

Just like the Fatui soldier she saw in the Mondstadt Cathedral, and the two Fatui lovers at the Northland Bank entrance, they couldn’t be called absolutely bad people either.

If she could meet such Fatui soldiers in the future, she would talk to them. Perhaps there would be unexpected gains.

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