A month had passed since Capitano’s training began. I had thought he might go easy on me because I was a child, but no such thing happened. He put me through full-fledged training. Apparently, if I wanted to take down a Harbinger, I had to do at least this much—or something along those lines. I wondered whether I really needed to train this hard when I was not even the one who would kill him, but there was no harm in learning.
At the foot of a mountain far from the Court of Fontaine.
"Here. Eat. This is today’s meal."
"Yes, thank you."
I built a campfire and grilled the fish Capitano had just caught.
"I do not know whether the fish suits your palate. You seem to know my condition, so I did not mention it, but eating anything is difficult for me."
"I know. I really do. I imagine it must be difficult."
Was this croaker? It tasted similar to a fish I liked.
"It tastes like the fish from where I came from, so I like it."
"Is that so? That is a relief."
Capitano watched me eat for a long while before broaching the subject.
"What kind of world do you live in? Can you tell me about it?"
"It will be a very long story if I explain it. Do you have the time?"
"There is still a full month before the deadline you mentioned. I have time to spare."
I had told Capitano that I needed to return by August 22. That was Peruere’s birthday. If I thought of it as the feelings of a daughter waiting for her father, it seemed best to return by then.
"My world possesses a highly advanced civilization. Its history is older than even the era of the Archon War recorded in Teyvat’s history. At the very least, I remember people living in civilizations from five thousand years before I was born. It is assumed to go back even further than that."
"Quite ancient, then. Are there gods there?"
"Some people believe there are gods, but gods have never shown themselves to humanity. That is why many people do not believe in religion. I was one of them."
"A world without gods. I would like to visit it once. I cannot stand gods, you see."
Probably because of the God of Death. Considering his cooperation with Mavuika, he would likely get along comfortably with ordinary gods.
"There are no Visions either, so human physical abilities are all roughly the same. Depending on how one trains their body, they can become stronger than the average person, but only to that extent. If you descended upon our world, Capitano, I think some people might worship you as a god."
I said it with a laugh. But Capitano did not look especially pleased.
"Calling a man who hates gods a god. How ridiculous."
"But Capitano, when you go to Natlan later, you will end up working with a god. Please do not treat her differently then."
"That land has ties to me as well. How could I hate it?"
"That is a relief, then... Capitano, may I ask some questions now?"
"Ask as many as you wish. Your knowledge is knowledge beyond price in this world. Compared to it, I am grateful to offer my insignificant experiences."
"You are not insignificant. Never."
"Very well. What are you curious about, young boy?"
I took the Empty Vision from my bag.
"Where did you get this?"
"That Vision was entrusted to me by a subordinate of mine before he died. He was a child of the House of the Hearth, like you. He too obtained a Vision, drew Arlecchino’s interest, passed into the Fatui, and became my subordinate."
"He was quite an elite, then. Becoming your subordinate directly, Capitano."
"He was an elite. He was a child capable of accomplishing anything. Then one day, I learned that he had contracted Eleazar."
"Eleazar..."
An endemic disease of Sumeru that only disappeared after Rukkhadevata’s death. There was no cure for it now, making it a terrifying illness that meant certain death once contracted.
"So I asked Dottore whether he could cure the child. But the answer I received was, ‘I can delay it, but I cannot cure it.’"
"I see..."
"So that young knight entrusted his Vision to me. He told me to pass it on if I met another child from the House of the Hearth. He said that place was hell. He said he had to quickly use the Vision’s power to take the graduation exam and join the Fatui in order to see any light at all."
"The graduation exam..."
An exam one could not take until at least seventeen. A test where you fought one-on-one before Crucabena, and it did not end until one person was dead. If you killed your opponent, you graduated from the House of the Hearth and were sent to the Fatui.
"That is why I handed it to you that winter, when you were ice fishing. And I thought it had found the right person. I had already seen you wielding a Pyro Vision. But now that I think about it, it is terribly sad."
Why? He probably thought it was because I would die before then. But Capitano? I thought I was going to die too, you know?
"Capitano, there is no one around us, correct?"
"Hm? Correct. There is no one, but..."
"This Vision was originally a Hydro Vision, was it not?"
At that, Capitano looked at me with interest.
"How did you know that? An Empty Vision usually reawakens when its original owner returns."
"I slept while holding it, and Focalors appeared in my dream."
Capitano placed a hand on my right shoulder and asked in a low voice.
"And what did that god say?"
"She said she would awaken it as a Hydro Vision, but I refused."
