Undercover in Snezhnaya, My Teyvat Spy Life [5]

After the negotiation, Artem Vetrovski left with twenty million Mora in compensation from the Knights of Favonius, thoroughly satisfied.

As for Varka’s face—black as the bottom of a burnt pot—he simply pretended not to see it.

Whatever chaos erupted in the Grand Master’s office after he left, that was none of his business.

Money in hand—that’s what matters!

With a mission this dangerous, if he didn’t wring some “mental distress” compensation out of them, Artem would’ve felt seriously cheated.

Returning to the embassy with his Fatui squad, strutting for all to see—

The moment he entered his bedroom, Artem noticed a problem.

Damn it!

He’d gotten so fired up earlier that not only was the window shattered, but half the wall was smashed in too. Now his room whistled with wind, a freezing draft pouring through.

How’s anyone supposed to sleep in here?!

“Leonid!”

With one shout, Leonid came scampering over.

“Pack up. We’re moving!”

“Huh?”

Leonid stared in disbelief. “Sir, isn’t it fine here? Why move out?”

“You all might be fine, but what, I’m supposed to just drink cold wind for dinner?”

Artem shot him a glare. “Enough nonsense—pack it up. Find us a hotel.”

“But…”

Leonid hesitated, lowering his voice, “Sir, hotels are full of people talking and gossiping. Aren’t we still running secret missions? What if someone lets something slip?”

“Full of gossip?” Artem scoffed. “Easy fix.”

He pulled out a Northland Bank savings card and waved it in front of Leonid.
“See this? Lord Pantalone personally authorized a special fund before we left Snezhnaya. We’ll just rent out the whole hotel. Once it’s all our people, who’s left to leak anything?”

After searching all over Mondstadt with Leonid in tow,

Artem finally set his sights on the most luxurious hotel in the city: the Goth Grand Hotel.

With its long history and lavish décor, it was situated in the city’s prime—and supposedly safest—location.

Right next to the Knights of Favonius headquarters, and not far from Mondstadt’s famous Anemo Archon statue.

Whether for comfort or scenery, it was second to none.

Of course, calling it “safe” only applied to regular guests—not, say, the Fatui.

So when Artem declared he was taking over the entire hotel, even Leonid—whose head was full of muscle, not brains—felt it was over the top.

“Sir, this place is way too close to the Knights’ headquarters…”

“Close? That’s the whole point.”

Artem only smiled, hands behind his back, and strolled off.

Leonid was left scratching his head in confusion. Ever since he’d started following this new boss, he’d felt like his brain cells were running out.

Better not to think about it. Whatever happens, the boss takes the blame!

Artem didn’t bother explaining further. He went straight to the owner of the Goth Grand Hotel.

With a little… “persuasion” (read: double the money), he secured an exclusive one-year lease at the eye-watering price of thirty million Mora.

Of course, Artem himself didn’t have that kind of cash.

But The Regrator did. The Ninth Harbinger, Pantalone, who personally bankrolled all of the Fatui’s operations across Teyvat.

Pantalone was the “Lord Pantalone” he’d mentioned to Leonid.
Before this trip to Mondstadt, Pantalone had personally granted him a budget of a hundred million Mora.

With that much money, it’d be a crime not to spend it!

Once the deal was struck, Artem immediately sent his people to clear out the staff and drive out the guests.

This midnight operation left the hotel’s former residents fuming.

But under the glare of a squad of armed Fatui, any angry words died in their throats.

With Goth willing to pay out compensation, nothing truly serious broke out.

So, while the Fatui were making a grand show of moving in, across the street at the Knights’ headquarters, the top brass—fresh from their meeting—were left dumbstruck, watching the Fatui set up shop right across from them.

“What are those guys up to now?”

“Looks like… they’re moving house?”

“Didn’t they have an embassy? Why move out?”

“Maybe they thought we were watching the embassy too closely for them to get away with anything shady?”

“So then moving here, right under our noses, just makes it easier for us to watch them…?”

Jean’s question left everyone stumped.

She’s right. If they really wanted to shake the Knights’ surveillance, they could have just snuck off to some hidden spot. Instead, they make a huge scene moving right to our front door—what is that supposed to be?

“It’s an insult. That damned envoy—he’s doing this just to humiliate us,” Inspector Eroch, in his sharp white suit, snapped. “They’re trying to disgrace the Knights of Favonius and drag our name through the mud!”

Varka shot him a sideways look.

If not for that intel from the brat, just looking at Eroch’s righteous fury, no one would ever guess this guy was Mondstadt’s traitor.

But that was the real problem—Eroch had spent years building his power inside the Knights. Tearing him out by the roots would take years.

All they could do now was bide their time and chip away at his influence.

As for what the brat suggested—killing him outright—without hard evidence, that was completely impossible.

Should we have the brat dig up some concrete proof of Eroch’s treason?

Under the watchful (and suspicious) gaze of the Knights’ senior staff, the Fatui diplomatic corps pulled off their move without a hitch.

...

By the time Artem was sitting in his brand-new office, the first light of dawn was already creeping over the horizon.

And, true to form, as a self-confessed layabout, there was no way he’d bother doing real work at this hour.

After a whole night of running around, finally a comfortable room. Sleep comes first, business later.

Still, before turning in, there were some small matters to handle.

Like the new intel just sent over from Eroch.

"There’s a Mondstadt spy in the newly-arrived Fatui diplomatic corps."

That single line, staring up at him from the desk, was enough to make Artem curse the Knights under his breath every time he saw it.

The Knights are a bunch of overgrown babies.

They let their own house get robbed. Even the so-called “loyal” Mondstadt covert ops had a Snezhnayan spy!

Otherwise, with Eroch’s position, there’s no way he’d have access to this kind of top-secret info.

Luckily, the leaker wasn’t high-ranking—he only knew there was a spy, not who it was. Otherwise, things could get ugly.

Rubbing his chin in thought for a while, Artem finally jotted down a few messages.

"The assassination will take place at Dawn Winery in three days."

"After the operation, immediately lead a search of the Goth Grand Hotel."

"There are forged documents in the deepest basement room of the Goth Grand Hotel, enough to frame the Lawrence clan for the assassination of Crepus and Diluc."

Once finished, Artem had the note delivered straight to Eroch.

Then, from inside his jacket, he took out seven [Delusions] and laid them in a row on the table—one for each element: Hydro, Pyro, Cryo, Electro, Geo, Anemo, Dendro.

These were the secret of his meteoric rise.

He was the only high-ranking Fatui officer able to wield all seven [Delusions] at once.

Which one should I use this time?

Sometimes, having too many [Delusions] really is a pain…

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This is a fan translation of 提瓦特之我在至冬做臥底 by 曉風殘月聽荷 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!