After crossing the stone road, you and Scaramouche crept towards the Wanmin Restaurant. You glanced around swiftly, making sure that there were no signs of the Millelith present. Your superior even commented positively on your attentiveness, you always loved it when he praised you.

Speaking of your surroundings; you noticed that there were clouds slowly making their way to cover the shining sun. There was about a fifty-fifty percent chance that it was going to start raining. You really hoped that wasn't the case since it could be a burden to the mission of locating the Traveller.

In front of you; two people were present in the Wanmin Restaurant. There was a boy sitting on a high legged-chair who was reading a book and a girl standing on the other side of the table attempting to speak with him. You could assume that the boy was a customer and the girl was working for the business.

You and Scaramouche walked up to the building and stood back to watch them interact. From the way they were talking to one another, it was obvious that they were close friends.

"Ah! Are you two here to try some of the cheap and tasty Chop Suey?!" The chef girl greeted with a warm smile. "You guys are lucky coming today! We have a couples' discount!"

"Well, doesn't that sound lovely?!" Scaramouche rested his elbow on the table and looked at you with sly eyes, smirking charmingly. "We'll order two meals!"

You stood there mildly confused, glancing at the chef then back at the Harbinger. We don't have any Mora on us... was what you wanted to say.

Suddenly, Scaramouche tugged you by the wrist and pulled you towards him. Stumbling from the force, you landed softly against his chest and instantly felt your heart rate pick up at this sudden development. His hands rested comfortably on your waist as if it were second nature, Scaramouche looked unbothered through the whole thing.

"You're hungry, aren't you? My darling?" There was a quick wink as the young man laughed at your bashfulness.

"Ah... Yes, I am..." You caught on to his plan and nodded at the girl. It always impressed you to see Scaramouche coming up with things so quickly and easily. Already, he created a cover for you and him to mask your Fatui identities.

The girl giggled happily, "Well, I'm Xiangling, your chef for today! And this is Xingqiu, don't mind him, he just sits here and reads!"

"Nice to meet you two," You greeted, turning to the blue-haired boy who just closed his book down onto the table. "I'm excited for lunch."

Xingqiu smiled with closed eyes, "Hello to you too, I would like to say that I admire the style of your outfits. They're definitely from outside Liyue."

"Hm? You think so?" There was a slight twitch of Scaramouche's eyebrow out of annoyance and his grip on your waist became a tad harder.

You simply ignored the boy's comment and Xiangling joyfully skipped off to the back of the kitchen. As you watched the chef walk away, you noticed two weapons leaning against the wall; a polearm and a sword. There was a quick thought in your mind, these could belong to these two people. It would be smart not to get into a fight with them.

"So, may I ask where you're from? I'm afraid I haven't seen you around the Harbour." Xingqiu asked, the hand on his book slowly forming into a fist.

"We're tourists from Inazuma!" Scaramouche smiled, lying as naturally as he breathed. "My, you seem so hostile towards outsiders! Haha!"

You admired how fast your superior could make up an excuse right on his feet. It was quite amazing how well and how easy it came out of him. Sometimes you wondered if he too was putting on a facade towards you. There were instances when you would get confused about his thoughts, like; what were his true feelings?

The boy, Xingqiu, seemed to have a very keen eye, he was a bookworm, after all, they tend to be good at analyzing things in depth. It would be smart not to raise any red flags or release any other information if he were to go to the Millelith after this.

"Are you sure you two are together? I can see a little bit of tension hanging in the air." Xingqiu commented with suspicion written all over his face.

Scaramouche scoffed playfully, "Of course, we're a couple! Why would you doubt us?"

"I'm taking into account that some friends might fake a relationship to abuse this couples' discount." It seemed like Xingqiu was challenging the two of you.

"Well, my darling is quite shy. She's not as affectionate as I am." Scaramouche joked with the boy. "Watch this; she'll avoid my kisses. It really breaks my heart whenever it happens."

There was a look of confusion on your face when your chin was gently touched with your superior's two fingers. It was a complete contrast from the treatment before, he wasn't treating you roughly or grabbing your cheeks randomly. And surely, he had a peaceful expression on his face that you rarely see.

You dodged Scaramouche's advances as he tried to lean in for your lips. His sudden lunge almost knocked you off your feet. Honestly, it caught you by surprise. You didn't know how else to react but cover your face with your wrist out of embarrassment. It threw you off guard and made you quite flustered.

"You're so adorable whenever you try to hide from me," He cooed, twirling a strand of your hair around his finger as a way to appear hypnotic.

"Sir..." You yelped a little when his finger curled, which tugged your hair as a way to stop you from finishing your sentence.

"Shush," His eyes narrowed slightly. "How about I warm up that cold, stubborn attitude of yours with a plate of Chop Suey, hm?"

