After discussing the details of their plan with Diluc at the tavern, Nolan, Lumine, and Paimon made their way to the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
Even though it was late at night, the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius was still at work. From outside, they could see the light still emanating from her office.
The shadow of someone sitting in a chair, constantly signing documents, was cast upon the window. They could clearly see the slight swaying of the single ponytail.
Nolan pushed open the still-unlocked main door of the hall and lightly knocked on the door to the Acting Grand Master's office.
"Please come in," came the voice of the Acting Grand Master from inside the office after a moment of silence.
With a click, the doorknob twisted and the wooden door was pushed open.
"Oh, it's you. What brings you here at this late hour?" The Acting Grand Master Jean, with her golden ponytail, raised her hands to the back of her head to adjust her hair. Her snow-white skin was generously illuminated by the candlelight.
"Hehe, good evening, Grand Master. Sorry to bother you at this hour," Paimon politely greeted as they entered the office, then explained, "We have some information regarding the Tears of the Dragon."
Jean, having finished arranging her hair, leaned against the desk and slightly shook her head as she spoke, "Have you already found their whereabouts?"
"Yes, Master Diluc is truly amazing. In just one day, he managed to track the movements of the Stormterror and roughly deduced the possible locations where the red crystals might exist," Paimon nodded heavily, smiling.
"Well, since there are quite a few locations, to save time, we've come to ask for assistance," Lumine, standing with her legs slightly apart in white over-the-knee boots, continued from where Paimon left off.
"It would be best to invite Captain Kaeya and the others. Once the Holy Lyre is repaired, we should be able to summon the Stormterror. Then, let Lumine try to purify the poisonous blood within it. During this time, we may face disruptions from the Abyss Order, or even conflict with the Stormterror," Nolan informed the Acting Grand Master of the detailed plan they had discussed at the tavern.
"I see, I understand."
Jean leaned slightly forward, her hands supporting her chest, her fair jaw slightly nodding as she continued, "However, the Knights cannot be left without leadership. Kaeya and Amber are out of the question. Tomorrow morning, I will bring Lisa and join you in the operation."
Nolan nodded in agreement. With the addition of the Acting Grand Master, Jean and Lisa, even with the absence of Kaeya and Amber, and with Venti, dealing with the Stormterror shouldn't be a major issue.
At six o'clock in the morning, the "Angel's Share" Tavern.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, and usually, few people would come to drink at this time, but surprisingly, it was quite lively today.
"Although Master Diluc's information network has identified the general area, to accurately locate the 'Tears of the Dragon,' we need someone who can sense them. Can any of you do it?" Venti asked, rubbing his chin, addressing the group.
"For me, observing the flow of general elemental energy is quite simple, but it's difficult to sense the concentrated wind elemental crystals unless they're relatively close," Lisa, clad in purple robes and wearing a pointed witch's hat, replied.
She seemed a bit listless, yawning and covering her mouth with her hand, revealing a tired look from lack of sleep.
"Hehe, Traveler has Elemental Sight, so she should be able to do it," Paimon floated next to Lumine, hands behind her back, smiling.
"I think... I should be able to do it too," Nolan revealed his golden Eye of Judgement ability. Many people had seen this ability before, so there was nothing to hide.
"In that case, we can split into two teams to search at the same time," Jean said, one hand crossed over her chest, the other supporting her fair chin.
But they were still one person short. It seemed they would have to choose two from among them for now.
"You should be able to do it too," Diluc looked at the boy in green.
In fact, Venti's true identity wasn't hard to guess. After all, knowing the secrets about the Stormterror, and claiming to be able to summon it with the sounds of the Holy Lyre, how could such an individual be an ordinary poet?
The only one who could connect all these things was the Anemo Archon, Barbatos.
"Oh, looks like you've figured it out. Since that's the case, I can't hide it anymore. Actually, I am the one and only Barbatos that you've been thinking of. How about that, surprised and unexpected, right?" Venti's face showed some surprise, then he arrogantly lifted his chin, hands on his hips.
"..."
Diluc's eye twitched. He must have guessed wrong. How could such an awkward fellow be the Anemo Archon?
"Wow, it really is unexpected~"
Lisa, who wasn't very familiar with Venti, truly hadn't noticed. Jean had suspected before, but hadn't come to a conclusion yet.
"Although he's the Anemo Archon, he seems like a friendly guy. Let's just treat him normally," Paimon joked, worried that everyone might feel awkward after learning Venti's identity, "Master Diluc, you mustn't let him off the hook for the drinks just because he's a god!"
"Oh, little Paimon, how could you think that of me?" Venti looked genuinely hurt.
"Of course not," Diluc said calmly.
Regardless.
Venti revealing his identity didn't change the fact that he was just an awkward poet.
But the Anemo Archon should be able to sense the location of the Anemo Crystal, so the last "Stormterror's Tears" can be left to him to find.
To prevent falling into an ambush by the Abyss Order, everyone paired up as they did when they went to the temple last time.
Lisa and Nolan had teamed up before, so they volunteered to team up again. Jean followed Lumine and Paimon, while Master Diluc and Venti formed another team.
They finally agreed that after finding the "Stormterror's Tears," they would rendezvous at the Starsnatch Cliff.
"Miss Lisa, can't we use spatial teleportation like we did last time?" They had been walking for a while now, and Nolan asked the lazy lady next to him with a hint of confusion.
"Oh, little adventurer, using spatial teleportation magic requires knowing the specific coordinates, otherwise, you might end up randomly teleporting and sending yourself straight into the Abyss," Lisa, swinging her legs wrapped in lace stockings, gently pursed her soft lips and said.
"Oh, is that so?" Nolan's face showed some surprise.
Then, as if he had remembered something, he took out another Delusion from the Pyro Elemental Delusion he wore.
This was the Electro Elemental Delusion taken from the Electro Cicin Mage.
"Miss Lisa, can you please help me modify this one too? With two elemental delusion, can I use two types of elements at once?"
Nolan asked with some anticipation. Could it be that he could trigger reactions on his own in the future?
He himself doubted whether such a thing could really be done so easily.
"Well, little adventurer, your idea is not bad, but..."
Lisa's face showed a pensive expression, then she flicked the chestnut-colored ends of her hair by her ear and, with her fair ears revealed from behind the strands of hair, looked ahead and said:
"Oh, this is the tribe of the hilichurl of the Black Sun Clan. Let's get hold of the 'Stormterror's Tears' from this location first, and then I'll tell you more details."
(End of chapter)
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