Chapter 136: A Timeline Unlike Any Other (Patreon)

With that thought, she paid no mind at all to Rosalyn's gaze, settling back into her seat with easy composure.

"Arlecchino, actually, I had Sandrone specially invite you to this tea gathering."

Piers turned to Arlecchino as he spoke. He felt he probably ought to add some honorific after her name.

But calling her "Signora"... well, the actual Signora was sitting right there too, which felt oddly confusing. And calling her "Miss" didn't suit Arlecchino in the slightest.

So after mulling it over for a good while, Piers simply decided to skip the honorific altogether. That worked out fine, too.

"Hm? What is it? Just tell me directly. We're friends — I'll help with anything within my power."

Arlecchino set down her teacup and looked at Piers seriously.

"It's about Columbina. You must already know about the Moon Hunter, Arlecchino — after all, even Lord [Marionette] knows."

"Hey, hey, hey! What do you mean 'even I' know!"

"I know. The Fatui's database has quite detailed files on the Five Sinners of Khaenri'ah."

Kitty let out a hiss, but Piers and Arlecchino both ignored her completely.

"Right now the Moon Hunter is here in Nod-Krai. His target is Columbina — that commotion just now was his doing. I've got him temporarily restrained, but ordinary methods can't kill him, so I'm planning to send him through the Moon Gate. As for what it takes to open the Moon Gate, that requires the Three Moons."

Arlecchino understood at once what Piers meant.

"So — are you ready? All that's left is the Iridescent Moon's Marrow, right?"

"Yes, just the Iridescent Moon's Marrow left. The Eternal Moon's Marrow is already inside me."

Then Arlecchino abruptly changed her tone, a flicker of killing intent surfacing in her eyes.

"Mister Piers, I think there's something you need to understand first. Columbina is currently a high-priority fugitive wanted by the Fatui. And you, a Fatui Lieutenant, are openly discussing such matters in front of three Harbingers..."

Anyone unfamiliar with the relationship between Arlecchino and Columbina would probably have been badly rattled by that. But Piers knew the two of them got along well.

In the main storyline, she'd come to Nod-Krai for Columbina's sake too, so she was most likely just messing with Piers now, trying to give him a scare.

"the Knave, when it comes to helping Columbina, I'm not acting on behalf of the Fatui — this is my own personal choice. Besides, I doubt you'd refuse my request anyway."

"Well, since you put it that way, I suppose I'll have to set aside my role as Harbinger for the moment and speak for myself, too."

As it turned out, Piers had guessed right — the flicker of killing intent in Arlecchino's eyes vanished at once. It just went to show that the children of the House of the Hearth still lived their lives on edge.

Someone like Arlecchino could scare a person half to death with just a look, even when she was only joking around.

"That said, we're not very familiar with Moon Marrows. Since it's the power of the ancient Three Moons, we should be careful — there's bound to be some risk involved. If possible, we should let Columbina know. She'd probably be more familiar with it."

"I already told Columbina earlier. Once you're ready, we can go find her directly."

"It seems Mister Piers really has thought of everything — all that's left is me. Though I do need a day to find a place to use the Two Worlds' Flames. Once I find somewhere suitable, I'll let you know right away."

With business concluded, Arlecchino picked up her teacup again and took a sip, only to find it had gone a little cold. She picked up the kettle on the table and topped it off with hot water.

"Is Arlecchino staying here? In that case, I'll stay too. There's nothing for me back in Snezhnaya anyway — spending all day at the Snezhnograd Veche watching Pantalone and Pulcinella just puts me in a bad mood."

Rosalyn glanced at Sandrone beside her.

"Being around Sandrone is more fun, anyway."

Afterward, Arlecchino and Rosalyn temporarily settled in at the Fatui Bureau of Experimental Design. As for their rooms, Sandrone had privately made a point of arranging for the two to be kept some distance apart.

Sandrone and Piers's rooms were on the north side, while Rosalyn and Arlecchino were placed in rooms to the south.

Early the next morning, Arlecchino left the Fatui Bureau of Experimental Design to search for a suitable location. She worked fast — even searching alone, it took her only half a day to find the right place.

