Yes, Lady Funina!

Funina asked:

What kind of threshold is it?

"Looks!" came the reply.

An answer that was unexpected, yet not entirely unexpected!

Funina was speechless, but seeing his serious expression, she didn't say anything.

“Lady Funina is someone I greatly admire,” Kozue said.

"Could it be because of her looks?" Fu Ningna seriously suspected that the girl in front of her was a sucker for good looks.

"How could that be? At least not entirely!"

So, there were factors involved in that as well?

"More naturally, it's because Lady Funina is the ultimate form of the mascot girl profession."

"Me? Ultimate form? Signboard girl?" Funina pointed to herself and asked the three fundamental questions.

When did she become the poster girl?

"Your Excellency, the star and prime minister of Fontainebleau, in a way, aren't you Fontainebleau's mascot? When people mention Fontainebleau, they always think of you. What else could you be but a mascot?" Shao said emphatically.

"Now that you mention it, it does seem to be true." Richard nodded in agreement.

"Hey, don't get swayed! And I'm the Prime Minister first, then a celebrity. What do you mean by 'celebrity and Prime Minister at the same time'? Get the order straight!" Funinna protested vehemently.

Although she doesn't object to people calling her a big star, after all, she is indeed a popular star in Fontainebleau, shouldn't she be the prime minister first and foremost?

Even if nothing is done, the prime minister is still the prime minister!

Funina immediately pointed to the shadow beside her and asked:

"So, if that's the case, then your general is also a shopkeeper's wife?"

Shao immediately shuddered, and she quickly shook her head, saying:

"I dare not say so."

Hearing this, Ying couldn't help but frown:

"why?"

Is she really that unpopular?

"The General is the General, the Narukami who protects Inazuma, the faith of all Inazuma people. The meaning of 'signboard girl' is too narrow and cannot fully reflect the General's majesty," Kozue said earnestly.

Funina felt that Sho was flattering her, but she had no evidence. According to her observation, although there was a lot of flattery in her words, she found that Sho's expression was serious when she said it, and she obviously really thought so.

"Does being a signboard girl really demonstrate my authority?" Funina muttered.

"Of course not, but I am not from Fontainebleau, nor have I ever set foot on that land. My knowledge of you is limited to the few words I read on the pages of the Steam Wu newspaper."

"Although I've only seen the tip of the iceberg of your beauty, it's already enough to make me fall in love with you," Shao said, looking at Funina.

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Funina felt a little embarrassed when she heard Shao say that.

Ying glanced at Richard beside her, her eyes seeming to ask, "Is Fu Ningna usually this easy to coax?"

Richard nodded calmly. Yes, that's right, she's that easy to coax.

Furnessa didn't notice the exchange of glances between Richard and Shadow; she was clearly completely absorbed in Shao's flattery.

Even Fu Ningna found the wooden-chambered teahouse more pleasing to the eye, thinking it was a nice place and the people inside were pleasant to talk to.

It's a case of loving the house because of its crows.

Klee and Frynn, led by Kozue, played with Taro in the courtyard, while Richard and Kage drank tea in a private room.

While enjoying herself, Funina was completely unaware that she had inadvertently created a wonderful private world for Shadow.

She really made me cry to death.

Ying was at a loss for words regarding Funina's generous act.

“Klee really likes Frynn,” Shadow said to Richard.

“Yes, but Klee likes you too,” Richard replied. He wasn’t going to be foolish enough to just answer Shadow’s question.

In some cases, the difference between low and high emotional intelligence lies in the fact that low emotional intelligence only answers questions, while high emotional intelligence responds to emotions.

Simply put, the reason Shadow said that Klee liked Frynn was because she felt that Klee didn't like her.

Richard tells Shadow that Klee likes him too, but she just doesn't express it as obviously.

After all, Shadow's appearance and aura determined that she couldn't be as popular with children as Funinna.

As for her affinity with children, perhaps only Yae no Miko can rival Funinna.

Funina is the kind of caring older sister who can quickly become friends with children, while Yae no Miko is the kind of interesting older sister who can attract children's attention through various means.

The methods may differ, but the results are the same.

Shadow couldn't do that. Although she was essentially the older sister type, that was only in front of close people like Richard and Yae no Miko.

In the eyes of others, she was always that high and mighty general.

Although Klee isn't an outsider, it will take time for her to realize that Shadow isn't as unapproachable as she seems. Given time, Klee will naturally grow closer to Shadow.

Ying couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle, saying:

"You're getting better and better at talking?"

"Just being realistic," Richard replied.

"Although Klee doesn't seem very close to you, she actually mentioned you to me last night when I was putting her to bed."

"Oh? What did she say about me?" Ying asked curiously, her expression becoming somewhat tense as she asked.

It seems that Shadow really cares about her image in Klee's eyes.

"She said Sister Ying is a good person because you can always get sweets from her," Richard said with a smile.

"Looks like you still love sweets, my adopted son."

Shadow didn't expect that Klee would praise her for this reason, but it's fine this way. Unlike Yae no Miko, she isn't eloquent, and many of her emotions are actually hidden in her actions.

This is why her emotional expression tends to be more subtle and restrained, not easily noticed by others, and is like a gentle rain nourishing the earth.

"Because desserts always make people feel better, and it's never wrong to be happy." Shadow didn't think there was anything wrong with eating desserts, but in contrast, General Thunder felt that desserts would damage bodily functions and affect the pursuit of eternity.

The General and the Shadow have always had significant disagreements about desserts.

Ying took a small sip of her tea and continued:

"Just like now, the fragrant tea, paired with a piece of cherry blossom mochi, always reminds me of happy things."

