Yes, Lady Funina!

Just as the Earl was feeling uncertain and hesitant, Richard spoke up: "Looking at you beaten up like this, anyone who knows you would think it's a debt dispute, but anyone who doesn't would think it's a fight over the spoils."

"Lord Richard, you must be joking. How could it be a dispute over the spoils?" the Earl said with a forced smile.

"Why not? The so-called unequal distribution of spoils naturally means that you cooperated with the Fools, but the cooperation did not go well, and the Fools are demanding compensation from you for the losses."

However, because you have been stubbornly resisting and refusing to compensate for the losses, a foolish clerk happened to be free and learned of this. He went alone to subdue you by force, and finally reached an agreement..."

As Richard spoke, the Earl was sweating profusely; the sweat on his hands had already soaked through his handkerchief.

The Earl was now absolutely certain that Richard knew something, and probably more than he had imagined.

After all, it was only now that the Earl learned from Richard that the young man sitting in front of him yesterday was actually an executor of the Fools.

No, you're the executive officer, you should have said so earlier.

If you had just said you were the executive officer, would I have refused to pay you? I must have lost my mind to threaten you with force.

"Of course, these are all my personal guesses. I hope you won't mind my vivid imagination, Count?" Richard said with a warm smile, as if it were true.

"You'd be a fool to believe that!" The Earl knew Richard was warning him, telling him that he held leverage over him and that he'd better obey or face the consequences.

Faced with this situation, the count had no choice but to comply.

We could have used force, but after D'Artagnan's outburst yesterday, the Count's legs are still weak, let alone forceful.

And to attack the Secretary General of the City Hall in Fontainebleau... are they out of their minds?!

"How could that be? Lord Richard, your idea is brilliant... Lord Richard, what do you need me for this visit? Please tell me, and I will serve you faithfully." The Earl dared not remain seated any longer; it would be extremely impolite for Lord Richard to be sitting in his own home.

The count, hunched over and limping, walked to Richard's side and offered to pour him tea in a fawning manner.

After seeing the Earl come to terms with reality, Richard slowly explained the purpose of his visit.

"Is the Earl aware that the criminal in the photograph committed burglary multiple times, stealing a large amount of wealth?"

"This..." The count was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood that Richard's purpose in coming today was that big shots were fighting, and they, the little Karami, were caught in the crossfire.

They don't even bother to pretend; they just call them criminals.

"Any questions?"

"Lord Richard, although... but that kid doesn't seem to have robbed any money..." the Earl said cautiously.

It is true that the "Young Master" physically assaulted them, but it did not amount to burglary. Although they did transfer a large sum of money to the Northern Bank, it was considered "paying off a debt," not robbery.

After all, how can you rob someone faster than this?

"Who said that? Isn't that what he's tossing in his hand?"

"Tossing it?" The Earl looked at the photo again and found that the "young master" was indeed tossing a money bag in his hand. The money bag looked strangely familiar; it seemed to be the money he had planned to use to bribe the other party.

Q: Can money used to bribe someone be considered as stolen funds?

I guess... it counts?

When the count saw Richard looking at him meaningfully, he immediately straightened his attitude.

We must calculate it, we absolutely have to calculate it!

Yesterday, this wicked foolish brat barged into his manor, injured his servants, and stole a large sum of money from him—100 million… no! 1000 million Mora!

The Earl knew that doing this would definitely offend the Executor of the Fools, but if he didn't do it... judging from Richard's appearance, he would probably be severely punished immediately.

The current situation is one of being at the mercy of others; in this world, one has absolutely no say in one's own destiny!

The Earl now faces only two choices: either follow Richard's lead and solidify the evidence of Dartalia's burglary, or go against Richard's wishes and claim it's payment for Dartalia's services, thanking him for taking the time to teach him a lesson.

The former offended Richard, and the latter offended the "Young Master".

