Kamisato Ayaka watched from the side, utterly dumbfounded.
Mondstadt’s local customs were certainly broadening her horizons.
"Are you really sure you don’t want to reconsider? Just say the word, and this little treasure is yours."
Venti looked like some suspicious old man tempting a child as he held out an exquisite, translucent object glowing with teal light and shaped somewhat like a chess piece.
Kamisato Satoru’s eyelid twitched violently.
Good grief, this guy is seriously trying to give away his divine position!
"Lord Venti, our top priority should be resolving the crisis with Dvalin."
Jean decisively changed the subject. She had absolutely no desire to discuss a change of leadership out on the street.
"Right. Traveler, could you take out those teardrop crystals you purified earlier and place them together with the lyre?"
Venti finally toned down his joking and became somewhat more serious.
"No problem."
Lumine took out an ancient-looking wooden lyre whose strings had long since lost their luster, along with a vibrant green teardrop-shaped crystal.
Hum!
The instant the teardrop crystal touched the lyre, it dissolved into a gentle swirl of wind.
The previously dull strings once again began to radiate a divine glow.
"Lord Venti, can we awaken Dvalin now?"
Hope gleamed in Jean’s eyes.
Ting...
Venti casually plucked one of the strings. A beautiful note reverberated through the air, but he shook his head regretfully.
"Not yet. This tiny amount of Anemo energy is nowhere near enough to awaken Dvalin from the Abyssal curse."
"You mean we need more of these purified tears?"
Diluc frowned.
Something like that wasn’t exactly a weed they could find growing everywhere.
"Exactly. The more of these we have, the better. When it comes to troops, Han Xin always said the more, the merrier."
"You’re the freaking Anemo Archon. You’re telling me you can’t even scrape together this much energy?"
Kamisato Satoru stared at Venti with open contempt.
Even if there was something wrong with his familiar, how could the energy supplied by its own god be inferior to that of a mortal?
"Oh, come on. That battle took a lot out of me, and I still haven’t fully recovered. Even the landlord’s family has no grain to spare."
Venti once again pulled out the same tired old excuse.
"Then wait here. I’ll be right back."
Without warning, Kamisato Satoru vanished from everyone’s sight.
About ten minutes later...
Whoosh!
Kamisato Satoru reappeared, casually carrying a heavy burlap sack.
Clatter!
He shook the bag, sending more than twenty crimson crystals filled with violent energy scattering across the floor.
"This... Where the heck did you rob all these from?"
It wasn’t just Lumine and Paimon who were dumbfounded. Even the well-traveled Venti stared at the pile in utter disbelief.
This drop rate... Don’t tell me he cut out Dvalin’s tear glands?!
"Freshly made. They’re still fresh, so hurry up and use them."
Kamisato Satoru deliberately avoided the heart of the matter and chuckled mischievously.
"Don’t tell me you..."
Venti’s face turned slightly pale as an extremely miserable scene formed in his imagination.
"That’s right. I personally went to Dvalin and ’asked’ for a few."
"Since when was Dvalin that easy to talk to?"
Paimon scratched her head suspiciously, completely unable to understand.
"I patiently taught him a lesson in ’physics.’ He must’ve been deeply moved, so he gave me all these."
"If I remember correctly, these crystals are formed from the tears a dragon sheds while suffering... You didn’t beat that poor dragon half to death just to make it cry, did you?"
Jean’s expression became extraordinarily complicated.
The look she gave Kamisato Satoru was filled with sympathy.
For the dragon, of course.
Kamisato Satoru merely raised an eyebrow, a meaningful smile tugging at his lips without giving a direct answer.
But everyone present understood perfectly well.
His silence had already said everything.
"Waaah! My poor Dvalin..."
Venti let out an exaggerated wail, while secretly feeling relieved.
Thank goodness I never provoked him that badly.
"All right, quit acting. I held back. I didn’t send him off to meet the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles."
"Lumine, it’s your time to shine."
"Leave it to me!"
Hum!
Lumine placed both hands over the crimson crystals, and an incomparably pure power immediately surged forth.
A few moments later, every trace of murky, violent crimson faded away, leaving behind a pile of crystal-clear teardrops that resembled flawless emeralds.
"Venti, here. This should be enough, right?"
Lumine handed over the enormous bundle of energy sources, enough to sustain an entire battle.
Ting!
As the crystals merged into the Holy Lyre der Himmel, the instrument suddenly erupted with an almost miraculous burst of brilliant emerald light.
Its melody seemed to possess the power to cleanse the soul, filling everyone present with a profound sense of peace.
"Everything’s ready. Let’s head to Stormterror’s lair and have a little chat with him."
Venti confidently made the suggestion.
patreon.com/ZoroTL442