11 Is this the start of my popular phase?

"Here's your drink."

"Thank you Ms. Diona."

"You're welcome, I suppose."

Muttering out a small 'hmph', she returns to her post, polishing the glasses in front of her.

The Signature Mix that she made is light blue in color, garnished with some berries with a mint leaf on top, served in a tall glass.

I took a sip and couldn't hold back a slight shudder.

'Oooh that's cold. It's sweet, and I can feel a refreshing burst of mint in there. It's very good.'

"Delicious right? Thanks to Diona, Cat's Tail practically became Angel's Share challenger overnight. She single-handedly disrupted their monopoly over Mondstadt. Isn't that amazing?"

"It really is. Does Angel's Share or anyone else tried to recruit her? I imagine there would be people that try to poach such a talent."

"The Executive Chairman of the Mondstadt Wine Guild, Elzar, tried to recruit her to Angel's Share."

"Wow, the chairman himself? The wine guild must really want her. But given how much she hates alcohol, I imagine she refused quite harshly no?"

"Oh, she didn't just refuse, she bit his hand."

Diona, who was busy polishing a glass, nearly dropped it in surprise.

"Is that true, Ms. Diona?"

"I don't know what you're talking about…"

Your tail indicates otherwise, though.

"Don't worry Diona, he's not angry at you. In fact, he's been trying to apologize for a while now."

"Hmph! I don't want anything to do with that man. Him and that Diluc, one day, I'll bring them down from their pedestal, and their wine industry with them, just you wait!"

Seemingly done with her spiel, Diona went back to cleaning the glasses.

"Why does she dislike alcohol so much anyway?"

Margaret sighed, her smile disappeared.

"Diona really adores her father, Draff. And when she saw him drunk for the first time, how much his personality changes because of it, I guess the perfect image she had of him shattered to pieces. Not to mention how he would often neglect her on his drunken stupor.

"She's afraid that if he keeps consuming alcohol the way he is, she would one day lose him for good. And with how Draff tends to drink while working, it's not surprising that she's scared."

"What does Draff do anyway?"

"He's the head of the hunters in Springvale."

Yikes, buddy. You really should not play with your life like that.

"Don't get me wrong though, Draff really loves Diona. He just couldn't control himself."

"I see. So behind all that barb, she's really just lonely huh?"

"Pretty much. That's why I teased her so much. I can't be her mother, but at the very least, I can make her feel welcomed in my tavern."

Could it be that Draff's drinking problem stems from the loss of his wife? I don't think there's a mention of Diona's mother anywhere, so that could be the case. Or maybe a bad divorce. Or maybe he's just an alcoholic, who knows really.

"Agh! Enough of this depressing conversation. Why don't you tell me about Inazuma, Mr. Yuu? There's not a lot known about what's currently happening in that country."

Lady, if you want a less depressing talk, you really should not be asking about Inazuma right now.

"Sure, what do you want to know?"

But I never shy away from an opportunity to mess around with someone. As long as it doesn't get me killed, that is.

"I heard that Inazuma is pretty much closed because of some decree–"

"The Sakoku Decree."

"Yes, that. The few Inazuman that visited this place pretty much refused to talk about it. They said they rather 'not remember what happened in that archonforsakened place.'"

To the everyday Inazuman citizen, the Raiden Shogun's action is pretty much borderline insane.

"'Archonforsakened', huh. That sounds about right."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm, where do I start? How much do you know of how Inazuma is governed?"

"Nothing. Information about Inazuma is few and far between."

"I see. Well, you might want to get comfortable, this one's going to be a long story."

While I continued eating my Moon Pie, Margaret left her station behind the bar and moved to sit next to me.

"So basically, the Raiden Shogun created the Tri-Commision to help her manage Inazuma. The Tri-Commission consists of the Kanjou, Tenryou, and Yashiro Commission. Currently, for reasons unknown, the Shogun enacted the Vision Hunt Decree, and by extension, the Sakoku Decree.