Although the Fools were infamous for offending the latter, they still dared not kill anyone in Fontainebleau, so one's life was at least somewhat protected.

Offending the former, given the leverage Richard held over him, wouldn't necessarily mean his death, but it would at least make him wish he were dead.

Strip him of his earldom and leave him penniless; it would be better to just kill him.

Therefore, there is no need to say more about who to choose. Lord Richard, you know me well. I have always been your loyal follower, and I have carefully studied every policy of yours.

Having figured everything out, the count gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and immediately squeezed out two tears, saying, "Lord Richard, you must do me justice..."

Chapter 159 Mr. Richard, a man of great righteousness (1.1 words)

[Young Master] D'Artaglia is sued by a group of nobles led by Count Biss for crimes including burglary, violent debt collection, unauthorized entry, and malicious assault.

This incident immediately became a hot topic of discussion throughout Fontainebleau – "Fontainebleau nobility jointly sue employees of the Northern Bank; outsiders are incredibly rude."

The Fontaines, who love a good laugh, started laughing as soon as they heard the title. Whether before or after Navisette's arrival, matters concerning debt collection were either about nobles oppressing commoners or nobles fighting amongst themselves.

These days, those glamorous noblemen are being violently harassed by debt collectors. This is truly the first time I've ever seen Fu Ningna in a swimsuit.

"How novel! Weren't these nobles always the ones collecting debts from others? Today, they're the ones being chased for debts, and it seems like it's just one person."

"Oh, sir, your accent doesn't sound like that of a local."

"I'm a native of Liyue, just settled in Fontainebleau. But I've picked up a bit of your accent. Oh, Lord Water God, where are those thugs the nobles employ? Why don't they give that Northern Bank employee a good kick in the ass?"

This guy told Fontaine jokes in a perfect Liyue accent, which amused everyone who was gossiping nearby, filling the small tavern with a cheerful atmosphere.

This is the Grey River Tavern in Fontaine, and Grey River is the lower town of Fontaine. Rather than the lower town, it is more like a sewer area. This is actually the sewage discharge area of ​​Fontaine. It was only because it was built wide and could shelter from the wind and rain that some desperate people gradually discovered it, and over time it slowly became a town.

Naturally, most of the people living here are from the lower class in Fontaine. Their lives can be described as either destitute or extremely poor.

Therefore, people here will more or less come into contact with lending institutions. After all, in Grey River, who can guarantee that they will not encounter any accidents?

Once you take out a loan and fail to repay it on time, you will inevitably face debt collection. Larger private lending institutions are better; they tend to follow some rules and are more dignified when collecting debts.

However, smaller lending institutions often resort to violent debt collection methods, supplemented by harassment and threats. There are even specialized agencies that handle such cases, so that if something goes wrong, they can distance themselves from the lending institution.

This situation only eased in recent years with the rise of the Rose Society. It's not that lending institutions have become more restrained, but rather that the Rose Society has also established similar institutions with lower interest rates and more humane debt collection methods, making people more willing to borrow money or pawn items from the Rose Society.

These lending institutions are usually backed by nobles, so when the people living in the Grey River hear that the nobles are being violently harassed by debt collectors, they feel nothing but vindication.

Sympathy? Forget about it. Those nobles and such had better get dead already!

This scene wasn't just happening in the Grey River; the residents of the Upper Town were generally indifferent to these nobles of Fontaine. Their concern about this matter wasn't out of sympathy or because they felt that outsiders were bullying the locals.

Instead, he simply thought that if this were performed at the Opiclie Opera, it would be a lot of fun, and the nobles who had been persecuted by the Fools would surely get a grand finale for them before the New Year.

The foolish Fontaines were still at home waiting for the Steambird newspaper to report further, while the clever Fontaines had already bought tickets and boarded the [Navia Line] cruise ship to Iriye Island.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Supreme Judge, Mr. Navigette, will be attending the Opiclie Opera House soon to begin the trial of "Prince" D'Artagnan.

