Coppelia slowly set the children down. Their feet touched solid ground again, but the children were still lost in the brief experience of floating, their little faces filled with wonder and disbelief. The children looked at Coppelia, their gaze completely changed, now filled with awe and trust.
"Come with me," the boy who knew the bard whispered, taking the lead.
The boy led them through a maze of alleyways, stopping before an inconspicuous wooden door set into the rock face.
The boy knocked on the door and whispered a few words. A moment later, the door opened a crack, and a middle-aged man with a haggard face but sharp, wise eyes peeked out. He held a worn parchment scroll in his hand and carried the faint scent of old books.
"Mr. Kuris," the boy whispered, "there are two... guests who wish to see you."
This bard named Kuris sized up Coppelia and Columbina, his gaze lingering for a moment on the cloth strips wrapped around Columbina's eyes, before finally stepping aside. "Come in and sit. It's inconvenient to talk while standing."
The room was small and simple, but tidily kept. Bookshelves had been carved into the rock walls, crammed with all sorts of scrolls and manuscripts. A small oil lamp provided a faint source of light.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the boy repeated the two visitors' intentions. Kuris listened to Coppelia's detailed description of their target—short black hair, a gradient braid, a youthful appearance, and carrying a lyre.
The poet frowned, pondering for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "I'm sorry, ladies. I may have seen such a young poet, but..." He sighed. "I am not acquainted with him."
"Is that so..." Coppelia pressed. "Then do you know where the bards might gather these days?"
"The day after tomorrow," Kuris lowered his voice, his expression turning grave. "The people are planning a collective petition. We bards are busy collecting the wishes of the people from every district, discussing and drafting the petition. We're swamped, so our whereabouts are uncertain."
"Will all the poets be at the petition the day after tomorrow?" Coppelia seized on the key point.
Kuris nodded affirmatively. "Including myself, most bards who can move freely will be there, over a hundred of us. The one you're looking for... I'm almost certain he'll be present. There have been several similar petitions before, and I seem to recall seeing him at every one I've attended."
Finally, a definite lead. Coppelia sighed inaudibly, the tension in her heart easing slightly.
"Then where will the petition take place the day after tomorrow? Where will the bards gather?" she continued to ask.
Kuris mulled it over, glanced at the boy waiting quietly beside him, then at Coppelia and the ever-silent Columbina, and seemed to make a decision. "How about this: come find me here the morning after tomorrow, and I'll take you to the meeting place."
"Thank you, Mr. Kuris," Coppelia said with sincere gratitude.
So they had to wait until the day after tomorrow. Two full days and nights to go.
Leaving Kuris's residence, Coppelia and Columbina blended back into the gray stream of people in the outer ring.
They didn't plan to remain idle.
During the day, they continued to wander the outer ring, familiarizing themselves with the environment and observing discreetly, hoping to get lucky and run into their target, or at the very least, gain a deeper understanding of this city struggling under harsh rule.
They walked through a market that was noisy yet lifeless, seeing vendors selling scarce, low-quality goods to customers who rarely smiled. Transactions were conducted in a kind of oppressive silence.
They passed through the artisan district, hearing not the busy clanging of work, but intermittent, listless hammering.
They saw patrolling soldiers in cold stone armor swaggering by, and wherever they went, the crowd would bow their heads and make way like wheat bent by the wind.
The people's eyes lacked luster, holding only the toil and endurance of day-to-day life, and the fear of the harsh winds and the high tower.
For a moment, a question rose in Coppelia's mind: "Why don't they leave?" But in the next instant, she realized the reason: the people here had no choice.
Gunnhildr's clan had originally been one of Decarabian's subordinates; when they left, they had the means to take enough resources to fight against the snow and ice and survive.
But the people here had nothing. Leaving Decarabian's city was a death sentence. Staying here, they could at least survive; outside, they probably wouldn't even know how they died.
Coppelia silently observed it all, committing what she saw and heard to memory.
As for Columbina, after absorbing the fragment, she had shown a tendency to be more lively when talking with Lupus, occasionally interjecting. But since entering Mondstadt City, she had remained quiet for a long time, just following Coppelia, her thoughts unknown.
...
After wandering for the entire day, Coppelia still hadn't encountered the nameless bard.
The two of them came to a remote area on the edge of the outer ring, looking for a place to spend the night.
"We'll continue the search tomorrow." Coppelia was already mentally weary and needed to enter sleep mode.
Columbina, who had been quiet all day, finally spoke: "Where are we going to rest?"
"We'll just find a hidden corner and 'borrow' some straw..." Coppelia immediately fell silent, hearing the clang of metal in the distance.
It was followed by a sharp rebuke: "Halt! Who goes there? Skulking around so late at night, are you an outlander trying to sneak in?"
An outlander? Coppelia immediately pulled Columbina and hurried in the direction of the sound.
Coppelia and Columbina flew to the roof of a stone house and observed stealthily. They saw several patrolling soldiers surrounding a civilian man, covered in dirt and shivering as he clutched a tool bag.
"Sirs... I-I'm not. I was just mending things at the workshop. There was a lot to do, so I finished late... And I fell on my way home..."
"Hmph, acting flustered, looking suspicious! Take him away!" The soldiers paid no heed to the man's explanation, clearly just looking for an excuse to meet their patrol quota.
Columbina sensed something and whispered, "There's someone else... his hair is red."
Red hair? Red-haired people weren't common in Mondstadt City. Of the people she had seen today, most were blond, with some gray and white-haired individuals, but not a single redhead.
Could it be...? Coppelia didn't dare to jump to conclusions and continued to observe.
Just as the squad of soldiers was about to forcibly take the civilian away, something unexpected happened.
"Swish! Swish!" A few small pebbles shot down from above, striking the joints between the soldiers' helmets and pauldrons. The force wasn't great, but it was enough to cause them a sharp pain and throw them into a panic.
"Who's there?!"
In a flash, a figure in black, swift as a panther, shot out from the shadows. He hoisted the stunned civilian onto his shoulder, grabbed the tool bag, and crashed through a low wooden fence that had appeared to be sealed shut, instantly disappearing into the depths of the complex alleyways, leaving the soldiers standing there in disbelief.
Mondstadt, red hair... A name surfaced in Coppelia's mind.
The Darknight Hero.
Could this be an ancestor of Diluc's...? The thought crossed Coppelia's mind, but she quickly refocused on the matter at hand.
"He dared to attack the soldiers... he must be connected to the resistance!" A look of determination flashed in Coppelia's eyes as she turned to Columbina. "Follow him! We'll fly!"
___
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