To Be Strong-Armed

by CatCrescent

Childe's failure to recognize Kaeya's sarcasm spells disaster for thousands of Hilichurls, Diluc's bar tables and somehow even threatens the city of Mondstadt.

CatCrescent: This story was written as a gift to a friend who gave the prompt "What if Childe and Kaeya arm-wrestled?"

Parts of the story may make more sense if you've completed Chapter 1: Act III A New Star Approaches, Diluc's story quest and read the Genshin Impact Webtoon/Manga.

---

There was a domain tucked between the cliffs of Stormbearer's point, where rocks met the blue, rippling ocean. This was called Whistling Walls, and it was nearly forgotten, if not for the wandering travelers, Lumine and Paimon. Fittingly, they were led to it by a whisper from a retired adventurer, who spoke of impossible puzzles hiding an unseen treasure. Lumine was already curious and wanted to check it out, but Paimon insisted anyways, since she never took any chances when it came to treasure. From what they were told, it was not the kind of domain to take on alone. Putting together a team was barely a concern. Lumine and Paimon practically turned 'befriending others' into an art form. There was a plethora of people they met on their travels who expressed at one point or another, "Just let me know if you need anything."

Before long, a team was gathered, as they required the help of people with Visions of Pyro, Cryo and Hydro. Anemo was also needed, but Lumine had that covered. The pair stumbled across Amber, who had her glider stuck in a tree while doggedly pursuing some Treasure Hoarders. After helping her capture the criminals, Lumine sent a carrier pigeon towards Liyue, with an idea of who to cover 'Hydro'. There were a few options for Cryo Vision-users in Mondstadt, all of them unavailable except for Kaeya. It was Amber who tracked him down to a tucked away corner in the city, sitting and drinking with a group who treated him like a close friend. When asked about it, Kaeya chuckled, "Do I know them? Oh, we met just an hour ago. Flattery and alcohol have such a way of easing tension—and loosening tongues." He graciously accepted their invitation to the domain. Then it was just the matter of the person that Lumine sent the carrier pigeon to. Lumine hardly had time to brace Kaeya and Amber before he arrived; Tartaglia, commonly known as Childe, approached the group with a chipper greeting and handfuls of fish he caught along the way.

Paimon seriously questioned Lumine's decision to invite him, "The Knights and Fatui don't really see eye-to-eye. Plus, I think Kaeya and Amber in particular seem to have some unpleasant personal history with them. Heck, I don't think they've ever trusted Childe in the first place, especially when they heard that he fought you and was involved in the whole 'Overlord of the Vortex' fiasco. What's more, you could have invited Mona from here instead!"

Lumine gave a very simple answer; last she spoke to Tartaglia, she promised to invite him on their next treasure hunt. Knowing how seriously Childe took promises, Paimon relented. She still grumbled, "This had better be a very, very rare treasure."

As Paimon predicted, Amber and Kaeya weren't thrilled about Childe's arrival. However, they seemed to reach a mutual agreement; Fatui or Knight, the three of them were there to help Lumine and Paimon. This didn't stop Amber from giving Childe the stink eye nor did it keep Kaeya from delivering backhanded compliments. Childe seemed oblivious to it, though he occasionally surprised them with a sharp-tongued comment or two. Thankfully, the group had a mysterious domain to focus on instead.

Whistling Walls was laden with puzzles and traps. Any doubts about Lumine's choice in team quickly faded as the group set to work. Kaeya was very useful in studying the puzzles, seeming to get into the heads of the ones who made them. Amber was—honestly not good with puzzles. However, she was great for detecting traps and her Baron Bunny could hold down certain weighted buttons and act as bait to spring traps for them. For any traps they overlooked, Childe had the reflexes to get them out of tight spots, and his Hydro vision was invaluable for disabling all the Pyro mechanisms that littered the ruins. Their progress was very good and they got farther than the retired adventurer could have ever dreamed.

Then they hit a snag, and they hit it hard. There was a room with a locked door and a strange, metal monolith. It took a while before they discovered that the monolith reacted to Cryo. The cooled monolith did not open the door, and it instead activated a block puzzle in the adjacent room. The blocks could only be moved by Anemo. It was also a hard puzzle, as in the kind that most smart people would run out of brain juice for. In addition, the monolith did not remain cool for long and the puzzle would reset if it wasn't chilled. Childe and Kaeya tried to combine their elements to freeze the monolith, but it was resistant to getting frozen. This meant that Kaeya had to stay at the monolith to keep it continually cool, while Lumine tried to tackle the Anemo puzzle without his help. Amber and Childe, meanwhile, stunk at puzzles. A lot. So, they lingered in the room with the locked door and Kaeya.

It was beyond awkward. Ordinarily, Kaeya managed conversations with ease. However, it was taking Lumine over an hour to figure out the puzzle and that meant maintaining Cryo the entire time so she wouldn't lose her progress. He was getting a headache from continuous use of his Cryo, so he wasn't much for talking. This left Childe and Amber to flounder with short-lived chit-chat and bland mentions of weather, using minute-long pauses between each sentence. Discussing work was a mistake. They broke into arguing over if Knights or Fatui were stronger. It amused Kaeya at first. If there was one thing Childe and Amber had in common, it was pride in their homelands. But as the argument dragged on, it didn't alleviate Kaeya's headache. He was hesitant to show weakness, especially around Childe, so Kaeya simply kept cool and quiet. Amber and Childe did the opposite.

"What do the Knights do again? Chase shoplifters and rescue cats from trees?" Childe taunted.

"Hey! Cats are a lot more trouble than you think!" Amber snapped. She double-backed and added, "But that's not the point—the Knights do so much more than that! We defend Mondstadt from any threat, whether its Treasure Hoarders or monsters or even the Abyss. At least we don't go around bullying regions like the Fatui."

Childe rolled his eyes, "Call it what you will. The fact of the matter is, the Fatui get results. You can't even imagine the kind of creatures we've defeated. The Knights are all talk."

"Oh yeah? Well, the Knights were strong enough to subdue Stormterror. We didn't need the Fatui at all."

"Ha! That was Lumine who helped you! She wasn't even one of you, so you made her into an Honorary Knight to make yourselves look better."

"That's not how that went!" Amber bristled. "And how's that different from the Fatui's constant attempts to recruit the people of Mond? It's like you guys know our city is better."

"Well, for starters, we actually took down a dragon," Childe grinned knowingly. "One of yours actually."

Kaeya went rigid. One of the last things he needed was for them to start talking about Ursa the Drake.

"Perhaps," Kaeya cut in, "You need to rethink your comparisons. After all, you can't seem to agree on what counts as an achievement. So why not change your measurements to something more common. Say, in Hilichurls?"

Childe rose an eyebrow, "Hilichurls?"

Amber brightened, "Oh! Like the Hilichurl Conqueror!"

He asked, "The what?"

"It's an extra title among the Knights," Amber eagerly explained. "If you defeat some Hilichurls, you can turn in their masks. By turning in 1,000 masks, you earn the title Hilichurl Conqueror." Amber put her hands to her hips and turned up her chin, "Because of my Outriding, I fight a lot of Hilichurls and I currently hold the highest record for this year at 1,973."

Kaeya lightly smiled as the conversation changed course. It didn't take much to get Amber talking about her records. She was bound and determined to reach 2,000 masks, much to the dismay of Hilichurl-linguist professors like Ella Musk.

"Over a thousand, huh?" Childe repeated thoughtfully. He chuckled, "I guess I can't compare, but I never thought to keep track of how many Hilichurls I've fought."

Amber huffed, "That's not helpful! There's gotta be some way to measure this."

"How's about the old-fashioned way?" Childe grinned, "We could arm-wrestle."

That might not end well, Kaeya thought. Aloud, he urged, "Lumine could finish the puzzle any second. We're still not sure what it will do, so you two shouldn't get too distracted."

"Just one round!" Amber insisted. Only her Pyro Vision could compare to the fire in her eyes. She rolled up her sleeve with the words, "I won't back down from a challenge."

Her tone caused Childe's own grin to broaden. He replied, "If there's one thing you Knights have over my colleges, it's definitely guts. I respect that." More to Kaeya, he added, "Don't worry, this will be a fair, friendly contest."

Kaeya reluctantly stayed at the monolith, with a careful eye on the two. He wouldn't hesitate to make an ice statue out of Childe, and Lumine wasn't too far to assist if needed.

Childe and Amber found a stone cube that jutted up to their knees. At one point, it must have been a pillar or platform for a statue that had long-since broken apart. Now, it was the stage for their wrestling match. They interlocked hands with a clap.

"On three," Childe stated. With every second, the burn of anticipation grew, and they braced as lions before the lunge. "One…two…three!"

Amber heaved with all her might. But he wouldn't budge. His arm seemed to be made of iron. Frustrated air escaped her lips as she pushed, but she could not get Childe's arm to move. He didn't even seem to be pushing back! Then he did. Amber hardly registered the soft sound of her own hand thumping against the stone before she realized Childe pinned her with little effort. They released grips and Childe gave a good-humored laugh, "That was a good try! Now, I wonder…does this make me stronger than 1,973 Hilichurls?"

Amber rubbed her hand, unhurt except for her pride. Normally, Amber accepted loss with open-arms, recognizing another's talents and using it to springboard her own improvement. But it was a lot harder to be cordial against a Fatui. It felt a little like failing Mondstadt. Amber wrestled inwardly and said, "Okay, you beat me fair and square. That was impressive…but I'm far from the strongest person in the Knights of Favonius!"

"I've heard a lot of interesting things about Grand Master Varka," Childe replied.

"He's the best of the best," Amber confirmed eagerly. "But he's not the only one. You can't count out anyone, like Acting Grand Master Jean and—" Amber looked over and stated, "—Kaeya's strong too!"

Childe's gaze followed, "Oh really?"

Oh great, Kaeya groaned inwardly.

"I'd be interested to see just how strong," Childe stated, with his elbow perched on the stone cube. He called to Kaeya, "How's about it, comrade? Up for an arm-wrestle?"

"Tempting, but I'm busy with this mechanism," Kaeya responded. "If I stop, Lumine will have to start all over. You wouldn't want that right?"

"Of course not," Childe made a kind of surrendering motion but he still prompted, "Afterwards then. You should be plenty available once she solves it."

Kaeya laughed light-heartedly, "Oh, I don't see much of a need. It's pretty apparent you're far stronger, so I've no doubt that you would win."

"That's not true!" Amber encouraged, "I know you can do it, Kaeya!"

"Appearances can be deceiving," Childe agreed. He glanced in Lumine's direction and said, "I've been surprised by others' strength before. You never know until you actually faceoff."

Kaeya preferred it when they were arguing.

He answered, "No thanks. I've got nothing to prove."

"Then let it be a simple match between friends!" Childe insisted. Kaeya made a noncommittal noise, annoyed. Childe continued obliviously, "If it were me, I'd be curious to know what it's like to arm-wrestle someone with the strength of over a thousand Hilichurls."

Kaeya gave a cutting smile. He spoke in a falsely pleasant tone, "Oh, but I'd be much more interested in arm-wrestling someone with the strength of 10,000 Hilichurls. Perhaps afterwards, I shall enjoy the thrill of throwing myself off a cliff without a glider."

Childe blinked. He made a thoughtful noise and seemed to come to an understanding.

There was a heavy click from the monolith before anyone could say anything else. Kaeya instinctively backed away as the monolith sunk and geometric lines of light traced the floor. He sighed of relief when he realized the puzzle was solved. Lumine came jogging out of the other room with Paimon trailing behind. The floating companion groaned, "Ughhh! That took forever! There better be a super huge pile of treasure at the end of this!"

Lumine said to the others, "Sorry that took so long, guys."

"So, you solved it, right? The door still isn't opening though," Childe observed.

"The inscriptions said there was one last set of mechanisms to deactivate. They're Cryo and Pyro," Lumine answered.

Amber stiffened up, her hairbow seeming to twitch like a pair of rabbit ears, and she looked to the wall. She pointed, "Over there!"

