Undercover in Snezhnaya, My Teyvat Spy Life [61]

The Church of Favonius.

Seamus Pegg, the Cardinal of Dawn, finished his day’s work.

After his customary prayer to the Anemo Archon, he returned to his office, exhaustion etched across his face.

Second-in-command of Mondstadt—an unenviable position.

Everything passed through Seamus’s hands: covert reports from Mondstadt’s Dark Division, the city’s daily affairs, and lately, not much intelligence from Snezhnaya at all since Artem Vetrovski had fallen out with Varka.

On top of that, the chaos stirred up by the Lawrence clan meant he had to placate the public as well.

All this left him swamped. He barely had time to see his own daughter.

He exhaled.

Seamus took off his bishop’s hat, shrugged out of his heavy robes, and stretched, joints popping.

He was just about to turn off the lights and get into bed when he realized something was off in the room.

Someone was sitting by his desk. He had no idea when they’d gotten in.

“Bishop Seamus. Long time no see.”

The familiar voice caught Seamus off guard.

Then he smiled, forced and brittle. “Albert. It’s you.”

The smile didn’t reach his eyes. Inwardly, his mind churned.

Albert had openly broken with Varka—that much was common knowledge. For him to come here, quietly, this late at night, could only mean trouble.

WHOOSH.

Just as Seamus reached for the light, an icicle shattered the switch.

His eyes narrowed.

More icicles followed in quick succession, stabbing toward him.

As the true head of the Dark Division, Seamus was no slouch in a fight.

He sidestepped Artem’s attacks, moving with a swiftness that belied his age.

A twist of the wrist, and the [Skyward Blade]—the Church’s hidden treasure—appeared in his grip.

Before he was a bishop, Seamus had been a renowned adventurer across the continent. Swordplay was his specialty.

Blade in hand, Seamus went on the offensive, driving straight for Artem.

He nearly reached him, but chains, dark and silent, shot out from nowhere, pinning him in place.

Seamus struggled, but the black chains didn’t budge. Shock and anger warred on his face. When did this kid get so strong?

“You’re still a long way from Varka,” Artem said flatly, watching Seamus fight the chains.

He closed his fist.

The black chains snapped tight, binding Seamus like a dumpling, and slammed him to the floor.

Seamus, realizing just how bad this was, screamed for help, hoping to bring others running.

“I sealed this place with a wind barrier a while ago. You can scream your lungs out—it won’t help.”

Artem dragged a chair over, set the leg over Seamus’s right hand, and sat down.

The bones in Seamus’s right hand cracked with a dull crunch.

Agony ripped through him, wringing a raw, broken howl from his throat.

“Albert—what the hell are you doing?”

“What do you want!?”

Artem didn’t bother with small talk. “How did my old man die?”

“He was infected with a curse in Inazuma—”

Before he finished, Artem flicked a finger. An icicle drove through Seamus’s clavicle, pinning him to the floor.

“How did my old man die?” Artem’s voice was ice, emotionless.

At last, Seamus understood: Artem had found out about Coulson.

But he couldn’t understand how.

He’d covered his tracks perfectly. Not just the villagers—no one in the Church even knew what had happened to Coulson. The Knights who’d watched over him had been dealt with.

How could Artem possibly know?

Another icicle skewered Seamus’s right leg.

“Talk. Or die.”

Artem’s tone brooked no argument.

He’d underestimated Seamus’s backbone.

“Go ahead. Kill me,” Seamus spat, teeth gritted.

Artem’s eyes narrowed, a cold smile curling his lips.

“Playing the tough guy, are you?”

“Fine. I won’t kill you—yet.”

“I remember you have a daughter in the Church, don’t you? Barbara, right?”

“She should be here, at this hour.”

At the mention of “Barbara,” Seamus’s composure cracked.

He thrashed against the chains, face twisting with rage and panic. “Albert, you bastard! Come at me if you’ve got the guts! Leave my daughter out of this!”

“You’re scum! Lady Alice was right about you—a walking disaster!”

“I should’ve strangled you on Dragonspine all those years ago, shouldn’t have let Coulson bring you back just because I hesitated for a second!”

“What did you say?” Artem’s pupils contracted.

Dragonspine? Seamus tried to strangle me? Wasn’t it just me and Old Man Coulson on Dragonspine that year?

What does this have to do with Seamus?

Disaster? Alice called me a disaster?

“You want to know?” Seamus’s mask cracked, his face twisted in a sneer, all his usual composure gone.

“You still don’t get it, do you? You’re not even from this world. You’re a calamity from beyond.”

“If that old bastard Varka hadn’t decided you were some sort of rare commodity, I would’ve listened to Lady Alice and killed you on Dragonspine.”

“And Coulson—don’t get me started.”

“We were supposed to control you, use you, turn you into Mondstadt’s most loyal hunting dog.”

“But he actually took you as his son. Wanted to make you a Knight of Favonius? Marry my daughter?”

“Absurd.”

“You think you’re worthy?”

“That old fool stopped me, over and over, from sending you to Snezhnaya. Claimed you’d be the next Grand Master Arundolyn.”

“As if you’re fit to be compared to Grand Master Arundolyn.”

“So I sent him to tend pigs. That’s the punishment he deserved.”

Artem’s face didn’t change. His voice was arctic. “So it was you. You killed my old man.”

“So what?”

“You think it has nothing to do with you?” Seamus gave a low, humorless chuckle. “You’re a Senior Inspector now, aren’t you? As for Coulson—he’d already turned on us. If he started leaking secrets, then what?”

“So I laced his food with a generous helping of crystallized bone marrow. Made sure the curse from Inazuma would eat away at him.”

“By the time he realized, it was far too late.”

“Heh. You know, right up to the end, the old man was still forced to write a fake will for us. Urging you to keep working for Mondstadt.”

“Oh, and I told him: your son’s rebelled. He’s not coming back. Just wait here to die.”

“He died real happy, after that. Eyes wide open. Couldn’t even close them.”

Seamus’s voice cut off, just like that.

The bishop who’d steered Mondstadt’s fate for decades died quietly in the Church—Artem’s blade driven straight through his throat.

Artem wrenched the [Skyward Blade] free, stood, and looked out the window toward the Knights’ headquarters, his face bleak.

Seamus had confessed, but Artem was certain he wasn’t the true culprit.

As for who was, Coulson’s last message had already told him.

Hand over the letter when you break with the Grand Master.

What you see before your eyes isn’t always the truth.

Artem murmured,

Old man, were you worried I’d do something stupid and get myself killed?

Don’t worry. I won’t be rash.

When I’m strong enough, I’ll drag Varka to your grave and flay him alive, piece by piece, for you.

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T/N: im so susceptible to fanfics... now im starting to hate Mondstadt :sob:

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!