Xingtie, started with a guitar, and made a living by singing

After a light laugh, Wendy casually extended her hand, ready to high-five her.

This ritualistic behavior was somewhat new to Xier. She had originally thought that only people in the lower class would use such a simple gesture to express "welcome aboard".

I didn't expect Wendy to be so receptive to advice, but when I think about his personality, it doesn't seem surprising.

Thinking of this, Xier's eyes showed a hint of closeness and recognition.

After fighting back like a boy, she carried her sickle and prepared to go back without looking back, as she had to go on patrol later.

As for the movements, they were naturally the cool poses she learned from comics, which were just right for this kind of farewell occasion where they would inevitably meet again.

Of course, Wendy did not ruin the idea of ​​this girl who looked cool but was cute inside, but just waved her hand and shouted.

"——Let's work together to let the wind blow through this stagnant season!"

"...You're being long-winded. We are the Underworld Fire! We are the Underworld Fire that will burn the injustice brought to the upper regions and the monsters that have ripped the world apart to ash!"

After following up with a refusal to admit defeat, Xier started walking again.

Wendy just watched her leave with a smile, but before she took two steps, she found that she turned back quietly and their eyes met.

This made her ears burn red all of a sudden. She seemed to be in a panic, or as if she was in a hurry to do something, and she ran away in a flash.

Wendy sighed, "She's such a tsundere, lovely girl, just like Tevarin."

However, it is naturally impossible for a brave hero to have only one partner.

It's time to look for another candidate.

……

Rivet Town.

This place used to be home to many people from the lower districts, but after the Silver Mane Iron Guards were transferred away, the remaining townspeople were unable to stop the invasion of the Rift Monsters and had to abandon their homes and flee for their lives.

Nowadays, the only people who come here are gold diggers who are not afraid of death.

Their goal was to get the supplies that they had not been able to take away in time and the automated robots that were left behind.

Although most of these mechas were torn apart by the monsters that split the world, there were still some parts inside them that could be used for operation.

If you can dig out a complete logical language center, you will make a fortune. This thing is one of the important components of the automatic robots in the lower area.

Therefore, whether it is looking for supplies that people did not have time to take away, or scavenging and picking up some robot parts, it is enough to attract some wanderers, or gold diggers to take risks.

The "brave partner" that Wendy is looking for also plays an important role in the gold digger family.

He took his time, noting down the changes in the surrounding energy activity and updating the correct scavenging route map while searching for the ghost gold digger known as the "Scarlet Rabbit".

The purpose of updating the map is mainly to help Natasha and other members of the Earth Fire. After all, there is no peaceful day in the lower area. Whether it is resisting the monsters of the Rift Realm or conflicting with the plunderers, there will be casualties.

Therefore, they were extremely short of medical supplies and occasionally had to go deep into Rivet Town to see if they could find some supplies to take back.

This map was created for this purpose and can greatly reduce the loss of personnel in the underground fire.

After roughly walking around the outskirts of Rivet Town, Wendy was ready to enter. From here on, the number of rift monsters would increase significantly and become more dangerous.

Compared to the outskirts which had been basically turned upside down by scavengers, the town was still filled with supplies of varying amounts in various places due to the erosion of the rift and the hasty evacuation of people.

This is also because the blockade order was just implemented, in order to avoid suspicion and to win over the hearts of the people.

The supplies allocated to Rivet Town by the upper district were very sufficient, otherwise some supplies would not still be found in some corners ten years later.

The most perishable foods were basically moved out in the first three years, and most of the people who came here later were storable resources for medical or mechanical purposes.

Similarly, this also means that the probability of him encountering the "Scarlet Rabbit" is greatly increased.

More importantly, even if he is unlucky, he can still rely on the ubiquitous winds to hear some "special sounds".

Relying on this ability to locate the location by sound, he not only successfully avoided possible monsters, but also discovered the ghost gold digger in front of a broken robot in an alley.

