45 Smile for the Kamera!

'Hmm, it's different from the one I have.'

Compared to the ones I bought from Timaeus, the electro potion this treasure hoarder has is a lot more volatile. I tried opening the cap to check its content, but a sudden flaring of electro nearly landed on my face. Not that it'll hurt, but still.

'Granted, the ones I have are more for consumption, and I primarily used it for infusing my own anemo, but damn the difference is very noticeable.'

I tried throwing one against a patch of grass, and, though it's hard to precisely gauge its power based on that, the radius alone is larger than what I anticipated, which is a good thing.

I considered waking up several treasure hoarders to serve as a live test subject, but I don't want to accidentally kill them. Less treasure hoarders means less renown we'll be getting.

"Did you find anything, Paimon?"

The moment the coast was clear and Lumine went away dragging the leader of the pack with her, Paimon showed up at my call and, once I explained the situation, went around happily from person to person, rummaging through their pockets and whatever bags they had.

"Nope! Just junk and other useless stuff!"

Since it's a group, the majority of their loot might have been kept somewhere inside the building Lumine is using, but honestly, none of us were inclined to interrupt whatever the hell she's doing in there.

'That man sure can scream. It's amazing that no Millelith soldier has shown up yet honestly.'

In the meantime, while Paimon is searching every nook and cranny for even a piece of Mora, I went around looking for any treasure hoarders that might've had some more of this volatile vial of liquid.

Unfortunately, other than the two out of the three electro ones I found earlier, I only found two more, a vial of cryo that's freezing to the touch, and another one of hydro, with the liquid inside constantly swirling about as if begging to be let out.

'Now, where should I store these things?'

I'd like to think that nothing would happen if I just simply store it in my bag, but with how dangerous these potions are compared to the ones I have, I can't guarantee something wouldn't happen along the way.

In the end, I decided to just store them where I found them, a pouch that each potioneer ties to their person. I made sure to separate them by elements before tying the three pouches to my bag.

'I'll try storing them in a single pouch later when I have more. I don't want to lose the few that I have.'

"Oh! White mask, come take a look at this!"

At Paimon's call, I turned my attention towards her, only to see the little fairy rummaging through a white sack, probably from one of the treasure hoarders lying around.

"What is it, Paimon?"

"Ta-da!" Holding the item in question with both of her hands, Paimon had an expectant look on her face. "What do you think this is? Seems valuable, don't you think?"

"I guess so. Not sure how valuable a Kamera is in terms of Mora though."

Grabbing the Kamera from Paimon's hand, I took a closer look at it.

The Kamera is shaped like a wooden box encased in a metal frame with two lenses on the front, with the upper lens being smaller than the one below. On one side of the bottom lens are a small metal lever that can be adjusted, while on both sides of the Kamera itself are two metal dials, each with a small button on its center.

"Kamera?"

"Yeah. A nifty little thing made by Fontaine for taking pictures. They're basically drawings but better."

"Wow! Then, can you take a picture of Paimon?"

"I don't know how to use it though."

Looking at the dials and levers and whatnot, I'm not even sure where to start. The only part I think I know is the slit located on the back of the Kamera at the top, presumably where the picture will come out.

"You're better off asking Lumine. She might know something."

"I see. In that case, let's go to–"

Suddenly, a piercing scream louder than the ones before came from the direction of the building Lumine is in, interrupting Paimon's words.

"You were saying?"

"...let's just wait here."

So we did. In the meantime, I tried to fiddle with the Kamera for a bit, but I gave up not long after, too afraid of accidentally breaking some mechanism I don't even understand.

Thankfully, the wait didn't last long.

With a smile on her face, Lumine dragged the now unconscious leader by the rope towards us with one hand, while the other was holding onto a rather large roll of paper.

"Good news, everybody!" Letting go of the rope, Lumine approached the two of us and proceeded to unfurl the paper in her hand. "I found a map. And not just any map, too!"

Drawn atop the slightly wrinkled paper is a surprisingly detailed map of the entire Liyue region, with certain areas being marked with symbols and bits of information written next to them in the Liyue script.

What caught my attention though, was the numerous crosses in certain areas around the map, with a particularly large one on what looked like a ruin to our west.

'If those crosses mean what I think it means, then perhaps we've hit the jackpot after all.'

