His first encounter with a particular Liyuen Exorcist had left Kliment quite shaken. He prided himself to be a reliable soldier yet, he was still thinking about what the sixth Harbinger threatened a few hours before. Slowly, Kliment turned to a dark building, moving his arms to cross over his chest.

Two fellow Fatui soldiers had their backs leaning against the door and perked up once they noticed a certain Fatui Agent making his way towards the restaurant entrance. They sluggishly stepped to the side and studied how the other man adjusted the mask on his face.

Kliment was face-to-face with a wooden door, sighing uneasily at the burning thought on his mind. He wondered if this level of interrogation was worth it. Was it worth it to storm this humble restaurant in the middle of the night? Would it help bring back his comrade? He wasn't so sure. He was almost scared of an answer.

His doubts flickered in his mind while a decision was slowly closing in on his heels. The wind blew Kliment's blond hair to the side, ruining his slick-back hairstyle and letting all of Teyvat know that he was getting weaker. Even the cold light of the moon was casting a meek shadow by his feet. It seemed like Scaramouche's words were still echoing in his head.

"Still on the missing secretary case aren't you, comrade Kliment?" An agent spoke up almost on the verge of laughing and nudging another soldier next to him.

"Comrade Javert, I did not summon you from your debt collection duty to make fun of Harbinger Scaramouche's orders. Your job is to be quiet and be on the lookout for Millelith guards. Do I make myself clear?"

"I thought that job was yours."

"Change of plans, I am responsible for taking in the accomplice of secretary [Y/N]'s disappearance. You are in charge of the lookout. Now, do I make myself clear?"

The soldiers were ultimately silenced by Kliment's reprimandments, but couldn't help but mutter; "I bet Lieutenant Nikolai would have loved to see you in his place."

"Watch your tone." Kliment's voice rumbled under his mask as he let out a testy scoff. They spoke of him as if he was dead. It seemed like what happened that day seemed to have had a different perspective for other people.

"So what if secretary [Y/N] made her great escape. If I were in command, I would have murdered that traitor. Why are we still continuing to search for her?" Fatui Agent Javert was then silenced once again.

"They were Harbinger Scaramouche's orders, I will say that for the last time. So, get it through that thick skull of yours and do what I tell you to do."

"Power-tripper..." Javert wanted the last word before the door to the Wanmin Restaurant was pushed open.

Kliment and the other soldiers found a girl sitting stiffly against a wooden chair. Her eyes were puffy and fear washed over her features. She saw how the men crowded the doorway, handling the entrance without much precaution.

They simply stood between her and the door.

"I don't know where she is, I swear..."

"We have not asked about her yet."

Xiangling sat upright, rigidly leaning forward to support her tense posture. Her foot bounced anxiously while she chewed on her nail. Every now and then, glancing at and away from the Fatui Agents standing motionless in the dark restaurant.

The usual sparkle in her eyes was long snuffed out, all that was left were empty stares and uneasy blinking. Guoba was the same. The little bear wobbled around, occasionally standing by his owner's side before walking again in another circle.

Kliment, accompanied by the other agents, stepped forward into Xiangling's personal space. The recently promoted lieutenant strategically placed himself in front of the chef girl to block her vision of the exit. They trapped her in her own restaurant, beginning the interrogation with a hard slap against the wooden table, knocking over everything on the surface.

"This is a nice place. It would be a shame if it loses one of its chefs."

"I don't where she is...!" Xiangling cried out sharply.

"You're getting ahead of yourself." Kliment could hear her grief clearly.

"I don't know where she is!" Xiangling repeated.

"This girl is useless." Javert pointed with a defeated attitude.

"Archons, I don't know where she is!"

"I don't want to be stuck here all night, Kliment."

"I don't know where she is!"

"Rest easy, Javert."

"I don't know where she is!"

"If you won't shut her up, I will!"

"She never told me she was going to leave- ahh!" Xiangling braced as Javert lifted an arm up to strike her across the face, however, the hit was intercepted as Kliment grabbed a firm hold of his wrist.

"What did you say?" Kliment focused on Xiangling, increasingly putting pressure on the other agent's joints - causing Javert to wince angrily. He asked again, "Repeat yourself."

