Mondstadt was a city of perpetual spring.
There were no howling blizzards of the snowy realm, no bone-chilling frost—even the passing breeze was soft, carrying the scent of green grass and blooming flowers.
This was Filins’s second time setting foot in this land of wind.
The first time was accompanying the imperial procession of His Majesty the Tsar of White Sands, when the honor guard traveled thousands of miles from Snezhnaya to sign an alliance between the two nations.
Back then, he was still a master of ceremonies at His Majesty’s side, dressed in luxurious ceremonial robes, standing in the ranks as he watched Mondstadt’s envoys step forward to welcome them.
Coming here from Nod-Krai was also a journey of thousands of miles.
In the blink of an eye, thousands of years had passed.
Things remained, but the people had changed.
Standing on the hillside outside Mondstadt, Filins gazed at the familiar city in the distance, unable to suppress a sigh of nostalgia.
Back then, Mondstadt had not been so prosperous, nor had its city walls been so high.
Looking at it now, the streets were widened, the buildings renovated, and even the guards stationed at the gate had changed over who knew how many generations.
“Mr. Lantern Bearer?”
A youthful voice pulled him back to reality.
Filins turned his head to see the Knights of Favonius surveyor beside him looking at him with concern.
Mika was a blonde youth with gentle features and a soft voice, looking very easygoing.
“If you’re tired, should I take you to the Goth Grand Hotel to rest first?”
Filins shook his head.
“No, I was just feeling a bit nostalgic,” he said.
“Mondstadt is no longer as I remember it.”
Mika blinked.
“Mr. Filins, you’ve been to Mondstadt before?” He thought for a moment.
“Ah, that makes sense. You are a very old sprite, after all.”
Filins felt a touch helpless.
The young knight spoke directly without any malice, but that phrase “very old sprite” still caused Filins’s heart to skip a beat.
—He had originally been working as a Lantern Bearer in Nod-Krai, his non-human cover hidden completely tight.
The blowing of his cover had happened on a completely ordinary night—even now, thinking back on it made Filins’s heart race.
The tavern had been packed that day.
More than a dozen Knights of Favonius were drinking celebration wine, the Lantern Bearers from the Nasha Town region were gathered together chatting, and in the corner, the owner of the Secretarium was discussing business.
Filins had only gone to have a drink, sitting quietly by the bar.
Then a passing knight glanced at him and suddenly stopped.
“Hey? That young man looks a lot like a portrait in the Lawrence Museum,” the knight pointed at him.
“You wouldn’t happen to be a sprite too, would you?”
Filins almost spat out his drink.
The Lantern Bearers, never ones to pass up drama, instantly grew interested.
“Impossible, impossible,” one Lantern Bearer waved his hand.
“Filins is one of ours, not a sprite.”
“But he really looks like it,” the knight insisted.
“The Lawrence Museum has a hallway dedicated to portraits of sprite nobles. I remember one that looks identical to him.”
The Lantern Bearers looked suspiciously at Filins.
Filins wanted nothing more than to shrink under the counter.
*Dear ladies and gentlemen, please just drink your wine and forget about me.*
But people who have had too much to drink have no reason left.
Another knight leaned over, smacking his lips.
“I remember there was a name under the portrait… Kirill Chud… something.”
Filins was already breaking out in a cold sweat.
Yeloya, a Lantern Bearer he was fairly familiar with, swept a sharp gaze over him—Yeloya had been among the first to suspect his identity.
The final blow came from a third knight. This story is hosted at g.com.
“I thought those paintings were pretty back then, so I took photos,” that knight began scrolling through his photo album.
“Look at the third painting in this picture—doesn’t it look just like him?”
Filins nearly pulled his head into his collar to cosplay a headless knight.
Why on earth would someone carry photos of a museum around with them?
No one was listening to his explanations anymore.
The two groups of drunkards surrounded him at the same time.
The Lantern Bearers pinned down the mysterious man from both sides while the Knights held up the photo to compare.
“It looks just like him!”
“It’s practically identical!”
“Look at his eyes and nose—”
“This is the exact same person, isn’t it?”
Filins: …
On that day, his cover was thoroughly blown.
Later, Grand Master Varka personally forced those troublemaking knights to apologize to him.
Saying things like “Sorry for causing you trouble, Mr. Filins” and “Our boys drank too much and didn’t know any better.”
However, once a cover is blown, it can never be picked back up.
Since then, the normally quiet Evernight Graveyard had received many visitors.
There were curious Lantern Bearers, Knights of Favonius joining the fun, and random people from Nod-Krai who came specifically to “pay respects to an ancient sprite.”
After all, intelligence on the flagship was always the fastest.
Lantern Chief Nikita sighed to him, “I can’t cover for you anymore, Filins. You had better pick a time to explain everything to everyone.”
And so, almost everyone came to know that he was a sprite—specifically, the historic “Spectral Flame” Chudomir.
Now that things had reached this point, there was no sense in Filins keeping up the charade, though Evernight Graveyard was far too noisy now.
He and Mika bade farewell to the coachman who had given them a ride and walked toward Mondstadt’s main gate.
The two guards standing duty at the gate immediately saluted upon seeing Mika.
“Mika’s back!”
“Thanks for your hard work!”
Mika returned the salutes one by one.
Filins followed behind him, taking in the city he had been away from for thousands of years.
The streets were as lively as he remembered.
Festival decorations were everywhere—ribbons hung from eaves, wreaths wrapped around streetlights, and pure white Cecilia petals and feathers floated down gently from above, scattering across the ground.