Along the wall, sets of circular orbs appeared. The first set was icy and wisps of frigid air dripped from their bulbous surfaces.

"You gotta break 'em!" Paimon exclaimed.

"On it!" Amber's bow was out and loaded in an instant. Flame-tipped arrows streaked the air and scattered the orbs in concise and successive taps. While Childe watched and Paimon excitedly pointed out other orbs that appeared, Lumine stepped over to Kaeya.

She murmured, "You okay? Sorry you had to maintain Cryo for so long."

He chuckled lightly, "How solicitous of you. Rest assured, I'll be just fine."

"Well, still. Take it easy. We should be just about done after this room."

Kaeya suggested, "Perhaps then we could go to the tavern to celebrate." He paused and added, "With rounds of juice for you and Paimon, of course."

Lumine made a scoff of a laugh.

Once the Cryo orbs were destroyed, a second set of orbs appeared on the wall, and these brimmed with boiling, orange heat.

"That's my cue," Childe said. He flicked out his bow with a flourish. With an arrow loaded, he pulled back the drawstring as Hydro swirled over the arrowhead with rippling gleams. Childe fired and missed. "Ah, wait—" He fired again, and the watery arrow still hit the bare wall. "Shoot, hold on—" The third finally struck an orb, melting its casing and causing it to burst open. Childe aimed for another orb and missed again. He made a disgruntled noise.

"Stop missing! Paimon doesn't wanna do that puzzle over again!" Paimon shouted.

Childe clenched an arrow in his fist, throttling it, "You think I'm trying to miss?"

Lumine and Kaeya watched in immense amusement. Amber crossed her arms and commented, "You might be stronger than me, but at least I'm a better shot."

"Not helping," Childe grumbled.

He managed to strike two other orbs but kept missing the rest. Finally, he gave up on his bow and instead pulled his Hydro into a long, piercing polearm. Childe zipped across the room and broke the remaining orbs in a few sweeping strikes. To everyone's relief, the door opened.

They finally reached the room where a Precious Treasure Chest sat on a pedestal. There were no further traps or puzzles, so it was all the more satisfying of a sight. Kaeya, Amber and Childe each declined partaking in the treasure but Lumine insisted that everyone take at least one item. Amber took up a Pyro-infused artifact, Childe picked an older-looking sword, murmuring something about his brother's birthday, and Kaeya mysteriously also took a Pyro-infused artifact, only explaining, "It may make a fine, anonymous gift for a certain someone I know."

Paimon was at first thrilled by the treasure, but her eye caught on a hidden pedestal also in the room. There was another chest, sealed behind a wall of Anemo. The team combined their elements and skills to deactivate the mechanism and free the chest. Carefully laid inside was a green cap with a long, golden feather woven into it. Childe, having a trained eye for treasures, commented that the cap was several centuries old.

"But who puts an old hat in a chest?" Paimon wondered.

Amber's eyes grew wide and full of wonder as she commented, "Wait a sec…I think that might be Barbartos' Summer Cap! With the Gold Whistleplume! I remember this from a story Lisa read from this book, Volume 2 of Archonic Legends."

Kaeya grinned, "Why, I do believe it's rumored to bestow the wearer the ability to summon gale storms with little more than a whisper."

This caused Childe to show interest in the item. However, Paimon scooped up the cap, declaring, "Paimon will take this one!"

She put on the hat, which was a bit of an ordeal with her halo crown. Nothing seemed to happen. Paimon put the cap on Lumine and had her test her Anemo. Nothing seemed to change either. Paimon huffed, "Are there some special instructions for this thing?"

Finally, Lumine removed the hat and insisted that her and Paimon could ask a 'certain expert' about the hat at a later date. She then gathered the group to finally leave the Whistling Walls behind, thanking everyone for all their help. They even stopped at Angel's Share to celebrate. Paimon and Lumine had their apple juice while everyone else had some kind of alcoholic drink. Kaeya said something that caused Amber's drink to come out her nose. She angrily smacked his shoulders as he laughed wispily. To Kaeya's surprise and relief, Childe said nothing more to him about arm-wrestling. Childe did, however, challenge Lumine to an arm-wrestle. They were nearly evenly matched, but Lumine just barely won. Childe seemed to take this in stride, saying he looked forward to the rematch with her. Just before the group separated, Childe smiled and stated to Kaeya, "See you again soon." What Childe meant by this, Kaeya had no idea, but it put an uneasy pit in his stomach. Kaeya wouldn't realize it until later, but he would have saved everyone a lot of trouble if he had just arm-wrestled Childe.

---

It was a week later. Kaeya had fallen back into his daily routine, strolling Mondstadt, discreetly dismantling crime rings and spending his evenings at Angel's Share. This was one such evening. He sat at a table in the tavern, where he could get a nice, discreet view of all the other patrons. He could also listen in on their gossip, talk of sales, latest grievances and rumors about a massive monster emerging from Falcon Coast. Kaeya breathed in the vapors of wine from the deep-colored drink with a soft smile.

Behind him, the door to the tavern flapped open and someone stumbled inside. Kaeya put the cup to his lips.

"Sir Kaeya!"

Kaeya set down his drink with a sigh. He turned to Huffman, who was sweaty and tired from running. Between breaths, Huffman said, "Sir, there's something strange—"

"Is it so urgent to interrupt a man's drink while he's off duty?" Kaeya asked. Kaeya inferred it was not a dangerous situation because Huffman sounded confused and not afraid.

"It's the Fauti! They're…well, they're outside the gates—"

"Are they threatening someone?" Kaeya asked, an eyebrow raised.

"No. Well—maybe? I'm not sure actually."

"Then what are they doing?"

Huffman scratched his head, as if trying to understand it himself, "They're…stacking piles of Hilichurl masks outside the city. They said they were ordered to bring the masks inside to be counted by the Knights, but there were too many, so they piled them up by the gate. Sir Kaeya, you have no idea. There's so many piles, each of them taller than you and me—"

"Huffman," Kaeya cut in with an impatient flick of his hand. He directed, "Focus. For what reason are these masks being counted?"

The man stuttered, "The Hilichurl Conqueror. It's for the Hilichurl hunting title."

"The 1,000-mask challenge?"

"But it's so much more than 1,000! It's-it's—"

"9,999 masks," a new voice spoke. A new yet terribly familiar voice to Kaeya.

Of all people, Childe strutted into the tavern with a wave and cheerful greeting, "Hello again, comrade!"

Despite some fruitless protests from Patton, Childe also dragged in something heavy and bone-like that barely fit through the door as he continued, "There are currently 9,999 Hilichurl masks that I personally hunted currently sitting outside of Mondstadt. And this—"

Kaeya could hardly register what it was before Childe hoisted it up with a grunt and dropped a Stonehide Lawachurl mask onto the bar counter. Tremendous shudders shook the counter and floor, nearly causing Kaeya's drink to fall, even from as far as his table.

Childe wiped his sweaty forehead off with the back of his hand. He grinned and finished, "Makes 10,000. As per your stipulations."

Charles poked out from behind the mask on the counter, looking helplessly at it.

Kaeya and Huffman blinked in surprise. Huffman looked to Kaeya, asking, "Sir? Did you actually make a deal with the Fatui?"

"No." Kaeya tried to regain his composure, "I don't recall any such agreement."

Right behind Childe, two more knights, Miles and Raymond, stumbled in. Despite Childe dragging something that weighed half a ton, he somehow managed to outrun the two. Huffman gave them an exasperated look. In addition, Childe attracted a crowd and all the patrons were drawn away from their drinks to watch the scene unfold.

"Don't you remember? It was just last week, at the Whistling Walls!" Childe walked over and sat across from Kaeya with an eager smile, "You said that if someone was stronger than 10,000 Hilichurls," Childe rolled up his sleeve and dug his elbow in the table, his fingers flexed, "then you'd arm-wrestle that person."

Kaeya then remembered the conversation from last week. A little laugh escaped thoughtlessly, "Wow. So you actually defeated—"

His face paled as the implication sunk in, "Wait. You actually defeated—"

A pair of Fatui men, Baccus and Egor, stepped in at this time. They made note of the Lawachurl mask and caught sight of Childe. The one with dark hair, Egor announced, "Master Childe. The counting is complete. 10,000 Hilichurl masks are present and accounted for."

Childe's grin broadened, "The stage is all set, comrade. Shall we start?"

Kaeya's mouth opened but no sound came. It was rare for him to be at a loss of words. All this…in a week? The implication was too ridiculous, unsettling even. Shaking his head, Kaeya snapped out of his daze, "Now, just a moment. I think there's been a misunderstanding—"

"Hey!" Charles snapped. He pointed at the massive mask crowding the counter and said to Childe, "You're not doing anything until this junk's cleared. I can't serve drinks like this."

Huffman added, "I'm afraid I must agree with him. If this mask remains here any longer, we will be forced to write you up for obstructing business. Please remove this mask from the premises and transport it to the Knights of Favonius so it may be processed properly."

The Fatui men sneered at Charles and Huffman. The lighter-haired of the Fatui, Baccus, scoffed at the Knights, "That's just an excuse so you don't have to move it yourselves."

"W-what?" Huffman stuttered.

Egor joined in, "That makes perfect sense! The Knights of Favonius probably don't have big tasks like this to deal with every day. It'd probably take a few hours for you guys to move this, whereas it would only take Master Childe only a few minutes."

This caused a murmur among the onlookers, who Huffman and the other knights couldn't help but overhear. "Is that true?" "That Fatui was dragging it around like nothing." "Hardly any of the Knights can do that, right?" "Is that how strong the Fatui are?"

That clenched it. Ever since the Fatui started piling a concerning number of Hilichurl masks outside the gates, a solid blow was dealt to the Knight's pride and reputation. Letting Childe carry around the Lawachurl mask again was very unappealing. Huffman glanced between the mask and the onlookers. He sighed and finally said, "Perhaps it would be more time-efficient for us to move the mask ourselves. Then we can process it directly. Come on, men."

The Fatui smirked smugly while Huffman, Raymond and Miles gathered around the counter to gauge the best way to move the mask.

Meanwhile, Kaeya was having a terrible time clearing up things with Childe.

"Listen, when I said that, I didn't actually mean—"

"There's no need explain! We can skip straight to the exciting part. I wanna see just how strong you are," Childe replied boisterously. Kaeya knew Childe could break the arm of nearly anyone he arm-wrestled with. It was a relief Amber came out unscathed during her match with him. But Childe of the now was fresh from battle and brimmed with vigor. The excess adrenaline itched to escape. To Kaeya, this increased the chance of arm-breakage to an alarming degree.

Kaeya scowled, "I told you, I didn't actually want to—"

"What a cowardly knight!" Baccus called. "You made an agreement with Master Childe and now you're backing out?"

Sweet Celestia above, Kaeya internally groaned. He had half a mind to just leave the tavern. The only thing stopping him was the dangerous gleam in Childe's eyes.

Egor grinned, "He knows he won't stand a chance. Such is the strength of Mondstadt."

This lit a fire within the bar patrons, even those who didn't like the knights. They were on their feet in seconds. However, they didn't opt for any kind of bar fight; no one would dare start a brawl in Master Diluc's tavern. Instead, they focused on the main conflict. Suddenly, Kaeya felt a heaty smack to his shoulder, and the table was surrounded by a ring of energized drunkards, shouting encouragements to him. Kaeya was stuck in a kind of miniature colosseum and, instead of facing a lion, it was an overzealous ginger.

"Come on, Kaeya! Show that Fatui what Mond's made of!" his drinking buddies rallied, while the two Fatui cheered on Childe. This excitement only added to Childe's battle-hunger.

Kaeya smiled weakly at Childe, "Are you certain a simple arm-wrestle will be the best measure of strength? After all, you might have beaten Amber, but she outdid you with her bow. We could arrange a different contest. At a later date."

