He changed Tiwat

After the old gentleman had walked away, Kaiya warmly came over and welcomed him inside.

After exchanging pleasantries, Han Fulai turned the conversation to the old gentleman from the West Wind Church: "Who was that old gentleman who just brushed past me?"

“Oh, that’s Cardinal Calvin,” Kaya replied.

Cardinal Calvin…

Han Fulai frowned, feeling that he had heard this name somewhere before... Then he remembered.

"...Is he the current church representative?"

As Kaiya mentioned yesterday, borrowing the "Sky Harp" requires the signatures of representatives from three parties, one of whom, the church representative, is named Calvin.

“That’s right.” Kaya nodded. “After Lord Simon went on the expedition with the Grand Master, Cardinal Calvin temporarily took charge of the Church of the West Wind, and he managed all the affairs of the church.”

That's equivalent to an "acting archbishop," right? In Mondstadt right now, this person must be the highest-ranking figure in the Church of Favonius. Han Fulai silently recalled the look in the other person's eyes just now. He always felt that there was a gloom in Cardinal Calvin's eyes that shouldn't appear in the eyes of a clergyman, which made him feel uncomfortable.

"Excuse my bluntness... but I'm a little curious, why did this bishop come to the Knights today? Is it related to what happened yesterday?" Han Fulai asked.

Kaiya paused for a moment, then replied, "He came to see his son one last time and to offer a prayer for his son's rest, hoping that the wind will forgive the souls of sinners."

Looking at Kaiya's expression, Han Fulai had a vague, unpleasant premonition.

"Could his son be...?"

Kaiya nodded.

"Irok Calvin, the former chief inspector of the Knights of Favonius."

...It really was him.

Han Fulai felt an urge to cover his face.

No wonder people were staring at him just now; they were looking at the enemy who killed their son.

To be honest, he didn't intend to kill Iloc, but things just happened... If he had known that there was an older figure behind the younger one, and that the older one was a cardinal of the Church of the West Wind, he would have thought more carefully before making his move—but there are no ifs.

The influence of the Church of Favonius in Mondstadt should not be underestimated. Han Fulai recalled that Qin had mentioned that in the "Blackfire Case" a year ago, the person responsible for diplomatic negotiations with the "Doctor" was none other than the Archbishop of the Church of Favonius, Simon Page. In other words, the Church of Favonius in Mondstadt is actually a political force that can interfere with secular governments.

Although faith is somewhat ethereal, its influence on people is often no less than that of material forces. History has shown Han Fulai the troubles of "fanatics" countless times.

Han Fulai had also witnessed Wan Yan's performance in the Salt God Ruins and had even fought against Rouran, the leader of the Salt God's people. His understanding of this was undoubtedly deeper—Ningguang was still helping him clean up the mess at Yinyuan Hall.

With professionals like Ningguang and Uncle Tian handling the "cleansing," there's no need to worry. However, to truly win over the hearts of the people in Yinyuan Hall, they'll have to wait until this "reincarnated Salt God" becomes even stronger and displays a "miracle" powerful enough to intimidate the remnants of the Salt God.

To achieve this, he must continuously make achievements that garner the support of people from various countries. The plan to facilitate Mond's entry into the "Teyvat Community of Shared Destiny" is one of the steps Han Fulai took to collect support.

He had fulfilled the request of the troupe leader, and theoretically the cooperation agreement between the two countries should have been a done deal—but now there was another obstacle.

The leader of the ensemble also mentioned to him that the agreement between the two countries needed to be discussed with representatives from all sectors of Mondstadt's upper echelons, including, of course, the Church of Favonius.

Cardinal Calvin, who holds the power of the Church of Favonius and is his sworn enemy, could very well create various obstacles to the prospects of cooperation between Liyue and Mondstadt.

Han Fulai stared at Kaiya: "Then... allow me to ask one more question, what kind of person is this Cardinal Calvin?"

Chapter 227 Honorary Knight Han Fulai

Kaiya gave Han Fulai an apologetic smile.

