Chapter 2: Stop! You Violated The Law
'In the realm of crime, there exists an unwritten code – a set of principles that bind those who walk the darker path, or so the average layperson thinks. The unspoken rules of loyalty, trust, and respect that govern the underworld are but a farce. Among the vermin in the sewers, honor is a fragile currency and an agreement holds less weight than that of a Snezhnayan merchant's.' - Excerpt from Chapter One, Teyvat's Guide to Crime & Mayhem.
It took several long hours waiting through the snowstorm with my stomach not at all satiated by the scraps of rations and snacks I had on me. By the time it was night, I had already walked a long way in between paths filled with natural cover like trees or snowstorms and reached the edge of Dragonspine where the temperature took a sharp rise from Mondstadt's boundary.
It would usually take three or four days to traverse a place like Dragonspine, but I was in a hurry to make a getaway and knew the area well enough to take shortcuts. Besides, once you reach the outskirts and began to circle around, the flat, low level of the snow made running and the occasional skating more feasible.
After sleeping for a night under miserable conditions, I broke my hunger with a meager jam made from scavenged berries and Snapdragon flowers. It was a feeble attempt to fortify myself for what lay ahead, both physically and mentally. As I approached the edge of the precipitous cliff, overlooking a vast expanse below, I stood there for what felt like an eternity, the weight of indecision pressing upon me. The daunting leap I was about to undertake would potentially save me days of arduous travel, but even the legendary adventurer Stanley himself would deem it a reckless endeavor.
As I peered over the edge, the morning frost caressed my face in a comforting breeze, whispering both encouragement and doubt in my ears. The abyss before me seemed infinite, but I really didn't want to spend any more time here than necessary. Without thinking, I answered the call of the abyss and jumped down. I had hoped that the short freefall would be peaceful and healing for the soul, but it was actually pretty harrowing and I spent every moment judging the distance left between me and 30,000 points of fall damage.
When the time came, I clutched my Wind Catcher and softened the fall with four howling gales of Anemo that formed a massive current, slowing my fall from the mountaintops. It was like an ephemeral hand grasped me in its palm and let me down like a foolish cat that jumped from a second story apartment. Despite managing to not break every bone in my body, creating the sudden current in my high velocity resulted in me feeling like Barbatos slapped my face and regardless of my valor, my body still slammed into the dirt with a painful smack.
Groaning into the tough dirt beneath me, I suddenly felt envious of the Raptor, who allegedly had more than forty Wind Catchers strapped on him and once boasted that he travelled from Mondstadt to Liyue in half a day. Yet, here I was unable to even break a simple fall and struggling to escape some asshole who's only threat is being able to throw knives really good.
I huffed exhaustedly. I couldn't tell if I was too harsh on myself or if I should be even harsher. My cautious nature was already bad for a slow life on Earth, let alone for one as dangerous as being a Treasure Hoarder. Still, at least I wasn't a kid waddling around on Yashiori Island or living in some Eremite camp. I moved downhill and landed on the path by Windrise, pondering my next move. As long as I could get to Mondstadt, I could get a fresh start. I could turn a new leaf, theoretically.
I mentally calculated how the logistics of what I could do. Alchemy wasn't in high demand, other than working for the Treasure Hoarders. Adventuring would never work. It might have been fun for the Traveller, but I recall Paimon saying that they always camped outside until they obtained the Serenity Teapot – no thanks, not for me.
If I could consistently do good research in the field of alchemy, I might be able to monetize it somehow, but while Stellio was good – he wasn't THAT good. There was a reason he was in the Treasure Hoarders and not off to Sumeru's Akademiya. Genshin had maybe fifteen potions in the entire game? Yeah, Stellio had more than seventy memorized and had notebooks detailing hundreds more. Actual alchemists like Sucrose probably knew thousands. It turns out people are actually smart here, despite the overall lack of common sense. Then again, he was with the Treasure Hoarders and stupidity wasn't a high bar to trip over.
