Chapter 46, Bronya: It's over!

One day had passed since the battle at the Everwinter Ridge.

Although Cocolia had regained consciousness, her memories from the period when she was seduced by the Stellaron had completely vanished.

She could only remember the years before she chose to cooperate with the Stellaron.

Prompted by Bronya's explanation, Cocolia realized what a grave mistake she had made.

Consequently, she chose to step down from her position as the Supreme Guardian and let Bronya ascend to the role.

She felt she no longer had the face to remain as the Supreme Guardian, having almost personally destroyed Belobog's future with her own hands.

.........

In the administrative district plaza of Belobog.

Stelle and March 7th, both rested after a night of sleep, strolled through the streets with cups of milk tea in hand.

As they walked past a flower shop, Stelle rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

"No way!"

March 7th noticed Stelle's eyes widening to the point of popping out.

"What is it with you again?"

Stelle tugged at March 7th's clothes and pointed toward a bench nearby.

"March! Look at that!"

Following the direction of Stelle's finger, March 7th saw a shimmering wooden treasure chest resting right beneath the bench.

"A treasure chest! How is there a treasure chest here?"

The two girls walked up to it and opened it.

Lying inside were 5 Stellar Jades! As for any accompanying materials or the like, they were nowhere to be found, presumably taken by someone else.

Stelle took out the Stellar Jades.

"Oh my god! Are there treasure chests in this city too?"

Stelle looked around the massive city, and a sudden thought flashed through her mind.

Stelle looked at March 7th, only to find March 7th looking right back at her.

A meeting of the minds!

"Let's go, let's go! Opening chests, opening chests!"

Stelle and March 7th scoured the streets and alleys looking for treasure chests. Although most of the chests in the administrative district were wooden ones, every single one of them contained 5 Stellar Jades!

The two of them went on a wild looting spree for Stellar Jades, completely unable to stop.

As they searched, they arrived at the barricaded commercial street.

Just as they entered the commercial street, they spotted an exquisite treasure chest sitting behind an iron gate!

Stelle's eyes lit up, and without a second thought, she drew the Fire-Moth's Wingspan-Scorched Solder, slashed the iron gate apart with a single sweep, and rushed through.

The moment she approached the exquisite treasure chest, three Blazing Desolations suddenly appeared.

Before Stelle and March 7th could strike, their accompanying Chimchar and Bulbasaur attacked directly.

"Roar! Roar!"

"Bulba!"

A burst of sparks and a whip of vines materialized out of thin air, instantly taking down two of the Blazing Desolations.

Having spent so much time with Rios yesterday, Chimchar and Bulbasaur hadn't been just playing around; they had been learning from him.

Under Rios's guidance, both Chimchar and Bulbasaur had each learned a move.

[Ember] and [Absorb].

The remaining Blazing Desolation was dispatched by Stelle with a single sword slash.

After defeating the guarding monsters, Stelle impatiently opened the exquisite treasure chest, inside which lay 10 freshly minted Stellar Jades.

Stelle licked her lips and rubbed her hands together.

"Stellar Jades~ Little Stellar Jades~ Here I come~"

Stelle picked up the Stellar Jades from the chest and handed 5 of them to March 7th.

Stelle looked at March 7th and saw that she was typing away on her phone.

"March, who are you chatting with?"

Hearing Stelle call out to her, March 7th looked up and said.

"Dan Heng is asking where we are."

Stelle put March 7th's phone away into her pocket and threw an arm around March 7th's shoulders.

"Let's go, let's go, ignore him, let's get our Stellar Jades first! We're getting rich!!! Hahahaha!"

March 7th figured that made sense and followed Stelle along their path of fighting monsters and opening chests.

Chimchar and Bulbasaur also joined the battles, accumulating quite a bit of experience.

..........

Inside the machine house in the administrative district.

Serval and Seele were looking at Dan Heng.

Dan Heng put away his phone.

"They're collecting Stellar Jades."

Earlier, Dan Heng had intended to visit Serval's workshop when Seele happened to show up, saying she was delivering a message on behalf of Bronya.

Bronya had invited the three of them to attend her succession ceremony.

Thus led to Dan Heng asking Stelle and March 7th where they were.

When Seele heard that Stelle and March 7th were hunting down Stellar Jades, a sense of foreboding hit her instantly, and she bolted out the door to find Bronya.

Serval and Dan Heng watched Seele rush out like a whirlwind, slightly baffled by what she was up to.

After a moment of thought, the two of them decided to continue their discussion regarding mechanical issues.

Over on Seele's side.

She rushed out of the machine house and sprinted all the way to the Supreme Guardian's office.

This place used to be Cocolia's domain, but it now belonged to Bronya.

The guards at the door naturally recognized Seele; as a friend of the new Supreme Guardian, they didn't stop her.

Arriving at the Supreme Guardian's office, Bronya was discussing the details of the succession ceremony with an official.

"This is bad! Something huge has happened, Bronya!"

Bronya looked at Seele and, seeing her expression, sensed that the situation was grave.

She excused the official first and asked,

"Seele, what's going on?"

Seele took a few heavy gasps for breath.

"Quick! Quickly take people to collect Stellar Jades."

Bronya was thoroughly confused. Why collect Stellar Jades? Weren't those things completely valueless?

Oh right, Stelle and the others seemed to be very fond of them.

Could Seele possibly want to gather some Stellar Jades as a gift of thanks for Stelle and the others?

If Stelle knew Bronya was thinking that, she would probably weep tears of joy, grab Bronya's hand, and award her a badge of honor as a good person.

"Seele, do you want to give them to Stelle and the others?"

Seele shook her head.

"No! Those are Stellar Jades!"

At the mention of this, Seele suddenly remembered that Bronya knew nothing about Ye Yun.

Seele hurriedly filled Bronya in on Ye Yun, and upon hearing it all, Bronya fell into deep thought. She needed a moment to process it; she had just absorbed way too much information at once.

Stellar Jades could be exchanged for Credits, and Credits could be used to buy literally any supplies you wanted from Ye Yun.

No wonder when Ye Yun saved her mother yesterday, he told her to pay with 100 Stellar Jades. So that was why.

Once Bronya had straightened out the matter of the Stellar Jades, she suddenly recalled what Seele had just rushed over to report, and she froze on the spot.

"Oh no! The Stellar Jades! Guards! Assemble the troops!"

Bronya hastily mustered her forces and set out to collect Stellar Jades.

...........

Inside Ye Yun's shop.

Ye Yun and Zhongli were drinking tea.

In the booth to his right, Welt had set up a chalkboard and was explaining concepts to Clara, who was taking notes furiously with a pen, studying with utmost diligence.

Clara now came to the Astral Express every morning to study and returned in the evening.

In the booth to his left, Paimon, Amber, and Lumine were feasting like there was no tomorrow. Lumine had been utterly exhausted today.

Today, Lumine had followed Kaeya, Lisa, and the others to clear out the Four Winds' Temples, temporarily resolving Mondstadt's crisis.

By the time she finished and returned to the city, it was already nighttime. Amber, Lumine, and Paimon were all starving, so the three of them came over to Ye Yun's place together to forage for food.

Lumine had earned another 200 Primogems today, making her feel quite wealthy, so she directly treated everyone to a meal.

Lumine spent 100 Credits to buy a deluxe seafood set meal, placing it on the table as the three of them tore into it like mad.

Paimon was holding a small hammer, specially used for cracking open things like shells and crab shells.

There was no help for it; her strength was too low to crack them barehanded, so she had to use the hammer.