"Actually, I don't know much more about Cardinal Calvin than you do, Deputy Minister Han. As you know, the intelligence investigation work I'm in charge of usually involves foreign affairs, and the Church of the West Wind is not an enemy of the Knights."

Half of what he said was true.

As the de facto intelligence chief of the Knights, Kaiya's work indeed largely involved investigating external organizations such as the Fools. This kind of work, which involved internal oversight, should have been the responsibility of the Knights' chief inspector.

Since Iroq was expelled from the Order of Knights more than a year ago, there has been no suitable candidate for the new Inspector General.

This important position should have been decided by the Knights and the Church, but Grand Master Falgar soon launched an expedition with Lord Simon, taking most of the Knights with him. The Church's elite combat organization, "The Crown of Thorns," also accompanied Lord Simon on the expedition, so the position of Inspector General remains vacant.

To put it bluntly, most of the people who are suitable for this position are probably already in the expeditionary force... and the Knights Order only has a handful of people now, barely enough to maintain the daily security of Mondstadt, so where would they find the extra manpower to form an Inspectorate to carry out internal purges?

As for the half-truth that Kaiya told... as a "Kanria spy," his understanding of Mondstadt wouldn't be limited to his job duties. But he couldn't possibly tell Han Fulai about that.

Han Fulai certainly wouldn't make things difficult for Kaiya on this matter. He lowered his voice slightly and said, "I just want to know, since Cardinal Calvin's son betrayed the Knights and joined the Fools, is it possible that he himself might also be involved in 'foreign affairs'?"

“Oh dear, you can’t say things like that.” Kaia shook his head dramatically. “Sir Calvin was originally from a branch of the noble Imroca family. Before Sir Simon joined the church, he was a candidate for the current archbishop. He was highly respected both within the church and among the people. When Ilock’s misdeeds came to light, Sir Calvin publicly denounced Ilock for disgracing the family name and failing to live up to expectations. He even personally announced that Ilock would be expelled from the Calvin family.”

"So, this Secretary Calvin also once 'sacrificed his own family for the greater good'?" Han Fulai said thoughtfully.

Kaiya smiled and said, "Yes, just like Yura. Oh, speaking of which, Yura is still personally interrogating her uncle in the interrogation room. It's been a whole day. I think you should also check on her, Deputy Minister Han."

Han Fulai nodded. "Thank you for the reminder, Captain Kaiya."

Kaiya waved his hands repeatedly, "No need to thank me, I was just saying some things that everyone already knows. Well, we can't delay any longer, Commander Jean is waiting upstairs."

With Iroq dead, the Fools' secret Mondstadt stronghold destroyed, and so many prisoners captured, including those involved with the Lawrence family... Jean naturally had to personally oversee such a momentous event. At this moment, Jean was sitting in an office next to the interrogation hall on the second floor.

Han Fulai said no more and followed Kaiya upstairs.

An idea was gradually taking shape in his mind.

Despite Kaiya's claim of "not knowing much," he had actually explained all the crucial information in those few sentences.

Kaeya's statement about Cardinal Calvin's noble birth implied that the Calvin family was actually aligned with the old nobility. Jean, the Grand Master, had also mentioned to him that the Fatui's cooperation with the Lawrence family was likely a ploy to use the Lawrence family, the former royal lineage, as a springboard to rally the remaining nobles within Mondstadt.

Kaia then mentioned that Cardinal Calvin was highly respected and had once been a candidate for Archbishop of the Church, which clearly meant he was vying for the position with Simon Page, the "Cardinal of the Dawn" and the father of the Piano Master. Calvin had joined the Church earlier than Simon, yet Simon had surpassed him. It's impossible for Calvin not to harbor some resentment, having accumulated so many years of seniority only to be outcompeted by a self-taught adventurer.

As for Kaeya's later statement about Cardinal Calvin "sacrificing his own family for the greater good," he even made a point of mentioning Yola, which was practically telling him that the Calvin family was a "traitor" within the Mondstadt aristocratic faction.

If Kaia were to describe "sacrificing family for the greater good," he would probably call it "sacrificing a pawn to save the king."

