Yes, Lady Funina!

Chapter 266 The Middleman

This is a place abundant with vegetation, and atop the city built upon enormous trees is the abode of the Sumeru Grass God.

The building that imprisoned the Little Lucky Grass King for five hundred years has now been transformed into her office space.

On her desk lay an opened letter from a distant island nation. The contents of the letter seemed to be troubling her, for ever since she began reading it, her thin eyebrows had remained furrowed.

On her small face, which looked no different from that of a toddler, a look of distress that only adults could understand appeared.

Nasita put down the letter in her hand, rubbed her slightly swollen forehead with her small hands, and said, "After the Great Sage, many positions in Sumeru are vacant."

Although she has urgently appointed a large number of key personnel from Sumeru to take up their posts, there are still many positions where suitable candidates have not been found.

The work accumulated from those vacant positions required her to handle it personally.

I was already very busy, but unexpectedly, something else happened on Inazuma's side.

Nasida didn't quite understand why the stragglers would be mentioned at this time, nor did she understand why anyone would still remember the stragglers.

Although it wasn't her intention to modify the World Tree, since the World Tree had already taken effect, logically speaking, besides herself, the Traveler, and herself, no one else in the world should remember it.

The World Tree cannot change what has already happened, but it can change the people who do those things.

Nasita knew very well that even if the Scatterers had altered the course of the World Tree, it couldn't be said that he was free of sin.

The reason she was able to let the other person stay in Sumeru and even live like a normal person was because the other person would definitely play a role in the future.

In fact, from the current perspective, allowing the other party to move freely is still more beneficial than harmful, since Sumeru is currently in dire need of manpower.

If one had to choose a suitable word to describe the current state of the scattered soldiers, Nasida would say it would be probation.

"How should I reply?" Nasita held the pen in her hand, hesitating to put it down.

It was a simple letter, yet it stumped the goddess of wisdom.

However, just as she was struggling with this problem, a girl with bright yellow hair walked in with an unidentified flying creature.

"Nasita!" Paimon waved to Nasita.

Her voice did not interrupt Nasita's train of thought; instead, it gave her a new idea.

“Hello, Paimon.” Narcida greeted Paimon politely first, then looked at Ying and said:

Are you feeling better?

"I'm fine now." Ying patted her arm, indicating that she was in very good health.

Previously, because the stragglers broke into the World Tree, Ying, who was also inside the World Tree, was also affected.

However, it wasn't a big problem; she just fainted. After so many years of traveling, she had gotten somewhat used to it.

"What are you doing? You look so worried," Paimon asked curiously.

"It's rare to see Nasita with such an expression."

"It is indeed a very distressing thing, like having to choose between spoiled rice and sour rice porridge for your dinner."

"Uh... these can't be eaten, right?" Paimon could already picture that scene just by hearing it.

“Yes, but we have to choose one, or we’ll starve.” Nasita nodded.

"Although eating spoiled food will make you feel unwell, not eating it will lead to death. Is this a kind of helplessness?"

"Why not just make another bowl of porridge?" Pepamon asked, puzzled.

Ying looked at Paimon, a smug expression on her face, and said:

"Paimon's words must be the same as Liyue's 'Why don't they eat meat porridge?'"

"I was just saying!" Paimon stamped his foot in the void.

"So what exactly is going on? Is there a third option?" Ying asked.

“There wasn’t one before, but now that you’ve come,” Nasita said with a faint smile.

"Oh? So you mean it's my turn to go with the Traveler again?" Paimon said, arms crossed, adopting the air of a seasoned expert. "Tell me about it," Ying said.

“It’s like this…” Nasita told Ying the contents of the letter.

“General Thunderbolt… I’m sorry, we probably can’t be of any help, although we do know her.” Paimon indicated that they did know General Thunderbolt, but their relationship with her was probably not even that of strangers.

They were only able to meet the general because of Richard's connections; otherwise, they would have had to go through a lot more trouble to see Thor.

“However, we do know someone who can help,” Ying said.

“If it’s that person, then yes, we can at least ask around, but we can’t guarantee success.” Paimon looked at Ying, already guessing who Ying was referring to as the person who could help.

They did have a good relationship with Richard, but they had already received a lot of help from him, and Paimon felt she couldn't bring herself to put him in a difficult position because of this.

So all they could do was pass on a message for the little grass god.

“May I ask who that person is?” Nasita asked.

"Richard." Ying didn't hide anything, after all, there was nothing to hide.

Sumeru was able to successfully resolve the crisis thanks to the other party; Nasita had known about Richard for a long time.

“So it was him. But I don’t think he’d be willing to help.” Nasita shook her head.

"Why?" Ying and Paimon asked in unison.

“Because Fontaine was also involved in this matter,” Nasita replied. As a high-ranking official in Fontaine, Richard couldn't possibly be unaware of this.

In fact, the other party was one of the masterminds behind this incident.

Nasita was well aware of Sumeru's current international situation, and she was also aware of the subtle malice from the outside world, but there was nothing she could do about it.

After Nasita finished speaking, she shook her head again.

"No, perhaps there's still a chance."

"Ying, could you please contact the other party?" Nasita asked Ying earnestly, as if she had figured something out.

“That’s possible.” Ying didn’t understand why Nasida’s change of heart was so sudden, but she could still help make the contact.

"I'm counting on you all." Nasita put the letter aside for the time being, intending to wait until Ying contacted Richard before checking the situation.

When the machine called the state is running at full speed, everything else has to take a backseat.

