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"Lord Harbinger."
"What news, Felix?"
"We found the consultant."
Tartaglia lowered the document to the desk in front of him. "And?"
"He has been transferred to Bubu Pharmacy and is in the custody of the physician. He will provide us with an update in due course." Felix straightened, as Tartaglia regarded him, "Where was he?"
"As you suspected, they were on the road to Sumeru."
Tartaglia considered the paperwork, and then the agents before him. "You have all done well. This places the Qixing further in our debt, as they seem to hold the consultant in high regard. I shall petition for a suitable reward for your performance."
A pause.
"What else, Felix?"
"Lord Harbinger; sigils found with the consultant bear the mark of an organisation that is aligned with the Northland Bank in Sumeru and Fontaine." Felix watched the neutral expression on Tartaglia's face, before continuing, "Therefore, they are allies of the homeland."
"Allies?" Tartaglia repeated, "No ally of Snezhnaya hunts innocent citizens for sport. I will see them dismantled." He pushed back his chair, a sharp scrape upon the wooden floor, "That will be all."
"Sir." Felix persisted, "It is not so simple, now. The other Harbingers - "
"Are not here." Tartaglia interrupted, tone sharp like the edge of his blades, "No organisation shall threaten those who are free to wander the Nation of Contracts as they see fit." Tartaglia closed the folder upon his desk, "Your orders are now to monitor the western border."
Felix glanced at his two comrades, "Lord Tartaglia. There is no evidence to suggest that this was anything but a random attack."
"And what relevance might that have to this discussion, agent?" Tartaglia responded, placing his gloved palm flat over the folder.
"The citizen in question, sir." Felix set his shoulders, and held his nerve.
Tartaglia exhaled, through his nose, and looked down at the folder. Then, those dangerous blue eyes flicked up, to Felix. "Leave us."
The other agents were all too happy to do so.
Felix's hands curled into fists by his sides, as Tartaglia contemplated him. "You have something on your mind, Felix."
"Yes, sir."
"Then by all means - be bold - and speak it." Tartaglia leaned on the desk, "Hastily, now."
"Sir. I have served as one of your agents faithfully, since your ascension to Harbinger; I have admired you for an even greater length of time. If I speak now, I speak out of true loyalty and affection for the Harbinger who commands me." Felix hesitated, "Your association with the consultant is the source of rumours, among the people of Liyue and the lower ranks of those Fatui assigned to this city."
"My association?" Tartaglia repeated, "That consultant is my contact in Liyue; I should not see him harmed, for then all that we seek to accomplish here may come to naught. Let them make their rumours, Felix."
"The rumours are that you and the consultant are romantically involved, Lord Tartaglia."
Tartaglia did not react, "Yet you do not accuse me of this."
"Of course not, Lord Harbinger!"
"No - as to accuse me of such, would be akin to accusing me of treason toward Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa. Such an implication would suggest that I am divided in my loyalties, and therefore could be discharged with no honours." Tartaglia stepped around the corner of the desk, "Are you sure that this is not what you accuse me of, Felix?"
"Sir." Felix's tone adopted something that was desperately attempting to reason, "My loyalty to you is complete and I would rebuff any such accusations; I have rebuffed any such accusations."
"Because you must, or because you do not believe them?"
Felix stalled.
Tartaglia raised an eyebrow. "I see."
"Sir - if you strike against this organisation, that is allied with the homeland, then you risk further scrutiny. There are many, Lord Harbinger, who seek your downfall; those envious of your ascension, and those who care not for your methods. Please do not give them further ammunition."
"Felix. Allow me to reassure you; I care not for the machinations of my counterparts, or those who might see me destroyed."
"Sir - your agents, though. They would not wish to see you come to any harm, or -" Felix stopped, and looked down at the ground.
"Go on."
"I misspoke, Lord Harbinger."
Tartaglia stood before Felix, "They would not wish themselves to be implicated. That was the conclusion to your sentence, no?"
Felix did not reply.
"I shall consider what you have told me here, Felix. I shall reflect upon your counsel." Tartaglia reached out, and rested his hand upon Felix's left forearm, "You are a fine agent, and I am grateful for your candour and for your forthrightness. I understand your concerns. The association between the consultant and I is simply one of business partners; the consultant's knowledge is what I seek, and with it I shall bring about the request and desires of our Archon." He tightened the grip, in a gentle manner, "Please cast any other thoughts from your mind. If I am to remove this organisation, it is to further mire the Qixing and the other ministries in Liyue in our debt, should the time come where pressure would be desirable."
"Thank you, Lord Tartaglia."
"Go. You have earned some rest and relaxation." Tartaglia gestured to the door, "Please."
Felix saluted, hand across his chest, and left Tartaglia alone. The Harbinger picked up his notes from the desk, and tucked them into his bag, before collecting that to leave - with only one destination in mind.
"Ah, Master Childe."
"Hello, Baizhu." Childe smiled at the physician, "I came to check on the condition of the consultant. I am investigating the attack, and I should like to ask him some more questions - if you believe him to be strong enough."
