Paimon was stunned. "You call this a punishment?! No, seriously—whose side are you on?!"
"I'm on the side of justice, of course!"
"But no matter how you look at it, the Traveler is totally on the dark side!
Just look at her—she's totally got that future 'big villain who joins the Abyss Order and destroys Mondstadt' vibe!"
Zephyr said, "Honestly, I would love to join the Abyss Order. If I joined them, wouldn't Lumine's mission be completed instantly?
Then with a single command, the Abyss Order would attack Mondstadt, and from then on, I'd punch Diluc, kick Kaeya, and become the king of Mondstadt!
Amber on my left, Jean on my right—doesn't that sound great?"
Amber scolded, "You're under arrest!"
"Pressure point strike!"
Paimon exclaimed, "This guy's unbelievable!"
She turned to Amber. "So Amber, for the exam… please make it super difficult."
Amber said, "Don't worry. To prevent the Traveler from accidentally hurting others while flying, I'll definitely teach her by the standards of a Flight Champion."
"Mhm! That makes Paimon feel a lot better."
Zephyr pinched Paimon's cheeks. "Why are you acting so differently from the original storyline?"
"Muh… Murmy guphhh scureah…" (Muffled protest)
"Oh right, here—this is the flight manual for you. You don't have to memorize it word for word, but you should at least get familiar with it.
For example: no flying with two people on one Wind Glider, no taking off with oversized cargo, no using Anemo Slimes for takeoff, and so on…"
"In short, just give it a good read. Back when Lisa was teaching me magic, she made me read tons of thick books first, too."
Paimon said, "It looks so thick… oh well, guess we'll have to read it."
"Can you not look so happy about it?"
"You two go ahead and read for now. I've got some time this morning, and this afternoon, we'll head over to Windrise together."
"Windrise? How do we get there?"
"How? Of course we'll teleport using the Statue of The Seven! No way we're walking—that'd take forever."
"Oh? So you can use statues too?"
"Of course I can! As long as you have a Vision, anyone can teleport using the statues—though you do have to unlock the statue first by touching it."
Zephyr asked, "What about the other features? Like inventory, map, time pause, and so on?"
"I don't have those special functions. Never even heard of them."
"I see…"
"Mhm. Anyway, go read the manual. I've got to get back to work."
"Don't worry, we got this."
Amber left for work. Paimon asked, "Do you feel confident?"
"Do you even know what 'time pause' means?"
Paimon gasped. "That's cheating!"
Zephyr opened the flight manual Amber had given him. It was packed full of rules:
1. Please confirm your physical and mental condition is stable before flying.
2. Use wind currents or elevated terrain to assist with takeoff.
3. When flying with Wind Gliders, be mindful of wind speed and direction to maintain balance.
4. Pay attention to aerial traffic, and only use Wind Gliders on dates allowed by your flight license number.
5. Maintain balance while landing, and retract your Wind Glider at a safe altitude.
6. Do not use Wind Gliders under the influence of alcohol!
Zephyr said, "That's it? I thought there'd be at least a few dozen rules."
Lumine said, "It's not rules that control people, it's people themselves. If someone doesn't want to follow the rules, then no matter how many or how strict they are, there will always be those who break them."
"Good point."
The manual went on to list several examples of accidents caused by violating Wind Glider regulations.
For example:
To make his daughter smile, a Mondstadt citizen named Rudolf jumped off the roof of his two-story house with a Wind Glider.
He ended up fracturing his left leg and severely bruising his hip muscles.
He nearly left little Lily without a complete family.
As punishment, Rudolf was warned and banned from flying for a year.
Paimon said, "That's awful! He almost died!"
There were more examples:
An adventurer named Alice used an Anemo Slime to launch herself and performed aerial acrobatics over Mondstadt. She was punished by Acting Grand Master Jean.
Another case involved a bard named Joseph, who tried to play his lyre and recite poetry while gliding.
In the end—maybe because his playing was so awful—he crash-landed right into the wishing fountain.
He was given a five-year flight ban and sentenced to three months of mandatory public service.
And so on—there were many such incidents.
Paimon said, "That last guy—do you think he was punished by Barbatos himself because his music was just that bad?"
Zephyr replied, "Could be. Look at it—he fell from that high up and only got a few scrapes? That's pretty suspicious. I don't buy for a second that Barbatos had nothing to do with it."
Still… that name "Alice" sounds awfully familiar...
"Oh right, we promised to go mushroom picking with Xiaoling today."
"Yeah! I totally forgot!"
Zephyr said, "And I still need to ask that girl—how the heck did Old Man Wang find out I was the one who took the mushrooms?
Don't tell me she ratted me out?"
Paimon said, "From a rational standpoint? That's very possible."
"Xiaoling, you'd better prepare yourselfmischievous laugh..."
"You're laughing like a villain now, you know."
Zephyr was already quite familiar with Xiaoling's house—the same layout, the same feel.
He tapped on her window.
"I'm coming… You're here again. Seriously, can't you use the door for once?"
Zephyr said, "Sorry, your house is really small, and the hallway feels cramped. Coming through the door makes me feel kinda suffocated."
Xiaoling replied, "...I'm so sorry my house is too small for you."
She shrugged helplessly. He wasn't wrong.
In the game, most of the buildings were grand and spacious.
But a game is a game—real life isn't like that. Not every ordinary home can be huge and luxurious.
When you live in it, you might not notice. But from a third-person perspective, it really does seem cramped.
"Oh right, Xiaoling, I've got a question for you—your answer will determine whether or not I spank you."
"Eh!?" She clutched her butt in alarm. "Why would you spank me?!"
"You told me yesterday to take mushrooms from Old Man Wang's yard, right?
Well, this morning he went straight to Amber, the scout knight, and filed a complaint, saying I stole his mushrooms.
I've been wondering—how did he even know it was me? Did you tell him?"
Xiaoling shook her head rapidly. "No! I didn't say anything! It wasn't me!"
"If it wasn't you, then who was it?"
"I… I don't know… Maybe Xiao Ai said something."
"Xiao Ai? Who's that?"
"Xiao Ai is my best friend. I only told her about it… But I specifically told her not to tell anyone!
And I'm pretty sure she doesn't even know Old Man Wang…"
Paimon chimed in, "It might not have been her directly. Maybe she told someone else, and then the story just got passed along until it reached Old Man Wang."
...