Yes, Lady Funina!

The Thunder God of Inazuma is nothing like me, a water god who only has a showy appearance. He is a real earthly ruler who wields the power of thunder and lightning. Even several of me combined wouldn't be enough to defeat him.

"Yes, Lady Funina. It was indeed Inazuma who invited me. He had mentioned it several times before, and it was really hard to refuse this time."

If he refused again, she would come straight to Fontainebleau. Richard knew that fox spirit. When you obeyed her, you were a fox fairy, but when you disobeyed her, you became a fox demon. Since you were a fox demon, you were naturally very seductive.

Even Richard didn't want to face Yae no Miko after she turned evil. Although she would tease Richard from time to time in her fox spirit form, she was still in a relatively reserved and dignified state overall.

But once you provoke this fox spirit and force her into the second stage, any semblance of composure and dignity will be out of the question. She will use every means you can think of to provoke you, including but not limited to role-playing, special costumes, and stacking status effects. In short, she will do whatever it takes to provoke you.

If it were just that, it wouldn't be so bad. But the other party is only responsible for starting the fire, not for putting it out. After setting you on fire, they just pack up and run away, not giving you a chance to catch them.

Just like the saying goes, she's incredibly flirtatious, yet refuses to be given anything.

Back then, Richard was still very young and didn't have the top-notch gun control skills he has now. Naturally, he was easily manipulated by Yae no Miko. In fact, Yae no Miko deserves great credit for Richard's composure today.

It's hard not to think that the reason Yae no Miko 'tortured' Richard in this way back then might have been to strengthen Richard's resistance and prevent him from being robbed by some slutty woman outside.

What I can't have, you can't have easily either.

Of course, there are certainly more reasons why Richard is still in a state of pure yang than this, but the Eightfold Divine Child should at least bear 50% of the responsibility for this matter.

That's why Richard was particularly troubled by Yae no Miko's words in her letter, "If you don't come, I'll come to you myself."

If Yae no Miko really comes to Fontaine, things will get complicated. Not to mention whether Yae no Miko will harm innocent people, if Funina and the others also follow Yae no Miko's bad example, Li Jue realizes that he probably won't be able to live like this anymore.

No matter how good his gun control is, he can't withstand being surrounded by multiple enemies.

Which cadre could withstand such a test?

Richard was simply being self-disciplined, not self-castrated.

"Then I want to go too!" Funina felt that if she didn't go and confirm her guess, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep well at night.

"What about the Opicley Opera House? Lady Frynn surely doesn't want to miss any trial held at the opera house, does she?" Richard asked.

"Hmm..." Funina lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then quickly came up with a solution using her clever little brain.

"Then let's get it repaired!"

"It was inspected just a few months ago. Your explanation is unlikely to convince the public, and the Ministry of Finance is unlikely to agree to it."

"I'll pay for it myself!"

Fulina took out her wallet; as a big star in Fontaine, she was quite wealthy.

However, Richard only gave a rough figure, which immediately silenced Funina.

Her family fortune was simply insufficient compared to the cost of renovating a national-level building. In addition, her previous investment in Ningguang's business in Fontaine, which she offset with endorsements, still cost her a considerable amount of Mora, and it would take some time before she could recoup her investment.

Under such circumstances, it is clearly unrealistic to expect the Opicclay Opera House to cover the costs of its closure and renovations.

"Lady Funina, why are you so insistent on coming to Inazuma with me?" Richard asked.

Of course, it's because I'm worried you'll be snatched away by that vixen Inazuma, but there's no way Fryna could say that to Richard's face.

"I...I've never been to Inazuma, and I was thinking of going there for a visit..." Funina's eyes darted around as she answered insincerely.

"That's right... but I'm afraid it won't work this time. We can only hope for another chance in the future," Richard said regretfully.

Of course, there are ways to get Frynn to Inazuma. For Richard, there are countless ways to shut down the Opiclie Opera House. Last time it was a fire safety inspection, so this time it will be an environmental quality inspection.

In short, there are plenty of reasons; it's simply a matter of wanting to or not wanting to.

However, this time, unlike in Mondstadt, even Richard himself didn't really want Frynn to go to Inazuma with him.

It wasn't that he was worried about Funinna clashing with Yae no Miko, or that Funinna would let Ray the Movie test his skills. Rather, he wasn't just making a diplomatic visit; he also planned to revisit the place.

The intelligence he obtained in the Yuanxia Palace in his early years led Richard to revise his plans for the future again and again. Now, hundreds of years have passed, and he is no longer the naive young man he once was.

With increasing experience, Richard felt that this revisit to his old haunts would allow him to see things he had previously overlooked, including whether the truth of what happened back then was truly as recorded in that book, which still needed to be verified.

Richard has already discovered some things that differ from what is recorded in that book.

Even Richard couldn't easily determine which was true and which was false.

Anyway... let's see.

Since we're going to the Abyss Palace, it's obviously not appropriate to bring Funina along. The people of Fontaine already carry the burden of original sin, and if we bring Funina there, wouldn't that be adding insult to injury?

Although Tianli is in a state where he shouldn't wake up, who knows if he's sleepwalking?

