A little after seven in the morning, Jiang Bai arrived at Angel's Share, with Klee by his side, full of energy.
Last night, Venti, Aether, and Paimon had slept in the tavern's staff break room. It wasn't exactly spacious, but it worked.
"There you are! Did you bring me breakfast?" Venti greeted Jiang Bai cheerfully.
Seeing three pairs of eager eyes staring at him, Jiang Bai couldn't help but feel like he was visiting prisoners.
"I did." He placed the breakfast he'd brought onto the table.
Paimon dove into the fluffy pancakes, instantly forgetting all about being wanted criminals now that she had something tasty to eat.
On Diluc's orders, the tavern hadn't opened for business yet, so only their small group was inside.
Klee swung her legs from her chair, watching Paimon eat.
Paimon noticed Klee staring at her, glanced at the food in her hands, and with a pained look, broke off a tiny piece, squeezed her eyes shut, and handed it over—as if this might lessen the pain of sharing.
"Here! Eat!"
Klee shook her head. "Klee's not hungry, Klee already had breakfast!"
"Then why are you staring at me?" Paimon was confused.
"Because little Paimon looks so cute when she eats!"
Caught off guard by the compliment, Paimon blushed, and her eating became noticeably more delicate.
After breakfast, Diluc and Jean appeared in the tavern.
"You're here!" Venti waved at them.
Paimon blinked in surprise at Jean. "Oh, Captain Jean's here too!"
Diluc crossed his arms. "First, I didn't just contact one person. Second, she's just Jean today—not here as Captain."
Seeing Jean, Klee quietly ducked behind Jiang Bai and covered her eyes, as if that could block Jean's gaze.
But Jean's sharp eyes spotted her immediately. "Klee, what are you doing here?"
Klee froze at being called out and shuffled out from behind Jiang Bai, embarrassed.
"Klee's here to help."
Jean pressed a hand to her forehead. She really wished someone would just keep an eye on Klee.
Normally, her mischief wasn't such a big deal, but bringing a child along for something this serious—how did that make any sense?
Noticing Jean's frustration, Klee hurriedly said, "Klee hasn't made any trouble! I've been really good and helping! You can ask them if you don't believe me!"
She looked pleadingly at the group, big eyes brimming with hope.
Confronted with that level of cuteness, Aether caved first. "Klee hasn't made any trouble. She's been very well-behaved."
Since Klee came with him, Jiang Bai certainly wasn't about to turn her away. "I'll make sure Klee stays safe."
Venti chimed in as well, "Who knows? Maybe Klee will be unexpectedly useful!"
With everyone saying as much, what could Jean do?
She could only remind Klee, "Just stick close to Jiang Bai, alright? No running off, okay?"
Klee nodded so fast she looked like a little woodpecker. "Mm-hmm! Klee will be good!"
"Alright, let's talk about the plan." Diluc spoke up. "We already have a pretty good idea where the Holy Lyre is."
Jean nodded and continued, "The conflict between Mondstadt and Snezhnaya is really a struggle between the Seven Nations and the Seven Archons. The Fatui, under the Tsaritsa, have their eyes set on the power left behind by our Anemo Archon."
They'd exchanged information before coming.
Jean went on, "The reason they stole the Holy Lyre is simple—it's the only way they can currently get their hands on the Anemo Archon's power."
Jiang Bai glanced at Venti, who was propping his chin on his hand, lost in thought.
After a few brief explanations, Diluc said, "I've squeezed a bit of information out of some Fatui agents left behind in the city. They're hiding the Lyre in an abandoned cave outside town. Let's move."
The group set off toward the cave Diluc mentioned.
On the way, Venti spoke, half as a warning, half as a guess. "Just now, Jean said the Fatui's goal is to obtain Dvalin's power for the Tsaritsa. But maybe we're underestimating them. Their real aim might be to use the connection to the wind to track down Barbatos himself."
Jiang Bai looked at him—Is that why he doesn't just reveal himself and insists on all these roundabout plans to get the Holy Lyre?
Is he afraid of the Fatui?
But even this kind of roundabout method—if the Fatui wanted, wouldn't they still guess he was Barbatos? The wanted posters had already gone up all over Mondstadt.
Jiang Bai really couldn't figure out what he was thinking.
"So how are they supposed to find him?" Paimon asked.
Venti explained, "Probably the same way Lisa tracked the source of the wind currents and found the three temples before."
Jean gave him a look—only a handful of people knew about Lisa tracing the wind currents back then. Who had told him, or…?
Diluc glanced over as well, eyes narrowing. "The Anemo Archon left Mondstadt a thousand years ago. What makes you think their aim is to find him personally?"
"Ehe~" Venti deflected with his usual non-answer.
"What does ehe mean?" Klee asked innocently.
She'd already heard this "anemo god big brother" say it a few times.
"It means you don't want to answer and are brushing off the question," Jiang Bai explained.
Klee looked even more confused. "What does brushing off mean?"
"Uh…" Jiang Bai thought for a moment. "Like, if someone asks you a question you really don't want to answer—like, who do you love more, Mom or Dad—you can just say, 'Ehe!'"
"Ohhh," Klee nodded, enlightened.
Venti could only give a sheepish laugh. That was a little too direct…
When they arrived at the cave, Diluc pulled out several masks. "Put these on."
"Masks?" Jiang Bai took two of them—just regular masks.
"The Fatui might be Mondstadt's 'allies,' but nobody here actually likes them. We're about to cause them trouble, so there's no need to invite more than necessary."
Jiang Bai looked at Klee, whose size was a dead giveaway. He fished out a long black hood from his storage space, put Klee on his shoulders, pulled the hood up, tightened the drawstring, and added a mask. Aside from the eye-catching height, her identity was perfectly disguised.
Paimon eyed Klee, now thoroughly disguised and sitting on Jiang Bai's shoulder, then glanced over at Aether.
She wanted to know what it felt like to ride on Aether's shoulders, too.
Aether saw right through her and simply grabbed an old cloth, cut out two eye holes, and draped it over Paimon's head.
The rag floated midair, completely hiding her form—she looked exactly like a little ghost.
He figured, once they went in, he wouldn't even have to do anything. With Paimon floating in like that, the Fatui would be scared out of their wits.
Pointing at the cave, Aether—uncharacteristically playful—said, "Ghost Paimon, you're up! Go in and scout. We'll be right behind you!"
---
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