Mondstadt City, Knights of Favonius headquarters.
"You didn't finish it again...?" Jean asked.
"No..." a man answered quietly, his head lowered.
"Sigh... It's all right. You can go."
"I'm sorry..."
"It's fine, really. Go on."
Listening at the door, Amber heard footsteps drawing closer and immediately ran behind a pillar in the corridor.
Jean's door opened, and the man trudged out, looking dispirited, before closing it behind him.
Once he had gone, Amber returned to the door and listened closely again.
"Sigh... Why did Xiu Yuan leave without saying a word?"
"Without him holding them together, these Outriders seem to have lost their very souls. They can't even complete their basic daily patrols..."
"What are we going to do if this keeps up...?"
Jean pressed a hand to her forehead, deeply troubled.
Ever since Xiu Yuan had left his insignia behind and departed from the Knights of Favonius, the entire Outrider unit had fallen apart overnight.
As Xiu Yuan grew older, he rarely visited headquarters, but his strict discipline had been etched into every Outrider's heart.
Even when he wasn't there, none of his subordinates dared slack off in the slightest.
Anyone Xiu Yuan caught loafing on duty would face severe punishment.
As long as Xiu Yuan was still around, they dared not let their guard down.
But after he left without a farewell, their laziness quickly consumed the entire unit. They grew increasingly lax and sluggish, doing little more than collecting their pay while shirking their duties.
It hadn't been too bad at first, but they became more and more outrageous. After several missions yielded no results, the Outriders were pushed further and further to the sidelines.
Now, they had sunk so low that they couldn't even complete a basic patrol.
"Grandfather..."
Having heard everything from outside the door,