"May the Anemo Archon protect you, stranger." A terse voice called out.
Crap, my legs went on autopilot and continued walking without me realizing, must have been the shock from the jump. In front of me stood two Knights of Favonius. And I was here dressed in my Treasure Hoarder get-up. I let out a nervous laugh.
"Well hello my friends, what can I do for your esteemed knightly-hoods?" I berated myself internally for sounding suspicious. It seems like I had a terrible habit of overcompensating any anxiety with sarcasm and jiving banter.
"You're dressed strangely for this weather… What are you doing? What are you up to? Should we bring him in, Caldor?" The black-haired knight shot off a bunch of accusations at me before asking the other brown-haired knight.
"Hey, hey! What's this all about?" I decided to switch gears to a new form of bullshit, "I'm just out here on a stroll, the coat's because it was colder in the morning – what's it to you?"
"And the mask with a Treasure Hoarder insignia stitched on it?" He asked.
Alright, that was a little harder to explain.
"I'm just a fan of the, uh… cross-stitching?"
"Bring him in, Fynn." Caldor replied harshly.
Well, no way around this.
"Another test subject!" I quipped, putting on all the airs I could muster, deciding to follow the NPC script.
The brown-haired knight, Caldor, dashed forward with surprising speed, Fynn trailing on his heels.
"Have a little taste!" I yelled throwing a Vial of Swift Shock in their direction and following up with a practiced roundhouse kick.
It struck through the air and hit nothing – when I looked up the two knights had disappeared from sight and I barely turned around when I felt what something with the force of a sledgehammer hit my skull. Was that a fucking i-frame dash? How did that even work?
I rolled sideways and stumbled to my feet with my tears blurring in my eyes, barely slipping away from a sudden headlock from Fynn on sheer instinct when he kicked me right into Caldor who caught a punch and twisted me around into a successful headlock. I drew a knife and tried to stab his calf, but Caldor shifted to the side while tightening his grip. Nothing to it then, my hands dove down into my pockets to find a wildcard potion to damage us both.
"Fortify!" Caldor suddenly yelled, a soft orange glow leaking off his forearm guards.
That didn't sound good, was he a Geo Vision holder? My hands were scrambling to find my prized potion, the Vessel of Howling Gale, but evidently not in time when he suddenly released the headlock and wrapped his arms around my torso. The last thing I felt was a feeling of weightlessness and being slammed on the back of my head before it all turned dark.
Man, I forgot pre-expedition knights were actually competent.
~ \\ { an unknown amount of time later } //
I woke up. In a surprisingly clean cell, at that. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a Swedish prison, but I wasn't seeing any weird insects or dusty cobwebs. I sighed, maybe I shouldn't have tried to fight a knight. Then again, maybe my mistake was going through Windrise to begin with. What if I ran into Jean instead? But still, it was better to go through there than through Springvale.
Well, if I thought about it positively, I essentially got an armed escort to Mondstadt. That was better than… Oh fine whatever, I was in prison. So what. I'll get out some day. They wouldn't keep me in here for years just for having a mask with an insignia, would they? Mondstadt didn't strike me as authoritarian, but maybe it was and the Traveller just got off lightly for being special. That wasn't a nice thought.
I looked through my memories and found that Stellio did indeed get arrested many times, and I memorized his book of bullshit excuses in preparation. I wasn't sure they would work since I had technically violently resisted being arrested, but hey – I couldn't have been the first guy to do that. What would happen next was that someone would come to question me, but as long as I kept to the script, they couldn't keep me in for too long. They'd know that I was a Treasure Hoarder and they'd know that I know that they knew, but as long as I played the game, I would be out sooner or later.
It made me wonder why most Treasure Hoarders were in Liyue where they'd straight up torture you when Mondstadt let you get off so lightly. Then again Liyue had entire ruins and lost domains to find treasure in while Mondstadt didn't have much, not with every inch of Decarabian's City being looted to Celestia and back every year by the Fontaine Hoarders.