After telling Piers, he didn't hesitate for a moment — he went straight to the Silvermoon Court and hauled Columbina out.

What followed played out much like in the original storyline: Arlecchino's Two Worlds' Flames opened a passage to another world, and Piers and Columbina went in to search.

It didn't take long before the two of them found the so-called Iridescent Moon's Marrow. But... things didn't seem to be going quite the way Piers had expected.

According to the original storyline, the Iridescent Moon should have recognized Columbina — even calling out "Sipe—"

But this time, the Iridescent Moon's Marrow was indeed right there in front of them, yet it didn't recognize Columbina at all. It even attacked. Piers wasn't afraid of this already-shattered moon, though.

This was the Iridescent Moon's own domain — if he struck carelessly, one wrong move could collapse the space entirely, and then neither of them would be able to get out.

Piers could only use his adept power to shield himself and Columbina. They were fine, but the Iridescent Moon's Marrow kept darting all over the air, impossible to catch.

Outside, Arlecchino was still using the Two Worlds' Flames to sustain the passage. The longer this dragged on, the worse the curse's corrosion on her body would get.

What was going on here? Wasn't the Iridescent Moon supposed to recognize Columbina and hand the Marrow over to her directly? What was this situation? Was it because it was him accompanying Columbina in instead of Lumine? No, that didn't make sense either — no matter how he thought about it, that couldn't be the reason.

There wasn't much time to think it over. Fortunately, the Iridescent Moon was far too weak, and the Marrow's movements began to slow. Seizing the moment, Piers wrapped the whole Marrow in his adept power and forced it out with him.

"Oh? You're out. If you'd taken much longer, I might have gone down with you too."

Arlecchino waved her hand, withdrawing the Two Worlds' Flames and sealing the door between worlds. Piers then took out the Iridescent Moon's Marrow and handed it to her.

"My body can only hold one Marrow at a time. You're a descendant of the Crimson Moon Dynasty, so I'll leave this Iridescent Moon's Marrow with you for now."

"No problem."

She reached out and took the Iridescent Moon's Marrow from Piers. The instant she touched it, the Marrow sank directly into her body.

"All right. Now I just need to find that Lantern Fae, bring the Moon Hunter over, and toss him into the Moon Gate. Arlecchino, could you keep an eye on Columbina for me? I'll be right back."

Piers pulled Columbina over next to Arlecchino, then, sensing roughly where the trace of adeptal mist he'd left on Flins was, headed off in that direction.

As it happened, the adeptal mist's location was right in Nasha Town, not far off.

A short while later, Piers arrived in Nasha Town. As he walked down the street, something still felt off to him — where exactly had it gone wrong? Sonnet not recognizing Columbina — surely it wasn't really just because he wasn't Lumine?

Before he knew it, he'd arrived at the entrance to the Curatorium of Secrets. His mind occupied with other things, he hadn't paid attention to where he was going — he'd simply followed the pull of the adept power sensation and walked in.

It was only once inside that he realized a whole crowd of people were sitting there — practically every character who'd ever appeared in Nod-Krai was gathered in one place.

Varka, Durin, Albedo, Lumine, Nephele, Lauma, and Flins, plus Jahoda — aside from the two witches, pretty much everyone was there.

"Oh? Flins, is this... the one you mentioned...? He looks somewhat familiar. I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."

Nephele stared at Piers in the doorway, arms crossed, brow furrowed.

"Is this some kind of welcoming ceremony?"

Piers walked over, curious.

"Sorry, Mister Piers — the Moon Hunter fragment you left with me... it's gone."

Flins raised his hand, and the deep-blue flame lantern from before appeared in his palm.

"Gone? Did I misjudge it? The Moon Hunter, in that state, still had the strength to resist?"

Piers wasn't worried, though — the Moon Hunter had one of his adeptal art talismans on him. Even if he'd broken free, some residual adept power would inevitably remain.

"No, it was someone else. I didn't see who — they snatched the lantern and let the Moon Hunter out of it."

"Someone strong enough to beat you? And on the Moon Hunter's side, no less?"

"Seems that way."

That left Piers rather puzzled. Flins wasn't weak by any measure, and as a Lantern Fae he could even use arts unique to his race. There weren't many on the Moon Hunter's side to begin with — from start to finish, it had only ever been [Il Dottore].

