Chapter 424 - 423: Detailed Investigation

The members of the Lawrence Clan who wanted to cause trouble were very secretive in their actions this time. They generally wouldn’t choose to discuss important matters within Mondstadt City, but would usually leave Mondstadt City to deliberate.

Each time, they would strictly regulate the time, and their secret stronghold, in addition to the normal entrances and exits, also had a hidden escape exit.

Even if this secret stronghold was discovered by the Knights of Favonius, they could immediately relocate and escape from there.

By the time Miss Delezie finished organizing all the clues, two days had passed. As Miss Delezie was about to go find Eula with the intelligence, Eula and Jean came knocking first.

"...I thought you weren’t going to tell anyone else about this, Eula."

"...Hmph, I’ve noted this grudge of you tricking me, Jean."

Eula looked at Jean with shame and indignation. She really didn’t expect this person to actually have a knack for tricking others into talking. It was also her own carelessness that she inadvertently revealed Miss Delezie’s involvement in this investigation.

"Come in, I was just about to come find you two, so this saves me some time."

After letting Jean and Eula into the house and preparing them some black tea, Miss Delezie took out all the previously prepared intelligence and handed it to Jean and Eula.

The Lawrence Clan’s anomaly this time was indeed related to the Fatui. Those incorrigible Fatui members had received an order from a new Harbinger—The Servant’s order—to come to Mondstadt to execute a secret mission.

The Servant was very cautious and did not fully disclose the plan to her subordinates. She only told them that the previous Fatui failures and the period of silence should lower the vigilance of Mondstadt’s residents, making it the best time to act.

However, she did not mention what exactly she intended to do. Even when Durandal secretly read the memories of several individuals, the situation remained the same.

It was certain that the Fatui were using the pretext of helping Lawrence reclaim his position while secretly carrying out other sinister missions.

"This is the daily patrol route of the Knights of Favonius that I obtained from one of the Lawrence Clan members who gave it to the Fatui. Besides this, there’s also a list of Knights currently on external missions. Assuming the worst, they might be planning to secretly assassinate members of the Knights of Favonius."

As soon as these words were spoken, Jean immediately jumped up, releasing a terrifying aura from her usually kind demeanor.

The reason Jean could become the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius was not solely due to her strong work ability; without sufficient strength, Varka would not have placed her in that position, nor would she have been able to command respect.

Even if these were just Durandal’s deductions, Jean could not possibly allow her members to take such risks.

"Those guys... do they really intend to go to such lengths?"

"They might just want to act in secret. As long as no evidence is caught, what does it matter if they’re suspected? You can’t do anything. Of course, it’s just that *you* can’t do anything."

Durandal didn’t need to worry about such things. If she disliked someone, she could just deal with them directly. If there was a problem, they could come to her, though she couldn’t guarantee that the number of missing people wouldn’t increase.

The Servant probably understood this, which is why she didn’t let her Fatui subordinates act rashly, instead having them observe the situation in case of unforeseen circumstances.

Unexpectedly, the defenses inside the secret base were so lax... or rather, not lax, because no one would have expected that the ones sneaking in to steal documents would be common creatures like lizards, which they usually wouldn’t pay attention to.

Durandal took out a map of Mondstadt and marked several locations on it.

"These are the secret meeting places between members of the Lawrence Clan and the Fatui. To enter those secret bases, you also need to correctly activate nearby mechanisms. I’ve recorded these as well; you can compare them with the methods on the map and try a few times. It shouldn’t be a problem."

A notebook containing unlock methods was tossed onto the table. Besides the unlocking information, it also detailed the enemy situation within the camp.

Everything was meticulously detailed, as if Durandal had arranged these matters, leaving Jean and Eula stunned and unsure what to say.

Although Eula knew Durandal would handle this matter well, this was beyond merely ’handling it well.’ One might even think she had personally visited those bases.

Do these people have no secrets in your eyes? With what you’ve done... the opponent has lost the intelligence war from the very beginning.

"Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?"

Durandal looked at the documents in her hand, puzzled. She had carefully interrogated every Intelligence Agent to compile this information.

Is there something here that doesn’t match reality? Or is the intelligence incorrect? It shouldn’t be; the Intelligence Agents she cultivated couldn’t betray her. Only she had what they needed.

"No, Lady Durandal. You didn’t say anything wrong, it’s just... I’m a bit too surprised."

Jean replied with an awkward but not impolite smile: "This intelligence is truly too important. If we can’t solve the problem with this information, I’ll have to suspect if there’s a Fatui mole within the Knights of Favonius."

