It's a Pirate's Life For Me

Lumine slouched. She should've known it wouldn't have been that easy. At least if she had her memories she probably would've known someone in the city to ask about sea travel, but they still weren't coming back.

"L-Lumine! Don't eat your hair! P-Please don't be so stressed!" Paimon pleaded

The blonde slowly pulled her hair out of her mouth. "Stressed? I'm perfectly fine, Paimon! Let's get to Mondstadt. I don't know how far away we are from the city and we need to reach it before dark. People are much more receptive to questions when there's light out." Lumine said determinedly.

"Okay! Mondstadt is this-a-way!" Paimon cheered.

~♡~

When Lumine stepped through the gates, the sun had set, leaving the city bathed in golden pink light and shades of purple.

"Paimon wonders if we made it just before they closed the gates," Paimon whispered to Lumine

Lumine gave Paimon a look. "Didn't we pass by a couple of people who were still adventuring?"

"Paimon was just wondering," the pixie sulked.

Lumine smiled to herself and examined her surroundings. A blacksmith was on her left, a fruit stand and a flower stand were to her right and a large boulevard was in front of her. She remembered seeing the sea on her right when crossing over the bridge to enter the city so she started towards the stands.

"Does Mondstadt have pirates?" Lumine asked Paimon in a hushed voice, noticing some strangely dressed people stumbling past her.

Paimon nodded and floated closer to her. "Mhm! But Paimon heard that the only 'pirates' in Mondstadt are the ones that the Ordo Favonius approves of and that the ones they don't approve of are captured by them or the other 'pirates.'" Paimon whispered

"Would it be hard finding a pirate who'd let me on their ship?"

Paimon nodded. "Of course! They're busy running errands for the Ordo Favonius and getting loot for themselves. But it's still easier trying to find a boat than going through that storm."

Lumine tugged on a bang. If Paimon made finding a ship seem impossible then how much worse was the storm? 'I have to get on a ship, even if I need to stowaway,' Lumine thought

"Hey, there's a vendor over there! Let's go ask her some questions!" Paimon flew off before she could reply.

The blonde sighed and trudged after her companion goodnaturedly.

"Excuse me miss, do you know anyone who has a ship heading to Liyue?" Paimon asked

The woman scowled grumpily. "Bah! I got off a boat from Liyue a couple of weeks ago and I still haven't sold all my inventory! I sold more jewelry aboard the boat than I did here!"

"Um, that's unfortunate. Did that boat you arrive on come back in town as yet?"

"I don't know. If it did, then you would've found more people boarding than disembarking. A lot of people have been stranded here and I imagine it's the same way in Liyue... but now people will be craving something foreign even more! Then they'll have to come and buy my products in their desperation for something new!"

Lumine shared a worried look with Paimon. She doubted people would be that desperate, especially since the poor weather hadn't seemed to reach around the city where people would be adventuring.

She seems a little crazy. Paimon mouthed.

I think she's the one going stir-crazy. Lumine mouthed back, agreeing.