Chapter 167: Diluc Going to Question the Troops

Venti is the wind god's matter.

After Ying and Paimon got up, Luo De spoke bluntly.

"Ah, you are the wind god Babatos?"

Upon hearing this news, Ying and Paimon immediately couldn't close their mouths, and Paimon kept circling Venti, unable to believe what Luo De said.

What kind of demeanor does Venti have?

Although the contact time was short, Ying and Paimon could see it very clearly.

This guy is completely a super drunkard who does nothing and loves alcohol like his life.

"Heh~~"

Venti was still the same; he just gave a hehe laugh and considered it an answer to Paimon.

The task of explaining was still given to Luo De.

"You didn't think, besides Babatos, who dares to say that just using music can calm the wind magic dragon?" Luo De also reminded Ying: "Do you still remember what name Tevalin shouted when fighting Tevalin?"

Ying blinked her eyes: "Babatos."

Upon saying that.

She also remembered.

When fighting Tevalin, the enraged Tevalin, besides roaring, would constantly shout "Babatos" throughout.

But she had always thought that Tevalin's obsession with the wind god ran deep, so during battle he would constantly shout "Babatos".

Could it be that

"That's right."

"Our ability to fly forever in the sky relies on Babatos's power; Tevalin noticed this, so he keeps shouting "Babatos"."

Luo De spread his hands and said: "He mistakenly thought we were sent by the wind god to hunt him."

"Actually, it's pretty much the same."

Venti muttered on the side.

Tevalin was injured by Luo De, which is an indisputable fact.

Of course.

Luo De's statement wasn't bad either.

Compared to Tevalin's huge body, not to mention the wound Luo De made, about half a meter in diameter, even opening a several-meter hole wouldn't be life-threatening; that blow was at most a troublesome injury.

Such an attack not involving abyssal power.

He'll be able to heal himself soon.

But such a battle is indeed easily mistaken as Venti sending people to hunt him, which would cause considerable trouble for later pacification.

Having such proof.

Ying and Paimon quickly accepted Venti's identity.

Afterward, Ying eagerly asked many questions.

From his brother's whereabouts, to Tevalin's affairs, to other gods' affairs, she asked everything she wanted to ask.

Until Luo De called them to eat breakfast did Ying stop, her face still showing a thoughtful look.

Outside, disaster relief in Mondstadt City continued, with no restaurants open.

After Luo De went out for a stroll, he decided to make breakfast himself.

This wave of Tevalin's surprise attack.

Although it didn't last long before being driven away, the hurricane Tevalin stirred up still caused enormous disaster to Mondstadt City.

According to the preliminary statistics of the Void Terminal.

After this wave.

Mondstadt lost at least 100 million Mora, over a hundred buildings were damaged, and the number of injured people was counted in the thousands.

The only good news.

Possibly only a few people died in this storm, still within controllable limits.

This is thanks to Teyvat being a world with extraordinary power, plus the West Wind Knights had prepared early for Tevalin possibly attacking the city.

Otherwise.

Casualties would be even heavier, and the West Wind Knights would hardly be able to withstand the surging public anger.

After listening to Luo De's account of Mondstadt City's current situation.

Paimon, who always giggled, closed her mouth and could no longer say any jokes.

Ying likewise lost the excitement she had just found upon discovering the wind god.

The breakfast was eaten rather gloomily.

Who could still maintain a calm mind at this time?

On the contrary, it was Mondstadt's god Venti.

Originally Luo De thought that upon seeing Mondstadt's heavy losses, the wind god Venti would at least feel somewhat sorrowful or troubled.

However, in fact.

Venti, long accustomed to such things, merely showed a hint of pity on his face, without showing too much unusual expression.

In his words.

The disasters Mondstadt has suffered in history are far more severe than this.

