"I'm starting to feel like Su Mo just knows everything," Paimon mumbled on their way to the souvenir shop. He not only understood the Hilichurlian language, but now he even knew where to find weapon billets—he was starting to seem more familiar with Mondstadt than the locals.
"I wouldn't say I know everything," Su Mo replied with a calm smile. "I just happen to know the things I should know."
"So suspicious!" Paimon circled around him dramatically, scrutinizing him from head to toe, but of course, found nothing.
Soon after, the trio made their way back to the Adventurers' Guild, then crossed over to a shop just opposite it—Windblume Blessings.
"Welcome to Windblume Blessings! Looking for something special?" the shopkeeper, Marjorie, greeted them warmly. "Just so you know in advance, Adventurers don't need Mora to buy things here. My shop only takes Anemo Sigils."
"Anemo Sigils?" Paimon scratched her head. "Never heard of those…"
"They're those green elemental tokens we've been finding in treasure chests during our travels," Su Mo explained patiently. "They carry wind energy."
"Ohh! Those!" Paimon's eyes lit up in realization. "We collected a whole bunch of them!" She was surprised but thrilled. "I had no idea they could actually be used to buy stuff! Good thing we didn't throw them away!"
She happily dumped her entire stash onto the counter with a metallic clatter. Hundreds of Anemo Sigils spilled out, forming a tiny green hill.
"My goodness! You've collected this many?" Marjorie was stunned, clearly impressed. Her attitude visibly warmed as she glanced between Su Mo and Lumine. "You two must be serious adventurers. It's rare to see newcomers so dedicated to exploration nowadays."
As the daughter of the Mondstadt branch's Adventurers' Guild chairwoman, Marjorie had a special fondness for those with true adventuring spirit. After all, earning this many sigils meant they had traveled far and wide—no one could fake that.
Su Mo and Lumine exchanged awkward glances. "…You could say that," Lumine chuckled nervously.
Truth was, they hadn't been adventuring so much as wandering—mostly because they hadn't found a place to stay for weeks and had been forced to camp out in the wilderness. But, well… now didn't seem like the right time to admit that.
"Feel free to browse the stock!" Marjorie offered, gesturing toward a glass display filled with adventuring supplies.
After a bit of back and forth, Su Mo asked the question they'd come for. "We're looking for weapon billets. Lumine uses a one-handed sword, and I'm looking for a claymore billet."
In truth, Su Mo's sword skills were only basic—skills he picked up from his counterpart in the Fairy Tail world, who had trained under Erza Scarlet. Erza, being a master of Requip magic, had mastery over nearly every weapon imaginable. Naturally, Su Mo's combat style had become just as versatile.
In the world of Teyvat, weapon choice was straightforward. And when it came to sheer strength—claymore users stood at the top. Pyro claymore users especially were practically overpowered.
Paimon tilted her head in surprise. "Wait, Su Mo, you use weapons too? I always thought you were more of a mage!"
After all, every time he fought, he summoned thunder and storm out of nowhere. That looked a whole lot more like sorcery than swordsmanship.
"Well, you're not wrong," Su Mo said thoughtfully. "Technically, I am a spellcaster. But to me, those catalysts don't enhance much. It's more efficient to just use a weapon."
Given Su Mo's body constitution now, even a top-tier five-star catalyst like Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds wouldn't add much power. Training with a claymore seemed far more beneficial—and who knew, it might help his other selves too, depending on how their worlds intersected.
Marjorie, having heard their request, rummaged through her back room and returned with two billets. "Normally, we only have one-handed sword billets available for sale. The claymore billet is part of my private collection… but since it's for real adventurers, I'm happy to entrust it to someone who'll put it to use."
"Thank you, Miss Marjorie!" Paimon beamed, touched by the special treatment.
After handing over 450 Anemo Sigils, they finally had what they needed. They returned to Wagner's forge without delay.
Though Wagner was still grumbling over Paimon's earlier comment about his prices, his attitude did a complete 180 when he saw the weapon billets. True to his word and his straightforward nature, he immediately agreed to forge the weapons.
Interestingly, even with billets, crafting a weapon still took time—three full days, in fact. Until then, they'd just have to wait. As for the remaining cost of the weapons, payment would be made once the forging was complete.
....
By the time they wrapped up everything with Wagner, it was nearly noon. The trio made their way to Good Hunter restaurant for lunch. After placing their orders, Lumine couldn't help but glance over at a large cooking pot set up just outside the restaurant.
