Upon hearing Sedna's rather serious tone, Paimon was first stunned, momentarily not reacting.
She had originally thought Sedna was going to give her some particularly serious task, but...
It's just acting as a security guard to temporarily maintain order?!
Paimon sighed slightly as she watched Sedna patiently guiding the Fontaine citizens at the main entrance of Palais Mermonia.
It wasn't that she was disappointed with the content of the commission, but rather... she found the work quite boring.
She looked at Lumine next to her, a little dejectedly, and whispered:
"Lumine, do you think... we'll still get a commission fee?"
In response, Lumine shrugged helplessly, indicating that she didn't know.
Under normal circumstances... the kind of work they were currently undertaking was similar to that of a helpful citizen on the street, basically receiving no remuneration.
—Even if they did, the price wouldn't be very high.
But if they thought about it positively, most of the commissions in Fontaine recently had been handled by them.
Wasting a little time to improve Yuto's favorability was acceptable.
Just then, Paimon seemed to suddenly remember something and whispered to Lumine beside her:
"Lumine, do you remember when we helped Uncle Tian and Yelan screen for the successor to the 'Heavenly Pivot Star'?
Hearing this, Lumine was first stunned, then nodded.
Zhi Yi, who had received Uncle Tian's favor and guidance and was destined to personally ascend to the position of Heavenly Pivot Star with Uncle Tian's support someday, was still fresh in her memory.
Although she had seen many betrayals, this was the first time she had seen someone as absurd as Zhi Yi.
He clearly knew the Fatui were untrustworthy, yet he insisted on cooperating with them; the words 'low intelligence' were practically written on his face.
However...
What does this have to do with the current situation?
Could it be that Paimon wanted to volunteer to take on a part of this matter to help Yuto reduce some pressure? And thus increase their reward?
Thinking of this, Lumine frowned slightly; she always felt that this matter was not quite right.
—After all, you chose to help voluntarily, how could you demand payment for it?
Paimon seemed to have seen through Lumine's thoughts and quickly explained:
"Oh, it's not what you think! I was thinking... should we take this opportunity to fulfill our promise?"
"After all, Yuto has been very good to us, and if we don't do something to help him... I, I'll feel a bit uncomfortable..."
Paimon lowered her head slightly, seemingly still bothered by the previous matter.
Lumine took a deep look at Paimon in front of her, then nodded and said:
"Alright, I agree with your idea, but how exactly should we do it?"
"Just like last time~"
Paimon said as she floated towards the Sumeru-dressed scholar at the very end of the line, while Lumine shrugged helplessly and followed.
...
"Hello~ Are you also here to apply for the new clerical position at Palais Mermonia?"
Paimon asked the bespectacled Sumeru scholar in front of her.
The young man was clearly stunned, then nodded gently without speaking.
"Then... did you come because the monthly salary is very high?"
Hearing this, the refined young man frowned slightly, seemingly displeased with Paimon's speculation about him, but still shook his head.
"I came because I admire Mr. Yuto, so I wanted to apply."
The young man said, looking up slightly at the second floor of Palais Mermonia, his eyes full of admiration.
Now it was Paimon's turn to be stunned.
In her impression, Sumeru scholars were basically only Sumerians; it was rare to see scholars from other countries.
Even if there were, those scholars from other countries would stay in Sumeru for various reasons.
After all, Sumeru is indeed the most suitable place for research in all of Teyvat.
And these academics were happy to stay in Sumeru, which led to few Akademiya students from other countries being seen outside of Sumeru.
"Uh... but aren't you a Sumeru Akademiya student? Why do you 'admire Yuto'? Are you from Fontaine?"
Paimon asked, somewhat surprised.
The young man nodded gently, then said:
"I am from Fontaine. After graduating from school, I entered the'Spantamad' to study. Because I know Mr. Yuto's work is very hard, I wanted to help him share the burden."
"My Father used to be a civil servant in the Momang Hall. He knew where the benefit of being able to leave work on time every day, without needing to work overtime all year round, came from."
"So he told me from a young age to be a useful person to Fontaine, to reduce Mr. Yuto's burden."
"After all... Mr. Yuto is the true guardian deity of us common folk..."
After saying this, the young man nodded to the two as if in greeting, then lowered his head to look at his resume, muttering to himself, as if preparing for the upcoming interview.
Seeing this, Lumine and Paimon could only go and ask others, to get some information about Yuto from their mouths, and to ask them why they came.
"Just handling clerical work can earn a salary of over 100,000 mora a month. I can't imagine how much I could earn if it were busier!"
"Who works if not for the salary? The department led by Lord Yuto... how could it possibly default on payments?"
"Lord Yuto has taken on so much work for us, and now... he needs us, Fontaine needs us, and of course, we are duty-bound."
"If Mr. Yuto hadn't punished those old nobles who deserved to be hung from lampposts, I probably wouldn't even be able to go to school..."
Upon hearing this answer, Paimon, who had originally wanted to ask more people, suddenly froze.
This was the most unique answer she had ever heard, and also the most profound.
Looking at the pale-faced man in red in front of her, Paimon was stunned for a long while before she finally asked:
"Why do you say that? Is there some hidden story behind it?"
Hearing this, the man first looked up and down at the two in front of him, then said:
"It's normal that you, having just arrived in Fontaine not long ago, haven't heard of the stories passed down from over a hundred years ago."
"I see you've asked many people already, so you should know about Mr. Yuto's amendment of the labor law, right?"
"Of course, I heard that basically all residents of Fontaine benefited from it~"
The man chuckled and shook his head upon hearing this, then said:
"But... Mr. Yuto was almost killed for amending the law..."
"That wasn't just about touching the money bags of those old nobles, it was also about 'polluting' the knowledge resources of those self-righteous old nobles..."
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