Genshin Impact: I'm The Envoy of Snezhnaya
Chapter 67: Collei's Gift
There was a reason why the Ludi Harpastum was also known as the The Harpastum Games.
After the festival began, all sorts of competitions would be held. Following lively poetry gatherings, drinking parties, and flying competitions, a young woman would be selected from among the champions of the three events.
At the very end of the festival, the girl would stand in the palm of the Statue of The Anemo Archon, Barbatos, in the Plaza at the top of the city. From there, she would toss a Harpastum, symbolizing Barbatos's blessing, into the crowd.
Whoever caught the ball first would receive generous prizes and a year of good luck.
During the final years of the Lawrence family's rule over Mondstadt, this selection was generally arranged by Young Master Barca Lawrence.
The old aristocrats simply abolished the competitions, arbitrarily selecting a girl for the honor and directly claiming the Harpastum for themselves.
And it wasn't just the ball they took. The girl herself would also be brought back to his residence. What happened afterward went without saying.
This continued for five years, until a bard calling himself Venti snatched the ball symbolizing Barbatos's blessing right from in front of him.
Only then did the Lawrence family's rule finally begin to crumble.
In the end, Collei and Amber failed to catch the mysterious individual who had attacked the Fatui.
Considering that there were still mechanical birds hidden throughout the city, the two eventually decided to abandon the pursuit and return to Mondstadt.
After finding all the remaining mechanical birds, they joined the Ludi Harpastum celebrations.
Encouraged by Amber, Collei also participated in the competitions.
Although she wasn't selected as the overall winner, the kindness shown by the people around her allowed her to enjoy herself immensely.
When the Harpastum was finally tossed into the crowd, she even managed to snatch it successfully, thanks to the movement techniques she had learned from Bai Luo.
And after catching the ball, she received an unexpected gift as well.
"See you tomorrow, Collei!"
When they reached a fork in the road, Amber had no choice but to say goodbye.
Although she really wanted to invite Collei over to her house to show her the Baron Bunny she had made, Collei politely declined.
She was worried that the Eleazar disease in her body might cause trouble for Amber.
Besides... she still had something else to do.
The festival had ended, but the streets weren't much less crowded than before.
Everyone still wore cheerful smiles, and from time to time, groups of people could be heard discussing the day's festivities.
Amid this lively atmosphere, Collei hugged the gift she had received at the Ludi Harpastum and hurried through the night toward the Goth Grand Hotel.
However, before she even reached the hotel entrance, she spotted someone standing in the shadows ahead.
Bai Luo.
In Collei's impression, Bai Luo always seemed to prefer standing in places untouched by light. Combined with his black trench coat, he could easily be overlooked if he wasn't wearing his white mask.
Collei jogged over to him, and he promptly removed the mask covering his face.
Beneath it was the same familiar smile: gentle, with just a hint of indulgence.
"Did you have fun?"
Bai Luo casually hung his mask from his waist.
He wore his mask differently depending on the occasion.
During assassinations or negotiations, he wore it directly over his face, creating an oppressive atmosphere for his opponents.
At formal occasions where he was required to show his face, he wore it tilted to one side, symbolizing his authority as a Harbinger.
Only when he was in private did he hang the mask representing death from his waist.
Collei nodded and raised her hands, offering Bai Luo the gift she had been holding for so long.
"This! This is for you!"
"Hmm? This?"
Bai Luo casually accepted the gift box she handed him, but didn't pay much attention to it. He simply assumed it was something Collei had purchased during the festival.
"Y-You're... not going to look inside?"
Seeing that Bai Luo didn't seem inclined to open it, Collei asked hesitantly.
This guy always wore the same smiling expression. Whether he was angry or threatening someone, his face never seemed to change.
Collei rather wanted to see a different expression on his face for once.
Would he look surprised when he saw this gift?
She was really looking forward to finding out.
"Things like gifts should be opened at the appropriate time. But now isn't the right moment to unwrap this one... Come with me. That little wolf pup from Sumeru has arrived. Let's go meet him."
"Oh..."
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Bai Luo noticed that after Collei learned the person who could cure her illness had arrived, she didn't seem particularly happy.
Instead, there was a faint trace of disappointment in her expression.
Was it because of the gift box?
Glancing at the box tucked under his arm, Bai Luo fell into thought.
He was beginning to grow curious about what was inside.
The headquarters of the Knights of Favonius wasn't very far from the Goth Grand Hotel. It was located diagonally across the street, just up a flight of steps.
Whether it was the Fatui keeping the Knights under control or the Knights keeping an eye on the Fatui, the location made things quite convenient.
However, when Collei saw Bai Luo leading her straight toward the Knights' headquarters, she couldn't help asking:
"Are we really just going to walk in like this?"
Collei knew very well that if Bai Luo, a Harbinger, simply walked toward the Knights of Favonius like this, it would undoubtedly cause quite a commotion.
As for herself, she was also regarded by some of the Knights as a suspicious foreigner with an unusual background.
After all, she was even the culprit behind the arson incidents that the Knights had been investigating over the past few days.
"It's fine."
For the first time, Bai Luo took Collei's hand of his own accord. A faint, pale-blue glow enveloped the two of them.
[Shadow Step]: Enter stealth mode after 1 second and increase movement speed by 8%. Normal attacks and skill casts break stealth. The next attack is guaranteed to critically strike.
This skill had always been his greatest trump card.
After testing it against the Raiden Shogun, he was almost certain that this was an invisibility skill that even the gods couldn't see through.
After using it so many times, he had gradually figured out how the skill worked.
Essentially, it concealed himself and any objects or people he came into contact with in another world.
That meant there would be no footsteps, heartbeat, or even breathing.
It was a genuine disappearance from this world.
Perhaps... it had something to do with that so-called quantum phenomenon.
This also reminded Bai Luo of another term from his previous life, one associated with Genshin Impact and miHoYo.
The Sea of Quanta.
He wondered whether the two were related.
Relying on this peculiar method of concealment, Bai Luo successfully brought Collei into the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
"Y-You... When I'm taking a bath, you wouldn't happen to..."
After realizing just how terrifying this ability was, Collei immediately broke out in goosebumps. She looked at Bai Luo with a rather strange expression.
Whenever she wiped herself down in the bathroom, she would sometimes sense something unusual.
Could it have been...?
"Relax. I wouldn't waste my skill on something that boring."
"That's good. I was worried that—"
"Besides, what's there to look at on that little body of yours? I've already seen it countless times while applying your medicine. Looking at my own chest muscles is more exciting than looking at your flat chest."
"..."
So much for being gentle. It was all an act!
This guy was more straightforward than the Skyfrost Nail on Dragonspine!
Just as Collei was rendered speechless by Bai Luo's remarks, a small room nearby suddenly opened.
Tap, tap, tap!
A little red figure, radiating an almost explosive enthusiasm, rushed out impatiently and headed straight for the open gates of the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
And then...
THUD!
The young girl seemed to have crashed into something rather extraordinary.
She raised her head and looked ahead in confusion, only to discover that there was absolutely nothing in front of her.
Quite literally, nothing at all.
"W-Waaaah! Big Brother Kaeya was right! There really are demons in Mondstadt at night! I promise I'll never run away again!"
The seemingly fragile little girl instinctively reached behind her, intending to pull something out.
Then she realized that she had apparently left her backpack inside the confinement room.
"W-WAAAAH!!"
And so...
For the first time, the little girl whose confinement period had already ended voluntarily returned to the very confinement room that had always been her worst nightmare.