The Supreme Bishop of Fontaine

The storyline of Genshin Impact version 2.4 didn't have much to discuss. Although players enjoyed it thoroughly and were left in suspense at the end, unsure whether Albedo was still the real Albedo, whether he was the real one, the fake one, or if both had reached an agreement to take shifts… the topic was quite hot. However, it was unfortunate that Albedo was completely overshadowed by the Supreme Bishop of Fontaine, who only appeared in the final scene of the animated short.

The reason for this was that Big Bro Horse's analysis once again stirred up the already high popularity of the Supreme Bishop.

Although Big Bro Horse later added that he still couldn't figure out what Furina's tears were foreshadowing, that minor detail was no longer important.

Originally, after the Supreme Bishop was added to the gacha and everyone got a copy, his popularity was already high. After it was revealed that the Supreme Bishop was affiliated with Furina, the cult followers who shipped the two of them surged in numbers. Meanwhile, the cult members who didn't ship them but instead wanted to have both for themselves, led by their "cult leader" Elysia, spammed the chat, trying to get Kiana to add Elysia to the game and create a love triangle… In short, in this chaotic situation, it would take months for the hype to die down.

And then, Big Bro Horse's analysis added fuel to the fire.

With the conclusion of the Inazuma main storyline, what players were most looking forward to next should have been the Sumeru version. But now, everyone was eagerly anticipating the Fontaine version.

After all, Fontaine had been hyped up since before the game even launched.

First, there was the "Report to Lady Furina" program, then Astrea's artwork and PV. After the game launched, Astrea and Themis quickly made their appearances. In Liyue, Fanseti showed up, and in Inazuma, the Supreme Bishop himself made a move.

There was so much buildup. Players were getting more and more excited about Fontaine's storyline, as it was clear to anyone with eyes that Fontaine was going to be a big deal.

—Of course, this had nothing to do with Ye.

He had already returned to Fontaine and resumed his work.

The main reason for his trip to Mondstadt was to confirm Albedo's situation.

For Ye, Albedo was still very useful, and his importance was extremely high—even higher than Rhinedottir's in Ye's eyes. So, Ye wanted to avoid a situation where Albedo slipped out of his control.

Whether the real Albedo survived, the fake one survived, or both survived… the outcome didn't matter to Ye. What mattered was that he had to know the answer.

Without knowing the answer, Albedo might slip out of his control. But with the answer, Albedo would remain firmly in Ye's grasp.

…Though, in reality, whether Albedo slipped out of control or not wasn't that important.

But this was part of Ye's flawed nature.

Whenever he saw a valuable tool, he wanted to hold onto it and make use of it. It didn't matter how valuable the tool was—as long as it was useful, Ye liked it. This flawed nature of his had never changed.

In any case, once Ye confirmed the answer, he stopped caring and hurried back to Fontaine. He had work to do tomorrow, so he needed to rest well tonight.

So, after returning to Fontaine, having a good night's sleep, and enjoying a pleasant dream where he had a fun and exhilarating game with Barbara, finally relieving his earlier frustration, Ye resumed his daily work routine.

And then…

"Lady Furina, what are you doing?"

After finishing half of his paperwork, Ye could no longer ignore Furina, who had been pacing around his office for half the day. He looked up at her and asked calmly:

"If there's something you need, please just say it."

Hearing Ye's question, Furina immediately perked up, then coughed twice: "Ahem, my loyal Supreme Bishop, I heard that Liyue is about to celebrate the Lantern Rite again?"

Ye nodded slightly: "Yes."

Furina gave Ye a meaningful look and continued loudly: "And I also heard that the Jade Chamber is being rebuilt?"

Ye nodded again: "Yes."

"How wonderful!" Furina exclaimed. "By the way, it seems there aren't any trials scheduled for the next few days. How boring!"

Ye asked, puzzled: "Didn't you, Lady Furina, order all trials to be postponed until next month?"

Furina couldn't help but glare at Ye: "I did that to make next month more exciting. It's like saving a month's salary in the bank—if I don't touch it this month, I can withdraw double next month!"

"You make a good point," Ye nodded, agreeing with Furina's reasoning. "But by the same logic, to make next month more exciting, you should endure the boredom this month."

"That's not right. If there are no trials to watch this month, why can't I find something else fun to do?"

"So, Lady Furina, you mean…?"

Seeing Ye's stubbornness, Furina was furious. Did he really have to make her say it outright? Damn it, if it weren't for the sake of her own sense of security, she wouldn't have come to this annoying man.

But there was no other choice. After all, this was a trip abroad. Even with Neuvillette accompanying her, Furina didn't feel entirely safe. Only this annoying man could make her feel completely secure, no matter where or when.

So, Furina took a deep breath and spoke directly: "I plan to go to Liyue for the Lantern Rite, and I also want to see the Jade Chamber. I heard that Ningguang has a dream to make the shadow of the Jade Chamber cover all seven nations. I'm quite curious about that, so Ye, you're coming with me."

Hearing her superior's request, Ye, as a subordinate, couldn't easily refuse. But he still hesitated: "Isn't that a bit inappropriate, Lady Furina? What about my work?"

Knowing what Ye meant, Furina replied irritably: "Hand everything over to Neuvillette. If there's anything he can't handle, he can call you, and you can tell him how to deal with it. Don't worry, I won't use this as an excuse to drag you to court again."

Ye couldn't help but shake his head: "Lady Furina, you've misunderstood. I'm not worried about that at all. How could I not trust you?"

Furina looked at him expressionlessly: "Then delete the recording you just made on your phone?"

Without changing his expression, Ye put his phone away, stood up calmly, and said:

"Let's go, Lady Furina. Astrea is still in Liyue, so she can act as a temporary bodyguard."