And judging by the squeal of excitement coming from the white fairy next to me, Paimon has come to the same conclusion as I did.

"Is that what Paimon thinks it is?!"

"Yep! More treasures!" Closing the map in her hands, Lumine hugged Paimon tight, both of them letting out joyous laughter. "Now, all we have to do is chart a course and we'll be all set. We'll check over the writings just in case, though. Can you read the letters on the map, Paimon?"

"Of course!" Separating herself from Lumine's hug, Paimon proudly puffs her chest. "Paimon is fluent in all seven languages of Teyvat, after all!"

"Then I'll need your help translating everything on here."

After their laughter died down, I followed the two of them towards the nearby collapsed wall as they spread out the map on top of the surprisingly even surface.

While the two of them were enthusiastically talking about the potential meaning of the symbols and translation of the writings, I sat myself close to them, content with simply listening to their discussion.

'This somehow reminds me of every group project I've ever been in.'

Letting the more active ones take charge and discuss the finer details while I sit back and pay just enough attention to make sure I don't get assigned the harder parts.

"What do you think, Yuu?"

"Huh?"

The sudden call coming from Lumine snapped me out of my reverie.

"Sorry, what were you talking about?"

"Here," though she seemed a bit miffed at my lack of attention, her annoyance was quickly replaced with a smile as she pulled me closer to the map, "it'll be faster for you to see for yourself."

Compared to before, there are now new lines drawn across the map. Starting from the ruins we are currently at, the line continued following the path west towards Jueyun Karst, up the mountains, before suddenly dropping straight to the bottom of the stone forest.

"We're jumping straight down?"

"It's the only way." She said, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, maybe not the only way, it's just that the alternative will take way too long and there's nothing of value to take there."

"I see. In that case, I suppose you'll be carrying me this time around."

"Huh? Why?"

"No flying, remember? How else am I supposed to get down? The only one with a wind glider here is you."

"Huh. You're right." Snapping her fingers in realization, Lumine nodded before her smile returned. "I guess this would be a good opportunity to pay back all those times you carried me in Mondstadt, huh?"

"Uh huh."

Turning my attention back towards the map, I continued following the line towards the south, passing through the giant tree where that strange little girl hangs out, before stopping at a ruin close to the river.

"Is that as far as we go?"

"We'll decide on a further route after we finish this one. Depending on how long this takes, we can either take another long one, or a shorter one if we're strapped for time."

"True."

After reviewing the route one last time, I nodded my head before suddenly remembering about the loot Paimon acquired back then.

"By the way, Paimon found this inside one of the treasure hoarder's sacks." I said, as I handed over the Kamera to Lumine. "It's a Kamera for taking pictures. Ever used one of these before?"

"Hmm…." Taking a closer look at the device, Lumine began to inspect it closer as she tested the dials and opened the compartment below, which I didn't realize was a thing. "A bit different than what I have used before, but I should be able to use it just fine."

"Oh, oh! Then can you take a picture of the three of us?"

"Of course, just wait for a bit, okay Paimon?"

"Okay!"

"You might want to pay attention to this one, Yuu." Turning her attention back towards the Kamera, she called out to me even as she began her work on it. "It'd be better for both of us to know how to do it."

"If it means less pictures taken of me, then sure."

"Don't be like that." Closing the bottom compartment, she turns the dial until there's some sort of resistance before stopping. "We're going to be together for quite some time, it'll be good to have something to remember those moments by, you know?"

"I know. I just hate getting my picture taken."

"Kamera shy, are we?"

"I just find it annoying, honestly."

"Fufu, then I'll be sure to change that." Moving onto the lenses, she dragged the small lever all the way up until it clicked before aiming the Kamera in Paimon's general direction. "After all, having a beautiful girl like me by your side will change a lot of things."

"Even self-love has its limits, princess."

"What can I say, I'm just that pretty. Paimon, look towards the bottom lens please!"

Surprised by her sudden instruction, the little fairy scrambled to fix her hair, accidentally knocking her crown askew. Once she's satisfied with that, she wears the brightest smile I've seen from her along with one of her hands making a peace sign, placing her right eye in between two of her fingers.

Click!

Pressing the small button on the left side of the Kamera, the sound of the shutter closing signaled the end of the photo session.