"Yes, I would like that..." You nodded obediently and lowered your gaze to the floor. A part of you wanted to slap yourself for feeling this way towards your superior and almost exposing him. It was stupid of you to let that slip-up happen!

Xingqiu only hummed nonchalantly and shrugged his shoulders unbothered, he found it quite amusing seeing you two interact.

As Scaramouche pretended to flirt with you, placing your hair behind your ear and running his hand on the side of your waist, you felt a raindrop fall on your shoulder. It started to lightly shower, meaning that your gut feeling about a rainstorm was correct.

This is just an act. You continued to remind yourself since you were getting quite self-conscious from how intently the Harbinger was staring at you as if he were in love.

After a few more minutes of waiting and being patient with Scaramouche's flirtatious actions, Xiangling returned with two plates of steaming Chop Suey. There was a small smile on your face, which was a rare occurrence, when your eyes landed on the food.

"Would you like me to give you a chair to sit on?" Xiangling asked and Scaramouche declined.

Because, you know, just in case you needed to make a quick run for it.

"Today's a lucky day, right, Xingqiu?!" The girl clapped her hands happily. "First the Traveller and her date, and now these two?! This is great for business!"

"A couples' discount was the best idea you've had yet." The boy praised.

You looked at the Harbinger to see if he heard the same thing you did and it seemed like it from the way he stared back at you. To remain unsuspicious, he took the food and held it in front of you, pretending to be uninterested in the conversation.

"Say ahh," Scaramouche shoved the cooked meat and fish into your mouth and watched in delight as your eyes almost lit up from the first bite.

"You two are so cute together...!" Xiangling swooned after watching the interaction. "I suppose feeding your lover is quite a common thing to do! Remember the Traveller's date did the same thing, remember that Xingqiu?!"

The boy nodded, "Yes, I do remember that."

"Oh, that Traveller has been here?" Scaramouche casually joined the conversation. "With a date?"

Xiangling was now jumping excitedly, "Yeah, this really tall ginger guy almost bought everything off the menu trying to impress her! Right, right, Xingqiu?!"

"Very true," He agreed.

Scaramouche and you glanced at each other briefly. While swallowing the food, you thought to yourself; who is a tall ginger guy that has plenty of Mora?

The chef perked up and cupped her cheeks in surprise, "Oh, I forgot...! We're not supposed to be talking about the Traveller since there are some Fatui members after her!"

Scaramouche wiped the corner of your lip and glanced at Xiangling with a smug expression, "You don't supposedly know any information about the Traveller that the Fatui want, do you?"

"All I know is that I sent her on a food delivery waaay outside the Harbour." She recollected herself. "I shouldn't say anything more, I wouldn't want to get her into any trouble... By the way, the meal will be 5,500 Mora, with the couples' discount."

He pushed the plates away out of disinterest, "On second thought, we don't want your Chop Suey anymore."

"What...?" Xiangling was heartbroken. "Why not?!"

"It would be smart to tell us what you know," Scaramouche placed a hand on your hip, taking the gun from the holster, and placing it flat on the table. He made sure that the weapon caught everyone's eyes. "Because we won't leave empty-handed."

In the distance, you can already hear the thunderstorm closing in on the Harbour. Both Xiangling and Xingqiu stared at Scaramouche with darkened eyes. Briefly, you caught them quickly glancing at their weapons, which were too far for them to grab.

From the tense looks on their faces, it was like they finally knew who they were talking to: a Fatui Harbinger and his secretary-assistant. The chef looked offended and quite sad seeing that she was so easily fooled by the lovey-dovey acting. Xingqiu was also silently scolding himself for not listening to his gut feeling in the first place.

"Xiangling, tell me the location where you sent the Traveller," You adjusted the knobs on the glass tank on your back, the sound of the guns powering up was enough to make the two sigh in defeat.

"I can't..." She whispered solemnly. "She is a friend of mine, I can't do that to her..."

Xingqiu leaned towards you to mutter, "How about I give you some Mora? Is that what you want?"

"We want the Traveller," You replied emotionlessly.

The boy's eyebrows crinkled slightly, "But why?"

"They're not cooperating with us," Scaramouche shook his head out of disappointment and then stepped away. "Shoot them."

In an instant, you raised both guns and pointed them at both Xiangling and Xingqiu. They gasped and shut their eyes, bracing for the sheer cold that was going to be fired at them. But then, you didn't pull the trigger.

"Hey, you two. Sorry, I'm late. That exorcism took longer than I thought..."

Then, a third person walked into the frame and stopped in his tracks when he saw what was happening.

"Um," The light-blue haired boy paused halfway from eating his popsicle. "What are you doing to my friends?"

You stepped to the side and aimed at him instead, there was a little bit of relief from you when you saw that Scaramouche was safely behind your body.

This has grown into a terrible development. This new boy: light-blue hair, white clothes, a huge claymore on his back, looked like a challenging opponent. He scanned the area and his cold eyes landed on both you and Scaramouche.

