"Who was that?"
"Huh... Had that woman appeared around Tang Wang before?"
"Wait, did she know La Signora?"
Columbina's arrival immediately stirred up the entire room. Most people, however, maintained basic decorum and kept quiet, whispering only in their own minds.
"Damselette? What are you doing in Mondstadt?!" La Signora, however, reacted with outright hostility. "This is the area I'm responsible for. What does it have to do with you?"
"Because Tang Wang asked me to come, so I came," Columbina said bluntly. "Rosalyne, he said you're a bad person and that you've done a lot of harm to Mondstadt."
"But I really like the food the people of Mondstadt make, and I believe you aren't a bad person... So, Rosalyne, why would you do that?"
After hearing Damselette out, whatever the Fatui thought, the expressions on the faces of the Knights of Favonius were already dramatic enough to make a movie.
Kaeya's eyes held a hint of amusement, and he silently gave Tang Wang a thumbs-up. Bringing The Third Seat here without a word had in itself put La Signora, The Eighth Seat, on the spot.
Eula, meanwhile, looked at Damselette with a trace of pity. She suddenly felt that her own situation was quite good. After all, undisguised indifference was much better than putting on an act of false affection.
The one thing that puzzled her was that, judging by Tang Wang's expression, he did not seem as heartless as he had portrayed himself in his "jade and bricks" theory.
"I, I..." Pressed again by Damselette's innocent tone, Rosalyne's face turned ashen. "I understand, I understand!"
"Obviously, some people don't believe I can complete my mission in Mondstadt, so they sent you here, right?" Then she turned hysterically toward Tang Wang. "Speak! Whose subordinate are you? Who sent you-"
Before she could continue roaring, Columbina gently raised her hand. Kuuvahki surged again, sealing Rosalyne's throat. She immediately began to suffocate, and the entire hall fell silent.
"Rosalyne, children who make a big racket are naughty." After saying this in a light, airy tone, Columbina released her grip on Rosalyne's throat.
"Hah... Huh..." Once released, Rosalyne immediately began gasping for breath.
Everyone else present was shocked by what they had seen.
"Kaeya, how much do you know about the Fatui's Third Seat?" Acting Grand Master Jean took the opportunity to lower her voice and ask Kaeya, who was sitting beside her.
"Acting Grand Master, I only know that she's considered the most dangerous Harbinger." Kaeya's usual flippancy vanished from his tone as well. "They say she can sing a light, airy tune while scaring the Fatui's Fourth Seat out of their wits."
"I see." After nodding, Acting Grand Master Jean looked at Tang Wang in an entirely different way.
As she saw it, Tang Wang had truly done more than enough. To invite someone like that here, only heaven knew what price he had paid and what risks he had taken.
"Yaya, don't do that." Then they saw Tang Wang, to whom Damselette was clinging, gently shake his head at her. "Rosalyne is your colleague, after all, right?"
"If possible, try not to use force. That would hurt your relationship a little too much."
"Strange. You clearly don't like her, so why are you speaking up for her?" Columbina tugged at the hem of his clothes in confusion.
"Whether I like her is one thing; what's right is another. They're separate matters," Tang Wang patiently explained. "La Signora is only carrying out her duties. What I object to is her excessive methods."
"I understand." She nodded and retreated behind Tang Wang.
The sight of her clinging so sweetly to him had already left many members of the Knights of Favonius with mixed feelings.
La Signora, who was at the center of it all, had gone pale. She had suddenly realized that either of the two people present seemed capable of casually crushing her to death.
"Rosalyne, I really didn't come here to argue either." Having said that, he turned to La Signora. "I know how much trouble the Fatui have caused in Mondstadt. I have only one demand now."
"You and your subordinates are to stop working with the Abyss Order immediately. Then stop interfering in any of Mondstadt's affairs."
"If you don't want to do that, then I imagine Odette might soon be taking your place."
If his earlier remarks had been nothing more than threats, Tang Wang's final sentence undoubtedly left La Signora's back drenched in cold sweat.
Because he had spoken that name.
"Odette? You know her?"
"What's not to know?" As he spoke, Tang Wang tossed a one-handed sword onto the table in front of La Signora: the Fillet Blade.
"Oh, right, this is a gift from me to her. Please take it back to her and tell her it's a reward from Damselette's friend for her hard work."
"Friend? Aren't we family?" At that moment, Damselette spoke up, sounding a little hurt. "Oh, I remember now. You seemed to say that friends are the family you choose for yourself."
At those words, the atmosphere in the room could no longer be contained. Even with the knights' sense of decorum, they found it hard not to start gossiping.
"So Mr. Tang Wang has a family?"
"No, it doesn't look like they've gotten that far. Those two are either still flirting or deeply in love."
"Everyone, please be quiet." Acting Grand Master Jean had to cough several times to quell the increasingly excessive whispers nearby. "Now then, what is your response to Mr. Tang Wang's conditions?"
"...I'm only doing this out of respect for The Third Seat." Though her tone remained fierce, La Signora prudently accepted the Fillet Blade. "Besides, you don't really think I have to rely on the Abyss Order to achieve my goals, do you?"
"In a place like Mondstadt, which has lost its god's protection, the Fatui can achieve their goals whenever they wish!"
After delivering that threat, she slammed the door behind her and left.
"It seems Mondstadt's most pressing internal problem has been resolved as well." As if nothing had happened, Tang Wang led Columbina to the seat that had been La Signora's and sat down, then continued speaking to Acting Grand Master Jean:
"Now, Acting Grand Master Jean, the helper I found is in place. As long as we can find the Abyss Lector's location, every problem will be resolved."
"...Thank you." After thinking for a long time, that was all Acting Grand Master Jean managed to say. "I never expected that, even though you're an outsider, you'd be so... concerned about the crisis in Mondstadt."
"Naturally." He smiled faintly. "After all, you could say this benefits both of us."
"Benefits both of us... does it?" Hearing Tang Wang say that, Acting Grand Master Jean immediately recalled what he had previously asked her to investigate. "By the way, the Knights of Favonius are doing everything they can to investigate where the weapons came from and where they went."
"It's all right. There's no rush. I have plenty of time, and even more patience." He shrugged. "More importantly, Columbina, are there any other Mondstadt specialties you want to eat, or local products you want to take back?"
"If there are, say so now. These people will do their best to meet your requests."