"So, in the end, this passing kind soul retrieved the Holy Lyre from the Fatui?" Lisa asked, looking at Chen Luo who was fiddling with his puppet.
"What exquisite puppetry." Suddenly, Lisa's eyes lit up.
Lisa could tell that although his technique was still somewhat immature, it has a strong foundation built by a master. The puppet they made, while simple, possessed a very unique divine charm.
Hmm, a peculiar divine charm that makes one want to smash the puppet to pieces.
As far-fetched as it sounds, this is actually a technique that could be applied to disposable taunt puppets.
Furthermore, judging by the item they were putting into the puppet—something that felt bone-chillingly dangerous even from several meters away—this puppet was likely a suicide bomber type.
Overall, this puppet wasn't highly refined in craftsmanship, but it was practical enough.
"Hey, A'Luo, stop fiddling with your puppet. Everyone's here now, come over quickly and discuss the matter of Dvalin's teardrops." Venti called out to Chen Luo.
"Oh." Chen Luo nodded and stored the puppet in his inventory.
"And this is... another traveler?" Jean asked upon seeing Chen Luo with his black eyes and black hair.
"Let me introduce: this is the Acting Grand Master of Mondstadt—Jean. And this is the Librarian of the Knights of Favonius, an excellent astrologist—Lisa." Diluc introduced the two women who had arrived to Chen Luo.
"Hello, both. I am a traveling student currently on a journey, a puppeteer named Chen Luo. I look forward to your guidance." Chen Luo introduced himself to everyone present.
"Eh, A'Luo, you're a puppeteer?" Venti sounded surprised.
"...If I weren't a puppeteer, then who carved those statues in the bar?" Chen Luo glared fiercely at Venti.
"Oh." Venti sat back down meekly.
Although, after they learned he was Barbatos, Venti felt Chen Luo should at least show him some respect and not keep plucking his wool so often.
But upon reflection, perhaps it was precisely because they knew he was the Anemo Archon that they plucked his wool so freely.
Venti truly had no way to deal with Chen Luo.
A god? Such beings aren't exactly common in the Midnight Bar, but other demons and monsters are very common.
"A bar?" Diluc paused.
Diluc was quite sensitive to that word.
"Oh, it's like this. You might not believe it, but even though I'm not an adult, I'm also a bar owner." Chen Luo said.
"A bar owner... inherited family business?"
"Not exactly. My parents are archaeologists." Chen Luo shook his head.
"Well, since everyone we were waiting for has arrived, would anyone be interested in visiting my bar?" Chen Luo asked with great interest.
In Chen Luo's view, everyone present was a potential quality customer.
"Um, that probably won't be necessary, right? Isn't the more important thing right now to discuss the Holy Lyre?" Jean declined tactfully.
They were already in a bar; going to your bar would mean who knows how much detour.
The key point is it wastes time.
Jean and the others could wait, but Dvalin was running out of time.
"Alright then." Chen Luo shrugged helplessly.
Such a good opportunity, wasted just like that.
How should I put it? Is this called mutual lack of pursuit?
"So, because the Anemo energy on the Holy Lyre has become extremely scarce, it can no longer exert its full power? Right. But come to think of it, anyone who still knows the Holy Lyre's little-known usage methods nowadays must be..." Lisa paused and gave Venti a meaningful look.
He was definitely no ordinary person, perhaps even...
But now wasn't the time to discuss that.
"Hehe... Well, something like that. According to the current situation, we still need three of Dvalin's teardrops to make the Anemo energy on the Holy Lyre overflow. Only then can the Holy Lyre perform at its best." Venti said.
"Hey, tone-deaf bard, I want to ask something. Since you need Anemo power, why not let Acting Grand Master Jean use her Vision to gather Anemo energy?" Paimon voiced a question that had been bothering her for two hours.
Why insist on specifically finding Dvalin's teardrops when it's all Anemo energy?
"That's, of course, because Dvalin, as the Dragon of the East, has purer, more abundant, and higher-grade Anemo energy concentrated in his teardrops. An ordinary Vision can indeed manipulate Anemo energy, but that kind of energy isn't concentrated enough and can't linger on the strings for long." Venti explained.
"Hmm, if the Holy Lyre needed Electro energy, I might be able to help a little. But unfortunately, I'm not skilled with Anemo energy." Lisa shook her head and said from the side.
