Falling for You

Chapter 16 - Eloped

 It's been three months already since Venti asked me to help out in Mondstadt. Since that day, I would come to see him once every week, and we would go take care of as many abyss mages and ruin guards as we could in one go.

 Of course, Venti would never actually let me kill them myself, fearing that I would build up even more karmic debt than I already have.

 It was during trips like these that I found out that Venti's main weapon is a bow, and that he was extremely good with it, one-shotting ruin guards at every chance he got.

 Over the past few months, I also discovered that, that our dear anemo archon doesn't have a house, and instead sleeps in one of the rooms on the third floor of the knight's headquarters.

 Surprisingly enough, I didn't have more work than before even though I helped out in Modstadt next to my duties in Liyue. Morax had apparently lost a bet with Venti and had to decrease my workload as long as I'm helping out in Mondstadt.

 At first, I was worried about leaving Liyue like that, but Morax had reassured me that he already found someone to do the work he was taking off of my plate.

 Today was one of the days I would come to the City of Freedom. Even outside the gate, Mondstadt was as bustling as always. As I walked through the gate I was greeted by the knights on duty.

 "Good morning, Master Xiao. I hope you had a pleasing week."

 I just nodded at them, used to this kind of greeting by now.

 As to where this whole 'Master Xiao' title came from...

 The first time I came to Mondstadt to help Venti, he told me to meet him at the knight's headquarters, but when I arrived there I had quite a difficult time because of the knights on duty. Venti naturally didn't like this and asked Jean to do something about it, so I wouldn't need to go through this every week.

 I have to say, Jean's solution to this problem was rather straightforward. She directly announced that I was someone who came to help with exterminating the abyss mages and ruin guards. This, of course, didn't go as planned, as the knights all thought that there is no way someone who looks as young as me would be able to kill an abyss mage. Jean's response was once again extremely straightforward directly asking me for a duel which I, after Venti's constant urging, eventually accepted, leaving not only the knights speechless but also a few large holes in the ground after the spar.

 And so since then, to my annoyance, the knights all addressed me as Master Xiao, leaving Venti laughing every time he saw my face after a knight's greeting.

 Well, I did get used to it after a month and by now, I would say I'm completely immune to it.

 Another thing a have gotten used to was the crowd. Honestly, this was a lot more difficult than ignoring a few greetings. Mondstadt's people, just like their archon, were always cheerful and lively, and I, who wasn't even used to the crowds in Liyue, had quite a hard time adjusting to this.

 Venti once again helped me over my problems, letting me get used to crowds through his performances instead of directly throwing me into a crowd of people. It was hard at first, but it gradually got better till I was even able to hold a short conversation with some people in the city who were curious about their favorite bard's friend.

 What I noticed though, was that while people did give their usual greetings, most of them kept a certain distance from me, unlike with others. The explanation for this unusual behavior was given to me by Kaeya, whom I surprisingly enough became friends with after meeting every week.

 He told me that since some time ago, a certain bard would sing about the tales of the yaksha and adepti and the place they hold in Liyue. 

 "After you arrived and had that big fight with Jean, some people started to get the hint behind our little bard's songs and kept a respectful distance from you. Though, I would presume that they are still a lot friendlier than the people of Liyue would be to an adeptus." He had said

And so, though sometimes the closeness and friendliness of Mondstads people are still a little too much for me to handle, I can now walk down the street in peace.

 I finally arrived at the knight's headquarters and directly walked in without the need to ask for permission. Fighting the acting grandmaster was a useful thing after all.

 I walked up the third floor and to Venti's room, opening the door directly. Usually, I would see Venti covered by paperwork given to him by Jean so he could get used to Mondstadt's current workings or playing his lyre on the couch, but today, the room was empty.

 I walked up to the table, spotting a piece of paper with a pen next to it.

 'I'm really sorry, Xiao. I need to do something urgent, but I'll come back as soon as I can. Please don't go out on your own, it might be dangerous. I'll be back as fast as I can. Lots of love, Venti.'

 Just what was that urgent? He never once missed out on a chance to spend time with me, and if I'm being honest, I have gotten used to my time with Venti, so having him gone like this wasn't the best of feelings.

 "Venti ran off to play with big brother Albedo." I heard a voice behind me.

 I turned around and spotted Klee, who Venti had introduced to me a few weeks before.

 "Hello, Klee." I greeted her. Honestly, I was very weak to children.

 "Hello, brother Xiao!"

 "Where did you say Venti was?"

 "Your boyfriend eloped with big brother Albedo!" She said accusingly.

 "E-eloped? First of all, Venti is not my boyfriend, and Klee, do you even know what eloped means?" What was this kid even saying?

 "Of course I know. Eloping is when you run away to get married to someone." Pretty accurate answer for a kid, but...

 "Klee, why would you think Venti was eloping with Albedo?"

 "Because I saw them! I saw them in Albedo's lab, the bard almost completely naked and big brother touching him all over! After that, they even went out alone many times, not coming back for days!" Klee just threw out one accusation after the other, and it started to sound weirder with each one.

 "If you don't believe me, then I'll just show you! Hmph!" Saying that, she grabbed me by the sleeve, pulling me towards the stairs.

 "Hah." I let out a sigh and picked her up.

 "Lead the way then. Let's see how Venti is eloping with Albedo." I said walking out of the HQ.

 "Let's set out towards Dragonspine!" Klee yelled, enjoying the ride as I jumped from roof to roof, leaving the city.