Yes, Lady Funina!

"Okay, I understand what you mean now."

I understand, but not completely.

"Alright, enough with the pleasantries, Scaramucci, no, I should call you the Wanderer now, tell me your thoughts." Richard steered the conversation back to the main topic.

Navelette felt that Richard was still not fair enough; if it were him, he wouldn't have wasted so much time talking to the vagrant.

“My opinion? I don’t even know what you were talking about,” the wanderer replied with a sneer.

"Would you like me to repeat it for you?" Richard assured her that his memory was quite good and that he could at least give her a rough explanation.

"No need, I can guess what you're talking about even if I had to."

"Then tell me your thoughts," Richard said, neither confirming nor denying.

"I know many people will come looking for me to settle old scores, but I don't care. Bring it on. Kill me with one blow? Or tear me to pieces? It doesn't matter," the wanderer said nonchalantly.

When he rushed into the World Tree, he had only one thought: he wished he had never come into this world.

The World Tree did indeed respond to his wish, but it did not bring him the result he expected.

His footprints in the world have indeed disappeared, but the problem is that 'he' himself is still in this world.

Compared to before, he is now more like a lost soul wandering outside Teyvat, aware of his sins, yet helpless to change them.

He wants to take revenge on the Doctor, but he lacks the strength.

Now that he is facing trial, he truly deserves it, and even he himself has no intention of arguing.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have followed Nasita to this land of Fontainebleau.

He knew very well that the host here did not welcome him, and that the person behind this trial was very likely the other party.

Being both a referee and a player is something that makes one uncomfortable just thinking about it!

However, this would bring him relief, so the wanderer didn't mind playing along with Richard for a while.

“It seems the person involved has given up on arguing. So, is there anything else you all want to discuss?” Richard asked.

"..."

“Since no one has anything to say, let’s hear my thoughts. This will also fulfill my duty as a mediator,” Richard said.

"Pfft." The wanderer hated seeing Richard's hypocritical act, as if he really was considering everyone present.

But what he's really thinking is probably only known to him.

Richard was well aware of what he was doing. In fact, he had no problem with the wanderer himself. After all, the other party was just a puppet, a fairly handy weapon.

It's stupid enough, but also useful enough.

However, his greatest evil was not the scheme to exterminate the Five Lightning Gods over a century, nor was it using the Heart of the Thunder God obtained from Inazuma to plot to ascend to godhood through the dreams of countless Sumeru people.

But he didn't die, which is fine, but after surviving, we still haven't seen any acts of atonement from him, except for his words.

Now all I want is death, and I feel that death will end everything.

Richard found it difficult to agree with such behavior and such thoughts.

“I propose…” Richard presented the conditions he had prepared long ago.

The homeless will be handled by their creator, Shadow, and Inazuma will also bear some responsibility for the losses caused by the homeless in Sumeru, and will make appropriate compensation and concessions in terms of finances.

In addition, considering the current situation in Sumeru, Fontaine can also provide paid support services, including but not limited to training of grassroots staff, training of Sumeru troops, opening up the sale of restricted mechanical equipment, and troop stationing services.

Aside from some disagreement with the first and last points, Nasita reluctantly approved the proposal.

After all, if the stationed troops and the training of grassroots staff are truly implemented, will Sumeru still be Sumeru for the people of Sumeru?

Perhaps in the end, it will become the Mount Sumeru of the Fontainebleau people.

Therefore, Nasita could not possibly agree to these two points under any circumstances; these were her bottom line. Besides these, Nasita had other demands.

It was less of a request and more of a plea: she hoped Richard could take the lead in arranging a meeting between the leaders of Liyue and Mondstadt to discuss the implementation of the new Sumeru technology.

Nasita was well aware of why Sumeru was struggling internationally, so she decided to take this opportunity to share the pie she couldn't finish in exchange for space for Sumeru's development.

This would also make life a little better for the people at the bottom of Sumeru. Richard's words earlier had indeed touched a nerve with Nasita.

Naxida never had any ambition to become a king or a hegemon. If possible, she would prefer to quietly develop people's livelihoods.

To be honest, Narcida envied Fontaine and Funina. They were both wise gods and had both been imprisoned for five hundred years, but the latter had powerful figures to rely on, while she had to painstakingly clean up the mess left by her predecessor.

Not only that, but they also have to face omnipresent malice.

