Venti and the return of a Bard Friend

Tadaima

The sun was beginning to rise from the mountains causing its first rays to bathe the land of freedom and winds.

Neill began to blink as he noticed the first rays of sunlight touch his face as he pulled himself upright letting out a big yawn as he stretched his arms "WAAAAAAHHHHH..."

"Good morning Neill-sama." Durin spoke softly sitting near the campfire as he prepared some meat skewers along with Amber who was helping her with the food.

The bard smiled as he looked at the food "Good morning Darius, you too Amber." The scout smiled "Of course. You can't see Venti on an empty stomach."

Neill looked curious "By the way.... Amber, how did Venti do for a year in my absence?" The red-attired girl scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably "Well.... You see..."

After explaining Venti's situation for a year.

"You're kidding right? That's too good to be true. He would never work and he's addicted to Dandelion wine." Neill finished as he looked uncomfortably praying he said that was a lie.

"No... It's true. He's worked at Diluc's tavern for a year and surprisingly paid off his debt. And as of today he's barely drank any wine." Amber ended up watching Neill's reaction who had a SHOCKED PIKACHU FACE expression.

Scaramouche crossed his arms as he looked at the bard "Look on the bright side, at least Venti paid his debt."

At that moment both Diluc who was in the tavern as well as Neill felt a bad feeling.

Diluc/Neill: "I feel like I'm going to end up in the red again..."

The bard smiled as he looked at Teucer and Raiga who began to wake up "Good morning to you two." The two greeted with a smile as they approached the hearth while the smallest of the group looked curiously at the skewers "What do we have for breakfast today Du-say Darius Aniki."

The black haired boy with red highlights sighed in relief, at which Teucer almost accidentally revealed his real name.

The boy smiled in relief as Durin began passing around the skewers. "Here you go." He passed the skewer to each who began to eat.

Benett looked on excitedly "Everyone will explode with joy when they see you enter Monstadt, it was a bit grim without you." The Second Archon smiled to himself "I can't wait to get back to Monstadt."

After eating breakfast Raiga and Durin made sure to properly extinguish the boffery and put dirt on it to make sure not to create a fire.

After that they all set course for Monstadt.

Monstadt (Main entrance)

The group was walking across the stone bridge that connected to the city as Amber ran towards the guards. "Lawrence! Swan!"

The brown haired guard known as Swan smiled "Welcome Amber, where's Benett?"

She smiled as she pointed to the back as both gentlemen shouted in surprise "Lord Neill!"

Like an alarm those passing nearby stopped and quickly approached the entrance finally seeing their missing Second Archon in the doorway.

"Lord Neill! He's back!"

Quickly many of Monstadt's inhabitants gathered as Sean looked at his companion "Lawrence Warn the Grand Master Quartermaster!" He nodded as he ran at full speed to the Headquarters of the Knights of Favonius.

Headquarters of the Knights of Favonius

Jean was sitting looking at some papers on the desk together with Venti who was reading a book in silence. The Grand Knight Dandelion couldn't help but look sideways at the green-robed bard "Venti.... I understand you're sad about Neill but you can't go on like this. Diluc has been worried about your attitude for a year now."