Whatever the name, one thing was for certain. For travelers, this bridge meant only one thing—
A consistent meat farming spot.
Before his transmigration, Su Mo had spent plenty of time on this bridge during gameplay, ruthlessly farming pigeons for meat. The title "Pigeon Slayer of Mondstadt" wasn't given lightly.
Now standing on the actual bridge, Su Mo's fingers itched. He turned to tell Lumine about it, only to see the golden-haired girl already staring at the pigeons with shining eyes—as if she'd just stumbled across a treasure chest.
It made sense. The three of them hadn't always been lucky on the road; sometimes they found wild boars, and Su Mo's pre-awakening fishing was hit-or-miss. As for birds? Nearly impossible to catch.
Now, with an entire flock of pigeons just lounging around on the bridge, Lumine, who had a bit of a hoarding streak, clearly couldn't resist the temptation.
"Su Mo!" she called, eyes twinkling with hope.
Su Mo immediately understood and offered a supportive nod. "Pigeons outside the city walls? Yeah, they're probably wild."
With Su Mo's professional gamer theory to back her up, Lumine was reassured. Ready to go full hunter mode, she passed Paimon to Su Mo.
"Huh? What's the Traveler doing?" Paimon had recovered somewhat and rubbed her eyes in confusion as she watched Lumine raise her hand.
"Resupplying. Not for kids to see." Su Mo chuckled and gently covered Paimon's eyes.
Then came Lumine's energetic voice: "Ride the wind!"
With a sudden whoosh, a swirling gust kicked up—a small cyclone only about ten meters tall, modeled after the one Su Mo had summoned the day before. Though she'd held back her power to avoid overkill, it was more than enough for pigeons.
The mini-tornado swept straight across the bridge, plowing through the feathered flock. Feathers flew. By the time the wind had settled, the pigeons had been reduced to neatly plucked chunks of poultry.
A very considerate outcome, really.
Lumine, quite proud of her impromptu wind magic performance, began collecting the meat enthusiastically—until she noticed a little boy glaring at her.
"Why'd you do that? You scared all the pigeons away!" he accused, clearly upset.
Lumine blinked innocently, then held up a piece of meat and corrected him, "They didn't fly away. I killed them."
"That's even worse!" the boy protested, thoroughly scandalized.
"Uh…" Lumine faltered, unsure how to comfort him. Dealing with small children was definitely not her strong suit. Helplessly, she turned to Su Mo, her eyes silently pleading for backup.
Su Mo had already anticipated what was about to happen and stepped forward, taking charge of the situation. He knew that saying the wrong thing now would only make things worse, especially for Lumine, who had just arrived in Mondstadt. While Timmy could come off as a bit annoying, the truth was that he had a rather pitiful backstory. Not wanting Lumine's mood to sour upon arriving in a new city, Su Mo decided not to dig deeper into this particular side quest.
"Well, it couldn't be helped. We were hungry," he said simply.
"Hungry…" Timmy blinked in surprise. This was the first time someone had so boldly admitted to killing the pigeons just to eat them.
"But—!" Timmy opened his mouth to protest.
Before he could get another word out, Su Mo clapped a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with an encouraging gaze. "Don't be disheartened. Don't lose hope! You still have bread in your hands—so the pigeons will come back eventually!"
Timmy was stunned. The older boy's words somehow made sense… sort of.
As he was about to reply, Su Mo cut him off again with a confident smile. "Hang in there. I believe in you!"
"Okay!" Timmy nodded almost involuntarily, feeling a little overwhelmed by the stranger's positivity. By the time he realized what had just happened, the pigeon-slaying duo had already walked away.
—Today's battle was clearly a loss for Timmy.
…
After fending off the emotional fallout from the pigeon massacre, Su Mo and Lumine finally arrived at the gates of Mondstadt. The City of Freedom, known for its poetry and wine, still bustled with activity even in the late hours of the day. While things weren't as lively as during peak daytime, a few merchants and travelers continued to pass in and out. The knights stationed at the gate mostly kept an eye on suspicious traders, ensuring taxes were collected properly, since trade tariffs were a key source of income for the city. As for Su Mo and Lumine, with barely any luggage and clearly looking like harmless travelers, they passed through without any issue.
The moment they stepped into the city proper, they were greeted by the fragrant scent of flowers. It came from Flora's flower shop near the gate, its aroma carried gently by the wind. Not far off, the faint smell of alcohol drifted over from the Cat's Tail tavern. Mondstadt, unlike its in-game counterpart from Su Mo's previous life, was much more expansive—a real, bustling city capable of housing hundreds of thousands. But key landmarks remained faithfully located where he remembered them.
