"What's your name?"
"Rostam. And you, my lady?"
Seino suddenly felt the world spinning. His soul seemed to be torn apart, heavy and powerless. All sorts of memories flooded into his mind. The scene before his eyes shattered and reformed, like pieces of broken glass stuck together. The voice by his ear grew more and more muffled.
A burning valley, a maddened magic dragon, monsters filling the sky, blood... and a crying girl.
She wept in despair and agony, seeming to repeat something over and over. Seino couldn't hear clearly. Glistening tears flowed down the girl's cheeks, dripping onto Seino's face—the girl's tears were about to run dry.
Regret, regret.
Despair, despair.
Even the wind was weeping.
"What's your name?"
"What's your name?"
"What's your name?"
His mind was continuously eroded by the surging memories.
"Ro...s..."
"Ro..."
"What... is my name?"
[Seino Fugin! Seino Fugin! Seino Fugin!]
[Wake up! You're lost!]
[You've fallen too deep this time!]
He fell from the wooden plank. Seawater flooded his nostrils as he sank bit by bit.
The system's warning resounded deep in his soul. The scene before him rapidly faded away, the flood of memories receding like the tide. Seino abruptly opened his eyes.
He was greeted by the dazzling and fierce sunlight from the sea. The sunlight was diluted by the sea's surface, only a faint ambiguous glow of red fragments falling, and beyond that, pitch darkness under the waves.
His body was numb and powerless.
Seino struggled, wanting to swim up, but found that even a simple action like lifting his arm was difficult.
Breathing grew more and more laborious.
He really messed up this time.
Truly courting death.
Seino let out a light tsk.
He had been so engrossed in practicing his swordsmanship that he forgot the time. Once one lingered too long in past memories, they would get lost in the past.
The soul of a mortal was simply too fragile, unable to withstand the erosion of lengthy memories.
And "erosion", even for gods, was a cruel and fatal thing.
Fortunately, the system intervened early and cut away the recalled memories again.
About to suffocate...
He opened his eyes slightly and reached towards the water's surface with all his might. Grabbing the wooden plank floating on the water, he shifted his body's center over and rested his head on the plank, his lungs desperately breathing.
"Huff... huff..."
The twilight had completely faded, the sun fully set. When he entered the memory, the sun was still high. So much time had already passed.
At the edge of his vision, Seino saw a ship.
--
That night. The drowsy snowy night covered everything. A candle still burned in the lowest ship cabin. The narrow cabin was filled with the heavy aroma of malt liquor. Sailors loved drinking this kind of low-proof alcohol. One, it could ward off the cold. Two, it had no bacteria.
The ship's drinking water, especially what the sailors drank, would grow a thin layer of green algae due to the long voyage. Drinking it would make one sick.
"You're awake? Lad."
McCajub took a drag on his pipe. He was the helmsman of this ship and had been in this line of work for twenty years. At first, he ran some ordinary trade in Snezhnaya. Later, he followed the government, specializing in doing work for the officials.
This voyage, the official he served was of no small status. It was the 8th of the Harbingers, La Signora. This personage resided in the most luxurious cabin. The entourage also included various Fatui envoys. He didn't even have the qualifications to meet them face to face.
Seino opened his eyes with some difficulty, coughing several times in a row.
He found himself leaning on a dilapidated bed, but his hands were locked in chains.
Although he could break these chains with one yank.
"Don't be nervous... we didn't mean to lock you up," McCa explained. "The guests on this ship are too noble. You're also of unknown origin, lad. It's better to lock you."
"Honestly, when we stopped the ship to rescue you, we took a big risk..."
The boy before him looked at most sixteen or seventeen years old. When McCa discovered him, he was weakly lying on a wooden plank, barely breathing.
"Where is this?" Seino asked.
"This is a Snezhnayan envoy ship." Uncle McCa handed a mug of malt liquor to Seino. "Want a drink? It can keep out the cold."
"No."
Seino shook his head. "I don't want to turn into an old man who loves smoking and drinking."
"It'll shorten my life."
"Wow. What you said really hurts," McCa obviously didn't catch Seino's implication. He scratched his head. "Anyway, come up with me first, okay?"
"To do what?"
"The Fatui lords want to meet you... uh, well, interrogate you."
He hesitated for a bit, glancing around, lowering his voice:
"If you really are a spy, lad..." McCa showed a sympathetic gaze.
"La Signora will burn you up."
Climbing up the cabin stairs, the sailors and even the first mate lived in the bottom hold. The Fatui officials resided on the second deck. The esteemed Harbinger "Signora" was in the topmost cabin.
With each reincarnation, all memories would be lost, but basic common sense about this world would remain.
For example, the names of various nations and their respective highest administrative organizations.
The Fatui was the official organization of Snezhnaya, headed by eleven Fatui Harbingers. Each Harbinger received the grace of the Tsaritsa and enjoyed powerful authority.
La Signora was the eighth seat among these eleven Harbingers, known for her ruthless methods.
Seino is a little confused now.
His standing now in short, is … certainly not very clean.
In the worst scenario, there is a possibility he might be a spy sent by Inazuma to Mondstadt. Bringing the thought back to earth he is most likely devoted to Inazuma. He was also a suspicious person.
According to the Harbingers' style, even if they set him on fire or tossed him into the sea, it would be reasonable.