Mondstadt City, Favonius Cathedral.
Venti smiled and said to the nun, Sister Gotelinde, "You should know these two heroes who repelled Stormterror, right? They now have a method to prevent Stormterror from attacking Mondstadt, and it involves using the Holy Lyre der Himmel..."
"It's impossible. Please leave,"
Sister Gotelinde outright rejected the poet's still unfinished request before continuing:
"As a treasure once used by Lord Barbatos himself, lending it out requires a document signed by the acting Grand Master, the Cardinal, and representatives of the people. Do you have that with you?"
"Uh..." Venti certainly didn't have those things. All he could do was try to soften the nun's heart with his smile. "Big sis~"
Seeing Venti's pleading expression, Gotelinde's tone softened slightly, but she still refused, saying, "This is a rule that everyone must abide by. It's just not possible."
"Ah, even the two Mondstadt heroes are not trusted?" Venti didn't give up. This time, he brought up Nolan and Lumine, saying, "Without the Holy Lyre der Himmel, Mondstadt will still be attacked by Stormterror. What should we do then?"
"Of course, I never doubted your intentions. The attack by Stormterror last time caught the Knights off guard. As long as the acting Grand Master is prepared, it won't be able to leave Mondstadt at all. So forget about the Holy Lyre der Himmel," the young woman in nun's attire said, holding her arms and shaking her head.
As expected, no agreement was reached... Nolan watched the situation unfold in front of him, similar to the game's plot, and it wasn't surprising.
After all, borrowing such a precious item as the Holy Lyre der Himmel required the consent of several authorities. His appearance wouldn't change much, and he hadn't done anything.
"Alas~ if that's the case, there's no other way." Venti sighed, then straightened his posture, lifted his chin, and put on a relaxed expression. "It seems I can't hide it anymore. Actually... I am Barbatos. There shouldn't be any problem with the Anemo Archon using his own belongings, right?"
Venti thought he would receive adoring gazes from the faithful when he revealed his identity, but the turn of events was unexpected.
"Um... Little poet, if there's nothing else, I'll go now." The nun glanced at him expressionlessly and walked away.
"..."
Nolan watched, speechless. Even though you're really Barbatos, what's the use of saying it? Who would believe it? You need to use your divine power to make people believe.
"She's gone," Paimon shrugged in mid-air.
"In fact, our goal has been achieved. At least she didn't deny that the Holy Lyre der Himmel is really here," Venti said helplessly, lowering his hands. It was pitiful. He didn't expect that after so many years, the devout believers would turn away from him, the Anemo Archon.
"Just now you said that you are Barbatos?"
Lumine's amber eyes stared at him, asking. The sunlight, shining through the stained glass windows of the cathedral, gently touched her chest, illuminating the shadow between her dress and her fair skin.
She had always found it a little odd that a bard knew so much about the Anemo Archon and the hidden secrets between his attendant, and if he was Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, it would make sense.
"Now that I look closely, Venti, you do resemble the statue of the Anemo Archon in the square," Nolan also exclaimed in surprise, staring at him. After all, he couldn't show an expression of "I already knew, it's no big deal."
"No wonder you're so concerned about Dvalin's matters!" Paimon rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Hehe!" Venti blinked playfully with one eye and smiled, "If anyone knew I was the Anemo Archon, it would be enough to walk down the street and deal with the curious citizens, it wouldn't be as easy as it is now."
"Seems a bit reasonable." Nolan nodded and said.
"Hehe, right?" Venti, dressed in green, pondered for a moment and looked at Lumine. "I understand what you want to talk to me about. Let's wait until we've dealt with Mondstadt's crisis before we have a proper chat."
"Mm, sounds good."
Lumine had previously expressed her desire to meet the Anemo Archon when she had asked about him in the large tree near the Windrise Mountain.
"That's great! I didn't expect to find the Anemo Archon so easily!" Paimon exclaimed happily, flipping in mid-air. Her golden crown almost fell off her head, but she caught it with her hand and placed it back, saying, "So, next, we need to get the Holy Lyre der Himmel. But even the face of the Anemo Archon, Barbatos, didn't work. What should we do next?"
"I anticipated this beforehand, so the official methods won't work. We'll have to resort to trickery!" Venti led the group out of the Favonius Cathedral and explained as they walked.
"I don't want to steal." Lumine naturally understood what Venti meant by "trickery."
"Yeah, if we get caught, we'll definitely be punished by the Knights. We just became honorary knights, and now we'll be branded as thieves. I refuse!" Paimon said firmly.
Venti tried to persuade them, then sighed slightly and said, "Don't think like that. With your skills, how could you fail? And even if you do, with your contributions to Mondstadt, as long as you explain properly, you should be able to get away with it. If it were me, I wouldn't even be able to explain."
"You're the Anemo Archon, aren't you? Isn't it easy for you to take something?" Nolan asked with a puzzled expression.
"Don't think of Archons as so powerful. What if we're still caught? Then I, as a Archon, will have no face left. I'm just the most truly weak of the Seven Archons,"
Venti spread his hands, his face still smiling, not feeling any frustration or anything like that when he said he was weak.
This level of audacity! He actually said he wanted face, no shame! Don't we want face? Besides who believes that you are the weakest one, really!
Nolan pondered for a moment, carefully choosing his words, and said, "Actually, regarding the 'trickery' to obtain the Holy Lyre der Himmel, I have my own thoughts."
"Oh?" Lumine, Paimon, and Venti all looked at him with puzzled expressions.
"Earlier, wasn't the Grand Master Jean being embarrassed by those Envoys from the Snezhnaya, who also seem to have some kind of agenda against the Storm Dragon, so I was thinking, what if we could pin the theft of the Holy Lyre der Himmel on them?
"If the plan succeeds, the Knights will regain their dominance in diplomacy. With the Fatui causing trouble in Mondstadt and the Abyss Order coveting Stormterror, the situation would improve significantly in an instant."
Nolan spoke out his thoughts, after all, stealing the Holy Lyre der Himmel whether or not they were caught red-handed, that the harp was missing would still be discovered.
And the fact that they had approached that nun to ask about borrowing the harp would easily be taken as the first object of suspicion.
After all, they did have the capability to pull off such a scheme. Rather than making themselves suspicious, it was better to expose the enemy in plain sight. The trouble caused by the Fatui in the game's plot was not insignificant.
So, making them scapegoats wouldn't be a problem at all.
(End of Chapter)
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