Chapter 167: Piers: I'm not dead yet, and you've already bought me a funeral wreath? (Patreon)

Her face was always cold, and even when a flicker of disappointment crossed her eyes, it was hard for anyone to notice. She lifted her gaze from her feet and let it settle slowly on Piers's face, her expression so flat it barely stirred.

"Yes, but I really like your performances too, Miss Odette. Don't tell me you think I only like Miss Vodyanitsa's shows and not yours?"

Piers finally sensed that something was off. Watching Odette's profile, he softened his tone.

"No… so… could I change my request?"

Odette asked it point-blank. She turned back to Piers, her eyes earnest, without a hint of evasion. Piers realized she truly wasn't being polite at all. Most people in this situation would save face by claiming that was their only request.

"Of course. So what else would you like, Miss Odette?"

"I haven't decided yet. Let's call it a debt for now."

Piers blinked, then nodded.

"Uh… all right. If that's all, I'll head off first. I need to report to Her Majesty, and today's documents should be arriving soon."

"Okay."

Piers left quickly. He felt a little guilty going to see the Cryo Archon without having finished his mission, but if he didn't go soon, Vesna was really going to croak under that mountain of paperwork.

He returned to the little cabin where they processed documents and pushed open the door. The smell of paper and ink hung over the scattered pages on the desk.

Vesna was still asleep, sprawled across the desk, the two pairs of wings on her back drooping, their tips trailing on the floor.

A new stack of documents had already appeared on the desk, most likely delivered during the short time Piers was away.

Piers decided not to wake her yet. He'd read through the files while he waited for her to come around, turning pages as quietly as he could. He needn't have bothered, though. The rustle of paper was never going to wake Vesna.

At last, when the Vila who delivered breakfast knocked again, Vesna woke up.

Before Piers could even stand, Vesna bolted to the door, her face full of excitement. She didn't even need a clock to know it was mealtime.

But when she opened the door, there was no Vila in sight. The food box had been left on the wooden steps, just like the documents Piers had picked up this morning, and it was a lot bigger than last night's dinner box.

Vesna bent down and hugged the box up, sniffed it first, and her eyes lit up at once.

Her nose hadn't lied. When she carried it in and set it on the table, it turned out to be a meal for two, every dish packed in two identical portions, separately.

"Great! Hehe, looks like that little one who delivers the food knew one portion isn't enough for me and sent two on purpose. But there's no need to pack them separately. It's a hassle to eat that way. Just put more in one box, right?"

Vesna muttered to herself, then dumped the two identical portions of each dish into a single box, completely ignoring Piers beside her.

"Say, Lord Vesna…"

"Hm? What is it?"

"That's supposed to be a meal for two."

"I know! The Winter Pact sent it over specially. I'll have to praise them properly when I get back."

She hadn't caught his meaning at all. She was still happily merging two low-density lunch boxes into one high-density lunch box, and Piers watched her work, speechless.

"What if, and hear me out here, part of that meal is mine?"

"Of course there's a part for you. You get double the vegetables today!"

A laugh escaped Piers before he could stop it. They said people laugh when they're speechless, and now he understood.

He couldn't be bothered arguing with Vesna. He didn't need to eat anyway.

Food was for restoring stamina, but Piers figured that explaining to Vesna why he needed to take back his portion would burn more energy than the portion could ever replenish.

After breakfast, Piers and Vesna went to see the Cryo Archon together, and relieved Vesna of her acting post while they were at it.

As for the Three Deadly Selves in Piers's body, the Cryo Archon didn't ask about them at all. She simply listened to the report, let her gaze rest on Piers for a moment, and then dismissed them.

Back in the cabin, Piers realized there was a very important problem.

Guizhong had recovered all her power, yet the System reward hadn't been settled. In other words, restoring her power didn't count as completing the quest.

If the quest wasn't complete, then at this point there was only one person who could threaten Guizhong and whom he'd already dealt with before.