"Hm. An ordinary person would have rejoiced and offered prayers of thanks to a god, yet you threw it aside. How very interesting."
"And when I told her I was going to take the bar exam, she made me study myself to death in the dream."
Capitano laughed heartily, grateful that his eye for talent had not been mistaken.
"Even a god favors you. But that means nothing if you die, does it?"
"The real story begins now, Capitano. Please do not tell anyone what I am about to say."
"...Very well. I shall not tell even Her Majesty. What is it?"
"Focalors says she will save me."
I sensed a change in Capitano’s gaze. Unless it was in Natlan, he had never heard of a god saving a human being.
"Why does she say she will save you?"
"She said I am too good to die yet. She said she would save me and work me even harder."
"I agree with that opinion. It does not please me that my opinion aligns with a god’s, but you must live longer yet. Besides, have you accomplished anything at your age that warrants dying?"
"What is there for an outsider to accomplish in the first place? If I do accomplish something, it would be poison instead."
"Then I shall make arrangements from my side as well. I had originally intended to keep you from dying, but if you are to be resurrected, that is not a bad thing for me either."
At that moment, I thought it had been a good idea to bring this up. If Capitano had tried to stop me, he would undoubtedly have become a major obstacle to my plan.
"Then where are you planning to die, boy?"
"According to the plan, at the Opera Epiclese in three or four years. Of course, before that, I need to save the girl trapped beneath the sea. I have to bring back the substance that will kill me from there."
As though he had made up his mind, Capitano dusted off his legs and stood.
"If you can be resurrected, you will become a great asset to the Fatui. How could I let talent like yours slip away? Let us continue training."
"Um... Capitano? You said today’s training would end here..."
"Until now, you asked only that I make you strong enough to train that little girl, so I designed the training plan accordingly. But now that I know you will be resurrected, I find myself wanting to raise your abilities even further. You have finished your fish, so follow me."
Ha... I should not have said anything...
"Why did you tell him about the resurrection plan?!"
"Ow, ow! I told you, he is trustworthy!"
"Grrr! Even so, he is Fatui! Fatui! What if what you said affects Furina somehow?!"
Focalors grandly yanked at my hair in the dream. Was this really something worth getting so angry about? I really should have kept my mouth shut.
"Isn’t it normal for dead people to be resurrected in Natlan? So I just—Urgh!"
Focalors kicked me in the shin.
"You little—! This will not do! Under Article 614 of the Fontaine Constitution, Desecration of the Hydro Archon, I sentence you to punishment!"
"Hey! The Fontaine Constitution does not even have six hundred and fourteen articles!"
"If I make it, it becomes law! I am the God of Law!"
She was not even a child, so I had to wonder about her mental age. She had not seemed like this in the story. Had she merely been putting on airs in front of Neuvillette? After meeting someone for the first time in five hundred years and growing close to them over several years, it seemed her true nature was coming out.
"Anyway, I am handing down your punishment! You will take care of Furina until I die! And you will take care of Furina even after I die!"
"Hey!!! I am in the House of the Hearth right now, so how am I supposed to take care of Furina?! And I have younger sisters too, and now you want to add Furina to that?!"
"Didn’t you make Furina cry a month ago?! Think of this as an extension of that!"
Ouch. Guilt suddenly came crashing down on me.
"After hearing that from you, she was so anxious that she could not leave the house for a week! Thinking her act had been exposed, she canceled her entire schedule, shut herself in her room, and trembled in fear!"
It had gone that far? It must have hit her awfully hard.
"So take good care of Furina, okay? Personally, I would like it if you even married her."
"Of course, what you do with Furina is your decision. I hear you learned how to handle women from that Fatui woman named Crucabena?"
She was driving me into the pit of death. The way Crucabena taught me to handle women? That was how to handle slaves. Was there any reason to turn Furina into a slave...? Hm... Considering what I had said, maybe it was possible...?
"So when am I supposed to meet Furina? Am I not trapped here?"
"You told Furina to come to the House of the Hearth in winter, so you can start building intimacy this winter. I will appear in Furina’s dreams and tell her something like, ‘The man you must love has appeared,’ so do your best to play along, all right?"
What the... Ha... Fine. This was my karma. Karma for screwing Furina over.
"You should accept the grave sin of daring to desecrate the Hydro Archon, should you not? And another thing?"
With that, Focalors summoned a law book and placed it in front of me.
"Study."
Ha... I want to die...
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