"Oh? Would you rather we spar and cross-blades in a one-on-one?" Childe asked, leaning in. When Kaeya hesitated, Childe smiled and readied his hand, "Or we could go ahead and settle this. I'm sure you're quite busy. But I'd be happy to schedule another match. Afterwards."

If Kaeya kept stalling, Childe looked like he might grab Kaeya's hand himself. Kaeya exhaled from the back of his throat. He rolled up his sleeve with the enthusiasm of digging his own grave, and the bar patrons continued to cheer Kaeya on.

He and Childe clasped hands.

Childe began, "On three."

From the light squeeze in Childe's grip, Kaeya felt a terrible dread roll down his stomach. It was like a whale brushed past him in the dark ocean depths. Kaeya looked nervously at his own hand. I like this hand, he thought grimly. I'm not ready to say goodbye to it.

"One."

All the while, the knights finally positioned themselves at the mask. Raymond and Charles were going to push it off the counter while Miles and Huffman would pull and catch it. Then the two planned to carry it out together while Raymond would guide them.

"Two—"

Miles yelped and there was a thunderous crash, shaking the entire tavern floor. It knocked over Kaeya's drink and made everyone jump. The mask was on the floor. Huffman had leapt backwards when the mask crashed down, but Miles didn't move his foot in time. The tavern was silent and Miles stood frozen, eyes squeezed shut and shoulders hunched, as if not being able to see was going to stop any pain from coming. Miles then realized that, if his foot was actually crushed, he probably should have felt it. He hesitantly re-opened an eye and looked down. He sighed, "Oh thank the Seven, it missed my foot."

There was a collective sigh of relief. Miles tried to move around to a different spot, but his foot stopped abruptly. Panic flooded his face. Miles pressed against the mask, trying to yank his foot a few times before sputtering, "I-I'm stuck!"

The pair of Fatui bust out laughing.

They laughed harder when Huffman and Raymond tried to lift the mask, only succeeding in reddening their faces and almost throwing out their backs. The whole scene caught everyone's attention, most importantly, it caught Childe's attention.

Kaeya's eye caught on the spilled wine and the sweat still dotting Childe's skin. With his Vision, Kaeya tugged at the moisture in the air.

A flash of frost froze Childe's arm solidly to the table. Childe's head whipped back to Kaeya.

"About those 10,000 Hilichurls," Kaeya said matter-of-factly. He slipped his hand free from Childe's frozen fingers, "I was being sarcastic."

"What?" Childe knitted his brow. Then his eyes popped open, "Wait, what?"

Kaeya slid from the table and through the onlookers, who didn't even notice him. They were all too busy watching as a few of the patrons also attempted to help lift the mask, but they had as much dismal luck as the knights. Baccus and Egor wheezed in laughter and collapsed onto the floor, also too busy to notice their master failing to break the ice encasing his arm.

Over the chaos, Kaeya faintly heard Childe yelling after him. He ignored it and stepped out to the refreshingly cool air. He quickly distanced himself from Angel's Share, trying to formulate a plan. I just need to hide away somewhere until Childe calms down. Then I'll seek him out and form some kind of compromise that will leave my arm intact. I think I'll hide at Cat's Tale. I never got my drink after all and he doesn't know the town well enough to find me. I'll have plenty of time before—

"Kaeya!" Childe growled.

Kaeya's stomach went cold.

Childe, somehow, followed him out of the tavern and had a table hoisted over his head. Just as Kaeya wondered why he brought the table, he realized—Childe never got his arm free. The man just decided to take the whole table with him. Kaeya would have laughed if not for the absolutely boiling look that Childe gave him.

"What do you mean you were being 'sarcastic?'" Childe questioned.

Kaeya realized that nothing he did had slowed Childe down in the slightest.

"I meant that I wasn't serious about you defeating 10,000 Hilichurls," Kaeya quickly answered. "I never intended to arm-wrestle you at all."

"I bet you didn't," Childe retorted sharply. He wasn't calming down at all, "You probably didn't intend any of this. You probably misled me on purpose."

Kaeya wasn't sure what was going wrong. Perhaps he miscalculated how mad Childe was going to be about getting frozen and told he hunted 10,000 Hilichurls in a week for nothing. Perhaps Childe had some kind of strange trust issues that came with serving a deceitful and conniving organization like the Fatui. Maybe a bit of both. Fact of the matter was, if Childe didn't have a reason to break Kaeya's arm before, he certainly did now.

"Comrade," Childe said in a terribly nice way. "You think you're getting away that easily? We've still got a score to settle." Kaeya did not want to know how Childe intended to do so while his arm was still stuck to an entire table.

"Is winning really so valuable to you?" Kaeya asked. His mind raced. Maybe I could find a narrow enough alley that the table will get stuck, he thought. But can I outrun him?

Childe was undaunted, "I don't care for winning or losing. Just the thrill of the fight."

He stepped towards Kaeya. A strong grip clasped Childe's arm, stopping him.

A smoldering voice rumbled eloquently, "Excuse me. I'm going to have to ask you to return my bar table."

Diluc's timing could not have been more perfect.

Childe scowled at the interruption, "And you are?"

His politeness was nearly a reflex and almost sounded pleasant, "Diluc Ragvindr. Owner of Angel's Share." Fire bloomed in his gaze, "As well as the owner of that table you stole."

"You can have it!" Childe bristled. "I never meant to take it in the first place. I was frozen to it!" Childe jerked his head towards Kaeya, since his hands were too occupied to point fingers.

Diluc made a frowning scoff. He moved to Childe's frozen arm and grabbed it. A flash of heat came from under his glove, vaporizing the ice in a burst of steam, and Diluc didn't care if it hurt. He pulled the table loose and set it down with one hand, like one would set down an empty cardboard box. Childe rubbed his thumb over his chilled-but-now-freed arm, murmuring in relief, "Oh thank the Tsaritsa." He also made note of the Pyro Vision hanging from Diluc's belt.

"And I believe this is yours," Diluc added rather unexpectedly.

Childe had the Lawachurl mask thrust into his arms, causing him to stumble back. He realized, Did he carry that all the way from the tavern? Childe was impressed.

"Your colleagues were rather unhelpful in moving it," Diluc said flatly.

"Where are they?" Childe asked, realizing the two Fatui would have caught up by now.

"They drank too much and I had to escort them out," Diluc answered in a tone that very much indicated that was not actually what happened. After Childe ran off with the table, Baccus and Egor tried to catch up with him. Instead, they ran into Diluc, who had caught wind of and hunted for the man who stole his bar table. They did not take kindly to Diluc pursuing Childe like a common thief so they challenged him to a fight. It turned out to be less of a fight and more of Diluc teaching the Fatui five different ways to break their noses. To Childe, Diluc simply said, "It'll be a week before they're back on their feet. Once they are, I'd inform them that you and the rest of your subordinates are barred from my tavern for the disturbance you all caused. I don't expect to see you back any time soon."

Childe couldn't help but smile. It had been a while since someone threatened him and potentially had the strength to back it up. He set down the mask and responded, "That's hardly fair. As I mentioned, we were only half to blame."

"It's non-negotiable."

"Are you barring the Knights too, or do they have special privileges?" Childe asked.

Diluc's scowl deepened, " do not. A customer is a customer."

Childe grinned wider at this. He leaned in, "Oh-ho! I sense some bitterness. Did they reject your application to join? If so, there's plenty of empty spaces with the Fatui."

Diluc's fury spread like a fire to paper.

Kaeya stiffened, realizing what was happening. Childe was trying to stir up a fight with Diluc, right in the middle of Mondstadt's shopping district. He had to diffuse this.

"Perhaps—" Kaeya started.

Diluc rose a hand to cut him off. He answered Childe, "Your speculations are irrelevant. I strictly judge customers based on how they act within my tavern, not whoever they are outside of it nor what I personally think of them," His gaze smoldered, "Otherwise, I would have long since kicked the Fatui out of Mondstadt."

Childe edged closer, his battle-hunger returning, "I would have liked to see you try."

A sweltering tension cooked the air. Diluc flexed his fingers. Kaeya braced himself, intending to throw an ice wall between them, though knowing that Diluc could melt through it. Childe looked ready to lunge. Kaeya flexed his own fingers and—

"Childe!" Amber shouted. She surprised the men when she marched between them, facing Childe, "I've got a bone to pick with you!"

"What? Why?"

"How?!" Amber responded.

Childe blinked, "How…what?"

Amber jabbed at his chest, growling, "How did you do defeat so many Hilichurls in a week? It took me months to get past 1,000! And you, you just—that can't be possible!"

"Well, I—Look, it's not a big deal," Childe responded, holding up his hands.

A new voice repeated indignantly, "Not a big deal?!"

They looked over and Childe was surprised to see someone who looked like a little girl but held herself as a grown woman.

Amber turned her head away and muttered, "Shoot, she followed me."

Childe blinked again, "And you are…?"

"Professor Ella Musk, leading expert on Hilichurl Linguistic Studies," she answered with a refined pride.

Amber mumbled quietly, "And an expert on nagging."

"I still consider you partly responsible for this latest transgression!" Ella snapped at Amber and caused her to jump. Ella turned to Childe with surprising ferociousness, despite being a third his size, "But you are currently the worst offender by far! Do you have any idea how many tribes you destroyed? All of my work you've just erased? Months and months of research, gone! All those Hilichurls, gone! How could you?! How could you slay 9,999—"

"Actually, it's 10,000," Kaeya corrected and innocently gestured to the Lawachurl mask.

"10,000?!" the girls squeaked.

Childe grimaced at Kaeya. Seconds later, Amber and Ella swamped Childe in questions and bickering. This interruption allowed Diluc's head to clear. He sighed, shaking his head and scooped up the table like how one scrapes up a newspaper.

Before Diluc could leave, Kaeya asked, "Pray tell, am I still permitted in your tavern?" With a frosty smile, he finished, "Or are you kicking me out of there as well?"

Diluc looked surprised by the question. His surprise burned away and he turned his head, readjusting his grip on the table. He muttered, "I don't care if you come back or not. Just don't damage my property again."

A kind of pleased grin came over Kaeya's face. As for what he was pleased about, it was hard to say. He glanced at Childe, who was still pinned between Amber and Ella's bristling. Kaeya prepared to slip away just as Diluc was going to go back to the tavern.

A deep and guttural roar shook the air. Everyone froze. It sounded like thunder and came from outside the city.

"Is…is that the dragon?" Childe ventured to ask. He knew what dragons sounded like, but perhaps the Mondstadt one sounded different?

Diluc slowly set down the table, "No…that didn't sound like any kind of dragon."

Kaeya thought it sounded too much like a person, but it was far too large.

The humanoid roar came again, closer and more distinct, rattling their heads, "Yaah!"

Amber and Ella looked to each other, saying in unison, "Hilichurls."

Kaeya and the group, yes, even Ella, headed for the city's outer walls, towards the front gate. The front gate itself was crowded, probably had been for hours while curious locals had gawked at the masks that the Fatui gathered. However, the gate guards were suddenly panicked and quickly ushering everyone back inside, trying to close the gates.

Kaeya made no move towards the gate and instead went to one of the towers built into the city's walls. There was a guarded door at the foot of the tower that allowed access into it. Being Knights, only Kaeya and Amber were supposed to enter, but Kaeya told the guard, "They're with us," so the group could move without stopping.

They hurried up the spiral staircase and exited the door at the top of the tower, so they now stood on top of the wall that surrounded Mondstadt city. Since the city was on an island, the sparkling blue lake was already a natural barrier, and the only convenient way onto the island was the long grey bridge that led to it. Past that bridge were the wagon-worn dirt paths that snaked in from the bustling green hills which made up the horizon. From this horizon, there was a flood of pale and dark ashen shapes. It was an army of Hilichurls, from the standard, human-sized ones to the bulky Mitachurls and even handfuls of the towering Lawachurls.

"Woah! Where'd these guys come from?" Amber exclaimed. The Hilichurls weren't charging, but they steadily made their way across the plains, getting closer to the city.

