Noctilucous Jade ENG VERSION (Genshin impact- Childe x Zhongli)

4: Lanterns And Silk Flowers

“My dear Chongyun, this is a mission of vital importance. Let's wait a moment longer! Seeing the Fatui closer will certainly improve my knowledge, and my next novel will be much more accurate.”

The first voice Childe heard as soon as he was outside was that of a blue-haired young man lurking behind one of the columns. With him was another boy a little taller than him with tousled icy hair and eyes of the same color. Puzzled, Childe stared at them for a moment as they tried to hide, one boy wide-eyed with concern, the other with a witty expression. What were they trying to do? Were they waiting to meet someone from Snezhnaya’s army?

Word of their arrival must have already spread in the city. The boys were probably curious, attracted by the novelty of it. He could hardly blame them.

“Look for a slightly thicker column next time,” Childe said, approaching the two boys. The one with the lighter hair jumped, while the other froze, trying to smile. Childe frowned, slightly taken aback. Perhaps the young man was not naïve or careless, but simply too bold to care about the opinion of others.

“I'm sorry. My friend, Xingqiu, and I were curious—but for good reason! Xingqiu is a great artist. He does a lot of research to complete his writings,” the lighter-haired boy said, nervously wringing his hands.

Childe could not help but admire his clothes with curiosity. They looked like the type a person involved in performing sacred rituals would wear. Unlike Xingqiu’s, which looked to be made of precious fabric. Who were these two boys and what family did they belong to? Perhaps they were two of Liyue's nobles. All the more reason to pay attention to their words.

“Write that we are all beautiful and kind, then. Rich and intelligent, too,” Childe joked, trying a friendly approach. After all—not counting the first formal conversations with Ningguang and her attendants, Keqing and Ganyu—he had not yet had the opportunity to get to know the inhabitants, and the boys seemed to be friendly enough to keep from turning on their heels. Talking with them could be a good opportunity to find out more about Liyue and its traditions and, why not, to pass the time in a more pleasant way. After the heavy talk with Signora, his mind was demanding a truce and much less overbearing company.

“We saw your companions pass by but they didn't respond with much enthusiasm to our greetings,” Xingqiu pointed out. “You are the first to give us any rope. If I may ask, what's your name?”

“I am number eleven of the Fatui Harbingers, code name Childe, but I also go by Tartaglia,” Childe recited with the ritual formula taught to him by the Fatui, using the two names with which he usually presented himself to the outside world.

To be honest, neither Childe nor Tartaglia were his real names. His parents had called him Ajax, but it was a name he had relegated to his private life, carefully hidden from most people. Sure, in his hometown of Morepesok they called him Ajax and of course his family would never have dreamed of using his Fatui names, but as soon as he set foot outside the area he was born, he did not allow anyone to use a name other than Childe and Tartaglia, just as he did not let others see his more courteous and apprehensive sides.

Ajax was the kind boy who lived in a village by the sea, who led his little brothers into the forests and taught them how to fish, who tucked the blankets around Teucer, the youngest of them all, and who collected medicinal plants for his father. Childe, on the other hand, was the youngest and most reckless of the Harbingers, the one who threw himself headlong into missions to experience the thrill of adrenaline, the one who had gone overseas to get to Liyue and perform secret tasks. And the one who had to hide and protect Ajax most of all.