Chapter Text
Collei has never been to Inazuma before.
The docks of Ritou are alight with scarlet maple leaves, ones that Tighnari bends down to pick up as their boat parks ashore.
Master Tighnari and the General Mahamatra had brought her along on a spontaneous vacation when the Traveler had off-handedly mentioned a Genius Invocation TCG themed Irodori festival being held on the island nation. With the Sakoku decree also being lifted thanks to the certain golden-haired traveler’s help, it's now much easier for foreign tourists to explore the lands of eternity.
It’s unsurprising to Collei that Cyno had immediately wanted to visit, being the card nerd he was, though Tighnari’s acquiescence had come out of the blue. Well, seeing him now marveling at the various flora on the island, she supposes that she could guess why he wanted to come along. As for herself, well, she’d be lying to say it wasn’t for the TCG event, but mainly it was because there was an opportunity to take a pleasant vacation in a foreign nation where she would finally get a break from her studies.
Master Tighnari and Cyno the… Adventurer (really, again?) are bickering behind her as they try to find the Outlanders Affairs Agency to register their travel permits.
“Are you sure you don’t want to be a technological consultant to the treasure hoarders again?”
“For the last time Cyno, yes, I’m sure. I can just be myself, you know.”
“But this is a rare chance for you to treasure a new identity.”
Tighnari groans, slapping a palm to his forehead, “For lesser lord Kusanali’s sake, please lay off on the puns.”
“Why? I think that my hoard of jokes are hilarious,” Cyno smirked, though you could only tell if you were very attuned to his minute facial expressions. Tighnari, unfortunately, was one of those people.
Sensing that her master may very well begin to assault the general in public, Collei jumps between them and clears her throat. “We’re here!’
The two look up, spotting the large gated building with a signboard reading Outlanders Affairs Agency: we help with travel permits, residence permits, entry permits and more!
That’s a lot of different permits you needed to stay in Inazuma, Collei realized. She shuddered, imagining endless stacks of paperwork with windy, verbose language scrawled in tiny print she would’ve had to sign had she ended up here instead of Mondstadt.
Brr, what a nightmare. How did the Traveler deal with all this political mumbo jumbo while moving from nation to nation?
A few guards gave their group wary glares, for what reason Collei could not fathom, singling them out despite several other tourists milling about the courtyard. Collei ignores them as she stiffly walks between Tighnari and Cyno to the main building, where a long haired Inazuman woman greets them with a smile.
“Hello, my name is Yurika, an Inspector for the Outlanders Affairs Agency. How can I help you today?” She asks in a gentle, breezy tone.
She seemed welcoming enough, Collei thought after some observation. Then why were the Shogunate guards glaring at them as if they had personally struck down their archon?
The attention felt suffocating, and she briefly wondered if Inazuman people had special powers for them to be able to tell if someone used to be a vessel for a dead god. The back of her neck prickled as her anxiety grew, and oh no, this felt like the beginning of a panic attack.
Fortunately, Tighnari notices her predicament, and gives her a gentle smile.
“Collei, I saw a food stand earlier selling some Inazuman snacks. Why don’t you go buy some for us? Here’s some mora, make sure you count the right amount and add a little for the tip.”
“Yes, Master Tighnari!” Collei had never been more thankful for her observant teacher as she escaped the suffocating courtyard of the Outlanders Affairs Agency to explore the rest of Ritou.
After watching Collei leave, Tighnari turned his attention back to Cyno, who had just finished explaining the details of their trip to Yurika.
“Alright, since there’ll be three of you, the processing fee will be three million mora, one million for each person.”
His jaws drop in shock. Three million mora? Wasn’t that a bit too much, no, a lot too much?
Cyno moves to pull out his wallet, but Tighnari grabs his wrist to stop him.
“I’m sorry, is this some kind of joke?”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll have you know that although we’re outsiders to Inazuma, we are far from gullible enough for you to scam.” As he says this, Tighnari glances at Cyno out of the corner of his eye who was trying to sneakily put his wallet back in his pocket.
Cyno was not gullible, not in the slightest. However, he probably found it unnecessary to cause a commotion in Inazuma so soon and would’ve rather just forked over the mora instead of having to navigate an undoubtedly difficult conversation. Tsk, well that was what Tighnari was here for. To prevent them from getting scammed, intentionally or not.
Yurika clears her throat, “Yes, I’m sorry that was a joke. I apologize, that was probably in poor taste.”
She shifted warily, face stiffening as she spoke, “The actual processing fee is 500 mora, as per the regulations stated by the Kanjou Commision. For three of you, it’ll be 1,500 mora total.”
