"Hello, how did you know my name?" Noelle walked up to Lin Feng and asked curiously.
"I am from another country. I met a merchant there who had once received your help, and I got the news from him. That is why my trip to Mondstadt this time is also to get to know you, and I want to become good friends with you." Lin Feng spouted nonsense without missing a beat.
Noelle nodded. She had indeed helped quite a few foreign merchants.
Noelle turned around and asked the caravan, "Are you heading to the City of Mondstadt?"
The merchants nodded.
"I will escort you to the City of Mondstadt. There are many monsters along this road, and it is very dangerous," Noelle said.
The members of the caravan looked at Noelle. Although she wore maid armor, she looked soft and frail, not at all like someone capable of protecting everyone.
Lin Feng chimed in as well, "Noelle, I will go with you to escort them to the City of Mondstadt. I happen to want to visit the City of Mondstadt anyway."
...
Along the way, Lin Feng and Noelle talked about many things.
"What! This is your eighth time participating in the Knights of Favonius examinations this year?" Lin Feng said in surprise.
Noelle's dream was to join the Knights of Favonius and become an outstanding knight.
She had already taken the Knights' examinations seven times.
Out of those seven times, she had not passed a single one.
Back when she first took it, some of her peers from that time had already given up, while many others had successfully joined the Knights.
Some had even worked their way up to become vice captains in the Knights.
At the mention of this, Noelle's expression carried a trace of desolation, but she still cheered herself on, saying, "It's fine. I've prepared very thoroughly this year, and I will definitely be able to join the Knights and become a qualified knight."
Although Lin Feng had long known about Noelle's seven consecutive failures, hearing the tone of her voice as she spoke filled his heart with a sense of emotion and sympathy.
How many people could persist in doing just one thing for seven years?
Noelle had done it, yet she kept failing.
"Did the Knights tell you why you couldn't join?" Lin Feng asked.
"No." Noelle shook her head, then continued, "It must be because my character and strength are still not quite enough! I will definitely keep working hard."
Lin Feng took two steps back and looked Noelle up and down.
"I think Miss Noelle's character and strength are already more than enough."
Being told this for the very first time, Noelle appeared somewhat shy and hurriedly said, "Ah! No, no, no, I'm still not enough."
"Miss Noelle should have a Vision, right?"
Lin Feng had noticed the Geo Vision hidden at the small of her back.
Noelle nodded.
Lin Feng continued, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be a Geo Vision. Could it be that the Knights are discriminating against the Geo element? Or is there actually some shameful dark internal matter within the Knights that is deliberately blocking you from joining?"
People who possess Visions have already had their character recognized by the gods.
Is that still not enough to join the Knights?
Even the gods have recognized your character. As for strength, having a Vision already surpasses the vast majority of people—unless everyone in the Knights has a Vision."
Noelle shook her head and said, "Most people in the Knights do not have Visions."
Hearing this, Lin Feng spoke up indignantly.
"So you see, your character and strength are already sufficient, and you should be able to join the Knights. If Miss Noelle were in my country, I think you'd even be qualified to be the Knight Grand Master."
Lin Feng was not lying; she would just be the Knight Grand Master of The Abyss.
To be honest, joining the Knights had almost become an obsession for Noelle.
Having failed seven times in a row, even the optimistic Noelle could not help but feel the pressure.
She was terribly afraid that she would take the examinations for the eighth time this year and still end up failing.
"Miss Noelle, there is something I want to say, but I'm not sure if I should."
"What is it you want to say?" Noelle asked.
"You tell me why some people who are inferior to you can join the Knights, but you cannot."
Hearing this, Noelle fell into deep thought.
Normally, she simply forced herself not to dwell on this question.
Deep down, she still harbored a tiny bit of envy toward those who could join the Knights despite being inferior to her.
After years of consecutive failures, she would sometimes wonder why those people could join while she could not.
Was this fair?
In order to learn better, she even became a maid for the Knights of Favonius, observing every day what a knight ought to do.
Seeing that his words had taken some effect, Lin Feng continued.
"Do you suppose it could be that those people who are inferior to you paid off someone?"
Noelle's expression froze. She had never considered this possibility.
She had always believed that everyone in the Knights was kind-hearted.
But now, having listened to Lin Feng's words, she even began to doubt the beliefs she once held.
"If my guess is correct, you still won't be able to join the Knights this year," Lin Feng said with absolute confidence.
Noelle raised her gaze to look at Lin Feng, her heart feeling somewhat flustered at the moment.
In the end, she simply muttered to herself, "I will work even harder."
...
The caravan quickly entered the City of Mondstadt.
After accepting the caravan's expressions of gratitude, Lin Feng and Noelle parted ways with them.
"Noelle, do you have free time now? I have a favor I'd like to ask of you."
Although Lin Feng was very familiar with the City of Mondstadt in the game, this was not a game after all—it was reality.
This was much like holding a map in your hand and still managing to get lost.
Not to mention that the City of Mondstadt in the game had been simplified, whereas the real City of Mondstadt was a large city capable of accommodating over a hundred thousand residents.
If the entire City of Mondstadt only consisted of a mere few hundred people like in the game, how could it ever be called a country?
Noelle pondered for a moment. Although today wasn't her shift as the duty maid, according to her original plan, she was supposed to head over to the Knights' headquarters shortly to help clean up.
Yet Noelle felt an inexplicable fondness for the man standing before her who had just rescued the caravan.
She always felt that this person could understand the stifling and gloomy feeling she experienced after repeatedly taking part in the knight examinations without ever succeeding.
Noelle beamed and said, "Leave it to me, you can leave everything to me."
"Great, then I'll leave it to you, my dear Miss Noelle."
Hearing this, Noelle was startled, and her cheeks quickly flushed red.
It was her first time being called "my dear" to her face.
Even her parents had never expressed their affection so boldly.
Yet, on second thought, perhaps calling each other "my dear" was just a very normal thing in his country.
Noelle comforted herself this way.
"Let's go! I want to rent a house first." Lin Feng took Noelle's hand and started walking forward.
"Eh!?" Noelle stood frozen in place. It was her very first time being led away by the hand of a boy.