"Venti... who is that?" Amon asked from the side.
"Not who. You know him. The Anemo Archon of Mondstadt who drinks all day, never acts properly, and even gets complained about by his own followers for not doing any real work!" Lora shook her head and said to Amon.
"Oh! Barbatos." Amon suddenly understood, then asked, "Does he still avoid doing any real work these days?"
Lora thought for a moment. "He does a little. Not much."
Even in the current situation, unless he truly had no choice but to act, he was probably still almost nonexistent in Mondstadt as an Archon.
"Let's not talk about that." Sophia waved a hand and said to Amon, "You'll have to stay in Sumeru City for a while this time! The Sabzeruz Festival is coming up, so celebrate my daughter's birthday with us."
"The Sabzeruz Festival? Isn't that your birthday?" A hint of nostalgia flashed through Amon's eyes when he heard the name.
Sophia shook her head. "I'm an old woman already. What birthday do I need to celebrate? Let's celebrate my daughter's instead. Otherwise, would Sumeru have to celebrate two Sabzeruz Festivals in one year?"
Besides, Nahida had not celebrated a birthday in five hundred years. No matter what, Sophia had to make it up to her properly.
"In that case, I'll have to prepare more gifts! This little bit won't be enough!" Amon's expression suddenly became serious.
The three gods of Sumeru had a very good relationship, and since Nahida was Sophia's junior, Amon naturally saw her as a junior too. How could he give only that small gift for a junior's birthday?
Even though the gifts he had already given were worth a fortune, enough to fund several Ventis for a lifetime.
"So you're starting an arms race, are you? You're starting an arms race!" Hearing Amon's words, Lora planted her hands on her hips. "Sophia, you actually didn't remind me? I haven't brought anything at all!"
A few days ago, as soon as she received Sophia's message, she had rushed over from Fontaine without stopping to join the group fight. Sophia had not even reminded her about the Sabzeruz Festival.
Apep patted Lora on the shoulder. "Calm down. I didn't prepare anything either."
Hearing Apep say that, Lora had just breathed a sigh of relief when Apep continued, "But my home is close by, so I can prepare something quickly. You, on the other hand... have to go all the way back to Fontaine, don't you?"
"What are you saying? What kind of thing is that to say!" Lora immediately became displeased. "Do you believe I can make one phone call and have someone deliver it here?"
"What is a phone?" everyone asked in return.
"...A Hydro phone!" Lora corrected herself.
A phone was just long-distance communication.
Hers used water.
Therefore, Hydro phone.
Makes sense. It makes perfect sense!
"Lunatic..." Amon muttered.
Lora quickly passed the matter here along the waterways to Neuvillette, who was far away in Fontaine.
Neuvillette, who was discussing with Focalors and Furina how Fontaine's navy should be built to meet their requirements, suddenly froze, his expression turning somewhat blank.
"Neuvillette, what's wrong?" Furina looked at him and waved a hand in front of his face.
"It's Ms. Lora..." After reading the message Lora had sent him, Neuvillette looked even more helpless.
"What did Mom say?" Furina quickly asked after hearing Neuvillette's words. Focalors, beside her, also looked at him curiously, waiting for what he would say next.
"She said... we should prepare some gifts and send them to Sumeru. She needs them for a festival," Neuvillette said to the two after a moment of silence.
"A festival? Gifts?" After hearing Neuvillette's words, both Furina and Focalors were somewhat confused.
Neuvillette continued, "It is the Sabzeruz Festival, the birthday of Sumeru's Dendro Archon."
After a moment of silence, Focalors said, "That really is... very much Lady Egeria's style. Even when facing something like the imminent revival of the gods, she is still so calm..."
"Speaking of which, Fontaine truly does not need to worry too much. The only one we need to be on guard against is Remus, the King of Remuria," Neuvillette said slowly to the two of them. "With me here, Fontaine has no need to worry too much."
"You've worked hard, Neuvillette." Furina looked at Neuvillette, stepped forward, and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll have Mom bring you back a gift later! We'll make sure to reward you properly!"
Furina had only just finished speaking when Neuvillette froze again. Seeing his reaction, she hurriedly asked, "What is it this time?"
"She asked what kind of gift I would like and said she would bring one back for me," Neuvillette said to the curious pair. He looked at Focalors and Furina, then asked, "Do you... have any recommendations?"
Focalors and Furina looked at one another, then both shook their heads. "We've never been to Sumeru, so we don't know what good things Sumeru has. You can ask Idyia about that. She stayed in Sumeru for quite some time."
"That will do. It will also be a good chance for her to take the gifts to Sumeru and deliver them to Ms. Lora." Neuvillette nodded slightly, agreeing with their suggestion.
Lora stayed in the Akademiya for several days, waiting until Idyia arrived.
But when she saw the bundle on Idyia's back, a bundle even larger than Idyia herself, Lora froze on the spot. "What... is going on here?"
Idyia wiped at nonexistent sweat and ran over to Lora with a smile. "Lady Egeria!"
"Wait!" Lora took a step back.
Seeing Idyia still move freely with such a huge pack on her back left her utterly shocked.
Were all her Oceanid familiars this strong?
The weight of the pack was one thing. The main issue was its size. It was much larger than a person, yet Idyia could carry it on her back and move as if nothing had happened.
Oceanids truly were gods among gods...
Idyia also realized the situation and set the pack down on the ground. Lora clearly felt the entire ground tremble, and even her own body seemed to bounce slightly.
"What is this...?" Lora blinked blankly at the bundle Idyia had put down.
Idyia then said to Lora, "These are all gifts Monsieur Neuvillette asked me to bring you! He said that since this is for celebrating the birthday of Sumeru's Dendro Archon, Fontaine cannot lose face outside its borders! Lady Focalors and Lady Furina said the same thing!"
"Did they move part of Fontaine's treasury here?" Lora asked with a frown.
She had said to bring precious gifts, but an entire huge bag of precious gifts was far too much.
Idyia shook her head. "No. I heard Lady Focalors say that Monsieur Neuvillette took them from your personal treasury!"
"What?!"
Lora's voice suddenly rose by eight octaves.