Powerless

Little by little, Lisa was becoming more certain that Sai was not from this world. But something was not right. He didn't seem to have known the Traveler before he was summoned, so how did he know so many knights? It wasn't matching, he might even be a spy.

"How do you know about Jean? More specifically, where did you learn her name and position?"

Sai was not expecting this question, with the loads of more relevant content he seemed to know. He decided to express exactly that.

"Are you not curious about the fact that I know about future events? Or how I know things related to the Traveler's summoning?"

Lisa glared at him. Sparks flew around her body, which got covered by a slight purple hue.

"I said to answer as accurately as you can, without irrelevant information."

"Y–yes, okay." He quivered for a second.

He then lowered his head and started thinking of how to answer. The Lisa he knew, the scholar, would certainly question whether he had ways of knowing the future, but it seemed like the real one wasn't that scientific after all. Or perhaps he was missing an important part of her storyline.

"I've heard stories about the Gunnhildr Clan. That's also— Oh." He was adding something when he realized it was unrelated to her question.

Contrary to his beliefs, Lisa didn't drop the lightning. Instead, it grew outwards, and all his body hair stood up straight. Sai could even feel his black hair lifting up.

"You know, boy?" She almost spat the last word. "The only reason why you haven't been imprisoned and interrogated is because this is the City of Freedom. If it was any other nation, you would probably already be half-dead, or worse…"

"…" Sai gulped hard. The electricity hurt his skin. If this was how Lisa's anger felt, he couldn't imagine how the shogun's would feel.

"But I'm not as caring as Jean is. If you pose a threat, I won't hesitate to eliminate you. It seems to me like you come to Mondstadt with ill intent. Tell me… what country are you spying for?"

'How does she know I'm a spy? Even I was not aware of it!' Cold sweat dripped through his back. His back was against the wall, for he had no proof to back any statements on his background.

"Miss Lisa, I am not a spy." Sai scowled and clenched his fists. He had to sound as honest as he could to avoid terrible consequences. His voice, now half drowned by the cackling lightning, was heard again: "Although I have no way to prove it to you, all I want are those two things from the deal we made. Ah, and a little money or perhaps a job recommendation so I won't die of hunger or cold. I can even be your butler or knight if you teach me magic."

Slowly, the oppressive feeling faded away, leaving only a peerless beauty with a cold look on her face.

"This is the city of freedom, and there are no jails of any sort here, so if you step out of line, you won't have the opportunity to be captured and plead for your life. I will only give you one more chance. Where- did you learn- about the knights?" She emphasised each part.

'There's no other choice, then! Damnit!' He gritted his teeth and answered:

"I used an artifact from another world."

Lisa slowly looked him up and down.

"Okay. That's enough. Keep your answers like that." She didn't look surprised. Her eyes shone purple for an instant. "Do you know the Traveler?"

"… Not… personally."

"Are you hostile to him?"

"No."

"Is he an ally?"

"No."

"Did you really come here by chance?"

"Yes."

"Are you involved in Noelle's disappearance?"

"Nothing to do with it."

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"I only have some hypotheses."

"How do you know— Wait, never mind." She was going to keep asking but refrained for some reason.

Sai finally caught his breath. That back and forth happened very quickly, leaving him no chance to think deeply about his answers. At the same time, Lisa gulped the rest of her tea and continued:

"About those things you said you knew… You don't know anything about that."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't know anything about any of that."

"No, but—"

"YOU don't know- anything- about that." Her voice was low but threatening.

"…"

"Understood?"

"Yes."

'Shi*… Worst case scenario happened. She is ruthless and cautious, I feel nervous just looking at her… I'm not good with hiding things like this.'

"Good. From now on, stop coming to the headquarters of the knights. I will give you a room to live in, as well as a small pension until you find work somewhere. Kaeya will personally deliver it to you. You can ask your questions now."

"I…" Sai was dumbstruck. She was taking away all his chances of making good use of his knowledge.

