Yes, Lady Funina!

Just thinking about it from that perspective is enough to make one feel hopeless. Funina knows this feeling all too well because she has been in a similar situation before...

Wait a minute, Funina suddenly realized that she didn't seem to have started feeling as desperate and helpless as before, and she even cried less often in her little bed.

Unintentional tears have almost disappeared... When did this change begin?

Unconsciously, Funina's gaze fell on Richard. Perhaps even she herself didn't realize that at some point, her gaze towards Richard had become different from that towards others.

“But if it weren’t for the evidence Mr. Richard found today, you wouldn’t have told me any of this, would you?” Navia wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, wetting her black lace gloves.

"..." Myles was silent for a moment. "Young Miss, as your and your father's butler, I must remind you. The opponent is ruthless and very difficult to deal with. The boss has already paid the price with his life in the long-term confrontation."

"With the Rose Society in decline, Baisong Town has enjoyed a rare period of peace, and we haven't been completely eradicated..."

"There is no need to follow the old path of the boss. This is wise and what the boss expects."

The implication is that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Myles will keep this secret until the day he dies.

"If it was his wish, he should have told me himself. I was clearly his closest confidant, yet I'm the one who seems most like an outsider. He left this world carrying countless mysteries; what deeper meaning did that hold? What did he protect? 'Les' is still here, 'The Unjust Carles' is still here, the dying 'Rose Society' is still here—nothing has changed."

"Did he think I would tolerate such a meaningless death and live a meaningless life? From that day on... I never thought that way, not even once."

"I need to give an explanation to everyone, whether they are the missing persons, the victims, or myself."

Navia's attitude was so firm!

“Well, you don’t really need to make it sound so dramatic. Just give Richard some information, and he’ll take care of it,” Claude finally couldn’t help but say.

For a moment, everyone in the room looked at Clorinde. You're the only one who's clear-headed, aren't you?

Clorinde belatedly looked at Lynette beside her and tentatively asked, "Did I say something wrong again?"

Lynette took a leisurely sip of her black tea and replied, "No, you're absolutely right."

"That……"

"You just shouldn't have spoken."

The words were correct, but the timing of the opening was wrong.

Everyone was discussing how to deal with that ruthless opponent with high morale and as if facing a formidable enemy, and then you came up and said, "Don't worry, Richard will take care of it."

You're making everyone seem like a burden!

Fortunately, the kind-hearted old Myles knew that Clorinde was entrusted by her boss to take good care of Navia, so he came to her rescue, saying, "Now is indeed the best time. Your partner is very reliable, Miss. More importantly, you seem to be ready."

"Moreover, since Mr. Richard has already visited Les's production site, this means that we have declared a full-scale war with them, and in fact, we have no other choice."

"I have been conducting investigations over the years, but unfortunately, I am not capable enough to keep it a secret. I can only do the most basic investigations and wait for the right opportunity."

"There are three people who are now suspected: Florent, the advisor of the Rose of the Thorn Society; Thierry, the person in charge of the official liaison between the Rose of the Thorn Society and the Fontaine Garrison; and Marcel, the president of the Cabrière Chamber of Commerce."

“Marcelle?” Furnessa looked up. “You just said that the president of that chamber of commerce is named Marcel?”

"Lady Funina, you know?" Richard was somewhat surprised, knowing that the Cabrière Merchant Guild in Fontaine was at most a medium-sized merchant guild, and there were far too many such guilds in Fontaine.

Moreover, the other party was established by relying on the [Rose Society] in its early years. Now that the [Rose Society] has declined, the Gabriel Chamber of Commerce has also provided a lot of financial support to the [Rose Society]. This has also caused the Chamber of Commerce itself to suffer heavy losses. Being able to maintain a medium size is already a testament to the Chamber of Commerce president's skillful management.

"No, I don't know. I only saw the name in Vinnie's diary." After reading that frightening experimental notebook, Funina was probably a little scared and thought that looking at Sweet Love Diary would calm her down.

After she quickly finished flipping through the diary, she heard Miles mention the name "Marcelle," a name she happened to have seen on a certain page of the diary.

“Found it, this is it.” Funina opened the diary and placed it on the table in the middle, pointing to the name on it.

"Is this for naming a child?" Navia saw that the page had many names written on it, and all of them had been crossed out.

Only the name "Marcelle" was not crossed out; it must have been the name that Vinier ultimately chose.

“But is Marcel really that young? If he really is Vasher’s son, then the timeline doesn’t add up… I get it!” Funina clapped her hands, and a big lightbulb appeared on her forehead.

"His former lover dissolved in water. In order to find his lover and also to facilitate the search for young girls for human experiments, 'he' forged the identity of Marcellus and destroyed everything related to Vasher!"

"From now on, there will only be Marcel in the world, and no Váccher. That makes all the sense."

