Yours, Truly. | Tartaglia x Reader

Chapter I - "Sympathy, Empathy, Pity, Which is it?"

It’s a dazzling morning, the weather is absolutely fantastic. The sky was clear, no clouds were in sight. You and Paimon were on your way to Liyue Harbor, to meet Katheryne at the Adventurer’s Guild and claim your rewards regarding the daily commissions you completed.

“Traveler! Don’t you just love the weather today-? We could go on a vacation like fishing or swimming. Or we could just eat and rest? We barely get any rest!”
Paimon proposed, it does sound like a good idea.

Having a break once in a while. Fighting, adventuring, and traveling in general is really tiring.

“Sure, why not? Great idea, Paimon. Hm, Maybe I’ll treat you to some Sticky Honey Roast?”You said and your conversation was interrupted by a ruin guard blocking your way.

“Huh.. a ruin guard? Out of all places..? Ugh.. Just as we were talking about Paimon getting Sticky Honey Roast! Don’t the Milelith patrol the path to Liyue Harbor..?” Paimon wondered but you both had no time to converse any longer.

The ruin guard looks more fierce and aggressive than usual. Seemingly quicker attacks and faster movement. The ruin guard attempted to jump at you and crush you, yet of course you dodged it. Despite dodging it—looking at the area the ruin guard landed at, that attack was quite a destruction.

“Uhh.. Paimon wouldn’t want to get hit by that! Just imagining it makes Paimon chill..! Traveler, be super duper careful..! That’s a tough one!” Paimon exclaims as you fought against the ruin guard.

The ruin guard was fast, it kept spinning rapidly and stomping everywhere. You ran towards it and hit its weak spot, paralyzing it. It took quite longer than usual, but you finally finished it off. That was merely a ruin guard and yet here you are trying to catch your breath.

“Huff.. We have to talk to the Milelith about this. It wouldn’t be safe if a citizen got ambushed on their way out.” You panted—finally arriving at the entrance to Liyue Harbor.

You both went to see the Milelith in front of the Ministry of Civil Affairs about this issue. But, there seems to be a number of guards resting, wrapped with bandages around them. You recognize two of the guards, Cai Le and Cai Xun. If you remember correctly, they were individuals stationed at the entrance. One of the guards patrolling, Jiayi, seems to be looking after them.

“Jiayi..? What happened to them..? I came here to ask about who's guarding the entrance. And it looks to me like something terrible has happened…” You sighed—glancing at all the Milelith injured.

“Ah, Traveler, it’s you! Uh.. Well, there’s a ruin guard outbreak going on. To add fuel to the fire, there’s abyss mages backing them up. The guards that’ll be assigned to the entrance will be arriving soon. We’re all trying our best to solve this problem but the Liyue Qixing is packed with tons of work. Everyone has problems of their own.. And we’d like to request you for help..! I’m worried, what if Qingce village is also troubled.. Liu..”
Jiayi explains and he can’t help but stare at the ground with a frown on his face.

“Alright, I’ll try my best to help.” You said—giving Jiayi a pat in the back. You left and went to the Adventurer’s Guild to resume meeting Katheryne.

"Ad Astra Abyssosque! Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild. Thank you for completing today's commissions. Here is your reward." Katheryne says—handing out your rewards to you.

"Traveler.. Apologies, but I need a moment of your time. I assume you have heard about the issues revolving around the Milelith’s abilities to defend Liyue against ruin guards? They reached out to us regarding this. So, would you be interested in taking commissions over this matter? These commissions are up for generous rewards." Katheryne suggests, and you look over to Paimon to see some shining eyes.