Leaving the Workshop, Lisa returned alone to the Library. Xia Zhi and the others followed the message on his phone to a restaurant, where they regrouped with the rest for dinner.
Collei seemed unusually quiet that day.
When asked, they learned she'd gone to find a friend that afternoon, but the friend wasn't home.
Fisch said, "Who is your friend? Tell me, and I'll send Oz into the skies to find her. As long as she's in Mondstadt, I can."
Collei shook her head. "Thank you, but no. She's Outrider of the Knights of Favonius. She's probably on a mission outside the city today. She'll be back tomorrow or the next day."
Outrider?
That rang a bell.
After Amber's grandfather left, the Outrider squad had fallen apart. Wasn't Amber the only one left now?
The group exchanged looks, their expressions odd.
Xiangling asked, "Collei, this friend of yours… her name wouldn't happen to be Amber, would it?"
Collei froze. "Yes. You know her too?"
Everyone burst out laughing. "Of course we know her! You don't have to go looking. Stay with us. As soon as she returns from her mission, she'll definitely come find us first thing."
Collei blinked, surprised—but then nodded. It did make sense.
After all, it was Amber.
After dinner, Collei and Kirara were going to stay at an inn.
But everyone insisted there was no need to waste money. They could check if the Church of Favonius had spare rooms. If not, they could always sleep in the Serenitea Pot's treehouse.
The warmth was impossible to refuse, so the two agreed.
After their walk, they returned to the church—where they ran into Barbara.
Xia Zhi went over to ask her about lodging. She nodded in agreement… though oddly, her face flushed red when she looked at him.
Xia Zhi figured it must be because his charm stat was too high.
Since Collei and Kirara had been traveling nonstop by boat for days, covered in dust, the girls dragged them into the Serenitea Pot for a hot bath.
Collei sank into the bath, sighing in bliss.
And since her disease was cured, she could finally bathe with the others without fear of scaring them with her scales.
Which, of course, led to the classic "bath-time body commentary" session.
Everyone knew each other well—so the new arrivals were under scrutiny.
"Collei, you're so skinny!"
"Hey—Collei, is this a scar?"
"Whoa, you have so many scars!"
"How'd you get them?"
"This one's huge! What kind of hell have you lived through?"
"Did someone hurt you? Abuse? Tell us, we'll help you!"
…
Hearing their worried voices, Collei's heart felt like it was soaking in warm water too—soft, tender, and heated.
"Thank you all, but really, don't worry. I'm fine."
Since she insisted, they didn't pry further, afraid of embarrassing her.
So they turned to Kirara instead.
"Can I touch your tail?"
"Wow, you've got two!"
"Let me touch your paws—I bet the pads are so soft."
"Don't! Meow!"
The bath was filled with laughter.
And aside from the bath, there was also massage.
The girls dragged Collei and Kirara along for that too.
In Sumeru, massage was common, so Collei wasn't embarrassed.
Kirara, though, was shy and awkward. But once she lay down and Xia Zhi's hands started working, the comfort was so overwhelming she couldn't stop herself from letting out little mewling cries—like a cat yowling in spring beneath someone's window.
Collei, listening, blushed furiously.
When it was her turn, she lay nervously on the bed.
But the Incense soon calmed her down.
As Xia Zhi massaged, he noticed all the scars on her body.
"Miss Collei, why do you have so many old wounds?"
"I…"
"Because of the Archon Residue, isn't it?"
"…Not entirely."
"How did you get contaminated with that in the first place?"
"…."
"Even now, you won't tell me?"
"…."
"I see. It must be a memory you'd rather not revisit. I shouldn't have made you recall it."
"No, it's not that. It's not your fault, Mr. Xia."
Collei closed her eyes, letting herself relax under his gentle hands.
"There's nothing I can't tell you. It's all in the past. Since you want to know… I'll tell you."
"I've had Eleazar since I was a child. My parents took me to countless doctors, but none could help."
"Until someone told my mother there was a way to cure it—if she handed me over to an organization called the Fatui."
"So I was sent to an executive named Il Dottore for treatment… No, not treatment. Experiments."
"I wasn't the only one. There were others too. We were all used for Archon Residue experiments."
"After so long in that place, I couldn't help wondering what I'd done wrong. Why no one came to save me… Slowly, I began to hate everyone outside the Fatui too. Even my parents, who gave me up."
"Later, that place burned down to ashes. I escaped and began to wander."