Although Ying and Paimon didn't say it outright, Nasita understood that if things really came to a head, these two heroes who saved Sumeru wouldn't be on her side.

Ironically, the true hero who saved Sumeru, the one who helped her fight against the God of Righteousness and the Great Sage, is now standing on the opposite side of her.

No, it should be said that I stood on the opposite side of the other party.

Perhaps she should have handed over the scattered troops to the other side from the beginning, instead of choosing to wait and see how things developed.

But no matter what, Narcida would not hold a grudge against Richard for his biased behavior, because she knew very well that the other party did not owe her anything; on the contrary, she owed the other party a great deal.

It could be said that if Richard were willing to come to Mount Sumeru to become a great sage, Nasita would not only have no objections, but would even actively help him, fulfilling any request he might make.

Unfortunately, that's not an option. They're living a very comfortable life in Fontainebleau these days, and even if they were to leave, it wouldn't be Sumeru's turn.

Can't you see Inazuma, Liyue, and Mondstadt lined up?

With the matter settled, Shadow led away the scattered troops, while Narcida and Yae no Kami stayed in Fontaine to await Richard's contact with Liyue and Mondstadt for a second round of technical discussions.

The day after Shadow left Fontaine, an explosion was heard in a secret laboratory. Richard received news from Alegino that the Doctor's oldest slice had been attacked by an unknown assailant. The attacker died, while the Doctor's slice was seriously injured.

The critically injured Doctor encountered Narukami, who was returning from Fontainebleau, during his escape. With a single, unexpected strike, the sky was torn apart by lightning, and the Doctor's fragment vanished from the world.

Currently, within the Fatui, the Doctor only has one newly created slice left, and his strength is far less than before.

After only making a brief appearance at the headquarters of the Fools, he disappeared without a trace, presumably hiding in some remote corner to recuperate and recover his strength.

Even the winter plan was handed over to other executives, which shows how profound the impact of the attack on the Doctor was.

It could be said that he spent all his time as a wild goose, and in the end, he was pecked blind by the goose.

Empress Zhidong had no objection to Narukami's actions, and the Fools were completely unconcerned about the matter. It is said that the "Prince," whose injuries had not yet fully healed, even clapped and cheered in public.

It's a pity the Doctor wasn't there, otherwise it would have been quite a show.

Ironically, when the lady heard about this, her face turned very pale, as if she herself had been the one slashed instead of the doctor.

However, Arecino felt that given the relationship between the "Lady" and the "Doctor," the other party might not be angry about the "Doctor's" situation.

Instead, they felt fortunate and... ashamed to realize that they had once walked through the gates of hell?

After all, when the "Lady" was on a mission in Inazuma, the "Doctor's" subordinates were also involved, so there might be some kind of connection between the two.

With the lady's intelligence, she might have been outmaneuvered by the doctor, but thanks to external forces, she avoided being killed.

The matter was nearing its end, and Arecino didn't want to say anything more, focusing instead on 'sealing' the dark power within her.

"Do you need me to help you recover your memories from before the World Tree altered them?" Richard asked.

"Huff...huff...is...something...important...?" Arecino asked breathlessly.

"It's not really that important, it's just related to the other Fools' Enforcers," Richard said.

“I don’t care, do you have to say these things at this time?” Arecino answered, word by word, sounding quite strained, as if she had used up all her strength.

Li realized that Arecino was right, so he kept quiet and focused on sealing.

A few days later, at Richard's call, the high-ranking officials of the five nations of Fontaine, Sumeru, Inazuma, Liyue, and Mondstadt gathered together for a heated discussion on how to jointly develop Sumeru technology.

After a rather long and tedious negotiation, a consensus was finally reached, and the Five Nations Alliance was signed in front of the Mo Mang Palace.

The content includes, but is not limited to, various technological openness and interoperability, strengthening trade and economic exchanges, defensive alliances, and allowing citizens of the five countries to travel to other countries visa-free with their national identity documents.

It can be said that those with money contributed money, those with strength contributed strength, and those with technology contributed technology.

Logically speaking, such a major incident should have drawn the attention of the remaining two countries, if not a strong reaction.

Surprisingly, neither Nata nor Zhidong commented on the matter.

Even the Fatui were unusually quiet. It was unclear whether they had been silenced by the Shadow Strike or were planning something big.

However, according to Richard's estimation, the Fools were probably planning something big, but it wasn't aimed at them; it was aimed at Nata.