Ella, who had to stand on her tiptoes to look over the barrier, commented, "I see a mixture of the Sleepy Tribe and the Meaty Tribe. It's an army of all the tribes of Hilichurls!" She gave Childe a withering look, "That is, all the tribes you didn't slaughter."

"Not for long it seems," Childe chuckled and rolled his shoulder. "Looks like these guys have a death wish. It's a little more than 10,000, but I can deal with them just like the rest."

"'Just like the rest'?" Diluc repeated. After a moment, he scoffed, "I see. So you're the Fatui responsible for that ridiculous pile of Hilichurl masks clogging up the gates. Was that supposed to be some kind of half-brained promotional tactic?"

Childe smiled harshly, "Not impressed? If you'd like," he gestured to the army on the horizon, "I could take out another 10,000. It'd be easy."

Ella rose an outcry and was promptly ignored. Diluc huffed and crossed his arms, commenting, "Of course it'd be easy. An army such as this doesn't pose a major threat, just a large headache. Even the Knights of Favonius might be able to handle such a simple fight."

"Yeah!" Amber agreed. Diluc's words sunk in. She snapped, "Hey!"

Kaeya leaned against the barrier, almost leisurely. Despite tribes banding together into the largest Hilichurl army ever seen, the Hilichurls wouldn't stand a chance, even if it was just Childe, Diluc and Amber. Kaeya couldn't help but still wonder what brought the tribes together all of a sudden. But it didn't seem like the Abyss Order had anything to do with it, so maybe it wasn't a big deal. With any luck, he thought. The army will be dealt with before sundown.

Amber bristled, "I'll show you just what an Outrider for the Knights of Favonius is capable of!"

Childe smirked, "How many Hilichurls do you expect to take down with a little bow?"

She narrowed her eyes, "More than you can with your bow."

Kaeya tried not to laugh. Childe scowled, "Maybe for now, but I'll improve soon."

"Not with that horrendous posture you use!"

"There's nothing wrong with it. What would you know?"

Amber scoffed, "Just as much as someone whose practiced archery since she was a kid! Doubt me all you want, I'll out-shoot you any day!" She planted her foot on the barrier and pointed in the direction of the Hilichurl army, declaring, "I'll take down hundreds of Hilichurls with just one little bow! It doesn't matter if it's a moving target, big or—"

Her words caught in her throat, eyes bulging. Childe prodded, "What? Hilichurl got your tongue?"

Everyone looked back at the Hilichurl army. Their eyes popped open as well.

Behind the army, a large shadow rose from the horizon. Calling it a Hilichurl would have been an understatement. It was bigger than a Lawachurl, standing as tall as a three-story building, higher than most of the trees, not counting the pair of horns that split into four twisting shapes. Its body had deep black fur, almost blue, with stone armor decorated by barnacles and scattered streams of seaweed, as if the creature had washed up from the darkest depths of the ocean. The colossal Hilichurl steadily descended from the hills with the other Hilichurls following along. Each step jolted the trees and birds fled in droves.

"What is that…thing?" Childe murmured. Of all the monsters he'd fought, he hadn't seen one like that.

"He's real! I can't believe he's real!" Ella squeaked, practically hanging off the barrier. She exclaimed, "That's the Regachurl! I thought he was just a legend the tribes passed down to inspire themselves to grow big and strong, but-but he's real!"

"And just what is the Regachurl?" Kaeya asked. The giant Hilichurl and his army weren't at the city yet, but the tremors from the monster's footsteps steadily grew.

"The king of all king Hilichurl! According to my research, he's the biggest Hilichurl ever recorded. Long ago, he united all the tribes of Hilichurls as one. He suddenly stepped down from leadership and went into isolation, rumored to have walked into Falcon Coast to never be seen again." Ella turned back to the horizon with eyes full of wonder. "But he's come back."

Ella then exclaimed, "We have to talk to him!" at the same that Amber exclaimed, "We have to defeat him!"

The two paused and glowered at each other.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Maybe even ten lifetimes!" Ella bristled. "Why are you people so terrible at being cordial?"

"He's leading an army to come and flatten Mondstadt! There's no time to be cordial!" Amber argued.

"I bet you don't even know what that means!"

"I'm mostly certain!"

They two bickered until Kaeya interrupted, "You know, it'll ultimately come down to what the Acting Grand Master decides. Because they're invading Mond, that means this is officially the Knights' responsibility."

The girls paused. This allowed them to hear that Jean was actually down below within the city, issuing orders. Ella and Amber scrambled over to the edge and called to her, trying to get her attention. They still talked and shouted over each other as they did so.

"No wonder the Knights are so inefficient," Childe and Diluc said in unison.

They looked at each other in surprise. Childe grinned as Diluc scowled.

Diluc added, "I don't think the Fatui are of any use either."

"And what exactly are you planning?" Childe asked. He pointed a thumb at the Regachurl, "I, for one, don't wanna pass up the opportunity to fight that thing, red tape or not."

"If you step on enough diplomatic toes, you just might get a repeat of the 'Osial incident' in Liyue Harbor," Kaeya prodded, earning a frown from Childe.

"I…" Diluc glanced between his present company. He crossed his arms and answered, "…must go return my bar table to the tavern and attend to other matters. Good day."

That was the lamest excuse ever, Childe and Kaeya thought simultaneously.

Childe was disappointed because he assumed Diluc ran away to hide. Kaeya was amused because of how obvious it was Diluc was sneaking away to fight on his own as the Darknight Hero. Kaeya planned to tease Diluc about it later, likely earning himself a punishment of the bartender serving Kaeya nothing but tall glasses of grape juice for a week.

Amber and Ella, all the while, still argued. They managed to get Jean's attention and shouted their cases to her.

"We've gotta stop that army!" "No, no, we can negotiate!"

However, the pair were very high up. Jean screwed up her face in confusion and asked, "What? I cannot hear—"

The audibility was made worse when Amber and Ella kept interrupting each other. "It's a historic opportunity—" "There's no time for that!" "There's always time for a polite conversation if you just had some patience—" "War isn't polite!" "My point exactly!" "No! I mean—"

Jean pinched the bridge of her nose. She called, "Enough!" When they stopped, she stated, "I'm coming up!"

Ella and Amber glared at each other and still snipped a bit as they moved from the barrier. Childe looked to the tower's doorway, expecting Jean to take the stairs. There was a short burst of condensed Anemo in the background. A second later, a pair of gloved hands caught the ledge, as Jean used her Anemo to launch herself up to them.

Okay, Childe admitted. That's a cool entrance.

Kaeya was conveniently closest to the barrier and helped Jean up. Once Jean got to her feet, she acknowledged Childe with a polite nod. Jean mentioned to the group that she saw the army advancing while she was at the Cathedral. Kaeya quickly caught her up to speed, including what they learned about the Regachurl and him uniting the Hilichurl tribes.

"And what is the army's progress?" Jean asked.

To answer this, everyone only had to turn their heads. The Hilichurls, though closer than before were still not at the gates. They had come to an unexpected stop. At first, Kaeya wondered if Diluc had already gotten to them, but it was something different.

A squadron of Hilichurl foot soldiers had walked over a small pool that turned out to be brimming with Hydro slimes. This caused the Hilichurls to get stuck in the slimes and any Hilichurls that tried to pull them out only got stuck as well. The result was a growing knot of flailing Hilichurl limbs and squishy Hydro slimes. Some Mitachurls tried to smack the slimes loose with their axes and shields but only succeeded in smacking around their brethren and losing their weapons to the slimes. A Lawachurl approached. It cocked its head to the side and rose its stone-laden arms over the slimes and Hilichurls, perhaps thinking it would be helpful to crush everything. The trapped Hilichurl very quickly and urgently discouraged this. This was enough commotion to attract the attention of the Regachurl. A deep blast of heavy air expelled from its mask, not unlike a sigh. The army's advancement stopped as the Regachurl moved to the pool and began fishing Hilichurls out of the slimes. Jean couldn't help but be reminded of managing her own knights sometimes.

"What are your orders, ma'am?" Amber asked. She made a dutiful salute, "Just say the word, and this Outrider is ready to engage!"

"No, no, do not engage!" Ella cut in. She looked pleadingly to Jean, "Give negotiations a chance! Not everything must be solved with violence."

Jean held up a hand to quiet them. She answered, "Our priority is the safety of the people, and I've ordered for all citizens to be brought behind the walls. Negotiations would be ideal, if possible. But such negotiations may not be possible without knowing their reason for attacking."

"I believe I know why," Ella answered.

"Please do share."

Ella pointed at Childe, "Because of him!"

"What!" Childe sputtered. "How could I have caused this?"

"You hunted 10,000 Hilichurls and now they're mobilizing like never before! It can't be a coincidence," Ella answered.

Jean gave Childe a discomforted look, "Harbinger Childe, is there validity to this claim? There had been reports in the past of certain Fatui factions purposefully antagonizing monsters in an attempt to bolster the organization's reputation by defeating them."

"Woah, woah, let's not point fingers!" Childe quickly answered. "Firstly, many of those reports have insufficient evidence." Kaeya rolled his eye at this, knowing full well the Fatui likely destroyed as much of said evidence as possible. "Secondly, I hunted those Hilichurls on an individual capacity, not for any Fatui-related business. I'm not one for that kind of cloak-and-dagger stuff. I can assure you, Acting Grand Master, I had no intention of causing anything like this. Besides, if anyone would be to blame," Childe pointed a thumb at Kaeya, "it's him."

Kaeya jolted, "Wha—" He scoffed, "Oh, now who's pointing fingers?"

Childe scowled, "If you had spoken clearly in the first place, none of this would have happened."

"I did. I refused to arm-wrestle several times," Kaeya replied with a tight smile. "And I am to blame for your inability to read sarcasm?"

"You—!"

"Enough," Jean cut in. She regarded the two with such surprising sharpness that it even spooked Childe. She crossed her arms and questioned, "It sounds as though you both have some form of involvement in this. What I need you to explain is how the defeat of 10,000 Hilichurls has escalated to this point so we may attempt to de-escalate it. Where does the Regachurl fit in?"

Kaeya was quick to try smoothening things out, "We're not sure. We were only referring to the 10,000 masks. The Regachurl is a new factor."

"Could the Abyss Order be taking advantage of the situation?" Jean asked.

"It doesn't seem like their style."

"Are we sure it's not the Abyss Order?" Amber asked. She had been watching the Hilichurls and, as they approached, she got a better look at them. Amber pointed and said, "It looks like they have some weird weapons, like that horn-thing those Samachurls are carrying."

Ella stood on her tiptoes and craned her neck to look over the barrier too. Someone really needed to get her a stepstool. She squinted and answered, "That's not a weapon. That's a Howler Horn. They use it to signal each other." As she got a closer look, her eyes brightened proudly, "Oh! And that's not any Howler Horn, that's the Great Howler Horn! I should know, because I helped some Hilichurls I befriended with finding it a few days ago. Then they allowed me to observe a ceremony where they used the horn. It was loud but very educational."

Jean observed, "…That would explain the strange reports I received a few days ago. There were complaints of loud noises that resembled, ah, 'hundreds of boars simultaneously suffering from stomachaches.'"

Ella nodded, "Yes, it is not conventionally pleasant by human-standards, but still culturally valuable to Hilichurls. They believe the Great Howler Horn to be one of the Regachurl's old horns and that it could be used to call him in their time of need. At the time, I thought this ceremony was symbolic, as though they were trying to call his strength during hard times. Turns out it was literal and it worked! I still can't believe it actually—"

Ella's throat dried, hearing herself. She realized that she inadvertently helped the Hilichurls call the Regachurl in the first place. She slowly looked to the group and meekly asked, "So…we're still not pointing fingers at each other, are we?"

Jean held her head and sighed. She told herself to have a long talk with Ella after-the-fact. Jean said, "If the Hilichurls intend for war, there may not be room for peaceful negotiation." When Ella pleaded against this, Jean answered, "The safety of Mondstadt is the priority."