This was undoubtedly quite baffling for D'Artagnan, who had just finished several days of work. When he received the summons signed by Navilette, the highest judge of Fontainebleau Palace, he thought it was some kind of prank.

I've only collected several debts since I came to Fontainebleau, so why am I being sued?

Isn't this unreasonable?

Aren't the local gangs being a bit too rude?

However, D'Artagnan had no way of explaining these questions, and he didn't even know why Melusin, who delivered the summons to him, knew his exact location.

D'Artagnan attributed the fact that they knew his location to the autonomous robots that were everywhere on the streets. After all, he was in Fontainebleau for a vacation, not to carry out any secret mission, so there was no need for him to avoid these autonomous patrol and guard agencies on his way to and from get off work.

D'Artagnan looked at the summons in his hand and was puzzled when he saw the dense list of names in the "Other Party" section. Who were these people?

After seeing a few familiar names, D'Addariya pulled out the route map from his previous debt collection trips and, after checking, realized that these were the very people he had been working so hard to serve these past few days.

This is a collective effort to give Tadalia a lot of bad reviews.

The problem is, not only did you swipe the card, but you also went and got someone to sue you.

D'Artagnan couldn't understand why these people dared to take this matter to the Momeng Palace. Weren't they afraid that he would expose their previous collusion with the Fools?

Well, D'Artagnan would never do that.

It's not so much that I can't, but that I'm not allowed to do it.

Since this is the territory of [Servant] Arecino, it's fine for [Young Master] Tadalia to come here for a vacation, but if you want to cause trouble here, sorry, without the orders of [Servant], the House of Hearths will not cooperate with [Young Master] in betraying his previous partners.

Now that the servant is not in Fontaine at all, it's too late for the young master to go find him.

After all, the court summons stated that he had to go to the Opiclie Opera House for a hearing the next day, and with that going back and forth, plus accessing the archives of the House of Hearths, there simply wasn't enough time.

Moreover, the servants might not be willing to deal with the young master or clean up his messes, even though the young master is helping the Fools collect debts, which in a way is also helping the House of Hearths.

The problem is that you did a terrible job helping us. As the magistrate of the Fools, you can't even handle something as simple as collecting a debt, and you've even been sued by a bunch of nobles. That's really unacceptable.

D'Artagnan knew that he was the only one who could handle this matter, so he didn't expect the House of Hearths to be of any help.

"Have you found anything?" [Young Master] asked the debt collector who emerged from the shadows.

"I'm sorry, [Young Master], all I can find is that the lawsuit against you was spearheaded by Earl Biss and joined by many nobles. Due to the suddenness of the incident and the lack of manpower, I have no further concrete information."

"Of course I know it was Earl Biss who started it; it's all over the Steambird Gazette. But the question is, how dare Earl Biss do this? Who gave him the courage? That's what I need to know!"

D'Artagnan casually tossed the summons aside, and it floated down onto today's Steambird newspaper, which happened to have a picture of Count Biss with a bruised and swollen face, still raising his fist and shouting.

"Young Master, I think the House of Hearths might know something. Perhaps we..."

“It’s already embarrassing enough that we crashed on their turf, let alone have to ask them for help. If they help, we’ll lose face; if they don’t, we’ll lose even more face. Forget it, I’ll figure it out myself.” D’Artaglia knew it was normal that his subordinates couldn’t find anything.

After all, this isn't Liyue. We're unfamiliar with the place, and time is tight for this away game. Finding out who's behind it all is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Therefore, he needed the help of the locals, and Dardalia happened to have a friend in Fontaine who held a high position. Although he couldn't be relied on for a big job, it shouldn't be a problem to give him some information.

So, instead of going directly to the Opiclie Opera House, Prince D'Artagnan took a detour and went to the Momen Palace to find Richard.

Richard was quite surprised by the arrival of the "Young Master." How did this guy find out so quickly that I was the one behind it all?

