Yes, Lady Funina!

"On the day of the incident, the Rose Society and its guests were holding a banquet in the countryside at the estate of the Gabriel Chamber of Commerce. During the banquet, all the guests heard two gunshots outside. When everyone arrived, the suspect, Carres, was holding a gun, and Jacques, who was meeting with him, was shot and killed. After investigating the scene, the security team members did not find any other firearms, so they believed that the suspect missed with the first shot and killed Jacques with the second shot."

"None of these inferences were denied by the suspect, Carles, nor did he contest them. Instead, he chose to prove his reputation through a duel. In the duel, the suspect was defeated by the duel agent, Crolynde, and died as a result."

"That's the overall situation, Ms. Navia. Do you have anything to add?"

Navia shook her head. Naviette's account was already very detailed, and she had nothing to add.

At this moment, Marcel stepped forward and said, "Navia, I know that what happened back then is unacceptable to you. In fact, from an emotional point of view, I also believe that Mr. Carles is innocent, but that is not a reason for you to accuse me without cause."

“I watched you grow up, and as an elder, I should forgive your mistakes, but do you know that what you did hurt me as well?”

As she spoke, Marcel even managed to squeeze out a tear or two, perfectly portraying the image of a victim who was unjustly framed by a willful girl in order to prove her father's innocence.

The scales in the hearts of everyone present also tipped in favor of Marcellus thanks to her superb acting skills.

The other party cleverly positioned themselves as an elder, using gratitude, kinship, and other emotional factors to successfully win the sympathy of everyone present, placing Navia in a position where she could not refute the argument.

That's when Navia's agent—Furina de Fontaine—needs to step in and perform!

Volume 1: Chapter 83 Have you always been this brave?

“That is not true, Mr. Marcellus. The reason Navia is suing you is because we have sufficient evidence to prove that you are not as ‘innocent’ as you appear.”

Like a master detective, Furina adjusted her non-existent glasses and pointed at Marcellor, loudly proclaiming, "And according to our current intelligence, you—Mr. Marcellor—are the mastermind behind the manor murders and the culprit behind the serial disappearances of young girls!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole place was in an uproar.

"Weren't we talking about the manor murder case from back then? How did it get linked to that series of missing girls case? Could Lady Furina be mistaken?"

"Yes, and I remember that the defendant was initially charged with 'disrespect for the water god,' so how did it suddenly get linked to the serial disappearances of teenage girls?"

"However, don't you think this unexpected development is interesting and very much in line with Lady Funina's style?"

"Indeed, indeed, such a dramatic turn of events makes me even more curious about the trial to come! As expected of Lady Furina, she understands us Fontaine people so well!"

……

After a brief period of commotion, the audience below the stage accepted Funina's explanation and showed great interest in this unexpected development.

“Ms. Funina, do you have any evidence for your inference?” Navelette asked.

"Of course, but before that, there is something that everyone here must know."

"Some time ago, a group of audacious individuals launched an attack on me in the wilderness of Baisong Town. Of course, everyone knows the outcome of that attack. As a deity, how could an attack by mere mortals pose a threat to me? I didn't even need to lift a finger; my secretary-general alone was enough to subdue all those madmen."

"But the matter did not end there. Because the incident was so bizarre, the full details were not revealed during the trial; some things were concealed. This was also my request. To avoid unnecessary panic, I wanted to wait until everything was clear before telling my people the truth."

“Now I think it’s time.” Funinna clapped her hands, and then staff members from below the stage came up to the center of the stage with a stack of confidential documents.

"Actually, we missed arresting one person in that attack, and that person was also the leader of that group. The reason we missed him wasn't because he escaped, but because he was completely dissolved into water right under my and my secretary Richard's noses!"

After Fu Ningna finished speaking, the staff opened the confidential document and read out the statements of the people involved in the case recorded on it.

Many members of the heist team who were present at the time witnessed this scene and mentioned it in their subsequent testimonies.

One person can lie, but if many people have witnessed it, then it can be basically confirmed to be true. Moreover, Funina herself had no need or motive to lie.

