Supreme Bishop of Fontaine

Wendy: “???????”

Wendy's face changed drastically. "Wait, wait, wait? What did you say? You got royalties for your image? How come I didn't get any?"

Zhongli said calmly, "He said he couldn't find you."

Wendy: “…”

"He also told me that if you find me in the future and want to go to Fontaine with me to sue him, please let me tell you this: I've already written off the royalties for using your portrait from your outstanding balance. As a special offer, I've written off a full half. And from now on, your interest won't increase any more. You only need to pay the remaining half."

"I only borrowed 20 million Mora, okay?!" Wendy grew even more dissatisfied. "How can my portrait rights be that cheap?! I'm the Wind God after all, right?! He can sell a single photo for 100 million Mora! Is my portrait rights, the great Barbatos, worth less than a single photo of his?!"

"Um... Lord Fengshen, I have something to say."

Astraea said, raising her hand timidly.

"Leah, just say whatever you want to say."

Wendy looked very gentle towards Astralia, completely lacking her previous aggressive attitude, as if she was afraid of scaring Astralia.

Well, he really liked this child. It was hard to imagine that this was a doll made by Ye. Wendy was very curious about what kind of mentality the man had to create such a kind girl who was completely incompatible with him.

"That's... that... Lord Fengshen, you owe the Southern Bank a debt for four hundred years. Although the agreed interest rate was only three percent per year, the interest on this Mora has been rolling over for four hundred years now..."

Leah didn't continue speaking, and Wendy fell silent.

After a while, Wendy suddenly said, "I've been tricked."

Zhongli nodded. "Isn't that normal? Why do you look so surprised?"

"I called him my friend and borrowed money from him to buy some alcohol, and he even charged me interest!"

"I don't believe you didn't see the interest."

"I saw it, but he was the one selling the wine. He was selling it so temptingly and expensively just to rip me off! And he even said at the time that he didn't think I could pay it back, and that it didn't matter even if I didn't—and now he's waiting for me here!?"

"You can't blame anyone else for not returning Mora for four hundred years, right? You can only blame yourself, right?"

"Old man, which side are you on? Why do you act like you haven't been cheated by him?!"

Wendy couldn't help but look at Zhongli with dissatisfaction.

Zhongli rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and then said, "I truly don't think I've ever been cheated. Ye Jianzhi and I have always been clear on our prices. I lost before because I wasn't as skilled as him. He's been honest in all subsequent transactions. He's never concealed anything, never cheated, and never broke a promise. Everything has been in accordance with the 'contract.'"

"Why is his attitude towards me completely different from his attitude towards you?"

Astraea responded to Wendy's doubts: "Well, the Supreme Bishop once said that there's an old saying in Liyue: If someone treats me with sincerity, I will repay them with sincerity; if someone treats me with deception, I will repay them with deception."

Zhongli touched his chin again and thought carefully: "I know the ancient saying at the beginning, but when did the latter one come out?"

"It's obvious that Ye made it up." Even Wendy couldn't help but twitch her lips at this moment: "How dare he say such a thing? If we talk about fooling people, he's the best at it."

"Anyway, that... Lord Fengshen, if you want to sue the Supreme Bishop for this, you can. Your debt to the Southland Bank is one thing, but the Supreme Bishop's unauthorized use of your image rights is another. What the Supreme Bishop did is not justified under Fontaine law. Even with your eloquence, you won't win in court."

After all, Astraea is a puppet from Fontaine, and she is very familiar with the laws of Fontaine. Even the Supreme Bishop cannot confuse right and wrong in such a matter with solid evidence. He really cannot win.

"If you want to be more cautious, you can also ask Miss Yan Fei, the most famous lawyer in Liyue Harbor, to help. I heard that she has extensive knowledge of the laws of various countries. Even if she faces the Supreme Bishop in the Fontainebleau Court, she should not lose with such an advantage."

"That makes sense."

Wendy also touched her chin and nodded thoughtfully.

"Let's be clear, it doesn't make sense that just because I owe him a little Mora, he can use my likeness rights as he pleases. I also have human rights... oh no, I also have divine rights!"

Why do I feel like something is wrong?

"So are you ready to pay Mora back?" Zhongli asked pointedly, "It's fine for you to sue Ye, but it won't be a problem for him to sue you back either. After all, you've owed him a debt for four hundred years, and the most Ye can do is pay you back for using his portrait, compensate you for some of your losses, or just withdraw your cards and stop selling them. But if you can't pay back Mora for four hundred years..."

Astraea blinked her eyes and continued, "Lord Wind God, you will be captured by the Supreme Bishop and forced to work to pay off your debt."

Wendy: “…………”

Chapter 151 Adding bowls and chopsticks

Wendy felt that this world was terrible. Her portrait rights were being used at will by others and she had no way to do anything about it. Is this fair?