Thanks to Su Mo's unique timeline, they had arrived in Mondstadt nearly a month earlier than the original story's plotline. The Wind Dragon crisis hadn't reached its peak yet, so the townspeople moved about with relatively carefree expressions.
Navigating through the lively streets, Su Mo and Lumine eventually found a public bench near the fountain and sat down to rest and plan their next steps. The first order of business after entering the city was obvious: they needed a place to stay. Sleeping on the streets wasn't exactly ideal.
"Staying at an inn costs money, right?" Lumine asked blankly, glancing at Su Mo.
"Generally speaking, yes," he nodded in return.
Their eyes met in silence before they both blurted out at the same time: "Su Mo, do you have any money?" / "Lumine, do you have any money?"
The silence that followed was heavy. Neither had any.
It seemed they were back to square one. Sleeping outdoors again? But in a city, that came with more problems—like the need to pay for food since they couldn't just go out hunting. Game was scarce in urban areas. Their thoughts gradually turned to Paimon, who was lounging nearby.
"Didn't you collect the loot from the hilichurl camps we raided?" Su Mo asked meaningfully.
"Besides, you're not from another world like us. As a native, surely you have some savings tucked away for emergencies?" he added.
Hearing Su Mo's line of reasoning, Lumine also turned her hopeful eyes toward Paimon. "If you don't have any money, we're really going to have to sleep on the streets!"
Faced with such stares, even someone as stingy as Paimon couldn't hold out for long. "I did manage to collect some Mora from those hilichurl camps…"
Reluctantly, she pulled open her storage space and retrieved the stash she'd been quietly hoarding. "Here. All the Mora I've got—four thousand five hundred in total!"
"Mora? That's the currency here?" Lumine asked, curiously eyeing the golden coins.
"Yep," Paimon nodded. "Minted in Liyue, and it circulates throughout the entire continent."
With that, she pushed all of her collected money toward the two of them with great pain, as if parting with her own lifeblood.
Relieved, Su Mo and Lumine headed out to check the local lodging options—only to discover an unfortunate truth.
"Even the cheapest inn is charging three thousand Mora per night? That's daylight robbery!"
While they figured the price might be normal by local standards, the shock still hit hard. All the money they had together could barely get them one night's stay. They finally understood the phrase "a penny can stump a hero." And Su Mo realized why, in the original story, Lumine had accepted odd jobs all over Mondstadt and Liyue for measly rewards.
It wasn't generosity—it was desperation. No wonder she'd developed such strong hoarding habits. Every scrap of treasure, every tiny reward—none of it was beneath her notice.
After calculating their remaining funds, Lumine glanced at Su Mo. "Should we just sleep on the bench tonight?"
"Otherwise, this Mora won't last long."
Harsh reality had quickly made her frugal, forcing her to consider every coin carefully.
But Su Mo shook his head. "No need to be that stingy. We may be broke now, but it's only temporary. We'll have this problem solved by tomorrow."
Unlike Lumine, Su Mo wasn't worried. Sure, they didn't have much right now—but come on. With his current strength, how could he possibly remain poor for long? This wasn't some gag manga where the main character had to maintain a perpetual broke-person shtick.
With the power he held, earning money would be the easiest thing in the world.
Hearing Su Mo's confident tone, Paimon suddenly looked flustered. "Wait a minute, Su Mo! No matter how broke we are, we can't just go and do bad things!"
"…Seriously?" Su Mo shot her a helpless look. "Are you dumb? Why is your first thought about breaking the law as soon as I mention money?"
He sighed and continued, "Didn't we just walk past the Adventurers' Guild? We'll just register as adventurers tomorrow, pick up a well-paying commission, and earn some money like normal people."
Be it monster extermination or hunting jobs, Su Mo had more than enough strength to handle any of them now.
"Oh! That's actually a pretty good idea!" Paimon's eyes lit up. She'd completely forgotten that Su Mo had awakened his power and become much stronger. With his current abilities, there was no need to worry about money at all.
"What about tonight then?" Lumine, convinced by his logic, turned to Su Mo, visibly intrigued.
"Let's go—book a room!" Su Mo snapped his fingers and led the way confidently.
"Mm!" Lumine nodded excitedly, following close behind, Paimon trailing after them. Thankfully, her older brother Aether wasn't around. If he'd seen this scene, he might have ditched the Abyss and Celestia nonsense altogether and gone after Su Mo directly.