After Diona and Jack made a cooperation, they chatted together for a long time, formulating and finalizing the plan.
Soon, the storm that had been raining finally subsided. Glancing at the storm that had already subsided, Jack decided to finish the conversation.
"My apologies, but I must go now as the storm has stopped."
"Alright... I understand," Diona said regretfully. She wanted to keep chatting with Jack as listening to him had broadened her mind. And for some reason, she felt comfortable talking to Jack.
"Well, I will see you again, and it is truly a pleasure to chat with you, Diona."
"You too! Thank you, Uncle Jack!"
Closing the Cat's Tail door behind him, Jack then continued to walk on the street.
Walking on the street, with light poles flickering intermittently, Jack suddenly stopped and glanced at the building on the left of his back.
"Don't you think it's a bit impolite to follow me secretly?"
A boy or a girl (?) dressed in green bard clothes sheepishly came out from behind one of the buildings.
"Haha, sorry. It's just you look extraordinary, so I was hoping if you would be so generous to give me Mora."
Hearing that, Jack merely raised his eyebrow and then chuckled.
"Haha, I certainly don't mind being generous... but may I have your name first?"
Perking up at Jack's reaction that didn't seem to reject being generous, the bard in green eagerly and proudly introduced himself.
"I'm Venti, a wandering bard, and the three-time winner of the 'Most Popular Bard of Mondstadt!'"
"Haha... I see. I do recognize your name."
Jack simply nodded.
Recognizing Venti? Of course, which Genshin Impact player doesn't recognize Venti?
Venti, a seemingly ordinary bard, but his true identity is anything but ordinary. He is actually Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, worshipped by the Mondstadt citizens!
Jack carefully looked at Venti again.
Venti's hair is braided from both sides and he is wearing a frilly white top with a corset for the midsection, along with teal shorts with gold embroidery, a matching teal cape held together by a deep blue and gold bow.
He also is wearing white stockings with three gold diamond shapes along each leg and a beret-like hat with a Cecilia, which is his favorite flower.
And Venti's clothes look a bit filthy, as if he hadn't washed them for several days.
And most noticeably, he wears an Anemo Vision on his left hip attached to his belt.
But Jack knew that the Anemo Vision ornament is just a fake. After all, what kind of Archon would need a Vision?
'If I didn't know any better... I would have thought this is just a poor bard.'
"I see, Venti... well, don't you think it is a bit impolite to eavesdrop?"
He knew that someone is not only following him but also eavesdropping on him. As he was chatting with Diona, he noticed he had an extremely high-quality Essence Spark that couldn't possibly be provided by Diona.
So with a little thinking, it was easy to guess who it was from.
"What do you mean? I was just following you, not eavesdropping!"
Venti said, panicking as if not wanting to get in trouble.
"Don't think I didn't notice it, Venti or... perhaps should I say, Barbatos the God of Freedom?"
Hearing the name Barbatos, Venti didn't react much except showing a confused expression.
"Haha, what are you talking about? I'm just an ordinary bard, how can I be such a great person?"
Jack merely pursed his lip. Looks like he would have to take out some information to make Venti stop pretending.
"Maintainer of Heavenly Principle, Gnosis, the Primordial One, and the Seven Sovereign."
Venti's confused expression suddenly became much more serious upon hearing those several key words.
"Where did you hear... that?"
"I don't know. Why don't you guess?"
Jack responded cheeky, getting revenge for Venti pretending to be confused.
"Alright, you win. I am indeed Barbatos."
Venti sighed, a little bit uncomfortable. He thought he acted well enough, but it was as if everything he did is within Jack's expectation.
When he was wandering in Mondstadt as a bard, with the sound of the wind, Venti already knew the announcement of Joker.
And when listening to the sound of the wind again, the discussion between Jack Napier and Diona caught his attention. In Venti's memory, Jack Napier has never appeared in Mondstadt before, and to make it even more suspicious, he suddenly appeared the day after Joker's appearance.
So it was easy to deduce Jack Napier's true identity.
At first, Venti didn't originally take Joker seriously, as he originally thought that Joker is just someone who wants to raise chaos, but now, he had to reevaluate Joker again.
"Well... since you know who I am, may I ask who you are and what's your purpose being here?"
Jack merely smiled, with his smile slowly turning crazy.
"You already knew who I am. I'm Joker and I had come to play with Diluc!"
"Diluc? I know him, but what is your connection with Diluc?"
Venti is well aware of Diluc, as he really likes Diluc's wine. And as for Joker's intention with Diluc, Venti can clearly feel that Joker had no murderous intent toward Diluc.
Sorry, Diluc. You may have a rough time in the future...
Venti silently bemoaned Diluc's fate. While Joker may have no killing intents toward Diluc, Venti can tell that Joker, for some reason, wants to mess up Diluc's life.
"Hahaha! Remember what I said before? Diluc is the reincarnation of Batman!"
Reincarnation?
