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

When Fanes received the message from Mondstadt, he was squatting next to a barbecue stall in Liyue Harbor, munching on a skewer of grilled chicken wings. When the messenger handed him the letter, he glanced down at the insignia of the Knights of Favonius printed on it, tore open the wax seal, read the first line, and then sprang up from his stool, not even having time to wipe the grease from the corner of his mouth.

"Qin officially became a full-time employee today!"

Yakoda peeked over from the side and glanced at the letter: "Who?"

"Jin! Jin of the Knights of Favonius! Formerly an apprentice knight, she has officially been promoted to a full knight today!"

Fanes folded the letter and put it in his pocket, then spun around twice. "And you know what? One of her main responsibilities after she's officially appointed is managing the solitary confinement cells! The solitary confinement cells of the Knights of Mondstadt!"

Yakoda blinked her starry eyes: "Boss... what's getting you excited?"

Fanes rubbed his hands together, his smile carrying the excitement of "I've waited three years for this day."

"Think about it, what's the solitary confinement room for? It's for locking people up. Who's in charge of the solitary confinement room? Jean. If Alice goes back to doing things like kidnapping people in the middle of the night, chasing them with giant crabs, or taking children out of bed, finally someone can punish her! Jean isn't the kind of person who'll let anyone get away with this! Although she's not yet the Dandelion Knight and is far from being the acting captain, she's already taken on the responsibility of managing the solitary confinement room! This is the spark of hope!"

Yakoda watched him gesticulate wildly and silently took a half step back: "Boss, you've held a grudge for three years and still haven't forgotten?"

Fanes retorted confidently, "Nonsense! Being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night and dumped in Wolf's Lair—anyone would hold a grudge for three years!"

And so he rushed all the way from Liyue to Mondstadt.

Rosalind had been based in Mondstadt for the past three years, and the top floor of the Goethe Hotel had become a de facto stronghold for the Fatui in Mondstadt. When Fainès arrived, she was leaning against an armchair by the window reading a book, and her icy blue eyes looked up at him from above the pages.

"You've come quickly. The ceremony starts this afternoon, so you still have time for lunch."

Fanes leaned against the windowsill, looking out. A makeshift award platform had been set up in the central square of Mondstadt, with dark blue velvet cloth spread on the surface and the flags of the Knights of Favonius flying on both sides. Several pigeons perched on the top of the flagpoles, tilting their heads to look down.

A large crowd had already gathered in the square. Some were citizens who had come to watch the ceremony, while others were knights in standard armor lined up on both sides, leaving a straight passage in the middle. Fanes lay down and watched for a while, his eyes searching through the crowd for that blond-haired, blue-eyed figure.

When the afternoon ceremony officially began, Fanes and Rosalind stood together in front of the open floor-to-ceiling window on the top floor of the Goethe Hotel, from which they could take in the entire scene of the square.

Falgar still stood in the center of the awarding platform. Three years had passed, and he looked almost unchanged, except that his beard had grown a bit longer. Standing on the platform, he resembled a somewhat unkempt monument. He waved to the crowd below, and a blond figure stepped out from the ranks.

As Qin stepped onto the platform, her steps were upright and firm, her blue eyes looking straight ahead, and her light golden hair shimmering softly in the afternoon sunlight. She knelt on one knee before Falga, bowing her head. Falga gently placed a sword on her shoulder—a ritual unique to the Knights of Favonius when officially knighted.

Fanes watched this scene from the windowsill, and suddenly his nose felt a little sore. He reached up and wiped his eyes with his sleeve, his voice carrying a sense of "I've finally waited for this": "Finally... I see someone who can punish Alice."

Rosalind stood beside him, holding her teacup, and glanced at him, a hint of curiosity in her icy blue eyes: "The Alice you mentioned, is she... the traveler from beyond the world?"

Rosalyn lowered her voice slightly. "I've heard a bit about her. She likes to do all sorts of experiments, has a capricious personality, and can cause chaos wherever she goes. I've dealt with her a few times before, and she's definitely not someone you should mess with. Kid, you'd better stay away from her."

