The stench of alcohol was everywhere.

Specifically the fruity scent of wine. The unfamiliar smell tickled at Lumine’s nose, the girl letting out a faint sneeze before Venti nervously shot Yomite a look.

“Alright…we somehow managed to pull through…but now we need to be careful…”

His voice was hushed, the anxiety and adrenaline clouding his mind.

“Hopefully, they wouldn’t try checking this pub.”

*Ring* *Ring*

Just then, the bells on the door rang, the door to the pub flew open and two chubby Knights entered the establishment.

‘What a great way to trigger a flag…Damn you…Venti…’ Yomite sighed. It seemed that they weren’t out of danger yet.

One of the knights stepped forward and bowed, “Ah, Master Diluc, We’re sorry to bother you this early in the morning… But have you seen two suspicious individuals around?”

“…What happened? Why have you mobilized knights?”

Lumine ignored Venti’s hisses of warning and peered down to look and listen to their conversation.

“Two thieves were trying to steal the Holy Lyre! One of the suspects has an Anemo Vision, but the most defining trait we have picked up was that they have blonde hair.” One of the guards exclaimed, as if he himself didn’t want to believe someone would be so bold to steal the legendary Holy Lyre.

“Oh? How odd.” Diluc pondered. The redhead slightly jolted, as if immediately figuring something out, but remained unfazed and returned back behind the counter to clean the remaining empty glasses of wine.

“Right? The Holy Lyre is a treasure that was played by the God of Anemo himself! Such precious piece of cultural heritage—”

“—Who would want to steal something they can’t sell off? Would pay better to steal from my cellars…” Diluc cut him off and voiced his own opinion.

The Knight’s were confused and weren’t sure what he meant by that but he simply waved them off.

“Well, anyway. I’ve yet to open the tavern and the only people here are some drunkards on the second floor, but they’ve been here since yesterday, so nothing out of the ordinary, but come to think of it…When I was sweeping outside, I saw someone heading towards the city gates, it is unlikely that they will still be lurking around in the city. Try looking around the bridge, maybe you will still get them.”

“Understood, Master Diluc! Thanks for your cooperation!” The two of the knights saluted and left the pub in the pursuit of the thieves.

Diluc nodded his head, “Off you go.”

The knights seemingly accepted the fact that there was no one of their importance here, and as they left, the small group on the second floor collectively sighed in relief.

Yomite was silently listening in on their conversation as well and laughed inside of his mind, ‘The only clue they have is that one of us has blonde hair and an Anemo Vision? Lumine doesn’t even have a Vision and she could still harness the Anemo element, so that makes us clear. They didn’t even mention the most important part, a flying fairy right next to one of the perpetrators that could be easily recognized and if she was…We would be in trouble…But good for us.’

He wiped the sweat off his forehead, running his forefinger over his moist forehead, watching it drop onto the ground, and then turned to see Diluc climbing the stairs to the second floor, slowly.

It appeared he wanted an explanation. Yomite knew that Diluc had probably figured out that they were the thieves since the very beginning…

Venti managed to make the Lyre invisible, but the coincidental timing of their arrival and the arrival of the knights of favonius couldn’t be explained that easily…

Moreover, who would enter a pub at around 2 am in the morning to drink? That was probably the worst time to do so…

He turned to his group and spoke in a low whisper, “Looks like we’re in the clear. What do we do now, Venti? Diluc is coming…”

“Let’s just tell him. He doesn’t know of my true identity but he is really strong and could be of help!”

Diluc finally climbed the stairs and glanced at the group of troublemakers, “So, I warded them off. Now, would you all like to explain yourselves? What is going on?”

***

**

*

About ten minutes later…

Yomite was surprised.

Amidst the many threats he received from Diluc the first time they met, it seemed like his opinion about Yomite had completely changed.

Most likely right after he defended Mondstadt from the attack of the Stormterror.

Now, Diluc saw him in a much better light and no longer suspected him from being involved with Fatui or other harmful organizations that posed a threat to Mondstadt.

Once his first impression was ignored, Diluc was surprisingly easy to talk to. While it was clear that he preserved his boundaries, both Lumine and Yomite did the same. It made for a pleasant mutual exchange.

The group was currently on the first floor, discussing their upcoming plan.

As they didn’t want to be interrupted, the pub was promptly closed down by Diluc, assuring everyone present that his tavern was a moderately safe place for information to be exchanged.

Paimon had once again gone to rest into her small dimension.

“So, according to you, all we need is the Holy Lyre and we will be able to quell this Stormterror, threat, you say?” Diluc asked for confirmation, if he understood everything properly.

“Correct, Master Diluc! I knew you were a man of great heights!” Venti chirped from his spot on the bar stool, swinging his legs up and down.

“For the record, I like your guts for stealing the Holy Lyre der Himmel. Even if you’re fools…but we don’t often see people like you.”

From what Yomite understood, Venti was quite the regular here, doing performances in exchange for wine or apples, even occasionally stealing some wine bottles.