Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

When Fanes entered the temporary coordination hall in the northern district of Winter City, the atmosphere inside and outside the door had already reached a critical point.

The Coordination Hall is a typical winter-style building, with thick stone walls, narrow windows, and the indoor temperature is maintained entirely by a blazing iron stove in the corner.

Two rows of people sat on either side of the long table. On the left were logistics officers of the Fools in gray-blue uniforms, and on the right were representatives of the Winter Cult in white-gold trimmed uniforms.

Neither of the people on either side sat upright, maintaining a posture of "I'm ready to speak in the next round but I'm still waiting for the other side to speak first." The edges of their armor and uniforms showed obvious signs of wear.

Fanes glanced around and saw that some of the people in the right row still had bruises on their faces, some had a gauze on the corner of their mouth, and some had a piece of medical tape on the bridge of their nose.

Fanes sat down in the empty chair at the end of the long table, his gaze sweeping from left to right and then from right to left, before he spoke: "I heard that you two sides have started fighting."

Fanes paused for a moment, then added, "And it was my men who won."

A short laugh escaped from the row of gray-blue uniforms on the left, quickly suppressed. Someone in the row on the right subtly adjusted their posture, the edge of their armor making a soft scraping sound with the movement.

Fanes leaned back in his chair: "I've got a general idea of ​​the situation. It's a conflict between the two sides over the same batch of logistical supplies. As for who started it, the reports I've seen say..."

Fanes glanced at the officer to his left, who was looking down at a file. The officer closed the file: "The report says that the Winter Chern Army patrol used unnecessary coercive measures first during the interception and inspection, and our personnel only retaliated after completing basic self-protection."

Fanes then looked at the row of people on his right: "Do any of you have anything to add?"

The people in the right row were silent for a moment, then an officer sitting in the middle spoke up: "That batch of supplies is listed as 'general strategic reserve' on the registration form. According to the current supply allocation regulations for winter, it falls under the category of requisitionable resources. The Winter Army's garrison area has recently experienced supply shortages, so applying for its allocation according to procedure is reasonable. However, we haven't received a response to our application."

Fanes nodded: "I understand. You follow the procedure, and if the procedure gets stuck, you take care of it yourselves. The logic itself is correct, but there may be some deviations in the execution method."

Fanes turned his gaze back to the open document on the table: "The crux of the matter isn't who struck first, but rather where the logistical allocation process got stuck. Has the logistics department provided an explanation?"

The officer on the left flipped through the documents again: "They say the approval stamps for the quota are still in the circulation process, involving changes in the responsible persons on two separate lines. Currently, they are waiting for the new signing procedure and confirmation from the person in charge. It's still uncertain which department the circulation documents are currently piled up between, waiting for the next signature."

Fanes leaned back in his chair: "Alright, let's put the ownership of the supplies aside for now. Let me sort out the relationship between your two sides first."

The door was then pushed open from the outside.

Fanes looked up and paused for a moment when he saw the woman standing in the doorway.

As she walked in, her steps followed a steady rhythm honed through long training, with each step landing almost exactly at the same time interval. Her hair was a light color, shimmering with a pale golden sheen under the crystal lights of the coordination hall. Her long, flowing hair covered the upper half of her ears, with only a few slender tips peeking out at the edges.

On its back are a pair of translucent, thin wings with openwork patterns, the outline of which shimmers slightly in the light, leaving a brief trace of light refraction in the air each time it turns around.

She was dressed in the standard royal ceremonial uniform of the Winter Chea Army, predominantly white and gold, with delicate geometric patterns embroidered in the same color silk thread on the collar and cuffs, and a slender sword hanging at her waist. When she entered, the entire row of Winter Chea soldiers stood up.

Fanes also stood up. He looked at her, his tone still steady as he spoke: "Commander-in-Chief of the Winter Army. I've heard so much about you. Please have a seat."

Wisner walked to the first chair on the right side of the long table and sat down. Her movements were neither fast nor slow, and the entire row of Winter Chern officers only followed suit when she sat down.

Vesner looked at Fanes and spoke in a softer voice than Fanes had expected: "I heard there was a coordination meeting today, so I came to see how it's going."

Fanes sat down again: "The issue is that the two sides have some disagreements on the allocation of logistical supplies. The specific details of the conflict have already been exchanged between the two sides, and the current issue is stuck in the approval process."

