"Done?"
Bailuo calmly caught Collei's hand as she tried to stick something on his back and asked.
"Mm, all done."
Reluctantly pulling her arm back, Collei replied.
This was a test Bailuo had arranged for her.
Without alerting any of the Fatui members, she had to stick specially made stickers on them.
For some special targets, Bailuo even instructed her to place the stickers in more sensitive and noticeable areas.
Like, say, a peach.
Yes, a juicy peach.
The results proved that Collei didn't disappoint him. Even without mastering Bailuo's invisibility techniques, under his deliberate training, Collei managed to evade many people's sight thanks to her small size.
Hilichurls, while perhaps not as clever as humans, had been surviving in the wild for so long that their alertness was even sharper than some wild animals.
When Collei successfully hid a Mechanical Bird 2.0 in a Hilichurl camp without alerting any monsters, she had already become a qualified assassin.
It wasn't that her talent was extraordinary, nor that Bailuo was an exceptional teacher.
Bailuo had left her with the necessary skills long ago, and her years of wandering across the seven nations had gradually honed her somewhat incomplete assassination techniques.
What Bailuo had been doing these past few days was refining her abilities on a technical level.
If he had started teaching her from scratch, she would have only been able to lurk around Anastasia.
In truth, Bailuo did all this to confirm one thing: whether Collei could survive independently after the demon god's remnants were sealed.
Though it sounded a bit melancholic, he couldn't accompany her forever.
Seeing her perform so well now, Bailuo felt reassured.
"Come here, I have something for you."
He beckoned, calling over the girl who was happily holding the stickers.
With a childhood that wasn't particularly joyful, even something as simple as cute stickers could easily capture her heart.
"Coming."
Carefully tucking the remaining stickers into her clothes, Collei stood in front of Bailuo.
After the demon god's remnants were sealed, she had become much more cheerful.
Though she wasn't as lively as Hu Tao, Yoimiya, or Amber, she was certainly better than... well, never mind.
Let's not keep picking on one person.
"From now on, you are the 225th soldier of the 684th regiment in the 936th district of the Fatui!"
Bailuo handed Collei the Fatui uniform he had prepared for her.
This was a custom-made small size, and it fit Collei perfectly without any awkwardness.
However, after hearing Bailuo's words, the joy on Collei's face disappeared.
She didn't like the Fatui. Even though Bailuo was a Harbinger, he was different from the others.
She could accept Bailuo, but that didn't mean she could accept the Fatui and become one of them.
"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to join the Fatui. I just wanted to give you a surprise. Go on, change into the clothes. I'll take you to meet someone later."
Bailuo could easily see through Collei's thoughts, but he had only said that because a certain author had imposed their will on him for their own purposes.
Watching Collei reluctantly leave, Bailuo sensed the nearby markers and felt a sense of anticipation.
Standing at the top of Starsnatch Cliff, the missionary bent down to examine the array on the ground, a thoughtful expression on his face.
He recognized this array; he had seen it used in Sumeru. It was a fairly common healing array.
However... the energy that had corrupted the array was quite intriguing.
It was unmistakably the remnants of a demon god.
"To think the people of Sumeru are involved as well."
After seeing the situation here, the missionary had a rough idea of what had happened.
While he had been distracted by the Delusion user, someone had secretly performed a ritual to seal the demon god's remnants here.
But judging from the demonic energy in the air, the remnants hadn't been completely eradicated—only sealed.
That was fortunate...
If it was just a seal, his losses weren't too great.
As a missionary skilled in manipulating hearts, he was adept at drawing out the darkness within people.
To him, this so-called seal was like a piece of wet paper—fragile and easily broken.
It seemed he would need to keep an eye out for unfamiliar faces wrapped in bandages in Mondstadt.
For some reason, he thought of the cat Bailuo had been holding—it had been covered in bandages.
But he didn't remember injecting demon god remnants into an animal, and a small creature like a cat couldn't withstand the power of those remnants.
He was being overly suspicious.
"Missionary."
Speak of the devil.
Just as he dismissed the suspicion about the cat, Bailuo appeared not far behind him.
Beside him was a small figure dressed in Fatui attire, wearing the mask of a Pyro Agent.
It seemed this little one was the new recruit the Instructor wanted to train.
Nothing else needed to be said—the sheer determination to pounce on him was palpable. Truly a disciple trained by the Instructor.
The only issue was the recruit's young age, so he would have to hold back during the fight.
Bailuo took out a dagger from his waist and handed it to Collei.
This specially made dagger was just the right size for Bailuo, but in Collei's hands, it felt more like a short sword.
Yet, for some reason, when Collei gripped the dagger, it didn't feel awkward at all—it felt perfectly suited to her.
Even more so than the old fruit knife she had been using for so long.
Especially when she assumed her assassination stance, it felt as though the dagger had been tailor-made for her techniques.
Every part of it fit her perfectly.
Without delving too deeply into the dagger's secrets, at Bailuo's signal, Collei stepped toward the missionary.
Yes, she walked.
After the initial surge of excitement and anger, a strange calm settled over her.
Perhaps she had realized that Bailuo wouldn't let the missionary escape so easily, so she wasn't in a hurry anymore.
But the killing intent radiating from her was enough to make even the missionary uneasy.
"Truly a student chosen by the Instructor. Such killing intent... you must have already taken lives, haven't you?"
The missionary didn't draw a weapon.
In his eyes, dealing with a novice "Pyro Agent" like this didn't require him to use his weapon.
Besides, blades were unpredictable. If he accidentally injured the Instructor's precious student, the consequences would be severe.
However, fighting unarmed didn't mean he was any less dangerous.
His sharp nails were one of his few weapons.
Those jet-black nails weren't dyed; they were metal attachments.
A single swipe from them could tear flesh and draw blood.
Without any warning, Collei struck, aiming straight for the throat.