"Hmm? A child?" Childe looked around, only seeing a gloomy expanse of what looked like houses, but not even a shadow.
"What are you doing here, little one? Aren't your parents worried? Hurry back!" Childe came to the child's side and waved his hand at him.
Sure enough, little brats are the same everywhere, always so energetic.
"Mom and Dad are busy, and I know my way back!" The child shook his head, unwilling to go home.
"Know your way back? This fog is so…" Childe's words trailed off, because he saw the dense fog in the distance gradually dissipate, revealing the wild yet desolate land beneath.
Wild, because the distant bushes and grasslands grew wantonly; desolate, because despite such lush vegetation, no living creatures could be seen within it.
"When did the fog clear?!" Childe rubbed his eyes. He wasn't dreaming, was he?
"Just now." Ember folded his arms, looking at the child below.
"Kid, what's your name?"
"Ruu, my name is Ruu."
Ruu sized up the group of Fatui, then a curious expression appeared on his face.
"Are you people from outside?"
"Yes, we just arrived here not long ago." Balladeer nodded.
Upon hearing this, Ruu immediately jumped for joy, "Great! Tsurumi Island hasn't had outside guests for a long time!"
"Even if they wanted to come, they couldn't." Childe couldn't help but mutter under his breath when he saw Ruu's joyful demeanor.
With that ring of mist outside Tsurumi Island, no matter how many people came, they'd probably all be sent back. If they were unlucky, hitting a reef and sinking in the fog wasn't impossible.
"Can you all participate in the festival? If more people participate, Kapatcir will definitely be happier!"
After confirming that the group were outsiders, Ruu immediately invited everyone to participate in the festival.
"Participate in the festival? What is the festival? And who is this Kapatcir you're talking about?"
After seeing that Ruu could communicate normally, Balladeer immediately threw out a string of questions, causing Ruu's originally happy little face to wrinkle up.
"The festival... and Kapatcir..."
Ruu scratched his head, looking troubled.
"Alright, Balladeer, did you know everything when you were little?" Childe heard Balladeer's almost accusatory tone and immediately refuted him.
Balladeer heard this and looked at Childe, who had walked to Ruu's side. Even with his straw hat on, Ruu only reached Childe's waist.
"My apologies, the festival, right? We can watch." Balladeer stroked his forehead and agreed.
The series of strange events on Tsurumi Island had made him overly sensitive, causing him to completely disregard Ruu's age after discovering that he could communicate normally.
"Yay! That's great!" Ruu's troubled expression vanished, replaced by a wide smile once more.
The cheers gradually stopped, and Ruu looked at the group with a hopeful expression again.
"Outside guests, can you help me complete the festival?"
"You little rascal, you wouldn't deliberately put on that kind of expression, would you?"
Childe saw Ruu so skillfully asking for help and immediately thought that his previous troubled expression was faked.
He had originally thought Ruu was a bit like his own younger brother, but now it seemed this kid was much more cunning than Teucer.
"Hehe." Ruu scratched his head, neither admitting nor denying it.
"As for that, we need to discuss it."
"You all stay put, I'll be right back." Balladeer gave Childe and Ember a look, then turned and left.
Seeing this, Childe and Ember immediately followed him.
"What kind of auspicious place is this Tsurumi Island? No wonder Inazuma doesn't want it. If I were the Raiden Shogun, I wouldn't want it either!"
As soon as they left the crowd, Childe began to complain wildly.
"Oh? Tell me, what are these unusual places?" Seeing Childe happily spilling his thoughts, Ember raised an eyebrow and asked.
He had thought Childe hadn't noticed!
"I'm not blind. With so many strange places, anyone can see it!" Childe waved his hand and continued:
"First, those two people. I don't think they're people at all!"
"To be able to ignore others to such an extent, without even a flicker in their eyes, it's simply impossible!"
Childe recalled what he had seen and shivered. As a warrior, Childe had long since learned the ability to read an enemy's next attacking intention from their eyes.
But when he tried to use this ability on those two people, he found that their gaze was only on each other. No matter how Childe moved, their eyes showed no change.
It was as if they were programmed!
Thinking of this, Childe broke out in a cold sweat.
"And Ruu, this kid definitely has a problem! The fog dissipated as soon as he arrived. How could there be such a coincidence in the world?"
"Then why did you stop me?!"
Balladeer heard about the abnormality Childe knew and immediately stomped his foot in anger. He knew Ruu had a problem, yet he wouldn't let him question him?
"You can't say that. When you encounter something like this, you should go along with his wishes, right? Otherwise, no one knows what might happen."
Ember patted Childe's shoulder and said to Balladeer in a serious tone. Childe's approach was almost exactly what he had thought.
"Exactly, just as Ember said. Besides, we still need to ask Ruu for some information." Childe immediately nodded.
"Is that something you read in one of those storybooks again?" Balladeer knew without thinking where Ember and Childe's knowledge came from.
However, he no longer had the intention to question them, because he had to admit that Ember's words did contain some truth.
"So, about this festival, do we help or not?" After describing the strange aspects of Tsurumi Island, Childe immediately turned to Ember and Balladeer and asked.
Since Ruu and those two were so strange, should they still help?
Watching and doing are completely different in nature for such things.
"Didn't I say? If you don't go along with him, be careful of a major accident! Then it'll be time to test your ability to subdue demons and monsters!"
Ember whistled, speaking in a teasing tone.
"Then let's help." Childe shrank his head. Childe wasn't afraid of physical monsters at all, but if they came at him with something insidious, Childe would be at a loss.
"To help, we also need information about Tsurumi Island, and Ruu's cooperation." Balladeer also nodded; he agreed to help.
It was hard to find a local on Tsurumi Island who could communicate, and he didn't want Ruu to slip away.
After confirming their thoughts, the three returned to Ruu's side.
Meeting Ruu's hopeful gaze, Ember pointed to Balladeer and said, "We can help, but you have to answer his previous questions."
"No problem! The festival and Kapatcir, right!"
"The festival is a ceremony held by us on Tsurumi Island to thank Thunderbird for its blessing; as for Kapatcir... he is my good friend, and he loves it when there are many people!"
Ruu didn't hesitate too much and directly answered the questions Balladeer had just raised.
"Thunderbird?" Balladeer stroked his chin, lost in thought.
"Thunderbird comes to Tsurumi Island once every year. Everyone says the fog outside Tsurumi Island is released by Thunderbird to protect Tsurumi Island!"
Ruu saw Balladeer's confused look and enthusiastically explained. Then he eagerly said to everyone:
"As long as the festival goes smoothly, both Thunderbird and Kapatcir will come!"
"So, what do you need us to help with?"
Ember looked around. There didn't seem to be anything nearby that needed their help, did there?
"Hehe, can you help worship the perch?" Ruu heard this and didn't hold back. He pointed to the distant fog, where a spiraling withered tree was vaguely visible.
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