Foreword:
Playing Genshin for a short time now, I've found that there's this strange feeling about the world that doesn't quite sit well with me. All this great, open space - rolling worlds, glimmering scenery and a tasteful atmosphere - but it all just seems to be so easily overlooked when you're out slaughtering.
And it's the one thing that just doesn't sit. It ain't right.
I guess I would want to use the ingredients of Earth as a vehicle of exploring the world that Genshin has to offer. Nations and peoples and beliefs, in figuring out their place in this fantasy, might help you - and all of Teyvat's characters - see what I mean in turn.
Here's hoping you enjoy!
"Traveler, there's a new commission posted! Let's hurry and beat the tar out of whoever we're being paid to kill today!"
It's like treasure was the only thing on her mind. It could've been a job on watching paint dry and Paimon would be the first to volunteer Aether for the occasion.
"Aw, man…" Aether sulked, watching the accursed creature float before his very eyes. There was nothing he could say that would change her mind.
At the end of the day, Mondstadt was a question that he couldn't shake, an idea that spelled opportunity. He could feel it, the way the city spoke, a dull whisper from a distance but inside, over the chorus of a thousand hearty dinners, the walls ricochet images frozen in a time he hardly understood. Shadows, he thought. Shadows engraved in stone.
They would remember him just like he remembered his sister. That damn girl, always catching him off guard, so close yet so far, catching him so worried sick yet angry that family was something so alien, now more than ever.
"So," Paimon snapped her fingers before his face. She floated between him and the notice board they paused at. Behind a curtain of nondescript footsteps and conversations, she wagged her voice again. "You gonna head out now or what?"
Of course he was going to head out. It was better than sitting here and waiting for nothing to happen. Saying anything about it would be redundant, and Aether knew that actions and body language spoke just as loudly as Paimon's bickering.
With a dreadful sigh and a hand through his blonde hair, Aether returned a slow nod.
"What's this commission about, anyways?" The boy asked, his pronunciation foreign.
Paimon did a little twirl, shrugging her shoulders as she set herself between Aether and the sun. It was a ways past noon, and after a lunch of grilled fish, the two adventuring buddies were eager to kill some time.
"You know," the white haired fiend crossed her arms. "Killing Hilichurls. The usual."
"Sounds boring." Aether frowned, looking back to the board. "There must be something better than that."
"Well, there's uh… more killing… and uh…" Paimon squinted as she ran her fingers along the board's posted commissions. "Yep. It's all killing today. Except-"
"Except?"
Paimon cleared her throat, looking to Aether with indifference. "Paimon guesses there's a murder mystery, too, but if we're going to nab that lyre for that Tone-Deaf Bard, then we probably won't have the time."
"We have time. Venti didn't give us a deadline, right?"
Paimon shook her head, scrambling for excuses. "But people murders aren't fun! There's not even a good reward for it!"
She tapped the board again and again. Sure enough, it seems like whoever posted the request was only offering a pair of boots and an unimpressive pouch of mora for their troubles. Not exactly enticing, especially for Aether, who would end up doing most of the work.
"I could use a new pair of boots." Aether deadpanned.
"Oh my god." Paimon groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Paimon supposes it is close, so we might just get it over with soon."
Smirking, Aether tugged on his belt. "Right."
Paimon sulked as the Traveler did a quick spin. The afternoon air was alight with conversations Aether could hardly follow. His command of the common language was still rusty, given how new he was to Teyvat, but with Paimon guiding him he felt like he had some semblance of direction in all the noise. His steps clobbered on cobblestone as he mozied down a set of stairs and swayed right, just before the gate and past the city's blacksmith. Clattering iron assaulted his ears as Aether eyed a woman leaning a bit too far out her window, scolding a child for knocking over a potted plant. A dog barked at him, but it was hardly cause for alarm - his nerves had been tempered by the relentless sensations of the city, and despite his short time here, he felt as though these warmly lit streets had welcomed him as their own.
Homey, he thought. It was something about the way the sun painted pictures along buildings with their towering silhouettes. He could lose himself here, he concluded, and wondered if one day, maybe he could settle down and-
"Excuse me."
An arm shot out before him, stopping him in his tracks. A soft grunt peeled past his lips as his momentum caught up with him.
The person who held him back was another man, this one taller than him - if just a little - and looked down on him with curious teal eyes. Hooded, ornate garments told him that this was an important person, and drawing on what Amber told him, clearly an authority among the Knights of Favonius.
"Sorry for catching you off guard. I heard you coming. You were about to stumble across a crime scene."
Surely enough, on Aether's right and around a corner stood a series of caution signs. A handful of armed guards stood watch over the scene, some taking notes and others keeping a wary eye out for interlopers. There was no way for him to see them, having walked so close to the wall, and the sudden sight shook him.
