"Traveler, Paimon, did you come to the solitary confinement room to play with Klee?"
Klee poked her head out from behind the desk, her eyes bright.
Lumine: "..."
Lumine gave Paimon a look. Quick, make something up. Make it convincing.
Paimon: "Well, we're actually-"
Before she could finish, the door to the solitary confinement room opened, and Ye Xuan walked in.
"Klee, a bad person told them to steal something, so they were arrested."
Klee tilted her head at Ye Xuan, her gaze settling on his face. "Who are you, big brother?"
Big brother, huh.
Ye Xuan felt a little pleased. It was nice having a face that never aged; people called him big brother wherever he went.
"Big brother is the master of your brother Albedo's mother's colleague, and also the master of your mommy's colleague's colleague. You can just call me Brother Ye Xuan."
Klee counted carefully on her fingers, gave up halfway through, and nodded solemnly. "Okay, Brother Ye Xuan, I'll remember! Big brother is Mommy's master!"
You can't go saying that.
Paimon: "Hey, don't teach kids bad things."
Ye Xuan explained, "It's your mommy's colleague's colleague."
Klee was puzzled. "Isn't Mommy's colleague's colleague just Mommy?"
Ye Xuan actually couldn't find a flaw in that logic for a moment.
He could only say, "You'll understand when you grow up, Klee. This is all Rhinedottir's fault for taking too many part-time jobs. Just call me Brother Ye Xuan."
"Oh." Klee obediently acknowledged him, though it was hard to tell how much she had actually understood.
Lumine spoke up. "Ye Xuan, when can we get out?"
Ye Xuan replied, "After you set out, Ronava found Barbatos. He confessed everything and said this was all your idea. The Holy Lyre der Himmel wasn't recovered either; it fell into the Fatui's hands."
"So you two can't leave."
Paimon grew anxious. "Huh? Didn't you say Master Diluc went after them?"
"He did, but he ran into a special enemy."
"Who?"
"The eighth of the Fatui Harbingers-La Signora. She stopped Diluc. That means there's an infiltrator, and now you're suspected of being in league with the Fatui."
Ye Xuan's face was expressionless as he said this, but his mind was turning over something else.
After a long discussion, Jean and the others had concluded that there was a Fatui spy in the tavern.
But Swan was most likely the one responsible.
Ronava was very sensitive to the aura of Delusions.
She had sensed the aura of a Delusion on Swan, an Electro Delusion at that.
Once someone had gotten involved with one of those, their collusion with the Fatui was nailed to the board.
When Ye Xuan sent Lawrence to find Diluc, he had deliberately made no effort to avoid Swan, wanting to see how far he could go.
Whether he could bring him a surprise.
He hadn't mentioned any of this to Jean and the others.
He didn't believe Barbatos couldn't detect Swan's movements.
That was the Anemo Archon; the wind would tell him everything that happened in Mondstadt.
The old fellow most likely wanted to see whether Swan would find his way back after losing his path. Since
he wouldn't say anything, Ye Xuan couldn't be bothered to speak up for him either.
Lumine fell silent for a few seconds, then continued, "I'm willing to atone for my crime by recovering the Holy Lyre der Himmel."
Ye Xuan glanced at her.
As expected of an old hand, she had already thought of a way out of solitary confinement.
Once she was through that door, everything would be fine if she recovered the Holy Lyre der Himmel, and if she didn't, she could just run.
"Barbatos has already used that approach," Ye Xuan said. "He said to warm him a pot of wine, and he'd recover the Holy Lyre der Himmel before it cooled."
Ye Xuan immediately added, "I really don't understand you people. Why didn't you let Barbatos steal the lyre himself? He could have slipped in as a wisp of wind. Wouldn't that have been easier than you going in?"
Footsteps sounded outside the door.
Paimon's ears perked up, and when she saw who it was, she was overjoyed. "Venti! Hurry and let us out!"
Venti stood outside the door and spread his hands. "Venti can't do that. I'm just an ordinary bard. I don't have that much authority."
"You!" Paimon hovered in midair, poking a finger at the air and shaking with anger.
Lumine ignored that and asked directly, "Has the Holy Lyre der Himmel been recovered? What are you here for?"
"With Lord Barbatos taking action, it was naturally as easy as catching something in his hand." Venti kept them in suspense before leisurely adding the rest. "As for me-I'm here to join you."
"After all, being shut up in solitary confinement is more freeing than handling official business."
Paimon froze for a moment, then exploded. "You! I'm going to give you an awful nickname. I'll call you Tone-Deaf Bard!"
"Little Paimon, don't be angry." Only then did Venti put away some of his grinning manner and turn to business.
"The Holy Lyre der Himmel lost its former power long ago after going unused for so many years. Everyone in the Knights of Favonius has gone to look for Dvalin's tears. Traveler, take out the thing you found in the forest."
Lumine took it out and laid it on her palm.
Paimon leaned over for a look and gave a surprised cry. "Huh? Wasn't this red before?"
Venti's gaze fell on it, and he nodded, his tone a little more serious than usual. "Traveler, it seems I was right-you have the power to purify the tears."
"Tears?" Lumine looked up at him.
Leaning against the wall, Venti told Dvalin's story from the beginning.
It wasn't a long story, but at certain points, his voice would involuntarily grow quieter.
His eyes weren't on them, but on the night beyond the solitary confinement room's window.
Lumine listened quietly to the end.
"So, once they've collected the tears, it'll be time for the Traveler to show what she can do. Naturally, you'll be able to leave then."
Ye Xuan had listened to the whole thing from the side. It seemed there was nothing interesting left. "Then good night, everyone. I miss my bed a little. Tonight really wore me out."
He yawned and turned toward the door. "I'm very busy lately, so there's no need to call me for Saving Private Dvalin."
There were quite a few topics in the chat group that interested Ye Xuan, and it was almost time for Jotaro to livestream his fight with Dio.
Every spectacle like that was one less to see if he missed it.
Besides, his theoretical knowledge was almost exhausted, so he needed to find an expert in the field, Teacher Kashiwagi Eri, to fill the gaps in his knowledge.
With Venti keeping an eye on Dvalin, there was no need for Ye Xuan to worry. Venti might be putting on an act, but he wasn't lacking in strength.
He left the solitary confinement room with a light step, and the door closed behind him, shutting Paimon's "Hey, you're just leaving like that?" inside.