Yes, Lady Funina!

He kept nodding and echoing Funina's words.

"Yes...that's right...yes."

He had never felt the sofa beneath him so hot, making him restless, as if pricked by thorns, as if a fishbone was stuck in his throat...

"What should I do?" Bosuai asked for help, both to Richard and to herself.

After Richard said that, Bosuai realized that what he had written was not a safety report at all, but a ticking time bomb!

It's like a boomerang that's been thrown out; sooner or later it will fly back and smash you in, leaving you bloodied and disgraced!

Richard, having said enough, excused himself and followed Funina to the Opiclie Opera House to watch the trial.

Seeing that Richard had finished playing the bad cop, the old lawyer Harper stepped forward and played the good cop, saying, "There's no need to worry so much. You just need to add a little polish to the ending."

"Although no dangers have been found in Tabusa yet, due to the limited development area and relatively pristine ecology, the possibility of encountering other dangerous situations cannot be ruled out as the development of Tabusa progresses and various factors are considered."

"Out of concern for the safety of the lives and property of practitioners and investors, Professor Bosuai advises everyone to make decisions carefully."

Volume 1: Chapter 13 Intimate Distance

The embassy in Fontainebleau is beautifully decorated. Warm sunlight streams through the clear glass and falls on the expensive carpet, adding a touch of warmth to the spacious embassy office.

Yae no Miko's bare feet trod on the soft carpet. Her feet were full and lustrous without appearing bulky. Her toes, smooth and delicate without losing their luster, were slightly curled. The insteps of her feet extended in a crescent shape to her delicate and bony ankles, where faint blue veins could be seen.

The owner of those beautiful feet was not in a good mood; if she could, she would love to shove her feet into Richard's mouth.

She casually tossed a Steam Bird newspaper with the headline "Professor Bossie publishes Inazuma safety assessment report, ambiguous attitude suggests other hidden reasons" onto the table.

Accompanying the Steambird News was Professor Bosu'e's safety assessment report on Inazuma. Although the report indicated the safety of the Inazuma sandy environment, the uncertain comment at the end left much to ponder.

However, this was enough for Richard and his team to deal with those scholars and businessmen who were blinded by profit.

"Lord Kōji, shall we continue the research funding for Bosuai?" The shrine maiden standing opposite the coffee table asked respectfully, bowing her head.

"Of course, we have to keep our promises, otherwise we'll give others something to talk about and our losses will only be greater." Yae no Miko was not upset about this setback.

They were not angered by Bosu's sudden change of heart and stopped the research funding.

Even if the concluding paragraph of the report significantly diminishes its effectiveness, it is still sufficient as security evidence for bringing in the Fontaine Consulting team.

In fact, Richard's goal was not to prevent Yae no Kamiko from attracting investment to Fontaine and bringing in Fontaine's senior technical advisors.

Instead, they are trying to increase the say of the city hall, represented by Richard, in this deal as much as possible.

Both Yae no Kami and Richard believed that the success of this transaction was inevitable, only that the process was tortuous.

What they need to do is to lower the other party's demands as much as possible, so as to achieve final success at the lowest possible cost.

Of course, there were also some off-field factors involved. For example, Yae no Miko wanted to win this game while also getting Richard to obediently return to Inazuma with her.

Richard, on the other hand, wanted to control Yae no Miko's mouth, preventing him from saying anything that would damage his glorious image in front of his superiors, and incidentally, to fleece him and add a brilliant stroke to his political achievements.

Returning to Inazuma is out of the question. As the saying goes, a good horse doesn't turn back to eat the grass it already grazed. Moreover, Richard's governing philosophy is seriously at odds with that of the Shadow. He can't even beat the Shadow. Going to Inazuma would just mean going to jail and becoming a tool for Yae no Kamiko and the Shadow to rule Inazuma.

Hmm, it could also be a toy.

In comparison, Fontaine is much better. It has an enlightened social atmosphere, core technologies unique to Fontaine, and most importantly, it is impossible to find a god as obedient as Funina anywhere else.

The obedient deity sat upright at her desk, her gaze deep and wise, her demeanor elegant and noble. She looked at her executive secretary and said, "Richard, what do you think of my action? Will it be enough to intimidate that Eightfold Divine Child?"

Richard gave an awkward but polite smile and replied appropriately, "Lady Funina, while poise and style are important at the negotiating table, the most crucial factor is how much leverage each side has."

"Do we have enough chips?"

"It won't be less than the other side's."

“Then I will also overwhelm my opponent in terms of both presence and style, and achieve a complete victory!” Funina said earnestly.

Richard thought about it and couldn't find a reason to refute her. Of course, the main reason was that Funina's involvement was too small.

