This is the Acting Grand Master's office in the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
Gathered right here were the four most influential figures in all of Mondstadt today.
These four people were:
Acting Grand Master Jean of the Knights, Lisa the librarian of the Knights, Kaeya the cavalry captain of the Knights, and Diluc, the master of Dawn Winery.
The presence of the first three was hardly a surprise, as the three of them invariably met to confer whenever the Knights faced a major crisis.
Yet even Diluc—who had never made any secret of his disdain for the Knights—had appeared here, showing just how grave the situation had truly become.
Standing or sitting, the four of them all wore deeply furrowed brows.
The situation in Mondstadt could hardly be called good.
With Stormterror wreaking havoc on one front and Lupus Boreas suddenly driven mad on another, the Knights were caught between two fires and stretched to their limits.
Fortunately, Wolvendom was sealed within a vast ring of Wind Barrier, keeping the frenzied Wolf of the North trapped inside for the time being, which spared them from even greater panic.
However, how long the Anemo Archon's Wind Barrier could hold remained an unknown.
And the Abyss Order and Abyss Legion, who were suspected of stirring up trouble from the shadows, proved completely untrackable.
All these circumstances, taken together, were by no means optimistic.
Just as the four of them maintained their heavy, unbroken silence, a knock sounded on the office door.
Jean quickly raised her head and composed herself:
"Come in."
The office door was pushed open, and Amber led Guchen and the others into the room in single file.
Upon entering, Amber offered a brief introduction:
"Acting Grand Master Jean, this bard and these two travelers say they have business with you. I could tell their expressions were genuine, so I brought them right over."
Jean, Lisa, Kaeya, and Diluc all looked over simultaneously.
Upon seeing Venti, the four sharp minds felt a glimmer of understanding.
Upon seeing the two strangers, Guchen and Paimon, all four wore expressions of doubt.
No matter how weighed down she felt with worry, Jean's attitude toward Amber remained warm and kind:
"Amber, thank you for bringing these three in."
Amber's smile was brimming with enthusiasm:
"Just a little help, Acting Grand Master. Well then, I'll take my leave. Goodbye!"
With that, the young woman darted out of the office with the agility of a rabbit, taking care to shut the door behind her on her way out.
Thus left on their own, the three newcomers found themselves facing the four members of the Knights directly.
Yet as both sides stood face-to-face, for a moment neither knew quite what to say.
Neither knew who ought to speak first; it seemed each had questions for the other, yet neither knew where to begin.
Suddenly, the cold-faced Diluc broke the silence, his gaze falling upon Venti:
"I recognize you—the bard who's always running up tabs at the tavern, with an air that suggests quite a mysterious background. What are you doing here?"
Seeing that someone had finally broken the quiet, Venti quietly let out a breath of relief, stepped forward on his own, and said in a friendly tone:
"Since you all recognize me, that makes things all the better—it saves me the trouble of an introduction. I've come here to share some good news with you all."
Jean frowned slightly:
"What good news?"
Venti gave two light coughs, deliberately playing the mystic:
"The dragon crisis has been completely resolved. Stormterror Dvalin has regained his senses and will no longer attack Mondstadt!"
The four members of the Knights opened their eyes wide in unison.
They exchanged glances, communicating through their eyes. Knowing each other inside and out, they quickly arrived at a shared understanding.
Kaeya's expression turned probing, a sharp light flashing in his eyes as he spoke quite bluntly:
"Oh, now that truly is good news. But where does this good news come from, pray tell? How can you prove that the dragon crisis has been resolved?"
Beside him, Lisa leaned against the desk. Her voice was soft and melodic, yet thorns seemed hidden within her gaze:
"And how is it that you three know the Stormterror's name is Dvalin? It rather sounds as though you are quite familiar with his background."
Faced with these two formidable minds of the Knights, Venti laughed awkwardly to cover his embarrassment.
Having racked his brains with no other recourse, Venti decided to fall back on his old trick, intending to play his song once more to explain Dvalin's origins to the Knights.
Yet Guchen lacked the patience for that.
Standing to the side with his arms crossed, he chose to strip away Venti's disguise directly:
"You might as well believe what Venti says, because he is none other than Barbatos, the Anemo Archon of your Mondstadt."
The four members of the Knights opened their eyes wide once more.
Yet the look in their eyes held less overwhelming surprise than a sort of half-belief, or perhaps even a sense of relief.
Venti, the person in question, panicked and hastily argued:
"Ah? What Anemo Archon? Oh come now, Guchen, my friend, you mustn't talk nonsense! How could I possibly be the great Lord Barbatos?"
Dark veins throbbed on Guchen's forehead:
"Is there any other shameless soul who would dare refer to themselves as 'Lord' straight to your face? Only you!"
Without further ceremony, he reached out and poked Venti squarely in the back of the neck!
As that finger pressed down, a rich surge of Light Energy poured directly into Venti's body, striking straight at the core of his divine essence!
Like a reflex, Anemo energy surged and swirled around Venti's entire body!
At that moment, the ribbons of his braids emitted a verdant glow, and a unique divine aura radiated from deep within his body!
Feeling this divine presence—one belonging solely to a deity—the four members of the Knights were left in absolute certainty.
Indeed! It truly was the Anemo Archon!
Once certain, the four of them fell speechless all over again.
Lord Barbatos in the flesh turned out to be nothing more than a traveling bard and a heavy drinker. Truly...
Oh well. Perhaps that alone was proof of Mondstadt's freedom.
As for Venti, the moment he took that poke, his expression changed drastically and he hurriedly tried to dodge backward.
But it was already too late; Guchen had already withdrawn his finger. Venti could no longer conceal it even if he wanted to, as that lingering divine aura had already filled the entire office.
Yet even at this point, he was still stubborn enough to put up a front:
"Well... haha... just now... I was merely startled, and the Anemo energy became a bit unstable. Please don't misunderstand..."
Yet his stiff, clumsy cover-up was entirely useless; even Paimon turned her head away, unable to bear watching.
At this crucial juncture, Jean stepped forward.
She faced Venti and executed a solemn, formal salute of the Knights:
"Jean Gunnhildr pays respects to Lord Barbatos. May your guiding winds lead us ever onward..."
Helpless, Venti could only rush forward to help her up.
Amidst a flurry of flustered fumbling, Venti had no choice but to admit to his identity.
Likewise, even if the other three might have preferred not to acknowledge Venti as the Archon, they now had to face that reality head-on.
After another round of formal greetings between both parties, the four members of the Knights finally learned that Guchen and Paimon were travelers.
With a brief exchange, the conversation finally steered toward the main topic.
And the moment it did, Jean asked with palpable excitement:
"Lord Barbatos, and you two travelers—has the dragon crisis truly been resolved? Is the Dragon of the East, Dvalin, truly safe?"
Paimon smiled and nodded, acting as their spokesperson:
"That's right! Dvalin lost his mind and attacked Mondstadt because he was corrupted by Abyssal Poisonous Blood. Just now, as we passed through the Whispering Woods, we happened to run into Stormterror, and Guchen just casually took care of him. Ah, no—he casually purified Dvalin!"