Undercover in Snezhnaya, My Teyvat Spy Life [80]

Dragonspine.

The only place in Mondstadt covered in snow and ice all year round.

The massive corpse of the dragon Ursa lay sprawled in the valley known as Sleeping Dragon Gorge.

This formidable monster, honestly, with Artem’s skills, driving it away was possible, but killing it outright? Nearly impossible.

Ursa’s flight speed was incredible—so fast that even chasing it down was out of the question.

Luckily, ever since Dottore’s modifications, the beast had been unable to resist Artem’s orders—even the command to simply stand and wait for death. All it could do was stare helplessly as Artem’s sword separated its head from its body.

By now, Ursa’s head was already gone from the valley.

Most of its flesh had been picked over, too.

And the culprit—Artem—sat beneath a frozen tree, grilling skewers of meat with focused attention.

Just as he’d suspected, the reason Ursa had become so powerful was that Dottore had injected it with god remnants—fragments of a dead god’s power.

Though the effects had been diluted by flesh and blood, like the reagent in Albedo’s hands, the residue was faint, almost weak.

Still, a little was better than nothing.

God remnants were rare and precious to begin with.

He couldn’t exactly go asking Dottore for more; even with Arlecchino’s protection, that lunatic would probably gut him on the spot.

So whenever Artem stumbled on some, he made a point of consuming it right away.

It was just… the dragon was far too big. No matter how hard he tried, after two days, he’d only managed to eat a tiny fraction.

Eula sat beside him, roasting some Dragonspine wild boar over the fire.

As for the sixty-man unit, after causing chaos and killing Ursa, they’d carried its head back to Mondstadt as ordered.

According to Artem’s instructions, the head would be mounted and displayed at the entrance of the former Goth Grand Hotel—now the Northland Bank—for all of Mondstadt to see.

And, as a bonus, to make the Knights of Favonius feel even more uncomfortable.

Noticing Eula eyeing him with curiosity again, Artem mumbled through a mouthful of meat, “You can’t eat this stuff.”

“There’s something special in it.”

“It’s a tonic for me, but for you, it’s poison.”

He’d already explained this to Eula several times over the past two days.

Ursa’s flesh contained traces of god remnants.

For someone like Eula, who had elemental power shielding her, it was fine as long as she didn’t ingest it. If she accidentally did, though, it would be a disaster.

“Mhm, I know,” Eula replied with a small smile. “I’m just curious what it tastes like.”

“Uh—”

Artem was momentarily at a loss for words.

He’d forgotten Eula was actually an excellent cook, though she hadn’t had a chance to show off her skills lately.

“We’ll find something else for you to try next time,” he said quickly. “But really, stay away from this dragon meat—it’s bad for you.”

“And honestly…”

Artem made a face, waving his skewer in the air, “It tastes terrible.”

Just like those god remnant reagents, Ursa’s flesh was all weird flavors on top of the bitterness—no recipe could fix it.

If it wasn’t such a rare tonic, Artem wouldn’t touch it at all.

Seeing his look of utter misery, Eula burst out laughing.
“No wonder you’ve been chewing on sunsettias and sweet flowers nonstop these days.”

She glanced at Ursa’s corpse, huge as a mountain, and clicked her tongue. “Are you planning to finish off this entire dragon before heading back?”

On his own, Artem would need three or five months to eat it all.

Fortunately, Dragonspine’s freezing climate kept everything fresh.
Anywhere else in Mondstadt, the corpse would have rotted in days under the sun.

“No,” Artem shook his head. “Eating this isn’t the real reason I’m here.”

“I’m waiting for someone.”

“Waiting?” Eula tilted her head.

“Yeah. Someone who might show up—an ally.”

“We’ll give it a few more days. If he doesn’t appear, we’ll head out.”

Eula’s curiosity was piqued.
Who could possibly be out here on Dragonspine?

The mountain was dangerous, full of monsters and blizzards. Apart from the Knights or Adventurers’ Guild, almost no one came here.

“Your sister?” Eula guessed.

Artem snorted. “No. Varka once saved my sis's life—she’d never betray him.”

“Hmm… then who?”

“Another Harbinger?” Even Eula didn’t quite believe it herself.

She knew there were already three Harbingers in Mondstadt.

According to Artem, even two (if they were in the top five) would be enough to steamroll the city.

And now, there was already one from the top five here.

How could little Mondstadt possibly warrant a fourth?

“Stop guessing,” Artem said. “It’s not a Harbinger.”

“Besides, I’m just a humble Chief Inspector—how could I possibly order a Harbinger to come help me kill someone?”

“The Doctor only showed up because his conscription order went wrong.
My boss is here because someone reported me straight to the House of the Hearth.
And the Regrator came for the Northland Bank. That’s just too big to leave to anyone else.”

As Artem was speaking, he suddenly paused, rubbing his chin in thought.

“Actually, you know, I might—no, I really could call in one more.”

“That guy definitely wouldn’t refuse.”

“Perfect.” Artem slapped his thigh, a look of excitement breaking through his gloom. “With him around, the odds of taking out Varka just went way up.”

“Wait—”

Eula froze. He really can call in a fourth Harbinger? Mondstadt is finished.
That was her first reaction.

The second was—
Who exactly is Artem waiting for on Dragonspine?

But Artem refused to elaborate.
He just said this person was special, almost unknown in Mondstadt, and told Eula not to guess.

If the person showed up, she’d know.

...

Three days passed.

At last, the one Artem had been waiting for arrived.

A youth in a purple robe, looking so much like Albedo it was uncanny—even down to the diamond star mark on his neck.

The resemblance startled Eula.

“Mr. Albedo!?”

“No, wait, not Mr. Albedo… Is he your brother?”

The mysterious Chief Alchemist of Mondstadt—

Had a brother?

“That’s right.” Artem grinned at the newcomer. “This is Albedo’s older brother.”

“Oh? You seem to know quite a lot about me.” The boy’s voice was utterly emotionless, his gaze as cold as ice.

“Albedo’s brother, and sibling to Durin, the evil dragon,” Artem replied.
“I know a lot more than you’d think.”

He chuckled. “Hey, man, here’s your chance to become more than you are. How about teaming up with me?”

This was the failed artificial human created by Rhinedottir before Albedo.

Deemed defective, he’d been fed to Durin immediately after his creation.

Rhinedottir never imagined the experiment would survive—
But after Durin’s death, the “failure” had reawakened, absorbing the dragon’s blood.

Artem had always wondered about this storyline.

Durin had been dead for over a thousand years, reduced to nothing but bones.
So why did this artificial human only wake up so much later?

And how had someone who’d never experienced normal human life, with such high intelligence, immediately developed a jealousy for Albedo so intense that he’d try to replace him, convinced no one would notice?

That level of logic wasn’t just flawed—it was idiocy.

So Artem guessed, he must have awakened much earlier.

Probably spending his days shifting appearances, living in nearby villages, learning how to be human.

To test this theory, Artem had driven Ursa to Sleeping Dragon Gorge, hoping to lure out the one bearing Durin’s corrupted blood.

And as it turned out, he was right.

The “failure” had already awoken, and by all appearances, was indeed learning to blend into human society.

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This is a fan translation of 提瓦特之我在至冬做臥底 by 曉風殘月聽荷 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!