Whether it was the two-thousand-year-old revolt against the violent wind god or the five-hundred-year-old darkness disaster, even if it didn't involve gods and was purely a mortal war overthrowing the old nobility, the casualties of Mondstadt's people were far greater than this, and these wars could be said to be a complete overhaul.

Gods loving people is correct.

But the gods aren't so moved by human suffering that they become uncontrollably grief-stricken.

I really feel sad that the citizens of the City of Mondstadt have been harmed by Te Wa Lin.

But if being sad were useful, I could now sit at the gate of the West Wind Knights and cry for three days and three nights.

What a pity.

Being sad is useless.

As the god of Mondstadt, what I should do now is not to feel sad for the people, but to think of every possible way, to hurry and calm Te Wa Lin down, so that such a tragedy will not continue to happen.

Wen Di sees it quite openly.

However, even if he is anxious, it's useless.

The wound that Te Wa Lin suffered from being struck by Luo De does not heal; trying to summon him out with the Skyward Harp is basically impossible.

As for bringing people directly into the Wind Dragon Ruins to look for Te Wa Lin,

After all, that place is Te Wa Lin's home turf, so the possibility of unexpected situations occurring would be very high.

Moreover, in Wen Di's opinion.

If this matter can be resolved peacefully, we should try to resolve it peacefully.

Using force to forcibly purge Te Wa Lin's Abyssal poison blood is the worst possible plan.

The previous battle between Luo De and Te Wa Lin.

The drawbacks of using force stubbornly are quite obvious.

Even though the battle basically takes place in the high heavens, in a position invisible to the naked eye of mortals, the elemental turbulence disturbed by Te Wa Lin still causes great disturbance to the City of Mondstadt; even someone like Li Sha, a top-tier witch, would complain endlessly about the elemental turbulence, let alone ordinary Vision bearers.

And disturbing the element is precisely the unique ability of the elemental dragon.

This is also one of the reasons why Wen Di is unwilling to use force.

After finishing breakfast.

Ying and Paimon then went to the West Wind Knights, wanting to see where they could be of help.

Luo De and Wen Di were sitting on the small balcony on the second floor, crossing their legs, looking toward the direction of the Ge De Grand Hotel.

And then they waited.

They kept waiting until it was close to noon.

A luxurious carriage bearing a shield-shaped red crest finally arrived at the gate of the Ge De Grand Hotel in Luo De's anticipation.

That crest is the family crest of the Liegenfend family, one of the three great families of the City of Mondstadt.

Upon seeing this.

Luo De, who had just been feeling a bit weary, instantly became energetic, leaning on the railing with great interest to watch the excitement.

The person who got off the carriage was none other than Di Lu Ke; at this moment, having shed the disguise of the Night Hero, he wore a splendid scarlet robe, with all the luxurious decorations representing the status of the Liegenfend family present, such a formal appearance showing that his visit this time is of extraordinary significance.

Di Lu Ke's appearance also attracted many onlookers.

The Liegenfend family is a prominent clan of the City of Mondstadt; their ancestors can even be traced back to the era when the Wind God was crowned, and a thousand years ago they joined the rebel army of the great knight Wen Ni Sha, successfully overthrowing the Lawrence family that ruled Mondstadt, gaining many honors, and thus making their family renowned in Mondstadt.

However, after the Lawrence family's old aristocratic matter caused a rapid downfall, now in the City of Mondstadt the greatest power belongs to the Gu En Shi Er De family, where Qin is, and the Liegenfend family, where Di Lu Ke is.

One of these two great families always has at least one captain of the West Wind Knights, and has produced many top-tier military families at the level of regiment commander and deputy regiment commander; the other controls Mondstadt's financial pillar, the Dawn Winery, the God of Wealth; even if no one in the family currently serves in the West Wind Knights (Kai Ya doesn't count, he is an adopted son, and in the eyes of most Mondstadt people he is not considered a member of the Liegenfend family), the current clan head Di Lu Ke remains a figure of great importance.

