Menma and Hashirama, what happened in Teyvat

By the time Menma and Hashirama had finished all the food on the table, Sora, Paimon and Kaeya finally arrived.

"Are you done with your work?" Menma looked up and asked.

"Yeah, I'm done." Kaia looked at the pile of empty bowls and plates on the table and was surprised like everyone else. "You two really have amazing appetites... I can't even imagine how miserable my wallet would be if you agreed to treat me just now."

“Haha, I’ll take it as the cavalry captain praising us.” Menma stood up and patted Kaia’s shoulder, then whispered, “But don’t be too happy too soon…”

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"As far as I know, Paimon's appetite is no less than mine and Hashirama's..."

"Eh?"

After saying that, Menma, with a smirk on his face that no one could see because of the mask, picked up the "beer basket" and walked towards [Angel's Gift] with Hashirama, leaving Kaeya alone there in a daze.

Until... Paimon's voice awakened his consciousness:

"Hey, in addition to the five servings of sweet flower-stuffed chicken that we agreed on, I also want this, this, this, and this..."

"Ah? No..." Seeing Paimon's unquestionable look, Kaia immediately pleaded with a bitter face, "Please spare me, Ms. Paimon. If you eat like this, you will really go bankrupt..."

"Humph, who told you to lie to us like that before?" Paimon said, his hands on his hips. "This meal is your apology to us."

Perhaps he was also dissatisfied with Kaeya's previous plan. Sora, who usually would dissuade Paimon at such times, did not say a word throughout the whole process and just let Paimon "do whatever he wants".

“Ah, this…” There was no other way. Seeing that the two of them still refused to give in, Kaiya had no choice but to admit defeat and pay the price for his actions in scheming against them. [Alas, this time I actually failed…

I hope my father or Diluk won’t know about this...】

……

……

……

In [Angel's Gift], after returning the "beer basket" to Charles, Menma and Hashirama bought a lot of drinks and alcoholic beverages and packed them up to take away, then turned around and left the tavern.

But just as the two were about to take a stroll on the streets of Mondstadt, they happened to see two people approaching the outdoor tables and chairs outside the tavern:

"Mr. Alova, sorry for the long wait. Please have some wine." The silver-haired girl, who was dressed a little like the Knight of Favonius, but more like a maid, handed a glass of wine to the purple-clothed man opposite her. "This is a cocktail based on dandelion wine. I asked the bartender to add some dandelion, which has a calming effect.

You've been traveling a long way, and drinking something too cold suddenly is not good for your stomach, so I asked you to put less ice in it, hoping it will still suit your appetite."

"Calm down... Calm down..." The man named Alova held the wine glass with a hesitant look, not knowing whether to drink the wine in it. He was obviously uneasy. "Is this wine... available to everyone who comes to Mondstadt?"

"It's specially prepared for you~" Noelle said with a sweet smile.

“Ah—” However, Alova, who had something to hide, did not notice Noelle’s innocent look. Instead, he was shocked by her words, “Because you know my interest in Mond’s wine industry…”

"Very interested, right?" Noelle said. "After all, you said before that you are a traveling merchant who comes to Mondstadt to import wine to Liyue."

“No, that’s right…” Seeing that he had misunderstood, Alova quickly used Noelle’s words to smooth things over, “I’m just interested…”

Perhaps in order to change the subject and avoid saying too much and making more mistakes, Alova quickly drank the wine in the glass and then said, "First! Let's not talk about this! After drinking the wine, I realized that my stomach is empty..."

“So you’re still hungry, sir.” Noelle was a little surprised, and then immediately regretted it. “This is my fault. If I had known this earlier, I should have given you some pancakes when I met you…”

"If there is no food, I have something more delicious here." At this time, Menma, who had been watching everything on the side, suddenly walked up to the two of them and said to Alova while staring at him.

"You... who are you?" Seeing Menma's strange outfit and feeling the sinister aura from him, Alova's heart, which had just calmed down, immediately became hanging again.

"Eh? Mr. Uzumaki?" Noelle looked at Menma who suddenly appeared beside him in surprise, feeling a little at a loss.

Because of the previous events between Menma and Hashirama in Mondstadt, Noelle naturally knew them both and had even wanted to meet them a long time ago. However, she had been suffering from the endless mission assignments before, which made it impossible for her to find any opportunities. And she had never expected to meet Menma here today.

However, Menma ignored Noelle at this moment, and just glared at Alova with his right eye, which turned red, and directly sent a "delicious illusion". Soon, the originally flustered Alova immediately calmed down, standing there motionless with his eyes blank.

“Hey? Mr. Alova?” Seeing Alova’s strange behavior, Noelle called him a few times, “Mr. Alova, what’s wrong with you?”

"It's just my illusion, don't panic."

