Before leaving, Lucian gave Navia his address so she could easily find him.
If Lucian needed to contact Navia, he only had to visit this branch of the Spina di Rosula.
Someone would notify Navia for him.
Navia also settled Lucian's fortune-telling fee, directly handing him 100,000 Mora.
Combined with his monthly salary of 100,000 Mora, Lucian now had a decent sum of money.
This salary wasn't much different from what he earned at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Come to think of it, those 20,000 Mora could technically be considered paid by Marcel (Vacher).
Nowadays, few citizens supported the Spina di Rosula, making Marcel the primary source of funding.
With money in hand, why bother with fortune-telling? Fortune-telling? What a joke!
Lucian took the money and boarded a cruise ship straight to the Opera Epiclese.
"It's this big?" Lucian couldn't help but exclaim upon entering the Opera Epiclese.
In the game, it already seemed sizable, but in reality, it was absurdly massive.
Truly worthy of being Fontaine's largest opera house.
Lucian found his seat and waited for the trial to begin.
Trials held here were never minor affairs.
As his gaze swept the surroundings, he caught sight of a blue figure.
A deep blue formal suit and top hat, evoking the feeling of the abyssal sea profound and lonely.
Yet the white accents on the suit and hair resembled sunlight piercing the depths, pulling one out of solitude and lending the oceanic loneliness a touch of openness and warmth.
The bowties on the suit and hat added a dash of girlish charm.
Furina was indeed here, still awaiting that grand trial capable of ending everything.
"Fufu." Lucian spotted Furina.
As if sensing his call or perhaps noticing someone's gaze Furina's eyes flicked toward Lucian.
She had always been sensitive to stares, but since she attended nearly every trial,
the people in the opera house had grown accustomed to her presence.
Now, few would fix their eyes on her for long, so when she felt Lucian's "burning" gaze, she couldn't help but glance over curiously.
"A novelist who just arrived in Fontaine?"
Furina's informants spanned all of Teyvat, so Lucian's arrival in Fontaine naturally didn't escape her notice.
She even knew everything that had happened that morning, including Lucian being taken away by Navia.
She just didn't know what the two had discussed in secret her spies couldn't follow too closely.
Lucian also noticed Furina's gaze and responded with a polite smile as a greeting.
Furina first nodded back reflexively, almost dopily, before raising her fair neck like a proud white swan the next moment.
Though her eyes no longer lingered on Lucian, her mind was still occupied with thoughts of him.
"A fortune-teller? I wonder if he could divine a way to avert the prophecy?"
"Probably not. After all these years of searching, there's never been even a glimmer of hope. I can only trust the 'me' in the mirror."
Though her thoughts were tinged with pessimism, Furina, like Navia, was resilient and unwilling to give up.
Even if she believed the odds were slim, she still wanted to find an opportunity to consult Lucian.
But unlike Navia, as an archon, she couldn't casually meet with a foreigner without reason.
At the very least, there needed to be a pretext—Lucian wasn't a diplomat or a celebrity.
Unless Furina sought him out in a private capacity.
But for an archon to personally visit a foreign commoner would clash with the image she had always maintained.
"If only he were more famous," Furina sighed.
If Lucian were a well-known figure, her meeting him as an archon would be far more justifiable.
Lucian had no idea what Furina was thinking.
Though he wanted to help her, his current capabilities fell short.
Even if he had the power, his status made it difficult to meet Furina privately.
No matter how silly or mascot-like she seemed, she was still an archon—not someone easily approached.
Forcing a meeting through strength might even frighten poor little Fufu.
She was fragile beneath it all.
Thus, the best approach was for Furina to seek him out willingly.
Unbeknownst to him, Furina was also figuring out how to meet him—a case of mutual longing.
Regardless of what Lucian and Furina were thinking, the trial proceeded as scheduled.
Neuvillette's cane struck the ground, his cool and solemn voice echoing through the hall:
"Order!"
The courtroom fell silent.
Neuvillette's words were like a director's call for "action."
And so, the trial began like a theatrical performance.
Court trial—commence!
The case wasn't complicated. The accuser alleged that the suspect was involved in murder, presenting some evidence.
The scales of justice tilted in the accuser's favor.
"Can't we just deliver the verdict now?"
"This trial's so dull—no twists at all."
"Right? The defendant isn't even a serial killer. Feels lackluster."
"If only there were a twist now—like the suspect proving the accuser was the real killer, framing him. That'd be way more interesting."
The surrounding chatter buzzed, and Lucian's emotional value steadily ticked upward.
Aside from named characters with screen time and storylines in Genshin Impact, ordinary NPCs provided Lucian with minimal emotional value.
That's why he came to Fontaine—to compensate with quantity.
The trial didn't change based on the audience's expectations. The scales remained tilted toward the accuser.
Finally, Neuvillette delivered the verdict based on the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale's judgment:
"Guilty."
[Emotional Value Obtained: 100]
[Source: Furina]
[Content: Again… How long has it been? Has the time not yet come?]
Hearing the system's prompt, Lucian glanced toward Furina.
She was leaning on one hand, legs crossed, as if indifferent to the trial.
Yet her long, wavy white hair concealed her beautiful heterochromatic eyes.
No one could see the emotions swirling within them.
She knew hope was slim, but before every trial, she couldn't help but wonder—
Was this the grand trial she had been waiting for?
Alas, time and again, her hopes were met with disappointment.
"Boring." Furina stood and left without a backward glance.
Clorinde followed wordlessly behind her.
Seeing Furina depart, Lucian saw no reason to stay either.
All in all, this trip had been quite fruitful. Ever since arriving in Fontaine, emotional value had been pouring in.
Navia, especially, had been a gem, contributing the lion's share of emotional value.
Lucian was even considering rewarding her—
Perhaps by telling her that Melus and Silver, now transformed into Oceanids, were still watching over her?
By the time Lucian exited the Opera Epiclese, his emotional value was nearing 1,000 points.
Once he reached 1,000, he could exchange it for an Elemental power.
Then, he'd finally possess a measure of strength.
"Hold on a moment." A voice called out from behind him.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice: Lucian – About Furina
"Little Fufu? She's adorable, isn't she?
Huh? You're asking for my opinion of her?
I already told you—she's adorable, and adorable equals justice!"