"Y-you… you… why are you here!?"
At Dragonspine, the Balladeer sat sprawled on the ground, sheer panic written all over his face.
He frantically scooted backward, disbelief twisting his features.
Baalzebul?
Here?
In a foreign land, of all places?
How could she possibly have left Inazuma— and why was she standing right in front of him?
"Uh… what's going on here?"
Behind them, Lumine and Paimon watched with wide, curious eyes as the supposedly fearsome Harbinger cowered like a terrified child.
Beside them stood a girl in a witch's hat and cloak— the great astrologist, Mona Megistus.
She frowned thoughtfully, hand resting under her chin.
When she'd first used her astrology to read the small boy in the hat, she'd realized he was dangerous—a Fatui Harbinger, no less.
Her first instinct had been to grab the Traveler and Paimon and run.
But before she could even act— a figure descended from the sky.
The terrifying aura that followed made even the Harbinger himself collapse in sheer fright.
It piqued Mona's curiosity.
What kind of person could scare a Harbinger like that?
Quietly, she invoked her astrology again, attempting to peek at the woman's identity—
—but the moment Raiden Ei turned her head, just one cold glance—
Mona broke out in a cold sweat, trembling from head to toe.
That vision— that storm of a thousand thunders— there could be no mistake.
That was the Electro Archon herself.
Raiden Ei's brief distraction gave Scaramouche his only chance to flee.
He spun on his heel—only for a flash of purple lightning to sear across his path, a single slash gouging a deep, sparking line through the ground.
He froze.
"Relax," Ei said flatly.
"I'm not going to kill you. I'm just here to beat you up."
Her voice was calm, her eyes cold, her naginata glinting with the sharp light of storm-forged steel.
She didn't know what Su Ran's grudge with this puppet was— and she didn't care.
All she needed to do was deliver the beating.
As for whether "Kunikuzushi" would hate her afterward— that wasn't her problem.
Her job was to hit, not to console.
Behind her, Lumine and Mona witnessed a truly historic scene:
a Fatui Harbinger being brutally beaten into the ground.
Scaramouche tried to fight back several times— only to be slammed harder each time he dared move.
A few nearby Fatui soldiers made the mistake of rushing forward, only to scatter the moment Ei's eyes swept over them.
If their own Harbinger couldn't fight back, what hope did they have?
The commotion soon drew the attention of someone else— a knight who'd been relaxing in a hot spring within the icy mountain.
Seeing someone being assaulted, her sense of justice immediately flared.
Even if the man were a criminal, beating him so savagely was wrong!
He should be judged by the Knights of Favonius!
She was about to leap into action when—
"Wait!"
Mona grabbed her arm, her eyes flashing with warning.
Eyes that practically screamed:
If you go there, you'll die.
"Who is that?" Eula whispered, frowning at the woman in Inazuman dress.
"I… don't know," Mona replied cautiously.
"But I strongly suggest you don't get curious."
There was no way she was admitting the truth.
If this woman really started a fight with that person— she'd be lucky if a single swing didn't erase her from existence.
"Oh, I know!" Paimon said, raising her hand eagerly.
"She's one of the Fatui Harbinger's underlings!"
The moment she heard that, Eula's expression darkened.
So the bully was a Fatui lackey?
No wonder she was so arrogant— to think she could just assault random people in the snow!
Her anger reignited.
She was about to charge in again when Mona grabbed her for the second time.
"She's beating up another Harbinger."
Eula froze.
"…What?"
That took all the wind out of her sails.
So this wasn't bullying the weak— it was evil fighting evil.
Well then.
Her sense of justice flickered… and quietly sat back down.
"Wait, that guy's a Harbinger too?" Lumine asked in surprise.
"He seemed so polite earlier—he even tried to greet us!"
But after what she'd seen of Su Ran, she wasn't about to make any assumptions.
Harbingers came in all flavors of crazy.
Still, wasn't this all a bit too coincidental?
She'd only traveled through two nations so far— and already met four Harbingers, including the one ranked second!
"Hold on," Eula blinked. "You've met other Harbingers before?"
The captain of the Reconnaissance Company didn't get out of Mondstadt much, so she knew little of the Traveler's exploits.
She'd heard about the Stormterror incident being resolved— but never learned who had done it.
"Of course we have!" Paimon said proudly, puffing out her chest.
"We even had dinner with the Second Seat Harbinger—the Genius!"
Lumine stood a little taller too, chin lifted.
She'd dined with the Second Seat herself!
And now another Harbinger was begging for mercy in front of her.
How impressive was that?
She turned to Eula with a smug look— only for that pride to die the moment she saw the knight's, uh… formidably endowed figure.
Suddenly, she felt very small.
Why did the universe have to be so unfair?
What does she even eat to grow like that?!
Eula, oblivious to the Traveler's silent envy, was still processing the part about "having dinner with the Second Seat."
A Harbinger… dining with ordinary people?
That sounded shockingly approachable for someone of their rank.
"Second Seat?" Mona muttered, her interest piqued.
She knew the rumors— that the current Second Harbinger had defeated the former one in direct combat.
Some even whispered that he'd killed his predecessor.
Mona hadn't believed that part— after all, the ranks had merely shifted up afterward, not vanished entirely.
Still, curiosity got the better of her.
She began to cast her astrology, seeking a glimpse of this "Second Seat"—
"Aaaaah!! My eyes!!!"
Mona screamed, clutching her face in pain.
For a brief instant, she'd felt as if someone had reached through her vision and poked her right in the eyes.
It hurt like hell.
Eula, Lumine, and Paimon all jumped in alarm, staring at the astrologist now kneeling in the snow, wailing in agony.
"Wh-what just happened to her!?"
None of them had an answer.
But one thing was clear— whoever this "Second Seat" was, even looking at him was a terrible idea.
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