"'After the Balladeer obtained Inazuma's Gnosis, he went missing, and the Fair Lady was slain by the Raiden Shogun's blade.' Hah... seems like quite the place for chaos and conflict."
"'Track down the whereabouts of the Balladeer, and if necessary, retrieve the Gnosis.' Heh, just my kind of job!"
"'Maintain stable relations between Snezhnaya and Inazuma. Avoid conflict with the Raiden Shogun unless absolutely necessary.' ...Tch, another one of those 'smile-and-bow' missions, huh? Why is it always me they send to apologize?"
...
"Hah... just looking at that woman, I can feel how strong she is. So, she's the one who killed the Fair Lady... makes me wonder how powerful that blade really was..."
Having met the Raiden Shogun under the pretense of a Snezhnayan diplomatic visit, Tartaglia clenched his fists. Too much idle time in Liyue had left his hands itching for battle. Now that the dull diplomacy was over, there was only one thing left for him to do—
To hunt.
He turned to his two subordinates. "After the Balladeer disappeared, did anything particularly unusual happen in Inazuma?"
The subordinate on his left immediately replied, "Yes, there's been quite the rumor going around. Not long ago, someone won three consecutive rounds of Duel Before the Throne—a feat never before seen in Inazuma—and even blocked three strikes of the Raiden Shogun's Musou no Hitotachi for his opponent!"
The subordinate on the right countered, "That may be impressive, but it clearly has nothing to do with the Balladeer, right?"
Tartaglia raised a hand to silence him, then asked the left subordinate for confirmation. "You're saying someone blocked the Fair Lady's killer's ultimate strike—thrice?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Where is this person now?"
"This... this person wasn't well-known before the duel, and he's not a native of Inazuma. With both the Balladeer and the Fair Lady gone, and us on Inazuma's wanted list, we've had our hands full just staying alive... I only know his name—Victor—and that he runs a milk tea stall in Hanamizaka. After he became famous, he occasionally shows up there."
"A milk tea stall?"
"Yes, sir. Rumor has it that he challenged the Raiden Shogun to the Duel Before the Throne because she said ;pearl milk tea tastes bad;. Looking back, that explanation might actually be true."
"Hahahaha! That's the reason? Should I call him eccentric or just confident enough to get away with it? Interesting... very interesting. Yoshiyasu, I want you to compile all unusual events possibly linked to the Balladeer. Kashiyama Ken, you're coming with me—we're going to see this milk tea stall for ourselves."
"Yes, sir!"
Kashiyama Ken couldn't help but grin. So, the rumors were true—the Eleventh Harbinger loves a good fight. His little act of eagerness was well played; knowing his superior's tastes always paid off.
...
"Why are there so many people?" Tartaglia frowned as he looked at the throngs surrounding the milk tea stall. He wasn't the type to cut in line, nor did he enjoy bullying the weak.
"Lord Childe, this place is always crowded. With the fame from the Duel Before the Throne, it's packed almost every day. Allow me to scout ahead first—"
No Fatui agent was ever weak, and Kashiyama Ken's true role was that of a Debt Collector. He climbed a nearby rooftop to observe, but soon wiped away a sudden bead of cold sweat.
Based on his observations, the stall owner had appeared once every three days since the Duel Before the Throne. However, things had changed recently—the owner hadn't appeared for eight days straight. Today was the ninth. Kashiyama Ken had taken a gamble, assuming the owner would show up. If he was right, it'd boost his standing with Childe considerably.
"According to my observation... the stall owner isn't here today."
The masked milk tea seller was nowhere to be found, but thankfully, Childe didn't seem particularly upset.
"No matter. If it's his stall, the staff should know something about him. I'll wait a little."
What followed was a long, dull wait.
When they finally reached the front, Tartaglia straightforwardly addressed the broad-shouldered employee before him—a tall man with two horns and a frame that might even surpass his own. "Hey there, you know the milk tea seller who blocked Musou no Hitotachi thrice, right? Where is he?"
"Whether you can meet Victor or not is pure luck," the horned man replied lazily. "And I don't go around spilling my friend's secrets. If you really wanna see him, buy more milk tea."
"Come on, I'm here for something important."
"Heh, everyone who comes looking for Victor says that. You don't actually take me for a fool, do you?"
