He changed Tiwat

As a "Lord of Fontaine," Han Fulai should naturally be a staunch fan of Mr. Linnie and should certainly show his support for his hometown idol. As a transmigrator, he had already heard of Linnie and Linette's names in the game's preview PV, and now that he had the opportunity, getting to know these two important figures in Fontaine wouldn't hurt him.

In fact, if Han Fulai hadn't run into Yura last night, he was also planning to go see the performance after talking with Qin.

The Goethe Hotel is known for its excellent service in this regard, preparing VIP tickets in advance for guests to obtain whenever needed—50,000 moira for a front-row seat, including a circus and magic show. Judging from the reviews of Mondstadt locals, even the expensive VIP tickets are definitely worth the price.

Around 3 p.m., Han Fulai and Yura arrived at the Fontaine Traveling Circus's residence near the Windrise.

Just like the circuses he had seen on Earth before, this place consisted of several tents connected by colorful flags, creating a cheerful festive atmosphere. At the entrance, clowns wearing tricorn hats on unicycles were enthusiastically soliciting customers, while vendors selling various snacks and beer were scattered around.

The smaller tents serve as accommodations for the performers and animals, while the largest central tent, surrounded by other large tents like stars around the moon, is the theater for the traveling circus.

Chapter 178 Navel Otter

Since elegant nobles shouldn't be seen watching performances with fried snacks like ordinary people, Han Fulai regretfully missed out on trying the circus's snacks. Of course, as VIP ticket holders, the circus provided them with tea and drinks—reportedly Fontainebleau's specialty, "Fontainebleau."

Sir Humphrey very gentlemanly allowed his fiancée to take his arm as they entered the theater together.

The theater is circular in structure, with a circular open space in the middle covered with sand, and surrounded by a wooden fence nearly as tall as a person. Since circuses involve animal training performances, there is a certain degree of danger, so it is necessary to separate the audience from the stage.

The seating is arranged in a stepped, circular pattern around a circular open space, much like the ancient Roman amphitheater, and in some ways, it has the flavor of the ancient Mondstadt royal era.

Although the performance wasn't scheduled to start for almost half an hour, the venue was already packed with people, filling all the thousands of seats. Such a large crowd gave a good idea of ​​how spectacular the performance would be.

Han Fulai and Yura reserved VIP seats in the very front row of the theater, near the center. The most expensive seats are naturally the best, allowing them to watch the performance up close and even potentially participate in it. It is said that the great magician Linni often interacts with the audience when performing impromptu magic, and he usually chooses the lucky audience members who are closest to him.

As she walked through the aisle of the audience seats, Yura suddenly lowered the brim of her hat.

"What's wrong?" Han Fulai asked, somewhat puzzled, noticing Yura's behavior.

"Look at your top right corner, the third position from the right in the last row," Yura whispered, turning her head away.

Han Fulai glanced to the side and saw a middle-aged man with a brown goatee. Although he was far away and his face was not very clear, his posture of sitting with his arms crossed was obviously out of place with the ordinary audience members next to him.

Han Fulai had a guess: "Could he be..."

Yura answered softly, "It's my uncle, Schubert Lawrence."

"What a coincidence..." Han Fulai twitched the corner of his mouth.

“Just like I said, for nobles, they can skip meals, but they can’t skip a show.” There was a hint of helplessness in Yura’s voice.

She hadn't expected to run into the person she was trying to deceive on the very first day of rehearsals.

Logically, her uncle should be camped out on the outskirts of Clearspring by now… Oh, she remembered, she had left enough money for the “Deer Hunter” last night so her uncle wouldn’t go hungry during the holiday. Schubert probably had lunch at a restaurant and then wandered over here on his way out of town in the afternoon.

Although Schubert had no fondness for the "Badminton Festival" and was unlikely to attend the opening ceremony hosted by the Knights or any of the city's celebrations, the theater troupe's performance venue happened to be outside Mondstadt.

As a nobleman, he absolutely had to see a performance by Fontainebleau's renowned theater troupe. Now that he was free from the burden of food and lodging, he could naturally save some money to buy even the cheapest ticket…

She tightened her grip on Han Fulai's arm slightly.

“There are a lot of people here, he might not even notice us. Turning around and leaving when we’re almost at our seats would only draw attention, so let’s try to keep a low profile. Also, don’t forget you’re ‘Sir Humphrey’,” Yura said.

Han Fulai quickly puffed out his chest a little more, inwardly groaning – he had just been tormented by aristocratic etiquette all afternoon, and finally got to watch a performance to relax, but he had just escaped one danger only to fall into another.

