Rays of sunlight streamed through the window of Childe's room in The Northland Bank of Liyue. "Hm," he muttered grumpily and turned over on the bed to avoid being blinded by the light. These rays announced the start of the new day but Childe didn't want to accept it. A few more minutes wouldn't affect the order of the day either. He had been on administrative duties for a little over 3 months now, which he enjoyed the least. Being placed in Liyue, he had to take care of the Debt Collection Division. He hadn't worked hard in his training within the Fatui to be sitting in a chair reading through reports and signing detention orders. He thought becoming a Harbinger would only consist of battles with strong opponents, what a disappointment - sometimes -. But because of his pride, Childe was exceptionally reliable at accomplishing the tasks given to him, no matter how easy or difficult they may be or if they go against his values.
Activity was beginning to be audible in the adjoining rooms. Childe was awake but still lying in bed with his eyes closed. "It is my duty after all", he thought. He sat up and looked through the bars of the window. Life was already filling every corner of the streets of Liyue, merchants already had their stalls open and citizens were coming to shop. Childe got out of bed, went to the shower and dressed in his Snezhnaya uniform.
Before leaving his room he made sure to take all his weapons with him. Even if he didn't need to face anyone - officially -, he always, always had to carry each and every one of them with him. He had learned from his experience in the Abyss that one must always be on guard.
"Good morning, Tartaglia", Ekaterina greeted as soon as she saw him walk out the door. She couldn't help but notice his messy hair.
"Good morning", Childe returned, "Have you already had breakfast?"
"Yes, Sir. I have taken coffee to go to be on duty at the front desk, I'm waiting for a customer to come in for a financing."
"Always so efficient, Ekaterina. Thank you. I guess I'll have to convoke you guys for a team breakfast in advance."
"No need, Sir", Ekaterina replied with a blush.
"It's been a long time since we all sat together", Childe told her with a smile.
Childe was always considerate of his colleagues, they were delighted to work with him, contrary to his reputation among the Harbingers. They had never had any problems with Tartaglia, that didn't mean they weren't always alert to his changing moods, but of all the Harbingers, Tartaglia was the best superior. Ekaterina even felt a little pitiful for him, seeing him so young and so dedicated to his work, when he should be spending time with his friends and family. Of course, it was difficult to spend time with family when he was on the other side of the world and as for friends... she could consider that he only had one, Zhongli, the consultant of the The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. Being the 11th Harbinger did not help him either to make friends within Liyue even though, unlike his peers, he enjoyed cultural sorties in the place. Anyway, it was enough for him, he would meet Zhongli often enough to disconnect, either for lunch or drinks, and he found him to be a very interesting person, he literally knew everything about anything. Besides, he always listened to him and would take what he had to say seriously. Among the Fatuus, especially among the higher ranks, he was considered somewhat of a child, which frustrated him a lot. Childe thought that someday, after he dominated the world, they would have to shut their mouths and obey his orders.
"As you wish, Sir. I won't keep you any longer. I'll be in the offices if you need anything."
"Thank you, Ekaterina", he said goodbye with a smile as he headed for the staircase. Just below the level of the rooms was the floor of meeting rooms and offices. The one good thing about doing administrative duties as a Harbinger was that he had his own private office.
When he got to the door, he could see that he already had the pile of the orders for the day on the table. He closed the door behind him and went to sit at his desk. He could recognize the Snezhnaya stamp on the first letter in the pile. "Uh, this might be the most interesting thing today", he thought. He picked it up and flipped it over to see if it had information about the sender. It was completely blank. Being stationed in Liyue, most of the mail he received was from the place. This could only be something important, his sister didn't use that kind of official stamp and always wrote the sender. He tore the seal carefully and pulled out the contents of the envelope. Before reading it his gaze searched for the signature, "Her Royal Highness the Tsaritsa." Why would the Tsaritsa write to him? "Please be something interesting", he pleaded before reading the contents of the letter. He could already feel the excitement in his body.
