章 6: Meeting an odd witch
A month had passed since the events in the cathedral.
During this time, Albert had been doing nothing but go to work and train at Stormbearer's Mountain regularly. Well, except practicing around Mondstadt at night at times.
He would oftentimes go out at night wearing his Assassin's robe and parkour around, training his acrobatics in case a time comes when he needs to escape Mondstadt or something like that.
Of course, he was very stealthy about it. He would always seek the shadows and hide in them to avoid any eyes.
Besides his first appearance as Ezio in front of Rosaria, he had never appeared again in front of other people. This was partly due to him still being weak.
Varka, the grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius, is still in Mondstadt.
Unlike in the game where he is not shown and is only mentioned to be in an expedition, Varka was in Mondstadt and is quite active.
By far, the system had only been giving him simple missions like infiltrating Hilichurl camps and silently killing them.
The Knights of Favonius caught wind of the recent destruction of many Hilichurl camps but were never able to find the one who did it.
Albert was no fool. He utilized the knowledge Ezio passed down to him and covered his tracks well, only leaving out small clues like eagle feathers.
But thanks to all of his work, he had raised his progress bar quite well and is almost nearing 50%.
In Good Hunter, a two-story restaurant located Mondstadt's plaza.
"Albert, one Sweet Madame at table 3!" One of the waitresses named Sara said.
"Alright!" Albert replied before going into the restaurant to get the order.
Yes, this was his life. During the day, he was the waiter for Good Hunter, and at night, he was an Assassin practicing his acrobatics around Mondstadt.
Currently, he was wearing an appropriate dress code for a waiter.
Going out of the kitchen holding a plate of newly roasted chicken, Albert went to give the dish.
"Here you go, ma'am." He politely said as he put the dish on their table.
"Thank you." The woman wearing a witch's hat said.
She then turned to her side where a small child that looked exactly like her was sitting. She appears to be near the age of five.
"Are you hungry, sweetie?" She said with a caring smile to the child.
The child nodded vigorously as she looked at the roasted chicken with brimming eyes.
Seeing this reaction, a small giggle escaped the woman's mouth. "Ehe, alright, alright, I'll give you one later after I finish my small talk, alright?"
"Yes!" The small child said.
Turning over, she looked at the young man that had a stoic expression sitting at the same table as her. "Well then, Albedo, have you thought of my offer?"
"Yes." Albedo nodded. "I find your invitation to the Knights of Favonius quite thoughtful. And as such, I would like to accept the invitation."
"That's great!" The woman smiled cheerfully. "I'll give the recommendation letter to Varka later, so you should be in the Knights of Favonius' alchemy department in a couple of days."
She then looked at the small child eyeing the roasted chicken. "While you're at it, look out for my adorable Klee while I'm traveling, alright?"
"Yes, Miss Alice." Albedo nodded.
'Ah, so that's Alice.' Albert thought as he served another dish to a customer not too far away from them.
Yes, the woman that was speaking was none other than the Legendary Adventurer Alice. Together with her are Albedo and her daughter Klee.
Other than Alice, no one else knows what and who Albedo truly is.
Albedo, in a matter of fact, is a synthetic human born from alchemy. He was created by an Alchemist named Rhinedottir, Alice's friend.
Due to unknown reasons, Rhinedottir vanished and left Albedo in Alice's care.
As for Klee, she's Alice's beloved daughter.
'From the way they're speaking, I guess Albedo is about to enter the Knights of Favonius...' Albert thought as he listed an order on a notepad. 'And it seems like she's about to leave Klee to the Knights and Albedo's care...'
Thinking of this, Albert figured it out. 'By rough estimation, It seems like I'm three years away from the story.'
With this thought, Albert decided to stop eavesdropping and continue his work.
In all actuality, he just eavesdropped on their conversation out of curiosity since he recognized Albedo.
Imagine his surprise to see Alice, a character from the game that is never shown but is always mentioned.
Shaking his head, he thought of something else. 'I wonder when the system is gonna give me a mission that involves Mondstadt... I've been itching to show off my skills.'
Yes, although he was cautious about his weakness, he still wanted to earn some Fame Points.
He still had not unlocked the shop, but once he does, at least he will have some currencies to spend.
And only by performing an 'acting' in front of an audience can he gain Fame Points.