Fanes nodded repeatedly: "Absolutely! She's a real devil! You have no idea that three years ago, she carried me out of bed in the middle of the night and threw me into Wolf's Lair, and even released a 30-meter-tall crab to chase me all over the beach! Another time, she was crouching in the woods of Windrise Land, spying on me as I was chased out of my breath, and said something like 'He doesn't have the brains'! She's simply..."

Just as they were getting into the conversation, a voice suddenly rang out behind Fanes. The voice was languid, as if someone had suddenly remembered something while strolling around: "I didn't expect them to tell me... I'd get hurt—"

Before Fanes could even confirm who the voice belonged to, his body reacted before his brain could. Startled, he sprang to his feet, the glass of Fontaine he was holding—half-finished—tracing a perfect parabola in mid-air before landing squarely on the face of the person behind him.

Orange liquid trickled down the brim of Alice's hat, dripping down her nose, cheeks, and chin onto her dark cloak, sticking the decorative feathers on the brim together in strands.

Alice's hand, which was pushing the wet brim of her hat, stopped in mid-air. The expression on her face changed from "I was about to speak" to "What did you do?" and then from "What did you do?" to a calm with subtle cracks and a forced smile.

"...Kid—"

Alice's voice was a shade lower than before, and a half-drizzle of lentil still clung to the corner of her mouth. "You've completely enraged me."

The instant after throwing the cup, Fanes jumped back three steps, shrinking behind Rosalind. He gripped the edge of her cloak with both hands, peeking half his head out from her shoulder, his voice urgent and pleading, "Sister Rosalind! Save my life!"

Rosalyn stood by with a teacup in her hand the whole time, from the moment Fanes bounced up to the moment Fonda flew out and then to the moment Alice got covered in tea, she didn't even raise an eyebrow.

Rosalyn gracefully set down her teacup, her icy blue eyes calmly meeting Alice's face, which was still dripping with brown liquid. Her tone was indifferent yet polite.

"Ms. Alice, aren't you going a bit too far? Infiltrating the Fatui's stronghold without permission and startling our executor from behind. This is the top floor of the Goethe Hotel, currently a rented location for the Fatui in Mondstadt."

Alice took out a handkerchief and slowly wiped the fuzz off her face, her voice still carrying that subtle "I'm not angry, but I am a little angry" quality.

"Isn't this Mondstadt under the rule of the Wind God? The Goethe Hotel is still Mondstadt property, after all."

Rosalyn reached out and gathered her loose hair, a sharp smile playing on her lips.

"Did he pay? We did. This penthouse is leased on an annual basis, with a 30-year contract in black and white. The rent is paid on time without any arrears, and we even cover the water, electricity, and cleaning fees ourselves. According to Mondstadt's tenancy law, tenants have absolute rights to use the leased space during the lease term, and unauthorized entry is an infringement."

Alice paused in wiping her face, the handkerchief hovering beside her cheek for about two seconds before she folded it and put it in her pocket. A slightly helpless smile appeared on her lips: "...Sure enough, no matter where you are, the one who pays is the boss."

After saying that, Alice didn't insist on anything further, but simply glanced at Fanes from under the brim of her hat. There was no malice in her eyes, but rather a sense of nonchalant satisfaction, as if to say, "You got away this time."

Then he turned around and walked calmly toward the door. His steps were much more relaxed than three years ago. The last time the hem of his cloak appeared in Fanes's sight, a corner of it was blown up by the wind before disappearing at the end of the corridor.

Fanes peeked out from behind Rosalind, looked at the door that had closed again, let out a long sigh, and slumped into the chair next to him like a deflated balloon: "Sister Rosalind... you were so cool just now."

Rosalyn sat back down in her armchair and picked up her teacup: "Next time you run into her, don't throw a phonograph. Throw a teacup instead; the temperature of the tea will make her expression even more interesting."