"If it comes down to it, are we certain we can stop the Regachurl?" Kaeya asked.

Amber answered, "Of course! At the end of the day, he's just a bigger Hilichurl, right?"

As they spoke, the Regachurl finally finished pulling the Hilichurl foot soldiers free. There was now a large glob of Hydro slimes stuck to the Regachurl's palm. The Regachurl attempted to pull them off, but the slimes simply stuck to the palm of his other hand. He tried shaking his hand, but the slimes stubbornly clung tighter. The Regachurl let out a short snort of annoyance. He turned and drew back his arm. He snapped his hand forward, like pitching a ball, and caused a deep whoosh of turbulence. The slime glob flew loose and went sailing over the trees. They went flipping over Whispering Woods and landed somewhere closer to Starfell Lake. A single large slime, despite being gelatinous, was too heavy for most to throw for even a meter. This creature tossed the equivalent of five across several miles in one throw.

A stunned hush came over the group. Jean was the one to break the silence with a weak clearing of her throat. She spoke quietly, "Perhaps it would be best to attempt negotiations first."

No one made any arguments. Jean decided to appoint Ella as the interpreter, being the natural choice. She asked Ella what kind of materials she needed, and Ella answered, "I just need a few things from the library. Oh! And we should gather as many steaks as possible and place them into a cart to present to the Hilichurls."

Jean nodded, "I shall issue a request to all the restaurants and vendors." She then said, "Amber, I'm putting you in charge of assisting Professor Musk in acquiring whatever materials are necessary."

"Yes, ma'am!" Amber responded dutifully. Any past animosity went up in a puff of smoke, as Amber was most often quick to forgive. Amber then pulled her goggles over her eyes and wrapped an arm around the smaller woman. "Hold on tight!"

Ella stuttered, "Wait, what are you—"

Amber leapt off the ledge with Ella, who let out a frightful squeal. Amber's glider wings snapped open with a feathery fwomp and the pair glided over the shopping district. It was technically a no-gliding zone, but Jean had bigger priorities. She looked to Kaeya and Childe, and she crossed her arms.

"Once this crisis has been resolved, I should like to ask you both for the full story behind these 10,000 masks," she stated sternly. Jean then said to Childe, "And, though I am inclined to believe that you did not hunt the Hilichurls with any ill-intent, I must still discourage any Fatui involvement at this present time. It is the responsibility of the Knights to handle this crisis first."

Childe didn't argue, curious how the Knights would respond to the crisis anyways. Kaeya sighed inwardly, the whole matter was just turning into a bigger mess and he wasn't looking forward to the cleanup and diplomatic hoops to jump.

Jean continued, "We must hope that these negotiations shall be successful. The Regachurl may cause more damage than we are prepared for."

Kaeya's heart stuttered as he realized, Diluc has no idea about the peaceful negotiations. He's probably still on his way to try punching the Regachurl's face in.

Jean noticed Kaeya's panicked look. Not wanting to out Diluc in front of Childe, Kaeya instead said, "The masks. They're still outside the gate. They might further upset the Hilichurls."

Jean gasped, "You're right." She said to Childe, "If there is one thing I want to request the Fatui's help for, it is moving those masks."

"They are masks you personally collected after all," Kaeya added.

Childe gave Kaeya a look but then said, "Alright, I'll help move them as well."

Jean added, "Kaeya, get your men on standby, in case if negotiations fall through."

"It shall be done."

Jean was off in an instant. Childe was about to follow, but he noticed Kaeya still by the barrier. Kaeya drew his sword and a cloth to clean it. The sun bounced off the blade as he did so.

"What are you doing?" Childe asked. "Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"I am," Kaeya answered in a matter-of-fact way. "How can I gather my men when my sword is in such a state?"

Childe rolled his eyes. He said, "Well, once all this is over, we will also talk later, comrade."

Childe left as well, and Kaeya continued polishing the sword. In reality, he was purposely reflecting light off the sword in a specific pattern of flashes, even using his Cryo to make the light brighter. He had no idea how close Diluc had gotten to the Hilichurl army, but he was likely outside of the city gates by now, so Kaeya flashed the light in that general direction. If Diluc started attacking the Hilichurl army, then there'd be no hope for negotiations and avoiding a very tough battle. And, if Kaeya was being honest, the last thing he wanted to see was the Regachurl chucking Diluc from Windrise to Starfell Lake.

A separate flickering light answered Kaeya, from a cluster of trees just beyond the bridge. Kaeya's shoulders relaxed and he breathed, "Thank goodness."

He knew Diluc must have been using his own sword with a bit of Pyro energy to reflect light back at him. They communicated through a series of flickers in specific patterns. Kaeya smiled to himself and thought, I don't know what's more impressive. The fact that Diluc still remembers our secret codes, or the fact he managed to sneak out of a city in lockdown, in broad daylight with bright red hair.

Kaeya caught Diluc up on everything, including the plans to negotiate. Even they only communicated through light flashes, Kaeya could tell that Diluc begrudgingly relented to Jean's decision to attempt a peaceful route. Once Diluc agreed to simply wait and watch, Kaeya finally re-sheathed his sword and headed back down to the city streets.

Despite Jean's orders to gather his men, Kaeya didn't immediately go do that. He instead went searching for Ella Musk. She was situated on a bench by the gate, surrounded by open books as she feverishly studied one of them. Amber was also with her, trying to figure out what to do with herself. Ella had all the books she needed and there wasn't anything else to fetch. She wanted to be back on the wall to survey the Hilichurls but she had to stay with Ella.

Kaeya gestured to all the books and commented, "I'm quite amazed, Professor Musk. Have you memorized all of these? I'd worry about my mind going blank."

"I've read them all but I wouldn't go as far as saying I've memorized them," Ella said. She patted a notebook by her side, "As long as I can consult my reference notes, I'll be fine."

"Feeling confident then?"

"Pretty nervous actually," Ella admitted.

Kaeya looked sympathetic, "Understandable. Perhaps some water would do some good."

"Oh, I can get it!" Amber offered. She itched to help with something. Kaeya counted on that and smiled to himself when Amber darted away, which left him alone with Ella.

Kaeya chuckled, "Always eager to help, isn't—oh!" He had turned and accidentally disturbed a stack of books, causing them to fall over. He and Ella knelt down to pick them up.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I suppose you're not the only one who's a bit nervous."

"I think…it's helped to think about how much good can come from this," Ella said. "It really is a historic event. The Regachurl. Not seen for centuries, and who knows if humans ever attempted to communicate with him before."

"If these negotiations succeed, it will certainly be a huge step towards building good relations with Hilichurls and achieving peace," Kaeya said as he placed the stacked books onto the bench by Ella's sitting place.

Ella smiled and agreed, "Absolutely! And I'll make sure that happens."

Kaeya laughed lightly, "I've no doubt you will. Allow me to take my leave so you may resume your studies."

He left and, once he found a secluded spot, he drew Ella's reference notebook from his pocket. Because the lack of Hilichurlian scholars, Ella Musk was automatically the best in the region. But being the best among a few did not equate to being good. Kaeya was only knew what good Hilichurlian was because he was also one of the few who's also studied the language. It was a little-known fact he didn't flaunt except to mess with people or to interrogate Hilichurls.

Perhaps I'm worrying over nothing, he thought. Ella apparently commissions Lumine to help with her Hilichurl poetry readings all the time, and Lumine has quickly picked up Hilichurlian as a result. Perhaps then, Ella might be far better than she was before.

Kaeya opened her notebook, and he flinched.

Somehow, her Hilichurlian had gotten worse.

It's a wonder she's made friends with any Hilichurls at all, he thought and held his needed to intervene. Otherwise, Ella might tick off the Regachurl so much that he might make a second Celestia out of Mondstadt by uprooting the city and chucking it skyward. Kaeya borrowed a pen from Katheryne and made dozens of corrections in Ella's notebook, imitating her handwriting as best as possible. He tucked the notebook in his pocket and gathered the knights he was supposed to. Afterwards, he headed back to Ella and Amber, where Jean also waited.

Jean greeted him, "Kaeya, is everything in order?"

"Yes, they're on standby," he answered.

Jean nodded, "The carts of steaks have been prepared as well. Professor Musk, are you prepared to begin negotiations?"

The small woman stood, saying, "I'm ready to—" Ella stopped in a choke. "My notebook! Oh, oh no! Where is it?"

"Right there on the bench," Kaeya helpfully pointed out.

Ella scooped it up in relief. Amber furrowed her brow, with a nagging sensation that the notebook wasn't sitting on the bench a second ago. At the same time, Ella opened the notebook and pawed through the pages, only to slowly stop and also furrow her brow, as if she saw something she didn't recognize.

A moment later, Ella shut the notebook with a clap and said, "Okay. I'm ready now."

"Good. Let us depart," Jean said. Amber, all the while, shook her head and decided the nagging sensation probably wasn't anything important.

Within several minutes, the delegation was prepared. Ella directed that keeping the group to only three people was ideal. Jean decided that the group would consist of herself, Ella and one other knight to help direct the horse that pulled the cart of steaks. As they were leaving the gates, Jean was inwardly relieved to see all of the Hilichurl masks were gone. She thought, It's amazing that Childe and Fatui were able to move those masks so quickly. But where could they have put so many masks on such short notice? I will have to ask them about this afterwards.

The Hilichurl army stood only half a mile from the bridge to Mondstadt. The Regachurl stood at the front and had stopped the army when the delegation emerged. The Hilichurls all watched suspiciously, and a deep, rumbling sound like lava clawing up from a volcanic ocean floor shook against the Regachurl's mask. Jean realized he was speaking.

"Yaya," he growled, and the noise sent a trembling up their spines. A ripple of croaking growls echoed behind him through the Hilichurl army, who stamped their clawed feet and smacked the ground with their weapons.

Ella acted quickly. She made big sweeping motions with her open hands over her head, calling, "Odomu!" She shouted that they were human friends, not enemies. It was hard to say if the Regachurl could even hear her, so Ella made her body motions very clear. She scooped up a rock and threw it to the side, directing Jean and the other knight to also toss their swords aside, then she directed them all to kneel down and pat the ground in front of them. This was an obvious show that they were approaching unarmed.

The Regachurl upturned his head, looking them over. A short huff of air escaped from under his mask. The Regachurl stooped down and, because he did not carry a weapon, he also picked up a rock to toss aside. However, being as big as he was, this meant picking up a small boulder and tossing it somewhere in the woods. The rock landed with a loud crash, scaring the living daylights out of some wild boars. The Regachurl took a few steps forward, alone, indicating he was willing to let them approach and talk. Ella exhaled, incredibly relieved. But that was just the first hurdle. The group approached cautiously.

Standing in front of the Regachurl was a completely different experience than looking from afar. Jean herself barely came halfway up his calf. Ella was about as big as the Regachurl's largest toe, with a wicked toe claw as large as her head. They were caught under his long shadow, the sun seeming nonexistent, and the brightest light came from his eyes, which were yellow pinpricks with thin gold rings as the irises.

Ella presented the cart of steaks. She offered "mita", both as in meat and in good relations. They made sure to unhitch the horse from the cart before she offered it, so the horse wouldn't be mistaken as part of the meat offering.

His eyes went to the cart. The Regachurl leaned down, scooping the cart into his palm like a person would pick up a sandwich. He brought the cart up to his mask and there was a powerful inward vortex as he took in a deep breath. The Regachurl exhaled, sending a gust that might have sent a glider going for a few meters. He made a short grunt and said in a deep but smoothened tone, "Odomu."

"Friend," Ella translated, shoulders sagging from relief.

The negotiations were underway. Those at the gate and atop the walls intently watched the group. Whenever the Regachurl spoke, his voice thumped the air like thunder and could be felt from as far as the barriers, but he sounded far less angry than before.

