"Hold on, I'll prepare it for you immediately... Mr. Fengyi, what would you like to drink?"
Diluc glanced at Fengyi beside him. Venti used to visit often, but why had Fengyi suddenly come today? Did he have a motive?
"Master Lu, does 'Angel's Share' have any new beverages? Can you recommend one?"
Fengyi smiled and sat down.
"Certainly. We've just introduced a seasonal beverage – apple cider. It's sweet and sour, worth a try."
Diluc wasn't sure of Fengyi's intentions, so he tentatively recommended one.
Apple cider was a seasonal drink. It could only be brewed and sold at a limited time when apples were abundant and could be purchased at a low price.
"Alright, then I'll have a cup of apple cider to try!"
Fengyi nodded. While Diluc went to prepare the drinks, he and Venti discreetly glanced at Stanley, who was drinking himself into a stupor at the table behind them.
Stanley muttered to himself as he drank.
"Stanley... tell me, what should I do..."
"Waaah! Waaah... Stanley... why wasn't it me who died in the Ashen Sea back then! Why didn't your soul come to stop me when I impersonated you? Stanley!"
"If it weren't for protecting me, a newcomer, you wouldn't have died in that windless place! You already had the title of a great adventurer, but for a good-for-nothing like me, you could no longer become a legend..."
Hearing this, Venti understood. It turned out that this man and Stanley had indeed found the Ashen Sea back then, and the crisis they encountered there was real. However, the companion who explored with him was the true 'Great Adventurer Stanley'.
The real Stanley had died saving the 'Stanley' in front of him.
"Stanley, I've been afraid for so many years. I'm afraid that everyone in Mondstadt will forget you completely, so I've been telling your adventure stories everywhere... I want everyone in Mondstadt to remember that Stanley reached the heart of the Ashen Sea... He was the greatest adventurer, and he's still alive!"
"Stanley won't die, because I am him! Because I am... Stanley!"
Only when he was drunk could he confess these things. These secrets had accumulated in his heart for years, weighing him down unbearably.
Death wasn't the most terrifying thing; forgetting was.
It was too regrettable and unworthy that a great adventurer had died saving a newcomer like him in a windless land, only to be forgotten by the world.
But...
"Stanley, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Even I am getting old, I am getting old..."
Stanley wept bitterly. After he died, the name Stanley would likely be gradually forgotten by the world.
"Ahem, you two, how long do you plan to eavesdrop?"
Stanley suddenly sobered up from his drunken state and discovered Venti and Fengyi eavesdropping.
"Let's go. Don't ask anything. Just let me be alone for a while..."
Seeing the two of them approach, seemingly wanting to comfort him, Stanley immediately interrupted. He was the great adventurer Stanley and didn't need anyone else's comfort.
Fengyi and Venti exchanged a look, then nodded in unison and returned to their seats at the bar counter.
*Jingle bells~*
The tavern door chimed as Jack walked in, his face beaming.
"Mr. Venti, Mr. Fengyi, and Mr. Stanley, you're all here, that's wonderful! I've been looking everywhere for you. My parents have agreed. They've agreed to let me become an official adventurer!"
Jack's face was filled with unconcealable joy and excitement.
"Oh? Really? Congratulations, congratulations!"
Venti smiled and congratulated him.
"It's true! They even said they'd pay to have the 'Sword of Glorious Courage' and the 'Shield of Radiant Will' repaired and let me take them on my journey..."
"Jack, you're leaving Mondstadt to tour the continent of Teyvat? I suggest you prepare thoroughly for any crises you might encounter..."
Fengyi couldn't help but remind him.
If Jack truly went adventuring with such weapons and armor, he might as well be on his way to the afterlife.
"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Fengyi. I'm not leaving yet. With my current abilities, I probably can't travel too far."
Fortunately, Jack had self-awareness and knew his own limitations.
"Besides, I still want to hear more stories from Mr. Stanley, hehe... After all, he was the starting point of my dreams."
Jack chuckled. He regarded Mr. Stanley as his mentor on the path of adventure, holding absolute admiration and respect for him.
"Mr. Stanley... ah, he's drunk again..."
Jack was about to share his good news with Mr. Stanley when he found the latter slumped drunkenly over the table.
"See you tomorrow, sir. When you're sober, can you tell me some more stories?"
Jack said with a smile. Since Mr. Stanley needed rest, he wouldn't disturb him. Having just become an official adventurer, he still had many things to do. He then bid farewell to Venti and Fengyi and left the tavern.
"Thank you for not revealing my secret. Jack is a good kid. I... I couldn't even bear to look at him just now. His sincerity towards adventure is pure..."
Stanley woke up from his feigned drunkenness and expressed his gratitude to the two of them.
Jack was like a seed, and Stanley wished to pass on the spirit of adventure through him.
"I'm a tired and useless liar, but that child is a shining newcomer. I mustn't ruin his dreams."
Stanley didn't want Jack to know that he was an imposter, nor did he want Stanley's great image to crumble in Jack's heart.
Let the child embark on the path of an adventurer with the purest spirit of adventure.
"So many years have passed, and my memories of adventure, of Stanley... have all blurred. This is my greatest secret, my greatest fear..."
"For years, I've lived for his stories, but I can no longer recall his personality or his life, hahaha..."
Stanley smiled bitterly. The forgetting had already begun, and it had started with him, leaving him in a state of helpless confusion and powerlessness.
"But the one thing I cannot forget is that he died in the windless Ashen Sea, and the wind could not carry his soul away..."
The fear of being engulfed by beasts and ashes was firmly etched in his mind. And now, his life was also drowning in guilt.
Venti, having listened for so long, knew it was time for Barbatos to make his appearance. He walked to Stanley's side with a serious expression...