Tartaglia blinked, at a temporary loss for words. Before he could reply, Kashiyama Ken stepped forward, eyes narrowing menacingly as he tried to intimidate the man. "We're not ordinary people. Tell us where your boss is—it'll be in your best interest."
Unfortunately for him, he'd chosen the wrong target.
"What, you looking for a fight?!"
Tartaglia held his overeager subordinate back, grinning. "A fight? Well, I wouldn't say no."
"Then let's do sumo! Hanamizaka's crossroads—just you and me!"
"Sumo? The Inazuman bare-handed fighting style? Sounds fun~"
"Uh, my lord," Kashiyama Ken whispered nervously, "sumo means stripping down—just a loincloth, you know..."
Tartaglia's smile stiffened. Were it not for his diplomatic title and the mantle of Fatui Harbinger, fighting half-naked in the street wouldn't bother him. But he couldn't risk making Snezhnaya—or the Tsaritsa herself—a laughingstock.
Still, he asked the staffer, "If I win, will you tell me where your boss is?"
"Of course not! That's my business—don't drag my friends into it. Here, your milk tea's ready. If you're done, move along—you're holding up the line."
And just like that, they left empty-handed—after wasting half an hour.
Under anyone else's command, Kashiyama Ken would've been in deep trouble by now. Uneasy, he suggested, "Shall I assign a few people to search for this milk tea seller?"
Tartaglia shot him a sidelong glance. "Remember this: the Tsaritsa's plan comes before anything else."
"Y-yes, my lord..."
"Besides, tracking the Balladeer can't be rushed. Yoshiyasu's surely handling things properly."
Kashiyama Ken's heart sank. So, the Lord Harbinger had brought him along only to tag along, while the important work went to someone else.
"This pearl milk tea's pretty interesting, though. If we freeze it, think we can bring some back to Snezhnaya?"
"Possibly, my lord..."
They ascended the steps from Hanamizaka back toward the main district.
Inazuma's upper and lower city were separated by a steep height difference, and the long, winding staircase connecting them curved in a C-shape. The section they were on formed a right angle, with a small platform and a bulletin board standing prominently at the turn.
Earlier, when they descended in a hurry, Tartaglia hadn't paid it any attention. But now, leisurely sipping his milk tea, his gaze happened to fall directly on that board—and one particular message stood out immediately.
"Message from Arataki Itto, the One and Oni: 'Kujou Tengu! I say, this crossroads at Hanamizaka's perfect for a sumo match! Where are you?! Forget military business for once and come wrestle! A man's promise must be kept—don't tell me all your samurai honor stays on the battlefield!'"
Below were countless lines of the same repeated message:
"Please accept Arataki-san's challenge, Lady Kujou Sara! We too wish to witness your strength!"
The sheer number of identical entries—each line perfectly aligned—made the message impossible to ignore.
At a glance, Tartaglia stopped in his tracks.
"This handwriting..."
Those messages had been deliberately preserved by Yae Miko for amusement. Most people viewed them as harmless fun, but in Tartaglia's eyes, they meant something entirely different.
For a warrior, one's eyes are everything. A keen gaze brings instinct, reflex, and survival. And his eyes—honed through endless battles—rarely deceived him. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a letter.
After carefully comparing it, the impossible became clear. Despite the time and distance, the handwriting on that letter perfectly matched the one on the bulletin board.
He turned to Kashiyama Ken. "Do you know this Arataki 'the One and Oni' Itto?"
"My lord, I've never heard the name, but there might be something in our records. Give me a moment to check."
...
"My lord, there's no 'Arataki the One and Oni Itto,' but there is someone named Arataki Itto. He's only recorded because he possesses a Vision. Seems to be a lazy troublemaker, nothing remarkable... Oh! There's an update—he recently inherited the milk tea stall from its original owner!"
"...Quite the coincidence."
Taking the file from his subordinate, Tartaglia confirmed that the man in the photo was indeed the horned milk tea seller he had just met. That meant the person most conspicuously close to him—and therefore most suspicious—was the true stall owner, Victor.
He couldn't be certain yet, but Tartaglia's intuition had already drawn its conclusion—this Victor was none other than the mysterious nameless messenger from Liyue.
"Heh... a nameless messenger, hiding in shadows. Let me be the one to uncover your true face."