"Those who fled with me… some were lost to raging sandstorms, some fell to the torment of the Residue. Sick, cursed, with nowhere to belong, we had only wild forests and fields to turn to."
"But in the end… only I remained."
"These scars… they're from that time."
"That's all."
----
Before returning to Sumeru, Collei had wandered for a long time.
The difference between wandering and traveling is that in wandering, you know only the beginning, never the destination.
Her wandering began the moment that place was burned to ashes—or perhaps earlier, from the instant she was stricken with that terrible illness. From then on, it was destined to be an endless nightmare stretching into darkness.
The companions who fled the ruins with her either vanished into raging sandstorms or fell under the torment of the Archon Residue.
Burdened with sickness and curses, they had nowhere to belong—only the wild forests and empty plains to seek refuge in.
Nature is merciful yet cruel. It won't deny its bounty because of their disease, but it won't bend to their cries either.
More and more companions collapsed, leaving behind lessons that taught the survivors how to struggle onward.
And when the last companion fell, what Collei learned was—never reach out to anyone again.
That time, they were cornered against a cliff, fleeing in desperation, beasts' roars close behind.
Whether from the narrow path or by chance, her last companion slammed into her, and Collei tumbled off the mountain road.
By sheer luck, in her panic she caught hold of a frail branch jutting from the cliff. She stretched out her other hand, calling desperately for help.
But her companion only cast her a complicated look, then chose without hesitation to escape alone.
They didn't make it far. The predator's roar swept past faster than fleeing footsteps, its instinct ignoring the girl trembling below the cliff.
Collei quietly drew back her hand and clutched the fragile branch until every sound above had faded.
The roars, the screams—they were gone.
She couldn't bring herself to hate her fleeing companion. If their places had been swapped, she couldn't promise she'd have chosen differently.
At that moment, only one thought remained in her mind:
To rescue, or to beg for rescue—
[I'll never reach out my hand to anyone again.]
Memories flashed through her mind. Collei opened her eyes and stared at the treehouse ceiling.
The next time she touched someone's hand was two years ago, during Mondstadt's Windblume Festival.
The city was strung with lanterns, bustling with voices. The night sky was bright, and the stage lively.
That fiery red girl suddenly grabbed her hand, pulled her out of her cramped wooden crate, and dragged her into the crowd.
People clustered around, cheering for ring toss and slingshot games—simple, childish contests.
Collei couldn't understand. However well they played, how much food could that win outside the city walls?
But the red-clad girl threw herself into it with boundless enthusiasm, cheering for each win, sharing the prizes with children.
Collei didn't get it. If not for rewards, why take part? Could there really be joy in this?
She slipped to a corner, picked up a slingshot, and gave it a try—out of a dozen shots, one clipped the edge of the target.
[I hit it!] She turned excitedly. [Hey, look!]
Only then did she realize how long she'd been absorbed. The red girl was already gone.
In the days that followed, Collei practiced more and more, growing used to the sounds of bowstrings and darts. She practiced for a long time, until missing was rare.
Every time she drew the string, she remembered the thrill of that first hit.
And the warmth of that girl's palm when she'd pulled her into the crowd.
That was her first meeting with Amber.
Her first real friend after years of wandering.
To Collei, Amber was different.
Amber's personality was like a blazing campfire, always drawing those who craved warmth. Naturally, she had many, many friends.
Collei admired her, but she couldn't be like her.
She was strong, she tried to seem cheerful—but even now, she sometimes recoiled at another's touch.
Even when the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata held her hand, she trembled unconsciously.
Amber was the exception.
And now, Mr. Xia seemed like another.
She glanced at him, seriously massaging her.
Maybe it was because he'd cured her Eleazar. She felt no fear or rejection toward his touch.
Instead, a gentle pleasure spread wherever he touched.
"So… that was your past?"
"Yes."
"You've endured a lot."
"…Mm."
Xia Zhi felt a pang of sympathy for her.
Especially at the part about those experiments—polluting living people with Archon Residues just to gather data.
It was vile.
He lowered his head, quietly massaging for a while, then suddenly asked, "Il Dottore, right?"
Collei blinked, lost in comfort. "Hm?"
"The one who used you for Archon Residue experiments. That Fatui executive—Il Dottore, right?"
"Yes."
"I'll remember that."
"?"
He said no more.
The name rang a bell.
The God Creation Plan Sumeru was undergoing—Il Dottore was the one secretly pulling the strings.
There'd be a chance for reckoning.