...Although Wendy was secretly against the laws of nature, only at this moment did he realize the benefits of having laws of nature!

"No, isn't there still the Thunder God? I remember that girl, she's not as easy to talk to as we are. I don't believe she would hand over the portrait rights so easily. In other words, I don't have to worry about it at all. General Lei Dian will naturally strike down Fontaine with his sword!"

Faced with Wendy's presumptuous expectations, Zhongli had to speak up again, shattering his ideals. He said, somewhat cruelly, "Unfortunately, according to Leah, Ye has done a lot of work in Inazuma. Although her relationship with Baalzebul isn't exactly good, it's not a problem to ask her for the right to use her likeness. Leah returned to Liyue after completing this task."

"...So, I'm being targeted, right?"

"From the perspective of universal reason, that's right."

Wendy scratched her head helplessly. "Forget it. Although I don't know what Ye's purpose is in doing this, it doesn't matter. Anyway, even if it is exposed, it's not a big deal. I didn't deliberately hide it."

Indeed, Wendy did not deliberately conceal his identity as the wind god Barbatos, but just felt that there was no need to say it.

Mondstadt is the city of freedom, a country that remains godless because Barbatos gave up wearing the crown.

In this country, the will of the people has always been free, and this is what Wendy hopes for.

Some people choose to believe in Barbatos devoutly, which is a kind of freedom. Some nuns pronounce Barbatos as Bartobas and have no faith in him at all, which is also a kind of freedom.

Some people spend their days trying to blow up fish with bombs, some tear down the gates of Mondstadt when they have nothing better to do, some want to become knights to protect and help others, some shout "Captain Noelqin" loudly whenever something happens, some spend their days studying Hilichurls in the wild, some are so obsessed with studying plants that they call humans animals... Everywhere in Mondstadt, you can see people who practice "free" will, no matter who they are, no matter whether they are good or bad.

They are unrestrained and basically do whatever they think of. No matter what they do, it must be a choice based on their own will.

Wendy likes this kind of "freedom".

And he himself is also a member of this "freedom".

It is his freedom not to wear a crown and become the god who rules Mondstadt. It is also his freedom to help the people rebel against the nobles when they see Mondstadt falling into the darkness of aristocratic rule.

It is his freedom to conceal his identity and integrate into Mondstadt as a bard, and it is also his freedom to reveal his identity and let the world know that he is the wind god Barbatos.

………Although this freedom seems a bit forced, Wendy doesn’t really care too much.

Again, Wendy did not deliberately conceal his identity as the wind god Barbatos, he just felt that there was no need to say it.

So what if it was known?

It doesn't affect anything.

What's more, there is only one card of the God of Wind, so there seems to be nothing to worry about, right?

On the bright side, I've waived half of my outstanding debt! And there won't be any interest charges in the future! This is just too... I don't think I ever intended to pay Mora back in the first place!?

Thinking of this, I felt unhappy again.

Forget it, don’t think about it, let’s eat.

Wendy lowered her head, picked up a pair of chopsticks and started picking up the food and eating.

Seeing this, Zhongli couldn't help but wonder, "Did I say I'd treat you?"

However, Wendy was startled when she heard Zhongli's words. She looked up at him with astonishment on her face: "Is this your treat?"

"Of course." Zhongli frowned. "How can I let a little kid treat me?"

"So you brought Maura?"

"...From a common sense perspective, although I did forget to bring Mora, I can put it on record to the Hall of Rebirth."

"One more isn't too much, so treat me too. I've been playing games lately and haven't had a good meal in a while."

After understanding, Wendy stopped paying attention to Zhongli and buried his head in his food again. After a while, he raised his head and shouted, "Shopkeeper, please serve some wine! How can we have food without wine? Bring me your best wine! Don't look down on the financial resources of Wangsheng Hall!"

Astralia pretended not to hear anything and ate her meal in silence. Fortunately, she didn't have to pay Mora this time.

"Speaking of which, old man, have you sensed a change in the wind lately?"

"I didn't feel any change in the wind, but I did feel a lot of earthquakes."

Zhongli put down his chopsticks, took a sip of wine, and said calmly:

"And next, I'm afraid the shock will reach Xumi."

"Something big has happened in Xumi," Wendy said with a gentle laugh. "One of Ye's men, a girl named Versetti from the Templar Order, has caused quite a stir in Xumi. The entire Oratory is almost being emptied out."

Zhongli couldn't help but frown slightly. "I've always been puzzled about Xumi. I've never seen that little auspicious grass king, but she sits on the throne of the grass god after all. How come she doesn't seem to care about Xumi at all? Do you know anything?"

