–+–
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Dull, wild gunshots cracked one after another, mixed with the sharp hiss of blades cutting through the air.
In a flash, the air filled with the harsh sting of gunpowder.
“They’re coming this way.”
Sandrone’s gaze sharpened.
She grabbed Columbina, who had been staring at the black crystals by the roadside, and ducked into the shadow of a rusty train car that had tipped over beside the tracks.
The two of them crouched behind the car and peered through the corroded gaps, watching the two sorry figures fleeing toward them.
“Anby! Why are these Tyrfings chasing us like rabid dogs?!”
The one running behind was a tall red figure with silver hair standing on end.
In his hands, two huge revolvers spat tongues of fire.
As he fired blindly behind him to slow the pursuers, he shouted,
“If this keeps up, I’m gonna blow my ammo budget! Boss Nicole is gonna kill me!”
The one running ahead was a small girl with short silver-white hair and a massive tactical backpack on her shoulders.
She swung the long blade in her hand and cut down several small monsters trying to flank them, her voice calm.
“Stop wasting words, Billy. Save your ammo and focus on shaking them off.”
A pack of Ethereals chased after them.
They were the same kind that had attacked Sandrone and Columbina earlier.
“One is called Billy, and the other is Anby? And that is…”
Sandrone’s eyes locked on the tall red figure at once.
“…A metal mask? Yellow electronic eyes? And that metal torso… an alchemical puppet? Has this world’s alchemy truly reached this form?”
“Sandrone~”
Columbina’s light voice drifted over.
“Should we wipe out the things behind them?”
Sandrone at once pressed down Columbina’s eager little hand.
She lowered her voice, her tone stern.
“We don’t know what’s going on yet. Those two look like local armed forces, so don’t expose your power. We need guides, and more than that, we need information. If they decide we’re ‘monsters,’ we won’t be able to talk.”
She paused, her eyes returning to the battle as she studied the shifting situation.
“If they can’t hold out, deal with some of the troublesome small fry from the shadows… and remember, do it clean. Don’t let them notice.”
“And! When they come over later, don’t talk too much. Got it?” Sandrone warned her again and again.
“Okay, Sandrone.” Columbina nodded like a good child.
Her pink eyes curved, as if she found this game of hide-and-seek quite fun.
Seeing Columbina’s eyes open once more at some point, the tension in Sandrone’s heart eased a little.
Maybe this was the good thing about coming to a new world.
At least she no longer had to speak to that lace blindfold.
Just then, the battlefield changed.
“Billy, Ether crystal!”
The girl named Anby leapt high into the air.
Her long blade drew a fierce arc and struck the base of a massive Ether crystal above the tunnel with perfect aim.
“Got it!”
Billy reacted fast.
He spun around mid-run, both guns blazing as his bullets struck the crack Anby had just carved open.
“Rumble—!”
A violent collapse followed.
The huge black-green crystal snapped at the base and crashed down with countless chunks of concrete.
In an instant, it sealed off the path behind them and sent dust billowing into the air.
“Run! Behind the train car up ahead!” Anby sheathed her blade and lowered her body as she kept sprinting.
“You got it! That combo was perfect!” Billy whistled as he ran, glancing back now and then to see if any stragglers had slipped through.
Dust filled the air.
For the moment, no Ethereals broke through the barrier.
“Haaah—”
When they reached the train car, Billy let out a small breath of relief and was just about to lean against it.
“Man, that’s great! The Ether crystal was stable, so it didn’t explode. When we get back, I’m gonna ask General Chop to add two eggs to my—uh, Anby?”
Billy turned his head, only to find that Anby had not hidden behind the train car right away.
She stood at the corner, one hand back on her sword hilt, her body tense as she stared into the depths of the shadow.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”
Billy jumped in fright.
Sparks scraped under his feet as he came to an exaggerated stop.
His guns snapped toward the back of the train car, his face serious.
“Anby, what’s wrong? Ethereals?”
The air froze for half a second.
“Tap, tap…”
With the soft sound of high heels stepping on gravel, Sandrone walked out.
There was no panic on her face.