Childe, all the while, leaned against a wall close to the gate. He seemed almost disappointed. Firstly, he was not allowed to go up to top of the wall since he was on his own, so he couldn't watch the negotiations. Secondly, the negotiations sounded like they were going well, which meant he likely wasn't going to get the chance to fight the Regachurl. Thirdly, he couldn't find Kaeya anywhere, so he couldn't enact the revenge he wanted either. It didn't seem like he was going to get any sort of good fight, even after all the trouble he went through. Childe sighed. This whole week turned out to be a wasted effort, he thought.

"Master Childe," a Fatui called and respectfully dipped her head. She stated, "The Knights' negotiation session has completed."

"Really? That fast?" Childe looked at the sun's position, "It's only been a half hour."

"It appears some sort of agreement was made but has yet to be finalized. The Knights' did not provide details but they requested your presence."

Now this had Childe's interest. He said, "I shall meet with them."

Childe soon met Jean and Ella in a relatively secluded spot. Childe greeted, "How goes negotiations?"

Jean answered, "Much better than expected. It appeared that, because so many Hilichurls were being slain all at the same time, the Hilichurls assumed that they were being exterminated. This caused the remaining tribes to band together and call the Regachurl in an effort to fight back. Thankfully, Professor Musk was able to convince the Regachurl that Mondstadt had no intention of wiping out the Hilichurls, and he has agreed not to advance on the city."

"Seems things are wrapping up nicely then," Childe commented.

Now Jean's face grew uncomfortable. She continued, "There is one caveat. The Regachurl only agreed to leave the city as long as the Hilichurls receive the one responsible for slaying the 10,000." This meant giving them Childe. "I did not wish to agree to such terms, to sacrifice someone else's life, even for the sake of the city. So, the Regachurl offered a compromise. The Regachurl has personally challenged you to a test of strength, to give you a fighting chance to walk away with your life."

"A test of strength?"

Ella explained, "The Hilichurls have many. This is one of the non-lethal ones. Two opponents face each other, usually sitting. They would usually have one arm tied behind their back and then only use their other arm on a flat surface. The goal being to pin the other."

"Wait," Childe realized, the process sounding terribly familiar, "Did the Hilichurl King just challenge me to an arm-wrestle?"

Ella paused. She scratched her cheek and said, "Um, in a sense, yes."

Childe let out a little chuckle, "Unbelievable."

Jean spoke up, worry still knitting in her face, "Please understand that, though this may be a non-lethal challenge, your life will still be at risk. If you win, then your life is yours and you will be able to walk away from this. However, if you lose, then the Regachurl will decide your fate. Most likely, he will seek revenge for the 10,000 and may very well take your life." Jean continued, trying to assure Childe, "This does not have to be your only option. We can continue negotiations and find another compromise—"

"No need," Childe said and held up his hand. He responded, "This could not have worked out better, and it seems to be the best compromise for all parties involved. Besides, I would be remiss to pass up such a unique opportunity."

To Jean's surprise, Childe was grinning, and an excited gleam swirled in his eyes. He finished, "I, Tartaglia, gladly accept the Regachurl's challenge."

She blinked. What a…strange man. However, there did not seem to be any room for argument. Jean said, "Very well. We will send off the delegation again to inform the Regachurl."

Ella explained as much of the challenge as she could to Childe as the delegation escorted him to the Regachurl. Most importantly, Childe had to listen to any numbers that were called out. When an opponent is successfully pinned, they have five seconds to get free. They count down to one, or rather, if Childe hears the word "unu" or "one" then that means the challenge is over and the winner is decided.

Sooner than Childe expected, he stood before the Regachurl. He felt the weight of hundreds of eyes, many hidden behind masks. A scratchy uproar rose up from the Hilichurl army, who thumped their feet and clubs, croaking the word "Zido!" repeatedly. Based off of Ella's expression, Childe surmised it was not an encouraging word. Even still, Childe wasn't a stranger to this kind of reception. What he didn't expect was how big the Regachurl was. He was a looming creature, far bigger up close. Perhaps it was also the stormy fury stirring in his large eyes. Childe couldn't help but notice that the Regachurl's belt also happened to be fashioned out of whale bones, of all things. He started to realize he may have bit off more than he could chew.

Well. It was too late to turn back now. Childe rolled his shoulders and braced himself.

Before things began, a thought seemed to cross over the Regachurl's face beneath the mask. The Regachurl stooped down onto his hands and knees in order to sit close to Childe's level. Experimentally, the Regachurl propped his elbow against the earth, comparing his forearm to the man. Childe was only as tall as the Regachurl's arm from his elbow to his wrist. The Regachurl snorted, sounding much like a laugh. The air around Childe vibrated as the Regachurl said something about "kucha gusha" and this caused coarse laughter to ripple through his army.

"What'd he say?" Childe asked.

Ella flipped through her notebook, answering, "He said that you're…small grass?"

"Small grass?"

The Regachurl added something else, patting his own chest with deep thumps and then pointing at Childe. Again, Ella listened intently before speedily flicking through her notebook. After a moment, she said, "Oh! I see! He's commenting that you're much smaller than him and that you won't stand a chance using only an arm to fight him. He's agreed to allow you to use 'more than just one arm', and this includes weapons so the fight will be fair."

A smile crept up Childe's face, "It may have been fairer to make me fight with only one arm." Despite saying this, Childe intended to take advantage of the new rules. Even still, he told himself that he still wanted to see how long he could go without resorting to his Vision or Delusion, much less his Foul Legacy.

They were about to begin the challenge, which meant that Ella and the delegation needed to leave again. This was now going to be just between the Regachurl and Childe. Before leaving, Ella tugged Childe's sleeve and she gave him a stern look, "And don't forget! This is a non-lethal challenge, so don't you dare think of killing any of them. Especially not the Regachurl."

Childe made a laughing scoff, "What? Of all things, you—okay, okay, I'll try not to."

"You better," she pouted.

Childe smiled at the absurdity of it. I suppose it's encouraging that she's less worried about the Hilichurls hurting me and more that I'm going to hurt them.

Once the delegation was gone, it was simply Childe standing in front of the Regachurl. Despite the large Hilichurl remaining on his hands and knees, he still towered over the man. Behind him, the droves of Hilichurls brayed and lashed their limbs in excitement. A normal-sized Hilichurl jogged over from the army, dressed in a shirt of black-and-white painted bones woven together. Ella had explained to Childe that this Hilichurl was picked to oversee the match, a referee of sorts. The referee Hilichurl spoke rapidly and loudly, first calling to the crowd. It gestured to Childe and the Regachurl, like introducing them. The Hilichurl made revered gestures to the Regachurl and passionately referred to him as "Rega". The army cheered loudly. The Hilichurl jabbed at Childe and referred to him as "Ika". Unsurprisingly, the army jeered at him. The referee Hilichurl finally motioned for the combatants to get positioned.

The Regachurl propped his elbow onto the ground, his arm casting a shadow over Childe. The man grabbed the sides of Rega's forearm. Childe was struck by, of all things, the smell. The creature definitely had come from the ocean, oozing that certain kind of thick, salty musk mixed with the sharp tang of fish scales. The fur on his arm was nearly crystalized from all the dried sea salt. Despite the situation, Childe found the smell very nostalgic, reminding him of fishing at home. This fueled his drive to fight. Childe took in a deep breath and tightened his grip on the Regachurl. Around them, the Hilichurls continued to chant "Rega!" with a violence-hungry glee.

The referee Hilichurl counted down, batting the air with each number, "Unu du…du…unu!"

Rega's strength slammed against Childe, rattling his skull. The man dug his heels and was pushed back several feet. Childe grunted and dug his heels deeper, his arms already straining. Rega exhaled a short burst of air under his mask. He started to tip his arm forward, like a tree slowly toppling onto Childe. The man groaned as his knees unwillingly started to bend. Rega pushed Childe farther and farther down, almost getting him to his knees. The referee Hilichurl excitedly narrated the match as it happened. With a groan, Childe pushed back enough to stop the Regachurl and throw himself out from under Rega's arm. The massive forearm slammed against the dirt where Childe once was.

Rega made a shocked noise. Childe leapt at his hand, hoping to pin it. Rega growled and pushed his hand off the ground, swinging it up at Childe. The man tumbled out of the way, as Rega propped his arm back on his elbow. Rega brought his fist down at Childe but the man darted around again as Rega's hand shook the earth.

Now Rega growled in annoyance. He swept his hand across the dirt, thunderously uprooting the grass and topsoil. His arm moved with surprising speed. Childe jumped over, Rega's knuckles merely catching his heels.

When Rega propped his arm back onto his elbow, Childe darted for his arm, as if to tackle it. The Regachurl seized his opportunity, slamming down the back of his hand. But Childe sidestepped, having baited Rega to lower his hand. The Regachurl was quick to pull his hand back up before Childe could stomp it down, but Childe instead snatched the creature's index finger, bending it backwards. Rega yowled in shock and pain, shaking the sky.

Childe twisted around and continued to tug Rega's finger, forcing down his whole hand. He strained as the creature fought back, trying to yank free. But Childe had the advantageous angle and he kept pulling Rega's hand farther down. Just a little further and Childe could properly pin his hand. The Regachurl's hand shook from straining and his knuckles were only a few feet from the ground, but he couldn't overpower Childe. With the last bits of his effort, Rega curled his index finger as far in as he could while Childe still held him. Rega stretched his thumb towards his index finger, towards Childe. Finally, with a flick of his large thumb, he forced off Childe's hands.

Childe stumbled loose, surprised. His instincts screamed to run. Childe only got a foot forward when Rega's palm crashed down. Childe put up his arms to catch it, but the force slammed against his head and ripped down his body. All the air was knocked from him and his legs gave anyways. Childe collapsed onto his knees. The Regachurl slowly squeezed him downward. Childe's spine and arms shrieked at him. But Childe yelled louder, forcing his body to move Rega's hand up. It was not enough to throw him off, but it was enough for Childe to get a foot planted on the ground. This gave him more leverage. Rega did not let him get farther and immediately clamped down, forcing Childe back on the defense. Sweat blinded Childe and it was the most he could do to keep upright. Escape. That was his only thought. He needed to last long enough to escape and if he crumpled, he'd be pinned. His mind and body were on fire.

Rega's hand tilted ever so slightly to the side. It was faint but the change in pressure was significant. Childe hungrily dove for the opening, taking advantage of the tilt to push off Rega's hand and he clawed to freedom. The Regachurl's hand moved away too easily.

As soon as Childe realized the trap, Rega's hand came down again, slapping against Childe's back and shoving him face-first into the ground. Childe's head knocked against the dirt. Alarm rose in the man, and he moved to push himself off the ground. The Regachurl's palm pressed against him, pinning his entire body to the ground and leaving only his head free.

There was a running sound, followed by referee Hilichurl dropping his body to the ground as he slid over. The Hilichurl scraped to a stop in front of Childe and began slapping the earth, counting down, "Mani! Dudu!"

Childe struggled harder.

"Unu du!"

Childe sucked his teeth and closed his eyes.

"Du!"

A sharp jolt pierced Rega's hand. The Regachurl yelled and drew back, feeling like he was bit by lightning. Childe, freed, rolled back onto his feet. The Hilichurl army wailed in dismay. Childe's Electro Delusion crackled as he muttered, "Weapons allowed, right?"

The Regachurl slapped down again and Childe disappeared into static threads of purple, appearing on the opposite side of Rega's hand. Rega's growl built into a roar. He slammed his fist down more rapidly, missing Childe repeatedly. Then Childe tackled Regachurl's arm. His touch sent ripples of electricity through Rega's nerves, making it easier for Childe to yank down Rega's hand. The Regachurl grunted and flexed his fingers, causing the fur on his arm to bristle. Childe touched Rega's arm and the skin on Childe's hand sliced open. Childe flinched away and realized that the Regachurl's skin beneath his fur was like shark skin, making it painful to grab.

Childe grinned and drew upon his Hydro Vision, summoning swords of water. He shouted, "Think that'll protect you?"

