Adventure Beyond The Firmament [Heiscara]

Chapter 13

A second later, Heizou reopened his eyes, realising he was still alive and that the gadget hadn't blown up. It didn't take him long to recognise his surroundings, he was back in his homeland, Inazuma. To be precise, he was standing at the exact same spot as before teleporting to that other world. Speaking of the device, he wasn't holding it and, to his dismay, Scaramouche was nowhere to be seen either. That was unexpected for sure.

Chances were that the device was still in the indigo-haired man's possession, but the real question was, where was Scaramouche? Did the gadget also bring him back to Teyvat, just at a different location? Was he still at that abandoned house, wondering what went wrong? Had something gone south, ending the Balladeer's life? The detective sincerely wished that he was safe and sound somewhere in Teyvat.

More importantly, the green-eyed man had no way of communicating with the puppet; it's not like he could just go pay him a visit in Snezhnaya. However, he soon understood that this wouldn't be a problem. The other man was not just anyone, he was a Fatui Harbinger, meaning that if something were to happen to him, the news would travel at the speed of light. So, his questions would be answered in some days, without him having to do anything (not that he could do anything to speed up this process).

Another inquiry made its way into his mind: Since Heizou was standing at the same spot as before using the device, could time, too, have remained unchanged? Having no watch on his person, the only way to confirm his theory would be by asking somebody. No matter the case, the detective would have to talk to Kujou Sara, either to apologise for his absence, or to refresh his memory. He knew he had just taken a new case before finding the gadget, but he genuinely struggled to remember all the details about it.

So, with his only option being returning to Sara's office, he made his way into Inazuma City. The walk was particularly enjoyable, mostly due to the fact that he had missed his nation tremendously. He couldn't be happier as he walked up staircases that he used to detest and passed by people that he was familiar with. Heizou stroke a conversation with almost everyone that he saw, even if he didn't know them very well. He couldn't help but want to know if everyone was well when he wasn't around. These short conversations, however, helped him find out that he couldn't have been gone for long, making his theory of time standing still while he was away even more probable.

When the burgundy-haired man finally reached the tengu's office and barged in, she was quite dumbfounded to see him. "What brings you back so soon, Shikanoin? It hasn't even been an hour since you left. Solved the case already?"

As much as Heizou would love to correct her about how much time had truly passed, he didn't. He was proud of himself for figuring out that time stood still, though. "You think too highly of me, it's quite the opposite actually. I want to skim through the details of the case one more time, that's all."

"You? Forgot the details of the case?" Sara asked him, as that was something he had never needed to do before. His memory had always been quite good, well above average, and this, paired up with his fantastic deductive abilities, made it so that no case dragged on enough for him to have to refresh his memory.

"I'm not a machine, you know? I just want to make sure I'm not misremembering something, jeez." The detective said, as he picked up the folder containing the case's details from Kujou Sara's desk and read through it. With each word Heizou read, he remembered more and more about the case and felt more confident in his ability to solve it. He'd just have to interrogate one of the suspects...

He hastily put the folder back in its place and bid the tengu farewell before leaving her office, his destination being none other than Ritou, with a smile on his face. Everything was just like how it used to be. This whole ordeal was finally over.