"Ahem, I won't be going in." In front of the Favonius Cathedral, Venti came to a stop at the entrance.
"Bar— Venti, why aren't you going in?" Jean asked.
"Why should I go in? It's not like I'm the one repairing the Holy Lyre anyway. And besides, by my estimate, Chen Luo is about to make my believers disappointed again before giving them hope. That's a scene I can't bear to watch." Venti shook his head.
Earlier on the way, when Venti heard Jean say that Chen Luo wanted to use something like "faith power" to repair the Holy Lyre, he instantly concluded Chen Luo was spouting nonsense.
I'm the Anemo Archon, and even I don't know what use "faith power" has. How would you know?
Wait—no. Actually, does anything like "faith power" even exist in this world? Chen Luo was clearly making it up.
And as for why Chen Luo was doing this...
Venti, who had been taken advantage of for over half a month, had something to say about that.
What else could it be for? Of course he was trying to get two commissions for one job.
Venti believed Chen Luo could repair the Holy Lyre. But how to repair it, by what method, and when—those were the questions.
As for getting two commissions for one job... that depended entirely on Chen Luo.
Venti didn't object to this; after all, it was normal for Chen Luo to want to maximize his benefits. Neither Jean nor the deaconess in charge of the Holy Lyre would suffer any loss. Chen Luo could take as many commissions as he wanted.
It was just that Venti felt a little guilty about his believers being disappointed.
"Although I don't quite understand what you mean, if you don't wish to enter, you may wait here." Jean remained polite.
As the Acting Grand Master, Jean didn't wish to oppose the Anemo Archon over such a trivial matter. After all, the Anemo Archon could do whatever he pleased.
Then Jean led Chen Luo, Lisa, Paimon, the Herrscher of Sentience, and Eula into the Favonius Cathedral.
Normally, someone like Diluc, who had contributed, shouldn't be left out of such an important event. However, Diluc said he didn't want to be associated with the Knights of Favonius and therefore couldn't be bothered to return the Holy Lyre, so he left on his own.
After Chen Luo and the others entered, the guards inside the cathedral immediately closed the doors firmly.
After all, this was the major event of returning the Holy Lyre. If the Fatui tried to steal it again, the Church truly wouldn't be able to face anyone.
Thus, strict security was essential. They absolutely could not let anyone force their way in during the return ceremony.
The Mondstadt Church had prepared substantial defenses. Even if someone outside tried to storm the doors, they wouldn't break through anytime soon.
Today, even if the Anemo Archon himself came, he'd have to wait until after the Holy Lyre was returned to the Church.
Inside the cathedral, a young lady was already waiting.
"This is the Church's specialist in charge of Holy Lyre recovery, the Deaconess Barbara." Jean, walking forward with Chen Luo and the others, introduced her.
Although Jean felt awkward facing her sister in this situation, this was a formal occasion, so she suppressed her unease.
"May the Anemo Archon protect you." Barbara placed her right hand over her left chest in a deaconess's salute.
"Although I may be less qualified to say this than the Acting Grand Master, I still wish to thank you all on behalf of Mondstadt for your efforts. Just now, my sis— the Acting Grand Master informed the Church of the matter via a special messenger talisman."
"Fortunately, it was resolved peacefully. If we had really mobilized military forces to battle the dragon, it's hard to imagine how it would have ended." Barbara felt deep respect for the group before her.
Especially for her sister.
"And this time, not only did the Fatui fail in their plan to subdue Stormterror, but we will also hold them accountable for stealing the Holy Lyre. A masked Electro Cicin Mage stole the Holy Lyre from the Church, witnessed by many citizens, guards, and deaconesses." Jean couldn't help but feel relieved.
The Fatui envoys were known for their unyielding diplomacy, but this time, they couldn't act tough—there was ironclad evidence.
This was, in a way, a diplomatic victory. Professionals would handle the follow-up matters.
"Alright, speaking of the Holy Lyre, we must thank Mr. Chen Luo for snatching it back from the Fatui. If the Fatui had truly stolen it, I would never have peace for the rest of my life. If only I had left a little later..." Barbara looked at Chen Luo with gratitude.
