Yes, Lady Funina!

Clearly, this top duel handler knows more about the inside story than the water goddess, Funina.

"Are these kinds of cases usually difficult to handle?" Funina continued to ask. She was no longer the listless person she had been in front of Richard; instead, she seemed quite excited, like a speculator who had received inside information.

“It's definitely troublesome, otherwise why would it become a cold case? But a large part of it is because the cases weren't that serious, and there weren't enough police resources at the time, so they were temporarily shelved…” Claude thought for a moment and said.

Upon hearing this, Funina immediately slammed her hand on the table; this was exactly what she wanted!

Upon hearing this, Richard's heart skipped a beat. Could investigating an old case actually uncover something?

In fact, if an outsider were to investigate, there would be no need to worry at all. Richard is confident he can repel any invading enemy on his own turf. However, if there's a mole within the organization, things could get complicated.

Richard turned his gaze to the excited Furna, his unease growing stronger. He felt compelled to speak up, saying, "Lady Furna, that's actually the work of the Court of Judgment; it has nothing to do with our City Hall."

Richard's words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing Funina's burning passion.

Oh right, handling old cases is the responsibility of the court, what does it have to do with her, the Minister of the Interior? (Angry)

You volunteer your time and effort, only to have the credit go to someone else – isn't that just being a typical wage earner?

What Frynn wanted was an immediate "Wow, it's Lady Frynn!" effect, not "Lady Frynn has helped the Inquisition so much, how wonderful!" effect.

If it's the latter, Funina would rather not have it; it's too insulting.

After thinking for a moment, Claurind said, "It's not entirely unrelated. In fact, there are quite a few cases involving the city hall. If you're willing, we can entrust this part of the work to you. I think Vilette wouldn't mind."

The flame of 'hope' rekindled in Furna's eyes, while Richard slammed his book shut and stared at Clarinde with wide eyes, looking on incredulously.

Do you know what you're saying, Clarin?

Meanwhile, Clarinde was completely oblivious to Richard's situation; she was diligently helping Funina analyze the feasibility.

While doing so will inevitably divert some of the court's revenue, it will also save a lot of effort.

After all, because Clarinde is the successor of the Shadow Hunters of the Inquisition, and also has the identity of Frynn's bodyguard, most of the things she is responsible for are related to the City Hall.

If Funina is willing to take over, then Clarinde will have a much lighter workload compared to her colleagues, and if she's lucky, she can even get a pleasant vacation during this period of activity.

This was indeed a considerable temptation for Clorind.

This was also a considerable challenge for Richard, who was getting restless. He said, "Actually, I have a few immature ideas for your consideration, Lady Funina."

“Since it’s not ready yet, don’t bring it out. Let’s think it through first. I think my idea is quite mature now.” Funina completely ignored Richard’s words. She was now captivated by her own genius inspiration, her mind filled with ‘do it! do it! do the hell it!’

“Clorind, tell Villette for me—no, I’ll go tell him myself—that I must clear up all the old cases. No! That’s not enough! I also want to thoroughly investigate all the problems within the City Hall! To make the City Hall completely new, from top to bottom, inside and out!” Fryna said passionately, and at the same time, feeling that it wasn’t enough, she added more burdens to her own shoulders.

Although Richard didn't know what Funina was thinking, he felt a wave of dizziness after hearing it.

Even so, Funina still wasn't going to let Richard off the hook. She leaned forward, placing her hands on the desk, trying to get as close as possible to Richard across the desk.

The tuft of hair on his head twitched, and his heterochromatic eyes shone brightly as he looked at Richard, who couldn't quite manage a smile, and said, "Richard, you'll help me, right?"

“I…” Richard noticed that Clarinde was also looking at him, waiting for his response.

If I refuse now, wouldn't that be blatantly suspicious? What's the difference between that and turning myself in?

But with Funina pressing him so hard right now, Richard has no room to maneuver. He feels that anything he says except agreeing would be wrong.

So Richard only paused slightly before making his decision. He placed the book he was holding on Funina's desk, straightened his collar, looked into Funina's eyes, and said, "Yes, Lady Funina!"

After answering Furnessa, he turned his gaze to Clarinde, who was watching the scene unfold. He had previously thought of this guard as an honest and kind person, but after what had happened today, his opinion might have to change a little.

However, since things had already come to this, he decided to remember this debt.

However, Claude didn't seem to mind. The usually stern woman even gave Richard a slight smile after noticing his gaze.

Laugh! You still have the nerve to laugh!

Despite his anger, Richard returned Claurind's smile with a polite one, as if to ask her, "Are you being polite?"

