52 Chapter 47

Once our group reached the top section of Monstadt and we were walking past Barbatos's statute I realized a very real issue... I hadn't warned Lumine and the others of the Fatui's actions and it would be fine if they simply attacked, and we were able to push them back. But with me involving another nation's black ops leader and someone who basically groomed every generation of Liyue's government in her centuries of serving the nation of Liyue.

Having such entities just show up unannounced to 'help' us with them telling how I provided the information of the Fatui going to make a move on Mondstadt's Archon was problematic, to say the least.

Simply not telling Lumine and the others especially Jean who was the leader of the Mondstadts military basically would make me lose a bunch of trust.

"I have something very important to share with you all," I said as we entered the church and thankfully, I saw there were no Fatui agents here in the church so this place should be safe.

"Venti please make a barrier or something so no one can eavesdrop please." Hearing how serious I was the Bard Archon shrugged and did so with a tiny ring forming around us.

"While I was out on the commission, I learned that the Fatui are going to make a move on you to steal an artifact called a gnosis or something," I spoke not giving any details as to when it was supposed to happen.

While the rest of our group very rightly looked concerned, I continued. "While I finished my commission to keep up appearances, I made contact with two of Liyue's rather well-known vision wielders and after discussing it with them I enlisted their help in fighting the Harbinger or even Harbingers that could already be in Mondstadt in return for a favor."

"Who is in Mondstadt!" Jean all but snarled but before visibly taking a deep breath and adopting her more common stoic expression. "Jake such a warning should have directly been given to us at the earliest moment and not us running around Mondstadt until we got here."

Thankfully Venti spoke up for me as I saw Lumine about to snap back at Jean for her aggression as Paimon hid behind us. "Relax Master Jean. Jake did the right thing. If they were going to attack me today, then having a frantic high-level fighter attached to Mondstadt franticly pulling you away will only cause complications."

"Yes... You are right Lord Barbatos." Jean said absently ignoring Venti cringing at being called his divine name while Jean was in deep thought. "I will have some trustworthy sisters alert Diluc, Lisa, and the other vision wielders of the city... But we don't have much time as it's well known that we were going to 'return' the Holy Lyre De Himmel today."

Then from behind us, I heard someone cough. "I will go around the city, alerting the others..." I whirled around saw the oddly toned skin, very busty woman standing right in the radius of our ward, and I didn't hear her walk over or even sense her presence at all...

Obviously, the only sister with such an odd ashy skin tone was Rosaria the resident ninja nun who did black ops stuff for Mondstadt, and even as I knew I was very much in good graces of Mondstadt her cold expression was chilly, to say the least, and even Paimon whimpered at how she snuck up on all of us making Paimon fly from behind us to where we were as attempted to keep me and Lumine between her and the new person.

"Thank you, Rosaria. Let the winds carry you favorably." Jean said with the sister lightly bowing and I felt her eyes locked onto me and Lumine with the motion before the eye lock broke as she spun around and left the church probably in search of more allies.

"Well let's just wait five minutes before we hand over the Holy Lyre," Venti said earning nods as even someone with a vision would need a couple minutes to go around the city without causing too much alarm.

Seeing how tense we all were. Venti broke the ice in the only way he was best at, by saying a couple cringe poems I wanted to purge out of my brain with bleach but either way, the tension was broken and Paimon asked how my trip was when we relaxed. "Paimon was curious as to which commission you took that took you all the way to Liyue and Mondstadt's border and who from there is here in Mondstadt!" She asked excitedly to meet new people.

I reordered my thoughts before I answered Paimon's question knowing all too well that the others were listening to my tale. "I took a commission to purge a migration of cryo slimes that were blocking up trade between Liyue and Mondstadt and while I was doing it, Yelan the woman who stole the Tsaritsa's clothes, and Ganyu the secretary of Liyue, and I believe to be an Adeptus ran into me, and we talked."

Then my face twitched at the memory of Yelan using her enchanted coat and sneaking up on me with only ruin guards being able to catch her movements with their enhanced sensors. "Yeah, and Yelan tried to 'surprise' me," I said sarcastically as you never know. I could very well be about to die by Yelan's garrot wires so Liyue could retrieve that Adeptus Sword I looted earlier.

"Were you scared Jake? Paimon would be super scared if someone invisible snuck!" She shuddered as she flew to give me a quick hug.

Accepting the hug from Paimon I patted her on the back as Lumine and the others got my unmentioned discomfort with the situation.

"So, what did it cost you to have such individuals come here to Mondstadt to interfere with our land's issues," Jean asked finally.

I nervously laughed before I brushed my hand through my hair as I shrugged. "Well... I promised on my title as Honorary Knight of Mondstadt that should we capture Signora who is likely the one to attack us, then we will gift the Harbinger to Liyue forces within a week of the capture, and Mondstadt keeps any other Harbinger in the area without question."

Jean's face twitched at my blatant going over her head, but she only smiled wryly. "Who knows what will happen... A week is a long time. For all I know the Fatui could break her out, she could mentally break under our pressure and talk, or she may very well die during the battle." She said outlining the different futures in which Mondstadt wouldn't need to hand her over anyway and honestly, I saw Signora dying in battle much likelier than being captured.

But Jean's face smoothed over losing her prior emotions as she clapped her hands. "It's time, Let's give the Holy Lyre to my sister and then I will stay with my sister for a bit Jake you make an obvious move that will attract everyone's attention when Signora makes a move."

I nodded as Venti ever so gently took out his own Holy Lyre and thankfully with it not taking an attack directly by an Abyss Mage there was nothing wrong, so we were easily able to pass the Lyre off to the sisters of Barbatos and more particularly Jean's sister who hugged the Lyre to her chest as though we were going to take it on a dangerous adventure again.

Barbara was frankly a sweet angel as she had a very soft voice and even as she was a shorter less busty version of her sister that did her hair in cute drill-shaped twin tails compared to her sister's utilitarian ponytail, she was still a vision of beauty in any case.

But once Barbara gracefully thanked us for our efforts in quelling the fury in Dvalin and protecting Barbatos's legacy she ran off downstairs in the church's basement with the Lyre.

Then with nothing left to be done in the church, Lumine Venti and I left the church to face our fates.