“It happens to be the Windblume Festival right now,” Mika said.
“If you’re not in a hurry to leave after visiting your relatives, Mr. Filins, you can take a turn around the city. The Windblume Festival has lots of fun activities.”
Filins nodded.
“Let’s handle official business first,” he said.
“Please introduce me to our contact in the Knights of Favonius, Mr. Mika.”
“Sure.”
Mika led him across several main avenues and through the fountain plaza to the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
It was a stone-brick building standing taller than the surrounding residences, with the banner of the Knights hanging over the entrance.
Knights coming and going were dressed in neat uniforms, walking with hurried steps.
Mika brought him to the first floor and knocked on the Acting Grand Master’s office door.
“Come in.”
The door opened, revealing three people waiting inside.
Mika stepped aside to let Filins enter and began the introductions.
“Allow me to introduce you. This is the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, the Dandelion Knight, Jean Gunnhildr.”
Standing at the front was a woman with a blonde ponytail, a tall posture, and a valiant, handsome face.
Placing her right fist over her heart, she gave Filins a flawless knight’s salute.
“Greetings, Mr. Lantern Bearer, traveling from afar,” Jean said, her voice clear and powerful.
“Welcome to Mondstadt. Grand Master Varka explained your purpose in his letter.”
“Your distant relative, the Spindrift Knight Eula Lawrence, was originally supposed to receive you alongside us. However, she has an urgent mission and had to excuse herself early.”
Hearing the words “distant relative,” a polite smile formed on Filins’s face.
He did have a slight connection with the Lawrence Clan—thousands of years ago, Genevieve, who had married into the Lawrence family, was an old acquaintance of his.
The sprite bloodline had thinned after being passed down through the Lawrences for so many generations, yet an ancestor-reverting descendant had unexpectedly yielded a half-blood Frost Sprite—namely, the Spindrift Knight, Eula.
Calling her a “distant relative” was practically a stretch; he wasn’t even from the same clan as Genevieve—one was a Lamp Sprite and the other a Frost Sprite.
Not to mention the countless generations separating them.
Still, he had indeed come to Mondstadt under the pretext of “visiting a distant relative.”
The Fatui’s intelligence network was sharp, and the Lantern Bearers did not want Snezhnaya to discover their friendly overtures to Mondstadt.
“The other two are also key members of the Knights,” Jean continued, following Mika’s cue.
“This is Ms. Lisa, a genius scholar who graduated from the Akademiya, and Mr. Albedo, our Chief Alchemist.”
A lady with chestnut-brown hair leaned lazily against the window frame.
Dressed in a witch-style gown, she waved to Filins.
The other was a blonde youth with a calm expression and a composed aura, measuring Filins with a scrutinizing gaze.
Filins took a step forward, placed his right hand over his chest, and bowed slightly.
“It is an honor to meet you three.” His gaze passed over Jean, Lisa, and Albedo in turn.
“I have long heard of the Dandelion Knight’s fame.
The Grand Master often speaks of you at the tavern, and seeing you today, you are indeed as valiant and impressive as reputed.
“Ms. Lisa’s erudition precedes her; to achieve such accomplishments at the Akademiya marks you as a true genius.
“Mr. Albedo is young and accomplished, with a serene air—one can tell at a glance that you are dedicated to scholarship.”
Lisa chuckled, “My, this Mr. Lantern Bearer certainly knows how to speak sweetly.”
Jean nodded gently, while Albedo watched him quietly.
After a few brief pleasantries, they got down to business.
Jean gestured for everyone to take a seat, and Lisa personally poured a cup of tea for Filins.
“The Grand Master mentioned in his letter that Nod-Krai intends to share certain technologies regarding the management of the Abyss,” she said.
“May I ask what specific details those entail?”
“Nod-Krai has two methods for managing the Abyss. One is a mechanical cannon invented by Miss Aino, which uses Lunar Power to charge and can break apart larger Abyssal nodes or respond to tide-level disasters.”
He looked at the three seated before him.
“However, this method treats the symptoms rather than the root cause, serving primarily to contain the spread of larger disasters. Moreover, it isn’t suitable for other regions—because Lunar Power only exists in Nod-Krai.”
Lisa nodded gently; she had heard whispers of Nod-Krai’s unique nature.
“So the other method is what you wish to share?”
“Yes,” Filins said.
He reached out and retrieved an item from the small lantern he carried with him.
It was a small block of ice, displaying a translucent, crystal-like blend of pink and blue.
It rested quietly in his palm, emitting a faint chill.
Lisa’s eyes widened slightly.
“Oh? Is this Ice VI?”
As a genius witch who had graduated from the Akademiya, she was indeed well-informed.
Albedo also leaned closer, stroking his chin as he examined it carefully.
Seeing Jean’s confusion, he explained to her, “Ice VI is a mineral-like ice form that only appeared five hundred years ago.
People speculate that it is the raw material used to craft Light Cones.
“However, this material is extremely precious.
Ice VI is produced only in Snezhnaya and Nod-Krai, and Snezhnaya treats it as a strategic material, prohibiting its export.
“In Nod-Krai, Ice VI appears only in dangerous areas, making it hard for ordinary people to obtain.
“I have a small piece preserved in my workshop, but its purity isn’t as high as this one… Could this have been mined directly from raw ore?”
Filins looked at the ice in his palm, his gaze turning distant.
“Mr. Albedo and Ms. Lisa are very knowledgeable, but we prefer to call it…” he said, “『The Tsar’s Legacy』.”