Wait, why was she suddenly being so cooperative? Tighnari and Cyno shared a suspicious glance.
Yurika continues on, eyes focused on something behind them. “Well, that is if you really are foreign visitors to Inazuma.”
What? Of course they were foreigners, they were from Sumeru for archons sake!
Feeling that something was off, Tighnari and Cyno whipped around together, bow and polearm in hand respectively.
Unsurprisingly, they were met with the reflection of sharp metal as Doushin from the gateway began to circle around them with weapons raised.
“Kaedehara Kazuha, you are under arrest. Drop your weapons and turn yourself in peacefully!”
…Huh?
Tighnari vanished his bow and raised both hands in a placating gesture, “I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong person?”
The Doushin he addressed narrowed his eyes, and shared an unspoken conversation with the one beside him.
“Who are you? Tell me, are you an accomplice of Kaedehara Kazuha?”
“I don’t even know who that is!”
The other one interjected, “Are you from the Crux?”
“I don’t know what that is either!”
Well, that was a bit of a lie. The Traveler had definitely shared some stories about a pirate ship called the Crux, led by a fearsome Liyuen woman named Baydoo or something like that. So this Kazuha was a part of the Crux then?
“So, how did you get acquainted with Kaedehara Kazuha?”
Tighnari wanted to give the Doushin a good punch in the face at the moment. “Are you deaf, you big lummox? I said I don’t know who you’re talking about!”
Behind him, Cyno had also vanished his weapon, but was promptly handcuffed and flanked by the two Doushin closest to him.
“White hair, red eyes, check. The polearm is new but maybe he picked it up somewhere in Liyue?”
“Sir, what about the electro vision we saw?”
“Hmm, the report does say that he has an anemo vision, but it also says that he could use electro as well. Apparently it's a masterless vision from a deceased friend.”
“... was his friend from Sumeru then? That sure looks like a Sumerian style vision.”
“Bah, probably a counterfeit to throw us off while trying to sneak into the nation. Do we look like we can be so easily fooled?”
The Doushin behind Cyno roughly tapped him, “The fox boy with you, you know him?”
Cyno shook his head, trying to leave Tighnari out of this misunderstanding. From what he observed, they were only after him, or well, whoever Kaedehara Kazuha was.
He wasn’t sure how to resolve the misunderstanding. He had left his General Mahamatra badge back in Sumeru alongside his headpiece, instead opting to travel light with just a cloak, some mora, and a pack of TCG cards. There was no need to pull rank in Inazuma right? Well, now he had no identification to prove his innocence, except the travel permits which the Doushin were combing through right now.
“Cyno? Interesting name, definitely Sumerian. However, there’s a high possibility these papers could be faked.”
“Even the fox guy? I think his ears are pretty distinctive.”
“He might not have been aware that he was traveling with a criminal, those kinds of people don’t tend to share that kind of information, you know.”
“We can let him go for now, along with his ward. Keep an eye on them during their stay though.”
The Doushin charge turned around to Cyno, “And as for you? You’re coming with us to the police station.”
Cyno stayed silent, but made no move to fight against his captors. He could easily escape if he wanted to, but that would cause some injuries which would probably cause an international incident later on when they discovered his position. That’s right, now he was just Cyno the Adventurer from Sumeru who came to tour Inazuma but got caught up in a big misunderstanding. With that in mind, he could only go along with the Doushin and hope to contact some people he knew in Inazuma later to vouch for his innocence.
He made eye contact with Tighnari, who was being released from the guards and whispered, “It’s alright, we’ll resolve this soon.” Although it was quiet, there was no way the forest watcher wouldn’t have been able to hear it with his big ears. He continued, “If you can, find a way to contact the Traveler, but otherwise go to the Yashiro Commision or Yae Publishing House.”
Tighnari visibly wanted to cause a scene, to argue with the Doushin some more, but he must’ve come to the same conclusion as Cyno since he just nodded back with a disgruntled expression.
Nothing had to be said. Cyno could already read his expression.
Stay safe, it said.
Cyno nodded back.
Don’t worry, I will.
And then he was gone, leaving Tighnari to stand in the courtyard of the Outlanders Affairs Agency with their travel permits, already approved, crushed in his hands. He glanced at Yurika, who seemed to watch him with a wary expression, and resisted the urge to growl at her.
Archons above, where did things go wrong?
“Master Tighnari, Mister Cyno, I’m back!”
Collei skipped into the courtyard, hands full of bird egg sushi, dry-braised salted fish, and berry mizu manjuu.
“Wait, where’s Mister Cyno?”
Wonderful. Their first day in Inazuma was going just great.