Genshin Impact | "The Last Night in Aaru Village" | Alhaitham x Lumine

The Funeral, Part 3

Tartaglia

Childe ran his hand over his ginger hair then propped it on his waist. He couldn't believe he had to attend two funerals in a row. The first one didn't really bother him because he knew being a Harbinger means death could come knocking at any time. But the second one bothered him greatly because he already considered the Traveler, his comrade, a friend. Maybe even more at some point, but it didn't matter now.

He stood outside the Sanctuary of Surasthana, blending with the crowd of Sumerians eager to see the Sumeru Archon give her eulogy for the Traveler. Her body was to be laid to rest in the Sanctuary for an indefinite period where she can be visited by people who wanted to pay their respects. At least this was the intel he had gathered of the funeral from the Fatui spies stationed in Sumeru. As to the details of how she died, he would have to investigate it himself.

In a way, Childe was glad the use of the Akasha system and the terminals were already abolished. He didn't have to worry about being recognized as a Fatui Harbinger, which may end up being a problem now that he had to go about his business in the city. That weird Harbinger and his experiments really left a bad impression among the people of Sumeru... He frowned to himself.

Somebody accidentally bumped him from behind, almost toppling him over. He turned and saw a young female scholar from the Akademiya judging from her outfit.

"I'm sorry..." she muttered.

"It's fine," he said. The crowd had gone thick that people were almost shoulder to shoulder. Thankfully, he was tall enough to see everything that was happening in front. A cacophony of endless gossiping filled the crowd and people were starting to get anxious. It was a sunny morning and soon enough the heat would make everybody agitated.

He spotted a short man donning a headdress resembling a jackal talk to one of the Corps of Thirty stationed in front, probably giving instructions on what to do in case the crowd goes out of control.

Childe noted other interesting figures gathered in the crowd. A group of eremites waited on the side. A woman who had a very imposing stature and an eye-catching, gold-plated gauntlet covering her entire right arm stood with a piercing gaze as she carried a rather pitiful weapon, a waster greatsword, on her back. He thought it didn't suit her. The lady would look more formidable in battle if she sported a sturdier weapon.

A man with flaming red hair stood next to a lady with mousy brown hair and an indigo dress. Next to them was a female who looked like a pirate with an eyepatch and a white-haired boy with a strip of red hair dressed like an Inazuman. A woman with pink hair and fox-like ears struck a conversation with the pirate and the boy beside her, while a man clad in all white listened to them attentively and gave short comments in between. All these people from different nations came together to send off the Traveler. It made him reflect how much more people she could've met if her journey had not been cut short.

Of course, he also wondered how many of these people could take him up on a fight. He had been training tirelessly day and night while stories of his comrade's achievements did nothing but spur him with greater motivation to become the strongest warrior in Teyvat. He wasn't going to lose to her when their final battle comes. He remembered how he had told her not to go dying on him before the fateful day. She had given him a strange look like he had said something nonsensical. At that time, he didn't like how she was always so guarded with him, as if he meant and enjoyed causing trouble anywhere he went when that wasn't true.

It was bright and sunny in Liyue on that particular day. They had run into each while she was doing commissions and he was on his daily training, so they had decided to fight monsters together. When the day was over, he had asked her to make a simple promise, to stay alive until the end of her journey so they can meet again and finally decide who was the stronger fighter.