Inside Mondstadt Cathedral—
Lumine emerged and shook her head at Venti.
"Failed, huh?" Venti sighed. "Looks like your 'Knights' supernova' status still isn't heavy enough."
"They want paperwork," Lumine said.
At noon, Kaito had told her: to borrow the Holy Lyre, it required signed approval from three sides—the Knights, the Church, and a civilian representative.
She'd only tried on the off-chance it worked.
But she'd also heard something unexpected from the sisters.
"A suspicious bard came by today to borrow the Holy Lyre. Spouting nonsense. He even dared to call himself Lord Barbatos. He clearly has bad intentions."
Those were the sister's exact words.
"You told them you're Barbatos?" Lumine stared at him, even more suspicious now.
Venti planted his hands on his hips, completely unbothered. "Of course."
Seeing his reaction, Paimon didn't believe a single word. "Yeah right!"
Lumine's suspicion actually eased a little.
What kind of god was this useless?
He couldn't even take his own possession—he had to borrow it… and might even need to steal it?
"Look! Nobody believes me," Venti said, rubbing his forehead—then instantly switched to righteous outrage.
"I'm deeply disappointed in Mondstadt. You're the Knights' rising star and they won't even lend you a Lyre."
"In the classics, the hero saves the village and then casually takes the village's best sword—that's legendary!"
"But fine. Since borrowing doesn't work… we'll have to 'acquire' it creatively."
He spread his hands. "Tonight, we respect the spirit of freedom. Tell me—how do you prefer we 'acquire' it?"
Lumine went silent.
So he really was planning to steal.
"Come on, speak freely," Venti encouraged. "Freedom means saying whatever you want."
"…I don't want to steal," Lumine said honestly.
"Hahaha—see, you're already off-topic," Venti said, as if she was the one who brought up stealing. Then he lowered his voice, coaxing. "Truth is, you're more suitable than I am…"
Two and a half people huddled, whispering, arguing.
"I'll distract the sisters," Venti decided. "You two slip into the Cathedral hall and down into the underground."
Lumine frowned… but nodded.
Just as they were about to step inside—
A sudden commotion erupted from within the Cathedral.
They caught words like "Holy Lyre," "thief," "stolen"—
And the Cathedral's mechanisms clanked open.
Guards poured out—rushing through side doors and the main entrance—fanning out like a net.
Then, in seconds, they surrounded the "two and a half" who were standing there stunned.
At this hour, there were only two unfamiliar faces near the Cathedral.
It was absurdly suspicious.
"Y-you! What are you doing?!" Venti blinked. "I haven't even done anything yet!"
"It's them! They tried to borrow the Holy Lyre today!"
"The Lyre is missing—so it must be them!"
Sister Gotelinde pointed at them in panic.
"The Holy Lyre was stolen?" Venti and Lumine both looked completely lost.
"Hand over the Holy Lyre!" The guards leveled their spears.
"Innocent! This is a misunderstanding! It wasn't us!" Venti cried.
"Yeah! We didn't steal anything!" Paimon shouted angrily, hands on her hips.
Lumine's eyes widened in horror.
She slapped a hand over Paimon's mouth.
"Steal? So you admit it!" The captain's face darkened, readying an arrest order.
"Wait."
A calm voice came from the top of the steps.
"It wasn't them."
Lumine's eyes lit up instantly.
"Kaito!"
Kaito walked forward, nodding slightly. "This one's a Mondstadt bard—plenty of people know him. If you don't trust him, then trust your Honorary Knight."
"You're saying the Honorary Knight stole the Holy Lyre?"
"Do you have evidence?"
"…This—" The captain choked, then fell back on the sister's earlier complaint. "They tried to borrow the Lyre today. They were refused—and then it went missing!"
"Yes!" Sister Gotelinde confirmed.
"I was the one who asked them to come borrow it," Kaito said evenly. "I was just about to go look for Acting Grand Master Jean's signature when I heard the commotion and came over."
It was nonsense, honestly.
Outside of special festivals, even if he got signatures from the Knights and civilians, the Church would still find ways to stall.
But he didn't need it to be true.
He only needed it to sound official.
"…I see." The captain still looked uncertain, but he waved his hand. "Spread out and search the city!"
"Yes!"
The guards scattered.
The captain bowed stiffly. "Boss Kaito. Apologies for the disturbance."
No evidence.
No witness.
And Kaito's credibility in Mondstadt was sky-high.
Sister Gotelinde clasped her hands to her chest, bowing in repentance. "Lord Barbatos… please forgive your faithful believer. My mind was clouded, and I placed ill intent upon others."
"May the Anemo Archon bless you."
After praying, she apologized again—then hurried back inside to continue repenting.
Kaito's expression turned strange.
You just accused the god you worship of being a thief.
Do you realize that?
"That scared me to death," Paimon muttered, patting her chest. "We didn't even steal anything yet and they already blamed us!"
"…Why were you two so slow?" Kaito asked, baffled.
"The Honorary Knight arrived a little late," Venti scratched his head. His expression grew serious. "But… who stole the Holy Lyre before us?"
"You mean this?"
Kaito pulled the Holy Lyre straight out of his System inventory.
Venti's eyes went wide.
He stared at it like he'd forgotten how to breathe.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios