Undercover in Snezhnaya, My Teyvat Spy Life [17]

Walking down the streets of Mondstadt, Artem couldn’t help but click his tongue in annoyance.

“Damn it, I let myself get carried away.”

“That old fox dangled some vague promise, and just like that, I’m stuck with a mission this hard.”

But a promise was a promise.

No choice now but to figure out a way to pull it off.

And if it actually works out? Snagging a wife for free doesn’t sound too bad...

Artem stroked his chin as he walked, mind already spinning with possibilities.

With so much time having passed, the only way to find clues was to confront Crepus himself.

But going to Crepus directly was out of the question.

With his current identity?
Just as Varka had said—nobody wanted anything to do with him.

Even if he did try, he’d just get the cold shoulder.

And Diluc and Kaeya? Those two would be clueless—there was no getting around Crepus for this.

Maybe I should just kidnap Crepus?

Artem thought it over, then shook his head.
No good. The guy’s holed up inside the Knights of Favonius now. Not so easy to grab him.

That wouldn’t work. But what would?

After turning it over in his mind, Artem finally hit on an idea.

Got it. I’ll just kidnap Diluc or Kaeya instead.

The Knights are busy guarding Crepus, but they’re not guarding those two. If I snatch one, the Knights will have to negotiate.

Perfect!

Snapping his fingers in satisfaction, he quickened his pace toward the Goth Grand Hotel, ready to put his plan into motion.

---

Meanwhile, back at the Church of Favonius, Rosaria and Artem had just left when Varka appeared before Seamus Pegg.

He made no effort to hide his annoyance. “That brat agreed way too easily.”

Seamus shot him a look. “You only got his word because your offer was so generous.”

He stepped to the window, watching as Artem strode briskly away.
The gentle, mild-mannered bishop now looked uncharacteristically cold.

“Snezhnaya has been getting bolder with each passing year.”

“It’s about time we taught them a lesson.”

Varka flopped down on the sofa, lazily leaning back. “Easy to say.”

“Ten Harbingers. The Cryo Archon.”

“The Anemo Archon isn’t even here. What are we supposed to fight with?”

“All we ever get is trouble for our efforts.”

“Honestly, we’re lucky to have Albert. Without him, things would be even harder for Mondstadt these days.”

“Yeah. Lucky indeed,” Seamus said, a rare look of relief crossing his face.

But then his expression darkened again.

“In the past, we all thought he’d never get the gods’ favor. That he’d live a life of mediocrity.”

“Who could have guessed he’d accomplish so much now?”

“If we’d kept him here, maybe he could have become the next Guardian of the Four Winds.”

The moment he brought it up, Varka bristled.

He snapped, “Wasn’t it your idea to send him to Snezhnaya?”

“Old Coulson was dead set against it. How did you get around him?”

“Have you forgotten?”

“If that brat ever finds out what happened to Coulson, do you think he’d hesitate to sell Mondstadt out to Snezhnaya?”

Seamus didn’t answer. He simply gazed out the window, lost in memory.

He recalled the old priest—dismissed for getting in the way, only to die lonely and dejected in his hometown.

Back then, as Snezhnaya’s military grew ever stronger, they demanded to garrison their troops in every other nation under the guise of “helping” against the Abyss, and even pushed to open Northland Bank branches everywhere.

A two-pronged attack, both military and economic.

It went against everything Mondstadt believed in.

Varka hadn’t hesitated to refuse.

But that had only brought down harsher Snezhnayan sanctions.

Whether it was Dawn Winery losing sales, or ever-worsening attacks from the Abyss, Mondstadt’s already fragile strength was constantly tested.

In the midst of crisis, Bishop Seamus suggested planting spies in Snezhnaya to sabotage their operations in advance.

Under his direction, the Church of Favonius started taking in orphans en masse, secretly training them as spies.

When they were ready, the children would be disguised as orphans again and sent to Snezhnaya’s “House of Hearth” to be recruited by the Fatui.

But Snezhnaya’s vetting was far more ruthless than Seamus had ever expected.

Brainwashing, body modification, and the first use of [Delusions]—all brutal hurdles.

Most of the orphans never made it. Sometimes, only one or two out of every three or five groups survived.

And even the lucky few never made it to the top ranks.

In the end, all that sacrifice accomplished nothing but the deaths of countless children.

That was when Seamus’s wife, Frederica Gunnhildr, quarreled with him—furious he was sacrificing so many innocents.

But Seamus insisted he was doing the right thing for Mondstadt.

In the end, Frederica took their elder daughter, Jean, and left, leaving young Barbara behind.

It was a wound Seamus would always carry.

But the spy project continued.

Three years ago, Seamus had picked Albert—Artem.

The old church priest, Coulson, who’d cared for Artem, had refused to let him be sent to his death.

“This boy is gifted—he could become the next Guardian of the Four Winds!”

“Send anyone else, but not Albert!”

But by then, Seamus’s mind was made up. With Mondstadt under constant sanction, the Knights’ finances on the brink of collapse, he’d dismissed Coulson and sent him back to his village.

Then he’d shipped off Artem’s whole group to Snezhnaya.

He could never forget the look of bitter hatred in Coulson’s eyes as he left.

“You all have no [Vision]. You think someone without a [Vision] is worthless?”

“Have you all forgotten one of The Lionfang Knights, Grand Master Arundolyn?!”

And in the end, Coulson had been right.

After joining Snezhnaya, Artem had risen rapidly—a shining star among the Fatui.

He was the only one of his cohort to survive, and soared to the rank of Inspector at record speed.

Alongside the famed Ajax, Captain of the Abyss Assault Squad, the two were hailed as the “Twin Stars.”

The intelligence Artem sent back only grew more valuable.

With his help, Mondstadt was finally able to break out of its slump.

Seamus let out a long, heavy sigh.

He had to admit—Varka was right.

If Artem ever learned that Coulson had died of heartbreak over him, he would almost certainly turn against Mondstadt.

“Keep it from him,” Varka said with a helpless shrug. “If I hadn’t made that shameless promise, what else could I do?”

He snorted, a note of mockery in his laugh. “Hah! That brat’s practically a Harbinger now.”

“If the Fatui ever learned their own Harbinger was a Mondstadt spy, I wonder what they’d do!”

Seamus couldn’t help but laugh too.

The Fatui, famous for their caution and ruthlessness—yet they might soon end up with a Harbinger who was an undercover agent for Mondstadt.

Just thinking about it was absurdly funny.

But as he laughed, Seamus suddenly remembered something.

“Varka, you promised to give him a wife. What are you going to do if he actually pulls it off?”

“What else?” Varka roared with laughter. “I don’t have a daughter, so I’ll just give him yours!”

With that, he vanished in a blink.

Seamus’s smile froze, then twisted in outrage.

“Varka!!!”

“Get back here!!”

“I’ll kill you!!!”

---

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!