Chapter 56: Collei
The Fatui had withdrawn.
Although they were only diplomats, their departure was enough to make the Knights of Favonius breathe a sigh of relief.
Compared to the official envoys, these diplomats were far more difficult to deal with.
Not only were their attitudes terrible, but they were also extremely aggressive in many matters. They were overly picky about food, clothing, lodging, and travel—so much so that some knights had nearly rolled up their sleeves to punch them.
If Acting Grand Master Jean hadn't personally stepped in to calm the knights, a diplomatic incident might have occurred.
In short, very few people within the Knights had any goodwill toward these so-called diplomats.
The one responsible for escorting them was Kaeya.
Originally, he hadn't wanted to take this mission, because he felt it was more important to stay in Mondstadt and keep an eye on the Ausbilder.
But the identities of these diplomats were quite important. Not only was he assigned to the task, even Acting Grand Master Jean personally stepped in. So he had no choice but to temporarily set aside the matter of the Ausbilder and focus on completing the escort mission first.
"Form up and prepare!"
After giving Amber a few instructions, Jean began directing the Knights of Favonius to prepare for departure.
As for Kaeya—who appeared to be daydreaming but was actually eavesdropping on the diplomats—Jean promptly sent him to the front of the formation.
As the Captain of the Cavalry, he had to lead from the front.
Jean, on the other hand, would remain beside the carriage to guard it, preventing anyone from attempting anything against the diplomats.
Their mission was to escort the diplomats out of Mondstadt's borders, where Fatui personnel would be waiting to receive them.
As long as nothing happened to these diplomats while they were still within Mondstadt's territory, everything would be fine.
The assembled cavalry squad also attracted the attention of Mondstadt's citizens.
They gathered at a distance, whispering among themselves while watching the group.
Although they didn't know the exact mission of the Knights, the Fatui emblem on the carriage made it obvious that this probably had something to do with those pests.
Such lively scenes were rarely seen in Inazuma.
The only time comparable to it was when Arataki Itto had been arrested.
"What a shame… it would be unfortunate if such a beautiful scene were ruined."
Standing atop one of Mondstadt's windmills, Bai Luo looked down at the crowd below and couldn't help but sigh.
Mondstadt had many windmills like this. Under the blessing of the Anemo Archon, these windmills generated endless power, providing various conveniences for the city.
Now, however, this one had become Bai Luo's viewing platform for admiring the scenery.
He had come to Mondstadt with a mission.
But it was not the mission Krupp had—recruiting experimental subjects.
Three years ago, the Doctor extracted a substance from Mist Grass and invented a kind of mechanical bird.
This mechanical bird could lure monsters into a violent frenzy. The Doctor had ordered Krupp to place one on the carriage of Crepus Ragnvindr and his companions, causing the dragon Ursa to attack them.
To protect his son Diluc, Crepus activated the power of a Delusion at the cost of his own life, driving away the dragon.
But he himself suffered the backlash of that power and died before Diluc's eyes.
It was also at that moment that Diluc and the Knights of Favonius had a falling out. Diluc resolutely left the Knights and began traveling across the Seven Nations.
After that, because of these mechanical birds, the dragon Ursa frequently harassed Mondstadt, leaving its citizens in misery. And at such a critical moment, the Doctor arrived with the Fatui.
The Doctor subdued the dragon Ursa with ease, causing Mondstadt to owe them a favor.
What followed afterward was forced conscription.
Many promising young boys and girls were taken to Snezhnaya under the pretense of recruitment, where they were subjected to human modification to create a stronger army.
But as time passed, the Fatui's influence in Mondstadt gradually began to decline, which slowed the progress of the conscription.
Bai Luo's mission was to take advantage of the Windblume Festival to trigger another incident similar to the dragon Ursa attack, recreating what happened three years ago and deepening the Fatui's influence over Mondstadt.
This so-called withdrawal was merely to transport the Fatui's research on the mechanical bird away, preventing any evidence from being left behind.
"Hm?"
Just as the Knights of Favonius were assembling, a figure in the distance caught Bai Luo's attention.
It was a young girl from a foreign land. Her body was wrapped in bandages, her expression gloomy. Judging from the exhaustion in her eyes, she had clearly been traveling for a long time.
Staggering, she stepped onto the bridge leading to Mondstadt's city gate, startling all the pigeons that had been gathered there into flight.
The little boy feeding the pigeons nearby had wanted to complain, but when he saw her condition, he chose to remain silent.
When the girl noticed his evasive gaze, a mocking expression appeared on her face.
"Collei…"
Bai Luo recognized the girl, though she had no idea of his existence.
Come to think of it… this dated back to when he was still assisting the Doctor.
The girl had once been infected with a plague and was on the brink of death. Perhaps out of some twisted amusement, one of the Doctor's subordinates—the Missionary—had injected her with the Archon Residue and then abandoned her.
At the time, Bai Luo was just an ordinary Fatui soldier. Feeling pity for her, he secretly took care of her for a while while she was unconscious, hiding it from the Missionary.
During that very period, however, his outstanding performance earned him a transfer to the Debt Collector unit, and he was forced to leave.
Unfortunately, until the day he left, the girl had never awakened.
Bai Luo had assumed she had already died under the torment of the Archon Residue. He hadn't expected her vitality to be this strong.
Thinking about it now… perhaps his act of kindness back then had only made things worse.
For someone like her, living under such torment might have been even more painful than death.
When the staggering Collei reached Mondstadt's city gate, she was stopped by the Knights.
First, the city was currently preparing for the escort mission for the Fatui diplomats.
Second, she was covered in bandages and carried a strange smell—no matter how one looked at it, she seemed like someone suffering from a serious illness.
Letting such a person into the city casually might cause panic.
Especially since it was the eve of the Windblume Festival. If tourists caught some strange illness because of her, it would be a terrifying disaster for Mondstadt.
At that very moment, the convoy escorting the Fatui began leaving the city.
Seeing the carriage slowly rolling out, Collei instinctively moved aside to give way.
But when she noticed the Fatui emblem on the carriage, her expression changed.
Her originally light-purple eyes turned a deep crimson.
Black flames condensed into the shape of a giant serpent and instantly devoured the entire carriage.
"Th-There's a fire?!"
The two pampered Fatui diplomats had never experienced anything like this.
When they tried to escape the carriage with the research documents, they discovered that the door had already been tightly locked and couldn't be opened.
Thus, the two of them—along with the entire carriage of research materials—were burned to ashes by the strange black flames, leaving very little of value behind.
Meanwhile, Collei seized the opportunity to slip into Mondstadt.
"Finally… I'm in…"
The moment she saw that familiar emblem, she couldn't restrain herself and used that power in public.
But its side effects were also affecting her.
Staggering into a deserted alley, Collei clutched her head, forcing herself not to listen to the whispering voices inside her mind.
She knew that if she gave in to those whispers, not only would she fail to take revenge on that Missionary, she might completely lose herself and become nothing more than a mad killer.
Suddenly, the voices that had been tormenting her disappeared, and the surroundings fell silent.
At first, Collei didn't know what had happened.
Until… she saw the dark figure standing at the entrance of the alley.