"Hey, Brother Taro! I came to visit!"
A certain drunken bard appeared at the door—
without knocking—
and darted straight into the room.
"You sure have a lot of free time, Venti."
Taro, lounging on the sofa, raised a brow at the uninvited guest.
"Did you settle your little 'home problem' already?"
"Hehe~"
Venti rubbed his hands together. "It's all thanks to Brother Taro's help!
Without you, I'd still be neck-deep in trouble."
He grinned and pulled something from his coat.
"To show my gratitude, I brought a bottle of ancient vintage—
brewed by Mondstadt's oldest methods, aged for at least three centuries!"
"This stuff's priceless. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't part with it."
The bottle looked old enough to belong in a museum,
and the wistful look on Venti's face said it carried more than a few stories.
"A thousand-year-old wine? You're sure it's still drinkable?"
Taro raised an eyebrow. He'd heard of such things, but never seen one himself.
"Would I lie to you, Brother Taro?"
Venti's eyes widened dramatically. "Hey now!
When did my reputation fall so low?
That hurts, truly!"
Taro rolled his eyes. "Cut the act. Fine, I believe you.
Too bad you're late, though. Lunch is over."
"Eh~~"
Venti groaned, then perked up instantly.
"No problem, no problem! I wasn't planning to go home anyway.
I'll stay for dinner—or supper! Either works!"
"Oh right, how about we invite the old man too?"
"Sure."
Taro nodded faintly. "Convenient timing. There are two funerals at Wuwang Hill tonight.
We'll call it a banquet."
"Wait, what?"
Venti blinked. "What kind of funeral involves you and the old man?
Who on Teyvat ranks that high?"
That didn't sound right.
He tilted his head, tuning his ears to the faint winds—
and his expression froze halfway.
No way.
Who holds a funeral for themselves?!
He understood now.
Taro's sense of humor was still as twisted as ever.
"You heard that, huh?"
Taro smirked at the bard's puzzled face.
"I heard…"
Venti forced a laugh. "Fine, then it's settled.
We'll drink under the moon at Wuwang Hill—just the three of us."
"Mm."
Taro nodded. "Now then, anything else?
Say it now. No serious talk during drinking."
He could tell.
That wine was no casual gift.
If Venti brought it, there was a reason.
"Hehe…"
Venti placed the bottle carefully on the table, rubbing his hands again.
"Brother Taro, this time it really wasn't my fault!
Your… deeds have started spreading through the Fatui's networks.
Stories about you are already all over Mondstadt."
He laughed nervously.
"A few proud young ladies got curious. They're planning to visit you sometime soon."
"I swear, it's not on me!"
He raised his hand as if before a judge.
"Cross my heart, Brother Taro!"
Taro stared at him silently for a moment.
"'Young ladies,' huh?
You don't mean those who tried to stop you from going to Snezhnaya—the ones with Alice at the lead?"
Teyvat had its share of secret groups,
and many held power rivaling nations.
Among them, The Witches' Assembly was the most remarkable—
and the most troublesome.
Each member a legend in her own right:
Alice, immortal adventurer, mother of Klee. Codename: A.
Barbeloth, mortal astrologer, mentor to Mona. Codename: B.
Rhinedottir, Khaenri'ahn alchemist, creator of abyssal beasts. Codename: R.
Nicole, true form unknown, a whisperer during world shifts. Codename: N.
Andrius' chronicler Andrea, mortal writer of The Boar Princess. Codename: M.
Ivanovna, deceased mortal. Codename: J.
A collection of absolute anomalies.
And now, he'd apparently caught their attention.
"Cough, well…"
Venti scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Mostly Alice, actually.
I ran into her right after she came back from the borderlands.
"She saw me pouring drinks for Dvalin and… well, one thing led to another."
"…"
So that's how it was.
In other words, this idiot was still the root cause.
Taro's fingers flexed, knuckles cracking softly.
"Come on, Venti. Let me give you a little… blessing."
"W-wait, Brother Taro, please!"
Venti backed away instantly. "I didn't say anything about you, I swear!
She found out on her own!
"If you want to blame someone, blame the Fatui!
They're the ones spreading your information!"
"The Fatui?"
Taro frowned. "Why would they broadcast my existence?"
"Because…"
Venti rubbed the back of his head. "It came from Snezhnaya, not Liyue."
Taro's eyes narrowed.
Childe.
Of course.
If the Fatui knew this much, there was only one likely leak—
the Eleventh Harbinger himself.
"The Tsaritsa's order?" Taro asked coldly.
Venti shook his head.
"Nope. Word is, it came from the Second Harbinger."
"…Doctor."
Taro's smile thinned. "So, Dottore has his eyes on me."
"Interesting."
He raised his hand lightly, and several strings of symbols formed in the air.
Detection—Counter-Detection—Scan—Whisper of the Wind—Peering—Source Break—Manifest—Water Mirror!
A translucent mirror of water shimmered before them,
splitting into two panels.
On one side—
a figure cloaked in heavy fur, his outline barely visible.
On the other—
dozens of identical silhouettes, each mirroring the original's movements.
One real body.
Dozens of clones.
No mistaking it.
"Impressive…"
Venti whistled softly.
"To spy on someone that deep without being caught—Brother Taro, you're terrifying."
"Just watching isn't fun."
Taro snapped his fingers.
Click.
Single-Channel Transmission—Activated.
A voice echoed through both worlds.
"I heard… a little rat's been watching me?"
Snezhnaya. Royal Capital.
Inside the council chamber,
frozen for eternity beneath unmelting ice.
The sound of Taro's voice reverberated throughout the hall.
'I heard a little rat's been watching me?'
A text overlay—magically generated subtitles—appeared above the head of a certain man in a white coat.
Doctor Dottore.
Every Harbinger turned their gaze toward him.
Silence.
The kind that even the ice didn't dare break.
(End of Chapter)
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