One hand was raised open at her side to show she held no weapon, while the other held Columbina tight.
“—Eh?”
Billy lifted a brow.
His fingers, which had been on the triggers, loosened a little, and surprise flashed in his eyes.
“That’s… uh, two super pretty ladies?!”
Anby said nothing.
Her red eyes moved over them from head to toe: their delicate and elaborate clothes, their unprotected limbs, and that air about them that looked far too out of place in the ruins.
“You…” She frowned slightly.
“You don’t have an ID signal. You’re not from the Hollow Investigative Association? …Raiders?”
“Uh, Anby, what kind of raider doesn’t even carry a weapon and dresses like she’s going to a dinner party?” Billy lowered his guns so they no longer pointed at the two of them, then stepped half in front of Anby while keeping some guard up.
“That’s enough, you two.”
Sandrone lowered her raised hand.
Her voice carried a calm that left no room for argument.
“Aren’t you going to hide? Or do you want to get chased all the way here again?”
After saying that, she gave them no time to answer.
She simply took Columbina’s hand, turned, and returned to the deeper shadows behind the train car, where she sat down.
“Anby?” Billy stared at the way they had taken over the place like they owned it.
He scratched his head in confusion and looked at his companion.
Anby stayed silent for a moment, then listened to the movement beyond the wall of crystal.
“…Safe for now. Let’s go. We’ll rest for a while.” She released her sword hilt.
“Great! We finally get a break!”
The two of them also slipped behind the train car.
It was a closed-off triangular space, enough to block the monsters’ line of sight for the moment.
Billy dropped to the ground and checked his guns with a pained look.
“Oh, my old pals, the barrels are burning hot… If Boss finds out I burned through three magazines in one go, she’s gonna replace my motor oil with the cheapest gutter oil she can find…”
“That was necessary suppression fire.” Anby leaned against a pile of scrap metal, took a bottle of water from her backpack, and sipped it.
Then her eyes shifted to the two people across from her.
Sandrone sat with grace on a fairly clean rock, while Columbina leaned on her shoulder, looking a little sleepy.
Billy’s gaze wandered through the dim space for a few seconds before it landed on the giant wind-up key on Sandrone’s back.
He could not hold back.
“Hey, uh… mechanical lady?”
He lifted a finger and gestured.
“This might be rude, but I’m way too curious. That huge wind-up key on your back… is it some kind of new W-Engine?”
Sandrone’s hand paused as she adjusted her skirt.
“It’s just decoration.” Her face didn’t change as she gave a casual answer.
“A personal hobby.”
“Mm… I like it too,” Columbina suddenly added in a soft voice.
It was hard to tell if she was agreeing or teasing.
Sandrone’s back stiffened for a moment.
Without changing her expression, she nudged the girl beside her with her elbow and hissed through her teeth in a voice so low it could barely be heard.
“Shut up!”
“Cool!” Billy gave her an approving thumbs-up, looking as if he had found a kindred spirit.
“I love that retro style too!”
Beside him, Anby’s gaze lowered and landed on Columbina’s bare, unprotected feet.
“The ground here is made up of mixed debris, including a large amount of sharp crystal shards and metal scraps. Moving like that gives you a high chance of foot injury.”
“Huh?” Sandrone did not react right away.
She followed Anby’s gaze down…
Columbina gave her suspended ankles a small swing.
The pale soles of her feet remained spotless, so white they almost shone in the dim ruins.
Columbina tilted her head.
She didn’t seem to understand what Anby meant.
“Ah! This…” Sandrone finally realized.
She had long since gotten used to it and had forgotten that for most people, going barefoot wasn’t normal.
Anby silently dug a roll of medical bandages out of the side pocket of her backpack and held it out.
“For you,” she said simply.
“It’s a little rough, but it can protect your feet.”
Columbina’s pink eyes looked at the bandage in Anby’s hand, then lifted to look at Sandrone.
She didn’t say anything.
“Thank you.” Sandrone reached out and took it, but she did not wrap Columbina’s feet right away.
She only turned the bandage over in her hand.
