"Lord Childe, we have arrived in Fontaine," a Fatui soldier announced, standing before Tartaglia with utmost respect, his eyes shining with admiration.
"Finally! Heh heh, Arlecchino, let's see how long you can keep smiling!" Tartaglia grinned brightly as he shoved open the cabin door and strode onto the deck, letting the sea breeze buffet his face.
"So, this is Fontaine's sea?"
"Ah, the sea... it's all water."
The Fatui soldier trailing behind Tartaglia nearly tripped at this profound observation.
Tartaglia's spirits soared. After disembarking at Fontaine's port, he immediately addressed his soldiers.
"Quick, go gather intel on Fontaine's strongest fighters!"
"I'll head to the Northland Bank to secure our operational funds. Come find me once you've gathered the information."
Just as Tartaglia finished issuing his orders, two gunshots suddenly rang out in the distance.
"Hmm? Gunfire here at the port? Could it be a Monster attack?" Tartaglia tilted his head in confusion, observing the Fontaine citizens who continued their conversations and trade transactions with remarkable composure despite the gunshots. He scratched his head.
"Judging by their reaction, it doesn't seem like anything serious."
With these thoughts, Tartaglia continued addressing his Fatui soldiers:
"Alright, hurry up and investigate."
"Now that I'm in Fontaine, I'm going to have a proper fight with some of their strongest warriors!"
"As for the Gnosis, there's no rush. Arlecchino hasn't found it after all this time, so she certainly won't get her hands on it now. I'll wait until I've honed my skills before making my move!"
After dismissing his subordinates to gather intelligence, Tartaglia went alone to the Northland Bank and found its Fontaine branch manager.
"Lord Childe!" The manager's face immediately lit up with respect upon seeing Tartaglia.
"Pulcinella should have deposited some funds for me at the Northland Bank, right?" Tartaglia asked.
"Yes, Lord Childe," the manager replied.
"However, we don't currently have that much cash on hand. Many outstanding loans have yet to be recovered."
"Could you wait a bit, Lord Childe? I'll immediately request funds from other Northland Bank branches!" the manager explained, a troubled expression on his face.
Tartaglia frowned. "How long will that take?"
"At most, a month!"
Tartaglia was speechless. A month was nearly the entire duration of his vacation. What use was operational funding at that point?
"Forget it, forget it. You're all utterly useless, unable to collect even a single debt."
"Give me the relevant information. I'll go collect the debts myself."
"Yes, yes, Lord Childe! As you command!"
Not a hint of resentment showed on their faces. They first arranged for Tartaglia to rest in the VIP lounge, then scurried to place a stack of documents before him.
Tartaglia quickly sorted through the debt records, selecting those with sufficiently large sums, and rose to leave.
"Lord Childe, won't you rest a bit longer? I've already ordered a lavish feast to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey."
"No need. You all can enjoy it."
Without hesitation, Tartaglia departed the Northland Bank.
Tartaglia shook his head helplessly. He did want to rest, but he had a horde of newly recruited subordinates clamoring for his attention. His previous team had been decimated during the Liyue incident, and these were fresh recruits whose loyalty needed to be cultivated.
As soon as Tartaglia departed, the Northland Bank manager's obsequious facade vanished.
"Go. Leak some rumors to that man and have him drag things out as long as possible."
"Yes, sir!"
A debt collector materialized beside him, then vanished instantly.
"My apologies, Lord Childe. These are Lord Pantalone's orders."
-
"Rosalyne... that woman."
Tartaglia felt utterly cursed. Not only had he lost all his subordinates, but he hadn't even received a share of the credit for acquiring the Gnosis.
And to think Zhongli, the Consultant, was actually Morax all along! He'd been thoroughly duped from start to finish!
After spending so much Mora on him, couldn't he at least have handed over the Gnosis at the end, as a gesture of goodwill?
Though Zhongli had utterly swindled him, Tartaglia dared not voice his complaints.
Absolutely not!
He relished combat, but he had no desire to throw his life away.
