Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

Fanes: You, who are on the list (the list of beasts), have the nerve to sigh here!

-

The next morning, the docks at Donggang were bustling with activity.

Several ships were leaving the port one after another, and the signal flags on their masts fluttered in the morning breeze.

The young master—now called Tartaglia—carrying his two newly crafted short blades, was the first to leap onto the deck bound for Liyue, turning to wave at the people on the shore: "Come find me in Liyue and challenge me to a fight sometime!"

Before anyone could respond, he had already turned and gone into the cabin, perhaps in a hurry to study the route map or something else.

The woman, wearing her dark coat, walked unhurriedly towards the ship bound for Mondstadt. She paused as she passed Fanes: "Are you sure you don't want to come along?"

Fanes leaned against the mooring post by the dock and shook his head: "I still have some things to take care of in Fontainebleau. You guys go ahead, I'll be there soon."

The servant—Aregino—had already boarded the boat back to the Hearth House, standing at the bow without looking back. Clévy waved to her from the dock, only lowering her arm when the boat disappeared into the morning mist. (Fanes didn't understand; wasn't she going back to spend the night anyway?)

Yakoda slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder, stood beside the gangway of the ship leading to Liyue, and glanced back at Fanes: "Boss, I'll go first."

Fanes nodded to her: "When you get to Liyue, keep an eye on the store's operations for me when you have time."

Yakoda responded and turned to step onto the springboard.

After most of the crowd on the dock had dispersed, Fanes remained standing in the same spot. Leaning against the mooring post, he pulled a data storage device wrapped in waterproof tarpaulin from his pocket—the origin of this device was simple: a few days earlier, he had arranged for an underwater exploration team to find it among several marked ruins off the coast of Fontainebleau.

It contained evidence of Vascher's crimes over the years: experimental records of the Primal Sea of ​​Pregnancy water, a list of missing girls, Les's transaction ledgers, and several audio and video files—each piece of evidence enough to nail Vascher to the dock. But Fanes was in no hurry to hand it over.

(Times are changing; even PhDs are using video recording now! Vasher says: I absolutely cannot let my mind wander to those on the list of beasts.)

Fanes was waiting for the right moment.

In Fontaine's legal system, the word "timing" is sometimes more important than the evidence itself.

If Fanes were to throw the evidence onto Navilette's desk now, the case could indeed be solved, but Vacher would be alerted in advance, and Carles's plans would be disrupted prematurely.

Fanes needed Vacher to make the first move, needed Kares to be cornered, and needed all of Fontaine's attention to be focused on the trial before presenting the evidence. Only in this way could the truth be revealed loud enough that no one in Fontaine could escape it.

Faenes: That's all! It's absolutely not for showing off! Absolutely not!

So Fanes put the storage device into the inside pocket of his coat and turned to leave the dock.

A few days later, one morning, Fanes was curled up in bed at a small hotel in Fontaine, reading the day's Steambird newspaper. The front page headline read in bold letters: "Carles Casapa, president of the Rose Society, accused of murdering his friend Jacques."

The following paragraphs are written with restraint, but the meaning between the lines is quite clear: Kares is suspected of shooting Jacques, his mole in the Les trade network, and has been summoned by the Palace of Moman. The case will be submitted to the Opéra Garnier for trial.

Fanes placed the newspaper on the bedside table, sat up, and put on his coat.

When Fañez arrived at the Opéra Garnier, the main entrance was already closed. The guard recognized the badge of the twelfth seat of the Fools on his chest, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped aside to let him through the side door.

As Fanes pushed open the side door and entered, Navilette was reading the final statement of the case from the judge's bench. Fryna sat in the seat of the water goddess, her face composed, but her fingers gripping the armrests were slightly clenched.

Kares stood in the dock, his posture still upright, his head unbowed. Beside him stood a blonde girl, about sixteen or seventeen years old, her fists clenched, her eyes red but not crying. That was Navia.

The duel is already underway.

The moment Fanes entered through the side door, he saw Clorind sheathing her sword. The tip of her blade hovered less than an inch from Kares's chest, not striking. Kares neither dodged nor retreated. The rules of the duel were clear—the duel would end the moment he conceded. But he merely looked at Clorind and shook his head slightly.

"I won't admit defeat."

Clarind's hand did not move. The sword tip remained suspended there, like a scale stopped at a point where it could no longer be tilted.

Fanes stood at the side entrance, took out the data storage device wrapped in waterproof tarpaulin from the inside pocket of his coat, and weighed it in his hand.

As I walked through the aisle of the audience section, the soles of my boots made a clear sound on the stone steps.

Navelette's gaze lifted from the dueling arena, passing over several rows of seats to land on Fanes. Frinina also saw him; her fingers, which had been gripping the armrest, loosened, then tightened again—this time for a different reason. Fanes stood in the first row of the audience, raised his storage device and waved it, then turned towards Navelette.

"Your Honor, I have something here that you should take a look at."

There was a moment of silence in the opera house. Then Navigette spoke, her voice neither loud nor soft: "Bring it here."

As Fanes walked down the aisle to the judge's bench, he felt her gaze following his profile as he passed Fernina's seat. He didn't turn his head to look, but simply whispered something to her as he passed.

"Don't worry, it's safe."

(Furina: Huh! What did you say!)

Fanes: I didn't say anything!

Fanes handed the storage device to the clerk next to Navilette, then returned to his seat in the first row of the audience.

Navelette plugged the storage device into the terminal and looked down at it for a moment. His expression remained largely unchanged throughout, except when he turned to a certain page, his finger paused on the edge of the panel. He looked up, his gaze lingering briefly on Fanes in the audience before turning to Kares in the defendant's dock.

Navelette began by saying that the case needed to be re-examined, mentioning Václav and several key points twice, before announcing a suspension of the duel in court.

Clarinde sheathed her sword and stepped back to a stop. Kares stood in the dock in silence for a moment, then turned his head to look towards the audience, his gaze passing over the seat where Fanes was sitting.

Navia had already rushed over and hugged his arm, and she hadn't let go, like an anchor that had been reattached and was slowly being pulled back to the ship's side along the mooring rope.

Tears finally fell, wetting the cuffs of Carles' coat, but he didn't pull them away. He simply raised his hand and gently pressed down on the top of her head, with a soft touch, conveying a sense of reassurance that "we'll talk later."

Funina sat on the seat of the water god, gripping and releasing the armrests repeatedly, but she couldn't find a suitable hand position to hold them.

In the end, Funina simply sat there, staring at the back of the head of the person in the first row of the audience, swallowing back the words "You really did have a trick up your sleeve," waiting to say them after the event was over.

Fañez leaned back in his chair, his hands in his coat pockets, his gaze fixed on the terminal screen above the judge's bench, scrolling through the pages as if waiting for the last line to be displayed.