After a long mind-numbing time of sorting through my memories and finding out that yes, Stellio was indeed wanted for various petty thefts, the cell door sounded with a clink and unlocked. I looked up with my mind gearing up to smooth-talk whoever it was this time.
"Stellio Korrigan" A raspy, unfamiliar voice called out.
A man clad in opulent garments walked into my dimly lit cell with unmistakable arrogance. Two knights trailed behind him, looking like they wanted to be anywhere but here. I rose to my feet and bowed, nobody made the knights uncomfortable, except for pompous nobles. I watched the flickering candlelight reveal golden highlights shimmering off silky black gloves as he began straightening his ruffled dress shirt, as if merely being in my plebeian presence was causing creases in the fabric.
"Come." The noble turned without even taking a look at me and beckoned me to follow him.
I should be a little mad at him, but I could never be mad at someone with a good outfit. That was a fatal flaw of mine, especially in my previous world where capitalism was choking the world to death but where I'd routinely forgive the rich if they dressed good. Alas, forgive me Marx. Although maybe I should be asking for Vanessa's forgiveness here.
I was led down more stone corridors, noting the lack of windows and staring at the knights who were curiously avoiding my gaze, until we arrived at a heavy iron door, its rusted hinges creaking as it swung open to reveal a small, unassuming side office. As I cautiously stepped inside, the door groaned behind me with a bang, sealing my presence within its confines. The feeble light cast by a flickering oil lamp on an ornate desk revealed the unexpected presence of several other additional figures in the room.
This was marginally confusing. It was a bit late for that revelation, but I wasn't really paying attention to anything and just now realized how unusual everything was. Like a hilichurl that suddenly gained sentience and snapped to attention, I realized it was unusual for a higher-up to call some nobody like me here when the guards usually should've just interrogated me in my cell.
The unnamed noble made his way around the desk and sat down, still wearing his rich garments that probably cost more than my life, with neatly combed-back brown hair with silver streaks and a rigid posture to go with startling blue eyes. To his side were two figures in brown cloaks and hoods, both unmoving and exuding a deadly aura that put me on edge. Considering how stupidly broken my danger sense was, anything that managed to make me a nervous meant that I should treat it like an Archon-level threat.
On the other side of that desk, stood myself and another prisoner in our breezy rags. The other prisoner was an ageing but burly man with a head of gray-ish brown hair. Both the fact that his arms were ringed with with dirt and that his hair was greasy and overgrown indicated that he had been here for far longer than most. He spared me a glance which exchanged the same confusion that we both shared at being here, but neither of us voiced it.
"Prisoners, lend your ears, for you stand before none other than Lord Erwin, the second heir to the esteemed Vargheim family," the nobleman proclaimed with deliberate condescension, each word dripping with disdain.
I take back what I said earlier, I don't like this guy. He's pretty bold for being the second child of a noble family that I've never even heard of.
"Here are the terms I propose: within the treacherous depths of Ragnvindr's ancient ruins, there lies a coveted artifact—a mask of immense power and value. Retrieve it for me, and your shackles shall be broken.
"Where are these ruins?" A gruff voice came from the prisoner next to me.
"Naviar, was it? These ruins are supposedly in the grounds of the Dawn Winery, and an entrance can be found near the manor."
Are you STUPID? You think I'm fighting Diluc, the Dawn Knight, in broad daylight? I couldn't even beat off two nobody knights in Windrise, how was I meant to tangle with the top dogs? Yeah what's next, fight the Raiden Shogun with a wooden stick?
"… I don't suppose I could do something else instead?" I had to ask.
His eyes narrowed, a sense of foreboding washing over me, before it vanished as quick as it came, a cocky smirk appearing instead. I was immediately put on edge.
"Why yes, I do. I need somebody to be… a distraction, while Silver here," he motioned to one of the cloaked guards next to him, "infiltrates a manor to assassinate someone."