"Sigh, as expected of me, I can always find the most crucial information from countless pieces of data and connect all the clues." After saying that, Funina didn't forget to boast a little.

But it is true that if Funina hadn't noticed this detail, they might have missed the chamber of commerce president.

After all, it's important to know that this chamber of commerce president is a key figure who strongly supports Navia, both financially and in the internal affairs of the Rose Society.

Of the three people listed by Myles, even Myles himself believed that the other person was the least likely to be the murderer.

After Funina said that, the suspicion against the other party immediately rose to its highest level.

"Uncle Marcellus, they provided us with a great deal of financial and commercial support when we were fighting against 'Les'."

"Going against myself? It's hard to imagine... The fox I've been fighting for so long is actually right beside me, and the one I least would suspect."

Navia murmured, her emotions clearly very complicated.

Furnessa nodded repeatedly, saying, "Even in operas, you rarely see such a cold-blooded and cunning villain..."

If you put yourself in her shoes, you'd find it hard to accept that Richard, who was her biggest supporter, was actually the real culprit behind the flooding in Fontaine.

Fortunately, Funina knew that this situation would not happen.

"So, are we going to go straight to Marcellus, or check on the other two suspects first?" Funina asked, completely immersed in her detective persona.

"Just to be on the safe side, let's go find those two suspects first. We should set off immediately without delay."

Although the situation is already very clear, Richard still intends to check on the other two suspects first, just to be on the safe side, in case anything unexpected happens.

Richard looked at Claudia, who was preparing to set off with them, and after thinking for a moment, said to her:

"Clorind, please keep an eye on Mr. Marcellus for me. Although the chances of being discovered are slim, it's better to be safe than sorry."

Clorinde: ...

Why was she assigned to another task?

Volume 1: Chapter 80 Mr. Richard is a Good Man

Navia approached Florent and Thierry one after another, and after talking with them, she found that they were not very suspicious and their answers were very natural.

Especially with the water goddess Funina accompanying them, both of them seemed a little nervous, but even under these circumstances, nothing seemed amiss, so it's likely that there really isn't a problem.

With Richard's keen eye, even trained professionals would find it difficult to escape his notice. Heart rate, micro-expressions, and breathing intervals—these subtle, uncontrollable movements—help Richard easily determine whether someone is lying.

To some extent, taking this Taoist philosophy to its highest level is indeed no different from mind reading.

After all, Richard often used this trick on Funina, so it's no wonder she suspected Richard had mind-reading abilities.

"Next, we need to find Marcel. Navia, what are your thoughts?" Funina was very curious about Navia's thought process.

“I…I’m sorry, Lady Funina. I still hope this is just a coincidence. After all, if Uncle Marcel really is Vashe, it’s just too unbelievable,” Navia said in a low voice.

Navia is indeed in a dilemma. She hopes that Marcell is the real culprit, which would mean that countless victims will be able to get justice. At the same time, she hopes that the real culprit is not Marcell, because Marcell is an elder who watched her grow up, and she doesn't want all of this to be a lie.

“Let’s go, Clorinde is already waiting. In any case, the truth will come out soon. Whether it’s a coincidence or the truth, we just need to ask her,” Richard said.

Even if Marcel isn't the real culprit, Richard will do everything in his power to find out who it is.

If he really can't find it, then Richard will have to resort to some mystical methods.

Astrology... Although Richard doesn't use it often, he has learned a little from Alice and has achieved some success in it.

He doesn't actually have much talent in this area; his talent is probably all in building up combat power.

Richard and his group soon arrived at the Cabrière Merchant Guild and easily spotted Clarinde guarding the main entrance.

Although this mature woman was dressed as a secretary and had a very attractive figure, her cool and aloof appearance and cold temperament made her intimidating.

Many people feel that Clarinde is 'beautiful from afar but not to be trifled with' when they first see her, and very few dare to approach her directly.

Richard knew that this guy wasn't as unapproachable as he seemed; at least he was quite comfortable using him.

It's hard to find someone who is both hardworking and easy to manage.

“I saw it, Marcellus is inside.” Claude said to Richard as she walked over after seeing him and his group arrive.

"Why don't you just go in?" Navia couldn't help but ask.

Judging from the embarrassed expression on the face of the Chamber of Commerce's receptionist, it was clear that Clarinde wouldn't be standing like a telephone pole at the Chamber's entrance for a while.

It is highly likely that they were already standing here like gatekeepers when they went to question the other two suspects.

"What are you going in there for?" Clarind asked in return.

This left Navia speechless. Indeed, even if she went inside, there was nothing she could do, so she might as well wait for them to come over at the door.

The only consequence of doing this might be that it affects the business of some chambers of commerce. After all, with Clarin standing at the entrance of a chamber of commerce looking like someone who is not to be trifled with, anyone would suspect that the Cabrière Chamber of Commerce is in trouble.

