While waiting for Master Lu to pour the juice, Li Yue watched the Chat Group members chatting in his field of vision. Ever since entering Mondstadt, Li Yue's livestream had not stopped, so the group members had seen all of Venti's earlier performance.
Hair Gel Man in the Sky: So, besides the Seven Archons and their nations, Li Yue-kun's world has other nations and powers as well?
Fat Woman in Black Stockings: This world's setting feels pretty complicated. It's much more elaborate than some light novels I've read.
Meme Lord: Yep. To be honest, even I don't know how much hidden stuff this world has. The Seven Archons and the Seven Nations are really just the powers and factions on the surface.
Hair Gel Man in the Sky: It seems Li Yue-kun's world is even more interesting than I imagined. That said, this bard actually knows about the Anemo Archon and the Anemo Archon's familiars. His identity doesn't seem simple.
Meme Lord: It isn't. He's Mondstadt's Anemo Archon, Barbatos.
Hair Gel Man in the Sky: ?
Fat Woman in Black Stockings: ?
Fat Woman in Black Stockings: Wait, he's the Anemo Archon? Do the other people in Mondstadt City know?
Meme Lord: At the moment, they don't.
Fat Woman in Black Stockings: One Geo God who hid his identity and wanted to fake his death to retire, one Dendro Archon who was locked up for five hundred years and knows nothing, and one drunk Anemo Archon disguised as a bard... Li Yue-kun, are all the Seven Archons in your world this distinctive?
Meme Lord: That's right, exactly like that!
Plotting Loudly in Front of Master Lu
Meme Lord: As they say, Mondstadt's Drunkard, Liyue's street loiterer, Inazuma's Homebody Girl, Sumeru's melon kid—every god in Teyvat has their own personality.
Fat Woman in Black Stockings: It sounds ridiculous, but three gods have already proven themselves. The one from Inazuma probably isn't any different, right? Li Yue-kun, you mentioned four gods. What about the other three?
Meme Lord: I don't know them well enough to judge, but they're definitely about the same.
Fat Woman in Black Stockings: I can guess.
Hair Gel Man in the Sky: I'm suddenly very curious how these gods won the Archon War in the first place.
Meme Lord: I know about a few of them. Some others are Second Generation Archons who directly inherited their divine seats and never fought.
While chatting with the group members in the Chat Group, Li Yue was also chatting with Venti in the tavern.
"Li Yue, you came to a tavern and aren't even drinking. That's so boring."
"I'm not very interested in alcohol. I only came to the tavern to gather information. Taverns are where people like to gather most, after all, and you can obtain plenty of intelligence here."
Li Yue ignored Venti and drank the juice in his cup with Nahida.
"Look, I only paid for a cup of Apple Cider, and I got information about Dvalin out of you."
"Hmm... you have a point."
Venti could not refute him. He could hardly say that he had deliberately revealed that information for Dvalin's sake. If he really were just a bard, he might not have known anything about Dvalin at all!
Diluc behind the bar was listening as well. As the tavern owner, he normally was not here; Charles usually handled the place. But Dvalin had caused too much trouble in Mondstadt City recently, so he had come to the tavern to observe the situation surrounding Dvalin in Mondstadt City while ensuring that he could respond at any time.
He just had not expected to hear such detailed information about Dvalin.
"Alright, Venti. According to what you said, Dvalin was originally the East Wind Guardian, but he lost his mind because of Poison Blood. So how can we help him regain his sanity?"
"Oh? Didn't you want to fight Dvalin?"
Venti looked curiously at Li Yue. Diluc also lowered his head and listened intently while wiping a glass.
Li Yue crossed his arms and started putting on airs.
"I originally thought Dvalin was a powerful Dragon with great strength, which was why I wanted to fight him. Driving away a demonic dragon that threatened national security—that would be interesting, wouldn't it? But now that you've said he was originally an Anemo Archon familiar who protected this nation and merely lost his mind, then he's just a mindless monster. No matter how strong he is, he has limits. Fighting someone like that has no enjoyment at all."
"Rather than bullying a pitiful creature with no mind, it would be better to help him regain his sanity and strength before sparring with him. Only then could it be called a battle!"