The man slashed at the Regachurl's arm. It was very thick and difficult to cut into. But Childe wasn't trying to sever it like he might in most other situations. He cut loose the fur and scales, making Rega's arm easier to grab. More importantly, Childe was wearing down the Regachurl. But Rega was smart, smarter than any Hilichurl that Childe ever encountered. He caught onto Childe's plan and kept his elbow firmly planted, his fist tight and high up, only moving to try evading Childe's attacks. Rega was waiting for an opening and conserving his energy to outlast Childe instead.

Then Childe darted up the length of the Regachurl's arm, to the back of his hand. Childe stabbed his swords into backs of Rega's fingers. The Regachurl sharply howled. Childe hung off his swords, using his gravity to pull back Rega's fingers, reopening his hand. Childe swung up and, as he fell toward Rega's hand, Childe's swords turned into a Hydro polearm. He drop-dived spear-first with a watery whistle. The polearm pierced Rega's palm. Childe slammed against the hand, bringing it down with a thunderous crash. With a grunt, Childe stabbed the polearm farther, until it stabbed the earth. The Regachurl reared his head back in a quaking bellow.

Rega jerked his arm, but his hand would not come free. Hesitantly, the referee Hilichurl began to count and tapped the ground with each number, "…Mani!"

The Regachurl tried to lift his hand, but Childe stomped it back down.

"Dudu!"

Rega uttered another roar and violently shook his arm, nearly shaking off Childe. The man forced the hand to stay down and growled, "Come on! Count faster!"

"Unu du!"

Childe's heart pounded. His grip felt weak. He focused all his energy on keeping the Regachurl pinned but he couldn't last. Do I need to use my Foul Legacy? Childe only hesitated because his body was reaching its limit. The immense strain might break him completely.

"Du!"

Rega thrashed again and Childe mindlessly hung on. His mind started to enter a fog, a seeping dark slipping in only when he started to call on the Foul Legacy.

"Unu!"

Childe didn't realize the thrashing had stopped. He snapped out of his daze when the referee Hilichurl was suddenly in his face, repeatedly slapping his hands off his weapon, croaking long lines of words Childe didn't understand. He didn't get the chance to use his Foul Legacy. The Hydro weapon fell apart and Childe took a small step back, vaguely aware that the word "unu" was said and that there were thousands of Hilichurls crying out in shock around him.

The Regachurl suddenly brought up his hand from under Childe, who tumbled off and onto the ground. With a rattling growl, Rega brought down both his fists against the earth, nearly cracking it. The referee Hilichurl fled. Childe was on his feet, Hydro swords summoned again. His heart fluttered, his body heaved with panting breaths, threatening to give out. The Regachurl's arms seemed to wall him in, and he brought his head towards Childe, like the moon descending. The veins on the mask were like woven threads of coral, cutting to the touch, his molten breaths slapped the inside of the mask as turbulent waves and his glowing irises pierced Childe. The air shook with buzzing growls. Despite the irises being just about as big as Childe's face, Childe still stared back with his own battle-ready gaze. Rega sucked in a deep breath.

The Regachurl exhaled, the air washing over Childe, and the growls ebbed. Rega turned over his fist to press his knuckles against the earth and he dipped his head. He spoke two words in a deep toll, "Muhe ye."

Childe didn't need to understand those words to know their meaning. The Regachurl's tone and posture said it all. Childe had won. He let his Hydro weapons drip away again. Childe dipped his own head and said with deep respect, "You were a formidable opponent. Thank you." Rega tipped his head in a nod, seeming to understand clearly.

All the while, there wasn't a single spectator along the walls of Mondstadt who didn't have their jaw on the floor. The Knights of Favonius had been tentatively watching the fight and finally witnessed its conclusion. Jean and the other knights might not have quite understood was exactly what was going on, if not for Ella Musk leaping and shouting, "He won! He won!"

Before the challenge began, Ella swore that she wouldn't let anyone get in her way of standing on the wall to watch the fight, promising to kick the shins of anyone who tried. She assumed that her threat and academic need was recognized as none of the knights stopped her from ascending the stairs. That was partly true, but the whole truth was really that Kaeya instructed the wall guard to let Ella go up if she wanted.

Jean kept staring at Chile and the Regachurl, still trying to process everything. Is that truly the strength of the Fatui? Or does his draw his strength from a different, more noble place? Jean wondered of Childe. She glanced at Kaeya beside her. Kaeya also looked very stunned. He kept rubbing his hand and muttered something about being thankful for "not losing an arm". On the other side of Jean, there was Amber, pale-faced and somehow managing to look both awe-struck and terrified simultaneously. The Regachurl had stood back up and was gesturing to his army. His words could be heard and felt, but Jean could not understand them. She turned to Ella.

"Professor Musk, are you able to discern what the Regachurl is saying?" she asked.

Ella listened and flipped through her notebook. She then answered, "He's telling the other Hilichurls that the challenge has ended and the opponent's life is his own. He's telling them to go home and leave the humans in peace." Those last words brought a smile to Ella's lips.

Kaeya went rigid, "Wait. Something's wrong."

When the Regachurl issued his order to withdraw, many of the Hilichurls begrudgingly agreed. Only for a knot of Hilichurls to cry in outrage. Another group of Hilichurls also suddenly shouted in defiance. It was as if a stream of anger flowed through the army, until all the Hilichurls were writhing angrily, stomping and clacking their weapons.

"Are they unhappy with the contest's result?" Ella wondered worriedly.

The Regachurl seemed surprised and tried to command order, but the Hilichurls were too riled up to listen. And Childe was still down there.

"Hurry down there!" Jean ordered. Kaeya was already gone, long before she spoke.

Childe wasn't sure what was happening. One minute, there was calm, and now the valley buzzed with furious Hilichurls. He summoned his Hydro weapons once more, seeing the Hilichurls messily charge towards him, clawed feet thumping against the ground.

He made a clenched smile and rose his blades, "Time for round two? Alright, let's—uh. H-huh?"

Large fingers wrapped over his torso and Childe was involuntarily picked up by the Regachurl.

Rega pulled Childe high out of the reach of the frothing Hilichurls. The Regachurl scooted back the other Hilichurls with his foot and lightly swatting them away. With the way the Regachurl spoke to his army and was carrying him, Childe felt like Rega was a mother chiding her children about how playtime was over and Childe happened to be the action figure they weren't allowed to play with anymore. Childe couldn't have been more embarrassed.

The Hilichurls didn't seem to listen at all. They attempted to throw rocks at Childe and even swatted at the Regachurl's toes. Rega decided he had enough. He literally put his foot down, knocking all the surrounding Hilichurls off their feet, including the Lawachurls. The Regachurl stomped repeatedly, practically creating his own earthquake, then he roared loud enough to be heard as far as Stone Gate. Childe was shocked he didn't go deaf. By the end of the rumbling, whatever the Hilichurls had been angry about, they were more scared of Rega. The Hilichurls abandoned their weapons and fled, scattering and disappearing into the hills, where they would later return into their separate tribes. The Regachurl made a single, satisfied huff. He then set down Childe with surprising carefulness.

The Regachurl turned away, settling into a strange quiet. Though his footsteps were still shuddering, they seemed to be the drumbeats to a farewell song. The Regachurl headed straight across Windrise, where he would likely walk back into Falcon Coast and disappear once again.

Childe now stood alone in the valley, watching in mystification as everything sunk in. Laughter bubbled up and shook out of him. Most of all, he felt proud to have tested his limits so much. Such is his strength and drive as Tartaglia—

An intangible weight slammed down from his head to his feet, and spots formed in his vision. Childe felt light-headed and was about to fall over.

"Excellent show, comrade!" an oddly familiar voice greeted, just before Kaeya's hand clapped against his shoulder.

"Huh? What are you doing?" Childe asked. He tried to take a step and almost fell again. But Kaeya kept his hand on Childe, subtly holding him upright.

"Why, congratulating you, of course!" Kaeya answered cheerfully. In a low voice, he added, "And keeping you from falling on your face. Wouldn't want you to spoil such a rousing victory after all."

Childe open his mouth to respond and a tired sigh came out inside. He relented and put an arm over Kaeya's shoulders. They steadily walked back to the bridge. Childe panted, "I guess a full week of non-stop fighting's finally caught up to me."

"So, it seems you are human," Kaeya joked.

There was one extra reason why Kaeya was helping. When the Hilichurls were getting riled up, Kaeya was certain he saw two short and blue figures floating between the Hilichurls; it appeared to be a pair of Hydro Abyss Mages. The Abyss Order may not have been involved in summoning Regachurl, but it looked like they were trying to take advantage of the situation somehow and secretly riled up the army. At the very least, it was dangerous for Childe to be alone in such an exhausted state. Even with two Hydro Abyss Mages, Kaeya knew they wouldn't try going up against a Cryo Vision user like himself, so they were able to get back to the gates of Mondstadt with no trouble.

What Kaeya didn't realize was that the Abyss Mages weren't actually interested in attacking Childe. Secretly, the Abyss Mages spirited away the Great Howler Horn that had been abandoned when the Hilichurls fled. The large horn was very heavy, even when using their levitation magic, so they tucked away in a shadowy grove not very far away. The Abyss Mages stacked together a pile of dead Ley Line branches and, being only versed in Hydro, attempted to use flint and stone to light the fire while the Great Howler Horn laid behind them. Their plan was to formulate venomous glyphs to etch in the horn and call back the Regachurl, but this time as a servant to the Abyss. They would use him to properly crush Mondstadt and enact their plans. The imagined violence and chaos brought throaty chuckles which gave way to scratchy cackles.

Khr-CRACK!

There was a bony crack behind the Abyss Mages. They turned and jumped in shock. The Great Howler Horn was split in half. The Mages hissed in surprise and hovered over the horn.

One observed the crack with its small hands, "Something cleaved right through it."

There was the scraping of steel and the Mages turned around again. Diluc stood over them, with his claymore drawn back and over his shoulder. His eyes burned in fury.

The one Abyss Mage jumped in fright, "It's him! The Darknight Hero!"

They did not have time to form their shields, so the other bluffed. It hissed, "He's still a foolish human all alone! What can he do with a simple sword?"

Diluc tightened his grip and blazing flames burst onto the blade. The Mages collectively squealed in fright.

---

Childe and Kaeya were greeted by Knights and Fatui alike at the gate. However, Childe's legs felt like they were made of slimes, so he had to settle on a barrel at the end of the bridge. Jean very quickly caught up to them. She prevented the two from being crowded and sent many Knights to scout around and prep for clean-up.

Jean gave Childe a once-over and stated, "You need a healer."

Childe didn't like to use healing magic and had a personal rule about avoiding it as much as possible. He waved her off, replying, "I'll be fine. I just need a min—"

He started to stand back up but her arm clamped onto his shoulder and firmly planted him back in his seat. "Sit," she directed, her surprising sharpness returning. Jean drew her sword and held it upright in front of her. She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer, with her Vision flashing green at her hip. A swirl of wind bloomed into a ring around her and Childe, with dandelions of Anemo energy flitting around him. A soothing breeze washed over Childe, mending his cuts and bruises, then easing his aches. He unthinkingly sighed, feeling like he just woke up from sleeping in a soft, grassy field. Maybe I can make one exception for getting healed, Childe thought as the ring of Anemo drifted away.

Jean looked him over again. Her face softened significantly and she nodded. Jean put away her sword and concluded, "You will still need lots of rest. I encourage you to go to the Cathedral to have a proper check-up, but your wounds should be mostly healed."

Childe wasn't used to such genuineness. He could only manage a light thank you.

"Jean!" Amber called from above. She was riding her glider, having jumped off the top of the city wall and flew down to them. Again, it was through an illegal air-space but Jean was willing to let this go since it seemed urgent. Amber stumbled into a landing and exclaimed, "There was something strange on the parameter!"

Jean straightened, "Are Hilichurls returning to attack?"

"I—I'm not sure. I didn't see any Hilichurls specifically. But I did a huge burst of fire in the woods."

"Was it in an arc?" Kaeya asked.

