The two of them had barely finished talking when a shadow dropped from the sky. It was Lumine, now masked, landing beside them with Paimon following close behind.
"Su Mo, we got it!" Paimon shouted excitedly.
"Shhh! Keep your voice down," Venti quickly shushed her with a finger to his lips. Only then did Paimon realize—bragging about a successful theft probably wasn't something to announce out loud. She immediately covered her mouth and then reached into her space pouch. From it, she pulled out a beautifully crafted lyre. Though the carvings on it looked ancient, it didn't appear to be a relic that had sat untouched for millennia. The moment Venti saw it, his eyes lit up, as if seeing an old friend.
"Rosewood with wind-pattern grain… cool starsteel strings…" he whispered. "Yes. This is it. The Lyre once used by Barbatos himself." He gently strummed the strings, and the sound that came forth was indeed melodious. However, the tones had a slightly raspy edge, likely due to the lingering corruption—unpurified by Dvalin's tears. Sensing this, Venti looked a little disappointed.
"Looks like I'll need Dvalin's help again…" Su Mo raised an eyebrow. What, you plan to make him cry so you can purify the strings? Before he could say anything, a commotion sounded nearby. It seemed the sound of the lyre had drawn attention from the Knights of Favonius.
"I heard a lyre just now… could that be the Holy Lyre?"
"Are the thieves still nearby?! Surround the area!" A group of knights, weapons at the ready, rushed toward the source of the sound. But when they reached the wall and saw who stood there, they paused.
"It's the Honorary Knight!" Upon recognizing Su Mo and Lumine, the knights immediately lowered their weapons and relaxed. Then they noticed the lyre in Venti's hands.
"Lord Su Mo… is that really…?"
"Yes," Su Mo nodded. "As you guessed—it's the Holy Lyre." Hearing that confirmation, the knights collectively let out a breath of relief.
"That's wonderful. This lyre is a relic of Lord Barbatos himself!"
"Right, it's a symbol of Mondstadt's freedom. Thank goodness the Honorary Knight was here. I honestly thought it had been stolen by the Fatui…"
"They did leave town right after it went missing. Very suspicious timing!"
"Maybe they really were the thieves—and Lord Su Mo went to confront them at their base!"
"Yeah, that makes sense…" Now that the Holy Lyre had been recovered, the lockdown could finally be lifted. With the Honorary Knight present, the knights were clearly at ease. Once they had dispersed, Su Mo glanced at Venti and chuckled. "Looks like the Wind God's relic won't be in your hands for long after all," he said teasingly. "Asking the Wind God to hand over the Wind God's relic—what a hilarious situation." Having the deity himself surrender his own sacred relic to the Church? It was as ridiculous as it sounded, and yet, here they were.
Venti merely sighed, powerless in the face of irony. Though he could have easily revealed his true identity and taken the lyre back, doing so would only bring him a mountain of responsibilities—exactly the kind of thing he went to great lengths to avoid. So, with a shrug of surrender, he followed Su Mo to the Western Church to return the Holy Lyre. This time, the instrument hadn't been damaged—in fact, it had been reclaimed. Barbara expressed her deep gratitude to Su Mo and the others, clearly delighted. Judging by her glowing expression, Su Mo's reputation in Mondstadt had surely grown even stronger. Now, perhaps his affinity with Barbara had inched closer. With the Holy Lyre returned, Su Mo's standing in Mondstadt likely gained another +3 points. Upon exiting the church, Lumine turned toward Venti with a serious look.
She hadn't reacted with surprise earlier when Su Mo exposed Venti's identity—clearly, she had already seen through him. Meanwhile, Paimon remained blissfully unaware, frowning in confusion as she tried to make sense of the conversation. When the group stopped walking, Paimon finally asked the question that had been bothering her.
"What do you mean, 'taking the Wind God's relic from the Wind God himself'?"
"Because Venti is Barbatos," Lumine explained patiently, watching Paimon like she would a confused child. "The bard is Barbatos?" Paimon gasped, taking a startled step back before zooming in to examine Venti from head to toe. "No way! You're telling me this guy is the Wind Archon?!" From head to toe, he didn't have a shred of divine dignity. Honestly, her skepticism made sense.