If she had left a bit later, perhaps with herself and Rosaria present, the Holy Lyre wouldn't have been stolen.
At least, that's what Barbara believed.
"You're welcome." Chen Luo's tone was subtly complex.
You might not believe this, but the theft only happens after you and Rosaria leave. No matter when you leave, the result is the same.
"Well then—so... have you brought the Holy Lyre?" Barbara asked happily.
In her view, since they had returned safely after resolving everything, of course they must have brought the Holy Lyre.
"We... we did bring it, it's just... well, this... it's a little bit..." Paimon said awkwardly, hands behind her back.
"Don't worry. Since you went through all the trouble to retrieve it from the Fatui, besides the Knights of Favonius' rewards, the Church will also provide a reward. The Church has a special budget for offerings—the reward is quite substantial." Barbara assumed they were hesitant to return the Holy Lyre without compensation.
"Then… then you'd better prepare yourself," Paimon whispered.
The Holy Lyre was behind her tiny body.
Originally, Jean should have held it, but she felt awkward facing Barbara and asked Lisa to hold it.
Lisa refused as well. They couldn't let Eula hold it—people might misunderstand—so Lisa bribed Paimon with snacks to take it instead.
* * *
"Ah!!! AHHHHHHHHHH! The Holy Lyre—!!!"
Seeing the ruined Holy Lyre in Paimon's hands, Barbara was stunned.
"Lord Barbatos! Even if Barbara spent her entire life atoning to you… it still wouldn't be enough, would it?!" Barbara knelt in despair, hands clasped in prayer.
The theft of the Holy Lyre was already painful. But what hurt Barbara even more was that it had been stolen within two minutes of her leaving the Church.
Given her devotion, she blamed herself completely.
"You can rest assured about that; Lord Barbatos will definitely forgive you," Chen Luo said quietly beside her.
"You're not Lord Barbatos, how would you know!" Barbara let out a sorrowful sob.
"Young maiden, do you wish for the Holy Lyre to be repaired?" Chen Luo's low voice sounded beside Barbara's ear.
"Of course I do! If the Holy Lyre can be repaired, I'm willing to pay any price!" Barbara affirmed.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
[Barbara's Redemption]: Restore the Holy Lyre to its original state.
Reward: 300 Primogems + Random Reward + 30 Barbara Affinity
Difficulty: 3-Stars
Hmm, it seems Barbara's level of guilt really is quite high.
The reason Barbara's reward is so much higher than Jean's isn't necessarily because Barbara is vastly more devout than Jean.
The key point is that Jean knows the Holy Lyre was actually damaged in the hands of Lord Barbatos himself.
So, even if the Holy Lyre was somewhat damaged, Jean didn't feel much guilt, since the important thing was that Lord Barbatos himself was safe.
But these words couldn't be explained to Barbara. Venti's identity needed to be kept secret.
And Barbara was already somewhat self-blaming and guilty because the Holy Lyre was stolen while in her care. Now, her guilt had directly skyrocketed.
"Rejoice, young maiden. The Anemo Archon Barbatos, praising our bravery in rescuing the Dragon of the East, has permitted us to make one wish. And our Acting Grand Master Jean used this single wish to hope only for the Holy Lyre to be restored to its original state."
"So the Anemo Archon Barbatos specially bestowed upon us a method to repair the Holy Lyre. However, this repair method can only be used within the Cathedral." Chen Luo said this to Barbara, who was kneeling on the ground begging for Lord Barbatos's forgiveness.
"You agree, right, Acting Grand Master Jean?" Chen Luo then looked at Jean.
"Ah?" Jean was stunned.
After all, on the way here, Chen Luo hadn't mentioned he was going to pull this stunt.
"..." Lisa, standing beside Jean, very alertly poked Jean in the lower back and pointed towards Barbara, who was kneeling on the ground.
Barbara was currently looking at Jean with a hopeful gaze, as if wishing for Jean to confirm this matter.
"Don't thank me." Sensing Jean's somewhat bewildered look towards him, Chen Luo mouthed the words.
Within the allowable conditions, Chen Luo didn't mind giving a helping hand to Jean and Barbara, these two biological sisters.