She has long hair like snow, and she is wearing a warm and fashionable red winter outfit. Her skin is as delicate and smooth as white porcelain. The most eye-catching thing is her pair of slender bare feet stepping on the ground.

Although she was not wearing any boots and was walking barefoot on the cold tiles, she felt nothing, as if the cold had no connection with her.

Not only that, compared with the unclean demeanor of most scavengers, she was not stained with a speck of dust, just like an elf in the first snow.

She keenly heard Wendy's deliberate footsteps, and her small body quickly hid behind the cover like a snow rabbit, and a red light flashed under her hood.

Not all scavengers are kind to their fellow scavengers, and not all footsteps are made by "humans."

When you are in danger, you must be vigilant, otherwise you will lose your life in vain. This is the cruel rule of survival that the girl understood early on.

After observing through the gap that the person coming was Wendy, she relaxed her guard a little, took off her hood, and revealed her ruby-like eyes, which were full of contradictions, a little bit of helplessness and a desire for closeness.

"Well, good morning, or good evening, little Clara."

The lower levels lack sunlight, and people spend their days buried in the mines, enduring noise and crystalline dust. People have a weak sense of time and often have no mood to say hello.

After all, she is not sure whether she will be alive tomorrow, so she doesn’t have much time to care about these red tapes, but for this introverted and gentle girl.

Such a warm and family-like conversation made her very much look forward to and feel satisfied.

"...Hello, Sister Wendy..."

It was visibly that Clara's mood had improved a lot, and her body came out from behind the cover, but she was still in a shy state.

Wendy likes her so pure and lovely appearance, and it doesn’t matter whether she has overlooked a more important title!

As long as his friends are happy, that's all that matters.

"Well, are you done with your work for the day? I have something I want to talk to little Clara."

Wendy said this very frankly.

For Clara, if you use too euphemistic words, she may easily misunderstand it as something else.

For example, last time he asked if he would be lucky enough to invite her to listen to a song from the sky.

As a result, the introverted girl wanted to agree, but she felt that she was shouldering the burden of many people, and she struggled for a long time about how to "go to heaven to listen to the song."

If Wendy hadn't taken the initiative to explain to her, she might still be figuring out how to make a jet pack.

Therefore, the best way to chat with Clara is to be sincere and enthusiastic.

And, most importantly - be patient with your family.

Chapter 6 I Have Seen This Sister Before

"Sister Wendy, do you need to exchange some parts for some wine? Clara already has enough parts to find today, so if you don't mind..."

Clara took out the small backpack she carried with her, which was full of the fruits of her work today, but Wendy felt unworthy of this kindness.

Perhaps this awkward silence was misunderstood as embarrassment, and the sensible and well-behaved Clara quickly spoke up.

"Ah, Clara, I don't mean to look down on Sister Wendy! When you came to the settlement to play songs before, everyone was very happy to listen to you, so just consider it as a reward or something!"

Because resources are generally limited, people in the lower classes are more aware of the warmth and coldness of human nature. For example, in mechanical settlements composed mainly of gold diggers, this kind of interpersonal exchange of goods as compensation is very popular.

Of course, this was not a reason for Wendy to accept Clara's gift for free. He shook his head and declined politely.

"No, no, how can Yixing accept payment? I wanted to do this, so I went to the mechanical settlement to perform for everyone."

It’s just that the petite gold digger girl has a very stubborn personality.

When she stared at him with her ruby ​​eyes like a snow rabbit and said nothing, Wendy had no choice but to surrender.

"Anyway, little Clara. Why don't we talk on our way back? After all, this isn't a good place for a long conversation."

"Well...Clara listens to Sister Wendy."

In this way, the two returned along the same route and left the area where Rivet Town was located.

On the way back, the topic came up again.

Clara insisted on giving Wendy the smaller and more cost-effective parts, but Wendy just randomly picked a nearly scrapped mechanical bird to end the job.

This made Clara a little depressed, and she felt that she could not help Wendy.

"So, don't be so sad. Even though it looks broken, it can still be used after a simple repair.

What's more, the mechanical bird has a story about the sky and freedom, so it's the perfect exchange."