After all, of the seven Hearts of God, six have already fallen into the hands of the Winter Queen, leaving only one in Nata.

The primary goal of the Fools should be to obtain the Heart of Vulcan. To be honest, the Fools don't care about the five-nation alliance led by Fontaine.

After all, they had already obtained the Heart of God and achieved their goal. Who cared about the life or death of these five nations, or whether they were doing well or poorly? The Fools no longer cared.

Of course, if you were to step in and prevent the Fools from obtaining the Heart of Vulcan, that would be a different matter entirely.

As for Nata, he seems to be planning something too, and has no time to care about the Five Nations Alliance or any technology. I just wonder if he will cause another big trouble for everyone after he encounters the Fools.

"It's finally over." Funin stretched out a big yawn. Today, all the agreements were finally finalized, and even the details were discussed.

To be honest, this was the first time that Funina had been so deeply involved in cooperation between several countries.

In the past, she was usually just a figurehead, making a brief appearance at banquets to show her respect and importance.

In this five-nation alliance, there were no social gatherings or banquets; instead, the top leaders of each country argued endlessly over every penny of their interests, often for days on end.

Those high-ranking civil servants who usually appear refined and cultured suddenly changed their usual gentle and elegant image, arguing heatedly with high-ranking officials from other countries until their voices became hoarse.

This made Fulina realize that the orderly seating and speaking at those symposiums in the novel were all fake.

When it comes to matters of interest, there's really no difference between haggling over prices at the market and doing nothing at all.

Especially when pushed to the limit, the verbal battles often turn into a contest of who can shout the loudest.

Even if the gods were watching, they wouldn't restrain themselves in the slightest.

Rather, it was precisely because Funina was present that the officials of Fontaine shouted even louder.

Even after the symposium ended, Funina still felt a buzzing in her ears.

Fortunately, the general direction was finalized and the details were discussed. According to Richard, this would not change for a long time to come, and Fulina breathed a long sigh of relief.

I can go back to my old life of wanting to slack off at work.

When Funina returned from Inazuma, she was thinking about whether to visit other countries, but now she thinks better of it.

She's almost exhausted and needs some time to recover before considering traveling to other countries.

Anyway, the alliance has been signed, so it's convenient to go to either Liyue or Mondstadt now. As for Sumeru, Frynn is not very willing to go because even though the alliance has been signed, Frynn, who knows the inside story, still has a strange sense of guilt about Sumeru.

It's like how you subconsciously avoid someone after you've done something bad to them.

Although Funina didn't do the bad thing, she felt that she was in cahoots with Richard, and that if Richard did it, it was the same as her doing it.

So, without Richard's company, even with Clarinde by her side, Frynn wasn't really keen on going to Sumeru.

In fact, without Richard's company, Funina wouldn't want to go anywhere right now.

"Lady Furna, you haven't finished your daily training yet," Clarinde reminded her, seeing Furna sprawled unceremoniously in her office chair.

"Can't we take a day off?" Funina's voice was weak and listless. When the Shadow led the skirmishers away, he specifically left a training plan in Clarinde's hands, asking her to supervise it.

Even during the busiest time of the Five-Nation Talks, Funina never missed a workout.

Now that the talks are over and we have more time, it's even less likely that we'll fall behind.

"According to the schedule, there are still three days until the next rest day," Clarinde said matter-of-factly.

"Clorind, don't you want to rest?" Furina tried to coax.

She knew that Clorind would have just as much to do as she did in this meeting, and in terms of workload, Clorind's was far more demanding than Furnessa's.

She would occasionally be pulled into small meetings by Yae no Miko, sometimes with Lynette and Fukaros in tow.

However, Lynette and Fukaros refused to go again after only one visit, which shows how demanding the workload was.

Even Lynette and Fukaros were finding it hard to keep up.

What Furina didn't know was that the reason Lynette and Fucarus refused to go again after their first visit wasn't because of the workload...

“For me, supervising your training is the best rest,” Clarinde said with a smile.

After all, she was only in charge of supervising the training, not the one training. It was Funina who was training, so what did it have to do with her, Clorind?

All Clarinde had to do was watch Fryna train and correct her mistakes.

"Speaking of which, why did Lady Funina suddenly decide to learn martial arts?" Clorind asked.

"I... I just wanted to improve my self-defense skills and get some exercise," Funina replied, but she seemed somewhat insincere and wasn't telling the truth.