The chef stared back bitterly, furrowing her eyebrows and sniffing poshly out of pure spite. On the other hand, seeing how the leader Fatui Agent stopped the other soldier from hitting her, Xiangling had to cut her losses and climb into the high ground of awareness.

Only once Javert pulled his arm back did Kliment step forward to tower over a shrinking Xiangling, "What kind of relationship did you have with the Harbinger's Secretary?"

Her lips needed to be pried open for her to speak, Xiangling showed a look of pure resentment as she finally confessed, "She was my friend."

"Your friend?"

"Yes."

Javert bursted out laughing from behind his mask, "The Harbinger's Secretary?! The secretary [Y/N]?! How funny! She's never had any friends while under the command of Harbinger Scaramouche! Kliment, come on, this girl is lying to get us to believe her-!"

"Well maybe from where you're from; she was my comrade!" Xiangling shouted back, mourning at the flashing memory of you calling her that as well. She closed her teary eyes, feeling that terrible feeling reawakening within her gut; regret.

Kliment was amused by this development, and Javert fell silent.

Xiangling continued to cry, "I guess, I failed to fully understand her influence in Snezhnaya - in the Fatui. I thought I knew her so well... I thought..."

Secretary [Y/N] has outsmarted us, it seems... Kliment tried not to look impressed as he pondered about your actions. To run away from the Fatui, to run from a potentially deranged Harbinger, is complete madness. Perhaps it wasn't the Traveller calling the shots, it must have been the cold, calculated secretary-assistant.

No sane person would run off into an unknown nation with little to no knowledge about its people or policies. Kliment figured that this girl crying in front of him was not an assailant - but a pawn. Ironically, the secretary was the one who took control of her own escape. Though, it was only Kliment's speculation.

"I heard a gunshot from the top of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour. Guoba heard it as well, he turned his head towards the noise and looked at me - then back and forth. I knew the sound of that gunshot was from [Y/N] firing one of her weapons."

Who seemed the most competent? A simple chef girl or a war theorist, expert debt collector, Fatui soldier, Cryogunner Legionnaire, Harbinger-chosen, secretary-assistant? Kliment tried to imagine how much planning had to take place in order to exploit the chef girl's kindness and sympathy. He almost thought admirably of you.

"It seemed like I fell asleep on the countertop of my restaurant, again. My neck felt stiff at one angle and ached in another. The sound of a gun being fired jolted me awake, I felt like my soul left my body. I don't doubt that I was the only one that heard it..."

"A gunshot in the middle of the night..." Kliment hung on those words.

"I heard whispering rumours that the Fatui had broken into the Funeral Parlour. I was worried about [Y/N]. I was worried about my friend. I wanted to go check on her..."

Javert, who was now calm, began to whisper to himself, "Harbinger Scaramouche ordered that raid. Everyone at the Northland Bank was very upset from the lack of notice ahead of time."

Xiangling choked up, "But I stayed in my restaurant. I hid like a child. She must have been so scared... I wonder if she thought that we were going to come and rescue her-"

"Who is we?"

A sudden cut-off from her words left Xiangling struggling to even gasp a single lick of air. Her eyes were left wide open like petrified saucers, a tear threatened to fall down. Her heart broke from the inside. Xiangling would soon be to blame for the future deaths of her two best friends.

"Who is we?" Kliment asked again.

"I... I didn't... mean..."

"There were other accomplices?"

"No..."

"She's lying again, Kliment. We should find the others, surely they'll be more helpful than her."

With a high nod, Kliment agreed, "You're right, comrade Javert. Let's set off as soon as possible."

"No... No, no, no! Don't hurt them! Please!" Xiangling wailed helplessly as the Fatui Agents turned their backs to her, walking for the exit. "They're my only friends...!"

Stopping by the doorway, the lieutenant merely turned his head to give a warning; "Tell us who the other accomplices are, that way we will know whether or not we will enter with weapons drawn."

Xiangling's lips were pulled into a deep frown, her voice was interrupted by her uncontrollable sobbing. Shaky sentences tumbled out of her mouth, "If you hurt my friends... you won't... get the bounty... I'll report you to the Millelith..."

