Childe was just about to leave the Northland Bank when the doors burst open and the Millelith rushed in. "Oh? Is something the matter?" Despite his apparent hospitality, the men held their spears at his neck while a few of them stormed the secretary's desk. Whatever documents they could lay their hands on, they took, leaving a jumbled mess of garbage and crinkled irrelevant bank notes beneath their feet. The harbinger's nose crinkled at this, and he stepped toward who he presumed to be the leading officer of the bunch despite the blades pressing harder against his throat. "Excuse me," he prodded coolly with a slight edge in his voice, "What do you think you're doing?"
The lead officer, who was a different man than the one that refused to help during the bank heist, was more than willing to answer him. "We've received an anonymous tip regarding the origins of the electro lawachurl attacks from a few weeks ago. I'd advise that if you know anything about those incidents, it's in your favor to speak up before we find something."
"And your first 'lead' happens to be the Fatui? I can assure you my men and I have nothing to do with those outbreaks. I was also in a business trip in Mond during that time--"
"Just doing protocol, sir. We'll be out of your hair in a bit. If you have nothing to hide, then surely there's no need for you to worry about our search." He signaled for a few of his men to search down the halls and up the stairs.
'Protocol' my ass, huffed Childe. The Fatui were almost always investigated when it came to any criminal matter--and most of the time, they were found to be uninvolved. It was just another way to antagonize and discriminate against the Tsaritsa's organization! The harbinger took a deep breath to relax; they truly had nothing to find that was incriminating. All of the more suspicious documents were stolen in the robbery awhile back, after all. Perhaps he should be grateful for whoever was behind it, if only temporarily-
"Sir!" A guard nearly tumbled down the stairs with a binder in his hands. "You need to take a look at this!"
Childe's nose crinkled in dismay yet again. Did he forget something? No, no, everything 'bad' was secured in Andre's safe until the robbery. Did one of his men do something unauthorized? If that were the case, he'll need to discipline his men a lot harsher than he did when Reed was attacked. What a bunch of idiots!
The officer opened the binder and read a few lines of text before his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He shut it immediately before whistling to get everyone's attention. "Shut it down! Bring in the harbinger for questioning!"
It had to be his men! What the hell did they do this time?! "What did you find?" Childe hid the severe agitation on his face as he was yet again prodded with the sharp tip of a spear against his back.
"We'll discuss it with the Qixing," he answered.
Shit.
No one hid their stares as Childe was escorted through the main street of Liyue by the Millelith; they spared no expense at providing the public with a much-needed show of the harbinger's humiliation! The crowds gathered along the sides of the street and even followed the authorities all the way up to Yuehai Pavilion to get their fill of the drama. Whispers of the news had already spread like wildfire throughout the city before Childe was even brought out of the bank for questioning.
Childe maintained a neutral expression even after he was brought into the pavilion away from the prying eyes of the public. However, it slowly began to falter as he was suddenly brought face-to-face with the Seven Stars of Liyue a.k.a. the Liyue Qixing a.k.a. the targets of the primary mission bestowed upon him by Her Majesty. It was rare that they were in the same room together. How unfortunate that he had to meet them under such circumstances--whatever the heck they were--instead of in an all-out battle.
