A breeze blew beneath the great tree at Windrise.
Ellin looked at Venti, but he said nothing.
They remained silent for a long while before Venti finally sighed.
"Why do you think I gave away my Gnosis on purpose?"
Venti looked at Ellin.
"It's simple!"
Ellin glanced over Venti and said, "Even if you gave up ruling Mondstadt, you're still a god."
"And after the incident with Dvalin, word spread that the Anemo Archon had appeared to help save the Dragon. More and more people have been going to the Cathedral to pray lately. Your power is tied to the people's faith, so there's no way you're weaker now than you were before."
"When we were saving Dvalin, you could subdue him with a mere turn of your hand. Now that you're even stronger, how could you possibly lose to La Signora?"
"Even if, for argument's sake, you couldn't beat La Signora, with your strength, holding out until help arrived would have been no problem at all."
"You had the power to defeat La Signora, yet you chose not to resist. The only conclusion I can draw is that you deliberately let her take your Gnosis."
After finishing, Ellin quietly watched Venti, waiting for him to give her an answer.
After a long while, Venti sighed and spread his hands helplessly.
"Ah... I really can't hide anything from you!"
"All of us Seven Archons are bound by certain restrictions to some extent, so there are things I can't reveal to you."
"But as your friend, I don't want to disappoint you. So I can tell you some of the things I'm allowed to say."
"It all began with the War of Five Hundred Years Ago."
"The outcome of that war affected all of us Seven Archons to varying degrees."
"The