The next day, Guixu brought Klee to Good Hunter for breakfast.
"Hello, Mr. Guixu, what would you like to have today?"
The Knights of Favonius had made no deliberate effort to conceal Guixu's return. Seeing him arrive, Sara stepped out from behind the counter and greeted him with a welcoming smile.
"Sister Sara! Klee wants Mondstadt Hash Browns and Fisherman's Toast!"
Klee hopped on her legs, planted her small frame onto a chair, and cheered as she looked at Sara with a craving expression.
Sara smiled kindly, but instead of heading straight to the kitchen as she usually did, she looked over at Guixu.
In the past, Klee always came to eat by herself. Now that her guardian was right beside her, she naturally waited for his approval first.
Guixu glanced at the menu in his hand, but none of the dishes looked familiar to him, so he closed the menu and smiled.
"Let's go with whatever Klee wants."
"Please bring two portions of Mondstadt Hash Browns and two portions of Fisherman's Toast."
"Two Mondstadt Hash Browns and two Fisherman's Toast, got it. Please wait a moment."
Sara briskly jotted down the order and hurried toward the kitchen.
Little Klee sat in her seat, waiting for the food while pulling a storybook out of her bag and reading it with great relish.
She hadn't gotten enough of the story her daddy told her last night yet!
Guixu looked at the curious gazes occasionally cast from the street and felt quite helpless.
How did the news of my arrival spread so fast?
Which old rascal leaked it out?
Guixu rested his chin in his hand, drifting off in idle boredom, when suddenly a voice came from behind him.
"Hehe!"
"Long time no see!"
A figure clad entirely in green dashed up from behind and plopped down right next to Guixu.
Guixu turned his head to look, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily stiffened.
He saw a familiar face eagerly leaning in close. A green hat was perched on her head, and she wore a white shirt paired with a green short skirt.
A brown waist-cincher highlighted her slender waist, and the spotless white tights on her legs even caught a slight glint in the sunlight.
Two turquoise braids swayed in the wind behind her, revealing the excited mood of their owner.
Guixu grabbed the soft, fair cheeks that had leaned in, pushed them away with a hint of disdain, and completely ignored the soft warmth already pressed against his arm.
"Shoo, shoo, shoo! Get away from me!"
"Reeking of alcohol and you still come crowding against me!"
Venti was pinched by the cheek and felt a slight tinge of shyness, but remembering the long-awaited divine wine, she cast all sentimentality aside.
She hurriedly threw her arms tight around Guixu's arm, her towering softness rubbing against him frantically as she whined coquettishly.
"Oh, good brother, won't you just give me some of your divine wine~~?"
"We haven't seen each other in so long, I drank through the stash you gave me ages ago, and I haven't tasted your divine wine in over a thousand years!"
Venti's entire body was pressed right up against Guixu. Although her face flushed deeply with embarrassment, she didn't back down an inch for the sake of the divine wine.
Enveloped by Venti's soft warmth, Guixu remained completely unfazed. He gave a cold snort, leaned back into his chair, and said,
"Hmph, you know we haven't seen each other in a millennium, yet the first time we meet, you come asking for booze?"
"Does our friendship of all these years count for less than those two bottles of wine, or what?"
Guixu deliberately put on a stern face and stared at Venti as he interrogated her.
Venti, who had been all smiles, panicked the moment she heard Guixu's cold tone, and she hastily denied it.
"N—no!"
"Of course not!"
"Actually... I... I've missed you this whole time!"
Venti was so flustered she couldn't even speak properly, stuttering as she tried to figure out how to explain.
Her hands simply gripped Guixu's arm all the tighter.
Guixu stared at Venti's face for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
"Really, couldn't you just say that properly?"
"How are you still acting so prideful after more than a thousand years?"
Seeing that Guixu wasn't angry, Venti finally let out a sigh of relief, though she fixed a resentful gaze on him.
"A thousand years have passed, and while your emotions have certainly grown richer, why has your personality turned so nasty too?"
"Besides, you have the nerve to lecture me."
"Back then, you didn't even give me a heads-up before you went off alone to fight that entity in the heavens. It broke my heart for the longest time watching your avatar fade away, and I almost got into a fight with the old man over it."
"It's all your fault!"
Thinking back to the scenes of the past, Venti's longing built up over all these years suddenly came flooding out.
The next second, she threw her arms directly around Guixu, crystal tears welling in the corners of her eyes turning into pure Anemo energy as they gradually dissipated.
Feeling the Anemo energy slowly slipping away from his chest, Guixu's heart softened as well. He gently reassured her,
"Alright, it was my fault. The situation was urgent at the time, and I acted before I had a chance to tell you."
"Besides, I forgot that I had only mentioned the matter of that avatar of mine to Morax."
"Don't cry, don't cry..."
Guixu stroked Venti's head and comforted her.
Venti—or rather, Barbatos, the Anemo Archon of Mondstadt.
Everyone knew that Barbatos had overthrown the Decarabian and defeated numerous Gods to finally secure the position of one of the Seven Archons.
Yet no one knew that when he first formed his physical body as a wind sprite, it was entirely thanks to the protection of Guixu, who happened to be passing through Mondstadt, that he was able to be born safely.
And after taking shape, he had been kept by Guixu's side for a very long time, forging an exceptionally deep bond.
