They had finally escaped the Millelith, and the red-head was the man to thank. Well, no way (Y/N) was going to thank him, but still.
"Phew... Paimon's exhausted..." the flying food managed to say in between her panting.
"Just what muscles does magical floating use exactly?" Aether rolled his eyes.
"So insensitive! You have no idea-"
"Stop fighting you two." (Y/N) sighed and somehow (magically) managed to quiet them down before turning to the man who was so much more tall than her companions. "And you are? Despite from a person who fight Millelith without hesitation..."
"Call me Childe." the man simply said.
"Childe? So what, we're supposed to dote on you?" oh lord, not that Childe, right? was the thought in (Y/N)'s head.
"Haha, no no, not at all. It's an alias of sorts. In Mondstadt, I don't suppose you came across a "Signora" by any chance?" Oh, it is that Childe.
"Signora... Childe..." while Paimon thought the boy with the braid took a fighting stance and was ready for an attack. "You're Fatui! One of the Harbingers!" she then realized, but calmed a little seeing that the girl who had become a mother-figure to her looked calm.
"Oh, no. Don't worry, I'm not looking for a fight. Signora gave you quite the bad impression, huh? Tsk, that woman... can't say I'm a fan either. Right! Let's forget all about her, shall we? I'm here to help you."
"I don't need help for the Fatui." Aether answered coldly.
"Saving us from Millelith so the Harbingers can have a go on us without the trouble of them... yeah, no."
"Come on, don't be like that. I'm not a bad guy... okay perhaps I'm kind of a bad guy, but I'm not here to give you any trouble."
"And we can trust you... how? You're one of them, after all."
"Girlie, I don't really see why you hate the Fatui that much, but please..."
"Barbatos is okay to a certain degree... and I can tolerate Rex Lapis at least a little... but not Tsaritsa, she was one of the starters..." (Y/N) muttered so that no one could hear her.
"Would it be too much to ask for you to keep the sword sheathed?" Aether looked at (Y/N) to let her decide.
"We will hear you out, but if your so called 'help' is nothing more than foolishness and Fatui tricks, then expect to see your younger sibling dead in the Harbor."
"Quite violent, no?" Childe laughed nervously. "I have to thank you though. I heard of your deeds in Mondstadt, so I couldn't help but notice you during the proceedings back there. That is, I've heard of the Honorary Knight Aether an his Guide Paimon, but you girlie, is someone no one has spoken of. Just who are you?"
"Traveling writer (Y/N) who has the honor of traveling with those two. I am not a girlie."
"My sincere apologizes, Miss (Y/N). I look forward to read one of your works."
"None published yet."
"I'll wait. Back to the topic at hand. I was watching you all during the Rite, and I know for certain you didn't kill Rex Lapis. Someone else is clearly behind it. But... regrettably, given I'm a Fatui envoy from Snezhnaya... there's no way I'd be trusted after something of this magnitude. The ruling Qixing of Liyue has always been overly suspicious of us."
"They're right to do that." Aether said but Childe merely ignored him.
"Right now, if you want to clear yourselves of any suspicion - you need to get yourselves to Northland Bank. Staying here isn't an option. As the old Liyue saying goes - "The walls have ears"." Like that ear over there? The Fatui agent listening to everything we say now? Wow, exposing yourself.
Childe then left the three of them. (Y/N) picked up a note block and a pencil.
"What are you doing?" Paimon asked.
"Just writing down some stuff that I can use as my "story" if anyone asks to read my works again."
"Shouldn't we get going?"
"Yes. Honestly, I' just waiting for the wall to remove its ears."
"NO WAY! There's actually ears on it?!" Paimon floated against the wall to search for ears.
"Paimon, (Y/N) is trying to say someone is following us."
"Gone."
"What?" Aether and Paimon said at the same time and looked puzzled.
"The ears are gone. Let me lead you to Northland Bank now, a Fatui bank. There are two possibilities. One: there aren't many Millelith guards close to the Bank because they hate Fatui, or Two: they have many Millelith guards there since they do not trust the Fatui. I think that it might be possibility One, because the Fatui wouldn't let Millelith spy on them. In that case, Childe is right about Northland Bank being safe. No matter, I listened to his exclaims, and personally, I think he is not safe to trust, but he needs us to be cleared of suspicion to use us. We can follow him to the point that he has cleared us, but after that we should consider leaving him. Any other thoughts?"
"We don't have any other choice than trusting him, do we?"
"I wish to do my best without Fatui or other guards of Nations, but this time, yes. It looks like they're our best option. I can not stand being undercover during our visit here, I've done that enough." she then whispered something to herself.
"What was that last thing?" Aether asked.
"I've done that enough?"
"No, after that."
"The wind must be playing with you."
"No, Paimon also heard you say something after that."
"Eh? Oh that. Nothing important."
"Pleaaaseeeeee Paimon wants to knooooowwwwww!"
"All I said was 'It's hard to be undercover when you already are'. I mean, I'm pretending to be a writer, am I not?"
Thus, the discussion was dismissed and (Y/N) started to lead the way to Northland Bank.
Hey girlie
Not a girlie.
Ouch Childe!
You'll find your youngest brother dead in the harbor.
(Y/N) gone violent, really hates Fatui *clap*
1,032 words, 2.9 pages §(*￣▽￣*)§