Furina saw that Nahida had actually called her idle and protested indignantly. "I... I'm very busy! Filming and all that is exhausting."
Ei refused to be outdone. "Me too. I still have three hundred Light Novels left to read."
Seeing how "shameless"—a more tactful description—the other two gods were being, Venti followed suit. "I also have more than thirty wine tastings I haven't attended."
[Theresa: So... this is what the gods in your world are busy with?]
[Stelle: Suddenly, the gods don't seem nearly as impressive anymore.]
[Kiana: A god's life is pretty different from what I imagined.]
[March 7th: Seriously, the gods in your world are kind of... down-to-earth?]
[Barbara: Please don't misunderstand. That bard is not our Anemo Archon, Barbatos.]
[Diona: That's right. Our Lord Barbatos would never be some drunkard.]
[Kujou Sara: Our Lady Shogun is the same. She personally handles Inazuma's affairs every day. She would never read something like Light Novels.]
[Yae Miko: Is that so... Lady Shogun @Raiden Ei]
[Raiden Ei: ...]
The people of Fontaine wanted to argue too, but when they thought about their own god's daily routine... there really was nothing to refute.
[Furina: ...] Waaah... why is nobody helping me argue back...?
Marika looked at these unreliable seniors and helplessly complained, "What kind of gathering is this supposed to be?"
Nahida popped up from beneath the table too. "It's okay. I often feel out of place because I'm not lazy enough."
"Buer, that is quite mistaken!" Zhongli refused to accept Nahida calling herself lazy. "For the past few years, I have been properly employed."
Seeing Zhongli's solemn expression, Venti could not help laughing when he thought of the so-called "job" Zhongli had. "Hahaha... what kind of hellish job is that?!"
"Huh? You can roast people like that?" Furina, attending a gathering with other gods for the first time, felt like she had learned something.
"Barbatos, you may drink recklessly, but you must not speak recklessly." Zhongli did not get angry at Barbatos mocking him and calmly retorted, "The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's services involve elaborate rituals and intricate procedures. They are beyond the understanding of an idle loafer such as yourself."
[Barbara: Wait, what did the Geo Archon call that bard?]
[Kaeya: Could I have misheard that?]
[Venti: I told you I'm Barbatos, but you still didn't believe me.]
[Rosaria: The Anemo Archon is actually a bard? That suits the character of this city of freedom rather well.]
[Diona: I never thought even the Anemo Archon would be a drunkard. This country is doomed...]
[Barbara: No~! I don't believe it! How could Barbatos possibly be that drunken bard?!]
Barbara, who had been praying, felt as though her faith was about to collapse.
Looking at the solemn statue of the Anemo Archon before her, then thinking of Venti whenever he got drunk, Barbara simply refused to accept that they were the same person.
In her imagination, Barbatos should have been an upright and selfless god—gentle and caring toward his people.
But Venti and the Barbatos she had imagined could not exactly be called identical. They had absolutely nothing to do with each other.
Sometimes, she returned home very late after practice, and she often saw Venti drunk out of his mind, sleeping right on the street alongside other drunkards after drinking himself unconscious at the tavern.
Back then, she had even prayed for Barbatos's forgiveness because Venti and those drunks were ruining the city's appearance. And now she was being told that the person who got drunk and slept directly on the street was Barbatos himself!
[Jean: Barbara, calm down!]
As Barbara's older sister, Jean knew just how devout Barbara's faith in Barbatos was.
That was why, after learning Venti's true identity, she had not dared tell Barbara.
[Barbara: No, Sister, tell me that isn't Lord Barbatos, okay?!]
[Jean: This...]
[Lumine: Barbara, look at it from another angle. You worship Barbatos. What does that have to do with Venti?]
[Amber: Yeah! Barbara, you worship Barbatos, not Venti.]
[Rosaria: Exactly! You worship the Anemo Archon, Basbatos, not this drunkard.]
[Barbara: It's Lord Barbatos, not Basbatos.]
Although she felt like her faith had already collapsed, when she saw Rosaria get her god's name wrong again, Barbara still corrected her instinctively.
[Jean: Barbara, perhaps Lord Barbatos slept for too long, so now he is quietly protecting Mondstadt from the shadows as a bard.]
[Barbara: Is that really so, Lord Barbatos?]
[Venti: That's right, exactly so.]
[Barbara: So that's how it is... I'm sorry, Lord Barbatos. I misunderstood you.]
[Venti: It's all right. I have felt your devotion. The wind is free, and it is gentle. The wind will forgive you.]
[Barbara: Lord Barbatos...]
Seeing Zhongli fire back at Venti, Furina exclaimed inwardly, Huh? You can talk back like that?
"Ah, yes, yes." Hearing Zhongli call him an "idle loafer," Venti did not argue and simply gave a perfunctory response.
"In the blink of an eye, four years have already passed." The corners of Venti's lips lifted slightly, and a faint look of nostalgia appeared on his face. "I really miss the stories that happened in Mondstadt back then."
"It has indeed been a long time." Zhongli responded to Venti's words, but perhaps Venti's earlier jab had left him a little displeased, so he added, "Other than remembering that you never do proper work, everyone has probably forgotten the details."
Venti refused to be outdone. "Still not as shameless as you. You faked your death and dumped all your troubles in one go."
[Cloud Retainer: What?! Faked his death?!]
[Xiangling: Does that mean the Lord doesn't plan to continue governing Liyue?]
[Xingqiu: How could that be! The Lord protected Liyue for a thousand years. Why would he suddenly stop caring for it?]
[Sparkle: Oh my, oh my~ Surely not. Could it be that some country was abandoned by its own god...?]
[Sparkle: I heard there are seven gods in your world governing seven nations...]
[Sparkle: Guess which god abandoned their own country?]
[Sparkle: It was yours~]
[Ningguang: Please do not mislead others, friend.]
[Ningguang: The Lord would never abandon Liyue.]
[Hu Tao: That's right, that's right. Besides, Zhongli is also a Guest Official at our Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.]
[Hu Tao: If he really faked his death, then his funeral would definitely have to be handled by our Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.]
[Hu Tao: Wouldn't that mean he'd have to arrange his own funeral? How unlucky. Right, Guest Official! @Zhongli]
[Zhongli: ...]
(Let me make something clear here about Venti drinking.)
(Drinking alcohol and being a drunkard are two different things. For example, imagine the difference between elegantly sipping red wine and chugging several cases of beer before collapsing and starting to make a drunken scene.)
(Those are completely different.)
(Venti liking to drink and Venti making a drunken scene after drinking are two different matters.)
Before you continue