"That's right. The Anemo Archon Barbatos did appear before us and mentioned repairing the Holy Lyre." Jean didn't want to lie, so she stated the facts.
Because Venti had indeed said he wanted to help Jean repair the Holy Lyre, though for some reason, he later backed out.
And since Chen Luo was so confident he could repair the Holy Lyre, he probably had some method.
"How do we repair it?" Barbara stood up from the floor.
"Paimon, give me the Holy Lyre." Chen Luo reached out his hand to Paimon.
"Okay, okay." Seeing Chen Luo wanted it, Paimon handed over the Holy Lyre, this hot potato, without another word.
Barbara kneeling on the ground, feeling guilty over the Holy Lyre just now, was really too much to handle. Who wouldn't feel guilty seeing that?
Everyone watched Chen Luo intently. After taking the ruined Holy Lyre, Chen Luo took out a greenish seed from his inventory.
That green seed was surrounded by a gentle breeze, looking exceptionally sacred.
Chen Luo gently placed that Anemo seed onto the Holy Lyre. The moment the Holy Lyre came into contact with the Anemo seed, its entire body instantly glowed brilliantly.
Infinite gusts of wind gathered around the Holy Lyre. Even inside the Favonius Cathedral, with all windows and entrances closed, wind still appeared. And the wind grew stronger and stronger, until everyone couldn't help but shield their eyes with their hands.
"Whoosh!" Everyone suddenly felt a gentle breeze brush against their faces, and then the wind instantly stopped.
When everyone opened their eyes, they saw a glowing, intact Holy Lyre appearing in Chen Luo's hands. Wisps of breeze circled the Holy Lyre, making it appear in its best possible form.
"I-It's really repaired? And the Anemo energy on the Holy Lyre is so abundant!" Seeing the Holy Lyre Chen Luo handed over, Barbara directly hugged it to her chest.
Although Barbara wasn't a Vision holder, this Anemo energy was so abundant it was practically blinding.
"Lord Barbatos above! Everyone, please excuse me for a moment. I need to place the Holy Lyre in the secure room first." Looking at the Holy Lyre, Barbara was overjoyed. Then, without saying much more to everyone, she directly ran into the already opened hidden door.
[Ding! Task Completed]
[Ding! Task Completed]
"A'Luo, how on earth did you repair the Holy Lyre?" The Herrscher of Sentience asked, quite puzzled.
The Herrscher of Sentience believed that after spending so much time with Chen Luo, she understood his basic abilities. But this particular skill was one she genuinely couldn't figure out.
"Ah, are you talking about this?" Chen Luo scratched his head, then took a broken lyre out from his inventory.
"Eh, why is there another Holy Lyre here?!" Paimon's little eyes went wide.
"Keep your voice down. Actually, what's in my hand isn't the Holy Lyre, but one of my equipment, called Void Archives." Chen Luo snapped his fingers, and the broken lyre in his hand instantly turned into a golden, regular hexahedron.
"Huh? When did you swap it?" Shocking this Herrscher for a whole year.
"Ever since Venti drank 10 cups of wine at my place in one go, slept straight until the next day, and even forgot he'd given me the Holy Lyre, I deeply felt his unreliability. So, the one I took out this morning was a fake." Chen Luo shrugged.
"S-So, that repair just now was actually an illusion? The real Holy Lyre was intact all along? But why did you do this? Wouldn't it have been better to take it out earlier?" Jean was also quite shocked.
"Hmm, naturally, to give you a chance to shine in front of your sister." Chen Luo stated 5% of the reason.
That's right, just 5%.
"Ah, this... thank you."
"But what about that Anemo seed just now? It looked really powerful?" The Herrscher of Sentience asked again.
"Naturally, it was this coin. But it seems the Anemo Archon's power on the coin is gone again. I'll have to get Venti to recharge it later." Chen Luo took out the Mora blessed by the Anemo Archon.
The wool comes from the sheep's back.
Anyway, he could get this from Venti for free. Might as well use it.
"But, did Barbara forget one thing?" Chen Luo suddenly said.
"What thing?" Jean asked.
"My reward? Didn't she say there was a reward?" Chen Luo glanced towards the cathedral, where Barbara was already long gone.