Baizhu shook his head, "I am afraid that Mr Zhongli is still in an artificial sleep, Master Childe. His injuries - though superficial - were severe and numerous. It is better to keep him so, until he has healed further."
Childe nodded, and fidgeted with the bottom of his sleeve. "I see." He moved the folder from one hand to the other, "I shall continue my investigations alone, then. Thank you for the update, Baizhu. I appreciate your care for my business partner." He turned, toward the door of the Pharmacy.
"Would you like to see him, anyway?" Baizhu asked. "Perhaps to reassure you? Concern is painted upon your face, Harbinger."
Childe looked back, "...Would that be acceptable?"
Baizhu's smile was soft, "Of course. Come. Mind the low level of light; it further enables the rest that the consultant requires."
Baizhu led Childe to the bedside of Zhongli, and Childe lowered himself into the chair beside the bed, unbidden, "Thank you, Baizhu. I shall...go over my notes, here. Perhaps I can make a breakthrough."
"Random attacks are becoming more common, along the borders." Baizhu bowed, slightly, to Childe, "I hope that they may come to an end, soon."
Childe waited until the door was closed, and then stopped pretending to look at his folder, placing it down on the floor before perching on the bed beside Zhongli, "I told you not to go alone. I told you it was dangerous and yet - hark at you - you went anyway. You are foolish, Zhongli xiansheng. You do not know your own limits, and I say that with the experience of one who constantly seeks to test his own." He touched fingertips to the bandage across Zhongli's forehead, "And now look at you. What did they do to you?" His caress turned tender, examining the unkempt hair and still expression upon Zhongli's sleeping face, "Look at your beautiful hands."
Zhongli's hands were wrapped in fabric too, and Childe dreaded to think of the damage there - he had not asked Felix for a catalogue of Zhongli's injuries for fear of damaging his agent in the process of listening, but he did not need such information to know that whatever the attackers had done, they had done so intentionally, they had done so for sport, and for amusement.
Childe bent, and pressed the softest kiss to Zhongli's hands. "When you are back home, I will do everything for you, baobei." His promise was gentle, "You will not have to lift a finger, until you can do so again; this I promise you. Though we may need to be more careful. People suspect, and I will not see you come to further harm because of me. Nevertheless, that is not my primary concern right now. My primary concern is them, and what they have done to you." He focused upon his breathing, to calm his seething, "A random attack? Well..." He kissed Zhongli's still lips, "My revenge is most certainly not random."
"Well, well. This most certainly is a pit into which the rats, do scurry." Tartaglia chuckled at how he had startled the two men, "Did I surprise you? Did you not think that I would find you?"
"Fatui!" The first man hissed.
"No, no. Please, do me the courtesy of recognising me correctly; Fatui Harbinger. The Eleventh. Tartaglia, at your service." Tartaglia did not get up from the chair, where he sat, "We need to have a conversation. You have made some poor choices recently regarding those who you have preyed upon from Liyue, and I wish to correct those choices."
The second man appeared to smirk at Tartaglia, "You cannot lift a finger against us, Harbinger. We work in partnership with the Northland Bank. They turn a blind eye to those that we may extract for profitable purposes."
Tartaglia lounged further in the chair, "Profitable purposes. Funny you should mention that." He settled his fathomless gaze upon the second man, who drew himself up to full height, "We are protected by the Ninth Harbinger, and you have no jurisdiction here. Just a jumped up boy thinking he can give orders."
Tartaglia laughed, gleefully, "Please do continue to insult me. I do very much enjoy the last words of a dead man."
The first man pulled back, "Boss - the Eleventh Harbinger is said to be insane - he kills without purpose." He looked behind him, to the mouth of the cave, "We should go."
"That is rather the misconception about me. I am highly principled, and I always have a purpose for when I kill." Tartaglia smiled, genially, at the two men, "For example, I am perfectly within my rights to kill when collecting upon a terrible debt to the Northland Bank."
The second man scoffed, "We are not in any debt. In fact, we are a reliable source of funding for the Fatui, Harbinger scum."
"Yes." Tartaglia stood, and moved his hands to his sides where his Hydro blades materialised in a flash of blue, "But when I forge your accounts in the aftermath of your inevitable demises, that is certainly not going to appear the case to the illustrious Regrator and his...calculations."
"Childe. May I ask you a question?"
"Of course, xiansheng." Childe put his chopsticks down upon the rest, "Do you need my help? Are your hands tired?"
"No." Zhongli smiled, and perhaps there was something mysterious in that smile, "My hands are quite healed, now."
Childe ignored it, simply grateful for Zhongli's resilience and constitution, "What was the question?"
"The people that attacked me. I overheard the Millelith stating that there had been no further attacks, and that they seemed to have disappeared entirely."
"Oh." Childe smiled, "Is that so?"
"Indeed." Zhongli paused, "I wondered if you might have had something to do with that, perhaps?"
"What? Me? Why would I have any interference with an organisation that targeted a very dear...friend...of mine, all in the name of profit?"
"Why, indeed?"
"As it so happens, that very same organisation was in a great deal of debt. I did what was efficient, in order to ensure the Northland Bank saw no further losses."
"Ah. A good thing you are here, then."
"Always." Childe replied.