"The Vision Hunt Decree is basically what it sounds like. The Shogun's Army assigned to the Tenryou Commission would go around and confiscate the citizen's vision. As for the Sakoku Decree, it basically made it impossible for people to leave Inazuma. The fact that the Kanjou Commission arbitrarily made the assessment more difficult doesn't help either.

"On top of that, the Raiden Shogun herself pretty much made a barrier of lightning storm surrounding Inazuma, making any attempt to escape a death wish. The outlanders staying in Ritou Island are pretty much being oppressed.

"The Yashiro Commission is pretty much the only one not considered 'controversial' by the citizens. They're mostly responsible for civilian affairs, and the Shogun's Army assigned to them greatly care for the people.

"And, in an effort to resist the Vision Hunt Decree, there's a resistance forming on Watatsumi Island. I say resistance, but they're pretty much the Watatsumi Army that, while striving for the abolishment of the Vision Hunt Decree, mostly serve as peacekeepers and help rebuild their island's economy."

'Whoa, that's the longest I've talked in years.'

Diona, who's pretty much pretending to be cleaning at this point, had a shocked expression on her face. Taking a sip of the refreshing Signature Mix, I turn to look at the flabbergasted Margaret.

"So, Ms. Margaret, what do you think about Inazuma?"

"Uhhh… where do I even start?"

"From the beginning, of course."

"Very funny, Mr. Yuu."

"I know. I'm a very talented comedian."

Trying her best not to sigh at my quip, Margaret processed what I just told her.

"No wonder those people don't want to talk about it."

"Pretty much. With the Raiden Shogun never appearing in public anymore, and the ticking time bomb that is Inazuma right now, to the citizens, the country might as well not have an Archon. After all, who do you think started this whole thing?"

Trying my best to sound melancholic, I continued.

"That's pretty much why I left. Of course, with the Kanjou Commission putting us on a leash, some of us that were desperate gathered together, sailed with a boat, and hoped that our luck would be enough."

"Then, what about the others?"

"There were no 'others' when I woke up."

Damn, what a sob story I just made up on the spot. Maybe I should've gone to an art school. Sorry lady, but if there's one thing that video games and novels taught me, it's that taverns are a great place to gather information. Sooner or later, people would start asking questions about the masked traveler, and I'd rather the information they have originates from yours truly.

"It must be hard on you, traveling by yourself."

She said, as she laid her hand on my head, gently stroking it.

Maybe the sob story is a bit too good.

"It's fine, I got used to it."

"Well, if you ever need company, my tavern will always be open to you."

"No need to go so far, Ms. Margaret–"

"Margaret. Just Margaret is fine."

"...okay. Call me Yuu, then."

After chatting a bit more, I left the tavern feeling full and relaxed.

"See you later, Margaret, Ms. Diona."

"Make sure to come back!"

"Hmph, you're one of the few people in this city that understands the dangers of alcohol, so I suppose you can visit again."

I'll never get used to seeing a real life tsundere, it seems.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It's been a week since I arrived in Mondstadt and nothing of note happened, if you exclude the constant Dvalin attacks.

I've developed a routine for myself this past week. My day basically boils down to waking up, getting some breakfast and a lunch to go from Good Hunter, do commissions all day, return before nightfall, drown myself in fluff on Cat's Tail, sleep, rinse and repeat. There's that one time I went to Springvale for a commission and met Draff, but other than that, I do the same thing pretty much everyday.

It's a bit mundane, but before I drown myself in troubles later on, especially when the Traveler arrives, I try my best to enjoy myself. Especially now that I'm basically a rich person.

'It's a shame that there aren't that many urgent commissions after the first few days. I mean, I guess it's my fault for constantly finishing them at a fast pace, but come on! It's a rare opportunity to earn big! Who knows if by some miracle it manages to solve itself? That'll be fifty-thousand less Mora for me!'