Kliment felt like he couldn't have stopped his laughter before letting out a chuckle, "For us, it's not about the bounty. It's in honour of our commitment to the Fatui. Our mission is to hunt down a traitor. Seeing that you know about the ten million Mora bounty, only prompts us to investigate your friends further."

Javert had already stepped ahead, the other soldier began to make way further down into the city. The night soon turned into twilight, the sun was on its way from going around Teyvat.

"Do you know what we found in the room above the Funeral Parlour?" Kliment asked out of the blue.

Xiangling's tear-stricken face contorted into a scowl, "What...? What are you talking about...?"

She answered incorrectly.

Though mildly disappointed he did not get an answer, Kliment continued onwards. Without much explanation, the young chef was left alone and cold. She shivered at the mere thought of her dear friends being harassed the same she was by these Fatui Agents. Xiangling knew she had to do something, tell someone.

Xiangling knew she needed the help of the Liyue Qixing.

"I wish I said goodbye to you, [Y/N]..." Then, she continued to cry until morning came.

•••

They approached the Wanwen Bookstore before daybreak began. Finally, the sun was climbing up from the edge of the sea and inching its way to the sky. Kliment, still, could not stop thinking about Scaramouche's wholehearted threat.

Amongst the other soldiers, Javert noticed how the lieutenant was lost in his thoughts. Kliment's usual combed hair was now unkept, neglected, and uncared for. Javert thought it was very strange how his comrade was suddenly brought back to his senses.

"Agents, prepare to interfere with any Millelith guard sighted."

"It's your call, high and mighty Lieutenant Kliment."

"Stop showing attitude to your superior, Javert."

"You're not Lieutenant Nikolai, stop pretending to be like him."

"For the last time, do not bring up any useless chatter."

Once Kliment, Javert, and the other silent Fatui Agent finally made their way up the stairs, they found a certain swordsman already sitting casually on a chair. Puzzled by the lack of other customers in the bookshop, they all figured that they walked into some sort of trap.

As if he expected their arrival, Xingqiu uncrossed his legs and slowly stood up to his full height, raising his chin to appear to look down at the other men. A strand of his blue hair swept over his striking amber-coloured eyes, challenging whoever dared to make the first move.

Seeing that the group was being cautious, Xingqiu prepared for battle.

"Alright," The young man's sword was drawn from its sheath and was pointed directly at Kliment. "Let's get this over with. Ready your weapon if you want a fair fight."

Kliment stuck his arm out to stop Javert from blindly advancing toward the Hydro user, holding him back only resulting in the agent scowling in return.

The lieutenant figured it would be wiser to appeal for a civil interaction; "We mean no harm. We only want to talk."

"I expected to be visited by Fatui soldiers with the goal of extracting information from me. Well, I should say outright that I have no idea where your beloved Harbinger's Secretary has disappeared to. So, let us be gentlemen and part our separate ways."

"Xingqiu, second son of the Feiyun Commerce Guild, we want to know of your whereabouts the night of the secretary's last known location at the Funeral Parlour." Kliment watched how the grip on his sword tightened. "If you won't tell us, we will have to make a visit to your two friends."

Javert was quick to pick up on the lie that Kliment had said. Tricking Xingqiu, a potentially dangerous opponent who was willing to fight, into thinking that he was the first of the trio to be interrogated will most likely have him compliant in hopes of sparing his two friends. Such a simple tactic straight from the book; friendships can sometimes be a burden.

Xingqiu seemed to be defeated, "How did you find me...?"

"Harbinger Scaramouche relayed information in regards to a regular Wanwen Bookhouse customer. It wasn't hard to estimate where your location might be at this time."

Javert added, "Though, I'll admit that it is way too early in the day for shopping."

It was clear that the Fatui Agents knew that Xingqiu was trying to hide. Instead of hiding out in his guild building, he thought it would be clever to hide out in the bookhouse in the early hours. The fact alone that he was trying to hide only suggests that he does know something that the Fatui doesn't know about.

"Get out of here. I do not wish to discuss any matter with Fatui Agents." Xingqiu spat at the floor at the mention of the name.

"Do you wish for us to seek out your friends instead?"