So, he resigned himself to his misfortune.
"Still, I've made a good friend and enjoyed a thoroughly exhilarating battle. Not a complete loss!"
A faint smile curved Tartaglia's lips as he thought of a certain yellow-haired girl.
"I hope she gives Rosalyne a proper thrashing in Inazuma for me."
Shaking his head, Tartaglia quickened his pace.
On his way to collect debts, he noticed something peculiar about the Fontaine citizens: they seemed particularly fond of carrying ostentatious weapons.
The more intimidating the weapon looked, the more popular it seemed to be.
He even saw several street vendors selling toy versions of these weapons, and their sales appeared quite brisk.
Strange. Could this be a Fontaine tradition?
However, the Fontaine citizens seemed to be communicating normally, so Tartaglia could only conclude that their customs were simply more... rustic.
Tartaglia quickly arrived at the home of the person who owed money. The door wasn't locked, and when he pushed it open, he found the place deserted.
He ran a finger across the table, finding only a thin layer of dust. Clearly, someone had been living here recently.
It seems these debtors are working together, he thought. They've set up lookouts near Northland Bank, and when they sense trouble, they bolt immediately to lay low. No wonder the bank is having such a hard time collecting debts.
Having pieced together the situation, Tartaglia began searching the room for clues. The debtor couldn't have left long ago.
Soon after, Tartaglia left the room.
"Murder!"
At that moment, a scream pierced the air. Tartaglia turned to see a crowd gathered nearby, pointing and gesturing at something as they chattered among themselves.
"Good riddance to that deadbeat!"
"Good riddance, my ass! He still owed me a ton of Mora! Who am I supposed to get it from now that he's dead?!"
The speaker's voice trembled with anger, but his outburst was quickly drowned out by a more anguished wail.
"Why did you have to die now?! Couldn't you have waited until next week?!"
"My Mora! I bet a whole 100,000 Mora on him!"
"Ha ha ha! Good riddance! I'm going to be rich!"
Tartaglia was stunned. Why did these people seem so nonchalant about death?
Watching the Fontaine citizens laughing and chatting casually around the corpse, Tartaglia couldn't help but approach for a closer look.
When he realized the dead man was the very target of his debt collection, Tartaglia frowned.
"What happened here? Who's the victim?"
Just then, Maison Gardiennage officers finally arrived on the scene. With practiced efficiency, they began securing the area and questioning the onlookers.
Seeing the officers arrive, Tartaglia prepared to leave.
Although Fontaine and Snezhnaya maintained superficially friendly relations, the Fatui's reputation across Teyvat was far from stellar. Lingering would inevitably bring trouble.
However, just as Tartaglia was about to slip away, the man being questioned by the officers pointed a finger at him and exclaimed, "It was him, Officer!"
"I saw him come out of the victim's house just now!"
"He's definitely involved!"
Upon hearing this accusation, the Maison Gardiennage officer immediately approached Tartaglia.
"Monsieur, you're a prime suspect. Please come with us for questioning."
Tartaglia: "..."
-
"Name?"
"Tartaglia."
"Age?"
"Nineteen."
"Gender?"
"Hey, you don't need to ask that, do you? It's pretty obvious, isn't it?"
Tartaglia rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"Your interrogation methods in Fontaine are still so outdated?" Tartaglia remarked.
Hearing this, the Maison Gardiennage officer slammed his hand on the table and said sternly, "Monsieur, please refrain from irrelevant remarks. I must remind you that you are currently under serious suspicion. If you wish to avoid misunderstandings, I strongly advise you to answer my questions truthfully."
Tartaglia completely dismissed the officer's threat.
"I agreed to come with you because I assumed the Maison Gardiennage could quickly resolve such a minor matter and uncover the truth," he said. "But your continued hostile attitude makes me seriously doubt your competence. It seems Fontaine's reputation as the Nation of Justice is ultimately just an empty boast."
Unable to contain himself after hearing Tartaglia's brazen criticism, the officer slammed his hand on the table again, even harder this time.