It was a rare sight—few places left their cooking setups outdoors like that. What's more, the restaurant didn't seem to use that outdoor stove at all. All the food was clearly being brought out from the indoor kitchen.
Noticing her curiosity, Sara, the restaurant's server, walked over and explained with a smile, "That stove outside? It's for the customers to use themselves."
"The Good Hunter doesn't operate at night," explained the waitress with a friendly smile, "but we know people still get hungry. So, we set up an outdoor stove just for guests like that."
"The restaurant provides the firewood," she added, "but if you want to cook, you'll need to bring your own ingredients and seasonings."
Hearing that, Lumine perked up with interest. "That means we can cook our own meals in the future, right?"
Su Mo nodded. Both he and Lumine were pretty capable when it came to outdoor cooking. Their skills might not match a top-tier chef's, but they were certainly close to what The Good Hunter served. Thanks to the Su Mo from the DanMachi world, he'd even picked up a few refined techniques—especially in fried rice.
The only limitation was their recipe repertoire. There just weren't that many dishes they knew how to prepare. This might be a good opportunity to expand their cookbook. After all, cooking was an essential skill for travelers.
After finishing their meal, Su Mo purchased several recipes from the restaurant. According to the staff, they were all local specialties—the kind of dishes passed down through generations, now made public to help share Mondstadt's culinary culture. Fortunately, they weren't expensive at all.
Lumine was visibly excited to try them out.
"If you two learn all these recipes, I'll get to eat something new and delicious every day!" Paimon clapped her hands gleefully, practically glowing at the idea of a gourmet lifestyle ahead.
Too bad this wasn't a video game—otherwise Paimon would have found out that, even if the Traveler learned to cook, 90% of the time she'd still end up eating Sweet Madame. After all, it was the easiest dish to gather ingredients for.
After a bit of rest, Su Mo suddenly turned mysterious. "Next up, we're heading somewhere... secret."
"Secret?" Paimon's eyes lit up with curiosity. "What kind of place is it?"
Su Mo chuckled. "Technically, it's a place minors aren't supposed to enter. But this is Mondstadt—we can assume the rules are a bit loose."
Lumine blinked, her mind immediately going to the wrong place. "Wait… that kind of place? Are you really taking us there?" Her cheeks flushed a bit pink.
"I mean… isn't that a bit much?" she mumbled, lowering her voice as her face grew redder. "And isn't it risky? I heard those places aren't exactly… clean. People can catch diseases, you know. Maybe… maybe you can hold it in a little longer?"
Paimon was utterly confused. "Wait, what kind of place are you even talking about?!"
Su Mo blinked, then laughed helplessly. "I was talking about a tavern."
"...As for whatever Lumine was imagining, I have no idea."
Paimon turned her innocent, bewildered eyes to Lumine. "Traveler, what kind of place were you thinking of?"
"Other than a tavern, what else are minors not allowed to enter?"
Faced with Paimon's pure confusion—and Su Mo's teasing expression—Lumine turned beet red. She crouched down in embarrassment, hands over her face, and let out a mortified groan.
"S-sorry! I misunderstood!"
She'd assumed Su Mo was… well, looking for "release" after a month of wandering and was headed to that kind of place. Who would've thought he meant a tavern of all things?
It was beyond embarrassing. And now Su Mo knew she had all these strange thoughts floating around in her head. What if he thought she was weird? Or worse—dirty?
As Lumine spiraled into shame, Paimon remained clueless. "Why is the Traveler apologizing? Did she do something wrong?"
"Some things are just girl secrets," Su Mo said gently, pulling Paimon aside. "Better not to overthink it."
"Oh… okay!" Paimon nodded, half-understanding.
A few minutes later, Lumine followed behind them with her head down like a duckling trailing its parent, too flustered to say a word.
Before long, they reached their destination—the famous Mondstadt tavern, Angel's Share.
And right at the entrance stood a familiar bard, surrounded by the chatter and laughter of drinkers. The moment she saw him, Paimon lit up with realization.
"We're here to find that green-hatted guy, aren't we?!"
Naturally, if they wanted to locate the dragon, they'd have to trace the clues that led to it. And the bard they'd met yesterday—Wanderer of the Winds, self-proclaimed "greatest bard in the world"—was their best lead.