Wendy rubbed the girl's head. Her snow-white long hair was very soft and smooth, like the finest silk.

While being caressed, she showed a satisfied expression like a little animal, although she soon became shy again, staring at her feet and murmuring in an almost inaudible voice.

"...Wendy-san is so considerate. It's like she treats Clara like family..."

"Hey~ In that case, I wouldn't mind having such a sensible sister, yo?"

Although Wendy considers himself a good man like the wind (doubtful), he will not be too attached to a flower or a blade of grass, but will sing about all the beautiful, ordinary and memorable things.

But for such a cute sister character, it is only natural to unconsciously meet all her needs, right?

"Well--!"

Clara, who was pure-minded, obviously listened carefully and became closer to Wendy. Her little face was flushed with excitement.

She envied, or rather admired, people like Sister Wendy.

Not only can you travel to many places and make many friends, but most importantly, when listening to her poetry, everyone's hearts are connected together, becoming a true family.

This is the power of music, and it is also the power that only Sister Wendy possesses.

Although there were people who could sing in the mechanical settlement, the overly passionate rap was difficult for an introverted and shy girl like Clara to understand.

However, Clara will also try to like the things that everyone likes.

But Clara's admiration for Sister Wendy, whom she truly likes and who can calm everyone's tense spirits, is the same as that for Mr. Swarlow.

Not to mention being acknowledged as "family" by his own mouth now.

As long as Sister Wendy needs her in any way, Clara will definitely try her best to help!

"Well, Sister Wendy had something to say to Clara before, right?"

She mustered up the courage to ask proactively, satisfaction and a sense of mission surging in her small chest.

"Well, specifically speaking, this matter may still require the approval of Boss Swarovski."

Wendy touched her smooth chin.

"Eh? Sister Wendy isn't going to steal the medicinal alcohol from the settlement, is she?"

Clara's words were shocking, and there was even a hint of worry in her eyes.

"Mr. Swarlow wouldn't agree to that, and he also said that drinking like that would cause serious harm to the body."

"Uh... although it's not about this, but do I really stereotype Clara so deeply?"

Although Wendy believed that he really liked drinking more than before, he could not drink the good wine of Beloberg very often. The low-quality wine that was seriously diluted with water had a very bad taste and texture, which was completely incomparable to the fruit wine in his memory.

Therefore, compared to the days of "Barbatos" who came home drunk every day in Mondstadt.

He was much more restrained here, to the point where people he knew would exclaim, "If you're not a street singer, then who are you?" when they saw him.

So, logically speaking, he shouldn't be mistaken for a drunken bard by little Clara...right?

"But the last time Sister Wendy performed at the settlement, she would either sing or guzzle drinks, and then—'Flowers, Birds, Wind, and Moon' or something like that."

When talking about this embarrassing incident, both Wendy and Clara blushed.

Of course, don't get me wrong. This isn't some kind of open-air party. Given the temperature in Beloberg, that would probably freeze the lychees first.

The flowers, birds, wind and moon that Clara talked about were actually closer to the flowers, birds, wind and moon performed by the goddess named Aqua in Wendy's memory.

Although it is not as good as the human fountain effect performed by the woman made of water, it is still very effective for people in the lower class who have not seen much of the world and are seriously lacking in spiritual entertainment.

Truly – breathtaking.

Therefore, it might not be surprising that Clara misunderstood that he wanted to steal some wine to drink, so that he could release himself more easily and play the piano better?

"Cough cough." Wendy coughed a few times pretending to be serious and was thinking about how to lie.

He caught a glimpse of Clara's concerned and worried eyes, and then said helplessly: "Okay, I promise I won't do this again next time."

This made the girl lower her head in embarrassment, her white and tender fingertips intertwined with each other, and her voice was soft.

"...You don't have to promise Clara. Mr. Swarlow just said Sister Wendy shouldn't drink too much."

After all, the temperature in Beloberg is extremely low all year round, and alcohol is a good way for wanderers to warm up when they go out.