"Is she evil or not? Durandal."
At night, Klee lay in bed, hugging a jumpy dumpty-shaped doll she had made, pondering the day's question.
For the carefree Klee, such a question was a bit too difficult. She had intended to get the answer directly from Jean, but in the end, she still had to figure it out herself.
Klee's answer was actually very clear: Durandal couldn't be a bad person. She was definitely a good person, just like the other members of the Knights of Favonius.
But was she evil? What exactly was evil? Klee wasn't very clear about the definition of that word.
If she didn't figure this out, even if she went to find Durandal again, she probably wouldn't meet her, Klee had such an intuition.
Klee thought for a long time, and as she thought, she gradually fell asleep without realizing it.
In her dream, Klee dreamed of the stories her mother, Alice, used to tell her when she was still around.
In those stories, Klee gradually found her answer.
Meanwhile, at Cape Oath.
Durandal sat on the cliff edge, quietly gazing at the night sky.
Just then, a gust of wind blew, and a green figure appeared beside her.
"Durandal, quickly help me! It hurts so much."
"Hmm? Are you... poisoned?"
Durandal immediately saw that Barbatos was poisoned, and it was a very deep toxin. If he weren't a god, he would probably have been killed by this toxin long ago.
Durandal placed her hand on Barbatos's chest, and an ominous aura surged from Barbatos's body, condensing in Durandal's hand.
The moment the poison was drawn from his body, Barbatos immediately felt an incomparable comfort, as if he had drunk the wine of the Angel's Share, very comfortable.
"Sure enough, I knew coming to Durandal was the right choice. How could a poison of this level trouble you?"
Barbatos sat next to Durandal, smiling, swinging his legs back and forth, and said with a laugh, "Thank you, Durandal. Next time, I'll treat you to a drink, my favorite Apple cider."
"I have no interest in human food, nor do I have any need to eat. You should be the same, shouldn't you? Barbatos."
As a God, she clearly doesn't need to eat like humans, so why is she so keen on human food? She doesn't even feel hungry.
"Hehe~ You're wrong about that. I indeed have no need to eat, but human food is quite wonderful. If you try it, you'll definitely like it."
"...No, anything that passes my lips will eventually turn into poison. I... have no interest in poison."
"Durandal..."
Barbatos looked at his good friend with some heartache. She was so kind, so why did she have such an ability?
"Not necessarily, right? Didn't you say that you're different now than before? You no longer uncontrollably spread plague like before, and even the breath you exhale isn't poisonous. If you go to a human town now, do you think anyone would treat you as a God?"
As long as she didn't deliberately control it, Durandal wouldn't create any poisonous objects. After Barbatos understood this, he invited Durandal to live in Mondstadt City.
He believed that the kindness of the residents living in Mondstadt City would surely Melt the ice within Durandal, allowing her to smile again.
But she once again rejected Barbatos's invitation: "No. I... don't want to see a second Village of Pain."
Even if she could control her 'poison', Durandal was unwilling to take any more risks. She didn't want to see any more lives lost because of her, and she didn't want to see a beautiful city turn into a ghost town because of her arrival.
She... didn't want to see the tragedy of the Village of Pain again.
Barbatos sighed and reached out to pat Durandal's shoulder. He understood that Durandal wasn't unwilling to live in a human city out of arrogance; she chose this because she didn't want to harm the city's residents.
His argument was fine, but what if, by some chance, she accidentally let the plague leak out one day?
Even she herself couldn't guarantee 100% that this situation would continue indefinitely, so having her stay away from the city was the best choice.
"Don't talk about me, Barbatos. Why did you get such severe poison? You were fine when you left during the day, weren't you?"
When they met during the day, Barbatos certainly wasn't poisoned. Even a very small amount of poison, she would have noticed. Barbatos couldn't escape her eyes.
Only a few hours later, he was so severely poisoned. What exactly did this guy go to do?
"Hehe~ Didn't you ask me to handle Dvalin's matter? I went to talk with Dvalin. He didn't trust me because of the poison and the Abyss Order, so to gain his trust, I had to make a sacrifice."
"Your sacrifice... was to be contaminated by his poison? To make him understand your sincerity?"
To make Dvalin understand that he had returned with good intentions, so he used this method to gain his trust?
