Genshin Impact: I'm The Envoy of Snezhnaya
Chapter 419: Already Used to It
The Ausbilder was the kind of person who could always surprise others.
Kaeya knew this better than anyone, because this guy had silently appeared behind him more times than he could count.
He understood that the Ausbilder did it purely to pressure them and send a message:
If I wanted to kill you, I could do it anytime.
Before Kaeya could even speak, the nearby Riese and Rosaria had already reacted.
Rosaria rolled across the ground and took cover behind a large rock, while Riese drew his sword and pointed it at Bai Luo behind him.
That was the difference between people who had dealt with Bai Luo before and those who had not.
Bai Luo's dagger caught Riese's Favonius sword, and he immediately drove a kick into the knight's abdomen.
However, after landing the kick, he let out a quiet sound of surprise.
The armor of the Knight of Favonius, who had already rolled across the snow several times, felt strangely soft underneath.
Yet he didn't have the beer belly commonly seen among some Knights of Favonius.
Unless...
He was wearing several layers of clothing underneath.
"Ausbilder, you're as elusive as ever."
Kaeya wore his usual smile, but his hand had already moved toward the one-handed sword at his waist.
This time, he was more nervous than during any of his previous encounters with Bai Luo.
Before coming to Dragonspine, everyone knew that he had been pursuing the Sumeru men who had attempted to violate the regulations.
If the Ausbilder investigated carefully, he would certainly discover that fact.
If he used it as an excuse to permanently leave them buried in the snow and then blame everything on the Eremites, Mondstadt would have no reason whatsoever to pursue Bai Luo.
After all, if people were killed by Sumeru mercenaries, what did that have to do with the Ausbilder?
The Knights of Favonius might even thank him afterward for helping eliminate the culprits.
At that point, the only person likely to avenge them would probably be his adoptive brother, the one who acted as Mondstadt's Darknight Hero.
"Relax. I don't mean any harm."
Kaeya could think of such possibilities, and naturally Bai Luo could as well.
In fact, when he saw them investigating the Eremite corpses, he had already pieced together most of what had happened.
The reason he revealed himself was partly to satisfy his own mischievous nature.
But there was indeed another reason as well.
"Your assurances are just as unconvincing as ever."
Even after Bai Luo claimed he meant no harm, Kaeya did not relax in the slightest.
Never trust every word the Ausbilder says.
That was Diluc's advice to him.
After all, his adoptive brother had suffered plenty at the Ausbilder's hands because of exactly that.
Now, every sentence, every word, every subtle movement from the Ausbilder had to be analyzed repeatedly before Kaeya would decide whether to believe him.
Otherwise...
Diluc was proof enough of what could happen.
As for accompanying the Ausbilder to see whatever scheme he was plotting—
Not a chance.
Whether he had a conspiracy or not, unless Kaeya was certain he could send information back out, following him would amount to only two words:
Free kill.
He wasn't that foolish.
"Suit yourselves."
Bai Luo had long since grown accustomed to Kaeya's distrust.
If he ever met someone who trusted him unconditionally, then either that person was as innocent as Klee, or like Arataki Itto...
Someone whose brain had somehow gained sentience and run away.
Kaeya's grip on his sword did not loosen in the slightest.
He was already considering how to extract some useful intelligence from the Ausbilder.
Although doing so was risky—like pulling the mask of a Lawachurl—he had no choice but to try.
What surprised him was that before he could begin probing for information, the Ausbilder made a move first.
"Wait here for a moment. I'm going to fetch something."
Perhaps Kaeya's distrust had caused Bai Luo to lose interest in teasing them.
After leaving those words behind, his figure gradually disappeared into the swirling snowstorm.
Once he was gone, Rosaria finally emerged from her hiding place.
She had always wondered how the Ausbilder had managed to appear behind her so effortlessly.
Now that she had witnessed his incredible concealment ability, she finally understood.
Sometimes, however, knowing more doesn't make you happier.
For example, right now she had a new headache:
How was she supposed to deal with an ability like that in the future?
"Are we really just going to wait here?"
Glancing at Riese, who had lost his Favonius sword, Rosaria turned to Kaeya and asked.
From the conversation between the two men, she could tell that the Cavalry Captain had dealt with this person many times before.
"You two can head back down the mountain, but I have to stay here."
Pulling some dry firewood from his pack, Kaeya walked to a sheltered spot out of the wind and lit a campfire.
Just as he had said, even though he knew staying behind would be dangerous, he had no choice but to remain.
Rosaria and Riese, however, needed to return. At the very least, they had to bring back the information that he had come into contact with the Ausbilder.
In fact, that would be more useful than staying here.
Rosaria was intelligent herself; otherwise, Kaeya would never have specifically sought her out and asked her to investigate matters concerning Durin and Dvalin on Dragonspine.
So it didn't take her long to understand what he meant.
"I understand. Be careful."
She took out the rations she was carrying, along with her remaining half-pack of cigarettes, and handed them to Kaeya.
On Dragonspine, cigarettes could still provide a bit of warmth.
Afterward, she and Riese trudged away through the snow, one step deep, one step shallow, as they descended the mountain.
In truth, she would have preferred to stay with Kaeya.
She could tell that Kaeya wasn't handling the Ausbilder very smoothly and even seemed somewhat suppressed by him.
But although Riese liked to boast about how familiar he was with Dragonspine, in reality he had only ever wandered around the foothills.
As someone who frequently operated on the mountain, Rosaria could easily see that he lacked the respect the mountain demanded.
If he were allowed to return alone, he probably wouldn't make it very far before getting lost in the blizzard.
Not long after Rosaria and Riese departed, Bai Luo returned carrying a large bundle of items.
"Rosaria already left?"
"..."
By now, Kaeya was accustomed to the Ausbilder's habit of knowing everyone's name.
Given the Fatui's intelligence network, he sometimes felt as though every secret he had ever possessed had already been dug up and laid bare.
And the Ausbilder had given him that feeling more than once.
However, from that single sentence, Kaeya deduced something else.
The Ausbilder had left on purpose.
And his reason for doing so had been to give Rosaria and the others a chance to leave.
Tch...
For a moment, Kaeya had thought he had finally managed to gain a small advantage.
Who would have thought that this, too, had been part of the Ausbilder's calculations?
Well, whatever.
Wasn't he already used to this sort of thing by now?
<+>
<+>
<+>
<+>
<+>
<+>
Tn: I updated the story once every 2 days, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 457: Sharaf's Precious Treasure[1]
Link: https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/im-envoy-of-164096661?collection=174425[2]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/im-envoy-of-164096661?collection=174425
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/im-envoy-of-164096661?collection=174425