Spying on the Wind | Venti♡Reader

💫ℕ𝕀ℕ𝔼𝕋𝔼𝔼ℕ💫

Aether's POV:

"How are things in Mondstadt?"

Paimon chatted with our newly-arrived friends. Well, she chatted with Venti, and got into a heated argument with Childe. Seriously, couldn't they keep it down a little?

The adeptus seemed to have enough of their shinanigans and slipped away with his favourite food in hand. I sighed at another failed attempt to convince an individual older than five hundred to shed some light on the calamity or the cataclysm. All he would tell me was that some of the adepti got into a fight over it.

Ever since I left the secluded land of the immortal Shogun, I seemed to never be able to run away from a string of failures. Chests yielded nothing useful and minimal primogems. My Adventure Rank became a lot more difficult to raise because Katheryne thought that the "hero" needed a challenge. My mind went haywire during simple commissions and strange incidents occur without reason. I got stumped in the Spiral Abyss and domains offered the worst artifacts they had. Had I used up all my luck?

"Take that back!"

Paimon's shrill voice made me realize I was zoning out. I pitched in and came up with colorful phrases to help my emergency food insult the Harbinger. As the verbal fight continued, my mind wandered to the suspicious figure lurking in the shadows before. That figure was trailing the Anemo Archon, and seemed to be up to no good. Which one of those sneaky little brainless twits was it? The Fatui... or the Treasure Hoarders? They should start learning that nothing would ever escape my eye!

The stalker was an allogene. First of all, ordinary folks wouldn't dare to make a move on an archon. Secondly, there was something glowing blue on the silhouette. Given how weak and Visionless most Treasure Hoarders were, I placed my bet on the Fatui. I should have started interrogating Childe right there and then!

A whirlwind of emotions enveloped me. Anger, frustration and a teensy bit of fear battled for dominance in my mind. Why did I have to stop the Fatui every time? Could I not have a smooth journey to find my beloved sister? I thought I had made it pretty clear in Inazuma that I wanted to be left alone, not commissioned over and over again, but I ended up saving the nation from its huge crisis again-without the help of the nation's leading organization or its archon.

I got myself a glass of water to cool down and contemplated giving Paimon one as well. Seizing the bottles of wine from Venti and Childe, I replaced them with crystal clear water instead. They scowled but was quickly distracted by Paimon's whining. I turned my head to scan the tables around us and my heart stilled. I was in for a nasty surprise.

At the furthest end-the figure at that table-I could've sworn it was the same mysterious figure from before. I should have guessed that the Fatui slave, or the stalker, would show up since Venti was there.

And she was clearly trouble.