Alas—— 4: All That Past!
Alas—— “She…
she’s my older sister.
Senior, do you know my sister?” Of course Piers knew her.
Back in the day, he too had been one of the Doctor’s subordinates.
There was no helping it—once you joined the Fatui, most people had no say in who their commanding officer would be.
If they did, the Doctor probably wouldn’t have a single subordinate left.
And so, most of those who were freely assigned ended up under the Doctor.
Piers had once been one of them.
Later, during an experiment Dottore was conducting, a toxic gas leak occurred.
He simply tossed out a remark about it being a “waste of time” and left on his own.
Had Sandrone not also been present at the scene, those few Fatui members taking part in the experiment would likely have all died.
Afterward, they petitioned their superiors, and the Tsaritsa granted the few of them special permission to join the camp of whichever Harbinger they wished to follow.
As for Katayena Schneznaya, she was a girl who had joined the Fatui in the same batch as Piers and was subsequently assigned under Dottore.
Later she became an Electro Cicin Mage, though she remained under the Doctor.
As for why Piers still remembered this name…
sigh—it was all the fault of youthful ignorance and a first awakening crush.
Ahem…
actually, the main reason was that she was the very Electro Cicin Mage who’d been abandoned in the Chasm back when he was clearing a Genshin Impact quest—he’d just had a fairly deep impression of her from going through that storyline.
“I know her.
She should still be away on assignment in Liyue.” “Mm!
Sis said she’d bring me back some tasty treats from Liyue.
But I heard Lord Childe has already returned from Liyue, so why hasn’t my sister come back yet?
She doesn’t even reply to the letters I write her.” The little girl held a shovel, complaining as she dug.
As she spoke, it was as if something had occurred to her—she suddenly stopped what she was doing and looked at Piers.
“Senior, you know my sister—do you know when she’ll be back?” “Uh…
well, it should be soon.
The Harbingers returned first and left a portion of people behind to handle the cleanup work.” No sooner had Piers finished speaking than the ground beneath his feet suddenly shook violently.
Most of the snow piled on the roof of the testing grounds was shaken loose, and strange noises abruptly came from all around.
The little girl, hearing the sounds, was clearly a little frightened, but she only dared to retreat toward the entrance of the testing grounds.
“Wh…
what’s that sound…” “The aura of the remains of an Archon has leaked out, drawing the monsters from the surrounding area over here.” Guizhong reminded Piers from the side.
The moment she finished speaking, hilichurls and wolves of all sizes emerged from the snow.
To be able to join the Fatui and rise to become the youngest, highest-ranking subordinate at Sandrone’s side, Piers hadn’t gotten there on his looks alone—his combat skills were actually quite good.
It was just that…
there were way too many of these monsters.
A few would have been fine, but this dense, swarming pack was a bit of a problem.
It would be great if he knew some offensive-type adeptal arts, but it seemed a little too late to learn them now.
“Sister Guizhong, can you lend a hand?” Piers asked in a lowered voice.
“No can do.
I tried last night—I can’t use any adeptal arts at all.
In this form of mine, I can’t draw in Lightrealm power from the surroundings either.” Off to the side, Katayena Schneznaya had already curled up into a ball outside the entrance, so she didn’t notice Piers’s habit of talking to thin air.
Just then, a wolf lunged straight at the balled-up Katayena.
Probably because Piers came across as the more imposing threat, it hadn’t prioritized attacking him.
“Aah!” Katayena’s legs had gone weak with fright, and she could only watch helplessly as the wolf pounced.
BOOM— In the very instant the wolf’s claws were about to touch Katayena, Piers raised a hand, and a ball of light shot out from it, slamming directly into the wolf—and incidentally parting the snow beside them right down the middle.
“That works too?” Guizhong was taken aback for a moment.
At a glance, she could see the method behind Piers’s attack—condensing a mass of adeptal energy from within his body into his hand, then hurling it out.
As long as there was enough of it, the damage was actually quite considerable.
However, a beginner like Piers shouldn’t have had much adeptal energy in his body.
But considering how Piers had gotten into the zone in a single second the night before, Guizhong suddenly found it quite reasonable again.
“If that hadn’t worked, I’d have had to consider getting in a few extra bites of wolf meat before dying—I’ve never tried it before.” His teasing over, Piers stood before Katayena and helped her to her feet.
“It’s fine.
They’re just a few monsters.” Having comforted the little girl, Piers turned around once more, his initial nervousness now gone.
The moment he knew his moves worked, it was just like General Duanmu getting hold of his Thunder Yatalas transformation belt—even the look on his face changed.
BOOM— Before the other monsters could even attack, Piers blasted off three shots in a row—a little combo capable of scaring Chaoying out of three thousand points in a single wave.
The only pity was that he couldn’t follow a blue shield into his ultimate.
“I already said it’s starting—are you deaf?!” What, didn’t hear it?
Of course not, because Piers had only said it to himself in his head.
After this wave, of the remaining monsters, some were sent flying, some were killed, and the survivors all fled.
“Th…
thank you.” Katayena clearly still hadn’t quite recovered, speaking in a timid little voice.
“It’s nothing.
I know your sister, so naturally I ought to look after you.
By the way, you’re still a Fatui reservist right now, aren’t you?
Come find me when you get officially inducted later.” Piers looked Katayena over seriously.
“Judging by your age, you should still need to spend another year in the reserves.
But it’s fine—I can help transfer you under Lady Marionette ahead of time.
There’s a batch of reservists getting officially inducted in two days, so I’ll just submit your name along with them then.” “Don’t listen to the rumors that say Lady Marionette has a bad temper.
Really, it’s all just talk—at heart she’s actually a warmhearted person.” Then again, do puppets even have intestines?
Eh, never mind, forget it—she can eat desserts and drink tea, so she must have intestines after all.
“Really?!
Thank you, Senior!” “No need to call me Senior.
We’re only a few years apart in age—just call me ‘big bro.'” “Okay, big brother.” Somehow it sounded a little weird…
“Cough cough…
cough cough…” As the two were talking, Sandrone came staggering out, propping herself against the doorframe.
“Lady Marionette.” The instant Piers reacted, he immediately stepped forward to support Sandrone, draping the Harbinger’s cloak from his own shoulders onto her in the process.
Although Sandrone was a puppet, she wasn’t actually much different from a real person—she could eat, drink, and sleep, and of course she could feel the cold too.
As for why she’d given the cloak to Piers earlier, it was simply because there was a heating system inside the testing grounds.
“Dottore’s brain must’ve gotten slammed in a door—daring to research an unstable experimental device like that.
Thank goodness I was the only one who went in, otherwise who knows how many would have died.
Just watch me go file a complaint against him with Her Majesty the Tsaritsa!” As Sandrone spoke, her body instinctively tensed with effort, but because she was so weak, exerting herself only left her even weaker.