However, because what Funina said was so shocking, even with corresponding evidence, the audience found it difficult to accept her claims immediately.

"Lady Funina just said that people are dissolved into water? How... how is that possible? Are you sure this isn't a new play that Lady Funina is rehearsing?"

"But those are investigation reports from the Court of Justice. Lady Funina has no reason to lie about such things, does she?"

"Let's hear what Lord Vilette has to say?"

Sitting on the bench, Navelette tapped his cane heavily on the floor, making a dull thud, and said, "Maintain order in the courtroom."

"What Ms. Funina said is true. According to the investigation by the [Court of Law], it can be basically confirmed that the leader of the treasure-hunting group did indeed turn into water in front of Ms. Funina and Mr. Richard on the day they went out for a spring outing."

"That Vilette, that's called going out for work, it's a business trip, not some kind of spring outing!" Funina quickly corrected her, indicating that she shouldn't talk nonsense, or she would be held legally responsible.

The way you're saying it makes it sound like you're on a date with a young couple.

“…Let’s leave it at that,” Navelette said reluctantly. “Anyway, although the idea of ​​people turning into water is very unbelievable, it did happen. Since Ms. Funina says she has figured out the reason, please continue.”

"The mystery of how it dissolves people into water is actually hidden in a banned beverage called 'Lose.' According to our investigation, the raw materials used to make this banned beverage include an ingredient called 'primitive fetal seawater.' The reason why 'Lose' can excite people and produce many pleasurable hallucinations is precisely because of 'primitive fetal seawater.'"

“Essentially, ‘Les’ is a product that has been diluted with normal drinking water. If the original fetal seawater is drunk directly or comes into physical contact with the people of Fontainebleau without dilution, it will dissolve them directly into water.”

“Am I right, Mr. Marcellus, the inventor of ‘Les’… or rather—Vasher?” Furna looked sharply at Marcellus, who was not far away.

Marcel was silent for a moment, seemingly still intending to put up a fight. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Funina continue.

"If Vinier saw you like this, she probably wouldn't recognize you, nor would she dare to."

This sentence can be described as both silent and incredibly damaging.

You could see that Marcel's eyes turned red and became bloodshot in an instant. His suppressed emotions caused his body to tremble slightly, and this trembling became more and more obvious under his suppression. Finally, the trembling stopped, and this old man who was nearly fifty years old finally took off the mask he had worn for more than ten years.

“Veneer, you mean Venere… Hahahaha, if she can come back, what does it matter if she doesn’t recognize me?” Marcellus’s voice wasn’t loud, but anyone could hear the despair in her words.

"So you admit you're Vasher? To bring your dissolved lover, Vinier, back to your side, you relentlessly search for young girls for human experimentation, resulting in a series of unsolved disappearances of girls. Meanwhile, the 'Les' you sell has destroyed countless families, and you even went so far as to frame your former boss, Mr. Kares, who had once been kind to you," Funina asked.

"Admit it or not? Does it even matter anymore? Since you already know all this, you must have already been to that place, right?"

"So? Now you know a person can be dissolved into water, right? Why... why didn't anyone believe me back then? No one helped me, not even a single person believed me. Decades ago, even the people in the Court of Justice were telling me..."

"How can a person dissolve into water? You're saying I must have gone mad from an accident. You've all just ignored the insignificance of Vinier's death!"

"Now you know, it's too late! The people who dissolved can't come back!"

"It's all your fault, blame your Water Goddess Funina! What kind of high-sounding trial is this, pursuing justice and farce while ignoring the suffering of ordinary people! Vinier is dead! I made a promise with her that we would go together no matter where we were! That was our promise all along!"

As she spoke, Marcell took out a bottle of virgin fetal seawater from her pocket, opened the cap, and gulped it down in one go. The salty seawater overwhelmed her taste buds, but Marcell seemed to feel nothing at all.

He slumped against the railing of the defendant's dock, roaring at the crowd, "But I'm not a Fontainebleau resident! I can't dissolve!"

"I can't dissolve her, I can't dissolve her, I can't dissolve her! See? I can't go there, I can't go there... So all I can do is try to bring her back, right?"