However, Claude clearly did not understand Richard's meaning and took it as Richard thanking her for the results she had delivered.

She knew these officials all too well; anyone who wanted to advance in their career was not afraid of having a lot of work, but rather of having nothing to do.

Having grown accustomed to the sluggishness and inefficiency of Fontainebleau's civil servants, she knew from the first moment she met Richard that he was someone who wanted to advance his career.

Don't thank me, you deserve it.

Claude thought to herself.

Volume 1: Chapter 19 The Selection of a Private Secretary

In Richard's office, Lynette and Richard sat facing each other, discussing the 'renewal' plan that Funina had mentioned yesterday.

“Without a doubt, this is the stupidest decision I’ve ever seen, bar none!” Richard put down his pen and looked at Lynette, who was stirring her tea with a spoon.

“Well, and then?” Lynette replied.

“Do you know what will happen if Furness actually implements the policy she’s talking about?” Richard leaned forward, looking intently at Lynette.

After thinking for a moment, Lynette replied, "Will there be a clean, transparent, and brand-new city hall?"

"Impossible! First of all, the city hall will be in chaos, and no one will be able to work normally."

"Secondly, there's also the possibility of a revolution. Do you know what a revolution means, Lynette?"

“Hmm… reform? Appoint a new permanent secretary-general?” Lynette thought for a moment and said.

Richard took a deep breath. He was just hypothesizing, but you seem to genuinely want to appoint a new permanent secretary-general.

"A new executive secretary-general will not be created. It's uncertain whether the position will even exist by then. Reform means a reshuffling, competition among various forces, open debates on the system, and rampant rumors. The very scene that those with ulterior motives want to see will unfold!"

“Wow…isn’t that exactly what you wanted to see?” Lynette blew on her black tea and took a sip with her soft lips.

"I... Lynette, whose secretary are you?" Richard was taken aback; he felt the cat-eared girl's words were a bit too much.

“It’s your secretary, Secretary Richard,” Lynette sighed, speaking as if comforting a child.

She knew perfectly well that what Richard needed right now wasn't her advice, but someone to confide in.

"I wonder how Fulina's private secretary arranged her schedule, giving her time to think about this and that..." Richard frowned. If possible, he hoped to meet that secretary and teach her how to properly arrange the minister's schedule.

Then Richard noticed Lynette looking at him with a complicated expression. He couldn't help but touch his face and asked in confusion, "Is there something on my face?"

Why are you looking at me the way you look at Funina?

“Richard, male, works at the City Hall, serving as the City Hall's Permanent Secretary-General. Since the Water Goddess Funina took office as Minister, and there was no suitable candidate, he has temporarily taken on the role of her personal secretary.” After Lynette finished speaking, the room fell into a brief silence.

After a long pause, Richard finally spoke, "So, I am the secretary."

"Yes, Secretary Richard."

“Then why don’t I have any working memory of arranging her schedule?” Richard asked.

“That’s because you dumped the work on me on the first day,” Lynette replied.

"I'm sorry, Lynette."

"I accept your apology, Richard."

Richard took a sip of black tea, picked up his pen again and put it down, but he couldn't help but look at his secretary.

"But I still have to say, why not fill her schedule more? At least to avoid her falling into the trap set by reporters and dragging us all down with her."

That's a pretty vivid description. From Richard's perspective, he was just doing his job perfectly fine when, a few days later, Funina told him, "I'm going to turn the city hall upside down."

Putting aside his personal motives, even from the perspective of his position, Fu Ningna's special operation was baseless, unreasonable, and impossible.

A clean and transparent government department, haha, to be honest, if it weren't for Funina saying this, Richard would have thought he was listening to Fontaine's jokes in some small tavern.

Lynette frowned and pondered for a moment before saying, "Perhaps I misjudged Lady Funina's abilities."

Richard nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, we all misjudged her abilities."

“So what should we do next?” Lynette asked.

"Let's deal with this unexpected incident first, make Lady Funina realize just how foolish she was, and then help her find a suitable secretary," Richard decided.

"Why didn't you come yourself?" Lynette asked curiously. After all, in her opinion, if Richard wanted to keep Funina under control, the best way would be for him to arrange it himself.

“Everything needs to be done in moderation. I am already the permanent secretary-general. If I were to still hold onto the position of minister’s private secretary, the power I wield would be too great, which would be going too far,” Richard said soberly.

Frynn might not think anything of it, but could he guarantee that others wouldn't overthink it? Could he guarantee that the Supreme Judge Navelette wouldn't overthink it?

Everything goes through him. So, is Funina the minister, or are you, Richard, the minister?

