They stopped and went along the way, helping many people.
However, Ryan firmly adhered to the principle that if the other party could do it themselves, he wouldn't help.
Occasionally, they were pointed at and talked about.
"That's him, the outsider who slaughtered the Knights of Favonius with a Favonius Greatsword yesterday, cutting off a hundred limbs and causing rivers of blood."
"If it weren't for my idol Barbara, there would have been casualties everywhere!"
"That powerful? But I heard he cut down the trainers, right? And those aristocrats who looked down on people."
"They're all the same! Sooner or later!"
Ryan arrived at Good Hunter, and Sara and the Shopkeeper pulled him aside, asking all sorts of questions, "I heard you two were fighting over jealousy?"
"Defending the orthodoxy of Favonius Bladework and Sword?"
"The aristocrats are acting up again? Have troublemakers infiltrated those trainers too?"
With everyone talking at once, attracting countless customers to discuss, Ryan quickly pulled Noelle away.
Unexpectedly, near the road with the ancient ruin anchor point, two Fatui were also whispering.
"Have you heard? The outsider, at the Mondstadt side gate Training Field…"
Such a familiar beginning, Ryan reflexively looked over.
Aren't you all bored?
He picked his ears; he first became famous due to his identity as a Good Hunter Shopkeeper and a guest at Amber's house. Now, he became famous in Mondstadt again just for a fight.
Half as many people know him as know Noelle.
He bought a couple's drink.
The Shopkeeper, hearing about Damselette Noelle saving the hero yesterday, specifically chose this style.
And he wouldn't let them exchange it!
Ryan could only tell Noelle, "This Shopkeeper isn't serious; let's go to another shop!"
Frugality is also a virtue.
Noelle indicated that they should drink it!
They went to Cat's Tail Tavern to pet the cats.
Diona looked as if she had finally caught him.
"Why aren't you a Shopkeeper anymore? I haven't eaten coral fish in so long, and I even gave you a bottle of pickling wine!"
"Sorry! Sorry! Diona!"
Ryan raised his hand, "If you want, I'll go make it right now!"
"Noelle, come with me!"
The two of them quickly bought a fresh Fish.
Ryan borrowed a kitchen, not avoiding Noelle, prepared some seasoning, wielded the cleaver with flashing blades, and sliced open the Fish.
"The legendary coral fish is made like this?" Noelle pondered, "Is it really okay to show me the recipe directly?"
"It's fine!" Ryan marinated it for a while, coated it in Flour, evenly covering the Fish, and deep-fried the Fish in plenty of oil.
The recipe doesn't matter anymore!
He no longer cared about the money from cooking! At most, he would be a Shopkeeper again when he was happy.
Moreover, Noelle wouldn't spread it casually.
"As an apology! This one's on me!" He carried the fried coral fish to Diona, watching her tail wag happily.
"I'll let you pet the cats at Cat's Tail Tavern as much as you want!" Diona called out, and all the cats pounced on Ryan and Noelle.
Truly—covered in cats!
During their joyful play, Ryan almost forgot about the main business.
For their last stop, the two stood near the Training Field, looking down from a height at the trainers sweating profusely on the field, and the Instructor who ignored them.
"Let's go to Angel's Share!" Ryan led Noelle into the always lively tavern.
"Why here?" Noelle was puzzled; she wasn't old enough to drink.
"Wait a moment, I'm going to tell a story! I hope you, the Adventurer, and the Bard can be my audience." Ryan sat on a chair at the counter, preparing to tell the unfinished King Arthur legend in Mondstadtian.
He would talk about the Dao of a Knight in his ideal other world.
"Drinking?" The Bartender Charles looked at Ryan.
It was a coincidence that this person came; yesterday, Master Diluc had just instructed to give the first drink for free.
"Two Apple ciders, please!" Ryan looked at Noelle.
"Your first drink is free from the tavern! Do you want to try the famous dandelion Wine? Last time I saw you, you seemed to really want some!" The Bartender Charles wiped a glass, explaining the reason.