"In the end, it was all for nothing. Was it that old dog Carres who left the clues for you?" Marcel casually tossed the empty bottle on the ground. He raised his cloudy eyes to look at Funina, then at Navia, and finally fixed his gaze on Richard.

Furna also turned to look at Richard, and it was this action that made Marcellus realize the real culprit who had exposed her.

"It really is you, Richard, the permanent secretary of the city hall... I have no grudge against you, so why are you meddling in my business?"

Marcel couldn't understand why important figures like Richard and Furness would bother with such trivial matters.

"It was just a coincidence. The reason I know about these things is simply because I accidentally found them while searching for ruins, so I just dealt with them casually."

“It’s like a pest crawling in front of you; stepping on it is just a convenient thing to do, so why not?” Richard’s answer was much simpler than Marcel had imagined.

Marcellus initially thought Richard's actions were due to "Less," which sparked her interest in investigating. She found Navia of the Rose Society and obtained clues left by Carles, ultimately leading to the exposure of her own identity.

Unexpectedly, all of this stemmed from an exploration of ancient ruins, just like when he and Vinier accidentally stumbled upon those ruins years ago.

Is this fate's will? Or is it a cruel mockery of destiny?

However, Marcel was wrong about one thing, which was not considered meddling by Richard, since the existence of 'Les' was a cancer to the entire Fontaine.

"If you're in a position, do your job." This has always been Richard's guiding principle. As the Executive Secretary of Fontaine, and receiving Fontaine's salary, he naturally has to work for Fontaine.

"Ha, is that so? I've been careful for over a decade, and in your mouth it's just a trivial matter..." Marcellus seemed to have lost all support, and simply collapsed to the ground, head drooping, as if dead.

“Crushing you to death is a small matter, but the things you’ve done are far from minor. For the rest of your life, please reflect on your actions in Mero Petersburg.” After Richard finished speaking, he stopped looking at the man and instead looked up at Villette.

Navelette nodded to Richard, then announced, "It seems the trial is over. The charges against Mr. Vasher will now be decided by the 'Imperial Decree'."

Richard looked at the Cardinal of Decree and Judgment, his eyes narrowing slightly. As this enormous machine operated, Richard's pupils simultaneously turned into vertical slits, as if trying to probe something.

Unfortunately, the energy contained within it was so immense that Richard couldn't see its internal structure clearly. Because he stared at the energy flow for too long, he felt a slight stinging pain in his eyes.

Navelette noticed Richard's behavior, but he didn't say anything.

The decree was quickly put to rest by the cardinal, and a decree appeared before Navelette.

"Based on the judgment given by the Cardinal Decree, Mr. Vasher—"

"guilty."

While pleased that she had rid Fontaine of this cancer, and having also made a name for herself, Furina immediately issued a divine decree: "Guards, take Vashe away!"

Meanwhile, the audience below the stage was still immersed in the trial that had just taken place. Some people had not yet come to their senses when they found that the trial had come to an end.

"Although I don't know what happened, this should finally be the end of the 'serial disappearances of girls' case..."

"We have witnessed history. I never thought the culprit would be this sanctimonious guy."

"Don't you all think that the secretary next to Lady Funina is quite handsome?"

"So, do you guys remember that news report about Lady Funina's ring that caused such a stir last week?"

"Tell me more..."

Just as the audience's conversation had completely drifted away, Richard arrived in front of Vasher, who was about to be taken away.

The guards escorting him stopped instinctively when they saw that Richard seemed to have something to say to Vasher.

The squad leader, however, frowned and said to his squad members, "Why are you stopping? Hurry up, we need to take this notorious bastard to Mero Petersburg today."

After finishing his sentence, the squad leader looked apologetically at Richard and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Richard, if you have anything you'd like to say to him, please submit your application to Mero Petersburg later..."

Upon hearing this, the escorting personnel all cast shocked glances at their squad leader.

No, have you always been this brave?

I've never seen you so principled before. You accept gifts more often than anyone else.

“There’s no need for that.” Richard shook his head and made room for him.

