Chapter 14

"Boss Takumi! Here I come again!"

After all, Amber is a vigorous girl. Upon seeing Takumi, she quickly waved her hand, signaling that Takumi was here.

Takumi also nodded with a smile. But he knew that the big deal in the store today wasn't Amber. It was Jean, standing in front of him!

Jean, one of the five resident pool tigers, had always been a source of admiration for Takumi. 

But when he saw Jean standing before him, his attention was immediately drawn to her delicate face.

Her fair skin, paired with the tight uniform of the Zephyr Knights, accentuated Jean's well-proportioned figure. 

Though in the game, Jean is often jokingly called "Jean's Mother" for some reason, standing before him now, Takumi couldn't help but admire her.

Mondstadt truly is a remarkable place...

"This is the animation screening room you mentioned, Amber?" Jean and Kaeya looked around. It was quite different from some of the other stores in Mondstadt. The whole place was filled with the scent of alchemy. On the shelf, a few posters had just been baked in the oven.

"Chief Jean, Captain Jean, do you want to watch anime?" Amber asked with enthusiasm. "I even learned the shadow clone technique from 'Naruto Ninja!'"

"Also, the anime in this store is really interesting!" she added.

"Master Jean, do you want to give it a try?"

Before Takumi could even start trying to solicit customers, Amber, with her usual energy, immediately recommended the store to Jean, her friend and captain of the Knights.

Takumi didn't have to say anything this time—Amber had already made her pitch.

If Jean could learn something like the shadow clone technique, it would be incredibly beneficial for her, and for the entire Knights! It could greatly solve the manpower issue!

If Jean learned this skill, she wouldn't need Amber, the scouting knight, to take action in city battles. The Knights themselves would be enough to handle it. 

And that would allow Jean to focus more on dealing with the looming threat of Fengmolong. Recently, there had been numerous petitions from Mondstadt residents asking for the dragon to be slain. Even those well-meaning fools were beginning to worry about Mondstadt's city defense!

All of this was causing Jean to worry as well. So, when Amber spoke, Jean was already quite excited. 

She had come here to investigate whether anime was really as magical as Amber had claimed. 

Now, she was determined to find out for herself.

She still had much work to do in the future, so she couldn't spend too much time on this.

"Excuse me, what types of anime do you have in this store? Do I pay first, or...?" Jean asked, looking at Takumi.

"Ten thousand Mora for one episode, or one hundred thousand Mora for the night package," Takumi explained. "The night package is from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM."

"For the rest of the time, there's no night package," he added.

With that, Takumi led the group into another room.

Here, there was a shelf. A modern person would immediately recognize it.

It was a computer, projecting a PowerPoint presentation.

On the screen was the promotional video (PV) for the new show that Takumi had pulled up just yesterday.

"Is this a new work?" Amber asked, looking at the video.

When Amber came the day before, there were only two shows in the store: "Naruto" and "Love Live." Out of her interest in adventure, Amber had quickly abandoned the idol-themed show.

But now, a new video had appeared before her eyes. And it immediately grabbed her attention.

"Yes, it's a new work—'Passionate Towards...'" Takumi explained.

"But, boss, don't you charge for your new works?" Amber asked. She noticed that there were quite a few teenagers watching the screening room.

"Where did these kids get Mora?" she wondered.

"This is just a PV, not the actual plot, so it's free," Takumi replied with a faint smile. "If I charged for a PV, what would be the difference between me and a capitalist?"

"This is Mondstadt, the free city," he added, joking. "I don't want to be called a money-grubber."

---

Under the PV of the new work, a figure with red eyes and black hair stood under the bloody moonlight, holding a snow-white blade tightly in her hand. There was a coldness in her eyes, directed at the world.

When Captain Jean saw the girl on the screen, she subconsciously wanted to activate her Dandelion Field!

This was just one of the images. However, Jean's fighting spirit had already been stirred.

What had happened to this girl? Why did her eyes carry such coldness?

And behind the girl stood a youthful and sunny boy.

For some reason, when Jean saw the characters in the PV, something stirred within her. She remembered the history of the Zephyr Knights and the ties between Mondstadt and Old Mondstadt.