"Dear Tartaglia,
First of all, my apologies for writing you a letter instead of summoning you in person at the Palace. Since we previously discussed this matter personally among the Harbingers and the mission in Mondstadt has already been started I consider it unnecessary to bother you or steal your time with a journey to Snezhnaya.
The purpose of this letter is to inform you about the search for the Gnosis of Archon Geo. I would like to entrust this mission to you, Tartaglia. Signora has informed that one of the most direct ways to obtain the Gnosis is through the Adepti, please do some research on this subject. Be reminded that we must act with extreme caution and maintain diplomatic relations in Liyue under all circumstances.
I trust you to carry out this mission successfully.
Yours sincerely,
Her Royal Highness the Tsaritsa."
"Signora, ugh", Childe loudly remarked. He couldn't help but chuckle with happiness. Finally. He could already feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins, that much that he had to get up from his chair. He was euphoric. No more and no less than the Gnosis of Archon Geo, the only Warrior God. A strong opponent. He was anxious to face the Archon, so that he could measure his strength. If he could beat him, he would be closer to his ultimate goal. He could defeat each and every other Archon and even the Seven Stars of Liyue Qixing.
The Geo Archon was the oldest and along with Barbatos, the only Archons originated from the Archon War, even though his fight was never about getting a place in Celestia. He must be very powerful... even more than the Tsaritsa! Even so, Childe respected his Archon very much and considered her a great warrior. The only problem: where to find him. From what he had heard he would show up at the Rite of Descent although some others commented that he is always among the people, wandering around in his mortal form. Confronting him at the Rite of Descent was not a good option because there were many witnesses and looking for him among the citizens of Liyue was like looking for a needle in a haystack. He would keep in mind Signora's proposal about appealing directly to the Adepti for now... While his fellow Harbingers prefer clandestine operations and staying behind the scenes, Tartaglia favors being front and center.
He tried to calm down and continue reading the daily commands but he could not concentrate, he wanted to start now to investigate how to obtain the Gnosis from the Geo Archon.
At the end Childe carried out half of the day's orders since the sooner he got them out of the way, the sooner he could devote all his time to capturing the Gnosis. He could also delegate them but his pride would not allow him to do so and he still had a long way to go in his research, so he decided to take care of them. He needed to disconnect during lunch so he headed to The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to see if his friend Zhongli was free for lunch. The Funeral Parlor was located on one of the side streets of The Northland Bank, so he used to eat considerably more with Zhongli than he did with his fellow Fatuus. At least he listened to him and seemed interested in his stories.
As soon as he arrived he saw a group of people at the door of the Funeral Parlor. Just as he was about to turn around to go back, he spotted Zhongli on the side looking towards Liyue Harbor.
"Zhongli!", called Childe. He turned toward the voice and Childe smiled at him and waved shaking his arm in the air.
"Childe", Zhongli greeted back in his calm voice. Childe ran over to where he was.
"Are you free to eat?"
"If you don't mind waiting until the visit from the family members is over", Zhongli asked him politely. He turned to face the door of the Funeral Parlor where a crowd of people were crammed in, exchanging words of comfort.
"Of course. I'll treat you," Childe replied cheerfully.
"What's the reason?"
"It's nothing", Childe smiled at him. Zhongli could tell he was euphoric, the poor kid could hardly contain himself. "After all, it's always on me." That was true, he couldn't deny it, still he was sure it wasn't just an ordinary day for Childe.
"Fine. I'm going to find the Director."
Zhongli turned around, heading towards the group of family members at the entrance of the building. Childe sat waiting on the stone fence of the Funeral Parlor's plaza. For a place of sorrow and forever goodbyes, it had its charm. Liyue Harbor could be seen under the wooden bridge that crossed to the other side of town and the hanging red leaves on the trees. Childe could not deny that Liyue possessed very warm, beautiful colors in which you could feel at home. The opposite of Snezhnaya as much as he missed his nation.