Or rather... she had too much free time.

This made Richard wonder if he hadn't prepared enough information for Funina before.

Or perhaps Funina's abilities exceeded his expectations, allowing her to easily absorb and digest that amount of information.

“Lady Funina, you are the one leading this negotiation. Please be cautious in the negotiations to come,” Richard said.

"Of course, I will be very careful not to give my opponent any clues from my demeanor," Funina said confidently.

She couldn't guarantee anything else, but she had a firm grasp on temperament and demeanor, ensuring she could display the majesty of the Water God.

“And don’t let your opponents find any flaws in your statements, Lady Funina,” Richard added.

"Speak?" Funina's confident expression froze, revealing a look of doubt.

Richard suddenly had a bad feeling. He tentatively asked, "Lady Funina, don't you know that you are in charge of leading this negotiation today?"

“I know, but isn’t it usually the boss who talks about random things, and then the subordinates negotiate with the other party’s subordinates, and finally both sides reach a satisfactory result, and the bosses sign the paper to complete the negotiation?”

Seeing Richard rubbing his forehead, Funina widened her eyes and asked, "Isn't that how it is?"

"Excuse me, Lady Funina, where did you get this from?"

"At the Opiclie Opera House, before taking office, I actually consulted with the actors on how to portray that dignified yet approachable demeanor."

“Well, politicians are indeed actors in a sense, and in terms of acting skills, they surpass most actors. But Lady Furina, I clearly remember telling you before that you should take some time to look through the materials I prepared for you, right?”

Fulina thought about the family drama in court yesterday, and the types of afternoon tea desserts she had been thinking about these past few days, but she couldn't remember the information Richard had prepared for her.

However, Funina had her own methods. She said, "Well, of course I've seen it. You know, yesterday Villette was judging the wife of the family next door..."

“Lady Funina, your way of changing the subject is not very clever,” Richard interrupted Funina with a blank expression.

“I’ve seen the report, but do you know how serious the problem is?” Funina wanted to use the same methods Richard had used on Bosu’e on Richard.

"Oh? Please enlighten me, Lady Funina." Richard remained unmoved, adopting a look of eager interest, ready to hear Funina's insightful opinion.

“I…” Funina was at a loss for words. She hadn’t even opened the report, so what insightful opinions could she possibly have?

“In fact, Lady Funina, the information I prepared is not a report, so the ‘Four Rules of Overturning Reports’ do not apply (scare away the reporter, question the report’s one-sidedness, cater to the majority, and stigmatize the author).” Richard saw through Funina’s trick at a glance.

"Then what should I do?" Funina asked humbly.

“Of course it is…” Richard was about to blurt it out, but then he thought, why should he teach Funina this?

The most urgent task now is to quickly tutor Funina so she can handle the upcoming negotiations.

"Of course, I'll explain the key points of this negotiation to you before the Inazuma delegation arrives. Lady Funina, please turn to page 3 of the document..."

“Oh…” Funina obediently opened the document, but secretly she felt a surge of joy.

She successfully used humor to make Richard overlook her dereliction of duty, thus getting away with it, and even offered to help.

Oh well, I'm actually quite talented. (Swelling)

Richard glanced at Fryna, who appeared to be listening attentively, and suddenly said, "Given your dereliction of duty this time, I think it's necessary to inform Lord Navelette that you are prohibited from going to the Opiclie Opera House without fulfilling your assigned duties."

"No!" Funina's reaction was unexpectedly strong.

Richard raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure which of his words had touched a nerve with Funina, causing such a strong reaction.

Richard remained silent, simply gazing calmly at Furnessa.

"Ah, no... I'm sorry, what I mean is that I will definitely study the information carefully in the future and promise never to do it again, so..." Funina's voice grew softer and softer, and she clutched Richard's sleeve with her small hands, looking pitiful.

It was clear she was genuinely afraid of Richard's proposal, hence her current humble posture, begging for his forgiveness.

From an outsider's perspective, it looks as if a well-dressed scoundrel is using some despicable means to coerce a naive and innocent young girl into doing something she doesn't want to do.

In other words, there were no outsiders in the office, and Claudia was also standing guard outside, otherwise, seeing the current scene, she would have been captured by Richard on the spot.

"Lady Furnessa, you've taken the wrong file," Richard sighed and reminded her.

With her face flushed, Funina hurriedly tossed the documents aside and began rummaging through the thick pile of files.

Richard handed the document in his hand to Funina and said, "Use mine, Lady Funina. Time is of the essence; we only have half an hour left before our appointment with the Inazuma delegation."

"And what about you?" Funina looked at Richard, wondering if he had memorized all the information.

That was a whole stack of documents; when piled up on the table, it was as tall as a fist!