As Li Yue spoke, Venti and Diluc immediately felt an aura erupt from his body. It was a heroic presence that left them deeply intimidated!
It's Reiatsu! I added Reiatsu!
"I see!"
Venti nodded happily, approving of Li Yue's willingness to help Dvalin for the sake of a fair fight.
He had been worrying over where to find someone to help solve Dvalin's problem, and now the person had come right to him!
Diluc nodded to himself as well. This man who claimed to be from Liyue had an admirably upright way of thinking.
"If you want to know how to help Dvalin regain his sanity, I happen to know."
"Oh? It seems you know quite a lot."
Diluc's attention returned to Venti. He had already been watching Venti when the bard first told Dvalin's story, but Li Yue had later drawn his attention away. Now it seemed that this bard knew rather more than he should.
"Mhm, mhm~ I'm the best bard in all of Teyvat, after all. If I didn't know many stories, how could I be the best bard in all of Teyvat?"
Venti patted his chest proudly.
"Then tell me. How do we help Dvalin regain his sanity?"
"To help Dvalin regain his sanity, we first need to calm him down from his current chaotic state. For that, we need something special."
"What thing?"
"The Lyre of the Sky!"
"The Lyre of the Sky?"
Li Yue rubbed his chin. While Li Yue pretended not to understand, Diluc behind the bar widened his eyes slightly in surprise.
"What is that?"
"It's an instrument once used by the Anemo Archon Barbatos. It is now kept in Mondstadt's great cathedral."
Venti paid no attention to Diluc eavesdropping nearby and laid out his entire plan.
"Because Dvalin is in a chaotic state, it is difficult for him to stop. He keeps flying through the sky without rest, so no one can stop him. If we obtain the Lyre of the Sky and have me, the best bard in all of Teyvat, play it, we can draw Dvalin over and soothe him. Only then will we have a chance to clear away the Poison Blood clots on his body."
"So what we need now is to ask West Wind Cathedral for the Lyre of the Sky?"
Nahida voiced her first question.
"That's right. We need to go to West Wind Cathedral and borrow the Lyre of the Sky."
"I don't think we should even bother with that."
Li Yue waved his hand directly.
"Although I'm not from Mondstadt, I know the Knights of Favonius Church very well. Or rather..."
"No one understands the Knights of Favonius Church better than I do!"
Li Yue skillfully made the gesture of a master expert and began playing an imaginary accordion.
"Oh? Li Yue, you know the Knights of Favonius Church that well?"
Venti was extremely curious.
"That's right. Although the Knights of Favonius Church was not founded by the Anemo Archon Barbatos, its faith in Barbatos is exceptionally devout. They control Mondstadt's faith, and they will place enormous importance on the Lyre of the Sky that Barbatos once used. If we go to West Wind Cathedral to borrow it, they will only reject us mercilessly."
Li Yue described the outcome from the original plot, where Venti had taken Aether to borrow the Sky Lyre.
"Then how can we obtain the Lyre of the Sky?"
"Of course, we still have to borrow it!"
Li Yue pointed at himself with his thumb.
"Except I'll be the one borrowing it!"
"Huh?"
Venti scratched the back of his head in confusion.
"How is that any different from what I said before?"
Diluc was also very curious. He wanted to know how Li Yue's approach differed from Venti's.
"Of course it's different!"
Li Yue smiled mysteriously in front of Diluc and Venti.
"Taking something without asking is stealing, but if you return it before they discover it's been stolen, then it's borrowing!"
Diluc was instantly speechless. So he wanted to steal it!
"Good idea!"
Yet Venti beside him slapped the table in agreement.
"If you're going to borrow it, I suggest going at night. The West Wind Cathedral guards get off work at night, so that's the safest time."
"Understood. Tonight at eight, I'll act on schedule. We'll meet here then!"
"Alright, I'll wait for you here!"
The two made their arrangement on their own right in front of Diluc.
Diluc's expression grew even more strained. It was one thing for Li Yue to be from Liyue, but why did a Mondstadt bard agree so readily? And why were they so openly treating his tavern as a meeting place?!