"Yeah! It was! Acting Grand Master, I'd like to request permission to scout—"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Kaeya interrupted. He waved it off and said, "I bet that was just a Flaming Flower coming into bloom."

Amber gave him a look of disbelief, "No way! It was too much fire."

Kaeya shrugged, "They're quite potent this time of year. I believe the phenomenon is known as a Dawn Burst. It makes quite a vigilant light to brighten the dark."

Jean's eyebrows went up. She realized that Kaeya was talking about Diluc. Amber, on the other hand, just thought Kaeya was saying weird things as usual and insisted to Jean, "It won't take me long. I'll—"

"Let it be for now, Amber," Jean said, surprising her. The woman directed, "We have plenty of Knights here on the southwest side. I would like you to instead check the other parameters, just in case."

Amber hesitated. She couldn't resist Jean's order and went along with it dutifully. Childe watched the whole scene with a raised eyebrow. He surprised Kaeya and Jean when he asked, "What was thatabout? It was almost like you both were trying to hide—"

"Master Childe!" a Fatui called. Kaeya and Jean were thankful for the interruption.

His name was Kazimir and he hurried over to them. Beneath his mask, he beamed, "We are thankful to see you well! Your victory over the giant Hilichurl was glorious! Why, you hardly have a scratch on you."

Kaeya rolled his eye. Before Childe could correct him, Kazimir turned to Jean and stated, "Your citizens appear quite at ease after our Harbinger drove off that monster and his army. I imagine Mondstadt is quite grateful. Just like how Master Dottore disposed of Ursa the Drake."

Kaeya's smile twitched.

Jean cut in, "Congratulations may be difficult. According to the information I received, Harbinger Childe may have also caused the Hilichurls to threaten Mondstadt in the first place."

Kazimir's throat dried. As much as Kaeya was enjoying watching the man squirm, he still had a loose end to wrap up. Kaeya eased into the conversation, much like how one slips on a glove, "Now, now. Let's not overcomplicate matters. We're all still on edge from narrowly avoiding a crisis. I know for a fact that our valiant Harbinger here had no ill intent. I'd say this could be summed up as a simple misunderstanding. But why don't we further discuss this later? After such a strenuous battle, he needs his rest and there's still much cleaning up to do. I think discussions will be much more pleasurable after a bit of a breather."

Jean nodded, "I agree. Let us arrange to discuss this in-depth at a later time."

The Fatui and Jean both stepped away, while Kaeya hung back. This gave Childe the opportunity to note, "You seem to be going out of your way to help me all of a sudden."

Kaeya answered, "Wouldn't want you to get blamed for another city-wide disaster." He put a hand over his chest and spoke in a more genuine-tone, "Consider my help an apology for causing such a terrible misunderstanding between us."

Childe grinned and asked, "Does that apology include freezing me to the table?"

A smile flicked onto Kaeya's lips, "If it did, then I'd be lying."

Childe laughed at this. With a sigh, he said, "All things considered, I deserved it. I went completely overboard. I try to avoid these kinds of situations because of all the clean-up. You're certainly doing me a huge favor, comrade."

"Oh, I wouldn't say a huge favor." Kaeya seemed apologetic as he replied, "I can only help so much, and you're going to have more than diplomatic relations to worry about."

"What are you—"

"Mister Harbinger!" Ella exclaimed. The small woman darted over to Childe, her eyes shining. She was practically nose-to-nose with him with she excitedly said, "You have to tell me everything!"

Childe drew back, surprised, "H-huh? About what?"

"About the Regachurl! Everything that happened! About the challenge, every single moment! I must document all of it!"

"But you saw the fight, didn't you? In fact, you spoke with him more than I did!"

Ella scoffed. She pulled a small crate in front of Childe so she could sit across from him as she talked, "Yes, but you interacted with him through a completely different context. Besides, I want as many eyewitness testimonies as possible, and you're the one who experienced the challenge first hand! So, I want you to write down everything you noticed."

Childe sunk into the barrel he was sitting on. He stuttered, "I should really be resting at the Cathedral."

Ella practically pulled a pen and paper from thin air, "Then I shall write it for you as you dictate it to me. You won't have to lift a finger! Now, to start with, what did the Regachurl say? What were his expressions and body language that you noticed? Did you notice anything in the materials of his clothing? Smell? Just start from the beginning and don't leave anything out!"

Kaeya slipped away during this, a smile dancing on his lips as he watched Childe itch for an escape. Leaving this behind, Kaeya sought out Jean. She was standing on the bridge, assigning areas to scout and clean up. Once the other knights were gone, Jean took in a breath and placed her hand on the bridge railing, looking in the direction of the large tree in Windrise. Kaeya moved to her side and rested his elbows on the railing.

"So," he prompted, "Any thoughts on how to handle human-Hilichurl relations from here?"

"I suspect the Hilichurls will not be any more trusting of humans than they were before, and I fully expect Hilichurl attacks to continue. However, to avoid a crisis like today, I think it would be best to impose a Hilichurl hunting ban. This way, we would try to only fight Hilichurls who actively attack humans or work with the Abyss Order. This should lessen unnecessary Hilichurl deaths."

Kaeya chuckled, "Ella will be quite pleased about that."

"I am thankful that things ultimately came to a peaceful conclusion," Jean said. She exhaled and also rested her elbows on the railing. She looked to the water with a gentle smile. Her brow furrowed, noticing something floating in the lake, "Kaeya. Do you see that?"

He looked and his brow knitted together, "Is that a Hilichurl mask? Wait. Not just one…"

Jean and Kaeya both leaned over the railing, squinting in puzzlement at the water. Kaeya continued, "There's dozens of them. But why are so many masks?"

Realization struck Jean. She turned her head and shouted, "Harbinger Childe! Did you and your men throw all 10,000 masks into the lake?"

It was that day that the title for the Hilichurl Conqueror was formally discontinued. Childe was also fined a ludicrous sum for illegal disposal of waste, all funds for which came directly from the Fatui bank accounts and was paid to the city of Mondstadt.

---

Somehow, Lumine and Paimon had missed the entire Regachurl fiasco. Paimon still wanted to investigate Barbatos' Summer Cap they got from Whistling Walls, but they received an urgent letter from Ganyu and went out of town to Liyue. It seemed an official wax seal stamp was stolen and one of the suspects, of all things, was a ghost. Naturally, the exorcist Chongyun and his friend Xingqiu also got involved. This resulted in an unusual chase all around Liyue. They caught the ghost and questioned him about stealing one of the Qixing's seals. The ghost said he wouldn't even know what a wax seal stamp would look like, since his memory was so foggy. Ganyu drew a seal stamp from her pocket as an example, only to discover that she, in fact, was holding the very seal they had been looking for. Ganyu apologized profusely to everyone and treated them to as fancy of a dinner as she could afford.

Lumine and Paimon then got a bunch of letters from Mondstadt, their various friends mentioning what happened with the Regachurl. Lumine was sad she hadn't been there to help but was thankful it worked out. Paimon was just glad they avoided a huge monster. Just as they prepared to leave Liyue, Childe was returning. He was more than happy to catch them up and describe his wrestling match with the Regachurl. Childe avoided mentioning the embarrassing things, like how he misunderstood Kaeya's sarcasm, was frozen to a table and was up to his ears in fines. When Lumine and Paimon returned to Mondstadt, they met with Kaeya, and he told them every single embarrassing detail Childe avoided. Kaeya was also drinking at Cat's Tale. It seemed Kaeya said something to Diluc and all of Kaeya's drinks at Angel's Share mysteriously ended up being nothing but grape juice for an entire week. Lumine and Paimon also met with Amber. She appeared to have been transformed by the whole Regachurl situation, even going so far as wanting to befriend Hilichurls. This declaration promptly went out the window when Amber realized the steak offering given to the Hilichurls resulted in Good Hunter and all other restaurants being out of stock with steaks for an entire month. Amber swore vengeance in the name of her stolen Sticky Honey Roast.

After catching up with everyone in town, Lumine and Paimon finally set off to get answers about Barbatos' Summer Cap. They searched for a certain bard in green who had an impeccable knowledge for old Mondstadt history. He wasn't in town, so they followed the winds to Old Mondstadt, once known as Stormterror's Lair. From the crumbling, washed out ruins, the cold winds became soothing as they carried the distinct melodies of a lyre.

"There he is!" Paimon exclaimed and pointed at Venti at the foot of a ruined tower.

They called out to him. Venti paused playing and a smile spread over his face, "Why, hello, friends! It has been far too long since we've seen one another."

"No kidding. It took us forever to find you!" Paimon exclaimed as they approached. "What are you doing all the way out here anyways?"

"Playing songs for an old friend! This too was a meeting overdue," Venti answered.

"At least the sweetness of song never seems to age," a deep voice as powerful as wind answered. A large, teal, pointed-snout poked out from the shade of the tower.

"OH—Hi Dvalin!" Paimon squeaked, just barely keeping from screaming in surprise. Dvalin may be friendly now, but he was still a very huge dragon a thousand times her size.

"Did you hear what happened at Mondstadt with the Hilichurls?" Lumine asked.

Venti answered with a knowing chuckle, "Ah, yes, the king of king Hilichurls. I never thought he would re-emerge from his self-exile…is that perhaps what you came to ask about?"

Lumine's interest was piqued. She opened her mouth to ask, but Paimon flew in-between them, waving the green cap, "Actually! We came to ask about this hat we found in a ruin!"

Venti was pleasantly surprised, "Oh! My old hat! It had blown off my head a couple centuries ago. I was wondering where it had gone."

"Can you tell us how to summon really powerful winds with it?" Paimon eagerly asked.

Venti laughed airily, "With this? It definitely doesn't do any such things! Its main talent is only what style it brings."

"Wait, it…it doesn't do anything?"

"The hat, no. But the feather is another story!" Venti plucked the golden feather and declared, "With little more than a whisper, a gale of songs travels for miles. Simply put—" Venti blew onto the feather and it made a pleasant whistling that seemed to travel amazingly far. "It makes music!"

"…That's it?"

"That's it!" Venti chuckled.

Paimon gave the hat a heart-broken look. Lumine asked, "If that's all that it does, then why do people believe it summons gale storms?"

"Ah, there seemed to be a misunderstanding at some point in time. But I didn't have the heart to correct anyone. It seemed more fun to let them believe what they wanted to, so I even wrote songs to encourage the rumors."

Paimon's head snapped up, "You…you purposefully spread misinformation?"

Venti winked, "I prefer the phrase 'poetically exaggerated the truth'. The songs are quite nice too! Shall I play a few?"

The wind whistled. The hat shook in Paimon's hands. She growled and finally shouted, "You tone-deaf bard!"

She thwacked Venti with the hat and he yelped in surprise. Paimon repeatedly smacked him and chased him in circles, yelling at him about lying to adventures and getting Paimon's hopes up. Venti fruitlessly shielded himself with his arms and cried to Dvalin, "I beseech you-ow!-won't you-ah!-help your friend-ouch!-in need?"

Dvalin huffed, sending plumes of wind across the ground but he did not raise his head from it. He responded, "You've planted many seeds of foolish whimsy. These are the fruits of your labor."

"How can you use-oof!-my poetry against me?" Venti whined. He then looked to Lumine, "Oh kind travel-ack! I beg you to-eek!-call off your rabid emergency rations!"

Paimon stopped in the air. She sucked in a breath, flaring up more. Paimon dove like a hawk, thwacking him even harder as she squealed, "Paimon is NOT emergency food!"

Lumine debated for a moment. She finally said, "It was a pretty hard puzzle though," and then sat comfortably on broken pillar next to Dvalin. They watched as Venti fled screaming halfway around Old Mondstadt and back, while Paimon flew screaming after him.

END

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CatCrescent: I'm very happy to finally have my first Genshin Impact fanfic posted. I've read a lot of excellent stories online and wanted to contribute. The game has been a lot of fun and so has trying my hand at writing these characters. Thank you for reading!