Chapter 58: Hilichurls
"The Fatui's newly promoted Harbinger, the Ausbilder."
"..."
Looking at the man in front of her, Collei's eyes were filled with despair.
Over the past few years, in order to find the missionary who had injected her with the Archon Residue, she had frequently dealt with the Fatui.
Yes, literally "dealt" with them.
So she understood very well what kind of status a Harbinger held within the Fatui. They were the strongest twelve individuals in the organization, far more terrifying than the missionary she hated.
"Ten minutes. I'll give you ten minutes to get dressed and come see me upstairs. Don't be late."
Bai Luo seemed quite satisfied with Collei's expression. After confiscating the fruit knife she was holding, he spoke.
"Clothes?"
Only when Bai Luo mentioned clothes did Collei subconsciously glance down at herself. In the next second, a flush crept across her face.
The bandages tightly wrapped around her body had given her the illusion that she was already dressed. Only now did she realize that she had just been jumping around like a monkey in front of him in this state.
"Don't try to escape. This is a Fatui stronghold. Our people are guarding everywhere—from the chimneys to the sewers."
"!!!"
It wasn't until Bai Luo's footsteps disappeared at the end of the corridor that Collei finally let out a sigh of relief and collapsed weakly onto the large bed in the room.
She looked at the bandages wrapped around her body. They carried a faint medicinal fragrance, and the medicine was effectively suppressing her illness, allowing her to relax like never before.
After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the bandages, Collei shifted her gaze to the set of clothes placed beside her.
Judging from the style… they should be Mondstadt's everyday clothing, though the fabric was of a much higher quality. Just running her fingers across it, she could feel the silky smooth texture.
If she wore it…
Just imagining the sensation made a certain softness seem to seep out from deep within her bones.
She glanced at her old clothes, which had been worn down by years of wind and sand. In the end, Collei accepted the new outfit.
"These are Mondstadt clothes, not Fatui clothes."
After giving herself a bit of self-hypnosis, she accepted the Ausbilder's "charity." After getting dressed, she followed his instructions and went to the rooftop of the Goth Grand Hotel.
When she opened the rooftop door, a refreshing breeze greeted her head-on.
The wind wasn't very strong. It gently brushed against Collei's cheeks, blowing away the fatigue from her journey and calming the somewhat chaotic thoughts in her mind.
Compared to the sandstorms of the desert, the wind in Mondstadt was actually this gentle?
She wanted to sink into this breeze and never wake up…
"You'll be mistaken for an idiot by Mondstadt's citizens if you keep doing that."
"..."
She shot a resentful glare at the Ausbilder, who had shattered this beautiful moment. If she didn't know she couldn't beat him, she would have already pounced on him.
Bai Luo, however, didn't care about her feelings. After collecting the Mist Grass extract that had been drying on the rooftop, he placed it into a small gadget sent by the Doctor.
This was an upgraded version of the mechanical bird. Not only could it amplify the effects of the Mist Grass extract, it also added components that could confuse monsters.
Most thoughtfully, this mechanical bird version also had a delayed activation function, allowing it to catch the Knights off guard.
"Take this."
After gathering the mechanical birds together, Bai Luo casually tossed them to the bewildered Collei.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
Struggling to hold the heavy package, Collei found herself increasingly unable to understand this strange Harbinger.
She knew that based on the trouble she had caused the Fatui before, even if the Ausbilder killed her, she wouldn't have anything to say about it. But this behavior—neither killing her nor letting her go—made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"Stop talking and just follow me."
"...Damn it."
. . .
The Mondstadt Plains were vast. The expansive land was covered in grass, stretching so far that the horizon could hardly be seen.
Here, you didn't even have to worry about getting lost, because by simply following the direction of the wind you could return to Mondstadt City.
More importantly, within Mondstadt's territory, aside from Hilichurls and the occasional monster, there was basically no real danger.
Compared to Inazuma, where evil spirits roamed everywhere and bosses were as common as stray dogs, this place was practically heaven.
"Ugh… why do I have to do this kind of thing…"
Hiding in the bushes and looking at the Hilichurl camp in the distance, Collei muttered unhappily.
Under Bai Luo's lead, she had already left Mondstadt City for two days. During these two days, that guy called the Ausbilder had been making her place some strange devices in places where Hilichurls or slimes gathered—and she wasn't allowed to alert the Hilichurls while doing it.
He even gave it a grand name: "A gentleman breaks in during broad daylight."
This was clearly making things difficult for her.
Hilichurls were humanoid creatures that acted in tribes. Although their intelligence level was relatively low, that didn't mean they were stupid.
They used weapons and elemental powers, and they could also use tools. They could even build houses with a unique architectural style.
Trying to install something that clearly didn't match their style inside their nests without alerting them was hard.
Fortunately, the assassination techniques left behind by that mysterious person included a similar solution.
Collei climbed up a large tree and looked out toward the Hilichurl camp in the distance.
Even though it was noon, the Hilichurls were lazily lying on the ground taking naps. From time to time, one of them would scratch its butt, looking extremely relaxed.
Even the Hilichurl that was originally responsible for standing guard was hugging a meat bone and sleeping soundly.
Collei temporarily set aside the dagger she carried for self-defense and searched around, picking up a few fist-sized stones.
They didn't have much killing power, but they were large enough—and getting hit by them would definitely hurt.
After weighing one in her hand, Collei raised the stone and threw it toward the Hilichurl responsible for keeping watch.
Even though it seemed to be sleeping soundly, its vigilance was actually quite high. If she tried to approach rashly…
Collei had already suffered for it before. If the Ausbilder hadn't intervened in time to save her, something that is not safe for a kid's eye would have happened.
"Dalasi! (Who's there?!)"
The stone didn't hit the Hilichurl, but it caught its attention. The Hilichurl, which had seemed to be sleeping deeply, suddenly jumped up, casually grabbing a thigh-bone club from some unknown creature beside it. As it knocked the club against the ground, it loudly raised the alarm.
"Yaya! (Alert!)"
Hilichurls were quite vigilant. Although the Traveler hadn't arrived yet, the Knights of Favonius occasionally used them as training targets for new recruits, so their lives weren't nearly as carefree as they appeared.
The Hilichurls gathered together and looked around carefully, but they didn't see any sign of enemies.
"Dala? (Anyone there?)"
After looking around for a while, all the Hilichurls turned to the one who had sounded the warning.
"Nyemito… (Didn't see anything…)"
Scratching its head, the Hilichurl responsible for keeping watch looked a little embarrassed. It couldn't exactly tell its companions that it had been slacking off and dozing just now.
"Yo~ (You idiot~)"
Seeing that it was a false alarm, all the Hilichurls returned to their places and lay back down to continue napping.
As for the one responsible for standing guard, it could only mutter gloomily:
"Mosigusha… (Not happy…)"
Then it went back to doing its job.
However, only a few minutes later, the Hilichurl on lookout started shouting again.
"Yaya! Dala! (Enemy invasion! Stay alert!)"
But this time, its Hilichurl companions chose to ignore it. They covered their ears and continued sleeping. A few even cursed and threw the wooden clubs beside them at it. Yet not a single one of them got up to actually check what was going on.