"So how do you plan to make Lady Funina realize the seriousness of the problem?" Lynette asked as she stood up to pour tea for herself and Richard.

Today's secretary is as beautiful as ever. In addition to her well-fitting blazer, the black stockings under her pencil skirt seem to have been changed. Instead of the usual opaque stockings, she is now wearing slightly sheer flesh-colored stockings, with her flesh color faintly visible through the black.

As she walked, her cat tail swayed gently, and her bodycon skirt swayed with the movement of her thighs, sometimes tight and sometimes loose, outlining a perfect silhouette.

Although Lynette's hip curves are not as voluptuous as those of Clarinde and Yae no Miko, they give off a unique girlish innocence, petite and charming, with a distinctive flavor.

Coupled with the gesture of the other person adding tea, Richard couldn't help but think of the phrase "a beautiful woman adding fragrance to the room." With Lynette's natural beauty, she could probably pull off Liyue's attire.

Lynette naturally noticed Richard's gaze, but she didn't care, or rather, she did it on purpose.

The reason, of course, is that the appearance of Miss Fox recently has made Miss Catwoman feel extremely threatened, so she has to take some countermeasures.

But now is not the time to think about that; their immediate priority is to get Funina to give up that absurd idea.

It would be best to nip this in the bud. Richard thought of that big-breasted, big-hipped Miss, the strongest duelist.

Perhaps... the other person is quite suitable for the position of Funina's personal secretary?

He could tell that this duel handler was arranging for Funina to interfere with the work of the court in order to find an opportunity to slack off, which was exactly what he imagined an older, single female office worker to be like.

Funina's personal secretary only needed to arrange her schedule and had no other work to do.

As for things like handling documents, that's not a problem; Richard's group of municipal civil servants can do that for her.

There will be no worrying situations such as overtime, overwork, or sudden death. Moreover, as a private secretary, it will be convenient for the other party to provide protection for Funina.

More importantly, if Claurind becomes Frynn's personal secretary, she will have to help her oppose Frynn's latest policy proposals.

After all, to implement that decree, not only do we have to find all the documents that were previously thrown into the trash... but we also have to review them again and then give our opinions on how to handle them.

The sheer amount of work involved is enough to make anyone despair.

Miss Clorind, you don't want your future life to consist of endless overtime, do you?

Volume 1: Chapter 20 Do you plan to change jobs?

It was still in Richard's office, but the person with Richard was someone else.

"Secretary Richard, you wanted to see me?" Claude held her hat to her chest, her long, dark blue hair cascading down to her waist.

“Ms. Clarinde, please have a seat.” Richard gestured for her to sit opposite him and not to be shy.

Clarinde showed no sign of restraint, hanging her hat on the coat rack beside her and then sitting down opposite Richard.

As he bent over to sit down, his shirt bulged at the chest, the fabric around the button appearing to have reached its limit.

Fortunately, Richard was a gentleman; after glancing at it once, he paid no further attention.

It won't collapse anyway, so looking at it is pointless. ⑦

Claude was clearly aware of the quality of her clothes, so she wasn't worried at all. Instead, she was more concerned about what Richard wanted to discuss in their private meeting today.

Frankly speaking, although Clarinde was Frynn's bodyguard and Richard was Frynn's secretary-general, and the two were colleagues in a sense, their interactions were limited to only a few words. ⑧

Now that the other party has suddenly invited her to meet alone, Clarinde doesn't believe this is just a simple meeting.

"I wonder how Ms. Clarinde's work is going lately?"

"Just call me Clarinde. Work is alright. Thanks to my title as the strongest duelist, aside from a few annoying reporters, there aren't many situations requiring my intervention. And Frinna has only been active around the Moman Palace and City Hall lately; those two places are safe, so I don't need to be extra vigilant."

Claude explained that this seemingly cold and aloof woman wasn't actually as unapproachable as she appeared.

At least that's what Richard thought, even though he was quite angry when the other person betrayed him.

After thinking about it later, Richard figured Clarinde probably didn't do it on purpose, so he still didn't intend to forgive her.

Does something unintentional mean it can be forgiven?

Then what's the point of having a courtroom!

"I heard you're also helping the court handle those old cases. Are you managing?" Richard asked, seemingly out of concern.

Clarinde wanted to say that she was able to manage, but the words just wouldn't come out.

That might fool others, but don't fool yourself.

Thinking of this, the mature and aloof older sister sighed softly, and her serious face finally showed a different expression.

"We can definitely manage to keep busy, but it will take up our rest time."

Commonly known as overtime work.