bookbashuk Chapter 1060: Clearing the Ruins of West Wind Cathedral
Chapter 1060: Clearing the Ruins of West Wind Cathedral
The Mondstadt wind still blew across the surface of the Fruit Wine Lake, carrying with it the familiar sweet scent, but the wind had gradually lost some of its former lightness.
The city was slowly recovering from the shock of the passing of the wind god "Barbatos", and the hustle and bustle of the streets had regained some of its former liveliness.
In front of the ruins of the former West Wind Cathedral, the broken walls and charred wooden beams had long been cleared away, leaving only an empty flat land.
This is already the limit of what the Knights of Favonius can do, for no other reason than they are short of money.
Mond is so poor now that it is about to urinate blood!
Even the daily expenses of maintaining the Knights were stretched to the limit, let alone the large-scale construction and reconstruction of the West Wind Cathedral.
Right now, the entire hope of Mondstadt almost all depends on the "alchemical potion".
Qin hopes to open up sales channels by developing and selling special alchemical potions, which will increase income and fill the financial deficit.
On the other hand, it was also to accumulate funds to rebuild West Wind Cathedral.
Re-worship the soul of the God of Wind and reshape the God of Wind with faith.
As for whether anyone can be like before, and how long it will take, that is still unknown...
(Qin still doesn't know that the bottle has been swapped)
Regarding the loan previously discussed with Liyue, Qin has assigned Kaeya to go to Liyue Harbor to conduct final negotiations with the officials of "Yuehai Pavilion".
Judging from the journey, the cavalry captain who always has a lazy smile on his face should be back with news soon.
……
The dust has not yet completely settled in front of the ruins of West Wind Cathedral.
As the last charred stone was lifted onto the cart, Noelle stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. The silver hair on his forehead was slightly shiny due to the sweat.
She turned and looked at the West Wind Church deacon standing nearby. With a somewhat brisk tone, she reported, "Deacon Talia, the debris has been cleared. Please check it."
Upon hearing this, Taliyah put down the work in her hands and walked forward quickly.
His coral-colored short hair shone softly in the sunlight, making his slightly childish face look more lively.
The white beret on her head is very eye-catching. The black bat pattern embroidered on the hat is lifelike. The black triangular decorations on both sides of the hat are slightly tilted up, just like bat ears, showing a bit of playfulness.
The most striking thing was his pair of light purple diamond-shaped pupils, which were now scanning the cleared space carefully, but there was no solemnity of a traditional clergyman in his eyes.
He wore a white lace shirt with a beige short jacket on the outside. The collar was buttoned tightly, and even his neck was carefully wrapped with fabric, but he did not look restrained at all.
A shawl made of three layers of cloth was draped over her shoulders, with an Eye of God pinned to the back. Two bright red ribbons hung from the shawl, swaying gently with her movements.
He wore black half-palm gloves, revealing slender and flexible fingertips, and neat black shorts and short boots. His whole outfit was far from the solemn style of the traditional West Wind Church, and instead looked like a lively and adventurous teenager.
Talia walked around the clearing, making sure there were no missing pieces before turning back to Noelle and giving her a faint smile. "Thank you for your hard work, Noelle. You cleaned it up very well, no problem."
Then, Talia sincerely thanked Noelle:
"On behalf of the Church of Favonius, I thank you, Knight Noel." (Noel had already passed the knight assessment and had become an official Knight of Favonius.)
"I remember Captain Qin specifically asked you to organize some 'market' event. I thought you were too busy to handle it, but I didn't expect you to still find time to come and help. Thank you so much."
Noelle gave her usual gentle and kind smile and waved.
"Don't be so polite. This is all for Mond. Now that I'm done with things here, I'll be leaving first."
"Wait. Miss Noelle, are you sure..." Seeing her about to leave, Talia quickly raised her hand to stop her, hesitating to speak.
Noelle paused and turned around, a look of confusion on her face.
"What's wrong? Deacon Talia, do you need any help?"
Taliyah didn't answer immediately, but looked back at the empty space where the Cathedral of West Wind once stood.
Although the remaining debris has been cleaned up, the scars left in people's hearts are not so easy to remove.
The entire Mondstadt has fallen into an unprecedented state of religious chaos, but Mondstadt is still in the recovery period and these cracks have not yet been exposed.
If there is no way to deal with it, it will definitely cause chaos!
Talia looked at Noelle with a complicated expression. She paused for a moment before speaking with difficulty: "What I mean is... I heard that you and Shao Yun... He did these things, and in your heart..."
He didn't finish his words, but the implication was obvious.
The person you care about destroyed Mond's spiritual pillar with his own hands, drove Miss Barbara crazy, and hurt Captain Jean. Aren't you really sad?
The fact that Noelle liked Shao Yun was not known to everyone in Mond, but it could not be hidden from those who were observant, and Talia was one of them.
He couldn't imagine how much torment Noelle must have felt watching his beloved commit such an "atrocity" with his own eyes.