“Of course we’ll share the same data, Lady Funina. You don’t think my memory is good enough to remember so much information, do you?” Richard walked around the table, stopped beside Funina, and bent down to analyze the data and key points that would be needed for the negotiations later.

Fu Ningna stared blankly at Richard, who was leaning his head closer, her brain seemingly going into a complete malfunction.

Even though they weren't very close, only about a head's width apart, Fu Ningna felt a sudden unease. Her body involuntarily tensed, her long, slender legs pressed tightly together without a gap, and her hands were neatly placed on her thighs, making her look like a college student being interviewed for the first time.

"Look at the documents, not at me. Do I have words on my face?" Richard felt like he was tutoring a silly but obedient and beautiful female student.

"Ah, no, no." Funina waved her little hand quickly and blurted out, "Your face is clean, there are no words on it."

“Of course I know there are no words, Lady Funina. Did you hear what I just said?” Richard asked.

“Of course, you just said…” Funina actually repeated Richard’s entire statement.

Although Funina appears to have a beauty untouched by knowledge, if she really gets serious and with Richard's explanation, she can easily grasp the general information in a short time, at least enough to avoid looking foolish during the negotiations half an hour later.

Soon it was time to go, and Claude knocked on the door to remind Frynn and Richard that the Inazuma delegation was already waiting in the meeting room.

Then Clarinde saw Richard straighten up from next to Funina, whose little water god's face was flushed.

Clarinde's thoughts inevitably began to wander unconsciously, with keywords like: office, half-elf, adult male, young girl, alone...

Lynette followed Klorind in, her pretty face expressionless. She glanced at Klorind and explained to Richard, "The air wasn't circulating well, and we were sharing the same document so close together, it's normal to blush."

“So that’s how it is…” Clorind nodded seriously, her expression as solemn as if she hadn’t been the one who had misunderstood.

She believed Lynette's explanation and didn't care how Lynette knew so much about this when she wasn't even in the room.

In fact, Clarinde herself didn't think anything would happen between Richard and Funina, and she was just a guard. Even if something did happen, as long as Funina was willing, she had no reason to interfere.

Upon seeing Claurind and Lynette, Furness instinctively lowered her head and straightened her clothes.

Young lady, your actions could easily be misunderstood!

As expected, Lynette's cold eyes looked sharply and emotionlessly at the impeccably dressed Richard beside her, a gaze that made Richard feel as if she were looking at an insect.

Richard remained calm; how could he be frightened by Lynette's gaze?

I, Li, am upright and have nothing to fear!

His relationship with Funina was completely innocent, a pure friendship between ruler and subject. Although he admitted that there was an element of manipulation in his approach to Funina earlier, he said it was for the purpose of better carrying out his work in the future.

This is a necessary measure.

There is a safe distance between people, and the process of gradually shortening this safe distance is also a process of continuously increasing intimacy.

Richard just used a legitimate reason to slightly exceed Funina's safe distance.

The benefits of doing this are obvious. As the physical distance between two people gets closer, a psychological intimacy will also occur – they will be more willing to identify the person closest to them as their most trustworthy and intimate friend.

In case the Eightfold Divine Child has a change of heart and explodes against him, or if his past misdeeds come to light, Funina might give him some room to maneuver out of consideration for their friendship.

As long as there's room for maneuver, Richard can pull off all sorts of amazing feats; his escape from Inazuma is the best example of that.

"Let's go, or we'll be too late and give Lord Yae no Kami an excuse to attack us."

With that, Richard strode out of Funina's office, exuding an air of confidence and strength!

P.S.: I'm getting a little something from that kind older sister.

Synopsis: Akemi, who died from an illness, is resurrected in a parallel world's Tokyo. Her appearance and figure are said to resemble Yukino Yukinoshita from the anime.

What bothered him most was that there were ghosts in this world. In order to survive, he had to become a witch.

But can anyone explain why, no matter if it's the ancient witch with white hair and red eyes, or the innocent vampire lady, or the girl in black wielding dual swords, they all want to marry him!

Even those monsters and ghosts are the same, the problem is...

But he is a man!

I don’t want to get married!

【Heavy on sugar, light on knife】

The Boy Who Was a Shrine Maiden Didn't Want to Be Conquered

Volume 1: Chapter 14 If I could do it all over again...

With ample intelligence support and the advantage of playing on home turf, Funina fought a brilliant draw against Yae no Miko.

As for the outcome of the talks, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. Neither side gained much from the other. However, cooperation is the product of mutual compromise. If you always get the better deal, it's not cooperation.

It's called bullying.

After the cooperation agreement was reached, the tense atmosphere in the meeting room immediately dissipated, replaced by a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere.