“Traveler.., are you okay..? You don’t look well lately..”

“Huh? Me? I’m totally fine.”

Golden hair swayed in the breeze.

Sitting at a table in ‘Good Hunter,’ the iconic restaurant of Mondstadt, Lumine elegantly ate a Sweet Madame she ordered.

Across from her, Amber spoke in a worried tone.

Lumine smiled brightly as if it were no big deal, putting a piece of neatly cut chicken into her mouth with a knife.

But Amber watched her with a pitying expression.

Her golden hair, tangled from being pulled multiple times, and the frequent self-harm scars etched on her white wrists.

Even during the meal, her mood swung several times.

Just minutes ago, she was raging, but now she was eating with a cheerful expression.

Amber realized Lumine’s condition was far more serious than imagined.

When Amber looked sadly at Paimon sitting beside her, Paimon shook her head silently with an exhausted expression.

“Hehe, tasty, right, Paimon? I’m treating, so eat as much as you want.”

Despite Paimon’s usually hearty appetite, today she couldn’t swallow a bite.

She poked at her food with a fork, silently watching the conversation between Amber and Lumine.

Paimon, always by Lumine’s side, must have been the most exhausted.

She had to keep up with Lumine’s erratic mental state and try to stop her crazy actions.

“What’s with everyone’s faces? Did something bad happen today?”

“Hey, Traveler.. If something’s tough, you can always talk to me. Don’t bottle it up. What’s going on..”

“I told you, nothing’s wrong.”

Lumine’s expression turned cold.

The sudden heavy atmosphere made Amber tremble.

It was the first time Amber felt overwhelmed by someone.

As the Outrider of the Knights of Favonius and a holder of a Pyro Vision, her combat ability was beyond ordinary people.

But this time, her opponent was too much.

Lumine, a key figure in resolving Mondstadt’s Stormterror incident, defeated the Vortex Demon God Osial in Liyue, and even triumphed over a Fatui Harbinger in Inazuma across the sea.

Her strength was well-known through sight and rumors.

It was said that Lumine, who wielded three elements, even crossed swords with the Eternal Thunder God, the Raiden Shogun.

“Traveler.., why are you acting like this again..? Let’s just eat, okay? You’re the one who said to eat freely..”

“Right, I did, hehe.”

Paimon, now used to calming Lumine’s recurring episodes, coaxed her to eat.

The lively, playful Paimon from early in their travels was long gone, and Lumine had become a broken doll.

Amber had called her here out of worry over rumors of Lumine’s recent strange actions, but it seemed too late to intervene.

She was far more broken than imagined.

While Lumine ate quietly under Paimon’s soothing, she suddenly stood up.

“W-Wait.., what time is it..? I.., I have to go. Right now..”

Seeing this, Paimon let out a deep sigh, as if the time had come.

It was 9 PM, when Lumine’s fits reached their peak.

“Sihyun.., Yoo Sihyun.., I have to do bad things.. That way, Sihyun will..”

“Traveler! Please stop..! Why are you doing this..? Why..!”

Paimon wailed, trying to physically stop Lumine from leaving.

Her partner, who used to playfully bicker just months ago, was gone.

As if controlled by someone else, Lumine moved like an emotionless machine, tormenting people.

This time, Amber blocked her.

“Traveler.., your actions have caused a lot of harm, and complaints are piling up with the Knights. So, can you stop for today?”

“Move.”

A surge of Anemo energy swirled around Lumine.

Amber’s instincts screamed that provoking her now would lead to nothing good.

But thinking that letting Lumine go would make things spiral out of control, Amber stood firm as the Outrider of the Knights.

“Traveler! Stop..! Stop it..! I’m not some Hilichurl or slime! I’m your friend, Amber!”

“…Traveler. I can’t move.”

Trembling, Amber held her main weapon, a bow, not to attack Lumine but for self-defense.

It was only drawn to protect herself in case an attack came.

But regardless of the reason, the bow in Amber’s hand was a weapon.

Seeing it, Lumine reacted violently, clearly focusing on the weapon itself rather than Amber’s intent.

“Bow.., Hilichurl archer.., weapon.., attack..”

When Lumine gripped Aquacrest Saber, Paimon screamed in horror.

“Aaah!! What are you doing, Traveler!! Put that sword down right now!?”

How many could stop Lumine, whose power neared the divine?

Perhaps Acting Grand Master Jean or Lord Diluc, known as Mondstadt’s strongest?

No.

Even if both attacked together or the entire Knights surrounded her, it would be tough.

Amber wasn’t unaware of this.

But.. Amber had a hidden card Lumine wouldn’t know about.

She picked up the rabbit doll she had placed under the table, named ‘Baron Bunny.’

In truth, it contained a bomb, Amber’s elemental skill that compensated for the bow’s lack of firepower in one-versus-many situations.

Naturally, that explosion wouldn’t even scratch Lumine’s body, but that’s why she held Baron Bunny.

Yes, a specially made Baron Bunny for stunning could hold Lumine back.

That’s what Amber thought.

“Sorry, Traveler.. Just sleep for a bit.”

As Lumine muttered to herself, stroking the deep jade-colored sword, Amber threw Baron Bunny in front of her.

At the same time, Amber’s fire arrow shot at Baron Bunny’s foot, causing a massive explosion.

-Boom!!

With a specially modified louder explosion, thick black smoke spread widely.

Paimon, signaled by Amber beforehand, flew into the air to avoid it, but Lumine didn’t.

Hit directly by Baron Bunny’s explosion, she should be unconscious by now.

That’s what Amber thought until then.

-Slash.

“…Hah!?”

In that instant, the green blade rushed toward Amber.

With gushing red blood, Amber’s short, breathless scream echoed around.

Even in the thick smoke, Lumine’s crimson eyes shone vividly, as if she could see everything clearly.

Seeing this, Amber, pressing her wound, let out a bitter laugh and sighed.

“I forgot.. Tracking elemental flow is your specialty..”

Using elemental sight, Lumine’s ability to track elemental flow, made the smokescreen a huge mistake.

That was Amber’s last thought.

-Stab.

Lumine’s sword pierced Amber’s heart.

It was so sudden that Paimon, frozen, had no time to stop it.

Lumine had killed someone.

Her friend, Amber.

Paimon rubbed her eyes with her small hands, denying reality.

No matter how many times she rubbed and looked, all she saw was Amber, collapsed in a pool of blood, and Lumine, who had stabbed her.

“Traveler.., no, right..? You’re joking, right..? You’re not that kind of person.. Where’s the Traveler who was kind to everyone..”

Paimon, wiping away bursting tears, tapped Amber’s cold body.

She wished it was a prank between Amber and Lumine.

That Amber, looking dead, was just pretending.

She hoped she’d say that.

But there was no answer from Amber, whose heartbeat had stopped.

“Wind.., the place where the wind begins.. windwheel asters.. crystal cores.. Yoo Sihyun..”

With unfocused eyes, Lumine twisted the sword in Amber’s heart.

When she let go, the sword dissipated into the air and returned to her back.

As Lumine slowly walked out of Mondstadt City, Paimon despaired.

Her partner, who had overcome countless hardships together across Teyvat, had gone mad.

Lumine had committed murder before her eyes.

“I’m.., I’m… the Traveler’s guide..”

The journey Lumine and Paimon shared was far from short.

Just a few months ago, they struggled together in Inazuma.

“Wait.., wait, Traveler.. I’m coming too..”

In the end, Paimon decided to follow her partner, even if Lumine crossed an irreversible line or went completely mad.

Believing she’d return to the kind Traveler, for her irreplaceable partner, Paimon was willing to become a villain herself.

She flew after Lumine, who walked ahead with unfocused eyes.

And the next day, all of Mondstadt City was turned upside down.