Just like when you're sound asleep and feel a mosquito buzzing around your ear, you unconsciously reach out to shoo it away or swat it away. At that time, nature will also unintentionally give them a similar blow.

Richard didn't care, but he didn't know if Funina could withstand it.

Richard looked Funina up and down, thinking that being hit by Tianli would probably hurt her for a long time.

So for Funina's safety, it's best to let her stay obediently in Fontaine and wait for him to return.

"How... could this be?" Upon hearing Richard's words, Funina's mood immediately plummeted.

She slumped back into her chair, looking rather dejected, and asked in a listless tone, "When are you planning to leave?"

"I'll leave once I've finished dealing with things in the next couple of days, but the exact schedule will depend on Inazuma's arrangements."

Funina curled her lip upon hearing this. "Inazuma's side is definitely eager for you to go there as soon as possible. Everyone knows that Yae no Kami is in charge of Inazuma these days."

After returning from Fontaine, the other party changed his previous indifferent attitude towards the situation in Inazuma and began to deal with the various chaotic situations in Inazuma in recent years, divided the powerful and nobles, weakened the power of the three commissioners, and also reformed the isolation edict issued by the shogunate in previous years.

Of course, it is impossible to completely open up the country all at once for Inazuma, which has been closed off for many years. Therefore, Yae no Miko has also given a corresponding solution, namely regional pilot programs.

However, unlike designating a pilot region, Yae no Miko's proposed pilot program refers to first opening the country-lockdown order to one country, and then gradually opening it to other countries.

As for the pilot country... it's Fontaine, of course.

Those unaware of the inside story might think that the High Priestess was farsighted, choosing Fontaine, a country neither too far nor too close, instead of the neighboring Mondstadt and Liyue. This would ensure that Fontaine wouldn't interfere in Inazuma's internal affairs while still generating good economic benefits.

Those who knew the inside story, like Funina, felt that they could hear Yae no Miko's abacus beads in Fontainebleau.

And who said Fontaine wouldn't interfere in Inazuma's domestic affairs? Richard's visit would just be pure harem interference in politics, wouldn't it?

Seeing that Funina wasn't in a good mood, Richard didn't say anything more and started dealing with his work. He needed to make proper arrangements at the city hall before going to Inazuma, otherwise, if anything went wrong, Funina probably wouldn't be able to handle it on her own.

In response to this situation, Richard left Funina with a brilliant plan: when in doubt, consult Navelette.

As a dragon handpicked by the gods of Fontainebleau, Navelette has proven his reliability through a century of working life. If you have any problems, you can't go wrong by asking him!

With Navelette around, as long as Frynn doesn't dismantle the Cardinal Decree, there's unlikely to be any major trouble. Moreover, given Frynn's personality, it's improbable that she would cause any major chaos.

Although Frynn may seem a bit dull in front of Richard, you have to remember that she has been playing the role of a god for five hundred years. How could she be as simple as she appears on the surface? Caution and maintaining her persona have become instinctive, ingrained in her very being over the past five hundred years.

Besides, doesn't Furynna have Clarinde by her side?

Was Richard assigning Claurind so much work really revenge for her mistake of losing his photo in a photography competition?

Yes, but not entirely. Richard also had considerations in mind, such as honing Clarin's skills and improving her abilities.

As a result, after Richard's training over this period of time, Clarinde is now fully able to adapt to the current version of the game.

Under the high-intensity work environment, Clarinde's abilities in all aspects have made great progress, and her ability to deal with and handle emergencies has been enhanced to an epic degree.

Regarding Clond's growth, Lynette gave a very apt assessment: Clond has become an excellent civil servant.

An excellent civil servant may seem ordinary, but in reality, the vast majority of people in Fontainebleau do not reach this level of recognition.

Although civil servants are common in Momang Palace, those who can work in Momang Palace are undoubtedly elites, even if some of them got in through connections. If they don't have real skills, they won't stay for long.

It's like a sheep putting on a wolf's skin to blend into a wolf pack. In the short term, no one can tell the difference, but after a while, they will be found out. There is no other possibility but that the sheep will be eaten clean and drained of all its value.

An outstanding civil servant is like the alpha wolf in a pack; they are the elite of the elite, capable of independently managing a large government department.

Generally speaking, civil servants who receive this evaluation are likely to reach the level of executive secretary-general in the future.

Clarinde's ability to hone her skills to such a degree in such a short time is not only due to Richard's careful training, but also inseparable from her own talent.

In layman's terms, she's the chosen one—no, the civil servant.

Generally speaking, the promotion system for civil servants in the Mo Mang Palace, from bottom to top, is as follows: Assistant Lawyer, Lawyer, Chief Lawyer, Lawyer Officer, Administrative Officer, Administrative Supervisor, Senior Administrative Supervisor, Assistant Secretary, Secretary, Secretary-General, Executive Secretary-General, and Chief Secretary-General.

Lynette, who was also part of Richard's team, was naturally an extremely outstanding civil servant. If Clarinde was at the level of a permanent secretary-general, then Lynette was at the level of a half-step chief secretary-general in terms of ability.

