"Dvalin? Who's that?" Paimon frowned. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.
"That's Stormterror's name," Lumine explained.
"Oh! Right. But… don't people usually just call it 'Stormterror'?" Paimon stared suspiciously at Venti. "So—are you close with Stormterror or something?"
"You tell me," Venti said with a grin.
"Hey!" Paimon huffed, then turned to Lumine. "I'm telling you, this guy feels weird."
Lumine studied him. "Who are you?"
"Venti," he said proudly. "A bard."
"More precisely—three-time champion of 'Mondstadt's Favorite Bard'."
Then, with curiosity, he asked, "You stayed behind on purpose. What do you want with me?"
Paimon crossed her arms, fierce as a tiny angry cat. "If you already recognized us, don't play dumb. Obviously it's about Stormterror."
"Eh??" Venti blinked, looking genuinely lost.
"Hey! Don't suddenly pretend you lost your memory!" Paimon stamped in midair, then remembered something and brightened with smug triumph. "Lumine! Show him that thing!"
"Oh."
Lumine pulled out the purified tear crystal from Paimon's storage space, uncertain. "I don't know if he'll recognize it."
"…That's—?!" Venti's expression changed sharply.
Paimon blinked, then blurted, "Wait—this crystal… it's purified? Since when?!"
Lumine shook her head.
It had been purified that night by Kaito—but she still didn't trust Venti enough to say it.
"This is a tear Dvalin shed… from pain," Venti said quietly.
Then he drew out another crystal of his own, his mood dropping.
Unlike Lumine's, his was crimson—still corrupted.
"Once, he was a gentle child," Venti murmured, "and now he's so full of sorrow… so full of anger…"
He held the crystal out to her, hope flickering in his eyes.
"I have one too. Can you purify it?"
Lumine nodded.
Kaito had said she could.
She closed her fingers around the crimson crystal.
A strange force washed through it—cleansing, stripping away the curse.
The red faded, and the crystal returned to its original light.
"You…" Venti whispered, stunned. "You really do have an unbelievable power…"
Then—like an old habit—he slipped into dramatic recitation again.
"Someone like you is destined to be sung of in the ballads of bards…"
"Stand in the light, and you may become a hero. Stand in shadow, and you may guide calamity…"
He stopped mid-line, as if remembering something, and sighed with regret.
"…But I don't have time right now to write you a new song."
"Even if no one slays Dvalin, his life will still drain away," Venti said, voice heavy. "He'll burn himself out in rage…"
Lumine considered it.
Should she comfort him?
…No. Probably not.
"As a Knight, I advise you to turn yourself in—with the dragon," Lumine said.
"Ahaha…" Venti rubbed the back of his head. "Even if you joke like that, my mood won't improve."
"But… you helped. Purifying that tear crystal—I'm grateful."
"…"
Lumine fell silent.
She hadn't been joking.
Venti was already turning to leave. "I have my own plan. And seeing the dragon's tears reminded me of… an old friend."
"I'll take my leave."
"Hey! Where are you going?!" Paimon asked urgently.
"To the symbol of Mondstadt's heroism," Venti said, waving as he jogged off. "See you!"
Lumine and Paimon watched his back disappear, both sinking into thought.
"Lumine… what do you think?"
"He's strange," Lumine said slowly. "But…"
She remembered the epic he'd performed.
"…He's not ordinary."
If Kaito's words matched the poem, then Stormterror's madness likely came from the poisoned blood—and the curse within it.
That was a truth even the Knights didn't seem to know.
With what she had now, she could report directly to Acting Grand Master Jean.
But—
Paimon was still muttering. "Maybe to him, we're the weird ones."
"Paimon," Lumine said, frowning slightly, "did you think his voice sounded kind of familiar?"
"Huh? No. Not really."
"…Forget it."
Lumine headed toward the stairs leading up through the plaza.
"Where are we going?" Paimon hurried after her.
"'The symbol of Mondstadt's heroism.'" Lumine's eyes sharpened. "We'll follow him and see."
"We're… tailing him?!" Paimon's excitement ignited. "An investigation!"
"Yeah." Lumine nodded, then hesitated. "But where is the symbol of Mondstadt's heroism?"
Paimon pointed southeast. "From here you can see a huge tree in the distance! It's probably there!"
Lumine stared at her.
Then decided, calmly, "We should ask Kaito."
They returned to Good Hunter.
Kaito was sitting at a table, chatting with Mona—who looked like she'd wandered in to escape a crowd.
After greeting Mona politely, Lumine said, "Kaito, I just met a bard named Venti."
"Venti?" Kaito looked mildly surprised.
Ever since the dragon crisis began, Venti hadn't performed at Good Hunter in a long time—nor at the other taverns.
The last time he'd shown up was when Lumine and Paimon happened to run into him.
And now… he'd appeared again.
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