Chapter 26: Venti—Am I Too Worn Out?
He truly lives up to the name Zhongli's Wallet. Tartaglia is extravagant enough to casually pull out 10 million Mora without a second thought.
It's said that over this period, Tartaglia has already spent at least 500 million Mora on charitable acts, which has greatly improved his reputation in Liyue.
Tartaglia actually enjoys this atmosphere.
After all, it's not his own Mora that he's spending—it belongs to the Fatui. And now, Tartaglia has started to enjoy using Mora to make friends.
"Why are you being so generous?
Tartaglia, you and I are practically like brothers!" Aiden said, yet he still took the check without hesitation.
This left Tartaglia completely confused.
Brothers? Since when?!
"Anyway, Zhongli has some matters to attend to right now, and it may take him some time to deal with them. I'll write you a letter of recommendation—when you get the chance to meet him, just bring the letter with you," Aiden offered after thinking for a moment.
"Thank you so much!" Tartaglia said, visibly pleased.
Truthfully, he wasn't entirely sure why he wanted to meet Zhongli, either. When he was sent from Snezhnaya to Liyue, the Tsaritsa specifically instructed him to get close to a man named Zhongli.
That alone was enough to make Tartaglia suspicious.
He figured Zhongli had some kind of connection with the Fatui.
However, he couldn't approach him too directly. If he did, it would be like publicly admitting that Zhongli was working with Snezhnaya.
But through Aiden? That was the perfect excuse.
"Don't mention it. We're friends," Aiden smiled.
Tartaglia would never be able to obtain Zhongli's Gnosis.
The contract between Zhongli and the Tsaritsa would never be finalized.
But making Zhongli spend Mora from the Northland Bank? That wouldn't trouble him in the slightest. After all, the Tsaritsa still owed Zhongli a considerable debt.
A lifelong debt.
So, no matter how much Tartaglia spent on Zhongli's behalf, it wouldn't be a problem.
When Aiden mentioned this to Zhongli, the man simply accepted it without resistance. After all, he had already paid with his own existence for the Tsaritsa's cause—spending some Mora from the Fatui was nothing in comparison.
After all, it was only right that the Fatui paid their dues.
---
Arrival in Mondstadt
Several days later, Aiden finally arrived in Mondstadt, passing through Stone Gate.
He hadn't rushed on his journey. Instead, he took his time, making occasional stops along the way. After all, in the eyes of most people, he was just an ordinary traveler—perhaps a bit stronger than the average person, but nothing extraordinary.
Of course, Aiden didn't actually sleep out in the wild. Each night, he simply teleported back home to rest.
"Hmm?"
As he entered Mondstadt, a light breeze brushed against his face, and he immediately noticed something unusual.
This wasn't just any wind.
This was wind summoned by Barbatos.
Aiden quickly recalled something important.
Originally, Mondstadt was surrounded by constant snow and ice.
It was Barbatos who had used his divine power to disperse the cold, carve out the mountains, and guide the warm monsoon winds into the region, making Mondstadt a habitable land.
Before, Aiden had thought of this as just another great feat of the Anemo Archon. It wasn't surprising for one of the Seven to be able to accomplish such a thing.
But now, he realized something—
Barbatos didn't just blow away the ice and snow.
Because ice and snow don't simply disappear.
If they did, the tyrant Decarabian wouldn't have needed to create a massive hurricane to shield Old Mondstadt from the freezing climate.
It wasn't that Decarabian couldn't blow the ice and snow away—he simply knew that no matter how many times he did, the cold would always return.
A never-ending cycle of frost.
It would be impossible for Decarabian to sustain the power needed to constantly fight against it.
Yet Barbatos had done it.
Not only did he disperse his divine power to clear the cold, but he also summoned the monsoon winds to keep it away.
And even when Barbatos was weak, even when he entered deep slumber, this power continued.
At first, Aiden thought Barbatos was incredibly strong—after all, this was the same god who casually tossed Golden Apple Archipelago into the sky.
But now, Aiden finally understood why Barbatos seemed so lackluster in combat.
It was because he had used most of his divine power to maintain Mondstadt's climate.
It wasn't a one-time miracle—it was a continuous process.
Even in his weakest moments, even while asleep, he never stopped protecting Mondstadt.
For the first time, Aiden truly felt the love a god could have for their people.
No matter how carefree and unreliable Venti seemed, his devotion to Mondstadt was undeniable.
The people of Mondstadt had no right to question whether their god protected them.
Sure enough, Aiden realized that his previous understanding—just from playing the game—had been far too shallow.
Some things needed to be experienced firsthand to be truly understood.
"Hah… Since you're here, come out already, Barbatos."
Aiden released a trace of his aura.
In an instant, a green figure appeared in the distance.
It was none other than Barbatos, the Anemo Archon—more commonly known as Venti.
However, unlike the playful, carefree bard that most people knew, Venti's expression was unusually serious.
"Who… are you?"
As the Anemo Archon and the wielder of the Anemo Gnosis, Venti could immediately sense what Aiden was.
And it left him shaken.
Because the person standing before him… was Celestia itself.
But then—what happened to the previous Celestia?
He had only been asleep for five hundred years.
When he awoke, Dvalin had already fallen into madness, and he had been struggling to figure out how to save him.
And now, in the middle of all this, a new Celestia had suddenly appeared in Mondstadt?
A Celestia that was weaker, yet still unmistakably real.
Had he been asleep for too long?
Had he… deteriorated so much that he could no longer comprehend the changes in the world?
For the first time in centuries, even Venti began to doubt himself.
"I am Aiden."
Aiden's voice was calm as he spoke.
"I am also the new Celestia.
The previous one fell… in order to protect Teyvat."
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