Yes, Lady Funina!

It was as if I had seen it not long ago, especially the way of manipulating public opinion and the familiar news headlines...

"Richard, why do you look so skilled?" Finina looked at Richard suspiciously. Her heterochromatic eyes, which were originally full of wisdom, now seemed particularly sharp!

"Lady Fininna, people grow because they know how to draw nourishment from past experiences. I am just repeating what others have said." Richard waved his hand and said modestly. As for manipulating public opinion, others had done it first, and he only did fifteenth part of it.

It's not my nature, I'm forced to do so. This is how the world is.

You opened it first.jpg

"Okay." Furniture reluctantly agreed with Richard's statement. In fact, she didn't think Richard would harm her.

From Finina's perspective, Richard was undoubtedly her loyal minister and the savior who had helped her through difficulties time and time again. She couldn't even imagine how difficult her career as a minister would be without Richard.

What Furninna didn't know was that without Richard, her career as a minister might have been smoother. At least if any other Fontaine person served as secretary-general, they would not set traps for their boss.

The difficulties that Minister Funina encountered on her road to becoming a minister came from her own character and abilities on the one hand, and from Richard's persistent efforts on the other.

There is no pit in the world, it's just because Richard came here...

The main reason was that Richard himself did not expect that Finina was so straightforward. She would really step into the trap without any hesitation.

After realizing the importance of public opinion, Funina made a decision.

Volume 16: Chapter Beneath Us

The living room feels spacious and bright, with an exquisite chandelier hanging from the high ceiling and photos hanging on the walls. Some of the photos are quite old and have taken on a faint yellow hue. From the background of the photos, it can be seen that the owner of this house has traveled to many places.

The most common image is of a woman wearing a purple kimono, with a noble and dignified temperament, holding a pink fox in her arms. The picture is harmonious and beautiful, indicating the close relationship between the person in the photo and the owner's family.

Yae Kamiko was staring at the photos on the wall in a daze, while Richard, holding two cups of black tea, walked to the small wooden round table by the window in the living room. After placing the black tea on the table, he pulled out the chair next to him and sat down.

Richard took a sip of black tea comfortably, without disturbing Yae Shen Zi, but looked out the window by himself.

"What are you doing?" Yae Shinko came back to her senses from the photo album on the wall, and moved to the small round table by the window and sat down, looking out the window along with Richard.

There was a street outside the window, and at the end of the street was a small city park. The park was crowded with people and seemed to be hosting some kind of event. The most eye-catching thing was the girl with blue-white hair, who was speaking on a platform.

"Speech? Performance? Or media news interview?" Richard replied. He put down the tea in his hand and didn't pay too much attention to it.

Although he is the permanent secretary general of Executive Minister Funina, it does not mean that all of Funina's schedules will go through his hands.

Furninna also has her own life.

"Have you been to Zhidong these years?" Although the Eightfold God Child used a questioning sentence, his words were full of certainty.

"Not really. I've been to various places for a while." Richard thought for a while and said.

"I've been everywhere, but I never thought of going back to Inazuma." A sneer appeared on Yae Shinko's bright face, and her tone became a little resentful.

What are you afraid of?

Richard said calmly, "I am busy with work and have many tasks. It is hard to find time to make progress. I have little time and many things to do. I don't have time to go anywhere."

"..." Yae Shinko didn't know how to answer.

"This is a notebook prepared for you, although I feel that you don't need these things anymore." Li Jue felt that Inazuma was on the right track and no longer needed his intervention.

Although he still hasn't figured out why the Eightfold God allowed the Lockdown Order to appear, before he left, the Eightfold God had been able to take charge of things on his own, so there was no reason for him to back down.

"I don't need it, but you can't not give it to me." Yae Shinko said faintly.

Richard couldn't help laughing: "My current identity is an official of the Fontainebleau Palace, not an official of the Inazuma Shogunate. Strictly speaking, this should be considered aiding the enemy."

"Narakamiya is right there. No one has ever stopped you from coming back."

"The lockdown order." Richard mentioned it casually.

Yae Kamiko almost crushed the handle of the teacup, and suddenly felt a little regretful for allowing those stupid, foolish, and ignorant followers to carry out this policy.

Even though she knew that this was Richard's excuse and that it was impossible for him not to return to Inazuma because of the isolation order, she still couldn't help but vent her anger on other people.

There was no other way, she had to find someone to vent her anger on. She couldn't bear to be angry with Richard, so it was no problem for her to go and mess with the heads of those aristocratic families.

In a way, this is the only contribution they can make to Inazuma.

"The lockdown order was instigated by the fools. Don't tell me you don't know." After calming down a little, Yae Shinto looked into Richard's eyes and said.

"I really don't know. There is a lot of internal strife among the Fatui. Every executive has his own ideas. It is normal for information to not be communicated between regions."

