Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

The air inside the church carried the scent of candlelight and old wood. The stained-glass windows in the dome filtered the afternoon sunlight into pale beams that slanted across the floor tiles. Qin stood at the entrance to the side aisle, and as she saw the traveler and Paimon enter, she slightly turned aside to let the figure behind her pass.

"This is the church's specialist in retrieving the Sky Harp, Reverend Barbara."

The piano's sound was neither too loud nor too soft, carrying a faint echo in the empty church.

Barbara took two steps forward, her light golden hair swaying gently over her shoulders. She clasped her hands in front of her, her gaze sweeping over you with gentle warmth: "May the wind god protect you. Although I may not be qualified to say this compared to the acting captain… I still want to thank everyone on behalf of Mondstadt for their efforts! Thankfully, it was resolved peacefully! If we had actually mobilized our forces to fight the dragons, it's hard to imagine how it would have ended…"

Jean nodded slightly: "Moreover, the Fools have nothing to say either. This time they have completely lost their excuse to put pressure on the Knights of Favonius by using the Dragon Plague, and can only be known for their arrogance and rudeness, without gaining any diplomatic benefits whatsoever."

Barbara nodded, as if confirming Qin's statement, then turned her gaze to the Travelers: "Alright, so you brought the Sky Harp? The acting captain's guarantee isn't unlimited; the Cardinal of the Church has been urging us repeatedly."

Paimon floated in mid-air, her little hands clasped together, her voice a half-tone lower than usual: "I...I did bring it, but...um...this...is a little..."

Barbara tilted her head slightly, her tone still gentle: "Hmm? Don't be nervous, the church has a special fund for offering treasures, and won't ask you for rent."

The traveler took the case off his back, opened the lid, and took out the Sky Harp.

The instrument rests horizontally in my hand, its surface covered with fine cracks that extend from the neck to the bottom of the soundbox. Several deeper cracks have slightly upturned edges, revealing light-colored wood underneath. The strings hang loosely.

Barbara's gaze froze the moment it touched the violin. She stood rooted to the spot, as if frozen in place, then a voice forced from her throat, trembling almost uncontrollably: "Ah—!"

Barbara abruptly raised her hands to cover her mouth, her eyes instantly welling up with tears. "Aaaaaaahhhhhh—! The Sky Harp—!!! Lord Barbatos, even if Barbara spends the rest of her life repenting and atoning, she can never atone for this sin!!"

Paimon shrank back and flew behind the Traveler: "Uh..."

Wendy stood to the side, raised her hand to scratch the back of her head, and made a muffled "Hmm..."

A moment of silence fell over the church, broken only by Barbara's suppressed sobs echoing between the domes. Wendy looked at the nearly shattered harp and sighed, "Sigh... never mind, just hand me the Sky Harp."

The traveler handed over the violin. Wendy took it, supporting the bottom with one hand while gently stroking the top of the violin with the other. Where her fingertips touched, a pale blue light flowed along the contours of the violin, like moonlight, broken by the wind, seeping into the cracks of the wood grain.

The cracks began to close the moment the light passed by, the raised edges gradually smoothed out, and the loose strings tightened again, producing a very soft resonance in the air, like a newly tuned note.

A few breaths later, the Sky Harp lay in his palm, looking brand new, its surface smooth and intact, without a single scratch.

Barbara's sobs stopped abruptly. Her eyes widened as she stared at the returned harp, her voice trembling with disbelief and a nasal tone: "Huh—?! Why…the Sky Harp has been restored?!"

Paimon flew out from behind the traveler, approached the harp, and circled it halfway around: "Huh?! Let me take a closer look!"

Barbara hugged the violin tightly to her chest, her arms gripping the instrument closely, and took a half-step back. "No, no! Although I don't know what kind of magical spell it is, I absolutely cannot let you touch this sacred object again!"

Wendy's lips curved into a slight smile. She lowered her voice and whispered to the Traveler and Paimon, "Well then, we'd better get out of here quickly. The illusion I used to fix the violin... I mean, the spell, isn't exactly 100% reliable."

Paimon's face instantly changed color: "What?! A street performer! You actually fooled him? Don't run away!" Jean stood beside him, pressing her temples as if she had just dealt with a matter more troublesome than Stormterror.