A sorry soul laid on his side, unmoving in a puddle of sickly red. He was an older man marked by brown hair and a beard. Aether couldn't recognize him, not with the person's face obscured by the body. He wasn't used to this. He wasn't sure if this should be normal for him, given his line of work, but the idea that this person, someone he never knew and never would know was most certainly devoid of life, cold and motionless, sent a shiver down his spine. Evidently there wasn't much of a struggle, as the man was not armed.
"We're here to help in the investigation." Paimon perked up, arms crossed as she bobbed beside Aether's head. "His idea, not mine, in case you were wondering."
"I appreciate the help. With my assistant away for the time being, I've had trouble making headway here on my own, especially with something as odd as this."
"Odd?" Paimon perked up. "Paimon means, it's a dead guy. Are you supposed to be some kind of detective?"
"Not quite." The man shook his head and looked back to the crime scene. "My name is Albedo, and I'm the Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius."
He looked back to the odd duo, settling on Aether's face with uncertainty. "...And I feel like I've heard of you. You're the one who stood up to the dragon, Stormterror, the other day."
"That's correct!" Paimon exclaimed, despite sounding worn down from the situation. "Aether's an Honorary Knight of Favonius, and we're both really good law abiding citizens!"
Albedo paused as an uncomfortably long breath of wind whistled between the three of them, catching his own blonde hair for a moment.
"Right." The alchemist turned back to the murder scene. "Thanks for coming…"
"So what needs doing?" Paimon perked up, drifting between Aether and Albedo. "Catching a criminal? Uncovering hidden secrets? Spying on foreign dignitaries?"
"Not quite…" Albedo approached the dead with caution. Kneeling, he gestured for the two to take a closer look, which they did. "I've been struggling with the cause of death."
"Huh." Paimon didn't seem to be so confident now that they were so up and personal with the deceased. "What's up with that wound?"
Albedo nodded, pointing to the man's chest. A narrow hole marked a penetrating wound just over the heart. Despite being slathered with red, the surrounding area was clean and precise. An odd exit wound on the lower back, almost imperceivable from a distance, didn't seem to betray much damage at all.
"I've never seen something quite like this before." Albedo muttered, matching Paimon's eyes with his own. "Such a clean and narrow wound doesn't match any bladed weapon I know of, save for perhaps a very narrow lance. Though with that kind of weapon, we would see evidence of its specific damage. Here, the entry and exit wounds are an impossible distance apart."
"Could it have been a firearm?" Aether asked.
"Also unlikely." Albedo shook his head. "Such weapons are expensive and rather rare around these parts. With a firearm injury, we would see a more gruesome entry wound with how the ball impacts. We would also sense elements inside the body, especially with the shattering of the ball."
Paimon rubbed her chin. Aether stood upright. Albedo, sensing them to be at a loss, stood in turn.
"There's a reason I was summoned to investigate this." Albedo extended a closed hand. "This was found by one of the guards."
As Albedo unfurled his grip, the adventurers were even more puzzled than before. Albedo's palm contained a strange, curved piece of copper-like metal, refined and shaped by what must have been a master blacksmith. The alien metal sat cooly atop a crisp white handkerchief as if it were innocent of murder.
"Do you recognize this, Traveler?"
Closing in to get a better look, Aether recognized the fact that this was something he had never even conceived. Like a firearm's ball, perhaps, but curved and expertly molded. Would something as ornate as this even be wasted on someone so… normal?
"It almost looks like a crystal. Or an artifact. Just a whole lot more metal. Paimon bets that it's expensive." Paimon murmured, drifting close for a better look.
"That's what I believe as well." Albedo folded the cloth over the metal piece. "And judging by the force behind it, it must have been used by someone with a very powerful weapon."
The alchemist tucked the piece into his grip before letting his arms shift by his sides. The guards moved to usher a series of onlookers away, as another moved to cover the body with a long, dark drape. The night was beginning to settle in as lanterns all across the city started to burst with life.
The dreary flickers left alleyways dim and the world breathless. Aether let his lungs swell with the uncertainty of the moment, sinking in the thought that maybe this was all too much for him.
"I was planning on surveying the crime scene through the night." Albedo didn't sound pleased about another sleepless night. "Would you mind looking to get this metal analyzed? I can't quite leave here, not yet at least."
"Paimon would love to leave this murder scene and go about our night!" Paimon cheered, zipping forward and holding out her hands as if beckoning to the evidence. "Aether and Paimon will take really good care of it and not lose it or sell it for crazy high prices!"
Aether shrugged. Albedo sighed, reaching forwards to trust Paimon with the cloth-enclosed metal.
"You could bring it to Jean, Lisa, or anyone who you trust with appraisals of this kind. Please try not to let the whole country know about this incident, at least, not until we understand more about this."