"Is that so?" Ryan was surprised, "Then I'll have one!"
"Anemo and dandelion, fine wine and a legend from another world… The atmosphere is perfect!"
"Noelle, do you want to hear a story from my world, a story of a Damselette becoming a Knight King?"
Ryan took a sip of dandelion Wine and began his final lesson.
"A story of a Knight King?"
The Bartender Charles and the Adventurer who heard him perked up. Some recognized Ryan's face.
Yesterday's Sword, last night's Anemo, left a deep impression.
What kind of story would this outsider tell?
Diluc had arrived at some point, standing quietly on the second floor.
Ryan watched Noelle become interested, and in his skilled and authentic Mondstadtian, he slowly began.
"Knights have eight virtues and seven deadly sins!"
His first sentence captivated everyone.
In Acting Grand Master Jean's "Knights of Favonius Handbook," there were three great virtues: humility, integrity, and self-discipline, serving as the three pillars of Mondstadt's freedom.
Was that not enough?
And seven deadly sins!
"Humility, honesty, Mercy, bravery, justice, sacrifice, honor, and Soul are the eight virtues. Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust are the seven deadly sins."
"Among them, sacrifice is for guarding one's homeland, for justice, just like the Knights of Mondstadt who fought bloody battles and died five hundred years ago against the Demonic Beast invasion!"
"Soul is faith in God!"
Ryan's special addition was for Noelle, explaining the meaning of sacrifice.
He looked at Noelle, who was listening in silence, his voice gentle. Of course, he wouldn't tell the King Arthur story exactly as it was, but rather an adaptation, mixed with his own ideas.
"The story I'm telling is about a Damselette named Arthur who, with the help of the sorcerer Merlin, pulled out a long Sword, cleared the turmoil, inherited the throne, and created a glorious kingdom."
"…The Damselette had golden hair as dazzling as the sun, a voice even clearer and more pleasant than a Bard's, and emerald-like green eyes."
"After the old king's death, the country was in turmoil, foreign enemies and Demonic Beasts invaded, white Dragons rampaged, and the people lived in dire straits. The bishop of the church, following the sorcerer Merlin's advice, gathered all the noble Knights."
"They would choose a new king with a 'Sword in the Stone' inserted into a stone in the cemetery behind the church."
"After countless people failed, Arthur pulled out the long Sword…"
The Adventurers drank and imagined, associating Arthur's appearance with Jean, and the story with Vennessa, the founder of the Knights of Favonius.
Similarly, foreign invasion and turmoil.
"Arthur adhered to the spirit of a Knight, being kind, upright, benevolent, loyal, courteous, and possessing the eight great virtues, skilled at independent thinking and formulating autonomous combat plans."
Ryan looked at Noelle, "She embarked on the Dao of a Knight, accepted the help of elves and fairies, became an Incarnation of a Red Dragon, gathered the nation's strength, and selected the twelve most loyal and brave Knights of the Round Table."
"Led by them, she formed the Knights of the Round Table, helped the poor and weak, swept away foreign enemies, eliminated Demonic Beasts, slew the White Dragon, and established a prosperous Empire."
"The beauty of the Empire… was like a fleeting flower! Indestructible corruption corroded the pure Knights, internal strife destroyed the court, and annihilated the Empire."
"The Knight King stood on the ruins, killing the greedy and ambitious Knights of the Round Table!"
"She regretted, regretted that she hadn't guided people to abandon pride, sloth, greed…"
"She craved salvation, craved for time to reverse."
The sound in the tavern was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"…The rest of the story is a Reincarnation into atonement, a ritual destined to fail… a tragic fate of flowing through various eras to contend for the omnipotent wish-granting object."
"I've finished this rough story!"
"The story… doesn't have a good ending! But through your imagination… it can be rewritten!"
"Goodbye, Charles!"
Ryan put down his empty glass and pulled Noelle away.
Diluc drank the grape juice in his hand on the second floor, looking at the tavern lights.
"Virtues and sins? Not a bad story!"