He now feels like he was attending a public lesson when he was a child, with the "parents" sitting in the last row of the classroom, watching to see if the children in front of them are paying attention in class...

The regular audience seats are all wooden chairs, while the VIP seats are like those in a movie theater on Earth, with a coffee table and a single sofa between each pair of seats.

Those willing to spend so much Mora to buy a front-row seat are naturally either rich or noble. The audience was full of well-dressed gentlemen and ladies, and the two of them blended in with these high-society people without being particularly noticeable.

Staff members offered them drinks.

Han Fulai, sitting upright, picked up the teacup that had just been brought to him from the coffee table, opened it and took a look: the teacup contained a beverage that looked like orange juice, which should be the so-called Fontaine specialty "Fontaine".

He took a small sip—it was cool, sweet, and bubbly! This was just like Fanta!

Fortunately, he remembered that his persona was that of a Fontainebleau resident, and that he was used to drinking Fanta, otherwise he probably would have been moved to tears.

After traveling for so long, at least I got to drink a carbonated beverage.

If Fanta already exists, when will Teyvat have its own version of Coca-Cola? He started to regret not memorizing the Coca-Cola recipe before he transmigrated...

Shortly after, the theater lights dimmed, then the spotlights on the dome shone back on, several different colored spotlights converging in the center of the space, weaving together a dazzling array of colors. Gramophones positioned around the theater began playing cheerful music.

The circus performers entered the stage to the beat of the music.

To be precise, it should be that the horses entered the stage to the beat of their hooves.

Of course, a "circus" wouldn't be complete without equestrian skills.

A variety of equestrian skills were on display, including standing on horseback, riding upside down, riding with the horse's belly hidden, and riding two horses at once. In the end, all the horses lined up in a row and circled the arena, while the performers on horseback stacked themselves into a three-story-high Arhat formation, with the top one even doing a somersault to greet the audience.

The audience applauded enthusiastically for the wonderful performance, and Han Fulai also clapped enthusiastically.

An elderly gentleman dressed in Fontainebleau attire standing next to him snorted dismissively, seemingly annoyed that his clapping was too loud.

Han Fulai could only smile apologetically at the old gentleman beside him, but the man ignored him.

The following performances were equally spectacular, including a tiger leaping through a ring of fire and a blue-crowned heron dancing with its mate. But the most adorable performance was by the Fontainebleau specialty, the "Yoyo Sea Otter."

These peculiar aquatic creatures are said to be related to various weasels commonly found on land. They are gentle and lazy, living a slow and carefree life, seemingly without a care in the world. Their trainers, however, have come up with a unique idea: dressing them in elaborate performance costumes, complete with white curly wigs—making them look like judges sitting in court.

These sea otters float on the surface of the water in the tank, swimming on their backs, and greet people with a gesture that looks like they are saying, "Wishing you prosperity and a red envelope."

When the trainers gave them "red envelopes," which were shells, these clever little creatures displayed a cunning that belied their appearance—they actually knew how to work in pairs to break the shells open, looking just like officials who had received bribes and were "dividing the spoils."

Unfortunately, the unscrupulous trainers gave them shells that contained no clam meat at all.

The tricked little creatures tossed empty seashells at the trainer, and in unison raised their middle fingers, making the audience burst into laughter. Even Yura, who usually had a cold expression, laughed heartily.

Amidst this joyful atmosphere, the old gentleman from Fontaine beside Han Fulai stamped his foot and said, "Hmph, vulgar, boring."

Chapter 179 Fontaine Animal Protection Group

The reaction of the old gentleman next door caught Han Fulai's attention.

This old man seemed very eccentric. He complained about the noise when everyone was clapping, and he showed disdain when everyone was laughing happily. It was hard to tell whether he came to watch the performance or to find fault...

He couldn't help but glance at the old gentleman a couple more times.

The old gentleman wore a black velvet top hat adorned with white feathers, had gray hair, and deep nasolabial folds on his face; he looked to be about the same age as Uncle Tian.

He seemed to be in remarkably good shape, not overweight for his age, and the double-breasted, slim-fitting vest still suited him well. Somewhat unusual was the blue armband he wore on the upper arm of his shirt; this type of accessory is usually popular among young people. Aside from that, Han Fulai didn't see any family crests or sashes on him, making it impossible to determine his identity.

However, given his indifferent attitude towards others, he is most likely a nobleman.