Speaking of which, when Jean was just an ordinary member, she had heard that the Knights of Favonius had been infiltrated by the Fatui.

Fortunately, it was later discovered by Grand Master Varka, who, through a major purge, removed all those undercover agents.

This operation could also be used to find moles, as the intelligence they possessed was so detailed that Jean would certainly not believe it if they still couldn’t complete the task.

"Are you still thinking that my intelligence gathering ability is impressive? Not just you, Eula probably thinks the same."

Durandal elegantly took a sip of the hot tea in front of her and said, "So, from now on, don’t think that just because I’m not in Mondstadt, you can work overtime like before. One day, if I want to conduct a surprise inspection, I’ll send those little ones to investigate your situation. Do you think you can escape?"

Hmph! Don’t think she didn’t know Jean was secretly working overtime behind her back; she was perfectly aware.

If Klee hadn’t suddenly appeared that time, Jean would definitely not have escaped. Next time, she wouldn’t be so lucky.

Jean wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, repeatedly stating that she understood, that she would rest well and not stay up late.

Eula watched from the side, utterly bewildered, completely unable to understand what these two were up to.

"Now that the intelligence has been obtained, the next step is to arrest the personnel involved in this operation. The Knights of Favonius can handle this. I’ll lead the team, and if necessary, other captains can join. But I’m a bit worried, what if even this step is within the opponent’s expectations?"

Eula couldn’t help but overthink. They still didn’t know what the Fatui specifically wanted to do this time. Even if they arrested the people, it wouldn’t help; the true objective couldn’t be extracted, and they would have to release them after a while.

It would be great if they could figure out their objective, but even Durandal hadn’t managed to get that. What should they do?

Jean also fell into thought. This operation was massive; most of the Knights of Favonius personnel would be deployed. During their operation, there would be a significant gap in Mondstadt City’s defenses.

If the Fatui were to strike at that moment, it would undoubtedly be a disaster for Mondstadt.

Even if they didn’t attack Mondstadt directly, they might strike in other areas. Mondstadt didn’t have the manpower to simultaneously investigate what the Fatui were truly doing.

Moreover, even if there were truly people to investigate, could they be a match for a Fatui Harbinger? Jean certainly didn’t want her members to risk their lives fighting the Fatui.

"You just do your part, and I’ll handle the rest."

As Jean and Eula worried incessantly, Durandal said, "No matter what they want to do, I will handle it. You can rest assured and proceed with the arrests at these secret bases; I will take care of the remaining matters."

"But... this matter is about our Mondstadt City. Didn’t Lady Durandal often say that we should solve our own problems?"

"...Don’t worry about that now. When it comes to important matters, one must know how to adapt. Surely you’re not unaware of this."

She had indeed said that, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t intervene in anything. Why say such a thing now, of all times? Are you being so disrespectful?

Jean also realized this, quickly apologized, and then left with Eula, hurrying back to the Knights of Favonius to discuss the action plan with the others.

Watching the results of her few days’ work being taken away, Durandal finished all the remaining hot tea, and as she stood up to go chat with Shenhe, a fragrant breeze drifted by. Venti, stealthily, came to Durandal’s side, hugged her wrist, and looked at her with a grin.

"Hehe~ You’ve worked hard on this one, Durandal. With you stepping in, I can completely relax."

"Not relax, but slack off, right? Honestly, I don’t know what to say about you. You’re a God who doesn’t do proper work; I really don’t know why the residents of Mondstadt still believe in you."

"Don’t say that. My current faith is much less than it used to be; otherwise, I wouldn’t have become the weakest among all Gods."

"Even after I removed the erosion from your body, you’re still the weakest one?"

"That’s not true..."

Joking aside, she had once dispersed blizzards, cleaved mountains, and guided warm monsoons to the vicinity of Mondstadt for its environment.

Although she couldn’t fully recover her peak strength now, she had about seventy to eighty percent of it, which was no joke.

However, even with this recovered strength, Venti didn’t want to show too much. She had finally managed to make Mondstadt self-governing. If she intervened casually and it ended up like Inazuma, she didn’t want to do everything herself.

Being a Bard now was quite good; working and earning money, having a little drink, and enjoying life with Durandal – it was incredibly comfortable.

"Oh dear~ Let’s not talk about that for now. You’re planning to act this time, how do you intend to stop the Fatui’s conspiracy?"

"...You’ll see."

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