Take, for example, Rosaria. When he did that leap of faith, he had gained 5 Fame Points.
Imagine if it's a crowd...
'Oh well, patience is the key, I guess.' Albert thought before going into the restaurant once more
However, just as he left, the eyes of Albedo landed on the door Albert entered.
"Something bothering you?" Alice spoke as she fed Klee a chicken drumstick.
"That man..." Albedo muttered. "I analyzed him and found that he has a muscular frame capable of intense acrobatics... Capable of even surpassing most of the Knights I've encountered."
"It makes one curious." He said as he placed his hand on his mouth. "Why would such a strong person be a waiter?"
"Oh, him?" Alice said as she saw Albert.
After a moment, she just shrugged. "He must have a reason. Who knows? Perhaps he's a retired adventurer... Albeit his young age."
"Hmm..." Albedo hummed with curiosity. After a few moments, he sighed and shook his head. "Perhaps you are right. Situations like his make me wonder more about humans... Which is precisely why I need to learn more."
"Spoken like a true researcher." Alice scoffed. "Well, hold your curiosity. There's something called 'Restraint' here, something that your master doesn't know."
"Err..." Albedo, despite his intelligence, didn't know how to respond.
"Well, anyways." Alice said as she picked up a fork. "Let's get to eating, in getting hungry with all this talk..."
"Alright." Albedo simply nodded.
"Mom!" Just then, Klee's cute voice was heard.
"What is it, my love?" Alice asked as she turned to her daughter.
"I saw something on that weird grown-up!" She pointed at Albert on the second floor, serving a dish on the balcony.
"Oh? Him again?" Alice said as she looked at Albert too. "What is it?"
"He has something shiny!" Klee said with curiosity. "On his arms! I saw shiny things under his arms!"
"Really?" Alice said as she looked at Albert again. However, she was not able to find anything.
"You must have mistaken it, sweetie." Alice said.
"No! But..." Klee tried to rebuke but was didn't know how to. In the end, she just stayed silent.
Seeing this, a giggle came out of Alice. "Haha, alright, let's just eat. After this, let's go meet Varka, okay?"
"The loud weird grown-up!" Klee said as she heard Varka. "He always laughs... But he's good!"
While all of these were happening, hidden inside the restaurant, Albert carefully adjusted his sleeves.
'I was almost found out...' He thought. 'If master finds this out, a heavy sigh of disappointment might escape his mouth...'
'Still, how was she able to discover the hidden blades I've hidden?'
Yes, hidden right under his arm sleeves is two hidden blades. They were inside a bracer, and thus, are always hidden. It was his reward for completing the leap of faith quest.
It is also the signature weapon of the Assassins.
He always brings them with him in case something happens.
Fixing his sleeves, he signed once more. 'I need to hide this more...'
Just then, the system's window notification appeared in front of him.
[A new quest has been issued.]
'Another quest? I wonder what it is this time?' He thought as he proceeded to check the quest.
[Quest name: Assassination]
[Description: You have been honing your skills through Hilichurl slaughter. Now, it is time for something more serious.]
[Objective: Successfully Assassinate Eroch, the Senior Inspector for the Knights of Favonius.]
[Rewards: +5 Progress, Shop function]
[System note: In case the host forgets, Eroch is the one that wanted to cover up the death of Diluc's father. He was also responsible for multiple felonies that were covered up by his accomplices.]
'Oh?' When Albert saw the new quest, a slight expression of shock appeared on his face. 'Assassinate a person... That's the first time I'm doing that...'
'And although the Hilichurls that I've been killing— according to the lore, were once humans— I felt no guilt at all.' He thought with a serious expression.
He then leaned on a wall and crossed his arms.
"Oh? Is something on your mind, Albert?" Sara, who noticed Albert's behavior, asked.
She knew Albert for quite a while now and knows his behavior quite well. But ever since a month ago when he encountered an "accident" which gave him slight amnesia, he had completely changed.
It was not just her, at least everyone that knew Albert noticed that he changed and turned more... serious.
And much more likable.
Hearing this, Albert shook his head. "No, it's nothing. Just some issues I have to deal with when I'm home."
'That's right. There's no problem at all.' He thought as he gripped his arm. 'You're an assassin. You were trained for this.'
'There's no use in feeling guilty over killing him...' He self-justified his decision.
'Everything... Is gonna be okay.'
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