Soon the truth about the incident was revealed, including not only the death of the old patriarch of the Shen family, but also the sordid affairs of the previous Thunder and Lightning Five Transmissions.

When everything was placed on the general's desk, both Kage and Yae no Miko fell silent.

Regardless of the sins of the scattered soldiers, the actions of some of the members of these five generations made their deaths truly unjust.

The fact that these families haven't declined only suggests that General Thunder's governance has been ineffective.

"Pfft, this is quite a mess." Yae no Miko was laughing, but her smile was devoid of any warmth.

It should be noted that at the time, she was ruling Inazuma jointly with General Raiden. For such an incident to occur under her rule was undoubtedly a slap in the face to her.

Even Yae no Miko hadn't expected that simply refining steel would be turned into so many elaborate schemes by these people.

Extortion and bribery are commonplace and difficult to avoid, but the subsequent actions have undoubtedly exceeded the point where they can be turned a blind eye.

Of course, these events cannot be entirely blamed on Yae no Miko. After all, given the chaotic situation at the time, it was already quite difficult for her and Raiden no Kami to stabilize the government while the Fools were secretly causing trouble.

There was simply no extra free time to be distracted by other things.

"What should we do?" Yae no Miko asked Kage.

While most of the families on these lists have disappeared into the annals of history, a small number have continued to this day.

“We must get to the bottom of this. If our predecessors made mistakes, those who come after us should also bear some of the blame.” Ying made the decision without hesitation.

The sentence can be slightly lighter, but the punishment that is due must be given.

“Those who hold official positions in the direct line of descent will be dismissed, and those who do not hold office will be severely punished. Those in collateral lines will be fined, and those within three generations of blood relatives will be barred from holding office.”

After Ying finished speaking, she added:

"The merits and demerits of this case can be offset against each other."

After all, it was their ancestors who made the real mistakes, not them. If any of them made contributions to Inazuma, then their merits and demerits can be offset, as a way of atoning for their ancestors' sins.

"Has the Grass God not replied yet?" Almost a week has passed since that letter was sent, and the Rongcai Festival is almost over, but there has still been no reply.

It's hard not to suspect that the other party has ulterior motives.

"No." Yae no Miko shook her head. So far, there has been no news from Sumeru.

"If there is no reply before the Rongcai Festival ends... then I'll have to ask you to go there in person, Divine Child," Shadow said, her eyelids slightly lowered.

Sending the Eighth Divine Child there was not to negotiate with the Little Auspicious Grass King, but to have her directly capture the scattered soldiers; if things couldn't be resolved, killing them on the spot was also an option.

In short, the specifics will depend entirely on Yae no Kamiko's mood.

However, given Yae no Miko's personality, she probably won't bring the stragglers back; they'll likely be humanely destroyed on the spot.

As for whether Yae no Miko could handle the opponent, Kage never doubted it.

As her familiar, Yae no Miko's strength is second only to hers in Inazuma.

Moreover, even if the scattered soldiers have made rapid progress in strength in recent years and are able to contend with them, the Eightfold Divine Child still has many backup plans left by Richard.

Simply piling them up would be enough to overwhelm the opponent.

Even if Nasita were to intervene, it's unlikely she could save the other party.

Of course, as things stand, it hasn't come to that point yet.

Richard read the letter Ying sent him, and when he saw that Nasita wanted him to act as an intermediary, his expression remained normal, as if he had expected it all along.

After putting away the letter, Richard informed Yae no Miko and Kage about the matter.

"So that Little Lucky Grass King wants us to go to Fontaine and sit down together to discuss this matter?" Yae no Miko's expression was somewhat strange.

“Yes.” Richard nodded and looked at Shadow.

Ying replied with nothing to say:

"can."

The last three looked at Funina, who was chewing on the tricolor dumpling like a hamster.

Seeing that everyone was looking at her, Fulina swallowed the dumpling with some difficulty and said:

"Why is everyone looking at me like that? I have no problem with it; Richard can make the decision."

"Thank you," Ying said. After all, from Funina's perspective, she had no reason to get involved, and even if she refused them, Ying wouldn't say anything.

Similarly, since Funina agreed to this, Ying must also accept her kindness.

“Let’s head straight to Fontaine after the Rongcai Festival ends,” Yae no Miko suggested.

Then she looked at Richard and said:

"Please reply to Little Lucky Grass King and tell him to keep an eye on the stragglers and prevent them from running around before a decision is reached."

Yae no Kamiko didn't want the person in question to run away after the discussion was completed.

"Don't worry, the stragglers will also be there." Richard reassured Yae no Miko.

How can anyone judge someone who is not present, relying solely on these people?

Even criminals should be given the right to defend themselves.

If necessary, Richard wouldn't object if the stragglers hired lawyers.

After everything was settled, Shadow personally sought out Funina to thank her once again and apologize for his poor hospitality.

"I'm sorry you had to witness such an embarrassing scene," Ying said.

After all, this kind of thing is hardly respectable anywhere.

It's incredibly embarrassing for someone to have something like this happen in their own home and for outsiders to see it.

"It's alright, it's alright. Nobody wants this to happen, I understand." Fu Ningna didn't expect that Ying would specifically seek her out to say these words.

"Then next time you come, Shenzi and I will treat you well. If there's anything I can help you with, just let me know. Don't be shy, we're all... friends." Ying was about to say that everyone was family, but then thought it was a bit inappropriate and changed her words.

Funina wasn't stupid; she guessed what Ying was going to say at first, and her cheeks flushed slightly as she said:

"Well... I do need your help with something."

Without any hesitation, Ying said directly:

"please say."