With a brief whirring of the Kamera's inner mechanism, the photo gradually came out of the slit near the top of the device, similar to how a polaroid camera would.

Taking the picture out, Lumine briefly airs it out before the image slowly comes together.

On it, a colored picture of a smiling Paimon appears, much to the white fairy's delight.

"Here you go, Paimon."

"Oh!" Taking the picture out of Lumine's hand, Paimon examines it happily before the picture disappears from her hand in a burst of light. "Paimon will make sure to keep this safe. Come on, Lumine, let's take one for the three of us!"

"Sure. Did you get all that, Yuu?"

"I think? Let me give it a try."

Taking the offered Kamera from Lumine, I did exactly as I remember she did. She would correct me from time to time, but I did eventually manage to do it right.

"It's this button here, right?"

"Yep. Now just put it some distance away, and we'll be good to go."

As I controlled the Kamera with anemo and tried to position it a bit of distance away, Lumine took my hat off and pulled me by the shoulder closer towards her. Paimon on the other hand, flew towards Lumine's left side, leaving the blonde in the middle.

"Ready?"

"Wait!"

Suddenly, Paimon flew towards Lumine's hand, taking my hat away from her before putting them on.

"Oh wow, it's a lot heavier than Paimon thought."

"It's not that it's heavy, you're just not strong enough."

"Hmph, whatever you say white mask!"

Instead of going back to her previous position, Paimon flew just right between the two of us at a higher elevation, somewhat shading us from the morning sun.

"Okay, Paimon's ready!"

"Alright then. In 3… 2… 1…."

Click!

As the shutter of the Kamera closes, I brought the device back towards us and took the picture once it finished being processed.

Just like before, I took the picture out and aired it for a bit before the image slowly started to form.

"What do you think?"

"Looks good." Lumine said, as she leaned closer, getting a better look at the picture. "Would be even better if a certain someone were to take off his mask though."

"Hmm, too bad that certain someone is not very inclined to the idea then, huh?"

"Mhm. What a shame."

"What a shame indeed."

Once Paimon had her turn in looking at the picture of us three, I gave the Kamera for Lumine to store, before walking back towards the pile of unconscious bodies on the ground.

As I gathered them into a single group, Lumine grabbed some more ropes the treasure hoarders had and began tying them up in pairs. By the end of it, we had ten pairs of knocked out treasure hoarders alongside their leader.

"Okay Paimon, you take five pairs and I'll take the other five."

"What?! Are you crazy?!"

"I am quite sane, thank you very much."

Gathering the surrounding anemo energy towards each pair of treasure hoarders, I began lifting them up and put them at an equal distance between each other behind me.

"That's why what I said was a joke. You struggled enough with that hat on you, I'm not about to expect you to carry anything heavier than that."

"Mmmmngghh… you're so annoying, white mask."

"I know, right?"

"Alright you two, knock it off." Making her way next to me while dragging the leader along the ground, Lumine took the hat off of Paimon and put it back in my head. "We're going back to the checkpoint with these guys, and then we'll follow the path west as planned."

As the three of us began making our way back towards the checkpoint, the sight of floating unconscious treasure hoarders following behind us caused the heads of every passerby and Millelith that saw us turn.

"At this rate, we'll be the talk of town in no time at all."

"Mhm, this is not something they see everyday, after all."

"Paimon thinks this isn't something they've ever seen, period."

The moment the checkpoint was in sight, the patrolling guards, alongside the ones on standby, immediately raised their weapon, focusing all of their eyes on us as we came closer.

The huge ruckus caused the bespectacled official we met before to walk out of his tent in a hurry. The moment he saw the bunch of treasure hoarders we brought, the wide-eyed expression on his face conveyed his disbelief quite clearly.

As he whispered something to the guard next to him, said guard immediately ordered everyone else to stand down.

'Must be the one of the head honchos of this place. A captain, perhaps?'

Though the guards were a bit reluctant at the order, they still followed it regardless as they slowly lowered their weapons. Despite that, I can see that their attention is still focused on the three of us, watching closely to make sure we didn't do anything stupid.

While being stared at by both guards and travelers alike, the bespectacled official alongside the presumably captain of this place approached us.

"Honorary knights, it's nice to meet you again." As he said that, the government official turned his attention towards one of the many treasure hoarders now placed on the ground. "Though I would like it if you can give me an explanation about this… situation."