Later, when the wind sprite took human form, he happened to follow Guixu to witness the fall of the Decarabian, and personally struck down the weary Decarabian who harbored a desire for death and offered no resistance.
From then on, he inherited the Authority of a thousand winds.
Subsequently, the wind sprite was deeply moved by the spirit of the young leader who acted as the rebel vanguard, and ultimately decided to take that youth as the template for his human form.
Influenced by Guixu, however, the wind sprite harbored a few private thoughts of his own and decided to transform into a female.
And thus, the Venti of today was born.
The name Venti was also taken from a homophone of the Anemo God's true name.
"Daddy, is this green big sister also Klee's little mommy?"
At that moment, Klee, who had been completely absorbed in her storybook, was drawn by Venti's sobbing and raised her head, tilting her small head as she asked.
Hearing Klee's question, Venti's face instantly exploded into a deep crimson. She scrambled up from Guixu's embrace and used a gust of wind to wipe the tear tracks from her face.
"Ahem, Klee, this is Sister Venti, an old friend of your daddy and your mommy."
Guixu didn't answer Klee's question, choosing instead to introduce Venti.
"Klee knows! This green big sister often gives Klee yummy treats!"
Klee raised her small hand and said happily.
Whenever she went out bomb-fishing in the past and passed by the Windrise, this green big sister would always bring her delicious Sunsetberries and Small Lamp Grass.
"Is that so? Then you must remember to thank the big sister."
Guixu smiled affectionately and instructed Klee.
"Mm!"
"Klee always says thank you!"
Klee lifted her small face, wearing an expression that seemed to say, "See? Klee is such a good girl!"
"Klee is wonderful."
Guixu was thoroughly charmed by the adorable Klee and lovingly rubbed her little head.
"Hello, your dishes are served!"
Sara set down the last portion of Fisherman's Toast, glanced at the table with a smile, and then looked at the suddenly appeared Venti, asking,
"Does the gentleman need to order anything else?"
Guixu looked at Venti as well, and Venti gave a bright smile in response.
"No need, thank you, Boss! I'll just share his portion!"
Venti cast a glance at Guixu with her pretty eyes and said with a playful smile.
"You surely won't mind sharing with me, right?"
Guixu wore an expression of utter helplessness.
"Honestly, you..."
Well, what could he do? Since she was a cub he had raised himself, he could only keep on spoiling her.
After enjoying a wonderful meal at the Good Hunter restaurant, Venti successfully obtained her dreamed-of divine wine, turned into a wisp of breeze, and went off to some quiet spot to savor it.
Though she missed Guixu terribly, Venti was still rather thin-skinned about such things and didn't dare linger by Guixu's side.
It had been like that ever since she took human form, leaving Guixu both amused and exasperated.
Afterward,
Klee took Guixu around the City of Mondstadt for the entire morning to catch him up on the current state of affairs there.
Although he had expected as much, Mondstadt's current situation was still far worse than Guixu had anticipated.
Indeed, this Western style of governance combined with an overly liberal philosophy had dragged the entire Mondstadt into a quagmire.
The existence of the aristocracy made the administration of the Knights of Favonius fraught with difficulty.
Coupled with Grand Master Varka leading the expedition, the Knights of Favonius were severely stretched for manpower and combat strength.
Jean's temperament was also far too gentle, creating an environment that was practically the gentlest soil imaginable for those aristocrats who clung like blood-suckers to Mondstadt.
After walking around all morning, a thoroughly satisfied little Klee was taken back to the Knights of Favonius headquarters by Acting Grand Master Jean to do her homework.
The tearful expression on her face as she left left Guixu feeling both amused and helpless, yet he understood right from wrong when it came to Klee's upbringing.
Despite being somewhat lax in his companionship over the years, Jean had actually taught Klee quite well.
Since he didn't know the first thing about raising a child, Guixu simply let Jean take the little one back.
Suddenly finding himself with free time and no child to look after, Guixu found he didn't quite know what to do with himself.
Since he had just awakened, should he go find Xiao Ye or Morax to catch up?
Guixu touched his chin, pondering whether he should take a trip to Sumeru or Liyue.
However, walking while lost in thought, Guixu hadn't noticed that he had wandered unsteadily to the entrance of a training ground.
The sound of two young maidens conversing inside pulled Guixu's thoughts back to reality.
"Hmm?"
"Is this the Knights' training ground?"
Since he was already here, stepping in to take a look wouldn't hurt.
Guixu stopped in his tracks, smiled, and walked inside.
...
"Noelle-senpai, do you think I really have no talent for becoming a knight?"
A brown-haired maiden sat dejectedly and aggrieved on the steps, hugging her knees as she poured her heart out to the white-haired maiden beside her.
"Eileen..."
Seeing her good friend looking so depressed, Noelle wanted to offer words of comfort, but the words stuck in her throat, and she didn't know what to say.
After all, she herself had failed the official knight examination several times in a row.
At this thought, Noelle felt a little gloomy herself.
And so the two maidens simply leaned against each other in silence.
Suddenly, a small shadow cast over their field of vision, causing both of them to raise their dazed faces.
In their line of sight, a black-haired young man with a gentle smile, dressed in extravagantly luxurious clothing, had already walked up right before them.