Don't tell me I have to beat up the Ruler of Death? Seriously?

It wasn't that Piers was scared. The problem was that they'd already fought once. He simply couldn't win. Scared or not, it wouldn't change the outcome.

As he was thinking, a knock suddenly came at the door.

"Come in."

A soldier in a Fatui uniform entered and bowed the moment he saw Piers.

"Lord Piers, Lord [Regrator]… has returned."

"Understood."

After Piers acknowledged him, the man withdrew. Piers's knowledge of the Genshin Impact storyline only went as far as [Doctor] infiltrating Irminsul, and he had no idea what came after. Still, if [Regrator] was back, the Traveler's arrival in Snezhnaya couldn't be far off.

While Piers was mulling it over, the knock came again.

"Come in. What is it this time?"

He assumed the man hadn't finished his report, but when he saw who walked in, it wasn't the same person.

"Well, well~ Our Lord Piers. What is it you want to report to me?"

Sandrone strode in, arms folded, heels clicking, one step at a time.

"Lord [Marionette]?"

"That's right, it's me, I…"

She wore a proud look, but halfway through her sentence, Piers's next words changed her expression entirely.

"You actually knock now?"

"Hey! What kind of thing is that to say? Is that really how rude you think I am?"

Sandrone's elegant image shattered on the spot. Furious, she slammed the great door shut behind her.

"Sorry, sorry, it was just an involuntary exclamation. Weren't you out on a mission? How come you're back so soon?"

"You're back from your mission too, aren't you? What, you get to come back but I don't?"

What's with Kitty today? Did she swallow gunpowder? No, wait, Kitty is a puppet. There might really be gunpowder inside as propellant fuel.

"I didn't say that."

"Tch. What are your plans for the rest day?"

Sandrone folded her arms and eyed Piers out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm going to see a show at the Korolevskiy Troupe. I'm buying tickets this afternoon."

"Huh? You're going to a show? Did Odette tell you to go?"

That Kitty, spying on me again. I almost forgot she still has a little doll at my place. Wait, doesn't that mean me and Senior Sister—!! Probably not. Kitty can't have been linked to the doll back then, or she wouldn't be so calm.

"I ran into Miss Odette earlier and she did invite me. But I was planning to go even if she hadn't."

"Get me a ticket too, while you're at it."

Sandrone sounded a bit guilty saying it. She seemed to be trying to look less deliberate, which only made her look more deliberate.

"Why would you need a ticket, Lord [Marionette]? Don't Harbingers have a private box?"

"None of your business! Can't I just not like boxes? Just thinking about sharing one with Pantalone and the rest gives me goosebumps."

She shuddered, her face full of distaste. This time it didn't look staged at all. She was genuinely revolted.

"Well… all right. I'll get one for you too."

"Make sure the seats are together. Uh… I'm not used to sitting next to strangers. You, at least, don't count as a stranger."

"No problem."

Piers agreed offhandedly and went back to reviewing the paperwork in his hands, but Sandrone just stood there without leaving. She looked like she had more to say but didn't want to be the one to bring it up.

"Lord [Marionette], is there something else?"

"N-no, nothing! I'm just tired, so I'm resting here for a bit."

She hurried over to the sofa and sat down as if nothing were wrong.

Piers couldn't be bothered to deal with her and kept working. As he read on, he suddenly came across a rather unusual document.

To be precise, it wasn't a document but a notice, forwarded by Katheryne. The whole package held a single sheet of paper with nothing on it but Furina's name.

But the pattern on that sheet was special. It was a special letter from the Adventurers' Guild, normally sent when someone wanted to meet another person face to face.

That reminded Piers that he'd said he would go see Furina.

At first he hadn't had the time. Later he certainly did, since he wasn't so busy that he couldn't spare an afternoon, but then he'd forgotten. The thought struck him now, and a pang of guilt followed.

"Lord [Marionette]."

Piers looked up and called toward the sofa.

"Hm? What is it?"

