I Became A Hilichurl

Victor Wang's heart tightened as he accelerated his crawl toward the fire—but the newcomer had already arrived.

"What are you doing?"

Victor Wang looked up from his worm-like crawling posture. "Kaeya? What are you doing here?"

Kaeya drew the sword at his hip and sliced through the ropes binding Victor Wang from behind the chair.

"Long story."

Victor Wang shrugged off the rest of the bindings and stood up, immediately pulling his cloak's hood over his head.

"You weren't watching me this whole time, were you?"

"Of course not," Kaeya laughed it off.

"You keep calling me 'friend'... fine, thanks for coming to rescue me."

Not wanting to be misunderstood, Kaeya explained, "It's not about you specifically—I keep eyes on all outsiders in Mondstadt. One of my informants said someone had been kidnapped in the city. I came to check it out and didn't expect it to be you."

"Where are the ones who ran off just now?"

"They left. Rosaria's tailing them."

"Rosaria? She was spying on me too?"

"She might have been following you, yeah. She's quite the interesting one," Kaeya said with a shrug. "We ran into each other at the cave entrance. Then your captors bolted on their own. Not bad, huh?"

Victor Wang grumbled inwardly. No wonder they're called Mondstadt's shadow duo.

Kaeya paused before continuing, "Do you know why they kidnapped you?"

Victor Wang organized his thoughts. "A guy dressed all suspiciously last night, carrying a package, bumped into me. Judging by his reaction, it was something valuable. Just now he said I messed up their big plan. But I didn't do anything—he must've misunderstood."

"Oh? Last night… You know, those 'Treasure Hoarders' who captured you were actually Fatui in disguise. After grabbing you, they sent a message out with a carrier pigeon—probably reporting to their superiors."

"They did mention a 'boss' who was supposed to show up. But with them on the run now, who knows."

"No matter. Rosaria's following them. If they don't come to us, we'll go to them."

"Well, if that's all, I'll get going."

"...Wait. Last time, you asked me how a Hilichurl could turn back into a human."

Victor Wang looked surprised. "You actually know?"

Kaeya gazed up at the ceiling, then closed his eyes as if reminiscing. When he opened them again, his voice was calm.

"When I was very young, I overheard my father say that someone in our family… once turned back into a human from a Hilichurl, with the help of a god."

"A god? One of the Seven?"

"No. It was the god of Khaenri'ah."

Victor Wang was stunned. That's not something the game ever revealed.

If the god of Khaenri'ah could revert Hilichurls to humans, did that mean this deity was stronger than the Seven? But then, that mysterious voice had told him to seek out the Seven, which implied they also had a method.

If the Khaenri'ahn god had that kind of power, why hadn't they reverted all Hilichurls? Was there some kind of limitation?

No wonder Khaenri'ah dared to wage war against the Seven Nations and Celestia. Aside from beings like the Jester and the Gold, they even had their own god. Yet they still lost.

So many questions swirled in Victor Wang's mind, but he needed to understand more about this god first.

"But doesn't Khaenri'ah resent the gods?"

"Not revering a god doesn't mean there is no god. Not worshiping one doesn't mean a god doesn't exist. That's a secret only a few in Khaenri'ah know. It's the power of the Abyss—and my enemy."

Kaeya stared directly into Victor Wang's eyes through his mask. "I shouldn't be talking about family matters with an outsider, but you and I are 'kin'. I've decided to trust you."

The power of the Abyss? That must mean the god of Khaenri'ah was fundamentally different from the Seven.

"Even if they're your enemy, I have to ask—do you know how to find them?"

"I don't…" Kaeya lowered his gaze. "I believe that every Khaenri'ahn who can still live as a normal human hopes to bring you all back—even if it means using the Abyss's power. But I don't have any more information about Them. Long ago, Khaenri'ah lost all trace of its god. I'm sorry."

Victor Wang sensed that Kaeya carried some guilt about his transformed kin. But without more leads, there was no point pressing. He sighed internally.

"...No need to apologize. If one road is blocked, I'll just find another."

Perhaps I've already found that other path, he added in his heart. If I can make it happen, I'd gladly lend the Hilichurls a hand.

"Enough gloomy talk. You're the first one of my kind I've met in years. I genuinely hope we can be friends."

"I agree." Victor Wang raised his right hand. Kaeya hesitated, then extended his right hand for a high five.

"Let's get out of here."

They had barely taken a few steps when Kaeya gestured for silence, quietly raising his sword toward the cave's entrance. A Debt Collector in his standard uniform entered.

Once Kaeya recognized him, he extended his sword—and with a flick, several sharp ice spikes materialized and launched toward the Fatui agent.

Realizing he wasn't among allies, the Debt Collector instantly entered battle stance, slicing the spikes apart with a specially shaped Agent's ceremonial blade.

"Knights of Favonius? You again? Damn it!"

He deflected Kaeya's assault, then vanished in a blink—entering stealth mode.

"Get back!" Kaeya warned Victor Wang, then summoned a spreading frost mist around himself that soon filled the entire cave.

"Tch!" The Debt Collector's invisibility failed under the dense mist. He launched three flaming daggers, spinning toward Kaeya.

Kaeya snapped his fingers, raising an ice wall before him. The daggers melted a hole through it, but lost all their energy in the process.

The Debt Collector turned and bolted toward the cave exit.

"Trying to run?"

Kaeya didn't chase. Instead, he drove his sword into the ground. Frost streaked across the floor, surged past the fleeing agent, and erupted into a circular wall of ice, trapping him inside.

The Debt Collector summoned three flaming daggers to spin around him, trying to melt the ice.

Victor Wang took the chance to observe the surroundings. They were probably in Whispering Woods—it was still morning, and they couldn't be far from Mondstadt.

As soon as the agent broke free, Kaeya was already close. He pointed his sword and fired several ice spikes—this time the agent failed to block in time.

Victor Wang had expected the ice to pierce the Debt Collector, but they shattered on impact, scattering shards everywhere.

The agent cloaked himself again and vanished. The open space made it harder for Kaeya to trap him with mist, so instead, he summoned three massive, frost-covered icicles that orbited around him.

The agent left behind elemental afterimages to mislead Kaeya while he stayed hidden, seeking an opening.

Kaeya closed his eyes, sensing movement through sound and the position of the spinning icicles.

After four afterimages, the Debt Collector found a gap and lunged in with his ceremonial blade—but just as he slipped between the spinning shards, they accelerated. All three crashed into him in quick succession, sending him flying.

"Damn it!"

The four afterimages launched attacks at Kaeya. In response, he released a thick mist, even denser than before, expanding outward until visibility dropped to zero.

When the attacks ceased, the real Debt Collector leapt high into the air, becoming visible again, and brought down his flame-infused dagger in a heavy arc. The explosion of flame lit up the grass around Kaeya's former position.

Victor Wang shook his head. Kaeya definitely switched positions in the fog. Where there's smoke, there's no injury—classic rule of thumb.

The fog condensed into vapor under the heat, thickening further.

Once it cleared, the Debt Collector was on one knee—and Kaeya stood behind him, blade to his throat.

Kaeya kicked away the man's dagger and turned to Victor Wang. "You don't have a weapon, right? Want this one?"

"No thanks. The weirder the weapon, the quicker the death."

"Then I'll take it back too. See you around."