It seemed much the same as the bandages in Teyvat.
“Don’t know how to wrap it?” Anby asked.
There was no mockery in her tone, only a plain question.
“Need help?”
“No!” Sandrone’s brows jumped at once, like a cat guarding its food.
Her voice came out a little rushed.
“I know how! I’ll do it!”
Sandrone shifted closer and gently placed Columbina’s lower leg across her own knee.
Her logic core began to search through the depths of her memory bank.
Long ago, Alain had dumped a vast amount of human survival knowledge into her all at once, and it happened to include first aid and bandaging.
…Ah.
Found it.
Basic bandage wrapping.
She clumsily held Columbina’s ankle.
Her fingertips brushed by accident over the soft arch of her foot.
“Mm…” Columbina instinctively pulled her foot back a little.
Her relaxed arch tensed, and even her rounded toes curled in a shy little motion.
“Sandrone, it tickles.”
“Bear with it.” Sandrone’s cheeks flushed.
She scolded her in a low voice, but her hands grew much gentler.
Layer after layer of white bandage wrapped around the ankle and foot that looked like a work of art.
Her movements were a bit stiff, but the structure of the wrap was neat and firm.
After tying the bandage, Sandrone lightly patted Columbina’s calf to show she was done, then turned to the other two.
“Thank you again.” She gave a polite nod, smoothed the wrinkles from her skirt, and then brought up a topic as if by chance.
“You two are trapped here too?”
Billy and Anby exchanged a glance.
Billy scratched his head.
“Uh, we… we sort of stumbled in by mistake. We didn’t bring a Bangboo or a Carrot, so now we can only sit here and stare. But our boss is outside. She’ll definitely find someone to rescue us!”
“Bangboo… Carrot…”
Sandrone quietly marked those two terms in her mind, though her face stayed calm.
She kept asking, “You haven’t tried walking out on your own?”
“Sandrone, did you forget?” Columbina suddenly cut in, her voice soft.
“The space here is unstable.”
Sandrone paused, then reacted at once and nodded along.
“Yes… right… I forgot for a moment.”
“A living path can look like a dead end, and a dead end might lead straight to a worse dead end,” Anby said, her tone carrying a trace of helplessness toward this kind of place.
“Anby, thank you for that precious common sense…” Billy leaned his head back against the train car’s metal side, looking as if life had lost all meaning.
Then he lifted his head and looked at Sandrone with curiosity.
“By the way, where are your Bangboo and Carrot? You two are dressed so… uh, fancy. There’s no way you came in empty-handed, right?”
Sandrone lowered her eyes, hiding the thoughts within them.
“We… in a way, also ‘stumbled in,’ so we didn’t bring anything.”
“So we’re in the same boat!” Billy first sighed with regret, but in the next second, as if something had clicked, he perked up at once.
His good-guy energy returned in full.
“No worries! When Boss’s rescue gets here, you can leave with us! It’s only two more people anyway!”
“Ahem… thank you very much.” Sandrone thanked him, though she looked a little unused to it.
“Oh, right. I’m Billy, and this is Anby.” Billy pointed at himself, then at the girl beside him.
“Sandrone.”
“Just call me Columbina.”
After the simple introductions, the mood eased a little.
“Speaking of which,” Sandrone asked as if making idle talk, “did something happen outside?”
“The Public Security’s surrounded—” Anby had just started to speak.
“Ahem! Uh!”
Billy coughed hard twice and waved his arms in an exaggerated way, cutting Anby off.
His expression looked a little stiff.
“There’s a municipal election going on lately, right? Haha! Public Security has more people out to keep order. Totally normal! This companion Hollow hasn’t existed for long either, so it’s safer to have more officers watching it! Right, Anby?”
He gave Anby frantic looks.
Sandrone lifted a brow.
‘Public Security?
Surrounded?
Looks like these two aren’t exactly ‘legal.”
She had a rough idea now, but she did not expose them.
She only nodded.
“I see.”
“Can we leave with you?” Columbina suddenly asked, breaking the brief silence.
Sandrone looked at her in surprise, but did not interrupt.