Right now, I am basically a millionaire in terms of Mora. There's really nothing to spend it on though. I did ask Marjorie to notify me if there's an adventurer that sold her some mask. Her shop is basically filled with treasures that adventurers sell to her, so I was hoping for some magical mask with magical properties or something. Hilichurl's mask is kinda ugly so I wanted to change it as soon as possible.

"Please tell me you have something."

"Sorry, Yuu, but still nothing."

"Fucking dammit…"

"Don't worry! You'll be the first to know if something like that pops up. Not like anyone is interested in a mask anyway."

"Who knows, there might be some eccentric person just waiting to buy some."

'God forbid if Reckless Pallad of all people decided that a mask will help him in his adventures.'

Feeling disappointed, I let out a big sigh.

"Thanks anyway Marjorie."

"Of course, Yuu. Someone has to help relieve you of your Mora somehow."

"Whatever you say, Marjorie."

After bidding her farewell, I decided to eat lunch in Good Hunter this time around.

'Not a lot of commissions to take today, so I might as well take today off.'

"Afternoon, Sara."

"Ah, good afternoon Mr. Yuu. The same as usual?"

"Not this time. I don't have any commissions right now, so I'll be dining in today."

"Of course, what would you like to order?"

"You've been harping about that Venison Steak non-stop, so I'll have that."

"Understood. Don't worry Mr. Yuu, you won't be disappointed."

After ordering an extra Fisherman's Toast, I sat down on one of the outside tables.

Unlike the taverns, restaurants like Good Hunter suffered quite a bit in their business. According to Sara, ever since Dvalin appeared, nobody is in the mood to eat, and those that do come here end up doing nothing but sigh and moan all the time. People prefer to just drink their stress away, I guess.

'As expected, in this City of Wine and Song, drinking is the number one solution to all your problems. Just look at Barbatos, I'm sure he'll vouch for my statement.'

"Here you go, Mr. Yuu."

"Thanks Sara."

On the outside, the steak doesn't look any different from a regular beef steak. The smell is fragrant, and it's cooked medium rare. I've only ever had well done steak, so this'll be a first for me. At least it's not Amber's Champion Steak or whatever it is she calls it. Seriously, one side is not even cooked properly, and the other one's pretty much burnt.

"Sara! One Sticky Honey Roast please!"

"Right away, Amber."

Speak of the devil and she shall appear.

A girl arrived at Good Hunter and made her order. Her outfit screams the color red: a red bow in the shape reminiscent of a bunny ear on her head, a red outrider uniform with the crest of Favonius on its front, red-white thigh high socks, also with a crest of Favonius on the outer side, and on her left hip is a Pyro Vision decorated with red feathers.

The Gliding Champion of Mondstadt, the best Outrider in Mondstadt because she's practically the only one left, the F-tier character yet S-tier waifu, Outrider Amber.

'Mondstadt's best girl, in the flesh. Now that I think about it, I've been here for one week, and the only other playable character I've met is Diona. Then again, I've been too busy grinding for Mora and I've only ever hung out in Cat's Tail.'

Though I probably won't be interacting with her anytime soon, it's nice to see other characters with my own eyes.

"Excuse me, traveler! Do you mind if I sit here?"

"Eh?"

'The fuck? She's talking to me?'

"I mean… go ahead, I guess."

"Thanks!"

After getting her permission, she proceeded to take the seat across from me.

"I am Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius! What's your name, traveler?"

'Is this really just a coincidence? There are plenty of other seats around. Did someone send her to gather information on me? Maybe Kaeya? In that case, I'll have to be careful about anything I say.'

She's an outgoing and straightforward girl, from what I remembered, and her talking to strangers shouldn't be weird at all.

'I'm sorry that I can't trust you Amber. Not now. Not when I have no idea who was watching me that day.'

Always assume the worst.

"My name is Kamiyama Yuu, a Wanderer from Inazuma. Nice to meet you, miss outrider."

It's sad that my first reaction to this kind of thing is doubt and suspicion. But for now…

'Let's see what you're playing at, Knights of Favonius.'