"Yeah, we won't go around telling everyone about this horrible, potentially catastrophic and unstoppable murderer on the loose!" Paimon shouted. Several townsfolk, already unnerved by the neighborhood murder, peeked out from windows, around corners and over shoulders at the cries. Evidently Paimon was not great at keeping secrets.
"Please keep it down." Albedo groaned, distraught.
"Don't worry about it, sir." Aether nodded in affirmation. "We'll be back with you shortly."
Under the haze of encroaching darkness, Aether and Paimon exchanged nervous looks. Unfortunately for Mondstadt and the people within, their expert of choice was obvious, and without further delay, the duo set off in search of the one man who probably had a clue as to what in the world this thing was.
"You wanted to take a commission before making a run for the Lyre?"
Venti gasped, exasperated, and ran a defeated hand over his eyes. He wasn't mad or anything, that much was obvious, but from their table in the city's tavern, Angel's Share, Venti's explosion could've easily been confused for a typical drunken uproar.
"Paimon thought it would be fast!" Paimon was armed with a fork as she worked hard to pick apart some late night hash browns. "Plus, we're here now, aren't we?"
Aether shook his head, looking down and over the railing to the bar below. Their seat was in the middle of the second floor, and from there the three had an excellent view of Mondstadt's alcohol-fueled nightlife.
"I guess it's alright. But it's not like Dvalin needs our help or anything."
Aether poked an expensive glass of a local sweet wine he hadn't heard of before. According to Venti, it was one of the best around.
"So," Venti continued, shifting in his seat and brushing aside his black locks. "I take it you just wanted to boast about that commission?"
"No." Aether nodded at Paimon.
"We found this! Paimon thinks it could be valuable." She presented the cloth-wrapped object and eased the thing onto Venti's side of the table. "Do you know what it is?"
"This?" Venti plucked it with two fingers, carefully studying it before his eyes. "I don't know… where did you find it?"
"It's part of a weapon, Paimon thinks." The white haired gremlin affirmed with a proud nod. "Was found at the scene of… of a fight!"
"A fight scene, huh." Venti lowered it, letting the metal reflect in the tavern's gentle lighting. "I could try tracing the elemental properties of the material. It'll help shed some light on where this has been, depending on its purity. One second."
Venti took a breath and focused his energy onto the metal piece. Aether and Paimon leaned back, both equally impressed by the display of magic and the greenish glow emanating from between the Anemo god's hands. After a warm hum came and went, Venti gasped. The metal clattered to the table, rolling between its wooden cracks.
"Did you get anything?" Paimon chirped with anticipation.
Venti rubbed his cheeks, evidently lost in thought. Something in the way he looked didn't spell confidence. Not in the slightest. With the chime of a bell and the entrance of new guests down below, Venti shifted forwards and cupped the metal.
"I…" He whispered, drawing Paimon and the Traveler in close. "I got nothing."
"What?" The hapless duo jerked back.
"I really couldn't get a thing! And I don't think it's my fault, I've done this like, at least six times over the last ten years, give or take, so I totally know what I'm doing." Venti shirked down in defense. "I mean, there were some traces of Fatui and a bit of bloody stuff, but aside from that, it's like none of this makes any sense to me."
"Fatui?" Paimon shoved her face forwards. "They could be behind all this! I saw a few of them in the middle of the city. Do you think they could've made a new weapon?"
"No way." Venti's voice wasn't reassuring. "It really wasn't much of anything at all. When I said a trace, I meant a trace. Then again, maybe my spells are faulty."
"Well, it's a start!" Paimon exclaimed with resolve, whisking dangerously close to Aether's untouched drink. "Hey Traveler, want to go beat up some Snezhnayans?"
Aether blinked, looking to Venti in resignation. "There's got to be a better way to go about this."
"A better way, you say?" Venti grinned. "How about this? You go and get the Holy Lyre der Himmel so we can save Dvalin, and then I'll help you find out where that metal is from. Deal?"
Paimon answered for Aether as she jumped on the poor boy's head. "Yeah! There's no way Aether- err… we - will get caught and sentenced to life in prison!"
"That's the spirit!" Venti agreed in earnest, both hands planted flat on the table. "Let's go save us a dra-"
"Get us some cash!" Paimon trailed off. They had been speaking in unison right up until Venti said 'save.'
Evidently someone's priorities weren't quite aligned. Aether sighed, Venti sighed, and in the end, the explosion of laughter left Paimon scrambling to explain herself. Aether reached for his drink amidst the merriment and let the bittersweet alcohol burn at this tongue and wet his throat. Strong stuff, he thought, though he'd not been used to handling liquor before.
Diluc's tavern glowed into the night, and with the passing of Paimon's potatoes, Aether swallowed the last of his jitters. They'd make their move on the Lyre. They'd soothe that Stormterror, and by the end of it all, they'd laugh and take more commissions until one day, he told himself, he would find his sister. He will find his sister.
He had to.