After all, Clarind is quite famous in Fontaine as the strongest dueling agent.

"That's not bad either, at least I don't have to worry about Clorind saying the wrong thing," Funina complained, clearly impressed by Clorind's little trick for resigning.

Clarinde looked at Frynn in disbelief, as if she were looking at a heartless man.

Lady Furina, do you know how badly Richard would bully you without my banter?

In the end, it was all for naught.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I didn't say anything wrong, and you're making me look like some ungrateful villain in an opera..." Frynn's momentum seemed to weaken a bit when Clorind looked at her like that.

However, Furness quickly regained her confidence, even though she had been the one being mentioned by Clarinde several times.

Claude took a deep breath, feeling her chest rise slightly, and gestured to Richard with her eyes.

—Next time, I'll be on your side.

Richard ignored the side-choosing look that Clarinde was giving him; taking sides was meaningless.

At best, it can only help Frynn block some damage, not to mention that most of the time your shield is still leaky.

Richard and his group were soon respectfully invited to the reception room inside the Chamber of Commerce. There was no way they could not be respectful, after all, with Funina and the young lady of the Rose Society present, either of them would be treated as honored guests when they came to the Cabrière Chamber of Commerce.

The former, in particular, gave the receptionist the illusion that "our chamber of commerce has become so big that even the God of Water has to come and visit us personally."

Shortly after the receptionist went upstairs, Marcellus rushed downstairs.

"They've arrived! Sorry to keep you waiting. This is... the Water God?"

Marcel was quite surprised by Frynn's arrival. He looked at Navia, the most familiar person in the group, and asked, "Navia, did you come to see me because the Rose Society needs my help again?"

Although he didn't know why the water god was with Navia, Marcell guessed that Navia came to him because of the recent reappearance of 'Les' and wanted to seek his financial help to fight against the organization that sells 'Les'.

This situation has happened countless times in the past few years. The reason why the Water God is with Navia is probably because Navia somehow got in touch with the Water God and plans to join forces to eliminate 'Les'.

As for why the Water God attaches such importance to 'Les', it is probably because he dissolved the leader of the treasure-hunting group in Baisong Town last time.

“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about what happened recently in Baisong Town and the ruins of the Fontaine Academy of Sciences. ‘Les’ has reappeared, you should know that, right?” Navia nodded, her beautiful eyes fixed on Marcel, as if trying to read something from his face.

Unfortunately, Marcel was able to hide in Fontaine for so many years; his deep cunning was far beyond what Navia, a young lady who had only recently entered the world of business, could see through.

Upon hearing Navia's words, Marcel's face showed a perfectly timed expression of surprise, which quickly turned into a look of anger.

"Those guys have shown up again?!"

Look, this acting is far better than that of actors in the opera house.

He should go into politics.

Richard was able to tell that the other man was faking it because, according to his perception, although Marcel's face showed shock and anger, his heartbeat, blood flow, and even his micro-expressions all told Richard that this old man had known about this all along.

This is interesting. If you already knew, why pretend you didn't?

"The Chamber of Commerce has suffered great losses these past few days because of the Fengdan Academy of Sciences incident. I've been busy dealing with this matter, and I never expected those insects to take advantage of this time..."

After explaining why he was unaware of the situation and clarifying some of his own predicaments, Marcel immediately added...

"Don't worry, Navia. I'll stand by you no matter what. There's some money left in the guild, take it first, and I'll figure out another way later. We have to stop those cancerous cancers no matter what!"

These words were spoken so eloquently that even those in the know would likely be fooled by the chamber of commerce president's speech, wondering if there was a misunderstanding, or if they had made a mistake, and if the so-called name was just a simple coincidence.

After all, the image that Marcellus just presented was that of a righteous businessman who hated evil and was determined to fight the 'Less' gang to the end, regardless of profit.

However, this is where Marcell's biggest flaw lies. According to Richard, Marcell made his fortune ten years ago with the help of Carles, and before that, he was said to have been very poor.

And yet, this very person, the president of such a large chamber of commerce, would disregard personal gain and loss and wholeheartedly dedicate his hard-earned Mora to fighting against the bottomless pit of the 'Les' criminal gang.

He even seemed to be the kind of person who didn't ask for anything in return, and didn't take advantage of his presence to ask Mo Mang Palace for any favors.

The fact that the Water Goddess Funina is standing here largely reflects the attitude of the Fontaine government. As a qualified businessman, he would definitely try to make up for some losses when he makes an investment. Even if he is genuinely not making an investment for profit, he should still get some compensation, right?

On the other hand, this Marcellus is not after profit or fame, so what exactly does he want to do?

Upon arriving here, Richard already had his own judgment, and he happened to see Funina looking at him with a confused expression.

Clearly, even the famous detective, Furna, couldn't tell whether Marcellus was good or bad. The other party's acting was so good that even Furna couldn't see any trace of acting in him.