"Well, long story short, we were ambushed by this group of treasure hoarders while sightseeing at one of the ruins up ahead.

"And as you can see," gesturing towards the unconscious bodies, I gave them a glance before continuing, "we've managed to deal with them just fine."

"I see." Nodding in understanding, the official whispered something to the captain next to him, to which he nodded before motioning for the other guards to approach. "So you decided to hand them over to the Milleliths then?"

"Yes. Oh, and this one is their leader."

Giving Lumine a little nudge, she tugged the rope in her hand harshly and brought the leader in front of the official. The previously handsome visage of his now heavily bruised, a combination of whatever the hell she did and all the dirt he's been eating on the way here.

Whether the government official realizes this or not, he makes no comment about it.

"Hmm… I think I've seen him before."

"It's Viper, Mr. Zhang." The captain next to him interjected. "Quite the high one on our list of wanted criminals. His modus operandi usually involves swindling his victim out of their valuables, with him disguising himself as someone that might seem harmless, scholars being his usual go-to."

"Ah, that's the one. I heard he recently took charge of a rather large group of treasure hoarders, right?"

"Yes, just a month ago. He's been a lot more aggressive in his methods ever since."

"Well, I'll be." Pushing his glasses up with his finger, Zhang's surprised expression turns into one of joy. "Quite the favor you've done for us, honorary knights."

As some of the guards began to round up the criminals, the rest of them led the gawking masses back to the checkpoint to continue their previous inspection.

"Is he a dangerous one?"

"Not quite, miss knight." Motioning for us to follow, the three of us walked behind him towards the direction of the tent. "He's not as dangerous as he is slippery. Never struck in the same place twice, very careful in picking his targets, things like that."

"We found him just hanging out in the ruins though."

"Though we usually do check them for criminal activities, because of the recent spike in travelers heading towards Liyue, the Milleliths have been a lot more concentrated around the main roads."

"So there's not a lot of them patrolling around?"

"There are, just not as much as we usually do. Compared to Guili Plains, which is where the main road heading towards the harbor is located, somewhere like Tianqiu Valley would see minimal Millelith presence outside of the specific outpost we've set up."

Once we entered the tent, motions for us to sit down while he rummaged through a cabinet in the back corner.

"You guys are being stretched thin, huh?"

"It is what it is, honorary knight."

Once he found what he was looking for, Zhang walked back with a large sack in his hand. Placing it on top of the table, the contents made a jingling noise that I recognize as the sound of Mora.

"Please take this, honorary knights, as a reward for bringing Viper into custody."

"Are you sure we can take this?"

"It's fine." Giving us a reassuring smile, Zhang pushes the sack closer towards us. "It's an official reward put up by the Qixing, so you have no need to worry."

"If you say so."

Though I acted reluctantly, in reality, my heart is jumping in joy. Who in their right mind would ever say no to that much Mora?

"If that's all, Mr. Zhang, then we'd like to continue with our journey."

"Of course. Thank you for your assistance, honorary knights." With a slight bow, he politely bade us farewell.

On our way out, off on the other side of where the inspection was held, I noticed that the treasure hoarders have come to, some of them immediately try to escape, only to fail miserably given how many guards are surrounding them.

"I'd say that went pretty well. Don't you think so, Yuu?"

"I'll say. This alone is enough to make my day." I replied, as I handed the sack over to Lumine. "I reckon Mr. Zhang will be writing up a report about us to the Qixing right about now."

"Mhm." Making sure that no one is looking at our direction, Lumine carefully stored the bag inside her inventory. "Hopefully, he'll be writing good things."

As we followed the dirt path towards the west, Lumine pulled up the map and gave it a glance before giving it to Paimon.

"Here, you'll be our navigator, Paimon."

"Oh!" With stars in her eyes, the little fairy unhesitantly takes the map from Lumine before placing herself in front of us. "Don't worry, Lumine, you can count on Paimon!"

"Try not to get us lost, Paimon."

"Hmph! There's no way we'll get lost with Paimon leading the way! In case you forgot, white mask, Paimon is the best guide there is in Teyvat!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her declaration.

"Uh huh, I haven't heard that one in a hot minute."

"Shut up!"