"Do you really not want to know any more? Are you not a witch? Don't you seek knowledge?"

"I don't care. If you don't ask your questions right now I won't answer them anymore."

Sai raised both brows. He planned on telling Lisa many things so she would be more willing to help him, but it looks like she doesn't even want to listen!

"I wanted to know… are you okay with being summoned by the Traveler every time?"

"Yes."

His mouth opened and his eyes widened.

"What do you mean, 'yes'?!"

"It is not something you or even I have the power to meddle with. Don't try to find out more, or you will regret it."

"There's no way I can do that! I need to know how and why I was summoned."

Lisa neutrally gazed at him and said:

"Just don't bother me with it. I won't answer any questions regarding that, either."

'It seems like there is something really serious going on…'

"Tch, fine. What I need the most is to know about how to get more power, please teach me!"

"…Hm?"

"Since I'm not a Blessed, I want to try other methods to increase my strength."

"Have you tried working out?" Lisa smirked.

"I— I'm serious! Is there a way to artificially get a Vision?"

"I don't know."

"Then… I heard there were some artifacts that could help someone with manipulating elemental energy. Do they grant a Visionless the ability to wield it?"

"No."

"Is there not a single artifact that allows that?"

"I haven't tried all of them, but they usually depend on the user's elemental power going through them to activate."

At this point, Sai was getting a bit desperate.

"What about a weapon or a catalyst? Or a legendary artifact or something?"

"I don't know any that could help a Visionless person. And even if it existed, you wouldn't be able to afford it in your lifetime." She didn't mince words.

Lisa was utterly correct. There was not a single known fighter who lacked both a Vision and the Blessing in Mondstadt. In other words, he was bound to be powerless. 'Hmm… wait a second.'

"Ms. Lisa, what exactly is the Blessing?"

"Just like a Vision, the gods granted some of us the power to fight against fate." She recounted the famous saying.

"But how does it actually work? How is it possible that a human suddenly gets so strong? Where does that energy come from? Does muscle density increase or is it an invisible halo that adds force behind the movements?"

Lisa looked a little surprised by his questions, and she answered:

"Muscle density? Interesting point… As far as I know, there is no evidence of any sort of propelling energy, but as for muscle density… Maybe you could ask Albedo about it." For a moment, she looked incredibly intrigued, but it soon gave way to her normal uninterested face.

'Albedo, of course! That guy would surely know!'

"What about elemental energy, Ms. Lisa?"

"It's the energy originated from the elements."

'Duh… really?'

"Do all elements have energy? For instance, can you harvest energy from the air around us or from this table?"

"From the air around us, it's possible, but not from this table."

"Does that mean that some things have energy and some things don't? Do elemental energies behave differently from each other? Can you feel and use all of them?" Sai impatiently continued his barrage of questions. For someone who was going to study Electric Engineering, that was a topic he couldn't leave behind.

"…"

"…Is your magic based on elemental energy as well, Ms. Lisa?" The answer might seem obvious, but there might be a different type of magic from the one in the game, so he tried to make sure.

"Yes."

"Can you teach me magic?"

"No."

"…"

"…"

"Please?"

"No." She didn't show it, but she was a little amused by his antics.

"Would I need a Vision to learn magic?"

"Obviously."

"Sigh… Then that's all I have to ask. Oh, no, wait. One more thing: you said you had a room for me?"

"In the lower district, yes."

"Lower district… Does it have a bathroom?"

"It is shared, but yes it does."

"Shared? Shared room??" Only someone who had been through it could understand the pains of a shared room.

"No, you will share the first floor of the building with some other people."

"Oof, okay, at least it's not a shared room. But does the bathroom have a shower?"

"It has a bathtub." Lisa replied curiously.

"Ugh… Can I apply for a different place?"

"You can't. Now, your questions are over, time for my little task."

If someone were to look at that particular table in the garden, one would see a deeply frowning young man and a beauty with a foxy smile.