Spying on the Wind | Venti♡Reader

💫𝕋ℍ𝕀ℝ𝕋𝔼𝔼ℕ💫

"For a bard, you're a master on the battlefield! I thought you underwent special training. I... I am just a toyseller from the land of Mora. Well, I can fight as I had mastered various fighting techniques after receiving a Vision. Otherwise, the Vision would have gone to waste, no?"

As she rambled on about her life story, I studied her from head to toe. My gaze settled on her Hydro Vision. How she had obtained it was extremely complicated. In fact, it was because of the complications of her life that I lost interest. I hardly understood a word that came out of her mouth as she related her travelling experiences to me. Some parts didn't add up either. For example, she would talk about how difficult it was to scale a huge mountain in Sumeru and then proceed to tell me that she had never set foot on a single non-grassland terrain aside from Dragonspine. I didn't pry, as the reason was probably even more complicated than a Kamera.

Before long, the topic had changed to stuff I was actually interested in, like the elements-Pyro, Hydro, Anemo, Electro, Dendro, Cryo and Geo-and how dumb the Geo Archon was to leave his subjects to fend for their sorry selves. We were chatting amicably like childhood friends as we walked briskly. Upon entering the bustling city, I collected my rewards and we grabbed a bite at Good Hunter. Well, I did have some Mora to spare.

Dusk drew near and regrettably, she had to leave for business. Time flew past in the blink of an eye and all too soon, we were saying goodbye. I was hardly in dire need of sleep, and I had nothing better to do, so I made a beeline for Wangshu Inn to get a treat before visiting-and annoying-an old friend. Focused on the various thoughts swimming in my mind, I strolled past the towering inn and before I knew it, Liyue Harbor was within my line of sight.

"Hey! Tone-Deaf Bard!" a shrill girly voice called out.

I whipped my head around to see Paimon's cheeky smile and the Traveler's small wave. Paimon vanished with a poof and appeared by my side, sparkles floating all around her.

"What were you thinking about? Paimon saw you zoning out just now," Paimon inquired, her eyes sparkling with overwhelming curiosity. "Paimon didn't know that gods can zone out!"

"They can. How else do you think Hu Tao managed to prank Zhongli just now?" Aether pointed out. "Anyway, what's wrong, Venti?"

"Ehe... Nothing," I shrugged it off, but Paimon crossed her arms and declared, "Paimon doesn't believe you! Paimon bets you're thinking about how much you owe the bartender for all the wine you stole!"

Before I could reply, a Dendro slime appeared out of the blue, but vanished as soon as it appeared, sending soil bits flying. "Slimes! Traveler, show them what you've got!" Paimon exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air before disappearing with a shower of sparkles.

Aether groaned in frustration and fought with all his might while I stood by, watching as the slimes were slain one by one. As though non-existent, I didn't even lift a finger to help. In a daze, I thought about the things yet to come.