In Teyvat, it all begins with rescuing the grass god.

So Rhodes had no choice but to return to Sumeru City on his own.

The envoy from Mondstadt stayed at the embassy in the city.

However, when Rhodes arrived at the door, he was told by the Knights of Favonius guarding the entrance that none of the envoys were present, and they, as his subordinates, did not know where they had gone.

"A bunch of restless guys."

"Since the Grass God isn't here, can't you just stay here obediently?"

Rhodes shook his head.

However, he did not go into the city to look for people, but stayed at the embassy.

Whether these guys went to do research or went out to have fun, they'll eventually come back in the evening. If I wander around aimlessly like a headless fly, I might just waste time.

However, while Rhodes awaited the return of Mondstadt's envoys...

His virtual terminal then received a message.

The messenger was Elhesen.

As a clerk, he and Rhodes usually had little interaction.

The same is true.

Since overthrowing the Great Sage, he and Elhesen had hardly seen each other, let alone communicated directly through the Void Terminal.

As for the content of this message...

Very simple.

Only a few words.

[The Winter Ambassador, the eighth Executive Officer of the Fools, requests to see you.]

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 193 The Lady Who Refused to Leave (202.)

Chapter 193 The Lady Who Refused to Leave

No matter how unwilling you are.

When the lady came to Sumeru on a mission with the highly official title of Winter Ambassador, Rhodes was also required to go to the Church of Christ to meet her as she requested.

Actually, given Rhodes's status...

He was clearly not qualified to speak on equal terms with envoys from other countries.

Or rather.

Even now, he only has the identity of a villager of Aru Village and a disciple of the Kagyu Monastery in Xumi; he has no other official identity.

This was the result of Rhodes himself deflecting the blame.

Nasita originally thought that at least a formal official identity was necessary.

But Rod was afraid of trouble.

So they all refused.

Even the Scholars Research Department of the Faculty of Education issued an ultimatum, but he couldn't be bothered to report it. For this, Gülech and Nafis scolded him quite a bit.

However, despite their scolding, Rod's two teachers did not urge him any further. They simply said, "Come if you want, or don't," and let the matter pass by lightly.

"Ugh--"

On the way to the Church, Rhodes kept sighing.

If you are not afraid of thieves stealing, you are afraid of thieves missing you.

In Mondstadt.

He had opposed the lady over the matter of borrowing the heart of God, and had even injured an executive officer.

However, Zhi Dong never came to cause trouble again, and gradually he assumed that Zhi Dong had simply accepted his bad luck and given up on revenge.

As expected, it did come.

As for why the woman came to see him,

Rod had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

What else could it be?

It is nothing more than the heart of God.

Therefore, before coming here, Rhodes made a special detour back to Hope City to ask Nasida for the Heart of the Wind God before going to the Order of the Church to find her.

Under El-Hysen's arrangement.

Rod met the lady in the reception room where foreign guests were received.

strictly speaking.

This was their first formal meeting.

He had secretly observed the lady back in Mondstadt, but she only knew the name Rhodes.

The moment we met.

The woman crossed her arms and looked Rhodes up and down, then sneered, "The person who injured that doll is such a young punk. Humph, that doll has really disgraced Zhidong."

Rhodes ignored her sarcastic remarks and simply tossed Wendy's Heart of God to her: "Take it, I know you came here for this."

"Ok?"

The lady, who was about to say something, was caught off guard by Rhodes's move.

It is true that she came to demand the Heart of God.

But that was in her original plan.

She planned to meet directly with the Grass God and, in the name of the Winter Queen, reach a deal with the Grass God regarding the Heart of God.

This is different from when I was in Mondstadt.

Although the lady still maintained her haughty attitude towards other gods, before setting off for Sumeru, the Winter Queen personally ordered her not to be too offensive when dealing with the Grass God.

Although the lady didn't quite understand why a powerful queen would be so polite to a weak god who could be imprisoned by her followers.

Out of loyalty and unwavering trust in Queen Winter.

She still decided to follow the Queen's instructions and treat the Grass God with the utmost respect.

The reason he sought out Rhodes to meet with him was...

She simply wanted to see what kind of person this bastard was who ruined her plans in Mondstadt and beat that foul-mouthed doll so badly that he couldn't get out of bed for a month.

So before I even opened my mouth.

The lady had not expected Rhodes to throw the Heart of God directly at her.

And that's not all.

After sending out the Heart of the Wind God, Rhodes said, "I can't give you Narcida's Heart of the Wind God yet. Isn't Tartaglia stationed in Liyue right now? I'll send it to him in a while."

"."

The woman's gaze toward Rhodes instantly turned strange.

Everything that he had planned to say to the Grass God was said by Rod.

Moreover, what merit or ability did Rod have to make decisions for the Grass God and directly promise the Grass God's Divine Heart?

Think of this.

The woman narrowed her eyes slightly.

If what Rhodes is saying now is at the behest of the Grass God, then that's fine.

If not.

She felt it necessary to urge the people of the Hearth House to update their information on Sumeru.

The woman then recalled the existing intelligence the Fools had on Rhodes.

The outsider who suddenly appeared in Aru Village, who calls himself the Red King's Messenger, has a very high reputation in the Sumeru Desert. He is suspected to be a non-Teyvat native and led the operation to save the Grass God. He is the Grass God's most capable assistant. During his mission to Mondstadt, he befriended the high-ranking members of the Knights of Favonius in Mondstadt and made a deal with the Wind God, but the details of the deal are unknown.

The House of Hearths is an intelligence agency under the Fools.

This organization, nominally called the Welfare Institute, is an intelligence agency controlled by Arecino, the servant of the Fourth Executive Officer. Most of the children who leave here are engaged in the task of obtaining intelligence for Winter.

Some of them would infiltrate other countries, while others would carry out orders from the executives to gather intelligence, and some of the less capable would join the army and go on campaigns with the troops.

The lady had a fairly good personal relationship with the servants, and she visited the fireplace house several times, where she and her host enjoyed themselves immensely. She particularly liked the children there.

However, their relationship with the fireplace house was quite good.

The woman felt it was necessary to remind Arecino to keep a closer eye on her intelligence agents.

Information about Rhodes is certainly incomplete.

At the very least, the relationship between Rhodes and the Grass God is definitely not as described in the intelligence.

I am afraid.

Their relationship is not one of superior and subordinate; it is likely much closer than that.

"Is there anything else?"

"If you have nothing else, I'll be going now."

After giving away the Heart of God and making a promise, Rhodes tilted his head and asked, looking at the thoughtful lady.

"."

The lady originally intended to say that there was none left.

The reason she came to Sumeru was simply because, while in Mondstadt, she discovered that the Heart of the Wind God was missing. Combining the clues from the Dragon Plague with the information provided by the Hearthglen intelligence agents, she ultimately deduced that the Heart of the Wind God was very likely taken by Rhodes.

Considering that even the puppet known for its resilience was beaten into such a miserable state.

Instead of recklessly repeating what she had done in Mondstadt, she petitioned the Winter Queen to bring the Heart of God back to Winter through formal diplomatic means.

According to the original plan.