Barbara was still engrossed in examining the violin, scrutinizing every detail, completely unaware that the three people behind her were moving rapidly toward the side door. As they slipped out of the church's side door, the hinges made a barely audible creak, which was then drowned out by the sound of the wind outside.

Wendy stood on the steps outside the side door of the church, patting non-existent dust off her clothes: "Okay, it's safe now."

Paimon circled him twice, his voice much louder than before: "How long can your illusion last?" Wendy thought for a moment: "Hmm... how long..."

Wendy turned his head as if to answer, when a dark figure darted out from the shadow of a pillar to the side and kicked him precisely in the side.

Wendy was sent flying by the kick, sliding half a circle on the stone floor, her hat tilted to one side, and her lyre slipped from her hand and rolled into the corner.

Luminous and Paimon both froze. Luminous's gaze fell on the figure emerging from the shadows—a dark coat, the edge of the Fatui's dark pattern peeking out from the collar—she recognized the face.

Fanes had already walked up to Wendy, squatted down, grabbed his collar with one hand, and clenched his fist with the other, slamming it solidly onto his shoulder.

Before Wendy could even get up, a second punch landed: "You're just eating and drinking here for free! You cost me tens of millions of Mora every year!"

Wendy raised her hand to block the third punch, her voice filled with grievance and shortness of breath from being interrupted: "Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! I was wrong!"

Fanes' fists didn't stop, his voice carrying a "I've already settled the score" certainty: "I'm not planning to get those hundreds of millions of Mora back, but I have to beat you up today to vent my anger!"

Paimon floated in mid-air, watching Wendy being beaten on the ground, and opened his mouth as if to say something.

But Paimon glanced at the badge on Fanes' collar that signified the twelfth seat, then at Rosalind, the eighth seat, who was slowly emerging from the shadows of the columns, and then silently shut her mouth.

Her hand was already on the hilt of her sword, but her gaze shifted back and forth between Fanes and Rosalind, then she looked at Wendy, who was pinned to the ground and powerless to fight back. Then she released the hilt, took a half step back, and leaned against the edge of the wall, arms crossed, as if she had already decided where she wanted to stand.

Fanes straddled Wendy, delivering brutal punches. Wendy's protests, which started with "Stop hitting me," gradually turned into incoherent mutterings, and finally fell silent.

Rosalind walked over, looked down at the unconscious figure on the ground, raised her foot and gave him a couple of light kicks to the shin, then withdrew her foot and glanced at Fanes: "Are you done?"

Fanes took a breath, loosened Wendy's collar, stood up, and reached into the inside pocket of Wendy's coat. His fingers touched a cold object with a finely textured surface.

Fanes took out the object, held it in his palm and glanced at it—a pale blue shell with a layer of slowly flowing light emanating from its edges, like a fragment wrapped in wind, quietly resting in the center of his palm.

Paimon floated in mid-air, looking at the Heart of God, then at the unconscious Wendy, his voice carrying a knowing tone that said, "I really have no reason to interfere."

"The other two are the eighth and twelfth seat holders, both higher than the last seat holder, so they're definitely stronger than the hunters. We two little Karamis won't go up there."

Ying stood by the wall: "Besides, Wendy owed money and didn't pay it back first, so it's normal that she got beaten up."

Paimon nodded, flew to Ying's shoulder, and squatted down: "That's right. It's only right to pay back debts. Even though he doesn't pay back the money, but instead pays it off by getting beaten up."

Fanes put the Heart of God into the inside pocket of his coat, patted the dust off the hem, and glanced down at Wendy: "Alright, that's enough."

Fanes turned and walked a few steps toward the street. As he passed the traveler, he glanced at her and smiled slightly. "Next time we meet, remember to return the seasoning from that meal."

He continued walking forward, Rosalind following behind him, and the two figures quickly blended into the afternoon streets of Mondstadt.

Paimon flew off Ying's shoulder and hovered above Wendy, looking down at his disheveled appearance: "...Should we wake him up?"

Ying also came over, squatted down next to Wendy, and looked down at his face, which was swollen on one side: "Let him lie down for now."

Ying stood up, dusted off her hands, glanced in the direction Fanes had left, then looked away and turned to walk down another street.

Wendy was still lying on the stone floor, his hat tilted a few steps away, his lyre leaning against the corner of the wall, sunlight filtering through the gaps in the church tower, casting a warm yellow patch of light on him.