"But, Mr. Uzumaki, why are you…"

"Tell me, what exactly do you want to do in Mondstadt?" Menma did not answer Noel's question, but began to question Alova. After all, his next answer could already give Noel the answer she wanted.

"I..." As expected, under the influence of the illusion, Alova had to speak the truth, "I just wanted to investigate in Mondstadt to see if I could make some fake wine based on Dandelion Wine and sell it..."

“Huh?” Noelle was stunned when he heard Alova’s answer.

Thinking about it carefully, Alova was suspicious when he came to Mondstadt before. He said that he lost his documents and luggage because of a monster attack, but when I went along that road to look for him, I couldn't find any trace of monsters or luggage. When I came to [Angel's Gift] just now, I seemed to hear the word "counterfeit" from him...

After getting the answer he wanted, Menma lifted the illusion. Since the lifting of this illusion did not come with the suffix of deleting related memories, after Alova regained consciousness, he also knew what he had just said, and his face immediately became panicked:

"Please spare my life, sir, and this maid!" Alova was so scared that she almost fell to her knees, "Although I didn't expect... my plan was seen through by you so quickly, but I haven't done anything yet!

I can only be considered as an attempted fraud, right? I shouldn't be sentenced to death, right?"

The strong sense of fear and desire to survive made Alova beg for mercy from the two men, even though they did not actually have any murderous intentions.

"Ah..." With a sigh, Menma created a shadow clone and carried Alova away from Mondstadt. He turned to look at Noelle with a serious expression on his face.

“I didn’t expect Mr. Alova to have such a purpose…” Noelle was still immersed in what happened just now, and suddenly met Menma’s eyes, “Eh? Mr. Uzumaki…”

"Noelle, the maid of the Knights of Favonius and even the entire Mondstadt, has tried to take the official position of the Knights of Favonius seven times, but failed every time." Before Noelle could say anything, Menma spilled some of Noelle's past, "Am I right?"

“Uzumaki… Uzumaki-san…” Noelle was stunned. On the one hand, he didn’t know where Menma got such detailed information about him, and on the other hand, he didn’t understand what Menma meant by saying this. “You are…”

"I also know that you recently wanted to seek out the Honor Knight Sora to learn about various experiences related to the Knight of Favonius." Without paying attention to Noelle's surprise, Menma continued, "But I can assert that you will not find the real method from him. Because, with his personality, it is difficult for him to point out your real problem."

“This…” Noelle didn’t know what to say anymore. After all, the initiative of the words was completely in the hands of the other party. “So, you want to…”

"I can point out your problems, but that's all I can do." Menma said, "As for whether you will agree with what I say, whether you will listen to it and change, that's your own business..."

“Thank you so much, Mr. Uzumaki!” Before Menma could finish his words, Noelle, who had grasped the key words, immediately bowed deeply to him, “I will definitely listen to your advice carefully! In addition, in return, if there is anything you need me to do in the future, just call me by name…”

Noelle didn't finish her words of gratitude because she felt Menma's increasingly cold eyes behind the mask. She couldn't help but interrupt her words: "Mr. Uzumaki, you...what's wrong with you? Did I neglect you in some way?"

"Here's one of your problems."

“Eh…eh?” Noelle said she didn’t understand what Menma said. “What…do you mean?”

Menma did not answer directly, but asked Noelle: "In your opinion, what does it take to become a Knight of Favonius?"

"In my opinion?" Although he didn't quite understand what Menma meant, Noelle decided to speak his mind honestly. "One needs to have enough strength and manners, and his words and conversation should make people feel comfortable. He needs to be able to obey the orders of the Knights Templar, and serve the people of Mondstadt and the travelers who come to Mondstadt wholeheartedly..."

"That's true, but not complete," Menma said. "You already have all of these, and I dare say that anyone in Mondstadt who knows your name can prove this."

"No, I didn't do it well enough, otherwise I wouldn't..." Noelle quickly retorted. Unfortunately, Menma didn't give her this opportunity -

"Guess why I just said that those conditions you mentioned were 'incomplete'?"

"Uh... I don't understand."

"You don't need to refute something that the entire city of Mondstadt can prove. If you don't trust me or yourself, how can you not trust the residents of the entire city of Mondstadt?"

Menma first criticized Noelle's distrust of her, which was a bit of an inferiority complex, and then continued, "There are other reasons why you can't become a Knight of Favonius. And if you can't overcome all this, no matter how many times you take the exam for the Knights, the final result will still be failure. There is absolutely no other possibility."

"Then...what is the reason?" Noelle asked quickly, "and what should I do?"

"Three reasons." Menma held up three fingers in front of Noelle. "First, you are too kind to refuse other people's requests, even if they are too small and trivial, and they can do it without asking others.

Second, you are too naive to tell whether the person who comes to you has bad intentions. Just like the man named Alova just now, if I hadn't arrived just in time, you might have been used by him and stolen Mond's business secrets;