Chapter 286: A Full Thirty Pages of Greetings
Everyone knows that Bai Luo and Tartaglia are extremely close, so close that their greetings often involve exchanging a few punches.
Because of this, Tartaglia never calls him by his Snezhnayan name, Anatoly.
He almost always calls him Bai Luo, even in formal settings.
But this time, on the envelope, Tartaglia actually wrote "To Anatoly."
Which could only mean one thing—the contents of this letter must be very serious.
After greeting Teppei and returning to his Watatsumi Island residence with the messenger, Bai Luo began reading the long "letter" from Liyue—a letter so thick it could be called a short novel.
To my dearest frie—(section damaged)—friend Anatoly:
The letter you left for me, I've already received.
Because I miss you so dearly, I've been unable to sleep at night.
So I rose and wrote you this letter.
Your concern in your message warms my heart.
I have also had a deep and friendly discussion with that Morax.
Upon hearing that you and I are close, he asked me to relay a message to you: when you return, he will continue to fulfill your previous contract.
As for the matter of Morax's Gnosis, I already have a preliminary plan.
Still, I trust your intellect more. If possible, come to Liyue again—help your best friend Tartaglia refine the plan.
At that time, I will host a banquet for you at (crossed out, faintly shows "Wangsheng") Wanmin Restaurant.
I heard your favorite food is Sunsettias, so I specially prepared an entire basket of them for you.
Come to think of it, I've never properly treated you to a meal.
This time, you must not refuse.
Time passes so quickly, and one sheet of paper is far from enough to express how much I miss you, Anatoly.
After much thought, I've decided to use more paper.
I hope you won't find it troublesome.
You! Must! Read! It! All!
. . .
"..."
How excessive—he even used five exclamation marks.
It was just giving him a chance to fight Morax head-on.
Isn't that supposed to be his dream? Why is he grinding his teeth over it?
Originally, Bai Luo wanted to flip to the next page.
But suddenly remembering something, he translated the letter into every language he knew—Snezhnayan, Liyuean, Teyvat's common tongue—and examined the content from every angle.
No acrostics.
No hidden puns.
No tiny letters forming big letters.
"Tartaglia... you're still too naive. You don't understand the true art of letter-writing."
Shaking his head in mild disappointment, Bai Luo lifted the second page.
"..."
One glance at the densely packed tiny handwriting—he immediately closed it again.
"So weird. Let me look one more time."
He lifted a corner and peeked inside—then fell completely silent.
"Straightforward, no twists, no tricks… Yes, that's exactly your style, Tartaglia."
What's that saying again?
Heavy blades have no edge; great skill appears clumsy.
Perhaps Tartaglia didn't bother with secret schemes, but these thirty-nine pages of nonstop writing were enough to crush any subtle tactic.
Quietly pulling out his Kamera, Bai Luo snapped dozens of photos of the pages—especially the signature at the end:
"Your best friend, Tartaglia."
He even took a close-up shot.
Then, taking pen and paper, Bai Luo wrote a grand, sweeping reply—just one character:
"K."
A single word, yet a perfect response to Tartaglia's thirty-nine-page-long letter.
Truly the most efficient piece of writing in history.
Nothing else even comes close.
"Someone, come."
"Ausbilder-sama."
The messenger waiting outside entered the room and bowed to Bai Luo.
This letter had actually been written by Tartaglia the very night after his fight with the Geo Archon.
It should have arrived much earlier, but something had happened along the sea route between Liyue and Inazuma.
For some reason, sea monsters had been attacking travelers far more frequently than before.
The fact that he returned alive was thanks only to a few fruits he carried.
If not for one particular fruit giving him the will to survive, he likely would never have drifted to Inazuma on a raft made from the wreckage of his ship.
What baffled him was that whenever a sea beast approached and saw the fruit beside him, it would wail in terror and flee.
"Take this letter back to Liyue. You must hand it to Childe personally."
Bai Luo drew a small doodle of a duck on the envelope, reached for sealing wax, and prepared to close it.
But something occurred to him.
He withdrew the contents of the envelope and wrote a single line on the back of the page:
"You wouldn't want your younger siblings to read the contents of these letters, would you?"
Only after doing this did Bai Luo carefully seal the envelope and hand it to the messenger.
The messenger accepted it with slightly trembling hands, looking utterly defeated.
And who could blame him?
After drifting across the ocean for so long, nearly being swallowed by sea monsters… He had thought that upon reaching Inazuma, he could finally rest and enjoy a bit of peace.
But before he even had the chance to sit down, he was being sent out again.
Still, the command of a Harbinger could not be disobeyed.
He could only—
"Wait."
Bai Luo suddenly called him back, reached into his pocket, and produced a fruit.
These days, he kept such fruits with him all the time.
Even if they weren't edible, they were extremely useful.
"Thank you, sir."
The messenger gratefully accepted the fruit.
To other people it might be worthless trash, but after surviving that ordeal at sea, he had developed a deep emotional attachment to these fruits.
To him, this fruit held a special meaning.
"Remember this well—do NOT eat it. It's not for eating!"
Seeing the messenger look as though he might take a bite, Bai Luo immediately warned him.
He strongly suspected that if this Fatui actually ate the fruit, he might not survive long enough to deliver the letter to Tartaglia.
"Then… what is the fruit for?"
"For self-defense."
"...?"
Self-defense?
This fruit could be used for self-defense?
Confused but obedient, the messenger put away the fruit, took Bai Luo's letter, and set out on his journey to—no, back to Liyue.
As for the original thirty-nine-page letter… Bai Luo had no intention of destroying it.
After all, he still wasn't sure whether the still-slumbering Traveler was Lumine or Aether.
If it's Lumine, Mirai might be able to sell the letter to her for a hefty sum.
Surely she wouldn't be able to refuse an original handwritten letter from Tartaglia.
. . . . .
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