The negotiations between the Shogunate and the Fatui concluded, and life returned to its peaceful trajectory.
Durandal, with nothing to do, stayed in the inn, holding a strange feather Lumine had found at the very end of her last exploration of Seirai Island.
"Strange feather... it had no effect on Seirai Island, so why did it appear when the Thunder Manifestation was defeated?"
The Thunder Manifestation they spoke of didn't have feathers; it was the manifestation of a powerful being, somewhat similar to the Tatarasuna God that appeared after Orobashi's death. However, this being wasn't a God, so it didn't give rise to anything as terrifying as the Tatarasuna God.
What was the original owner of these feathers? She felt she would get the answer in her upcoming adventure, but... she wondered if there would be another uncomfortable story.
The story of Asase Hibiki and Konbumaru, which she had investigated on Seirai Island, had troubled her for a while. Although that story had somewhat warmed her relationship with Shenhe, she really didn't like such tragic tales.
Even a'stomach medicine' plot would be better than these deliberately sickening segments. The most terrifying thing was that these weren't stories written by people, but real history that happened five hundred years ago.
"There are just too many tragedies happening in Inazuma."
This thought appeared in Miss Delezie's mind, and later, during a long-distance conversation with Venti, she told him this idea.
After listening to Miss Delezie's account, Venti on the other end burst into laughter, making Miss Delezie's face darken. Feeling mocked, she immediately cut off communication with Venti.
Later, Venti urgently tried to reconnect several times, hanging up about four times. On the fifth attempt, Miss Delezie finally established communication and said emotionlessly, "Are you very happy? Mocking me."
"I wasn't mocking you; I just found your way of speaking a bit cute. How could tragedies only happen in Inazuma?"
To prevent Miss Delezie from hanging up again like before, Venti quickly said what he wanted to say, making her understand that he wasn't trying to provoke her, and there was a reason for his actions.
"It doesn't just happen in Inazuma? You mean... Mondstadt and Liyue also have similar stories?"
"Over hundreds, even thousands of years, various tragic stories have occurred all over the continent of Teyvat. How could Mondstadt and Inazuma remain untouched, with nothing bad ever happening?"
Mondstadt's past aristocratic disasters, the attack of Stormterror Durin, and other unknown, hidden events—there were many unforgettable stories within them that others didn't know.
As the Anemo God of Mondstadt, Venti naturally knew many inside stories that others weren't aware of and was ready to share those stories from Mondstadt with Miss Delezie, but he was interrupted.
"I don't want to hear these stories. If you dare to tell me any of them, the next time I return to Mondstadt, I'll take Shenhe and Lumine to stay at an inn and won't even look at you."
"Please don't! I won't say anything, alright? Seriously, you started this topic, how did I end up being the wrong one?"
Venti complained in a low voice. He had thought Miss Delezie was just interested in these stories and wanted to share them with her.
Hmph. Hearing that Venti wasn't going to tease her anymore, Miss Delezie snorted lightly and then began a normal conversation.
"Speaking of which, when do you plan to leave Inazuma?"
Venti suddenly asked, "Although the sakoku decree in Inazuma hasn't been lifted yet, with your abilities, it shouldn't be impossible for you to leave Inazuma, right?"
"That's true, but... I want to leave before the sakoku decree ends. I still have things to do in Inazuma. I can't leave until those matters are handled."
"The sakoku decree lifted? Seriously, because of you, Inazuma's Vision Hunt Decree stopped, the war between the Shogunate and Sangonomiya Shrine ended, and the Tatarasuna God on Yashiori Island disappeared. When you were in Mondstadt, you weren't nearly this enthusiastic about helping me with things."
The reason Venti knew these things was because Miss Delezie had proactively told him when they communicated. This made Venti happy about Miss Delezie's change, but also a little jealous.
Miss Delezie had been in Mondstadt for thousands of years, and she had only actively helped with a few things. Yet, when she went to Inazuma, she proactively did so much.
Anyone unaware might think Inazuma was where you always stayed, and Mondstadt was just your temporary residence.
Of course, these were just casual remarks. Venti understood that Miss Delezie did so many things mainly because her journey with Lumine had changed her a lot.
She, who had originally only cared about life, began to care about more and more things, and her personality became more and more human-like. This was a good thing; he couldn't be happier.
"..."
"Forget it, those things don't matter. But, can you really get that person to lift the sakoku decree?"
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