But wasn't [Il Dottore] dead?

Then it struck Piers — one possibility. The forty-five-year-old Dottore was also [Il Dottore]. The thirty-five-year-old one had died, and the forty-five-year-old one had inherited everything — it wouldn't even be strange for him to dissect his own body.

Zandik himself had never been a good person to begin with, and all of his Segments were more or less cut from the same cloth. The forty-five-year-old Dottore was only slightly better than his thirty-five-year-old self — but he still had precious little to do with the word 'human.'

Piers tried sensing for the adeptal art talisman on the Moon Hunter, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't detect the faintest trace of adept power. That only confirmed his suspicion further — the only one who understood his adeptal arts well enough to pull this off was the forty-five-year-old Dottore.

"I think I know who it is now. My moral standards were too high back then — I should have just killed him along with the rest of them."

"What are you talking about, Piers? What moral standards?"

Paimon, floating nearby, stared at Piers with clear, innocent eyes.

"It's nothing. The Moon Hunter's body fragment was probably taken by Dottore."

"What?!"

"No need to look so shocked. It's not like this is the first time you've crossed paths with him."

"Well then, Mister Piers, do you have any way to track down this Dottore now?"

Varka, standing nearby, was fairly calm about it — probably because he hadn't had anything to drink yet today.

"Just wait. He'll most likely surface on his own. If he really wanted to stay hidden, I can hardly imagine anyone finding him."

"But if we just wait like this, what if the Moon Hunter recovers his full strength...?"

"Judging by how the Moon Hunter recovered his strength before, he needs a huge amount of Lunar Force to fill himself back up. If [Il Dottore] made any real move — a large-scale disappearance of Lunar Force — I'd find him instantly. Besides... he doesn't seem like the type to build something stronger than himself."

"Did you hear that? So, everyone, can you all get going now? This is the first time my Curatorium of Secrets has ever been this crowded."

There was a note of complaint in Nephele's tone.

"This adept... will you really be all right on your own? The enemy is quite formidable — the Fatui's Second Harbinger, and one of the Five Sinners of Khaenri'ah. If you do find any trace of Dottore or the Moon Hunter, please let us know."

Albedo, standing to the side, spoke up.

"Don't worry, Mister Albedo. This isn't the first time I've crossed blades with them, either. If it ever comes to the point where I can find them, dragging it out any longer usually just makes things worse."

"You... know me?"

"I'd only heard of the reputation of the Liyue adept before. Meeting you today, you're even more impressive than I expected — knowing someone's name without ever having met them."

Before Piers could explain, Varka jumped in first with a compliment.

"Uncle Varka, I've simply been to Mondstadt before. I do know important figures like the Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius and the Chief Alchemist. As for Pai—"

Piers turned his head to look, and the glance alone made Paimon look guilty at once.

"Wh-what did I do...?"

"You didn't go and tell them everything about me, did you?"

"Hehe, everyone here is a good friend, and since we're facing a common enemy, sharing a bit of information like that shouldn't be a problem, right? Besides, I only told them you're a Liyue adept."

Paimon gave an awkward little laugh. Piers suddenly found himself regretting ever having told Paimon anything about himself.

"I see. But adept, given your age, calling me 'Uncle' hardly seems fitting, does it? Aren't Liyue adepts all supposed to be over a thousand years old?"

"Just because an old adept can look young doesn't mean every young-looking adept is actually old. In a few more months, I'll only be nineteen."

"Ah, my apologies. I assumed all adepts were quite old — I didn't expect there'd be one this young."

"Excuse me, everyone — are you all just going to ignore me like this?"

The look Nephele gave Varka made him feel a flicker of danger.

"Ah, well, now that things are settled, maybe we should find somewhere else to talk. I've got a feeling that if we linger any longer, Miss Nephele's going to start throwing us out herself."

Varka was the first to push the door open and walk out, with the others following close behind. But just as Piers was about to leave too, Nephele called out to stop him.

"Adept, could I trouble you to wait a moment? There's actually something else I need to discuss with you in detail."

"What?" Piers turned back, a little puzzled.

"Jahoda, shut the door!"