Venti fell into deep thought. He did hear Joker saying that Diluc is Batman's reincarnation, but he didn't take it seriously as he thought it was just a madman rambling.
But... it seems Jack is really telling the truth, but in that case, it is even more troublesome.
Reincarnation is an extremely mysterious topic even for Gods, and the only one qualified, in Venti's knowledge would be... Maintainer of Heavenly Principle and the Primordial One.
It seems Joker is even more mysterious than he thought. Perhaps Joker is someone from the ancient past?
Falling into deep thinking, Venti's thought was interrupted by Jack.
"Venti, you wouldn't mind if I clean up some pests, would you?..."
"Because no matter how you clean up the pests, after a thousand years, there will always be pests coming back."
While Jack didn't explicitly say it, Venti quickly understood what Jack meant.
While the game didn't show it, over the past thousand years after the rebellion against corrupted nobles, aristocracy still remained in Mondstadt as a dominant party.
And in the past few months, Jack has seen with his own eyes that aristocracy has become once again corrupted but more covert this time. After all, they didn't want to attract the attention of the God of Freedom...
So Jack had the idea to use
them as a source to get more Essence Spark. But firstly, he needs Venti's permission. Anemo Archon's power is no joke, after all.
Venti merely shrugged, "Do what you will. I don't wish to see that happen too. But just don't go too far."
"I'm grateful to you actually. Because I was in a dilemma of how to solve it since I am the weakest of the Seven Archons, tee hee!~"
Venti said, winking and knocking his head, pretending to be cute.
Jack simply smiled noncommittal, but he is secretly disdainful of what Venti said.
Weakest of the Seven Archons? Only a fool would believe that!
Barbatos had the power to terraform the entire Mondstadt region and had once easily cut off Mondstadt's tallest mountain to chuck to the ocean to form an archipelago.
Under Barbatos's command are the Four Winds, consisting of Wolf of the North, Lion of the South, Dragon of the East, and Falcon of the West.
Wolf of the North, Andrius the God of Blizzard, a formidable God who once brought blizzards upon Mondstadt region for many years. Though Andrius may have abandoned his physical form, he still reigns as King of the North Winds and is extremely powerful.
Dragon of the East, Dvalin, a powerful Elemental Anemo Dragon, capable of rivaling several Gods and suspected of having connections with Anemo Sovereign, one of the 7 Sovereign Dragons who fought against the Primordial One.
Lion of the South, granted to the Grand Master of the Knight of Favonius. The current holders are Jean Gunnhildr, the Dandelion Knight, and Varka, the strongest mortal in Mondstadt and inheritor of the title, Knight of Boreas.
And lastly, Falcon of the West, Vanessa, a person from a thousand years ago, and founder of the Knight of Favonius. She is also one of the extremely rare Vision Bearers who ascend to Celestia to attain Godhood.
Barbatos also has a close connection with Istaroth, the God of Time and also one of the Four Shining Shades of the Primordial One. Just like what the people of old once said, "Anemo brings stories while Time nurtures them."
Venti is able to know all the songs from the past, present, and future, meaning that even if the history of the Teyvat changed forcibly, Venti will be able to immediately detect it and would not be affected.
And lastly, while it isn't necessary, Archon's power can also grow with people's faith. And who is more worshipped than Barbatos, who had a church dedicated to him, several holidays celebrated in his name, and followers from all over Teyvat?
So whether Venti is the strongest Archon still remains the question, Venti is definitely the most mysterious out of the Seven Archons.
And he knows why Venti didn't completely clean up the corrupted nobles and abolished aristocracy.
Venti believes that in doing so, he would be ruling over Mondstadt indirectly and would be taking away Mondstadt's freedom, which goes contrary to his belief in freedom.
'Too bad I died before the Genshin Impact is over. Otherwise, I might know more about Venti...'
"Sure, no problem, Venti. I trust that we won't enter a hostile relationship in the future."
Jack said, stretching out his hand. There's no harm in making friends with Venti, the God of Freedom and the Anemo Archon.
"Well... it has been pleasant chatting with you. But I must go now, ehe!"
Shaking Jack's hand, torrents of air of green vibrant energy surround Venti's body.
Whoosh!
Then Venti disappeared in a whoosh of the wind with an unknown means.
Jack simply stared at the space where Venti disappeared until he suddenly heard Venti's voice again.
"By the way, don't forget to treat me Apple Cider in the future, tee hee!~"
Then the street is silent once again, with light poles still flickering.
'Well, that was interesting. I got a lot more Essence Spark than I expected, thanks to Venti.'
But Jack then continues walking on the street, but he has a malicious smile as he still isn't satisfied with the amount of Essence Spark he has now.
'It's time to ruin Batman's day...'
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A/N: I won't be updating until next Sunday, but I still want to hear the reader's opinion. We know that Venti is a wind spirit and is genderless. Would you like it if Venti is male or female? Comment for which gender you want. Btw sorry for information overdose, I want to make readers who don't play Genshin Impact be able to understand my book better, but I put in more information than I expected.
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