Wiesner sat in the chair, opened the scroll on the table, read a few pages, then closed it and neatly put it back in its place.

Vesner's movements and tone were as natural as if he were already used to managing an army of fairies in this way: "Regarding the approval of supplies, I think the coordinating department needs to confirm whether there are any steps in the process that can be optimized, rather than simply blaming one party."

Fanes leaned back in his chair: "I agree. The supply approval process is indeed a procedural issue. But I must also say—the Winter Army intercepted the transport convoy before the procedures were even completed, which is a handling method that I find difficult to accept."

Vesna leaned back in her chair: "So you mean, as the executor of the Fools, you can't control the behavior of your subordinates?"

Fanes leaned back in his chair: "I can control them. From the moment they started until now, they haven't provoked any of the Winter Chest's patrols. My men only retaliated after being intercepted, and as far as I know, they only retaliated after confirming that the other side had drawn their weapons first."

Vesna's fingers paused on the edge of the table. "In that case, when exactly will you approve the funding for the Winter Army from the finance department?"

Fanes remained seated, but his gaze lingered on Vesna's face for a moment. He leaned back in his chair and placed his hands, folded, on the table.

"There's nothing I can do; the funds can't be transferred. Winter's fiscal allocation has a fixed priority order. The Winter Army's budget should be directly allocated by the royal family, and the funds I have can only cover the operating expenses of the Fools."

Vesna's lips twitched slightly at the answer, her expression still gentle and spring-like, but Fanes noticed that her fingers gripping the armrest of the chair were pressing a little tighter than before: "Okay, we'll wait."

Fanes turned his head to look at her: "Indeed, it's not like you noble soldiers are starving. Unlike us commoners, if our pay is cut off, we'll starve to death."

After Vesner said this, a few low laughs came from among the Fools officers on the left side of the long table. The laughter was suppressed, only a small part squeezed out of their throats before being swallowed back.

Someone had already stood up completely and was talking to the row of Winter Chern Army officers across the table, pointing to the surface of his standard armor.

"Our armor set is from the latest batch produced at the Northern factory. Are you still using the ten-year-old model over there?"

There was no immediate response from the person on the other side, while another person turned their head to look at the sky outside the window, as if using that more distant natural light to complete a time correction.

Someone in the back spoke up, their voice neither too loud nor too soft, their pace moderate, carrying a calm tone as if to say, "I'm just stating a fact": "There's nothing we can do, the other side is just too weak."

Faenes, seated in the main seat, raised his hand and pressed it down: "Alright, alright, we're all serving the Queen. Next time, don't be so reckless."

Fanes paused, glancing at the lingering bruises and wear marks on the faces and edges of the uniforms of the Winter Army soldiers: "Although the other side struck first, it's still not good that things have turned out like this."

On the left side of the long table, one of the Fool's officers was fiddling with the buttons on his uniform collar, as if he were performing a meticulous cleaning with the edge of the buttonhole.

The door to the coordination hall was pushed open again at that moment. The clown walked in with his usual pace, neither quickening nor slowing down.

The clown stood inside the door, surveyed the people on both sides of the long table, and then spoke: "Today's coordination meeting is over. I will handle the material approval. Both sides should go back and restore order. Any further conflicts will be handled according to wartime regulations."

The clown's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but it carried far in the thick stone walls of the coordination hall, circling the vaulted ceiling and corners before settling evenly back in front of everyone.

The officers of the Winter Army stood up one by one and walked toward the door, tiptoeing as they passed behind Vesner.

Before standing up, Vesna glanced at Fanes, her gaze lingering on his silhouette for a moment, as if she were using that brief interval to complete an information entry. After her gaze settled on him, she turned and walked down the corridor toward the door. The thin, openwork wings behind her folded slightly as she passed through the door frame, their edges flashing briefly in the shadows of the side wall before disappearing into the echo at the end of the corridor.

Fanes remained seated, listening to the people on the left side of the long table packing up documents, and someone taking a coat off the back of their chair and draping it over their arm.

After all of Vesna's men had left, Fanes said to his men.

"Next time you encounter the Winter Contract Army's regular troops, remember to run far away, or just use weapons!"

-

This time, the conflict didn't involve the wind spirits, but rather the descendants of nobles who had been forced into the palace for gilding. Otherwise, Vesna would have already been fighting with Fanes!