"False" accusation [2/2]

An hour earlier, at the Knights of Favonius, shortly after Kaeya and Rosaria left.

Click*

The door from the bathroom opened and out comes a knight. Of course, it was Albert in disguise.

Albert looked at Kaeya and Rosaria who were about to leave through the front door and smiled.

'Come out.'

Just as Albert commanded from his thoughts, two more knights came out of the bathroom.

(Lvl.3)[Elemental skill: Actors on Stage]

- Forms a Geo Construct called "Puppet Actors", resembling a human with an appearance that can be changed according to the user's will.

- Will only last for twenty-five seconds.

'Let's make this quick, we only have twenty-five seconds.' He thoughts before running towards the Grand Master's office.

Bang—*

"GRAND MASTER VARKA?! DAMN IT, HE'S NOT HERE!" Albert rushed through the door in a panicked state

"What's wrong?" Jean, who was writing something, jumped up from her seat and looked at her intruders. "Grand Master Varka is not here right now, he's currently at Starnatch Cliff with—"

"If Grand Master Varka is not present, then you're the second person we can count on, Miss Jean!" Albert's clone said.

"Alright, tell me what it is." Jean left her seat and approached them.

"There's no time!" Another clone said in a rushed tone. "We just received intel from Sir Kaeya that an assassin that was responsible for Sir Eroch's death would appear in the Logistics area!"

"What?!" Jean exclaimed. "Is that true?"

"Yes!" A clone said. "We were dispatched by Sir Kaeya to investigate a matter regarding the assassination of Eroch! And just this morning, we received information that the assassin named Ezio will indeed appear!"

"Kaeya..." Jean mumbled. "Alright, please stay and tell—"

"Forgive us, Miss Jean!" Albert said before turning around in a hurry. "But we must assist Sir Kaeya now. Farewell!"

"Wait—" Jean tried to ask them more questions but all of them left. "This..."

Seeing such a bizarre scene, it took no less than a second for Jean to straighten her mind. "Alright, they said that Ezio would appear in the logistics area..."

Looking at her uniform, she took it and also took her sword before leaving the room.

Meanwhile, out of the three knights that ran outside the Knights of Favonius, only one person remained while the others crumbled away.

'Perfect.' He thought. 'Now it's time for the second phase.'

* * *

"I'm telling you, Jean, this is a matter that is very important." Kaeya calmly talked with her.

"So arresting a citizen who can't even protect himself count as important?" Jean crossed her arms.

"Can't protect himself? Jean, he has a Geo Vision." Kaeya spoke back. "Moreover, he's currently under high suspicion."

Jean heard this and looked at Albert who was still cuffed down. "Even so—"

"Argh..." Albert let out a low groan.

"Huh?" Rosaria, who was still disguised as a knight, suddenly saw Albert look in pain.

"I-I'm sorry... it must be because of the bruise I got..." Albert weakly said. "Forgive me, please carry on."

"Bruise? what bruise?" Kaeya questioned.

"J-Just now..." Albert heavily breathed. "When I was forced down... I suffered a mild bruise..."

Of course it was a lie. Albert already had the bruise before delivering Kaeya's food. He was only able to endure the pain because of his pain resistance that he built up while training.

"A mild bruise..." Jean looked at Kaeya before going to Albert.

"Where are you injured?" She kneeled to his level and asked him worriedly.

"N-No, it's really not that bad..." Albert groaned. "It's just... some slight pain, that's all."

"..." Jean turned silent when she heard this. She observed him and then saw that his left shoulder was shaking.

Riiip—*

All of a sudden, she ripped Albert's sleeves off. "H-Huh? Jean? Wh-what are y—"

"Stay still," Jean said as she looked at his shoulder. And there she saw it.

A mildly blackened spot with a tinge of violet. It was a bruise and not a mild one.

Jean then stood up. "Kaeya... would you care to explain this?"

"Huh? That is not my doing." Kaeya defended himself. He then looked at the three knights apprehending Albert. "You three, what were you doing?"

"It wasn't us, Sir Kaeya!" A knight said. "We only—"

"Enough!" Jean interrupted them. "That does not change the fact that you not only forced a civilian to the ground but also injured him during the process."

"But what if he's not a civilian?" Rosaria said.

"That's right." Kaeya backed her up. "Currently, he's in high suspicion of being Ezio."

"Ezio?" Jean looked at the weak Albert and pictured him to be a merciless and cunning assassin. "That's impossible... that's..."