Xingqiu felt insulted, he felt as if he was slapped in the face with someone's glove. The darkening of his eyes told the soldiers that he was still not ready to give in to their threats. His sword stood steady and looked like he was prepared to strike at any moment.

Kliment decided to press further, "We know their locations as well."

"It's useless, they don't know where [Y/N] is."

"But you do?"

It seemed like Xingqiu was having an internal battle with himself. He knew it would be more honourable to sacrifice himself in order to save Xiangling and Chongyun, but what about you? He felt torn between the two sides.

To favour one over the other is not fair at all. In this case of survival, there are a lot of things to consider. Xingqiu pondered his decision's consequences; keeping his friends safe can only mean you would be sacrificed. To protect you, risks his friends getting arrested by this foreign organization.

Xingqiu decided to claim the role of the liar. With that decision, he lowered his sword.

"My location from that night is not important. In fact, I did not see where she went after leaving the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour."

Kliment was being reeled in, "So, you did see secretary [Y/N] in the Funeral Parlour. What was she doing before she left?"

Xingqiu added a bit of truth to his words in order to not lose the Fatui Agents' interest, "While I was at the Heyu Tea House, I could see in the building right across, the room where [Y/N] was staying in. I saw the moment both she and the Traveller drew their weapons at each other. I was by the balcony on the lookout for the Millelith and Fatui soldiers while the Traveller went to the Funeral Parlour."

"The Traveller." Javert's tone was filled with agitation. "So, it was the Traveller who took the secretary away?"

"It's always been hard to track her down," Kliment recalled the many failed missions of him trying to locate the Traveller. "Even with a lead like this."

Xingqiu remembered watching the moment you fired a shot at Lumine, he was there, after all. Watching from afar, helplessly watching the Traveller use her own elemental powers to obliterate the ice bullet. Xingqiu was frightened at his revelation; Fatui will always be Fatui... when pushed to their limits.

"They were in combat with each other?" Kliment was puzzled. "Could this mean that the secretary was forced to leave with the Traveller? Or maybe the other way around."

"I don't know, I was in the building across from them." Xingqiu was being truthful this time. He wasn't told beforehand what the Traveller was planning on doing; she only informed him that she was going to make a visit - not an extraction.

Kliment stared blankly at the Hydro user from behind his mask. He saw the way Xingqiu's thin eyebrows furrowed opposingly, as if the young man was waiting for Kliment to speak. Javert also glanced at his lieutenant, waiting for any sort of order to begin a fight.

However, no order came.

"Alright then, if that's all you know then we will leave you alone."

"Hold it!" Xingqiu stepped forward at that declaration, preparing to raise his weapon once again. "You're correct that I told you all that I know. Do not pursue my friends. They know nothing more than what I do. You leave them alone."

Javert was stopped again from reaching into his dark cloak to retrieve his Sacrificial Knives. Kliment was ready to challenge Xingqiu with one question, "Since you claim to know more than your friends if you answer our last question we will not go after them."

"What is your question?"

"Do you know what we found in the room last night?"

All at once, Xingqiu's eyes went wide as his lips parted in surprise. His heart skipped a beat as the tip of his sword swayed from the rapid-fire question. He knew the only out-of-place object in the Funeral Parlour room was the one thing that was able to incriminate his friend.

"The talisman..."

Xingqiu answered incorrectly.

Kliment was disappointed; it seemed like Xingqiu didn't know everything after all. Still, the Fatui Agent did not say a word after that. With a swift hand signal, Javert and the other soldier began to march away, down the stairs and out of sight.

The young man was left speechless, he was confused about whether or not he was able to deflect the blame away from his friends. Sensing how the Fatui Agents left without any further explanation, he knew he had to find the Traveller again.

He too felt betrayed at your sudden departure.

"Goodbye, my dear, [Y/N]..." Xingqiu whispered quietly. "I'm sorry... I just wanted to protect sweet Xiangling and dear Chongyun..."

•••

"Where is the Funeral Director? I thought I told you to find that girl as the last suspect for our interrogation."

"If you have been paying attention Lieutenant, Director Hu Tao has an alliance with master Childe."

"That doesn't answer my question, comrade Javert. I told you that we needed her for our interrogation. Get it through that head of yours."