Genshin Impact: Spoiling the Future

Returning to the book’s content—after failing to get his way through coaxing and acting spoiled, Venti decided to reveal his true identity.

[”Ah, there’s no helping it. I can’t keep hiding any longer!”]

[”My devout believer, rejoice! Standing before you is none other than the Anemo Archon Barbatos himself!”]

Venti wore an uncharacteristically solemn expression.

[”Aren’t you shocked? So shocked you could cry? Finally meeting the god you serve—how about it? Touched, aren’t you?”]

[Venti’s seriousness lasted less than a second.]

Unfortunately, from Sister Gotelinde’s perspective, this was just another one of Venti’s schemes after failing to charm his way through—now pretending to be possessed by the Anemo Archon.

[”If there’s nothing else, I’ll return to handling the church’s documents.” Gotelinde didn’t believe a word of it.]

Of course, how could Lord Barbatos, who had accomplished so many great deeds, be a bard who looked barely of age?

And Lord Barbatos must surely be a solemn and dignified god, bearing the majesty of a deity—how could he possibly be this mischievous?

[”Huh!?”]

Venti exclaimed in disbelief. Why was it that people believed his lies but not the truth?

Meanwhile, in reality, Sister Gotelinde was exactly as Venti had described—she was crying.

”Lord Barbatos revealed himself before me, and I didn’t believe him!”

”As a sister, I’ve failed terribly. I must go confess.”

Sister Gotelinde couldn’t read any further; she was prepared to spend the rest of her life in the confessional.

This was the first time Barbara had seen Sister Gotelinde cry, but she completely understood how she felt.

This was the Anemo Archon—Lord Barbatos himself, gracing them with his presence after centuries of absence, and in such an amiable manner.

Yet, as a sister of the church, she had failed to recognize her own god!

And to make matters worse, this book was going to be published across all of Teyvat! Now the whole world would know that Gotelinde had failed to recognize the Anemo Archon.

The fact that she was only crying and hadn’t fainted outright was a testament to her strength.

But then again, this couldn’t really be blamed on Gotelinde. After all, the Anemo Archon had been absent for centuries—naturally, she wouldn’t have seen him in person.

And the statue was just that—a statue. It couldn’t possibly capture his true likeness, especially since the statue depicted him in his divine attire, radiating sanctity.

”Sister Gotelinde, please don’t cry. Lord Barbatos is so gentle—he definitely wouldn’t hold it against you,” Barbara hurriedly comforted.

Of course, Gotelinde couldn’t stop crying just because of Barbara’s few words of reassurance.

Clasping her hands together in prayer, she let her tears flow freely down her cheeks.

A gentle breeze drifted into the church, brushing against Gotelinde’s face and tenderly carrying away her tears.

Both Barbara and Gotelinde realized it at the same time—it was the Anemo Archon!

Lord Barbatos truly bore no grudge! Not only did he not blame her, but he had even kindly wiped away her tears.

”Lord Barbatos!” the two exclaimed in unison, pressing their hands together in reverence.

”Hoh?” Rosaria also noticed, thinking to herself that Barbatos was far gentler than she had imagined.

Meanwhile, the Anemo Archon in question—Barbatos himself—was currently extending his mischievous little hand toward an unattended bottle of wine.

It had been left behind, half-finished, by someone who had departed earlier.

”Bard, even though I’m reading, I can still see what you’re doing.”

Diluc never took his eyes off the book as he flipped a page and continued speaking.

”This one will also go on your tab.”

”Eh!? That’s not fair!”

Venti protested. The bottle had less than half left—he was just trying to take advantage of the leftovers. Why so stingy!?

”Don’t worry, I’ll only charge you for what’s left.” Diluc made it clear he wasn’t one to exploit small opportunities.

Venti deflated, his hand hesitating before finally picking up the bottle.

Fine, put it on the tab. Seeing perfectly good wine go to waste right in front of him was worse than death!

Diluc’s lips curved upward by a single pixel.

His own god was truly an amusing one. Before, he had only suspected, but after reading this passage, he was now certain.

Venti gulped down the wine. Truthfully, he quite liked people like Diluc.

Even after learning his true identity, they treated him no differently—exactly what Venti wanted.

Right now, he just wanted to be Venti, the carefree bard—not the Anemo Archon Barbatos.

But of course, becoming ”just Venti” would have to wait until after the Stormterror incident was resolved.

At the moment, Venti was actually quite grateful to the author.

Though his identity had been exposed to some, it had also made resolving the Stormterror situation much easier.

Once this book was released, it wouldn’t just be Mondstadt—the entire world of Teyvat would learn the truth about Dvalin.

Moreover, his original plan to borrow the Holy Lyre wouldn’t have gone smoothly, but with the book’s foreshadowing, accessing the restricted area where the lyre was kept would now be as easy as walking to the restroom.

Though, in the original timeline, if borrowing had failed, he probably would’ve resorted to stealing it, right? I wonder if the theft went smoothly?

Driven by curiosity, Venti decided to finish the book and his drink before taking action.

In the book, after Venti failed to borrow the lyre, it was the Traveler’s turn to step in.

The Traveler used the Knights of Favonius as an excuse, claiming they needed to borrow the Holy Lyre.

This excuse was clearly more reliable than someone ”playing god,” but unfortunately, Sister Gotelinde saw right through it.

[”The Holy Lyre’s loan requires approval from the Acting Grand Master, the Church’s bishop, and representatives of the citizens, along with signed documentation.”]

[”So, where is the Knights’ paperwork?”]

[”...” The Traveler hadn’t expected it to be this complicated.]

[”The documents were eaten by Paimon on the way here.” The Traveler began spouting nonsense.]

Unsurprisingly, Sister Gotelinde refused to lend the Holy Lyre without proper documentation.

Just as Venti had predicted, they proceeded with the plan to steal it.

The theft went more smoothly than expected. The area where the Holy Lyre was stored did have guards, but due to the Knights’ manpower shortage, security was woefully inadequate.

The so-called ”restricted area” was sparsely guarded, with blind spots everywhere.

The Traveler easily slipped past the guards and reached the Holy Lyre.

Unfortunately, someone had beaten them to it.

A Fatui Electro Cicin Mage, capable of manipulating Electro energy, snatched the lyre and vanished in the blink of an eye.

All that remained was the unfortunate Traveler, left behind as the scapegoat.

The silver lining was that the guards hadn’t gotten a clear look at the Traveler’s face—only that the culprit had blond hair.

At least the Traveler’s reputation as the Honorary Knight remained intact.

Reading this, both the Knights and the Church fell into deep thought.

The Traveler was one thing, but how had the Fatui also managed to infiltrate the restricted area?

The so-called ”security” was practically nonexistent!

”This won’t do. We must reinforce the Holy Lyre’s security detail,” Jean said, massaging her temples.

She felt a headache coming on. They were already understaffed, and now this had exposed their lack of security.

Where were they supposed to find extra personnel?

The Knights were responsible for Mondstadt’s city defense, monster extermination, trade route protection, urban patrols, village safeguarding...

They needed reserves for emergencies, had to monitor the Fatui both inside and outside the city—every area was critically understaffed.

Where were they supposed to pull more people from!?

They couldn’t possibly send Klee to guard the Holy Lyre, could they?

If she didn’t end up blowing the lyre to smithereens, that would already count as a contribution.

Maybe... I should just drink more coffee and take the night watch myself for a while?

Oh, Grand Master Varka... you really took away too many people...

===✧✦✧===

Character Voice - Jean: About Troubles

”If only there were some miraculous potion that let you go without sleep... Hmm, maybe I should ask Lisa about it tomorrow?”