Carrying their unanswered questions, Lumine and Paimon began another long wait.
Farmas, meanwhile, used the divine power he recovered from Amber's Vision the day before to sense the presence of other Visions.
"At the steepest turns of fate, when a mortal's 'desire' reaches its peak, the gaze of the gods descends—forming a Vision."
As a demon god, Farmas had once perceived the wishes of the people.
Working with the great alchemist Rhinedottir, he had bestowed thousands of Visions.
But times had changed.
Only a few of those Visions had ever awakened or found heirs.
Now Farmas even sensed flames that did not belong to him—
likely the fire spirit who once overthrew him, the one Sky Island had accepted as the new king of Munata.
"There are three nearby."
Farmas guessed these three were the Visions of:
Bennett the Child of Fortune,
Klee the Spark Knight,
and Master Diluc.
"So… who should I target next?
Klee maybe? Kids are easy to trick…"
The moment he thought that, guilt instantly rose in his chest.
Tricking Klee out of her Vision…
No matter how he phrased it, that was… kind of awful.
"For the sake of becoming human!!"
He kept consoling himself—
until night finally fell.
The three sneaked out of the inn, avoiding the front desk.
Paimon flew out the back window, Farmas simply dropped to the ground unharmed, and Lumine had to climb down the wall slowly.
"As expected of the girl who can free-climb ninety-degree cliffs!"
Landing lightly, Lumine followed Farmas to the base of the city wall where he and Venti had plotted the day before.
They crept along the shadows until reaching the back door of Angel's Share.
"Why are we sneaking around like thieves? We're not wanted criminals…"
Paimon finally voiced the question she'd held in all this time.
"We're about to discuss the fate of Mondstadt—this makes the atmosphere better!"
Farmas said casually.
Lumine paused.
…That actually made sense.
"Then who was it that insisted we use the window?"
Lumine turned to see both Paimon and Farmas staring straight at her.
"It was YOU, Lumine!"
Inside Angel's Share
"You're here."
Farmas hopped cheerfully through the front door for the first time, while Lumine followed with an embarrassed face and Paimon sighed helplessly.
The other patrons stared in confusion—
only Venti greeted them as if nothing were strange.
"Good evening, Bard. Evening, Master Diluc."
Paimon waved politely.
Farmas bounced onto the bar counter as usual.
Lumine nodded in greeting.
Diluc handed a cup to Lumine.
"I don't drink, Master Diluc."
She smiled and refused the strange purple drink.
"It's unfermented dandelion grape juice. Not alcohol."
Diluc pushed the cup back to her—and even gave Paimon a miniature goblet.
"Paimon wants a big one too!"
Despite her complaint, she downed the tiny cup in one gulp.
"Mm! Sweet… and kinda spicy!"
"So, Master Diluc—where's the person you said could help us?"
Venti swung his legs from a bar stool, white socks swaying as if waiting for something exciting.
A graceful figure slowly descended from the second floor.
Golden hair tied loosely behind her.
Clear sapphire eyes clouded with exhaustion.
Even so, her refined beauty could not be hidden.
"Captain Jean?"
Paimon blurted out, then clapped her hands over her mouth.
"Good evening, everyone."
Jean forced herself awake again, putting on her usual energetic demeanor.
"Why is Captain Jean here?"
Lumine looked toward Diluc.
"First, I contacted more than one person.
Second, this is Jean—not 'the Acting Grand Master Jean.'"
Diluc nodded toward her.
"What a surprise. I heard about the Holy Lyre, but I didn't expect you of all people…
So the purification from the lyre's music can restore Dvalin? Is that true?"
Jean rested her chin on her hand, eyes sliding toward Venti.
"That's right! Lumine has bravely taken the front line in solving the Stormterror crisis—truly worthy of the title 'Rising Star of the Knights!'"
Venti said cheerfully.
"Though it does feel like we're toeing the edge of illegality…"
Paimon added.
"Hmph. With such myth-like explanations, it's normal not to believe at first.
But it's fine! We can just have this bard play that song again to convince our… stubborn Captain…"
"I believe you."
Jean's gentle gaze swept across everyone.
Even Diluc, mid-sentence, stared in surprise.
"Dvalin, the East Wind Dragon—one of the Four Winds.
I could never understand why it turned against Mondstadt.
But if it was poisoned during the war centuries ago… then corrupted again by Abyss Mages upon awakening…
It truly might have lost all control."
Jean brushed a loose strand behind her ear.
"Oh! That's what the bard said too!"
Paimon nodded.
"But I absolutely cannot say these things as Acting Grand Master.
Under Fatui diplomatic pressure, the Knights cannot openly show sympathy toward Stormterror—it would be seen as weakness and negligence. So I must act privately."
She took a sip of the coffee Diluc handed her and continued:
"Anyway, since I now know you retrieved the Holy Lyre, that's enough.
To communicate with Dvalin… is there anything else we need?"
With a wave of his hand, the lyre Lumine held appeared instantly in Venti's grasp.
"Wah!"
Lumine clutched her chest, face flushed as she glared at Venti.
For the first time, the usually playful god looked solemn.
His eyes softened with nostalgia.
"Rosewood carved with wind-pattern grain… star-iron strings cool to the touch… it's been so long."
"How is it, Venti? Can you use it to call Dvalin?"
Diluc refilled Jean's cup.
"Well… it is indeed the genuine, divine treasure of the Anemo Archon.
But right now, it's still not enough."
"As you see, a thousand years have drained its winds.
In this state, it's only good enough for performing at Master Diluc's tavern…"
Venti stroked the dulled lyre.
"Hey! Bard! We risked our lives to steal—uh—borrow the Holy Lyre! And you're gonna use it to play bar songs?!"
Paimon shouted.
"Ehe~."
"What does 'ehe' even mean?!"
Paimon clenched her little fists in confusion.
"In short, it's far from enough to communicate with Dvalin.
The problem isn't the lyre itself, but… the strings."
Venti explained, then turned to Lumine, who had been listening quietly.
"It's your turn, Lumine!"