But now she is still as busy as before, taking care of the affairs of the Knights Templar and helping the Church clean up the ruins, and her calmness is disturbing.
Of course, Noelle understood what he didn't say out loud, and her heart felt like it was being tightened by something, causing a sharp pain.
But what could she do? Question it? Cry? It had already happened, and Mondstadt was still struggling in the mire. As a Knight of Favonius, she had no right to indulge in personal emotions.
She forced a smile and deliberately changed the subject.
"The most important thing right now is to get Mond through this difficult time. Everyone is working hard, and I can't fall behind. As for my mental health... there's nothing to worry about."
"What's more, I... I..." Halfway through the sentence, his throat suddenly seemed to be blocked, and a slight sob came out uncontrollably.
Noelle's eyes felt hot for a moment, and the sadness and confusion that had been forced down almost broke through the dam in his heart at this moment.
She sniffed sharply and blinked away the moisture in her eyes.
Now is not the time to be weak. Captain Qin has been working hard enough, and she must be someone who can share the pressure.
Noelle didn't dare to continue this topic and bowed hurriedly.
"I still have to report to Captain Qin on the progress of the market preparations. I'll excuse myself for now."
Before she finished speaking, she turned around and left in a hurry.
Taliyah looked at her slightly staggering back, sighed softly, and gently reminded her:
"I know Reverend Barbara is out relaxing, and no one can really listen to you right now... But if you can't hold on any longer, Sister Victoria is a great listener, and she'll help you!"
The wind blew gently. I wonder if Noel, who was walking in a hurry, heard this thoughtful reminder.
Perhaps, even Sister Victoria could not heal the pain hidden in her heart.
……
In the office of the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
Qin slammed the financial report in her hand on the table, and felt a blackness in front of her eyes. She wanted to shout "Goddess of Heaven!"
If Kaeya, who was going to Liyue to negotiate a loan, delayed any further, not only would he not be able to rebuild the church and prepare a market for alchemy potions, he might not even be able to pay the knights' salaries for next month.
She rubbed her swollen temples, her brows twisted into a deep frown, and her anxiety was like the Dragon Back Snow Mountain, pressing down on her, making it hard for her to breathe.
Just then, the office door was gently pushed open, and Lisa walked in holding an exquisite wooden box.
Unlike Qin's sad expression, she now had a lazy and complacent smile on her face, and her eyes and eyebrows showed relaxation.
"Oh, it seems our captain Qin is worried about trivial matters again?"
Lisa placed the wooden box on Qin's desk and gently opened the lid, revealing twelve bottles of potions neatly arranged inside.
The bottles are all the same size, but they are filled with colored liquids of different shades. Some are glowing with a lustrous blue light, while others are like melted sunsets, reflecting fine light in the sunlight.
Then, Lisa leaned back in her chair and stretched, her voice filled with her usual charm and laziness.
"Ah, Jean, this is something I've been tinkering with lately, along with Sugar and Timaeus. We've been trying it out a hundred times, but we finally managed to come up with something decent. What do you think?"
Qin's attention was instantly attracted by the potions, and a light suddenly appeared in her dim eyes.
The alchemy potion project... is there finally some progress?
She leaned forward, her fingers brushing lightly over a bottle of pale green liquid.
"Lisa, these... are the alchemical potions we plan to sell?"
The twelve bottles of potion lay quietly in the box. In Qin's eyes, they looked like twelve heavy hopes that might be able to support the crumbling Mondstadt.
Lisa nodded lazily, tapped her fingertips on the bottle, and took the initiative to introduce it: "Yes, I'll explain it to you in detail."
She first picked up the bottle of green potion. The bottle was a neat square and exuded a quiet green color.
"That's all," she shook the bottle, and the liquid inside swayed gently.
"This is a life potion, a healing potion. It's made green on purpose so that everyone will immediately associate it with the growth of plants and trees, and the endless cycle of life, and thus naturally know it's used for healing."
Having said that, she suddenly paused, a subtle look flashed in her eyes, and her tone became lighter.
"Come to think of it, the bottle that Mr. Shao Yun used to store his healing potion seemed to be green as well..."
(Shao Yun: I chose a green bottle because it was the only one I had, as glass manufacturing technology was not yet mature.)
Before she finished speaking, she changed the subject and picked up the bright red bottle of potion next to her, the bottle having a rounded shape.
"This red one is a strength potion. It contains Liyue's Absolute Cloud Peppers and Fiery Flower Stamens. It's very effective and can increase explosive power for a short period of time."
She pointed to a bottle of potion in the box that was glowing with a faint blue light.
"And this, the blue one is a swiftness potion. Drinking it will make your steps much lighter."
"The one on the edge is a sobering potion. It contains some hook fruit juice. It can refresh your mind and is very effective when you're staying up late to handle official business or rush a project."
"Speaking of which, maybe you could use the zither?"
The twelve bottles of medicine are different, with their colors and effects clearly distinguished, which shows that a lot of thought has been put into their design.
……