"My mother wants to see you."
Early in the morning, Bronya arrived at the Goethe Grand Hotel to find Su Ran.
After reporting his situation the previous night,
Her mother—Cocolia, the current Supreme Guardian of Belobog—had worn an extremely unpleasant expression.
For some reason, she seemed to compromise in the end and decided she wanted to meet him in person.
"I thought I'd be surrounded at the hotel entrance at dawn, labeled a villain, and arrested on the spot."
Su Ran had slept quite well.
Despite being isolated for centuries, the hotel here was surprisingly comfortable.
Much better than anything in Teyvat.
"You already are one."
Bronya replied irritably.
Threatening to destroy the world the moment they met—
If that didn't make him a villain, what did?
If the swarm hadn't been so terrifying,
She would never have backed down.
"At least I gave you a choice. If it were someone else, you might not even have gotten the chance to speak."
In Su Ran's view, he had merely coerced them—
He hadn't killed anyone.
That already counted as restraint.
Compared to others, he was practically reasonable.
"So the outside world has even worse villains than you?"
Bronya clearly didn't consider him a good person.
"What about the enemies in the Fragmentum? I came here only to take away the source of disaster. They, on the other hand, just want to destroy you. Doesn't that make me better by comparison?"
His words made Bronya turn her head away, conflicted.
She didn't want to admit it—
Even if it might be true.
"Couldn't you have used a gentler approach?"
If he had spoken normally, she wouldn't have been so tense—
She hadn't slept at all that night.
"If I acted too nice, I'd probably be sitting in your prison right now."
And if that happened, he was certain Sampo would find a way to leak the news to Herta—
Who would then show up with a camera and film a documentary about him.
"Besides, someone immediately labeled me Sampo's accomplice. I'm a genius, you know. Being lumped together with a Masked Fool is an insult to my reputation."
"Masked Fool?"
Bronya mentally noted the term.
She had no idea Sampo had that kind of identity.
To her, he was just a cunning trickster—
Not particularly evil, but guilty of plenty of offenses.
Otherwise, the Silvermane Guards wouldn't be hunting him.
"Be careful. No one in Belobog can deal with him."
"He's really that dangerous?"
As the two walked toward Qlipoth Fort,
Bronya realized that once the tension eased, Su Ran was actually quite easy to talk to.
At the very least, he wasn't as overwhelming as he had been the day before.
"Masked Fools are very good at making people think they're harmless."
After about twenty minutes,
They arrived at Cocolia's office.
Her expression was grim.
But upon seeing the unfamiliar man, she quickly put on a composed and gentle façade.
"Would you like me to sing you a song?"
Su Ran suddenly said this the moment they met.
Cocolia froze.
But quickly recovered.
"You're a guest, not a performer I hired. That won't be necessary."
"Mm, even if you wanted it, I couldn't. I may be a genius, but singing isn't my forte."
Su Ran took a sip of water to moisten his throat.
"However, my voice does have… certain effects. Like this."
The harmony of the Path of Harmony flowed through his words, reaching Cocolia's ears.
In an instant—
The Stellaron's influence over her weakened.
For the first time in a long while, she felt clarity.
Bronya, on the other hand, only felt that his voice was unexpectedly pleasant—
Calming and soothing.
"What… is that power?"
Cocolia was shaken.
Something that could suppress the Stellaron's influence—
That was no ordinary ability.
"The Harmony's resonance. Quite effective for treating mental disturbances."
Clearing her mind a little might stop her from spiraling further.
"Now, let's talk about the Stellaron."
At the mention of it, Cocolia's expression darkened.
She glanced at Bronya.
Out of love, she hadn't wanted her daughter to know about it yet.
"The Stellaron… promised a future."
"Mm, I know. That thing's shady. I've personally seen one turn into a human. But I never expected someone foolish enough to believe it."
Whatever future it promised—
Su Ran didn't care.
It wasn't anything good.
Being bluntly dismissed like that, Cocolia's face stiffened.
"You understand nothing!"
"Maybe. But I can do everything."
He didn't understand—
Because he wasn't the one sitting in her position.
He wasn't the one enduring the Stellaron's whispers day and night.
Nor the one staring into a future without hope.
But he wasn't the victim—
Why should he empathize?
"Then can you solve the eternal blizzard? The Fragmentum?"
"With your logic, you understand nothing about me either. Problems like that aren't even as troublesome as deciding what to eat yesterday."
He had spent longer choosing food than thinking about solving the Stellaron.
"…Then why didn't you come earlier? If you had appeared when I first took this position, I wouldn't have been so helpless… so desperate!"
Cocolia's face twisted with emotion.
Even Bronya had never seen her like this.
That was how deep her resentment ran.
"Back then? I probably wasn't even ten yet. You expected a child to save the world?"
Su Ran looked at her like she was ridiculous.
Cocolia stiffened—
Then awkwardly looked away.
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