This is truly... Is she a fool? Besides the poison of Stormterror Durin, there was also the poison inflicted on Dvalin by the Abyss Order. Wasn't she worried that she, too, would be corroded by the Abyss like Dvalin?
"Are you an idiot? Barbatos."
"Oh my~ Isn't it because you're here? With an Expert like you, I don't have to worry about poison at all."
Barbatos playfully winked his right eye. The reason he dared to absorb Dvalin's poison was because of Durandal's existence.
He believed that Durandal could resolve both Durin's poison and the Abyss's poison, which is why he dared to formulate such a bold plan.
Facts proved he was correct; Durandal was indeed able to absorb this poison.
This way, he could not only gain Dvalin's trust but also alleviate Dvalin's pain. Such a win-win situation was too good a deal.
When Dvalin's condition improved slightly, Barbatos decided to bring Dvalin to Durandal, asking Durandal to help Dvalin deal with the 'poison' in his body, thus alleviating the crisis.
"...Are you using me? Barbatos."
After some thought, Durandal suddenly asked this question, which made Barbatos's expression change.
"How could that be? How could I be using you? I just... just..."
What to do? No matter how he thought about it, he seemed to be using Durandal, using her ability to help Dvalin. This could already be called exploitation, couldn't it?
He carefully observed Durandal, and only when he saw her usual emotionless expression did Barbatos feel a little relieved.
"Well, I won't let you do it for free. If... if you want anything, or want me to do anything for you, you can tell me. I'll try my best to fulfill your wishes."
"Try my best? Such wording actually comes from a God. How unreliable." Durandal couldn't help but tease.
A God should be omnipotent, capable of fulfilling any wish, but this God beside her seemed a bit useless.
She seemed to have said before that to drink the fine wine of Mondstadt, she needed to perform in Mondstadt to earn Mora.
A God actually had to earn money herself just to drink wine. How pathetic.
She looked at the night sky. In the past, she had no choice but to gaze at the lifeless earth and the night sky, but now it was different.
The sky here was truly beautiful, and the occasional breeze was very comfortable.
"If Dvalin is seduced by the Abyss, what will happen in the end? Barbatos."
"Eh? Well, he would probably become their weapon. The Abyss would use Dvalin to attack the Seven Nations."
Dvalin was very strong. If he were truly corroded by the Abyss, then he would become a terrifying existence no less than Stormterror Durin.
"In that case, would lives be lost?"
"Yes. Countless lives would perish in the gales stirred up by Dvalin, and the homes people painstakingly built would be overthrown."
"Is that so?"
Durandal closed her eyes. Barbatos didn't know what she was thinking, watching her with a nervous but slightly expectant expression.
"I understand. If you bring him to me, I can clear the poison from his body."
"That's great! I knew you wouldn't stand by and do nothing, Durandal!"
Barbatos excitedly hugged Durandal's neck, affectionately rubbing his face against hers.
Durandal let Barbatos embrace her: "Let's get one thing straight first. I will only clear the poison from his body, and I can only do that much. Beyond that, I am powerless."
"That's already a huge help. Thank you so much, Durandal. Luckily you're here, otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do."
Barbatos truly had no way to deal with this matter. Even if he could unite the fighting forces within Mondstadt City to control Dvalin, if the poison in Dvalin's body wasn't cleared, no problem would be solved.
If it weren't for Durandal, he really couldn't think of any other way to solve the problem.
"...It's just that I have nothing to do."
That elf named Klee also lives in Mondstadt City, doesn't she? If Dvalin's matter is handled, she won't be implicated either.
Seeing that Durandal was unwilling to respond to him, Barbatos wasn't annoyed. He took out his lyre, sat beside Durandal, and played a beautiful tune for her.
Durandal enjoyed his music while admiring the stars in the sky. This feeling was quite nice.
The next day, Durandal stayed in her living area as usual, tending to the flowers and plants there.
As noon approached, Durandal was about to call the birds to inquire about the recent situation in Mondstadt when the appearance of a person interrupted her plan.
"Sister Durandal!"
Klee, whom she had warned just yesterday not to come looking for her again, appeared once more, waving at her with a beaming smile.
Durandal was about to drive her away, but Klee came up to her first, grabbed her hand, and said.
"I know the answer, Sister Durandal!"
"You... are not evil at all!"