The circus performances continue, with shows like lion and elephant taming that amaze audiences. There's even a performance of playing volleyball with crocodiles in the water, leaving everyone on the edge of their seats while thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Interspersed among the animal training performances were equally spectacular, featuring aerial hoop, blindfolded knife throwing, and most thrilling of all, the stunt known as the "Wheel of Life and Death."

At each end of a steel frame more than ten meters long, there is a large rotating wheel with a diameter of two meters. During the performance, the performers rotate the steel frame 360 ​​degrees, and the wheels at both ends rotate along with it, like a giant windmill. The four performers perform forward rolls, backward rolls, jumps and other actions on the inner wall of the high-speed rotating wheels, as well as a series of performances such as walking upside down, skipping rope and juggling with fire sticks on the outer circle.

Even more dangerously, the actors had to walk blindfolded along the outer edge of the rotating wheels, as if walking on the line between life and death. If they slipped, they would be injured, and if they were thrown out by the inertia, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The actors delivered outstanding performances, eliciting cheers from the audience and bringing the entire performance to a climax.

After the thrilling "Wheel of Life and Death," the grand finale is the circus's signature act—the ultimate in animal taming: taming dragon lizards!

This is perhaps the most dangerous creature on the entire continent of Teyvat.

They are born with the ability to wield elemental power and were once the dominant race beneath the abyss. After the seven ancient kings were defeated and perished by the power of the heavens, the remaining kin were these volatile dragon offspring.

The Ancient Rock Lizard of Liyue, as well as the mutated lizard that grows as tall as a mountain and the "residual power of the vortex" Bazha, all evolved from this lizard species.

This circus somehow acquired a purebred deep-sea dragon lizard, which appeared to be a juvenile, less than two meters long—but even so, its entrance was already quite imposing. A casual glance from its vertical pupils and a slight twitch of the spines on its back were enough to make many spectators instinctively shrink back.

Although Han Fulai wasn't afraid of the dragon lizard, he couldn't help but worry about what would happen if there was an accident during the performance. The Circus of Fontaine had gone too far... and the Knights of Favonius actually allowed them to bring such a dangerous creature into Mondstadt during their performance? There were no Knights of Favonius supervising the performance, and if the dragon lizard injured someone, things would get really serious.

The mere wooden fence was clearly no match for a charging dragon lizard, and he was sitting right in the front row. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but secretly begin to channel his inner power, ready to activate a shield or something at any moment…

Fortunately, his fears didn't come true. Although the lizard looked fierce, it seemed to be quite docile. It moved slowly around the area, as if it were strolling in its own territory.

The tamer, dressed in the uniform of a Fontaine "Duel Agent," stood imposingly in front of the young dragon lizard and threw a pair of white gloves at it—an invitation to a duel.

Then he rattled off a long string of words to the lizard, mostly the usual jargon from Fontaine's "duel agent," the gist of which was that the lizard was suspected of stealing food from the circus tank last night, almost starving its crocodile colleagues, and now the trainer was accusing it of theft.

If Mr. Dragon Lizard wanted to protect his reputation, he could choose to duel with the "Duel Agent," and a victory would exempt him from charges. The tamer then drew a longsword, seemingly preparing to duel with the Dragon Lizard.

This dragon lizard seemed to be very intelligent; it really understood what the trainer was saying.

Suddenly, it roared and pounced on the animal trainer standing in front of it.

Many spectators screamed, and quite a few women covered their eyes—but the horrific scene they had imagined did not occur.

Less than a meter from the trainer, the young dragon lizard came to a sudden stop with a tiger-like landing, and then... then it stood up, raised its two front paws, and gave the trainer a "Fontaine salute" (meaning surrender).

The contrast between the two made the audience burst into laughter.

As it stood up, Han Fulai smiled—he noticed a small metallic glint under the dragon lizard's belly; it was a zipper pull.

This dragon lizard is basically an actor dressed as a mascot!

The trainer patted its head, indicating that it would not be held accountable for its mistake. The lizard wagged its tail obediently and nodded, then bowed to the audience along with the trainer.

Many audience members also stood up and applauded the adorable dragon lizard.

“Putain de merde!”

A furious shout rang in Han Fulai's ears.

This is a Fontainebleau swear word, equivalent to "holy shit" or "TMD".

The old man stood up, his face full of anger and righteous indignation.

"The water pollution in Fontainebleau has already left many poor animals homeless, and you are still wantonly torturing these poor creatures! Animals are friends of humans! On behalf of all members of the 'Carandé Salon,' I want to accuse you of animal cruelty!" He became more and more agitated as he spoke, and at the end he even raised his fist and shouted: "Save the waters of Fontainebleau! Save the deep-sea lizards!"

