At the very bottom of the paper, the sender had left a remote address: Mondstadt City, xxxxxx.
After reading this, Crepus was stunned, as if he had seen something unbelievable. The Delusion—one of the legendary artifacts, an external magical organ as powerful as a Vision—truly existed.
As the master of Dawn Winery, during his travels to various nations for wine trade, Crepus had once heard the name "Delusion" in passing. At the time, he had thought it was just a made‑up story. But now, a "Delusion seller" had approached him, offering to sell him that mysterious object?
In that instant, countless possibilities raced through his mind. Could this be a scam by a bandit group to swindle his Mora? Or did such a mystical thing truly exist? He couldn't be sure.
Just as he was lost in thought, the bard ahead called out loudly, "Master Crepus, you promised to treat me to your finest wine—you're not going back on your word, are you? Don't worry, I won't drink too much this time. Five jugs at most—no, seven!"
Startled, Crepus quickly replied, "Ah, of course not! Let's go—let's celebrate Diluc officially becoming a Knight of Mondstadt!"
With that, he hurriedly tucked the paper about the Delusion into his pocket and followed the bard.
After Crepus and the bard left, two shady foreigners were whispering in a corner of the crowd near the selection grounds.
"Who did you give that paper to? Did you get any information about him?"
"Wait, I was supposed to gather information?"
"You—you didn't just hand the Delusion to some random person, did you? If word gets out, we'll be in trouble."
"Relax. He seems to be a winery owner—desperate for power. With a Delusion, there's no way he'll refuse. Besides, it's just a low‑grade test subject. Why overthink it? And we'll make a fortune off this deal."
"Fine, but don't forget to collect the experimental data once it's done."
"Don't worry—I'm not new to this."
With that, the two foreigners melted into the shadows beneath the trees and vanished from the selection grounds.
Meanwhile, back at Dawn Winery, Crepus and the bard were already seated at the table, slowly savoring the wine. But Crepus was distracted, still thinking about the Delusion.
The bard noticed. "Master Crepus, what's wrong? Are you afraid I'll drink all your wine? Don't worry—I'll only have about ten jugs before I'm full."
Crepus: "…"
Watching the bard down jug after jug—one, two, several in no time—Crepus did feel a pang of heartache. But compared to the wine, the mysterious Delusion weighed more heavily on his mind.
If the note were true and he could obtain such power, would he too become as gifted as his son Diluc? Could he become a powerful warrior? The thought made him smile unconsciously.
The bard caught it. "Eh heh, Master Crepus, what are you grinning about?"
Crepus quickly composed himself. "Ahem—nothing. I just thought of something amusing."
The bard raised another jug. "Hehe, Master Crepus, let's drink together. We didn't drink our fill last time—this time we will."
Crepus: "…"
As before, the bard drank jug after jug, while Crepus eventually passed out drunk. The bard, however, kept going.
"Eh heh, butler, bring more wine—"
"Such a satisfying drink—"
"I'll have to visit more often and drink with Master Crepus."
The butler, grim‑faced, reluctantly brought more wine. "Drink yourself to death."
The bard: "What did you say?"
The butler: "I said, enjoy your drink—it won't kill you."
The bard laughed. "Thank you for your hospitality."
The butler was at a loss. When the drinking session finally ended, the bard left Dawn Winery with his harp in one hand and a jug of wine in the other, burping contentedly. Crepus was once again passed out on the table.
The next day, Crepus woke in a daze. The moment he did, he reached into his pocket and felt the paper—only then did he relax.
Good. It was still there.
He asked seriously, "Has the bard left?"
The butler replied, "He left yesterday."
Crepus blinked. "Yesterday? I slept through the whole day?"
The next moment, he scrambled out of bed, looked at the calendar on the table, and saw the date. He quickly said, "I need to go out. Watch over the winery for me. And prepare two million Mora."
Two million Mora—the exact amount the note had demanded.
The butler, seeing Crepus just waking up, said, "Master, you've just sobered up. It's not a good time to go out."
But Crepus was firm. "I must go."
During yesterday's drinking session, he had already made up his mind. Whether it was a scam or whether the Delusion truly existed, as a swordsmanship failure, he was willing to gamble for his dream.
Though puzzled, the butler followed his orders, preparing the Mora and a set of clean clothes. Crepus changed, took the Mora, and hurriedly left Dawn Winery under the butler's bewildered gaze.
When Diluc returned to the estate, he asked, "Father left in such a hurry—did something important come up?"
The butler shook his head. "I don't know."
Time passed quickly. That afternoon, when Crepus returned to the winery, he looked preoccupied. He had successfully obtained the Delusion. But he couldn't use it freely.