Kaia's "kind" reminder about Cardinal Calvin was likely consistent with his previous logic of instigating the Fools to attack the Lawrence family—it was just that the Fools and Lawrence had been replaced by Han Fulai and Calvin.

In the tactic of "using one tiger to devour another," Kaiya was no less adept than the Yun family.

Coincidentally, Han Fulai didn't mind being the "tiger" this time at all.

—Taking matters to the Calvin family would not only clear the obstacles on his path to the “Teyvat community of shared destiny”, but it would also be something that could help Yura.

Moreover, he was willing to bet that Yura would be happy to see this happen.

The interrogation hall occupied half of the second floor of the Knights' headquarters, and was quite spacious.

Its interior includes a courtroom-like hall, as well as interrogation rooms and office areas consisting of several cubicles.

Apart from the lack of electronic cameras and the one-way transparent observation window, the layout of the Knights' interrogation room was actually very similar to the police station interrogation rooms he had seen on television.

The prisoners on trial sat in chairs with handcuffs attached, talking to the knights interrogating them across an iron fence. Of course, there were also tables and chairs in front of the knights for taking notes, and many knights were writing furiously, struggling with the case files.

Yura seemed to be interrogating her uncle in one of the cubicles. When Han Fulai passed by the door of one of the cubicles, he heard the knights guarding the door whispering. The gist of it was how ruthless Captain Yura was, interrogating her own uncle all night long, and that she hadn't slept a wink all night...

However, in Han Fu's view, this was actually Yura's way of protecting Schubert—after all, if it were someone else, they might not have been so polite to that old nobleman from the Lawrence family.

Kaiya led Han Fulai to the office at the far end of the interrogation hall and knocked on the door.

This used to be the Inspector General's office—the Inspector General of the Knights of Faith also oversaw the interrogation hall, and Ilrok used to work here.

After Qin responded, Kaiya pushed open the door and led Han Fulai inside.

This office was certainly not as big as the commander's office, and the furnishings were quite simple. Apart from the desk and chair, there was nothing on the bookshelves along the wall, and the places where there should have been green plants were just bare flower pots, probably because it had been cleaned up after Ilock lost power.

After exchanging greetings and thanks, Qin actually took out a medal and ribbon—the real thing.

Han Fulai's actions this time almost wiped out the Fatui hordes lurking in Mondstadt, drew their fire away from Mondstadt, and incidentally resolved the issues with Yola and the Lawrence family. The results far exceeded Jean's initial best-case scenario. Therefore, Jean naturally had to offer some additional thanks.

"Vice Minister Han, thank you for your help to Mondstadt. Please accept the title of Honorary Knight of the Knights of Favonius... and my gratitude as the acting Grand Master."

Kaiya grinned mischievously from behind.

It was of course he who orchestrated the bestowal of a knighthood upon Han Fulai. He knew that "Sir Humphrey" was a fake knighthood—but the Knights' honorary title was the real deal.

Turning a fake knight from Fontainebleau into a real knight from Mondstadt is one of Kaiya's little quirky pleasures.

Chapter 228 The Strongest Person is Already in the Formation

Since Mondstadt has abolished the royal title system, titles like "Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron" no longer exist, and the knighthood is the highest title they hold.

Every official knight of the Knights of Favonius has the title of Knight. In other words, even Swann and Lawrence, who guard the gate, are theoretically knights and can have "sir" added before their names.

However, in Mondstadt, this form of address is essentially the same as calling a police officer "sir." It doesn't imply any noble privileges for them; it's simply a sign of respect for the knightly order that protects Mondstadt's freedom.

In the royal era, Mondstadt knights were true nobles, usually owning their own manor estates and having at least five or six tenant farmers to support them.

When a nobleman called his knights to war, each knight had to be able to muster at least a squad of ten men—roughly consisting of the knight himself, a few squires, and farmers with pitchforks, or a heavily armored cavalryman with a few squires and a small squad of infantry.

In those days, knights possessed their own family-inherited armor and weapons, and naturally, they raised their own warhorses. The larger the fiefdom and the stronger the economic power, the more knights, squires, and farmers they could employ in battle. A nobleman of the royal family, such as an earl, would typically have a dozen or so such knights in his territory, essentially commanding a small army.