"Are you admitting that you were working for the Fatui before?" asked Yae Shinto, narrowing his beautiful fox eyes.

"I have never denied it. Another thing I want to make clear is that I am not working for the Fatui. I am just making a deal with the Queen of Winter. No one can restrict a half-elf's desire for freedom." Richard said.

Yae Shenzi did not comment on Richard's answer. She slightly tightened her flat belly, crossed her two plump and slender legs, changed into a comfortable posture, and then asked:

"Since you yearn for freedom, why do you work as a small clerk in Mo Mang Palace?"

"Although I have been in Mondstadt for a period of time and was influenced by free will, I also understand that freedom is relative. Before I became a free half-elf, I was still a Fontaine man." Richard looked straight ahead, not moved by the beauty at all.

"Secondly, you may not understand the official system of Fontaine, Yae Shenzi. The executive secretary is already a very important official, and there are not many people above me."

"But if you are willing to go back to Inazuma, you can just stay under me and Ying." Yae Shinko once again extended an olive branch.

Richard didn't think that after returning to Inazuma, his position would be below those two.

"Let's talk about something else. I'm having a good time in Fontaine and have no plans to change jobs for the time being." Richard waved his hand and said.

Yae Kamiko turned her head and looked at the photo on the wall. "You still have the photo, but it looks like it was just replaced. The color of the wall behind the photo frame is different from other places. Was it specially prepared for me?"

"It's not special. It was just put up there. I replace it with some old photos every once in a while." Richard also looked at the photos on the wall and did not deny that it was specially arranged.

"Do you choose the right photo based on the situation? When an old friend comes, just change the photo to that person's." Although Yae Shinko was teasing, it was more of a test.

What was he testing? Of course, he was testing how many competitors he had gained during the years when the other party disappeared.

"Is that how you see me?" Richard was very sad. Although what Yae Shen Zi said was right, it did not stop him from being sad.

"Stop pretending. It seems like your boss is in some trouble." Yae Shinko pointed his chin toward the window.

Richard saw that his super long-sightedness as a half-elf played a crucial role here.

Ms. Funina, who was wearing a dark blue top hat, was waving her hands with embarrassment on her face. Then she said something and barely fooled the reporter in front of her who was wearing a dark red beret.

Then, under the command of Guard Officer Clorinde, this farce, which was not sure whether it was a speech or an interview, ended.

Even from a distance, Richard could clearly feel that after the crowd dispersed, Funina, who was standing on the stage, visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

What's going on here?

Volume 17: Chapter Things That Benefit the People

"Richard, why do you think I became the Minister of Administration?" Funina rested her elbows on the table and looked deeply at Richard who was sitting in front of her at the desk.

"Lady Furnina, it's working hours now. If you want to consult me ​​about life, you might as well wait until afternoon tea." Richard looked intently at the book in his hand and answered without raising his head.

"But you're not working now. I saw you reading some idle books." Finina pouted, dissatisfied with Richard's perfunctory attitude.

Richard finally turned his eyes away from the book. After thinking for a while, he said, "Reading is an important source of information. Enriching yourself helps improve work efficiency. So I am also working. This is the same as when you sometimes skip work to watch a trial."

What Richard meant was, since you skipped work to watch the trial at the Oprykle Opera House, don't blame me for reading miscellaneous books during work.

The main reason is that the work efficiency of administrative departments is indeed high nowadays. Maybe many people want to show themselves in front of the Water God, so once the administrative departments are involved, some things that could be delayed in the past will be resolved quickly.

Richard speculated that this might be related to Funina Fontaine's identity as a big star. She received so much attention that everything around her was magnified, including the mistakes of civil servants.

If it were to be revealed that the instructions of the Water God could not be implemented due to the negligence of a civil servant, we would have to apologize to all the people of Fontainebleau!

Richard never doubted the power of fans.

"But I have a question now. This problem has been bothering me for several days..." Funina poked the documents that were almost piled up like a mountain on the desk with her pen, and her words were full of confusion.

"Tell me about it." Richard agreed casually.

"Well, did you know that I gave a short speech in the park square a few days ago?" asked Funina.

Richard turned his eyes away from the book and finally looked at his boss, thinking in his heart, has this matter finally been brought up?

In fact, ever since he met alone with Yae Shinko in his living room that day, Richard had been waiting for Funina to bring up the matter.

However, he did not expect that Funina was more patient than he thought, and did not talk about the matter for several days. Since Funina did not say anything, he naturally did not ask more.

But now that Furninna had taken the initiative to mention the matter, Richard was prepared to listen carefully and see what kind of good job his boss could give him.

"Speech? Excuse me, isn't that your strong point, Lady Funina? Is it that things are not going well? Are there any troublemakers?"