“Of course. Didn’t I just say that?” Billy patted his chest.
“When rescue comes, we’ll take you with us!”
“What I mean is…” Columbina tilted her head.
Those pink eyes seemed able to see through people’s hearts.
“Can we leave with you, avoid the Public Security officers outside, and slip away quietly?”
“Uh…”
Billy’s smile froze on his face.
His expression turned serious, and he lowered his voice.
“You two… you aren’t some rich young ladies who ran away from home, are you?!”
“Ran away from home?” Columbina tapped her chin with her index finger, as if she were thinking hard about the definition.
“I suppose so? Right? Sandrone?”
“Why are you looking at me?” Sandrone felt a chill under her gaze, as if she had remembered something she did not want to remember.
She snapped, “…It’s not like I wanted to come to this awful place.”
Billy and Anby exchanged a look.
The two of them turned around at once and huddled together, whispering.
“Anby, did you hear that? Rich young ladies who ran away from home!”
“…I heard.”
“This is big business! If we get them out safely, then send them back to their family… or help them avoid being hunted down by their family, the commission fee is gonna be huge! Boss Nicole is definitely gonna praise us!”
“Sound logic. Can execute.”
On the other side, Sandrone leaned close to Columbina’s ear and asked through gritted teeth in a low voice, “What are you trying to do? Why do we need to go with these two suspicious people?”
“Do you have money, Sandrone?” Columbina asked softly.
“Hah? Of course I… I…”
Sandrone’s voice cut off.
As one of the Fatui Harbingers, she had never been troubled by money.
All funding came straight from the Northland Bank.
But in this strange world, her Mora… probably couldn’t even buy a piece of scrap metal.
Not to mention, she did not seem to have even a single Mora on her right now.
“Fine.” Sandrone deflated like a punctured balloon and gave in.
“But next time, discuss it with me before deciding!”
“Okay, Sandrone.”
At the same time, Anby and Billy had also finished their discussion.
Billy turned around and rubbed his hands together with strange excitement, even though he still held his guns.
His eyes seemed to turn into two gold coins.
“No problem! Absolutely no problem! We welcome you two young la—cough, ladies to visit our place! We’ll make sure to protect your safety and privacy!”
Just as the group reached an agreement, in every sense of the word—
“Tap-tap-tap—”
A burst of quick but light footsteps sounded.
“Yo, you all look pretty relaxed!”
A round, orange creature wearing a red scarf squeezed out from a crack in the ruins.
Sandrone, Anby, and Billy were startled at first.
Then Anby was the first to react.
“A Bangboo wearing a scarf that speaks human language…”
“Oooh! Could you be—Phaethon?!” Billy shouted with excitement.
Sandrone’s gaze fell on the round, unknown creature.
So this was the Bangboo they had mentioned?
A Bangboo called Phaethon?
She exchanged a look with Columbina, and both saw the same confusion in each other’s eyes.
They were relying on this little thing for rescue?
“I was on edge the whole way here,” a young girl’s voice came from the Bangboo named Phaethon.
“But the strange thing is, the number of Ethereals on this route is terrifyingly low. It’s almost like someone cleared them out.”
It turned its round body and looked at Sandrone and Columbina.
“And these two are…?”
“These are our rich—ah, no, two lost friends!” Billy rushed to answer, his voice filled with barely hidden joy.
He moved closer to Phaethon and lowered his voice, though he could not hide his eager, credit-seeking excitement.
“Manager! I think we may have stumbled into a hidden commission this time. The pay is gonna be huge!”
“Huh?” Phaethon froze for a moment, then let out a soft laugh, her tone full of teasing.
“Not bad, Billy. Even now, you don’t forget to scout for clients…”
It then turned to face the two new friends and raised one small hand in a friendly wave.
“Hello there. I’m Phaethon. If you have a commission later, feel free to look us up on the Inter-Knot~”
“Hello.” Sandrone kept her manners and gave a small nod.
Phaethon nodded its round body, then turned back to the group.
Its voice became crisp and direct.
“So, is everyone done chatting? Are we resting a little longer, or are you coming with me now?”