"Searching for three of Dvalin's teardrops within the entire territory of Mondstadt is like finding a needle in a haystack. This reminds me of that competition with the Fatui back in the day. Never mind, let's not talk about that..." Once he started talking business, Diluc inevitably became a bit long-winded.
"But nothing in this world is absolute. It's not that no Vision holder can infuse the Holy Lyre's strings with Anemo energy. While ordinary Vision users indeed can't achieve it, we do have someone here who can." As Venti spoke, he turned his gaze towards Chen Luo.
"Huh? Why are you suddenly looking at me?" Chen Luo looked at Venti warily.
"That's because your Vision is truly, absurdly advanced. You are the Vision user with the strongest control over Anemo energy among all the Anemo Vision users I've ever seen." The Anemo Archon Barbatos gave Chen Luo his approval.
Chen Luo's Vision was just one step away from breaking through to the same level as a Gnosis; it was truly exceptionally outrageous.
"Oh, is that so?" Jean couldn't help but take another look at Chen Luo.
As a Vision holder, and one with an Anemo Vision of the same attribute as the Anemo Archon, Jean naturally desired more of the god's gaze.
Or rather, all Anemo Vision users in Mondstadt probably think this way.
And this is especially true for Jean, given her extreme piety towards the Anemo Archon.
"That really is a rare item." Lisa also expressed interest.
If it were just an ordinary bard saying such things, Lisa wouldn't pay much mind—after all, how many Vision users could an ordinary bard have seen? But if it's Venti saying it...
"Well, then, lend me the Holy Lyre for a moment." Chen Luo said to Venti, who was holding the Holy Lyre.
After taking the Holy Lyre handed over by Venti, Chen Luo removed his own Vision.
Chen Luo took off his Vision, tapped on its outer shell, and then placed the Vision onto the strings of the Holy Lyre.
Suddenly, wind appeared.
On the not-very-spacious second floor of the tavern, an endless, visible gentle breeze slowly gathered around the Vision as its center.
As the boundless breeze transformed into pure Anemo energy and channeled into the Holy Lyre under the Vision's guidance, the Holy Lyre began to emit a faint glow.
Everyone present felt the nearly tangible Anemo energy, visible even to ordinary people, and they were all somewhat astonished.
Well, except for Venti.
Among them, Jean and Lisa, who were the most sensitive to elemental energy, found it particularly miraculous.
"It's no good." The endlessly swirling breeze came to an abrupt halt as Chen Luo reattached his Vision to his necklace.
"Huh? What's wrong? Wasn't it going smoothly just now?" Venti asked.
"Right, it was smooth, and it can indeed charge the Holy Lyre, but it requires quite a long time—over three hours." Chen Luo explained.
"Three hours isn't entirely unacceptable. Compared to expending immense manpower and resources to search throughout Mondstadt, waiting three hours is indeed more efficient." From a purely efficiency standpoint, Jean offered her opinion.
"That may be true, but controlling the Vision to gather this level of Anemo energy is really mentally draining. And most crucially, I have to return to my bar to open shop in half an hour." Chen Luo said after checking the time on his talent panel.
"It's fine. Not opening for one day is manageable. I will compensate for all today's losses at your bar." Diluc said calmly.
Master Diluc, potentially a contender for Mondstadt's richest man, declared this with deep pockets.
"No! If A'Luo doesn't open, how will I survive!" Before Chen Luo could speak, Venti was the first to object.
Without Anemo Archon wine, I'll die!
"Is it really that exaggerated? Besides, didn't you already drink a lot at the bar earlier?" Diluc couldn't help but be somewhat moved.
"You don't understand. The kind of wine sold at A'Luo's bar is really, truly... no one from Mondstadt can refuse that glass of wine. Right, Eula?" To emphasize the truthfulness of his words, Venti pointed at Eula.
"Well... if you don't mind the name of that wine, then it is indeed a drink no one from Mondstadt can refuse." Eula hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"But, but isn't saving Dvalin more important right now?" Paimon raised an objection.
"That's also true..." Venti felt conflicted.
"Then how about this, A'Luo: you gather Anemo energy here first, and after you're done, open the bar and mix me a glass of Anemo Archon wine. How about that?" Venti tentatively suggested.
"...Right now, I feel like mixing you into a drink." Chen Luo said coldly.
Do you think I'm a donkey from the production team?