"That's what you would say, Jean." Kaeya interrupted her. "Because you two have been close lately, you naturally would defend him."

"M-My friendship with him does not contribute to my judgment!" Jean hurriedly said, slightly flustered.

Kaeya looked at Rosaria and the latter nodded. Rosaria then walked to her and opened a pocket watch containing a Geo Vision.

"The night I captured Ezio, I found that he had a Geo Vision, and it was encased in something similar to this," Rosaria said. "Since he's one of the only few people in Mondstadt that have a Geo Vision and even had the same features as the vision I saw, he quickly became the main suspect."

"This..." Jean looked at Albert who she considered a friend. "Is that... true?"

"I...I didn't do anything..." Albert weakly said as he groaned in pain. "I—"

"SIR KAEYA! MISS JEAN!" Suddenly, someone interrupted him. "WE FINALLY FOUND YOU!"

All of them looked at where the source of the sound was and saw five knights running toward them.

The knights then saluted before one of them spoke. "Miss Jean! Sir Kaeya! We have an urgent report!"

"The Assassin— Ezio— was spotted!"

"!" Suddenly, all of them were in shock.

"What do you mean? Tell me the details." Kaeya asked the knight.

"Yes!" The knight nodded. "About a few minutes ago, one unidentified man wearing a white hood was seen running away from the Knights of Favonius."

"It has been reported he used the Geo element!" He added.

"But that's..." Kaeya mumbled as he heard the news. He then looked at Rosaria before looking at Albert. '...'

"What did he do? Why did Ezio run away from the Knights of Favonius?" Jean asked.

"It is currently unknown." The knight answered. "But it's confirmed that he had sneaked in The Knights of Favonius!"

"Then that means..." Rosaria said as she looked at Albert.

Jean turned around with a stern face and approached Albert. She then leaned down and talked to him. "I apologize on behalf of the Knights."

"..." Kaeya crossed his arms as he looked away.

"Rest assured," Jean eyed Kaeya. "The knights would make it up to you, especially a certain captain here."

She then stood up. "Quickly, take him to the infirmary! This is an order!"

"Yes!" The three knights synchronously said before taking Albert's cuffs away.

"Thank you... Jean." Albert said with a soft smile.

Jean nodded with a smile. "Go on then, take him quick."

The two knights nodded and one of them carried Albert on their back and ran to the infirmary.

"Now then..." Jean turned around and looked at Kaeya. "Would you care to tell me where you got the information that Ezio would appear here?"

"...What do you mean?" Kaeya became confused.

"Didn't you have three knights investigate Ezio for you?" She sighed. "They told me that Ezio would appear here."

"...I didn't instruct anyone that," Kaeya said with a bewildered face.

"Huh? But..."

However, the two of them soon realized. In an instant, they figured out what had happened.

"I see." Kaeya clicked his tongue. "It was an elaborate plan."

"...Indeed." Jean said with a troubled face. "Ezio he..."

"He planned it from the start."

Kaeya nodded when he heard this. "He anticipated that we'll set up a sting operation on him."

"And saw it as an opportunity." He added. "He knew that we would search for all Geo Vision wielders... and he took that to his advantage."

Jean nodded while crossing her arms. "You blindly believed that you were chasing after him, when in fact, he was playing with you."

"He chose Albert as the main piece for his plan." She sighed. "Albert— an unsuspecting victim in all of this— became Ezio's bait while he infiltrated the Knights of Favonius."

"...And because of this, he not only succeeded in fooling us but also succeeded in infiltrating the Knights of Favonius for Archon knows what." Kaeya punched the wall near him.

"We... No, I was played." He said as he tightened his hand's grip before a new suspect arose in his mind.

The very girl that gave him this information— Rosaria.

* * *

[+10 Points]

[+10 Points]

[+10 Points]

[+...]

Grin*

Seeing his new points, Albert smiled. Everything went according to his plan.

'It was worth upgrading my elemental skill and burst.' He thought.

(Lvl. 2) [Elemental Burst: The Play of Life]

That's right. During the moment Albert was ambushed and was "forced" to use his Geo Vision, he activated his elemental burst without anyone noticing.

Without any of them knowing, a clone had appeared and changed appearances before doing what Albert tasked it to.

'Although I felt bad using my friend— Jean— in this plan, it was necessary.' Of course, other elements got involved and a different result came out, but it was still a success. 'All according to plan...'

'...How many times have I thought that sentence now?'