Now Di Lu Ke has come to visit the Foolish People in such a high-profile manner, especially given the recent uproar over the Foolish People plotting to kill his father; his arrival naturally attracted much attention.

Among them, Qin is the most concerned about this matter.

Back when Luo De and I agreed to spread rumors unfavorable to the Foolish People to counter them, Qin had already prepared to support Di Lu Ke.

No matter what.

Initially, it was the West Wind Knights who owed him and Ke Li Pu Si; now, no matter the reason, the West Wind Knights cannot let him fight alone anymore.

Just as Luo De said, not helping our own Di Lu Ke, are we supposed to go help the Foolish People bully ourselves?

Now we just wait to see what reaction the Foolish People will have to Di Lu Ke's visit.

Qin, who absentmindedly handled her work, stood at the window of the West Wind Knights, just like the other onlookers, gazing far off toward the Ge De Grand Hotel, always ready to go cheer on Di Lu Ke.

Di Lu Ke just stood there dazedly.

It lasted from noon until evening.

During that time,

The personnel of the Foolish People showed no abnormal signs, and the external guard forces had no changes, as if nothing had happened inside.

As time passed,

Aside from the Mondstadt citizens still busy with disaster relief, anyone who had nothing to do at the moment basically gathered to watch the spectacle.

For a moment,

They actually sealed off the area around the Ge De Grand Hotel so tightly that not even water could leak through.

This scene even forced Qin to order part of the West Wind Knights to be dispatched to the site to maintain order, for fear that these onlookers would cause trouble.

"You see, I was just saying, gawking is human nature."

After watching for half a day without seeing any excitement, Luo De got bored and stopped watching; now he holds a Mondstadt history book, reading while chatting with Wen Di, who is also gawking.

After understanding what gawking means,

Wen Di, who has experienced countless storms, wholeheartedly agrees with this: "Not only humans, but sometimes even gods are like that, back then."

Next,

Wen Di told many strange tales from back then about the Archons and his own entourage.

Some of these stories Luo De found quite familiar.

Upon careful thought,

It is exactly the poem I saw in 'Forest Wind'.

"You wrote all those things about the gods into the poem; really, you won't get beaten for it?"

Luo De asked with a gossipy expression.

In the Forest Book, the poems concerning the gods' anecdotes are not just praises of the gods; many are actually exposing their shortcomings, like stories of some ice god waking up one day to find his scepter replaced by a Hilichurl's wooden stick, and basically all of them have Venti as the protagonist.

Hehe—

Venti grinned, acknowledging this.

This was exactly as Luo De had expected.

After all, they had written such embarrassing incidents into poems to be sung about, and blatantly stated that the culprit behind these embarrassments was Venti; if he claimed he had never been beaten, Luo De would absolutely not believe it.

While the two were speaking,

After half a day with no movement at the Grand Hotel, someone finally came out.

It was Diluc, and also a lady with an extremely unpleasant expression.

Oh? She's really angry~~~

Venti used 'she' rather than 'he', so it seems the angry person is the lady.

But it could also be seen with the eyes.

After such a long standoff, Diluc still maintained a calm expression, whereas the usually haughty lady had lost her usual composure, her icy face clearly still bearing a trace of anger.

Through Venti's retelling,

Luo De also knew their conversation very clearly.

I will relay Mr. Diluc's words verbatim to the Acting Grand Master.

I hope you are prepared to take responsibility for what you have said.

These are the lady's words.

And Diluc's response to this was just two words: 'Whatever.'

Having said that,

He then boarded the carriage and left without looking back.

The lady, whose anger was clearly greater, also did not return to the Grand Hotel, but directly ordered people to head toward the Knights of Favonius.

And such a sudden change,

also left the watching Mondstadt residents unable to resist the urge to watch the drama.

Even though the sky had gradually darkened, they all flocked toward the Knights of Favonius, waiting for the outcome of the showdown between Diluc and the Fatui to be announced.

(End of chapter)