However, Richard realized the next second that he might have been overthinking things. The other party wasn't there to interrogate him, but to ask for his help.

“Mr. Richard, it has been several months since we parted ways in Liyue. I had planned to visit you in Fontaineble today, but things have changed…”

"But what about the recent lawsuit? The person being sued by so many nobles, could it be you, young master?"

Richard displayed amazing acting skills. Even though he was the one who orchestrated it, he acted as if nothing had happened, saying that he only just realized that the person being prosecuted was actually an old acquaintance, D'Artagnan.

“I made some minor mistakes at work, please excuse me, Mr. Richard.” D'Artagnan failed to see through Richard’s acting and went straight to the point.

"The reason I came to see Mr. Richard is that I have something I'd like to ask for your help with."

"Speak freely, but I have no way to get those nobles to drop the charges. This matter has already reached the Supreme Judge, Mr. Navelette, and even I cannot intervene."

"But don't worry, Mr. Villette has always been fair and has never shown any favoritism in over four hundred years. As long as you haven't really done anything wrong, he certainly won't wish you any harm." Richard gave D'Artagnan a heads-up beforehand, meaning that he could help, but only a little.

Getting the nobles to withdraw their appeals is certainly out of the question; as for what he can do...

He can provide all assistance except for tangible help.

“I understand. I certainly won’t make things difficult for Mr. Richard. Mr. Richard has a wide network of connections and a lot of information. I just want to ask you about this lawsuit. Is there anyone behind it?

Of course, I won't let Mr. Richard help me for nothing. If you need anything in the future, please don't hesitate to come to me.

Faced with the young master's request for help, Richard retorted, "Don't you want to put me in a difficult position? The person behind this is me! Do you want me to report myself?"

It is indeed the person below who has filed a complaint against this official.

Of course, that's what I think, but I definitely can't say it like that.

Richard pondered for a moment and said, "This matter is unusual from top to bottom. There must be someone behind it. After all, even nobles' cases need to wait in line before they can be submitted to Mr. Villette's desk. It's impossible for it to happen so quickly."

"You mean... the mastermind has been plotting this for a long time?" D'Artagnan frowned, but the problem was that he didn't seem to have any enemies in Fontainebleau. Who would bother to provoke him for no reason?

[Servant]? That's unlikely. The other party doesn't want to come to Fontainebleau, so there's no need for them to resort to such methods. Besides, they have no reason to target me.

Although the young master disliked this woman, he was also well aware that she was a person with very pure intentions, and such a person would not do anything unnecessary.

The reason why the possibility of the "servant" was not completely ruled out is because the other party is the kind of person with a strong sense of purpose. If there is enough benefit, she can even betray Her Majesty the Queen, so there is no need to say more about herself.

It was precisely because of this possibility that the young master did not choose to ask the House of Hearths for help, but instead went to Richard, with whom he had only shared a meal, for assistance.

Because the young master felt that the possibility of Richard being the mastermind was almost nonexistent, and that the other party had no reason or motive to deal with him.

However, this time the "young master" misunderstood. Just like in detective novels, sometimes the least likely person is the real mastermind.

“It might not be a long-planned scheme, but the other party's status in Fontaine must be quite high, and they must be able to make those nobles obedient. This greatly narrows down the pool of candidates.” Richard analyzed for [Young Master] with a serious expression.

And the "young master" was actually listening attentively; one dared to speak, and the other dared to believe.

"Give me some time, and I guarantee that by tomorrow's verdict, I can make sure Mr. [Young Master] knows who is behind this." Richard said this with utmost sincerity.

Nonsense, he himself is the one behind it all. Richard has complete control over when and when to tell the "Young Master" the identity of the mastermind.

The young master was deeply moved by Richard's assurance, even though he had prepared himself for rejection before coming.

After all, although he and Richard had shared a meal together, they were essentially just slightly familiar strangers who didn't really know each other, only one of their identities.