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Chapter 33: Jean and King Arthur
"Captain Jean!"
"Hello, Captain Jean!"
As they walked through the streets of Mondstadt, people greeted Jean warmly. She returned their greetings with a polite smile, but Aiden could tell that her smile didn't feel entirely natural.
Once they arrived at a quieter place, Jean let out a small sigh and dropped the forced smile.
"It's ironic, isn't it?" she said. "Even now, the people of Mondstadt trust me completely. They believe I can resolve the Stormterror crisis.
But the truth is, I didn't have the ability to solve it before. I had to put on a confident front for them. If even I faltered, their fear would only grow."
Hearing this, Aiden fell silent. Mondstadt's fate rested entirely on Jean's shoulders, a young woman barely in her twenties. Was that really fair?
After a moment of hesitation, he spoke.
"In the world I came from, there was a king named Arthur. You remind me of them..."
Aiden then recounted the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Jean listened intently, and when he finished, she murmured, "Humility, honor, sacrifice, bravery, mercy, spirit, honesty, justice..."
Aiden raised an eyebrow. He had expected her to focus on the tragic fate of King Arthur, but instead, she fixated on the Eight Virtues of Knighthood.
Waitâwas she missing the point?!
"Aiden, I want to incorporate these Eight Virtues into the Knightly Code of the Knights of Favonius!" Jean declared passionately.
"If you want to, go ahead," Aiden said with a shrug. "You don't need my permission. But don't you see the similarities between you and King Arthur?"
"It would be an honor to resemble such a great king," Jean said sincerely. "But I am far from Artoria's level. I know you're warning me not to repeat her mistakes, but I believe I have a long way to go before I'm even comparable to her.
Besides, she was a king. I'm only the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. Mondstadt has only one rulerâBarbatos, the Anemo Archon.
Even though Lord Barbatos has not appeared for a long time, we still have faith that he is watching over us and will guide us when the time comes.
Mondstadt is a free city, belonging to all its people. That is what our Anemo Archon intended."
Jean paused for a moment before smiling again. "But after hearing Artoria's story, I realize I've been taking too much on myself. Maybe I should rely more on my fellow knights instead of trying to shoulder everything alone.
As for the idea of becoming a king... if I ever tried, I think I'd be seen as worse than the Lawrence Clan!"
Aiden chuckled. He was glad Jean understood his point.
Before meeting her, he had always viewed Mondstadt with a bit of cynicism. He found many of its citizens too dependent on their Archon and reluctant to take responsibility for their own fate. But Jean was different.
She had something neither Keqing nor Ningguang had.
Now he understood why Venti, Barbatos himself, put so much faith in her. Even more than in Falga, the true Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius.
After walking for another five or six minutes, Jean led Aiden to a small house. She unlocked the door and gestured for him to enter.
"This is my personal residence," she explained. "But since I've been so busy, I usually stay at the Knights' headquarters.
If you don't mind, you can stay here. The guest room has fresh bedding."
"Then I'll gladly accept your kindness, Jean," Aiden said with a smile.
He might not be staying with Jean, but at least he was staying in Jean's house. That counted for something, right?
Wait, did this mean he could find her clothes lying aroundâ
Ahem. No. He was a gentleman!
"This is the least I can do," Jean said sincerely. "Aiden, you've helped me a lot. After hearing about King Arthur, I feel like I finally understand the direction I need to take.
I may not be a king like Artoria, but as long as Lord Barbatos is away, I will lead the Knights of Favonius to protect Mondstadt and make it a better place.
I want to be a knight like Artoria!"
As an outsider, Jean could see that Artoria had acted more like a knight than a true ruler. In Jean's eyes, that wasn't a flawâit was an inspiration.
But Aiden knew better.
Jean might see herself only as a knight, but Barbatos had greater expectations for her.
Just like he did for Vennessa, the founder of the Knights of Favonius.
As Jean led Aiden on a quick tour of the house, he noticed that, unlike Keqing's home, Jean's was much smaller and clearly designed in the Mondstadt architectural style.
Yet despite its simplicity, the decor had a surprisingly feminine touch.
That was unexpected.
"You sure keep your house tidy," Aiden commented. There were no clothes left lying around, much to his disappointment.
"Ahem. My sister, Barbara, often helps with decorating and cleaning," Jean admitted, a little embarrassed.
Poor Barbara. Jean was making her do all the housework?
"She must be a very sweet girl," Aiden chuckled. Then he asked, "To thank you for hosting me, how about I treat you to dinner?"
"You want to treat me to dinner?" Jean shook her head. "If anything, I should be the one treating you!
You've helped me understand so much today. And if not for you, we might never have realized that the disruption of Mondstadt's ley lines was connected to the abandoned Temples of the Four Winds."
Originally, Jean had planned to arrange accommodations for Aiden, then hold a meeting with the Knights to discuss investigating the temples.
But now that he had brought up dinner, she realized she was rather hungry.
"Alright, I accept!" she said.
"Great! Alsoâ" Aiden pulled out a copy of A Tevyat Travel Guide. "I heard that the author's daughter, Klee, is being taken care of in Mondstadt. Do you have any way of contacting Alice?"
Jean blinked in surprise.