In a sense, Lynette was wasting her talents by being Richard's secretary, though she herself did not think so, and was even happy with it.

Linette came to Moman Palace for someone's sake, and she didn't care about the rank of her position.

Logically speaking, even if Richard were to go to Inazuma, with Lynette assisting him, there was absolutely no need to rush to raise Clarinde's ability level.

But this time, Richard won't be going to Inazuma alone; he'll be taking Lynette with him.

After all, I promised Lynette last time that I would definitely take her with me on my next publicly funded trip abroad.

Richard is not the kind of man who goes back on his word; when he says "next time," he really means "next time."

Besides, I took Frynn to Mondstadt last time, so it's time for Cat to go this time. We can't favor one over the other, can we?

This water has to be held level so it doesn't spill.

Love doesn't disappear, but it can shift.

We take turns going on business trips!

Clarinde: I have no objection.

After telling Lynette about it, the cat simply nodded in agreement without much reaction. However, judging from its bouncy steps and its tail wagging erratically, the girl was in a very good mood.

As he turned his back to Richard to pour him tea, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up. When he finished pouring the tea and turned back around, the corners of his mouth returned to their usual shape.

--Our cats still care a lot about their personal image.

Even though Lynette knew Richard was happy to know her, she, being a bit of a tsundere, still had to maintain her composure and not show too much joy.

Richard couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head when he saw the cat in this state.

However, compared to Lynette's good mood, Furina's was not so pleasant.

After finishing her day's work, Funina returned to her residence on the top floor of the Momang Palace, where she took off her dark blue hat and gloves and placed them on the dressing table beside her.

He then loosened his collar, removed the teardrop-shaped sapphire ornament from the collar and placed it next to his hat, and finally took off his coat and hung it on a hanger, revealing the black fitted undershirt underneath.

Fu Ningna sat in front of the dressing table, staring blankly into the mirror. After a while, she checked the time and realized that half an hour had already passed!

"I need to hurry up and wash up, or I won't be able to get up tomorrow." With that thought, Funina bent down to untie her high-heeled boots and take off her socks.

Funina pinched the sock between her fingers and threw it into the laundry basket. Someone would then take it away for washing. After throwing the sock away, Funina couldn't resist putting her fingers to her nose and smelling them.

Seemingly feeling that the action was too indecent, even though she was alone, Funina blushed and quickly removed her finger from her nose, then turned on the tap and washed it with water.

Fortunately, there was no strange smell, Funina thought to herself.

After carefully unbuttoning each slit of the tight black shirt from top to bottom, the smooth, fair skin buried beneath the shirt was finally able to breathe.

Although the girl was slender, she was actually quite fleshy, and you could even see her abs near her abdomen. Funina's figure management was quite good. Even without the ample assets of Clorinde, she could still show the unique beauty of Funina's physique.

However, Funina didn't seem to think so. She stood in front of the mirror at the sink, clasped her hands together loosely in front of her chest, and her expression visibly became 'dejected'.

“Born with congenital deficiencies, alas, what can be done?” Funinna lamented in her heart.

Funina was actually quite envious of Clarinde's figure. Even as a woman, she felt that Clarinde's plump figure would be very comfortable to touch, let alone a man like Richard.

Compared to that, she felt rather strapped for cash. Fu Ningna twisted her slender waist and decided not to think about these distressing topics anymore.

After taking off the ring on my hand and placing it on the washbasin where it was visible, I quickly stripped myself naked, turned on the shower, rinsed myself briefly, lathered up, and rinsed again.

Just as Funina reached out to press the shampoo pump, she misjudged the direction of her force and knocked the shampoo bottle over, making a dull thud in the empty washroom.

However, it wouldn't have been so bad if it had just been knocked over. The overturned bottle, by sheer bad luck, bumped into the ring that Funina had placed on the sink. The bottle, which had fallen over the ring, was displaced a short distance and landed precariously on the edge of the sink.

Seeing this, Funina quickly turned off the shower and reached for the ring, knowing it would be troublesome if it fell into the sink drain.

However, because the foam had just been rinsed off and hadn't yet been flushed down the drain, the already slippery floor became even more slippery.

Just as Funina was rushing to reach for the ring, an unexpected accident occurred. She slipped and started breakdancing on the spot. In a brief and futile struggle against friction, Funina was defeated.

As a consequence of the failure, her round, firm buttocks were the first to touch the smooth tiles, followed by a whimper like that of a wounded cub.

"Hiss...it hurts."

Feeling the pain in her buttocks, Funina's eyes welled up with tears, but she still cried out in pain as she leaned on the sink to stand up. Only after putting the ring back on by the sink did she finally feel relieved.

However, perhaps because she had fallen quite hard, when Fu Ningna turned on the showerhead, the hot water flowed onto her wound and she felt waves of pain, so she couldn't help but gasp a few times.

"Could it be broken?" Funina couldn't see behind her, so she could only feel it with her hands.

It is smooth, but... it seems to be bigger on one side than the other.

I fell and got swollen.

Funina was on the verge of tears. Although she wanted to grow bigger, it was definitely not in this way, and what was going on with one side being bigger than the other?