𝚂𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠 (𝙰𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚡 𝙾𝙲)

Chapter 3 - Let the Tournament Begin!

"Come one, and come all to Mondstadt's very first Windblume Archery Contest! It's not too late to sign up if you're interested in the head position of a new Knights of Favonius department as the Master Archer and 100,000 mora!"

Balloons rose into the blue sky above the stone walls of the city. A massive crowd was gathered around a bulletin board with the brackets posted on the front. 9 competitive rounds for one position. Any others who wanted to compete just for fun were on a separate side of the city.

Bayler stood at the front, reading down the list of opponents. Many of them he didn't recognize, considering they were members of the Mondstadt Adventurer's Guild. Their green uniforms were relatively similar to the ones in Inazuma.

A look of hunger entered his emerald green eyes. He'd get that head position and win all the mora. There were many brave archers signed up, including the famous Traveler, Lumine, but he knew enough about her to know he had it in the bag.

Just as he was about to turn away, the spunky Outrider from the day before grabbed his shoulder and bounced into the air beside him. A bright smile lit up her expression. "Good morning, Bayler! Excited to get started with the first round?"

Bayler awkwardly shrugged off her hand. "Who's Iris? The instructions stated we were to meet our opponents before every round to save time, but I've no clue who that is." He glanced down at Amber, putting on a fake smile that could be seen behind his mask. The action made her own smile flourish.

She bounced once again, adding a bit of a bend to her knees when she landed. "Iris is the one with gray hair!" she replied cheerfully, pointing in the direction of a woman thoughtfully tapping her chin.

Iris appeared to be much older than the rest of them. Her gray hair was cut as a bob and a pair of glasses rested on her nose. The uniform she wore looked better equipped for the harsh mountains than the sunny city.

"I'll escort you both to the field! There are six duos shooting today. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. But I'll still be here to cheer you on!" Amber grabbed onto the sleeve of his black trench coat and dragged him over to the older woman.

Bayler wanted to dig his heels into the stone walkway, but he followed Amber anyway. He tugged at his mask to make sure it was covering his face, then offered his hand out to Iris.

The woman shifted her bow to her opposite hand and shook his outstretched hand. "A pleasure you meet you, Bayler! I'm honored to have a chance to shoot against you."

"Likewise," he replied. A quick thumbs-up from Amber gave him the impression that he was meant to keep talking. "I believe we are the first contestants, correct? We'll make it a fine match."

Iris laughed lightly. "I'm not sure I'll contribute much, but I know the onlookers will be overjoyed to see the one and only Bayler shoot."

A faint blush crept into Bayler's cheeks. He lowered his head, bangs fluttering over his eyes, and sucked in a sharp breath. "You flatter me."

"She's right though!" Amber added. "When we heard you were coming, we were overjoyed! Some of the Knights tell stories of your accomplishments in the Inazuman war."

Bayler peeked through her feathery bangs and softened his gaze when he locked eyes with Amber. "It's not quite something I look back on kindly."

Amber's smile dropped, as she understood what he meant in an instant. "Oh, well, I just know you'll do great! And hey, maybe we'll even cross bows later on in the tournament!"

He couldn't tell if the pun was intentional, but regardless, he chuckled in response. "Why don't you go ahead and lead us to the field? We'll follow."

In an instant, the red Outrider perked back up. "Follow my lead!"