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

Wendy, who was also just strolling around the streets, came to visit uninvited.

Long time no see.

Rhodes thought Wendy had already returned to Mondstadt.

Until we met again.

He just knew.

In the past month or so, Wendy not only managed to obtain the same status as Zhongli as a guest of the Hall of Rebirth, but also secured an officially authorized performance venue in Feiyunpo.

However, Mondstadt's poetry doesn't seem to be very popular in Liyue.

Even though Wendy has been crowned Mondstadt’s most popular bard for three consecutive seasons, the audience for each performance is still very small.

Fortunately, Wendy has always been easygoing.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened.

When he first awoke from his slumber, Mondstadt, a land of poetry, had fallen into such a dire state that there were hardly any audience members and people couldn't even afford to eat. This was even more true in Liyue, a place where people were used to listening to Liyue opera.

"Why are you acting like a thief?"

Having finally met again, Rod asked Wendy, puzzled, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, don't even mention it."

“Ever since you left the Abyss of Layered Rocks, that Winter’s Executor has been keeping an eye on me.”

Wendy, with a mournful face, pitifully complained, "When Grandpa was around, he could help me cover for him, but now that he's gone, no one cares about me."

So you came to find me?

Rod said with a strange expression, "You should know that guy is also very interested in me, right?"

That being said.

In fact, the lady never came to see Rhodes after he returned to Earth.

D'Artagnan was nowhere to be found either.

Ningguang said he returned to Winter early this morning, apparently to report on Liyue's situation to the Ice Queen.

D'Artagnan was not there, and the lady did not come looking for him.

Rhodes had a rare moment of peace and quiet without being disturbed.

Now that Wendy has come to him for refuge, isn't this just blatantly leading women to his side?

What you say will come true.

Rod had just finished complaining about the trouble Wendy had caused him when the lady appeared.

This time.

She no longer wore the scholar's robes of the Church of England.

However, she wasn't wearing the executive officer's uniform; she was just wearing an ordinary-looking cheongsam.

Note that it is "appears".

The lady—oh no, she's now coming to us as Rosalyn.

The distinctive Liyue-style cheongsam she wore was custom-made by the Feiyun Merchant Guild. Although it looked ordinary, it was actually made of the kind of understated luxury top-grade silk that only the high-ranking officials and nobles of Liyue could afford. Rhodes had seen this material once when he visited the Feiyun Merchant Guild with Zhongli, so he recognized it at a glance.

There weren't many decorations on the clothes.

These are several pieces of jade accessories, each estimated to be worth over a million Mora.

Her long, golden hair was styled in Liyue, curled high with a hairpin and hanging down to her waist.

That's how she's dressed.

Rhodes almost mistook her for a Liyue person; she was completely different from Rosalind.

"What an rude fellow."

"Didn't the Grass God teach you that staring at a lady's face is very impolite?"

After a long time apart, Rosalind immediately launched into a barrage of verbal attacks.

Say it.

She ignored Rhodes and squinted at Wendy, saying, "The Wind God is here too, what a coincidence."

"Uh--"

Wendy scratched her head and chuckled, "Well, we're on our way to a friend's place."

same as before.

He still didn't want to clash with Rosalyn.

"Oh, it seems I've arrived at just the right time."

Rosalind didn't seem to believe Wendy's words at all, and went on to ask, "A friend who can be acquainted with you, Lord Wind God, must be some kind of important person. I wonder if you would be interested in introducing me to such a person?"

That's a very high-sounding statement.

He clearly didn't believe Wendy was really going to visit a friend, yet he managed to use such a bizarre reason to try and go with her.

Rhodes thought Wendy would find some excuse to reject Rosalind.

Unexpectedly.

Wendy actually agreed.

"Okay, but you have to be careful. My friend has a bad temper. If you offend her, you might get beaten up."

Rosalind, of course, refused to believe Wendy's endless tales.

Regarding the way this wind god acts.

She's seen it far too many times.

He's just a liar who spouts complete lies; nine and a half out of ten of his sentences are false.

Aside from his beautiful singing voice, he doesn't seem like a reliable deity at all.

This made the woman's attitude towards Wendy even worse.

Having made the dream of becoming the Ice Queen her life goal, she was already extremely dissatisfied with Venti's behavior of running away from the Darkness back then. Now, seeing Venti's behavior, which was more like that of a mortal than a god, she couldn't help but show a rather impatient expression.

This blatant hostility did not bother Wendy much.

He maintained his smiling demeanor and led the way from the front.

"I never imagined that the envoy from Sumeru would get to know so many important figures in just a few days. It's truly remarkable."

Compared to her habitually abusive language when speaking to Wendy, Rosalind, while also using sarcastic remarks when talking to Wendy, at least spoke in a fairly normal tone, not to the point of being overly malicious.

Although she didn't know who Rhodes and Wendy were going to meet, she did know that Rhodes had been traveling around with Zhongli for the past few days.

Unlike others.

Rosalind is one of the very few people who know that Zhongli is the Rock God.

It is precisely because I know a lot.

She became increasingly curious about Rhodes, this mortal who had won the favor of four gods in succession.

"Instead of talking about this, why don't you tell me your reasoning?"

Rhodes subtly displayed the Heart of God in his hand: "Your empress should still have this, right?"

"We cannot make decisions for the doctor."

Upon seeing the Heart of God, Rosalind immediately lost her previous interest, frowning as she said, "Why do you insist on finding the Doctor? It's just the Heart of God; wouldn't it be better to exchange it for something more advantageous to you?"

The doctor was Rosalyn's colleague.

At the same time, he ranks among the craziest executives, even among those who are generally considered crazy.

The only things that can attract him are people or things that are useful to his obsessive research; other things are unlikely to arouse his interest.

This makes it extremely difficult to trade the Heart of the Rock God through normal means.

That's exactly what Rod brought up.

Rosalind then quickly tried to see if she could get him to change the terms.

In fact, during the time Rhodes was away from the mine...

She had been thinking about finding an opportunity to bring this up.

But Rod was always running around with Zhongli, so there was no time to discuss this matter with him.

Rosalind was getting impatient.

So he vented his anger on Wendy, who was always available.

Unexpectedly, following Wendy gave him the opportunity to talk to Rhodes about this.

Taking advantage of this opportunity.

Rosalind didn't mind taking the opportunity to belittle the doctor whose position was far superior to hers.

Anyway, the Doctor can't hear him. As long as Rhodes can change his mind and offer an easier-to-achieve condition to let her take the Heart of God back, then everything will be fine.

pity.

No matter how Rosalind explained the various drawbacks that leading the Doctor into Sumeru might bring, Rhodes remained unmoved.

"I told you that."

"That's the condition."

"No change."

"No matter what you say, I won't change it."

Rhodes's resolute attitude greatly displeased Rosalyn, who had tried so hard to persuade him.

But we still need to reason with them.

This time, the topic was no longer about a doctorate; instead, it shifted to other conditions that Rosalind found more enticing.

For example, if a more moderate, technically-oriented executive were chosen, the seventh-ranked puppet would go to Sumeru.