"Chongyun...!" Xingqiu quickly rose from his chair and retreated behind the other boy, Xiangling followed right away. "Thank goodness you're here! They're Fatui!"

You saw his expression change as he carelessly discarded his popsicle to reach back for his weapon. There was something, a powerful energy, radiating off from him.

"So, the Fatui think they can threaten my friends without any consequences?" He muttered sharply. "People like you make my blood boil."

"My Lord, look out!" You shielded the Harbinger when Chongyun started to charge at you with full speed, raising the claymore over his head in attempts to land a hit on you. All you could do was fire two shots at him which seemed to do no damage.

"A touch of frost!" Chongyun yelled, throwing his claymore to the ground which almost sent you flying. The bystanders in the area heard the commotion and started to back away from the area, most likely to call for the guards.

You stubbled back and froze up from feeling the strong elemental burst from Chongyun's attack. It was certainly a different type of frost from what you were used to in Snezhnaya. Scaramouche moved you to the side, sliding his hand along the front part of his hat and glaring daggers at the other male.

"Hm, Cryo against Cryo? What a troublesome ordeal." The Harbinger mumbled.

"No, sir... Don't..." You hissed out in pain when you saw the young man stand in front of Chongyun opposingly.

"Stand back, [Y/N]. It's about time I fight for you."

Then suddenly, it was all interrupted.

"No fighting in the restaurant please!" A man walked into the scene from the back of the building and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw everyone with their weapons drawn. "What is going on here?"

"Father!" Xiangling called out. "Those two are Fatui!"

After that announcement, there were terrified whispers from all around the street:

"What are the Fatui doing here?!"

"Come on, my child! They're dangerous, let's get out of here!"

"Someone report them!"

"The Millelith is on its way!"

You perked up at the mention of the Millelith and glanced at your Superior for the further instructions. He had a look of annoyance as he bit down on his bottom lip angrily while glancing around the citizens.

"My Lord...!" Hearing your voice seemed to snap him back to reality. You saw him huff and take a step back, analyzing the situation and a way to escape from this problem.

"C'mon, my darling, let's scram and leave these losers in the dust!" Scaramouche flashed a furious smile at you and right away, you placed your spray guns back into the holsters and started to run. You left the trio of best friends behind, never to see them again.

He took your hand and dashed away from the scene, people were now shouting at the guards to capture the two Fatui members.

They followed you wherever you went; alleyways in between houses, over bridges, and up and down the stairs. You didn't want to admit that it was quite amusing to see them running after you.

Soon, your hands release from one another. Scaramouche held on tightly to his hat while you pulled out both guns. You jumped in the air to twirl around, shooting the frost directly on the stone street behind you to create a thin sheet of ice. The guards took one step onto the white ground and slipped, practically flying off and landing on their backs.

The chase lasted for a few more minutes. By now, you have dodged more Millelith than you have ever encountered before. Seeing them trying a little too hard to tackle you was quite funny, seeing them lying defeated on the ground was even better.

As both of you were running for the Northland Bank, you noticed that the Millelith was slowly giving up on the pursuit.

At last, you were finally away from the guards and surrounded by other Liyue citizens that had zero clues to what just went down near the Harbour. The rain was finally starting to pick up, it was getting quite hard to navigate through the droplets in your eyes. Luckily for your superior (again), he had a hat.

"That ice-guy ruined everything!" He was most likely talking about Chongyun.

You nodded your head in agreement.

"And the description about the Traveller's date: Tall?! Rich?! Ginger guy?! I can't believe it!" Scaramouche yelled in frustration.

You continued to run alongside the Harbinger.

"I knew Childe had something to do with the Traveller!" He cursed. "What an idiot! Damn love-sick loser! I'll kill him! When we reach that Bank, I'll strangle him with my own hands!"

"Sir, we don't have long until the Millelith in this area begins searching for us. My suggestion is that we make our interrogation with Mr. Childe as quick as possible!" You felt breathless just by talking for those few seconds.

"Ugh! You're right, [Y/N]." Scaramouche scoffed bitterly. "Fine, we'll do it fast. In and out, less than five minutes. Understood?"

"Yessir...!"

The Harbinger glanced at you twice and sighed tiredly, "It looks like you have more to say. Spit it out already!"

"I just want to mention something, my Lord," You heaved heavily. "Your acting back there almost seemed genuine! I'll be honest, it felt real! You amazed me, sir!"

"If you're going to give me that kind of lip service, you might as well repay me with a kiss!" He replied angrily. "Verbal praises are hardly acceptable!"

You couldn't tell if he was being ironic or hypocritical, but still, you admired him deeply. Scaramouche wasn't exactly a fan of receiving compliments, he enjoyed physical rewards like Mora or shiny things. Surely he was only pulling on your leg, his sense of humour was always strange to you.