"Does that mean my presence here with you hasn't made you happy?" Richard asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m happy, but can you stay by my side like you used to?” Ying asked rhetorically.

One fatal blow, and Richard could not recover.

“It shouldn’t be possible indefinitely, but… coming back every now and then is still possible,” Richard said.

At worst, I can work in Fontaine during the day and rest in Inazuma at night.

Fontaine and Inazuma are far apart, but that distance is nothing to Richard.

Without needing to bring anyone with him, Richard could travel from Fontaine to Inazuma in no time if he went all out.

"I thought you'd let me go to Fontaine every now and then, like the Divine Child did," Ying said with a hint of teasing. Clearly, she knew about the little tricks the Divine Child was up to in Fontaine.

After all, the divine child is still her familiar, and Kage is naturally well aware of the whereabouts of her familiars.

Yae no Miko knew that Kage knew her whereabouts, but she was certain that Kage wouldn't go with her.

After all, the Eightfold Divine Child has business to attend to in Fontainebleau. As for you, Shadow, besides chatting with Richard and maybe sharing a kiss, you can't do anything else. Going there is worse than not going at all.

However, Yae no Miko didn't say this to Kage in person. After all, even though the fox spirit has grown up and its wings have hardened, it is still afraid of those slippers.

"Uh, how could that be?" Richard coughed awkwardly.

Ying smiled slightly but did not dwell on the matter any further. She then changed the subject to another topic.

"Speaking of which, what exactly happened when you asked me about the 'collapse of the country'?"

"There must be some problems with the World Tree. I'm not sure if you can detect it." Richard didn't try to hide anything. Since Shadow asked this question, it meant that the other party was also aware of the problem.

"The World Tree..." Shadow knew that the World Tree had the ability to modify the world.

However, this ability is not something that can be used at will. Even the Little Lucky Grass King, who is the incarnation of the World Tree, cannot use the World Tree at will.

Even if it were to be used, the price to pay would be enormous.

It is so enormous that, given the current state of the Little Grass God, it is impossible for him to afford the World Tree.

"Regarding this, I will cast a protective spell on you later, so you won't encounter similar situations in the future." Richard was always cautious, and the reason he hadn't done so before was because he didn't know.

Now that we've realized this, it's natural to prepare some countermeasures.

"The blessing shouldn't be reserved for just me, right?" Shadow said.

"Yes, but I can guarantee you're the first." Richard readily admitted it; he would never lie to his woman.

"In that case, let's do it tonight." Ying nodded, indicating that he would barely pass.

While not the only one, being number one is acceptable to Ying.

Richard opened his mouth, but what he really wanted to say was, "Now is fine."

After all, it's just a blessing; it doesn't require installing internal plugins like Arecino.

Therefore, it can also be done in the wooden tea room. With his skill in casting blessings, it can be done in just a few minutes.

Very fast.

But... since Ying has already said that, Richard won't make a fool of himself by saying it's okay now.

It's evening then. After all, a quiet night is not only conducive to performing blessings, but also more suitable for performing blessings, right?

Chapter 249 Funina: I was so stupid...

"Phew, I didn't expect there to actually be a dog that can do backflips?" Funina looked at Taro, who was showing off his backflips to Klee, with an expression of utter disbelief.

"Hmph, Lady Funina, Taromaru's abilities go far beyond that!" With a mysterious smile, she raised a finger and began to share her intelligence network with Funina.

"As far as I know, it's said that Inazumaru's dogs can hold swords in their mouths to defend themselves, and even wield them! Since other dogs can do it, there's no reason why Lord Taromaru can't. Don't you agree, Lord Taromaru? 'Woof woof woof!'"

This was the first time Fu Ningna had heard such strong emotion in a dog's bark, and she felt that the insults were very vulgar.

However, Kozue didn't seem to realize this. She only thought that Taromaru's voice was loud and energetic, and he looked very confident.

"See? Even Taro-maru-sama said he could do it." Kozue looked as if she had known this for a second.

“I don’t think that’s what it meant…” Looking at the dog that had turned black and white, Fulina suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the creature.

Klee doesn't care about the Rapier Dog or anything like that; she simply likes cute creatures, and Taro-maru is all that matters—he's fluffy and cute.

Skills like the katana swing and backflips are just bonuses.

"Sho-neechan, don't make too many demands on Taro-maru. If it's Taro-maru, it doesn't matter if he can't wield his sword. He just needs to be cute," Klee said earnestly.

Taro: I've been underestimated, woof. Now I have no choice but to work hard, woof.

"Why does Kuri think that way?" Kozue asked. In her opinion, if Taro-maru could wield his sword, wouldn't that mean that their Taro-maru was the most special one?

“Hmm, just like how Richard likes Funina, even if Funina weren’t the water goddess, I think Richard would still like her,” Klee said, using Funina as an example.

"K-Klee, what are you saying?!" Fryna was completely taken aback by Klee's sudden outburst, her face flushed, and white steam could be faintly seen rising from her head.

How did things suddenly escalate from whether Taromaru could wield his sword to involving myself and Richard?

The fact that Richard would still like her even if she weren't the Water Goddess made Fu's cheeks burn just hearing it.

Upon hearing Kuri's words, Kozue was equally shocked, and she hurriedly said:

"Wait, could it be that this gentleman is in love with Lady Funina?"

This...this isn't right, is it? According to what she knew, shouldn't that gentleman be in love with the Divine Child?

It is precisely because of Lady Shenzi that General is meeting Richard today at the Wooden Leak Tea Room, as if he is being assessed by her as a member of her family.

But judging from Klee's words, it seems that's not the case at all. That gentleman is in love with the Water God of Fontaine...