For the first time ever, early the next morning, when the sun had only just risen and Ying and Paimon were still asleep in each other's arms on that little bed, little Annie had already gotten up. She had gone to bed several hours later than the two of them, and under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have gotten up before the afternoon. Without waking them, she quietly slipped out of the inn.
The reason she'd gotten up so early, of course, was something that had been bothering her since the night before!
In fact, ever since she'd heard at the bar last night, from the bearded bartender at the Angel's Share, that Mondstadt's strongest was apparently another little girl dressed in red—not the great hero who'd set the Stormterror ablaze—and that she herself seemed to have been left off the list because she "wasn't human," she just couldn't swallow her anger.
And so!
"..."
(°ー°〃)
After tossing and turning for half the night, she'd waited until dawn the next day and figured certain people ought to be at work by then. Unable to hold back any longer, she went straight to a castle that was second in height only to the Cathedral of Favonius and the grand statue plaza, yet was built with remarkable grandeur.
"Hello!"
"Welcome to the Knights of Favonius headquarters!"
"Miss Annie!"
"I'm Knight Arto, and this is Bor. How may we help you?"
When Annie arrived at the castle gates and looked up at the Knights of Favonius headquarters, the two guards, clad in silver armor with golden Knights of Favonius insignias on their breastplates, hurried over to greet her and bowed respectfully.
They clearly recognized Annie, and it seemed their superiors had specifically told them to expect her. Neither of them made any attempt to