"This matter seems a bit complicated." Wendy put down his chopsticks, his expression slightly serious. "I don't know the details of the situation. After all, even the wind can't tell me all the stories. All I know is that the little Auspicious Grass King's presence in Xumi is extremely low—even lower than my presence in Mondstadt."

Although this analogy seems inappropriate, after all, although the Wind God does not appear in Mondstadt at all, his presence is not low at all. Barbatos is in a state in Mondstadt that is not there but is everywhere.

However, if we use a metaphor, Wendy's metaphor can make people understand the current status of the Grass God at once.

Mondstadt is a godless city-state, and its presence is even lower than that of the gods in a godless city-state. One can imagine what the situation of the little Auspicious Grass King is like in Xumi.

After all, the little auspicious grass king has truly ascended to the position of grass god of Mount Sumeru.

Even the second generation gods... not to mention the special case of Thor, who no one knew about the position change, look at the Water God of Fontaine, the Fire God of Nata, and the Ice God of Winter. Which of these gods who normally rule the country has a lower presence than Wendy!?

"It seems that Xumi's affairs are indeed not simple."

Zhongli turned his head slightly and looked at Astraea who was eating silently without saying a word.

"Leah, do you know anything specific? After all, Ye's aggressiveness towards Xumi is really abnormal. He obviously knows something, right?"

"Ah? This?" Astralia raised her head in panic and waved her hand. "I, I don't know. The Supreme Bishop never mentioned anything about Xumi."

"Is that so..."

"That's true."

The sudden sound made Zhongli and Wendy open their eyes slightly, and Astraea stood up instantly with a look of fear on her face.

"The most... Supreme Bishop?"

Yes, Ye, who had arrived at the scene at some point, walked over step by step, and then sat down directly without any hesitation, just like Wendy.

"Bring me a set of bowls and chopsticks, and a bottle of wine, the most expensive kind—don't look down on Master Hu's financial resources."

Chapter 152 The Power to Be Lost

Seeing Wendy coming through Astraea, Ye came directly over.

Don’t ask me what I’m doing here. The only thing I’m asking is that I’m really bored and came here to have some fun.

The documents that only he or Funina could handle had already been processed by Ye, and the rest were sent to Villette, so there was no need to worry about work matters.

Now, focus on having fun.

"If you have any questions, you can ask me directly. As you know, I always tell you everything I know."

After the wine came, Ye quickly drank a glass, and then slowly said:

"I'm in a good mood right now. If what you're asking can be discussed now, I'll tell you."

"...Don't you think your two sentences are particularly contradictory?"

Wendy rubbed her forehead and wanted to run away. After all, with creditors in front of her, the god had to feel guilty.

Zhongli quickly accepted Ye Zhiwu's new setting and asked directly, "Then answer my question. What is the current situation of Xumi's Little Auspicious Grass King? Why did she allow you to be so aggressive towards Xumi?"

Faced with such a question, Ye's expression turned serious, and he spoke solemnly, "Wisdom is the enemy of the God of Wisdom. 'Knowledge' is the bait floating on the surface of the sea of ​​ignorance. The scholars of the Citadel are promoting foolishness, and the wisdom of the Gods has no objection to this."

"Old man, just shoot him to death."

"just kidding."

Seeing that Zhongli seemed to be about to pull out a gun, Ye immediately stopped.

"Actually, the matter is very simple. Little Auspicious Grass King has been imprisoned since five hundred years ago."

"I see."

Zhongli and Wendy nodded in understanding, but they didn't look too surprised. After all, this could explain why the current Grass God had been ignoring Xumi.

"In other words, if the news of the imprisoned god were to leak out, Xumi would surely suffer the same diplomatic fate as Mondstadt. Is that why the Ecclesiastical Council has been concealing the news?"

Zhongli shook his head slightly.

"What a foolish idea! Although the Seven Consuls don't all have harmonious relationships with each other, if the Council of the Lords had sought help sooner regarding such a serious matter as the imprisonment of a god, the little Auspicious Grass King would have been rescued by now, and you wouldn't have taken advantage of him after learning the truth."

He was not too surprised that the little auspicious grass king was imprisoned.

After all, the Little Auspicious Grass King was just born five hundred years ago, so it’s impossible for him to be very strong.

What made Zhongli feel stupid was that the Council of Ecclesiastes actually chose to conceal this matter. After all, there was no overt hostility between the Seven Lords of the World. Faced with such a thing, some gods might not care, but there would definitely be gods who would choose to help. After all, this was already a provocation to all of the Seven Lords of the World.

With this in mind, Zhongli asked directly, "So, who imprisoned the Little Lucky Grass King? Could it be that some demon god escaped back to Teyvat? Or was it the work of the Fatui? Or was it you?"