The Supreme Bishop of Fontaine

"Th-this is the most precious treasure I can offer. Only something like this could be equal in value to Lord Barbatos' card. So… um… could I exchange this for Lord Barbatos' card?"

"..."

Ye was speechless.

He felt like this girl was his natural nemesis. Someone who could surprise him to this extent was truly a first for him.

Her earlier reaction to him, as if he were some kind of pervert, was one thing. If he hadn't reacted quickly, it would have been impossible to explain. But now…

Looking at what Barbara had brought to exchange for Barbatos' card—a card, a card named「Geo Archon · Morax」—he had to admit, this girl was definitely his nemesis, right?

"Um… sir, you must be from Liyue, right?"

Hmm, yes, although I'm not from Liyue, I do look like someone from Liyue, don't I?

"You must have known I had the Geo Archon's card, so you came to trade with me, right? I understand. I only want Lord Barbatos' card too."

Ye regretted it. He shouldn't have kept only Venti's card back then.

Oh right, it was to collect debts.

Seeing that Venti couldn't repay his debt, Ye had thought of selling Venti's card for some Mora to count as Venti's repayment.

As for Zhongli and Ei's cards… Ye, as the dignified Supreme Bishop of Fontaine, still had some pride, so he really did randomly put them into the card packs and sold them.

—Who could have guessed that the card would be pulled so quickly?! And by Barbara, no less! What kind of insane luck do you have?!

Oh, she's actually European. Well, that explains it.

No! This is a big deal!!

What should he do now? Deny that he came for Zhongli's card?

Of course not.

Ye had said something earlier that was a bit… well, he still had some pride. Now that Barbara had misunderstood, if Ye bluntly said he was just here for the Mora… cough, better not.

"Miss Barbara, you have quite the luck."

Ye couldn't help but feel a bit resentful about this. What kind of insane luck is this?!

"Ah, sir, you've misunderstood. Although this card is mine, I didn't pull it. Klee helped me pull it yesterday."

"..."

Well, that explains it.

Sorry, my dear Klee. I forgot about you. That's my fault. Next time I do something like this, I won't overlook your supernatural factor.

"I was hoping Klee could help me pull Lord Barbatos' card, but I never expected her to pull the Geo Archon of Liyue instead."

Well, of course, since I didn't put Barbatos' card in the pack, she couldn't have pulled it.

By the way, Barbara, you're something else. To get Lord Barbatos, you actually had a child do this for you. I really underestimated your devotion to Barbatos.

"Um… is it not enough?"

Seeing that Ye hadn't responded, Barbara misunderstood again.

"You're right. Trading just one Geo Archon card for Lord Barbatos isn't quite fair. Then… how about adding the 'Prinzessin der Verurteilung' card?"

"You even have that?"

The "Prinzessin der Verurteilung," as one of Ye's alternate accounts, was naturally also a 10-star card. This was also one of the foreshadowings Ye had planted for the players.

Aside from The Seven, Ye, Sen'emon, Longhua, and Fischl all had 10-star Hero Cards, each with unique effects.

While Ye, Sen'emon, and Longhua were one thing, Fischl being a 10-star card would naturally raise questions, reminding players of their earlier suspicions about Fischl and setting the stage for future plot developments.

Of course, these cards were also one-of-a-kind.

Wait, no, that's not the point right now.

The point is… Miss Barbara, aren't you being a bit disrespectful to the Geo Archon?

You think trading Zhongli for Venti one-to-one isn't enough, so you want to throw in Fischl's card too? If this got out, it might even cause a diplomatic incident!

As for Fischl… no, even I can't let this slide!

"No, just the Geo Archon card will do."

Ye weakly surrendered.

"Thank you very much, Miss Barbara. I'm sure Lord Barbatos will be happy to be in your hands."

Receiving Ye's agreement, Barbara couldn't contain her joy. Her earlier wariness and fear of the man before her completely vanished. Now, she just prayed that this wasn't a dream.

—As for Ye, he really wished this were just a dream!

This trip was a bust.

Not only did he fail to collect the debt, but he also lost a card.

Although he got Zhongli's card in return, Ye couldn't sell it in Liyue, since Ningguang, Keqing, and the others all knew him.

As the card manufacturer, he had promised to put the[Divine]cards into the packs, but now he was selling them individually… Ye couldn't bear the shame!

Forget it. He'd just use this card as a gift later.

Sister Ganyu would probably like it, right?

If not, he could give it to Keqing.

"By the way, I came to Mondstadt for another matter. Miss Barbara, would you be interested in becoming an idol?"

"Becoming an idol?"

Barbara, who had been immersed in the joy of obtaining Lord Barbatos, suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Ye.

"Sir… I'm sorry, I still don't know your name."

"You can call me Ye."

"Mr. Ye, what do you mean by becoming an idol?"

"I've heard that Miss Barbara is an idol adored by many in Mondstadt. I've actually been wanting to form a Teyvat Idol Group. Would you be interested?"

"Teyvat Idol Group? Um… Mr. Ye, do you know Ms. Alice?"

Barbara had only heard of this term from Ms. Alice, so she couldn't help but feel curious.

To Barbara's question, Ye nodded faintly and answered truthfully, "We've met. We were even cellmates for a while."

"Cellmates???"

"That's not important. Let's get back to the main topic."

Ye really didn't want to talk about that dark chapter of his life.

The adventurer Alice was quite famous in Teyvat, but her most notable trait was her explosive tendencies as a witch. Wherever she went, she wanted to blow things up. During her travels across Teyvat, the leaders of various nations kept a close eye on her, and even some gods personally monitored her, fearing that they'd wake up one day to find their landscapes altered.

Naturally, Ye wasn't the type to keep a close eye on a woman. If people misunderstood that he had some interest in her, wouldn't that be a huge loss?

So, Ye's solution was very straightforward. When Alice set foot in Fontaine, Ye simply slapped a charge on her and sent her to the Fortress of Meropide.

After all, you're not Klee. You're not as cute as Klee, so don't expect Ye to be lenient with you.

—But within three days, Ye ended up joining her in the fortress.

Furina sent Ye to the Fortress of Meropide, fearing that Alice might blow the place up. She tasked Ye with keeping an eye on her until she was released.

This was what they called "hoist by one's own petard."

Although there was no hard labor in the Fortress of Meropide, it was still a prison, and the lack of sunlight made it a depressing place to stay for too long.

So, Ye quickly found a way to get Alice released so she could finish her tour of Fontaine and leave.

In any case, the events that transpired between these two cellmates were a dark chapter Ye never wanted to revisit. That woman was better off forgotten.

"So, Miss Barbara, are you interested in becoming an idol?"

"Well… I'm sorry, Mr. Ye. I'll need to think about this carefully. After all, I don't know you very well."

As for whether she was interested, Barbara certainly was. But as she said, a man she didn't know well… or rather, the little she did know only made her more wary of him.

"That's fine. We have plenty of time. Miss Barbara can take her time to consider."

Ye nodded slightly, not pressing the matter.

After all, there were four idols in total. Barbara was the easiest to convince. He just needed to slowly ease her wariness.

"Then, I'll take my leave now. I'll come back to invite you again in the future, Miss Barbara."

With that, this matter was settled. Now, it was time to attend to some real business.