"It will be harrowing," he continued, "But I'm certain it will be less taxing than a simple domain search."
His condescension was off the charts, to the point where I could physically feel it in the air. But yes, I would rather do that then lurk around Diluc.
"I thank you for your consideration."
A brief silence followed, as if the noble actually expected me to pick the other option.
"Very well, Silver, escort him away and make sure he doesn't run for the night. Use him well."
'Use him well' I wanted to roll my eyes, yeah I was definitely getting murked by this Silver at some point. But I had faith in myself, which was almost never a good thing, but you take what you can get.
"Merrick, do the same for Naviar and take him to Talon later."
The other cloaked guard did a cute little 'yessir' like a pitiful dog wanting his owner's approval. Despite the fact that should've been that, I actually spent another thirty minutes there listening to this guy vomiting lore all over me about this mask. I really should've got going, but I feel like Lord Erwin just liked listening to the sound of his own voice and his guards knew that too. As I was escorted outside by Silver, I gave the two knights standing outside his office the stink eye and a glare that held a promise of retribution for the torture I was put through.
Apparently, the artifact was called Rosebane's Mask. It was a black masquerade mask that was said to have belonged to a powerful noble from the early days of Mondstadt – Parsifal, the notorious Phantom Thief. The Mask was said to have the power to grant the wearer the ability to easily deceive others as well as the power to move silently and blend into the shadow. It went missing for a while and resurfaced hundreds of years later in the hands of an assassin who terrorized the streets of Mondstadt until he was finally caught and executed.
Though his real name was lost to history, the assassin was known by a nickname that struck fear into the public – Rosebane, a namesake that paid homage to the poisonous flower of the same name. He targeted nobles and wealthy families indiscriminately, often leaving behind the calling card of a Rosebane, a flower that emits a pleasant but fatally deadly scent, which is now borderline extinct from the ensuing public hysteria back then. He evaded capture for years, until being caught by a noblewoman whose household he was in the midst of infiltrating. Unfortunately for him, she was a powerful witch notorious for her Pyro magic and he was razed to ashes in a deadly duel that left his identity ultimately unknown.
For some reason, Erwin went on to talk about this recent trend in modern historical fiction that liked to spin the mysterious Rosebane as 'Rosebelle', under the theory that it might have been a woman, and often had her end up with the witch that felled him in the end. Alas, the world never changes. The ultimate legacy for every man is to be remembered as a hot fictional woman with homoerotic undertones. It did however, confirm that Erwin just wanted this mask for bragging rights and not to 'weaken the bonds between Ragnvindr and Lawrence' or whatever nonsense.
I slept that night in a dingy inn with Silver creepily watching over me, sitting a nearby chair. From what little I heard of their voice, Silver was probably a woman. Not only was she a cheap miser, she wouldn't take her eyes off me lest I decide to make a run for it. Which is fair, because I totally would, but it was also weird as hell and I feel like there are better ways to keep an eye on someone than… this. I shifted uncomfortably in my bed, still feeling her gaze.
She wore a mask that seemed suspiciously Fatui-inspired and white strands of hair fell from the sides of the cloak. If she was a Fatui, maybe she got Teppei'd from using her delusion too much and she was actually an old granny behind that mask. Speaking of masks, I was reminded that the witch who felled Rosebane could have been good old Signora way back when. I actually had the urge to buy one of these romance novels after Erwin waxed on about how good 'A Secret of Lost Roses' was. I shook my head and dismissed the thought, that's how the yuri authors get you.
I peeked over my covers again and watched Silver continue to observe me. I tried to comfort myself with the thought that perhaps she could be sleeping in that chair, not like I'd know if she closed her eyes behind that mask, and tried to get some sleep myself. Tomorrow, I needed to survive both whoever this poor noble Silver was hunting and the subsequent backstabbing of said Silver. Good luck, future me.