"What? Do I not look the part?" Venti tilted his head innocently. "Not at all!" Paimon blurted without hesitation. "Haha!" Venti laughed, perfectly content with the remark. After all, he never wanted to rule over anyone—being underestimated suited him just fine. After teasing Paimon for a while, Venti turned to face Lumine. "Traveler, you look like you have something you want to ask me?" "I do," Lumine replied with a nod. "I want to ask about my brother. A long time ago, he was taken away by a mysterious god…" She began to recount her story, the very reason she was seeking out the Seven Archons.
But Venti, to her disappointment, claimed to know nothing. Su Mo, however, suspected the Wind God was hiding something—but didn't press. After all, her brother himself had requested not to reveal anything to Lumine just yet. Disheartened, Lumine lowered her gaze, but Venti spoke up again. "If it's gods you seek, your next destination should be Liyue," he offered helpfully. "The Archon there is unlike me—he appears publicly each year during the Rite of Descension."
"Actually," he added, "that ceremony is happening quite soon. If you miss it, you'll have to wait a whole year." No, not just a year—if they missed it now, they'd likely never see Morax again. Su Mo silently rolled his eyes. As diligent as Zhongli might appear, even he had sensed that change was on the horizon. He, too, was laying the groundwork to withdraw from the world, ready to feign his own death. This year's Rite of Descension would likely be his last.
Hearing that, Paimon panicked. "Why didn't you say that earlier?! If we miss it, we'll have to wait an entire year! And we might never run into the Geo Archon by chance—he only works one day a year!"
"Well then, farewell!" Venti grinned and waved. "You travelers can use leyline teleportation, so come visit anytime if you miss me!" Lumine nodded and continued asking him a few more questions. Once satisfied, she watched as Venti opened his Wind Glider and drifted off into the sky—no doubt heading to the tavern. She then exchanged a glance with Su Mo. "It's time to start a new journey."
"Absolutely. I've been wanting to visit Liyue for a while now," Su Mo replied with a small grin. He was particularly curious to see if Zhongli would be lurking nearby when Morax staged his own 'death'. "But before we head out, we'll need to stock up on food," Su Mo added, suddenly remembering the harsh days of travel.
"Agreed!" Lumine nodded firmly. This trip would involve trekking through mountain ranges. Water wouldn't be a problem, but food absolutely had to be prepared in advance—they couldn't afford to end up in another survival nightmare.
"Paimon agrees too!" the little companion chimed in. The last thing she wanted was for the two of them to get hungry and start eyeing her like emergency rations again. Better to stop that scenario before it started. With their minds made up, the trio headed to the market for a serious round of shopping. A big resupply was in order before setting off for Liyue.
...
...
While Su Mo in the world of Teyvat was wrapping up his Mondstadt adventure and preparing for the next chapter in Liyue…
Inside the Mist Realm, four other versions of Su Mo—'Index' Su Mo, 'Fairy Tail' Su Mo, 'DanMachi' Su Mo, and 'Pokemon' Su Mo—were deep in discussion.
It was now Pokemon world's Su Mo turn to take over patrol duty. Pirate World's Su Mo had just finished his shift. "Any leads on the Eternal Flame?" asked DanMachi's Su Mo, clearly still focused on the power Hestia had granted him. It was something that weighed heavily on his mind. "Speaking of sacred fire from Greek mythology, the first thing that comes to mind is the Olympic Games," muttered Fairy Tail's Ethan as he stroked his chin. "Maybe we're supposed to host the Olympics and use that power to unite the world or something?" It was clearly a joke.
"It's more than that," Index's Su Mo said, shaking his head. "Hestia governs hearth and flame. The Eternal Flame is deeply tied to both."
"The first fire gave humans the ability to cook—but in early human society, fire also became a central part of rituals and worship." He paused thoughtfully. "And when it comes to sacred fire, I recall that many religious traditions have strict rules surrounding it…"
"The flame must remain eternal—it cannot be allowed to extinguish."
"Because of this, fire itself has come to symbolize humanity's devotion to the gods."
"The reason Hestia's divine authority is so revered is directly related to that."
"That's why the Eternal Sacred Flame she wields should be understood as the flame of faith, the one that connects mortals and gods."
"As for what it can actually do… I'm not quite sure yet."
As he spoke, the Su Mo from the A Certain Magical World shook his head. Compared to most gods in Greek mythology, Hestia was remarkably low-profile. There were few myths, and even fewer legends. The reason, so the story goes, was because for a goddess so pure and chaste, it would be improper to gossip or speculate.