And how can you compensate for something like Primogem rewards?
"Sorry, I was wrong." Venti apologized promptly.
After drinking the Anemo Archon wine, Venti genuinely suspected Chen Luo could actually mix him into wine.
Too terrifying.
"But purely from an efficiency standpoint, having Mr. Chen Luo here gather Anemo energy does indeed save manpower and resources. Right now, Mondstadt truly can't spare much effort for a large-scale search. If we can save resources, we should..." Jean looked somewhat awkwardly at Chen Luo.
Due to the storm disaster, Mondstadt currently couldn't possibly allocate significant manpower and resources to search for items. With most combat forces away on the expedition, even the Hilichurls have pushed their camps almost to Mondstadt's gates.
But Chen Luo isn't a member of the Knights of Favonius, nor even a citizen of Mondstadt. Jean couldn't command him from any position of authority.
So...
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
[Holy Lyre]: Jean, the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius in Mondstadt, hopes you can charge the Holy Lyre to avoid excessively wasting Mondstadt's manpower and resources.
Reward: 100 Primogems
Difficulty: 2-Stars
"Alright, alright, stop looking at me with those eyes." Feeling Jean's gaze, which wanted to ask but couldn't bring itself to, making it extremely awkward, Chen Luo took a step back.
But since she issued a commission, there was no reason not to accept it.
"Um, actually..." Venti suddenly stood up.
Ah, Venti couldn't hold back anymore.
Torn between Anemo Archon wine and the Holy Lyre, Venti chose a third option: charge it himself.
If you think the Anemo Archon Barbatos can't even charge his own Holy Lyre, that's impossible. Venti just didn't want to reveal his identity so quickly.
But now, he had to reveal it.
Anemo Archon wine, my Anemo Archon wine.
He'd have to reveal it eventually anyway; for the sake of Anemo Archon wine, he had to give it a shot.
"Shut up. I'll handle this." Before Venti could finish speaking, Chen Luo stopped him.
Are you kidding? If you complete this commission, what about my reward?
"Oh." Venti obediently closed his mouth.
It seemed Chen Luo must have a solution.
"Master Diluc." Chen Luo turned silently to Diluc.
"What is it?"
"I heard, Master Diluc, that you bought over 2,000 counterfeit sealed bottles claiming to contain the Anemo Archon's Aura for your collection. So, would witnessing an item personally blessed by the Anemo Archon charge the Holy Lyre be worth enough to cover the losses from booking the place tonight?" Chen Luo said to Diluc.
"Hmm? Although I wasn't planning to charge you for the booking fee in the first place, since you mention it, I'd naturally be willing to witness it." Diluc pondered for a moment before saying.
They were currently discussing matters crucial to saving Mondstadt; Diluc naturally didn't want to bother about the tavern booking fee.
There were no customers anyway.
"Then, everyone, watch closely. This is a Mora—personally blessed by the Anemo Archon not long ago, containing the Anemo Archon's blessing and essence!" Chen Luo solemnly pulled out a single Mora from his inventory.
"Wait, that's..." Looking at the Mora Chen Luo produced, Venti couldn't help but open his mouth.
Wasn't that the Mora he gave Chen Luo on their first meeting, representing his last bit of wealth for the wine?
Come to think of it, he did place a blessing and a wisp of his divine essence on it...
"A single Mora? And the smallest denomination at that? It sounds completely unrelated to the Anemo Archon's blessing, but the dense, sacred aura on it is indeed genuine." Diluc looked at the single Mora and fell into deep thought.
Since Diluc could identify the over 2,000 sealed bottles of 'Anemo Archon's Aura' he received as counterfeits, he naturally could recognize the real thing. And what Chen Luo held was undoubtedly genuine.
"Such a precious item... are you really going to use it to charge the Holy Lyre?" Jean, standing there, opened her mouth and couldn't help but ask.
Jean's father is the Bishop of the Favonius Cathedral, so she isn't entirely unfamiliar with the Anemo Archon's blessings. Thus, she could fully appreciate the preciousness of that Mora.
Honestly, Jean felt this single Mora was more valuable... no, more precious than those Dvalin's tears.
"No, don't worry about it. In a couple of days, this thing won't be worth much anyway." Chen Luo shook his head and said.
After all, once Venti's identity is exposed, there probably won't be any suckers willing to buy this Mora, right?