In the dark night, four little heads furtively peeked out from behind the square's stone pillar.
From top to bottom, they were Venti, Orion, Lumine, and Paimon.
They were going to steal the sky harp hidden inside the Mondstadt Cathedral.
The reason was likely that Venti said the sky harp could cleanse the pollution on Dvalin and soothe Dvalin's spirit.
The sky harp is a holy relic of The Church, and its retrieval requires a document stamped by the Knights of Favonius; otherwise, they couldn't even look at it.
After all, it was an item personally certified and used by the God of Wind, which was equivalent to the Lance of Longinus genuinely having Jesus' blood on it.
Yet Venti did not want to expose his identity as a deity, so he came up with a terrible idea: Come, deceive! Come, steal!
Orion gave him a thumbs up. With a master like you, your followers are truly blessed.
In response, Paimon mentioned that Lumine was already an Honorary Knight and Orion was also an Honorary Priest, so they could try asking the Knights of Favonius for the document together, but unfortunately, this was also impossible because, under the premise of concealing Venti's identity, there was simply no legitimate reason.
Orion had also asked Skirk if she wanted to come along and play, but Skirk gave him a disgusted look and told him to figure it out himself. Damn it, could a disgusted look really be that beautiful?
In the end, only the four of them came together.
Venti said to Orion and the other two: "Let me reiterate the division of labor. First, Lumine, you are the main force!
I will use the power of Wind to bless you, making you as light as a swallow and soundless.
Paimon, you are the commander. I have a spell that will allow you to be seen only by Lumine, while you will be invisible to everyone else.
However, correspondingly, you cannot move. You can only use predetermined hand signals to tell Lumine where people are and where to go.
I need to concentrate my strength to cast and maintain the spell, and I will be waiting near The Church to assist you.
As for Orion, you always frequent The Church and are quite familiar with the Sisters there, even chatting with the Fatui who drop by. You only have one job: distract everyone else so that Lumine can enter through the secret passage."
After finalizing the plan, everyone prepared to act according to their roles.
As for how Orion would lure people away, his original idea was to create some noise, then wear a night suit. With his strengthenough to lift the entire church with one handit would be a pipe dream for The Church personnel to catch him. He could simply kite them all night long.
However, Venti advised against this, stating that the conflict between the Fatui and the Knights of Favonius was currently escalating. If a ruthless individual openly appeared, freely entering and exiting the Church of Favonius and kiting both the Knights of Favonius and The Church, it could severely damage the official reputation of Mondstadt City, making it easy for the authorities to fall into a disadvantaged position later on.
In case the Harbinger who came to Mondstadt personally stepped forward and offered to help search for the sky harp, claiming the intention of establishing friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two nations, then Acting Grand Master Jean would be put in a very passive position regardless of whether she agreed or not.
Orion didn't understand politics, so he just listened to what Venti said. Anyway, he still had some recollection of the general plot progression, so long as he ensured no major disaster occurred. Or rather, with him and Skirk in the hotel, even if chaos erupted, it wouldn't be a huge problem.
While discussing countermeasures in the hotel, Venti looked at Orion's excessively handsome face and then taught him a method to attract the Sisters.
It was simple: Venti told Orion to find a rose and hold it in his mouth, then use his stunning appearance and the lines Venti the Teacher personally taught him to lure away the Sister on night duty.
Orion really didn't want to use this method. For no other reason, Venti suddenly running over and complimenting his handsomeness was highly unusual. Orion always felt Venti had ulterior motives, especially since this appearance was modeled after Ms. Alice, and he wasn't sure how others perceived it.
He only agreed after receiving Skirk's approval. He figured if Skirk admitted he was handsome, he was probably quite handsome indeed.
Orion took the rose he found outside. How should he put it? Using Noelle's symbolic flower to lure others away gave him a strange sense of immorality.
Inside the Cathedral, Lumine, Paimon, and Venti crept along the walls toward the interior of The Church.
The three of them didn't dare straighten their backs, walking instead with hunched shoulders and bowed heads.
Orion, however, was completely different. He swaggered to the innermost part of The Church, a rose clenched between his teeth. According to the original plan, he was supposed to use his handsome appearance to lure away the Sister on duty.
Orion's lips curled slightly. Let me see which Sister is on night duty today!
It was Priest Barbara.
Barbara sensed someone approaching and turned around, immediately spotting Orion walking toward her with a rose in his mouth.
Orion completely froze in embarrassment. If it had been a Sister he didn't know, he could have followed the script Venti taught him, but he was too familiar with Barbara. How was he supposed to handle this?
Sure enough, when Barbara saw Orion approaching with the rose in his mouth, her eyes revealed confusion: "Orion? Is there something you need coming here at this hour?"
Orion glanced sideways at Venti's location, only to see Venti making a face that said, "Improvise!" That hateful Mondstadter! So unreliable!
Thus, Orion could only look deeply into Barbara's eyes and say: "Barbara, I have received so much care from you lately. I personally cultivated this rose; it is currently blooming perfectly, so I wanted to pick it and give it to you, my beautiful Priestess."
Barbara opened her mouth, but remained silent for a long time.
Paimon nudged Venti with her elbow and whispered, "Why didn't the lines you taught him work at all!"
Venti shrugged: "I didn't expect him to run into someone he knows!"
After about ten more seconds, Barbara finally spoke: "Orion, holding the rose like that... aren't the thorns hurting your mouth?"
Lumine, Paimon, and Venti simultaneously covered their eyes.
Venti never dreamed that if Orion didn't deliberately seal his strength, his skin was so tough that Noelle could swing her claymore and furiously hack at him for an entire day and night, and it would only amount to trimming his fingernails.
That's why, after Orion found the rose, he genuinely just stuck it in his mouth, completely forgetting that he needed to remove the thorns.
Orion even thought the rough texture wasn't bad.
At this moment, Orion suddenly realized the truth upon hearing Barbara's words. He bit down hard on the corner of his mouth, and a trickle of blood flowed out: "I apologize, Barbara. I was so eager to see you that I completely forgot the rose's thorns cause DMG."
"You're bleeding!" Barbara immediately spotted the blood on Orion's mouth, quickly grabbed his hand, and habitually ran toward the single patient room they often used: "Come quickly! Let me examine you, we absolutely can't let it get infected!"
Before his figure disappeared, Orion flashed an OK sign toward Venti and Lumine.
Before long, the figures of Lumine and the other two appeared before the secret door.
"Now he even got a bonus out of it," Lumine muttered disdainfully.
Venti gave an awkward laugh: "In any case, it's good that the plan is proceeding smoothly, right?"
Sure enough, thanks to Orion's self-sacrifice, Venti's magic, and Paimon's guidance, Lumine successfully maneuvered her way into the room where the sky harp was kept.
Then, a Fatui Electro Cicin Mage took the sky harp right in front of Lumine. Lumine and her companions were then mistaken for the thieves. News that a Blonde Person and a Little Green Person had stolen the sky harp quickly spread throughout all of Mondstadt City, and Knights of Favonius across the city began arresting the two individuals.
It was only because Lumine was an Honorary Knight of the Knights of Favonius that no one immediately suspected her.
While Lumine and Venti were being pursued, Orion was forced to receive treatment from Barbara in the treatment room.
Watching Barbara carefully put away the rose and gently examine his wound, a clear tear fell from the corner of his eye.
I am in such agony that I cannot share hardships with you all!
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