"I've got something to take care of in a bit. Could I trouble you to buy the ticket for me?"

"If you don't have time, don't go to the show. I don't have time to line up and snag tickets for you."

Sandrone turned her head away, her tone sour and cutting. Piers was puzzled. Wasn't Sandrone going to the Korolevskiy Troupe too? If she wasn't using a box, didn't she need a ticket as well? Why not just pick one up for herself while she was at it?

"But… aren't you going to the show too, Lord [Marionette]? Just grab me one while you're at it."

"Heh… I only said that offhand. I'm busy every day. Where would I find time for amusements like that? If you don't have time to buy a ticket, then don't go. It's just one show, no big deal."

As she spoke, her tone turned gleeful at his misfortune, the corners of her mouth curling up, though her eyes darted around.

"Since I promised Miss Odette, I should be there. But if you don't have time to go, Lord [Marionette], I'll just go on my own."

"Huh? No, I…"

Sandrone was flustered again. She'd been so absolute a moment ago that backing out now didn't seem right either.

"What's wrong, Lord [Marionette]?"

"Nothing. Go by yourself, then. I was just talking. I never actually planned to go."

Though reluctant, Sandrone gritted her teeth and stuck to her earlier story for the sake of her pride. The moment she finished, she turned her face away, terrified Piers would ask one more question.

"All right…"

…

Toward the afternoon, Piers finished the day's work early, then left the room and headed for Furina's residence inside Snezhnograd. The sky outside the corridor looked cold, and wind slipped in through the cracks in the windows.

Seeing Piers leave, Sandrone hurried after him, her steps quick, her boot heels clacking against the frozen stone slabs of Zapolyarny Palace.

But the moment Piers stepped outside, he pinched together an adeptal art to save time and vanished on the spot.

By the time Sandrone followed him out, Piers was already gone. She stood in the doorway, stunned for a moment, then clenched her jaw. Furious yet powerless, all she could do was punch the wall beside her.

The two guards at the door flinched, their heels inching back half a step without their noticing.

"What are you looking at!"

Sandrone snapped at the two guards, who immediately turned their heads and stared straight ahead, pretending nothing had happened.

…

"Great, he's not dead, he's not dead."

In a rental unit on a Snezhnograd street, Furina's voice sounded like a child who'd just gotten a new toy. She was hugging a newspaper.

On it was an apology statement from [Grab a Kvass!], apologizing for spreading the rumor of Piers's death. It was the paper's first apology ever. They had run even more explosive stories in the past, and never apologized for any of them.

Half an hour earlier, tears had streamed down Furina's face as she slumped weakly against the wreath in the living room, utterly alone, looking exactly like the Hydro Archon's final moments in Fontaine's prophecy.

Her fingers had been cold then, the corners of the newspaper crumpled in her grip, the white flowers of the wreath hanging beside her shoulder.

Knock knock knock—

"Hm? Who is it?"

Right in the middle of her excitement, a knock came at the door. Furina was puzzled, but she trotted over to open it anyway. Her hand had barely touched the knob when she smoothed the hair by her ear, as if afraid of looking too haggard.

The instant the door opened, her eyes met the bright, light-catching eyes of the person outside, and she went blank. He wore Snezhnaya's chill like a cloak, snow still clinging to his hem, yet his expression was no different from usual.

"P-Piers…"

Furina looked far too stunned. She seemed never to have expected to see Piers and had no idea what to say.

Or perhaps she'd imagined this moment so many times that, now it was real, she had too much to say and no idea where to begin.

"What are you staring at? Didn't you send Katheryne a letter telling me to come? I'm here to collect the rent, and also to… clear up a rumor. Everyone in Snezhnaya has been saying I'm dead lately. I have to set the record straight, or I'll scare someone walking the streets at night."

Piers ignored Furina's shock entirely and walked right past her into the room, so naturally that anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was the one living there. He swept a glance across the room, and his gaze quickly came to rest on the center of the living room.

"Wait!"