Chapter 122: An Unexpected Encounter

"Want me to accompany you to find an inn? That's fine, I'm still quite familiar with Mondstadt City."

Nolan nodded in agreement and did not reject their request.

"Well, thank you." Lumine's smile appeared as the sashes on her dress gently swayed.

"By the way, it seems like we only have a few tens of thousands of Mora that we obtained from the treasure chests. It may not be enough for a few days. Should we sell those materials first?" Paimon, with her left hand behind her back and her right hand rubbing her chin, asked Lumine.

"But where should we go?"

Lumine's soft lips parted slightly as she spoke in response to Paimon's words, but her gaze went to Nolan.

She had a feeling that being an adventurer, he would know a little more about this than Paimon.

"If you want to get a better price, you might have to find buyers yourself. Although it seems a bit troublesome, I know an intelligence broker who should have connections. Alternatively, if you want it to be easier, you can directly sell them to the Adventurers' Guild. The price shouldn't differ much,"

Nolan thought a little bit and spoke his suggestion.

"Hehehe, since that's the case then let's go over to the Adventurer's Guild first and take a look." Paimon agreed, nodding her head.

"Alright, let's not trouble you to ask others for help."

Lumine nodded her head, but her eyes accidentally glanced at the green-clothed teenager on the street below, the same one they had encountered in the forest when they encountered the Stormterror and had a conversation with it.

"Nolan, didn't you mention encountering a bard dressed in green during your adventure to Knights earlier? is it the one on the street below?"

Lumine's legs, wrapped in white over-the-knee boots, stopped swinging as she looked down the street to the side.

Huh?

Slightly surprised, Nolan followed Lumine's line of sight downward, and indeed, in his line of sight, he saw Venti strolling leisurely.

"Huh? It's really him! We met him in the forest before, and he was with Stormterror. Maybe he's one of the masterminds behind all this!"

Paimon had heard from Jean, the Acting Grand Master, about the Abyss Order's involvement behind the Windstorm, so she couldn't help but think of the suspicious character they had encountered earlier.

At this moment, she felt a little excited, feeling like she had found a clue.

"Although I feel that he's not a bad person, it's also true that he's connected to the Stormterror," Lumine said after a moment of contemplation, resting her fingers against her chin.

"Then let's go take a look. He still owes me a Luxurious Treasure Chest!"

Nolan said with a nod of his head.

The three of them immediately jumped down to the street below, but after taking a few steps to where Venti had been, they found that he had already disappeared.

"Damn it, what's up with that guy, why did he run off so fast!"

Paimon clenched her fists and stomped her foot in mid-air, her face showing a frustrated expression.

She turned back to look at Lumine.

"Traveler, see if you can find any traces with Elemental Sight," she said.

"That's all that can be done."

While Lumine couldn't use Elemental Energy without the Vision, she had mastered a rare ability among Vision holders: Elemental Sight.

This ability allowed her to observe the world from the perspective of Elemental Energy, discovering things that were difficult to perceive with the naked eye.

For example, there were a series of faint green footprints on the ground, attached with a slight wind elemental energy residue. At the same time, Nolan had activated his Golden Eye of Judgment and discovered the elemental traces left by Venti.

Although his eyes could see elemental traces like Elemental Sight, they didn't enter the perspective of Elemental Energy, which was a small difference.

"Let's go this way!" Lumine followed the traces, leading everyone to a spot along the street where the footprints disappeared.

"It seems he went up from here," Nolan looked up and said, "It looks like the Anemo Archon Statue Plaza above. Would it be possible to fly up like you, Paimon?"

In reality, climbing vertical walls without footholds in Teyvat wasn't as simple as it was in games. Even well-trained Knights of Favonius would find it difficult, as without footholds, even the strongest strength couldn't be exerted. Of course, it was a different story if one could jump up in one leap.

Although it took a bit of effort for the two of them, with their considerable strength, they could make it up.

But there was no need to go to such great lengths to make a slight detour.

"Well, when I met him in the forest that day I did notice that he was carrying the Vision, so he must be someone extraordinary,"

The white petals pinned on her head refracted a little shade in the sunlight covering her golden hair as Lumine nodded slightly in agreement.

Nolan and Lumine quickly ran up, stepping onto the stone steps and arriving at the Anemo Archon Plaza.

Sure enough.

After searching around, they finally spotted Venti under the shadow of the corridor on the right side of the Anemo Archon Statue Plaza.

"Ah, it's you guys, what a coincidence!" Venti noticed the approaching group and greeted them.

Although they had only met once, whether it was the young adventurer or the traveler with what seemed like a humanoid Pokemon, he had left quite an impression.

"Hehe, it's not a coincidence at all," Paimon said, clasping her hands together and continuing with a smile, "We came specifically to find you!"

"Oh? What brings you to me, the most popular bard in Mondstadt?" Venti asked with a smile.

"Mr. Venti, the Great Bard, do you not remember using an empty treasure chest to deceive me and my two companions out of our Red Crystal the day before yesterday?"

Nolan was a bit speechless to Venti who was playing dumb here.

At the same time, he also attempted to gauge Venti's strength with his still-open golden eyes, but unsurprisingly, like the Wind Dragon, it was also unknown.

[Level: ???]

"Oh, I won't forget about that, please give me a little time to prepare the funds," Venti said playfully, patting his green hat and looking at Nolan.

"..."

Nolan also casually said just, after all, if the Anemo Archon truly pretended to be ignorant, could he really beat him up?

"Well, actually, we came to find you for this matter. Since you took someone else's Red Crystal, you must know where it came from, right? Is it related to the Stormterror?"

Lumine asked with a puzzled expression on her fair face.

"I see, so the suspicion falls on me, that's truly heartbreaking~" Venti said dramatically, clutching his chest as if he were about to faint.

Nolan, Lumine, and Paimon crossed their arms and stared at him, their attitude clearly indicating that if he had no problem, why did he take someone else's Red Crystal?

"Alright, alright, in order to clear the suspicion on me, the great bard, I'll tell you—these are the tears that Dvalin shed due to his pain!"

Venti explained.

"Dvalin?"

"Tears?"

A series of doubts popped up in Paimon's mind, while Lumine nodded as ifs he somewhat understood, "That's the name of the Storm Dragon, isn't it? With such a name, it seems you're quite familiar with it."

"I also have one of its tear crystals. What's the use of collecting them?"

Lumine said, taking out the crystal, which was circulating with a gloomy light. Wait, why does it look clear and transparent now?

Lumine looked at the crystal in her hand, completely devoid of its previous gloomy red color, her amber-like eyes widened in surprise.

(End of Chapter)

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