As Vasher was being forced past him, Richard suddenly spoke up, "I have a way to let you see Vinnie one more time."

Upon hearing this, Vasher turned around sharply to look at Richard. No one had expected that this old man, who was over fifty years old, could unleash such tremendous power, so much so that even the two guards beside him could not control him.

"Are you serious?" Vasher's cloudy eyes stared intently at Richard, as if trying to confirm whether the other was lying to him.

“I have no reason to lie to you, but in return, I expect you to honestly confess all the people you are involved with.” Richard said, glancing at the squad leader again.

“No problem! I can tell you right now.” Vashe agreed without hesitation.

The squad leader's face suddenly darkened. In an instant, he thought of many things. There were many people involved with Vashe, including not only him, but also those above him.

Over the past decade or so, these people have formed a huge interest group that is deeply rooted in Fontainebleau.

If Vascher were to confess these things to me...

The squad leader couldn't imagine the consequences. At that point, going to jail would be the least of his worries; he would likely lose his life and even implicate his family. So, almost simultaneously, he reached for his sidearm at his waist, pointed it at Vashe, and prepared to kill her to silence her!

In the squad leader's plan, after killing Vasher, the second target was Richard. Since he was already beyond saving, he might as well take on one more person.

Richard did not make a move, but simply watched as the squad leader's index finger slowly bent, about to pull the trigger.

However, the expected gunshot did not occur. The squad leader's index finger turned into water and passed through the trigger. Before the ruthless look on his face could fade, he turned into a puddle of water, soaking the floor. His uniform lost its support and fell to the ground.

Richard had anticipated this. When he said there was "no need" earlier, he wasn't referring to going to Mero Petersburg to request a dialogue with Vasher, but rather that the squad leader in front of him was beyond saving.

Richard had long ago discovered that the squad leader had a small device hidden on him containing primordial fetal seawater. If the other party had stepped forward and surrendered in time, Richard might have been in a good mood and spared his life. Unfortunately, the other party did not seize this opportunity and instead made an even more unwise move.

Since he had already chosen a path to death, I no longer cared about him.

Without even glancing at the squad leader, Vasher, while the audience was still reeling from the sudden turn of events, said to Richard:

"Do you keep your word?"

"Of course it counts."

Richard had one more thing he didn't say to Vasher: if he could make Vasher see his former lover, then he could naturally make him see the girls who died tragically at his hands...

Volume 1: Chapter 84 So long… So lonely… How much longer…

Vasher quickly confessed to everyone involved, detailing everything, covering a wide range of issues, and implicating an astonishing number of people. He even revealed the Fools' mole within their ranks, which was another easy credit for Lynette.

The impact of the Václav Wacher case went far beyond that; the scene of the squad leader of the Opíclair Opera House guard turning into water was witnessed by everyone present.

This naturally included the vast majority of media reporters in Fontainebleau. In just one hour, the news that the people of Fontainebleau could be dissolved into water had spread throughout the city.

This also made all the people of Fontaine realize a problem: the prophecy of Fontaine's doomsday has now begun to come true.

The sea level in Fontainebleau will begin to rise, and people burdened with sins will gradually be submerged by the sea. Everyone will dissolve into the sea, leaving only the water god weeping on his throne.

The sea level in Fontainebleau is indeed rising year by year, and people are indeed being dissolved by the seawater. When all this happens, the people of Fontainebleau are shocked to realize that the prophecy of the end of the world is so close to them.

However, despite the doomsday prophecy, life goes on, and we still have to enjoy ourselves. For the people of Fontainebleau, living well in the present is clearly much more important than the unknowable future.

Besides, even if the sky falls, there are always tall people to hold it up. Although the people of Fontaine don't believe in Furna's wisdom, they do believe in the wisdom of the Fontaine Academy of Sciences... Oh, the Fontaine Academy of Sciences is gone now, so let's believe in the wisdom of future generations.

In short, believe first.

"What did you say to Vasher that day? Why was he suddenly so cooperative? Someone tried to break him out of prison, but he refused to leave and even reported the people who came to rescue him." Funina suspected that Richard's abilities were not only mind-reading but also brainwashing.