Unfortunately, his hoarse shouts were drowned out by the laughter of the audience.

"Uh, sir, please don't get agitated. Actually, no deep-sea dragon lizard was harmed..." Han Fulai tried to kindly remind this animal rights activist from Fontainebleau, but the man glared at him with a "what are you looking at?" expression.

Okay, they just don't want to listen to him.

Moreover, with Schubert Lawrence behind him, he didn't want to cause trouble.

Han Fulai had no choice but to sit back down and quietly asked Yura, "Miss Yura, do you know what the 'Kalande Salon' is all about?"

Chapter 180 Garter Medal

Yura looked at the old man, frowned and thought for a while, then shook her head.

"do not know."

There are countless salons in Fontaine, so it's impossible for Yura to know them all.

And this "Karunde Salon"... honestly, in a world where humans and monsters coexist, shouting slogans about "protecting animals" would make most people think it's just a waste of time.

“However… this old gentleman is probably a nobleman of a very high status, at least an earl,” Yura added immediately.

“Earl?” Han Fulai glanced again at the old man who was still venting his dissatisfaction.

The nobility system in Fontaine follows the order of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron. The lowest rank of nobility is the third-class lord, whom Han Fulai is currently playing. This rank is not hereditary and is often earned through merit or parental influence. Nobles of the rank of earl usually own their own land and manor, and most of them are prominent families with a history of at least several hundred years.

In Han Fulai's imagination, such nobles should not only have attendants escorting them when they come and go, but their clothes should at least be embroidered with a family crest to show their noble status, just like Yura... But apart from being unsociable, this old gentleman really didn't show any noble demeanor.

Moreover, for a dignified count to go to a circus performance and shout animal protection slogans to disrupt the show... isn't that a bit too unbecoming of him?

"How did you figure that out?" he asked Yura curiously.

“He has a dark blue sash on his arm that’s called ‘kingfisher blue’.” Yura gestured for Han Fulai to notice the sash. “Did you see the word ‘Honi’?”

Armbands are generally used by gentlemen to secure their cuffs when they roll up their shirt sleeves, and also for aesthetic purposes, so Han Fulai hadn't thought about them that much before.

This time, he looked closely and indeed recognized the word on the blue band that he thought was an "armband".

But shouldn't a sash be worn on the shoulder?

Furthermore, what does this word represent?

“Honi soit qui mal y pense? (Shame on those who harbor evil thoughts).” Yura uttered a string of words. “This is one of Fontaine’s highest honors, representing the motto of the Order of the Garter, bestowed by the water god himself. It is only awarded to noble knights who hold high positions in the Momang Palace, usually upper-class nobles of earldom or above.”

"...'garter'?" Han Fulai glanced at Miss Yura's long legs subconsciously... Well, Miss Yura was wearing a formal dress today, without stockings, so she didn't need garters.

Yura pressed her legs together even closer, somewhat annoyed.

"Didn't you live in Fontainebleau for a long time? Don't you know such a famous story about the gods?"

Han Fulai coughed lightly, "Well, I used to be so focused on my studies that I didn't know anything about what was going on outside my window, so I really didn't know much about those anecdotes about the Water God..."

“Okay…” Yura shook her head helplessly, thinking that she would have to arrange a “private tutoring” for Han Fulai after the performance to help him brush up on his knowledge of the aristocratic history of various countries.

"This medal comes from a court ball at the Momang Palace more than four hundred years ago. The Water God bestowed upon Alan Giyodan, a genius mechanic, then a key member of the Shadow Chaser's Court, and later the Dean of the Fontaine Academy, the title of Knight and the title of 'White Knight Protector of the Nation' in recognition of his heroic deeds in protecting the nation during the disaster. At the same time, a grand ball was held, inviting the upper echelons of Fontaine to a banquet."

"That day, Lady Furina was dressed in her finest attire and dancing with the knight Alan. But during the dance, her garter belt accidentally came off, tripping her and causing her to fall to the ground, lifting her skirt... In short, Lady Furina was extremely embarrassed at the time."

"Mr. Alain calmly bent down to pick up the blue garter for Ms. Furna, tied it around his arm, and loudly proclaimed to all the guests present, 'Shame on those who harbor evil intentions.' This statement saved Ms. Furna's face and demonstrated Mr. Alain's chivalrous respect for women."

"Deeply moved, Lady Furina immediately declared that the blue garter would be used as Mr. Alan's sash, establishing the 'Garland Medal,' also known as the 'Order of the Garter,' and bestowing upon him the title of 'Duke of the Garter.' Alan himself thus rose from a lord to a duke."