Finina shook her head. The speech went smoothly. Besides, with Clorinde here, even if someone wanted to cause trouble, they would have to consider whether they could defeat the strongest duel handler.

What bothered her was not the speech itself, but the interviews with reporters after the speech.

After listening to Fernina's narration, Richard couldn't help but raise his own question: "Lady Fernina, as far as I know, you never accept any interviews after your performances in the past. Why did you think of accepting an interview that day?"

"It's a speech, not a performance!" Funina corrected. "Didn't you say before that public opinion is very important? So I was thinking about whether I should take the initiative to contact some of these media and newspapers to show my people-friendly image and enhance everyone's understanding of me, so as to avoid being easily led by those with ulterior motives in the future..."

Richard, who was concerned, wondered, "Isn't this a good thing? Why does it bother you?"

"That's where the problem lies. I was worried about being besieged by a bunch of reporters like I did at the previous press conference, so I deliberately picked a reporter who looked a little green and had just started his internship to answer her questions."

"I thought this would make it easier for interns to deal with it, but who knew..."

Speaking of this, Funina feels a bit of a headache. The questions asked by the other party are not the kind that have ulterior motives, are not deliberately made to embarrass you, or disgust you.

Even Finina hoped that it would be like that, at least she wouldn't be in so much pain now.

The questions asked by the intern reporter named Charlotte from Steambird Newspaper were not complicated, and could even be called simple...

The scene at that time was like this -

"Minister Funina, have you achieved any personal achievements since you took office?" Charlotte asked with a focused and devout expression, holding a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other.

"Achievements? There are many..." Funina's brain was working rapidly, and some job titles kept coming out of her mouth.

"Minister of Administration, Ambassador of the Momang Palace, the most popular person of the year in Fontaine, the first person to clock in at work, a well-known political commentator in Fontaine..."

In short, a lot of confusing things came out of Funina's mouth, but Charlotte was not satisfied with it.

She corrected him: "It's not these, it's the practical things you have done, things that benefit the people."

"Something that benefits the people?" Furninna repeated.

"Something that benefits the people!" Charlotte affirmed.

――Non-still images――

Funina felt like her brain was about to smoke, but she still couldn't figure out how to answer the question from the reporter in front of her.

My brain is empty, what should I do? Mr. Richard.

Finina called out to her external brain in her heart, but unfortunately, the external brain was obviously out of connection range at the moment.

In this critical moment of survival, Funina said without any guidance: "Yes, of course, this is inevitable and in line with the law of historical development. Any official should do practical things, otherwise he will be swept into the garbage dump of history..."

"Then Lady Finina, after you took office, is there anything that you can recall with pride and say 'I did it', just like an author looking back on his own work?" Charlotte asked again.

Finina showed a wise look in her eyes, and her lips moved but no sound came out. It was vaguely discernible that she was saying: "Stop talking, stop talking..."

Fortunately, this situation did not last long, as the agent, Mrs. Heweima, came out to remind Funina that it was time to leave for the next trip.

Funina showed a look of relief, then she regrouped and said to Charlotte, the intern reporter: "I have done so many practical things that I don't know which one to tell you about right now. But I will do something that will really benefit the people in the near future, and you will know when the time comes!"

……

"So, Lady Finina, have you figured out what you want to do to benefit the people?" After listening to Finina's narration, Richard roughly understood her current situation.

"No... I have no idea at all." Finina lay on the table and let out the kind of wail that an author would make when he runs out of inspiration and is stuck in a writer's block.

Ever since she cried in front of Richard last time, Furninna has become less and less concerned about her image as a god...

At this moment, Clorinde suddenly walked in from outside with a stack of documents in her hand. She said to Funina, "Lady Funina, Lord Villette wants to launch a special activity with the theme of 'fighting crime and clearing up old cases'. I need your approval."

Finina held her forehead and waved her hand as usual, saying, "I approve..."

"and many more!"

Then, as if she had thought of something, she suddenly called out to Clorinde.

"Claulinde, what activities did you just talk about?"

Volume 18: Chapter : Sweep away the underworld and eliminate evil!

"It's the special campaign to 'fight crime and clear up old cases', Lady Fernina." Clorinde stopped, turned around and repeated to Fernina.

At the same time, the royal sister with dark blue hair cast a puzzled look at Richard on the side, as if asking with her eyes why Lady Funina, who usually doesn't pay attention to these things, specifically called her today?

Richard was not sure what Furninha was thinking, so he gave her an "I don't know" look and sent another message: "How about listening to what she is going to say?"

"Clearing up old cases...Claulinde, are there many unresolved cases in Fontaine?" Funina asked.

"Yes, Lady Funina. As far as I know, every year Fontaine accumulates a number of cases that cannot be solved due to various factors. Some are big, some are small. I think the Supreme Inquisitor, Mr. Navilette, must have noticed this and is preparing to launch this special campaign."