"Monsieur, do not insult Fontaine! Do not insult those who sacrificed for the Fontaine we have today! You, as a foreigner, have no idea what we've endured!"
"No other nation could have handled the recent events better than Fontaine!"
"Really? What 'interesting' things have happened in Fontaine lately?"
Tartaglia's curiosity was piqued, but his flippant attitude pushed the Maison Gardiennage officer interrogating him to the breaking point.
"Monsieur!"
The officer had just risen to his feet when another Maison Gardiennage officer entered the room and gently pressed him back down.
"Calm down. I'll take it from here."
Seeing the newcomer, the original officer managed to regain his composure and nodded.
Only then did the newly arrived figure turn his gaze upon Tartaglia.
"So, you're the one in charge here? Come to declare me innocent?"
"Quite the opposite," the man paused before continuing. "Monsieur Tartaglia, I'm here to inform you that you are under grave suspicion. The Maison Gardiennage has formally charged you, and your Judgment will begin shortly."
"Hah, is this how Fontaine treats its guests?" Tartaglia chuckled, clenching his fist as he spoke.
"Shortly before the victim's body was discovered, you were seen searching the victim's room for something, leaving traces of your presence everywhere."
"Furthermore, we found intelligence on the victim in your possession, detailing a massive debt he owed to the Northland Bank."
"Furthermore, a witness saw you leaving the deceased's room. Monsieur Tartaglia, you wouldn't claim this is mere coincidence, would you?"
Tartaglia paused, realizing from their words that he was indeed a prime suspect.
He had initially assumed these officers were Arlecchino's agents, deliberately trying to trip him up. He had been preparing for a confrontation, but now his certainty wavered.
"I did come to collect the debt, but when I entered the deceased's room, he was already gone. I have no idea how he died."
"At first, I thought he had caught wind of my arrival and fled. This has nothing to do with me. You'd be wise to investigate thoroughly."
After a moment's thought, Tartaglia decided against using force.
His unique position meant that any rash use of violence against Fontaine's public officials could trigger a serious diplomatic crisis between Snezhnaya and Fontaine.
"We have already investigated thoroughly. The rest is for Justice to decide."
"Our investigation has also revealed that you are a Fatui Harbinger."
"And you recently caused a major incident in Liyue, nearly sparking a war between Snezhnaya and Liyue."
"Monsieur Tartaglia, may I ask what your intentions are in coming to Fontaine?"
"I'm just here on vacation!"
Tartaglia offered an explanation, though it sounded rather weak.
"Is that so? Then why, Monsieur Tartaglia, who claims to be vacationing in Fontaine, are you found in the victim's home, holding information about the deceased?"
Now Tartaglia was at a loss for words. Even if he claimed he was personally collecting debts because he couldn't withdraw funds from Northland Bank, they certainly wouldn't believe him.
"Since you know my identity, you must also know you have no authority to arrest me."
"Release me immediately if you don't want to provoke a diplomatic crisis between Snezhnaya and Fontaine."
"As for this case, have someone with the authority to handle such matters come and speak with me."
Hearing Tartaglia's words, the other party remained unfazed.
"Monsieur Tartaglia, since you claimed to be here on vacation, I presume Snezhnaya did not submit a formal report of Harbinger activity to Fontaine's high command, correct?"
"In other words, you're currently just an ordinary foreign visitor in Fontaine—and the prime suspect in a murder case. We have every right to arrest you."
"Of course, if you insist on invoking your status as a Fatui Harbinger, we can release you."
"However, Fontaine will then add charges of secretly entering Fontaine and engaging in illegal activities."
"Isn't this a bit unfair?"
Tartaglia's blood pressure soared. He never imagined such a minor character could be so troublesome.
"Is this the fairness and justice you Fontainians pride yourselves on?"
"If so, then I'll shatter it completely!"
With that, Tartaglia unleashed a formidable aura, instantly putting the two Maison Gardiennage officers on high alert.