Darknight Hero Was Still Lying in Wait
In the end, Diluc still went to the Knights of Favonius, but he did not go there to expose Venti and Li Yue. Instead, he arranged to meet Grand Master Jean.
If what Venti said was true, and Li Yue really stole the Sky Lyre, then he had to take it seriously. Especially since Venti and Li Yue had discussed their plan without avoiding him at all—it was obvious that they wanted him involved. Those two seemed to know he would definitely participate.
After simply arranging for Jean to come to his tavern at eight that evening, he left the Knights of Favonius and headed straight for West Wind Cathedral. As Mondstadt's hidden protector and bearer of the title Darknight Hero, he secretly protected Mondstadt even at night. He wanted to see how Li Yue intended to steal the Sky Lyre.
Although Diluc considered the Knights of Favonius' defenses utterly terrible, and the remaining Knights of Favonius to be useless fools incapable of doing anything properly, relying entirely on Jean and the others to hold things together, it was still not somewhere an ordinary person like Li Yue could casually enter and succeed.
Diluc had not sensed any Elemental Power from Li Yue, and Li Yue did not possess a Vision. Aside from an Inazuma katana tied at his waist with a rope, he had nothing else. Thus, Diluc wanted to know exactly what kind of power Li Yue, who appeared to be an ordinary man, was hiding.
As night fell, Diluc waited for the Knights of Favonius to get off work, then slipped directly into West Wind Cathedral. To take the Sky Lyre, one had to enter the cathedral basement through the stairway inside West Wind Cathedral. The Sky Lyre was kept in the basement.
At eight that evening, Li Yue appeared outside West Wind Cathedral exactly on time.
Li Yue walked openly, without hiding at all, so Diluc, concealed in the shadows, spotted him immediately.
He's just walking over like that?
Diluc watched Li Yue in confusion, then saw him walk up and raise a hand to knock directly on the cathedral doors.
"Please wait a moment."
A Sister's voice came from behind the doors. Although the Knights of Favonius outside had gone off duty, Sisters from the Knights of Favonius Church still worked night shifts.
The moment the doors opened, Li Yue jumped straight upward and stopped in midair. The cathedral doors were so tall that the Sister who opened them did not notice anyone over her head at all. Taking advantage of the opening, Li Yue vanished from the spot with Flash Step and entered the cathedral. Consecutive Flash Steps carried him across the cathedral hall and directly to the basement.
There were Knights of Favonius guarding the basement, but to Li Yue, they were meaningless. He rapidly passed the guards with consecutive Flash Steps. The guards merely felt a gust of wind and discovered nothing.
After passing the guards, Li Yue directly entered the room where the Lyre of the Sky was kept, picked it up with one hand, then immediately drew Enma's Blade from his waist and slashed through the air.
Space was cut apart, and a Portal appeared. Li Yue jumped directly into the Portal with the Lyre of the Sky, and the Portal then closed.
The entire sequence took Li Yue less than ten seconds. After his Portal closed, the Sister at the main entrance of West Wind Cathedral, who had opened the door and seen no one, finally closed it in confusion.
"Did I hear it wrong?"
Meanwhile, a certain Darknight Hero stood on the roof of West Wind Cathedral. After watching the Sister close the door, he continued staring at every cathedral exit, waiting for Li Yue to emerge.
"Yo! I'm back!"
Li Yue's Portal could be stably opened at places he had visited before, so he opened it on the second floor of Angel's Share tavern.
Venti, who had arranged to meet Li Yue, had already been waiting upstairs with Nahida.
Seeing Li Yue return, the two gods with hidden identities ended their conversation and greeted him.
"Yo, my dear friend. Welcome back."
"Welcome back, Li Yue."
Venti held out both hands to Li Yue.
"Come on, let me see the Lyre of the Sky."
"You trust that I could obtain the Lyre of the Sky that much?"
"Of course, my friend. Didn't you get it?"
"Naturally, I got it."
Li Yue took out the Lyre of the Sky hidden behind his back and handed it to Venti.
"Mhm, it's been maintained very well!"
Venti accepted the lyre with both hands, examined it briefly, then nodded in satisfaction.
Li Yue seized the opportunity to speak.
Before you continue