Barbatos, how can you be even more unreliable?
Hearing his tentative and uncertain reply, Kai sighed slightly, feeling a headache coming on.
This guy was probably the most unreliable god in all of Teyvat.
He even felt that Mondstadt's current status as the City of Freedom was purely due to Barbatos; after all, when a god itself is so laid-back, the nation it rules will naturally inherit the god's personality.
"But never mind, theoretically, it shouldn't be wrong."
Although he couldn't recall the details very clearly, he remembered there was indeed a plot point where tear crystals were used.
In this situation... the events unfolding should also proceed as he remembered.
Sure enough, almost the instant Kai's thoughts settled, Barbatos raised his hand.
The next second... the originally clear tear crystal suddenly underwent an astonishing transformation.
A dazzling light quietly emerged in the dim tavern.
The crystal, which had been in a solid state, at this moment seemed to be scorched by high heat, transforming into a clear drop of water that slowly dripped onto the Holy lyre der himmel.
"Buzz~"
The moment the water drop touched the Holy lyre der himmel, a rich Anemo energy burst forth almost instantly.
The dazzling light enveloped the entire body of the lyre, even causing the Vision at its waist to resonate intensely.
"This energy..."
Feeling the power of Anemo gradually coalesce, Lumine murmured to herself as the light slowly faded.
The Holy lyre der himmel before them had undergone a drastic transformation.
If the Holy lyre der himmel they had originally obtained merely possessed a sense of historical weight in addition to its elegance, then now, with the energy of the tear crystal fully integrated, what appeared before everyone was a reborn Holy lyre der himmel.
A faint glow permeated the surface of the lyre.
Under the blessing of Anemo, it seemed to possess its own unique spirituality, like a newly imprinted soul.
"Is this... is this the true Holy lyre der himmel?"
At this moment, even Paimon could feel how vast the difference was between the current Holy lyre der himmel and what she had seen before.
Staring at the reborn lyre, her adorable little face showed surprise, inadvertently speaking her thoughts aloud.
"If we sold it, it would definitely..."
"Hm?"
"Uh, no, no, I was just making an example! I wasn't thinking of secretly selling it!"
Hearing Kai's voice behind her, Paimon was startled and quickly waved her hands, her face instantly filled with nervousness.
Fortunately, no one at the scene seemed to care about Paimon's remark.
Staring at the Holy lyre der himmel, which was clearly revitalized by the purification of Anemo, Jean couldn't help but step forward and murmur, "The lyre seems... to have regained its youth."
"Venti, can we use it to summon Dvalin now?"
"Eh... I don't think so yet, right?"
To Jean's question, Venti shook his head, laughing awkwardly.
"While Dvalin's tear crystal is indeed useful, just one drop isn't enough. To use the Holy lyre der himmel to summon Dvalin and purify him from the erosion he's suffering, the Holy lyre der himmel needs to be filled with more Anemo energy."
"You mean, we still need to collect tear crystals?"
From the current situation, tear crystals clearly had a very strong effect on increasing the elemental saturation of the Holy lyre der himmel.
In this case, finding tear crystals was naturally the best way to fill the Holy lyre der himmel with more elements.
But besides that... "Venti, don't you have any other way to fill the Holy lyre der himmel? If it's Anemo energy, you should be able to do it, right?"
Kai looked up and suddenly said this.
"I'm sorry, I really don't have that ability right now."
Shaking his head with an embarrassed smile, Barbatos clearly had no solution to Kai's question.
"Honestly... can't you do something useful?"
Although he had already guessed this would be the outcome, hearing the answer firsthand still made Kai sigh helplessly, clearly feeling a headache.
After all, it was the most annoying type of collection quest.
"So, where can we collect them?"
Paimon floated in the air, asking with great confusion.
"Since these crystals are Dvalin's tears, we should have a chance to collect them by going to the places he recently landed."
Kai answered simply.
Although it felt a bit troublesome, to quickly push the plot forward, he could only reluctantly participate.
"Then... our Master Diluc."
"You should be able to get information about things like this, right?"
"Hmph, give me one night."
With a light snort, Diluc naturally had no reason to refuse Kai's inquiry.
"In that case, this task is assigned. Share the information tomorrow, and then the Traveler and I will go collect them."
"Kai... you're going to help?"
Hearing Kai's words, Jean couldn't help but show a surprised expression, clearly not expecting it.
In fact, after Grand Master Varka led the Knights of Favonius elite on an expedition, due to a lack of manpower, Jean had considered asking Kai to help the Knights of Favonius with some simple tasks.
After all, setting aside everything else, Jean had full confidence in her husband's strength.
She could handle dangerous matters herself, but tasks like helping Amber clear out Hilichurl outside the city could be entirely entrusted to Kai.
However, due to his personality, considering that Kai never seemed to like doing troublesome things, this idea had only remained in her mind.
Jean had never personally invited Kai to help the Knights of Favonius or anything similar.
But she hadn't expected that today, facing the matter of Stormterror, he would choose to offer help proactively.
Kai sighed.
Honestly, he didn't want to run out and do missions for no reason. He'd rather stay at home or in the library during that time, and pick up his wife from work when it was time. That was Kai's dream daily life.
However, ... "If we let the Traveler collect everything, it would probably take a lot of time."
Kai replied helplessly.
"In that case, I might as well share some of the burden. After all, the Acting Grand Master would also worry about a certain man out on a mission, wouldn't she? Perhaps, for that reason, she might even come home more often?"