Herman was killed and it was all their fault.
It was a simple afternoon. The exchange was supposed to be brief, yet due to a notable lack of understanding of local pleasantries, it lasted for an extended nine minutes and fifty six seconds. Far too long to avoid notice.
It was all in the pleasantries, damn it! And damned it was, for the Fatui, they had eyes and ears everywhere. Judging by the use of suppressed firearms, it was also clear their adversaries had been more proactive in supplying the Fatui than they thought.
By nightfall, three masked individuals kept to the alleys. The only evidence of their presence was the rappelling gear they had carefully stashed in a bush, and by the end of their operation, that would be gone, too.
Signals had trouble passing through Mondstadt's outer walls, meaning a relay had to be set up along the top. Hidden against one of the battlements, their rugged antenna was invisible to the inexperienced eye. This connection was vital to grant them uninterrupted connection to the team's RQ-11 Raven monitoring their movements from above. Despite its low altitude, the bustle of Mondstadt's nightlife easily eclipsed the UAV's grumbling engine in noise pollution.
With one last flyby, the team concluded that the guards at the murder scene wouldn't be a problem. There were only two, after all, and with the aid of a convenient distraction in the form of a knocked-over market stall, they had more than enough time to rush in and rush out.
Two of them slipped forwards to maintain security. As they kept a watchful eye on the world's most ignorant guards, their last team member made a run for the body.
They had given Herman a note. Nothing more than a place, a time and a code phrase. The retired adventurer had tucked it in one of his pockets, that much was certain, but which one was it? Pockets continued to be defiled for a violent ten seconds before one of the security members flicked a pebble to the searcher. Their time was up.
The returning guards were satisfied with the presentation of their neatly arranged fruit selection, but in order for them to remain none the wiser, the searcher moved to reset the scene and drape the body once again.
There was no time to pay respects.
The pair of guards returned to the same uninteresting scene as before. It was just another hour amongst twilight hours, and for them, their change of shift couldn't come soon enough.
The time was now. The place was here, just north of Mondstadt's Whispering Woods and behind a ruined wall.
The code phrase was "Ephemera."
"As in, "ephemera of a begotten time." Or better yet, "yours, ephemerally."" Albedo's voice echoed across the bushy wilderness with confidence. "Also as in your life spans if you don't speak to me."
Albedo moved in from the roadside with a stride that betrayed purpose. The pair of unarmed masked men looked to one another. Their masks were in the form of tan balaclavas and their clothes bore a distinct multicam. Their position behind the wall was well secured and well covered by friends up above, in the cliffs. In the dead of night it must've been impossible for them to be spotted. There must've been no other explanation for Albedo's bold approach.
"What did you do with Herman?" One of the men spoke up. His accent was utterly foreign and his command of the language was seemingly alien.
The galaxy above them spun a web of stars stretching from a sheer rock face to the summerlike glow of Mondstadt's waterfront excitement. Save for the current of wind that the region was renowned for, there was little to interrupt their exchange.
"He will be buried tomorrow. It's sad. He leaves behind a loving daughter." The Alchemist cleared his throat. "What does it matter to you?"
"We were friends." The same man spoke up. "Sad to see him go."
"Such good friends," Albedo continued. "As to leave him this note rather than speak in person?"
He produced the paper from inside his jacket. It spelled out all the details about this meeting, as if to point an accusatory finger at the masked duo.
"He was murdered." The Alchemist kept talking as he stepped forwards once more. "And I want to find out why."
"I haven't got answers for you." The masked man affirmed. "We were just going to talk over plans we had for Ellin's birthday."
"His daughter, right?" Albedo asked and was answered with a nod. "But all the way out here? Is there anything you want to tell me?"
"She's crafty. Would've caught us in the city." The man replied, trying to appear as earnest as possible from behind the mask. "If anything, we wish we could've been there to help."
Their stories came from the heart, that much was true. But none of this lined up. Their clothes, their hidden identities, all this secrecy - did they really expect him to believe that they were discussing something as innocent as a birthday?
Albedo sighed, looking to the grass in frustration. He didn't have any evidence to suspect these people. Even if he could match them to the case with the note, there was no reasonable cause to detain them, and trying to do so would surely end in violence, given the freedom-loving climate of Mondstadt. Would he really have to let this trail go cold?
"Hey." The man spoke up, drawing Albedo's attention. They were a mere handful of feet away. "Your name, it's-"
"Albedo. Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius."
The men looked to one another. An aura of anxious understanding seemed to sift with the air. From the rustling of leaves to the waves on the nearby waterfront, all the tension in the world must've come to rear its ugly head, here and now.
"So, uh, Albedo, if you'd be so kind," bearing half a laugh and a fragile gait, the man shifted forwards and settled his hands on the strangest set of armor the alchemist had ever seen. "What even are the Knights of Favonius?"