"What?! You actually hid a bottle?!" Paimon exploded.
She flew to Venti and spotted it instantly.
Reaching in, she yanked the bottle out of his baggy pants, hugged it proudly to her chest, and popped the cork.
She sniffed.
Her little face scrunched.
She didn't love the smell—but…
It was expensive!
She raised it, about to chug—
And the bottle vanished from her hands.
"Kids can't drink," Lumine said, stuffing the cork back in. She lifted it high above her head.
Paimon blinked, about to jump for it—
But it was already in Kaito's hand.
She immediately stopped daring to act up.
Kaito dumped the two plates of red-wine pork steak—barely touched—straight into the trash.
Paimon's heart nearly shattered.
What a waste.
"…You could've reheated it," she muttered under her breath.
Lumine's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. This little gremlin was too shameless.
"Kaito… can you take out the Holy Lyre now?" Venti asked, sipping his wine.
"Aren't you usually only into dandelion wine?" Kaito asked as he pulled the Lyre from his System inventory.
"Hehe. There's 'favorite'… and there's 'like,'" Venti said casually.
He set the glass down, his gaze turning soft with nostalgia as it fell on the Lyre.
"Rosewood engraved with wind-flow patterns… cool star-metal strings…"
"Feels like the old days."
Then he looked up at Kaito, genuinely curious.
"How did you get it, exactly?"
Kaito didn't look like he'd fought his way through the Cathedral.
"I intercepted it from the Fatui," Kaito said.
"…So it really was the Fatui who stole it," Venti murmured.
Something clicked behind his eyes, as if he'd just picked up a thread.
"Venti," Lumine asked, "now that we have it… can you call the dragon and bring back his true self?"
Venti's face turned helpless.
"Even though this is the genuine Wind God relic…"
"…it still won't work right now."
"As you can see—after a thousand years, the wind's power is basically dried up."
"At this state, I can use it for street performances, sure."
"…?"
Paimon immediately got furious.
"Hey, bard! You went through all this trouble just for busking?!"
She was clearly venting her earlier frustration from losing the wine.
"Ehe~!"
"Don't 'ehe' me! What does 'ehe' mean?!" Paimon shouted, face scrunched with rage.
Venti cleared his throat and switched tones.
"In short: with the Lyre's current power, it's nowhere near enough to communicate with Dvalin."
"But it's not the Lyre's fault."
"It's the strings…"
Venti turned to Lumine.
"Time for you to shine, Honorary Knight."
Lumine shook her head hard. "I don't know anything about repairing instruments."
"Relax," Venti said. "I'm not asking you to repair a priceless relic."
"It's just that the Anemo element infused into these strings is far too thin."
"You kept Dvalin's tear crystal safe, right?"
"Drip it onto the strings."
Lumine froze.
Kaito had said before: those crystals were saturated with Anemo energy.
So she pulled out the purified tear crystal.
Together with Venti's, they had two in total.
She dripped them onto the Lyre.
The Holy Lyre visibly "woke up," almost immediately—like it had regained youth.
"Just as expected." Venti nodded. "But it's still not full. We need more tear crystals."
"More?" Lumine instinctively looked to Kaito for guidance.
Kaito shook his head. "If we can't find the dragon, how exactly are we supposed to make him cry?"
"Kaito, don't joke…" Venti scratched his head, eyes dimming a little. "Even now, Dvalin is suffering and crying."
"We don't have to make him cry. We just need to locate his resting place in the wilderness—there might be crystals left behind."
"…Poor big guy," Paimon said, surprisingly sincere.
Lumine tugged lightly at Kaito's sleeve, eyes shining with hope.
"Feeling bad is one thing," Kaito said, "but searching with just the three of us isn't realistic."
"Lumine, go invite Jean here."
"Jean?" Lumine nodded, then took Paimon with her and headed for the Knights' headquarters.
Kaito turned to Venti.
"You go to Angel's Share and see if Diluc is back."
"If he isn't, write him a letter about what we discussed and have the bouncer—Barton—send it to Dawn Winery."
"Back?" Venti blinked, confused.
"He's probably hiding at his winery to avoid me," Kaito said casually, "but I accepted his wine yesterday. He'll assume we're even, so he might stop dodging."
"Fine."
Venti drained the last of the wine and headed for Angel's Share.
Running errands, he could do.
And maybe… he could "borrow" a drink while he was there.
Unfortunately for him—
Diluc had returned to Mondstadt today, in a rare good mood, and was personally tending bar.
Venti clicked his tongue.
His "borrow some wine" plan instantly died.
He explained the situation.
Diluc nodded, had Barton call in the bartender Charles—who'd been hoping for a day off—
and then Diluc left with Venti for Good Hunter.
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