The Mondstadt Revolution a thousand years ago was essentially a coalition of high lords, led by House Gunnhildr, and their private armies, against the court knights of House Lawrence. However, Wendy's fabricated "Treaty of the Wind" led the knights under House Lawrence to defect, resulting in House Lawrence's defeat and expulsion.

After Vanessa overthrew the aristocratic rule, she abolished the system of noble lords and established the Knights of Favonius. The knights now receive a fixed salary from the order; they can't afford to maintain private armies, and they might not even dare to drive an expensive car to the pub after get off work… In Liyue's parlance, the knights are nothing more than Mondstadt civil servants.

As to whether a Knight of Favonius is actually a "knight lord" or a "humble public servant," it mainly depends on your personal social status—those born into "one of the most prestigious families in Mondstadt's history" are naturally "knight lords," while "the son of a tenant farmer at Dawn Winery" is naturally a "humble public servant."

The "Honorary Knight" title that the leader of the harem bestowed upon Han Fulai was the same as the title bestowed upon Ying. It was an honorary title that did not grant Mora or any housing; it only represented that they were "Knights of Favonius in name only."

Of course, this also means that Han Fulai or Ying do not need to do anything for the Knights of Favonius, but they will be regarded as "one of their own" by the Knights of Favonius.

In Liyue parlance, they are "old friends of the Mondstadt people".

As an adventurer, Ying's honorary title, which couldn't be exchanged for Mora, wasn't particularly useful. After all, she was a powerful figure who had traversed many worlds, and without the protection of the Knights of Favonius, it only meant that she could be a little more arrogant when bragging to others with Paimon. But for Han Fulai, it was a different story. It was equivalent to him gaining long-term political influence in Mondstadt, which would greatly benefit what he was going to do next.

From the perspective of cooperation between the two countries, this is a diplomatic promise from Commander Qin to him—you helped the Knights and gained their friendship, so the Knights will never treat their friends unfairly.

After a polite refusal, Han Fulai gladly accepted the medal and sash awarded by Qin.

From this moment forward, he truly is "Sir Humphrey".

"Vice Minister Han, what are your plans for the future? Please feel free to let us know if there's anything we can do for you. You've done us such a great favor. If I weren't so busy with other matters lately, I would have been the one to properly entertain you and let you experience the festive atmosphere of Mondstadt. I'm truly ashamed..." Jean's face showed a hint of apology, and it was clear that she felt genuinely bad about it.

They had come all the way from Liyue, and as the representative of the Knights of Favonius, she should have treated them well and shown them the proper hospitality. However, before she could even host a state banquet or arrange a publicly funded trip, she was already asking them to do something for Mondstadt. After they finished what they had promised, Jean found herself with even more tasks to complete…

At this moment, Kaiya seized the opportunity: "Commander Qin, how about I accompany Vice Minister Han on a tour during the 'Badminton Festival'? I can't speak for other things, but I'm the most knowledgeable about Mondstadt's wines. I guarantee that Vice Minister Han will be able to drink the most authentic and fine wines."

"No way. Captain Kaiya, you still have work to finish, don't you?" Jean immediately rejected Kaiya's suggestion. Trying to skip work and drink on company pay under the guise of entertaining VIPs? No way!

Kaiya looked pitifully at Vice Minister Han, probably hoping that he would speak up and pull him out of this "overtime hell," otherwise he would probably have to stay in the interrogation hall with Qin for the next few days to work overtime.

Han Fulai smiled slightly and said, "I do have something I'd like to trouble Captain Kaiya for."

"Ha. Commander Qin, look, this is Vice Minister Han personally calling my name! I can't refuse Vice Minister Han's face, can I?" Kaiya grinned from ear to ear.

Qin glanced at him, thinking to herself, "You may escape the first day of the month, but you can't escape the fifteenth."

Han Fulai continued, "Yesterday, Captain Kaiya told me about the three major events of the 'Badminton Festival,' which are 'Poetry Recitation,' 'Flying Champion,' and 'Drinking Contest.' People from all countries, regardless of nationality, can participate and join in the grand event. To be honest, I am quite interested in this and would like to try forming a team to participate."

These three competitions stem from three of Mondstadt's defining characteristics: poetry, wind, and wine. They test participants' poetic talent, flying skills, and drinking capacity, respectively. Normally, it's difficult for anyone to excel in all three areas simultaneously, since not everyone is a flying, drunken poet... Therefore, forming teams to participate is essential.

"I have a smattering of poetry, but I'm really not very confident when it comes to wine tasting. Captain Kaeya just said he knows a lot about Mondstadt's wines, so he must have a huge capacity for them. I wonder if Captain Kaeya would be willing to sign up with me for the 'Wine Master Competition'?"

“Hey, of course I’d love to, it would be my honor!” Kaiya agreed without hesitation.

The fifth member of the "Four Kings of Mondstadt Wine," is no mere figurehead. Even if it were just for the sake of enjoying fine wine, Kaeya would secretly participate in the competition.

Han Fulai's smile widened: "Captain Kaeya is a truly straightforward person. Hmm, judging by the time, Miss Amber should be returning from the snow mountain in the next couple of days. Once she returns, we'll invite her to join the team. Who else but her is the 'Mondstadt Flying Champion' this year? Now, we can say that the strongest person is already in our ranks."

Chapter 229 Qin said she shipped this couple.

He's going to team up with Kaia and Amber to compete for the championship of this "Badminton Festival" tournament.

Qin also began to become curious.

"It seems that Deputy Minister Han is determined to win this 'Badminton Festival'?"

“I came to Mondstadt specifically to experience the ‘Badminton Festival,’ so how could I miss this opportunity?” Han Fulai said with a smile.

Kaiya laughed, "Now I understand what Deputy Minister Han wants..."

If Han Fulai only participated in the "Poetry Recitation" competition, it could be explained that he wanted to borrow the sacred artifact of the wind god, the "Sky Harp." But now that he has proposed to form a team to participate in three competitions, and even deliberately invited the "Mondstadt Flying Champion" and the "Fifth of the Four Heavenly Kings of Wine" to join him, then his ambition is not just to win one competition, but to sweep all the championships of the "Badminton Festival."

As for the prize for the overall champion...

"—Is it the right to choose the 'Badminton Festival Princess'?" Kaia looked at Han Fulai with interest using his one eye.

After poetry recitals, banquets, and flying competitions, the overall champions of the three events will select a young girl to be the "princess" of the celebration.

At the height of the festival, the "princess" would climb onto the statue of the wind god built in the high square, stand in Lord Barbatos's hand, and throw a shuttlecock, symbolizing the wind god's blessing, into the crowd. It is said that the first person to catch the shuttlecock will receive a generous prize and a year of good luck.

The so-called generous prizes and elusive good fortune may not catch the eye of this Deputy Minister Han. The reason that Kaia can think of for this Deputy Minister Han to want to win the championship is probably the power to select the winners.

"Ah... does Vice Minister Han intend to designate Yura as 'princess'...?" Qin suddenly realized something.

After all, that rumor has been spreading quite widely within the Knights Order these past two days, and even Jean, who is usually buried in her work, has heard about it.

“Yes. I hope that Miss Yura can be this year’s ‘Badminton Festival Princess’. Of course, this is just my idea, and I still need to consult Captain Kaia and Miss Amber.” Han Fulai generously admitted his purpose. “I think Miss Amber would be happy to see her friend receive this honor, right? I just don’t know if Captain Kaia is willing to make this happen.”

Inviting someone to form a team requires sincerity. For example, if Kaiya is a die-hard fan of Barbara and singles out Barbara as the "Badminton Festival Princess," then this matter needs to be democratically negotiated—but even if it is "democratically negotiated," it would still be two votes from him and Amber to one vote from Kaiya.

Kaeya raised both hands: "I wholeheartedly support this. How could I, Kaeya, miss out on something this interesting? Heh heh, this time I'll let all of Mondstadt know who the real 'Mondstadt Wine Master' is!"