Yes, Lady Funina!

Richard remembered that when the contract was concluded, the ball of light split into three and fell into Richard, Finina and the Cardinal of Oracle and Judgment respectively.

"Theoretically, there should be..." Richard replied, "But where exactly it is, we may not know until we meet her, right?"

……

The decree ruled that inside the cardinal's chamber, there was a huge accumulation of law compensation mixed energy. If all of this law compensation mixed energy were released, the energy it provided would be enough to allow the entire Fontaine to operate for a thousand years.

And in the deepest part of the law-compensation mixed energy, where the energy is most dense, a beautiful figure is curled up in it.

It can be vaguely seen that this beautiful figure is touching her lower abdomen in distress, which is three fingers below the belly button.

"Why are you in this place..."

Volume 96: Chapter Save this for the Special Patrol Team!

The days returned to their former tranquility. Since the contract was signed, Funina exuded a relaxed and cheerful aura, and her steps made people feel light and brisk, as if she was walking with the wind.

"I always feel that Lady Funina seems to have changed a little. Did she tell you the secret?" Linnet was the first to notice this. She looked at Richard, thinking that the other party must have done something.

Richard half-took off his gloves and shook them at Linnet, meaning that they had already been signed and he would not say anything.

Linnet also understood Richard's meaning and began to talk about today's work: "The reconstruction of the Fontaine Academy of Sciences is proceeding in an orderly manner. It is currently managed by Raymondo, a senior researcher at Fontaine who was once as famous as Edwin, and the administrative officer Choiseul."

"Raymondo? I remember that he was squeezed out of the power center of the Academy of Sciences because his research was too conservative. Now that Edwin, who was a radical, has fallen, are they inviting him back?"

"Speaking of which, besides Raymondo, isn't there another professor in the Fontaine Academy of Sciences who is as famous as Edwin? The one who did the environmental assessment report for Inazuma, let me think... his name should be Bossuette. Why doesn't the Fontaine Academy of Sciences invite him back to preside over the reconstruction work?" Richard asked.

"Professor Bossué had resigned from the Academy of Sciences before the explosion, apparently because of an academic scandal. In addition, his reputation in the Fontaine Academy of Sciences was not very good, and he often exploited his researchers. He was deserted by his friends and relatives and could no longer stay in the Academy of Sciences, so he had to retire and return to his hometown, Petrichor." Linette said as she found the relevant documents from the file in her hand.

The above records in detail the reactions of his researchers after Bossué's departure.

To put it simply: the researchers did not feel sad for a moment about Bossué's departure, and those who immediately rushed to the laboratory were the trainees who were dividing up Bossué's academic assets.

Most importantly, they only left a portrait of Bossuet himself, and even the sofa in his office was not spared...

"But it's better this way. If he hadn't resigned, he might have died in the explosion. In a sense, it can be considered a blessing in disguise." Richard returned the investigation report in his hand.

"So Raymondo hopes that the Momang Palace can allocate a sum of money to rebuild the Academy of Sciences. What does the Ministry of Finance say?"

"The Ministry of Finance said it could provide all the support except for the grant." Linnett vividly portrayed the reaction of the Ministry of Finance's permanent secretary when he learned of this.

"Fontaine's financial situation was not ideal to begin with, and the Fontaine Academy of Sciences incident was too big a deal. Just to appease the families of the victims and deal with the aftermath of the explosion has already used up all of this year's disaster emergency budget. Add to that the current public opinion environment in Fontaine, and it is unlikely that the Ministry of Finance will allocate funds to rebuild the Fontaine Academy of Sciences."

"Who knows if another bomb maniac will emerge from the Fontaine Academy of Sciences next?" Richard said.

At this juncture, Li Ce felt that compared to rebuilding a Fontaine Academy of Sciences, it might be more likely to get funding if he directly said he wanted to establish a brand new academy.

Of course, it's just some of them. Even if we put it another way, the possibility of getting money out of the miserly Ministry of Finance is extremely slim.

"So after they failed at the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Choiseul, the affairs officer of the Fontaine Academy of Sciences, thought of us." Linette said. It was not Raymondo but the affairs officer Choiseul who suggested going to the City Hall to try their luck.

Raymondo is, after all, just a scholar. If he had understood the twists and turns of politics, he would not have been pushed to the edge of power in the Academy of Sciences.

But Officer Choiseul was different. He was eloquent and good at socializing, and could deal with various possible situations. After the explosion, he set a record of talking with a reporter from the Steambird for a whole day but did not reveal any useful information.

In layman's terms, the other person has been talking nonsense all day long.

Since then, journalists have made the following evaluation of that man: He talks a lot of repetitive things and never reveals any truth. He is as difficult to deal with as a politician!

"Thinking of us? Probably thinking of Funina."

Although the City Hall to which Richard belonged had grown from a marginal department to a giant second only to the Court of Inquisition over the years, it was impossible for him to remotely control the Ministry of Finance and ask them to allocate a little of their limited budget to the Fontaine Academy of Sciences.

Because this involves the core powers of the Ministry of Finance. If the City Hall can even interfere with this, then there is no need for the Ministry of Finance to exist and it might as well be merged directly into the City Hall.

However, there are exceptions to everything. The reason why Richard did not say anything definite was largely because there was a BUG-level existence in the City Hall, namely, the queen of the people, the waters, the lands and the laws - Funina de Fontaine.

She has the natural supreme legal rationality in Fontaine. Theoretically, even the supreme judge has to obey her orders. However, due to some well-known reasons, this theory is only limited to theory.

If Funina were to issue an administrative order directly to the Ministry of Finance, it would indeed be possible.

"But if we can speed up the reconstruction of the Academy of Sciences, it will actually be a good thing for us." Richard said.

"Good thing?" Linnett was a little confused. How could this be a good thing?

"It is true that the Edwin Experiment explosion wiped out two-thirds of the Fontaine Academy of Sciences from the Fontaine map, but it also exposed various problems such as corruption and chaos in the internal management of the Academy of Sciences and academic misconduct."

"Isn't this all well-known?"

"No, this is a well-known fact to us, but it may not be the case for the people of Fontaine." Richard pointed out the crux of the problem.

The Fontaine Academy of Sciences is famous for Alan, a rare genius in the world. The people of Fontaine are grateful for his outstanding contributions to Fontaine, and this respect and love continued to the Academy after his death.

So even though the upper echelons of Fontaine knew that the academy was becoming increasingly corrupt and stinking with the passage of time, no one stood up to point this out.

However, this is not accurate. It is not that no one has stood up to point this out, but that those who have stood up to point this out have failed to attract everyone's attention. These righteous men and idealists were quickly suppressed and even threatened by the vested interest groups as soon as they spoke out.

Even if the roots of a huge tree have begun to rot, it is still not something that an ant can shake.

If you want to shake this giant tree, you must have a sharp axe. Obviously, the explosion caused by Edwin, which shocked Fontaine and even the entire Teyvat, became the sharpest axe.

Thanks to this researcher, and the jokes made by his researchers after the explosion trying to pass the buck and fight for resources, now everyone in Fontaine knows about the corruption and chaos within the Academy of Sciences, which has reached a terminal and incurable stage.

"But even so, why would it be beneficial for us to help the Academy rebuild quickly?"

"Because of the Ministry of Education." Richard raised a finger.

Linnet quickly understood what Richard meant, because the explosion took place at the Fontaine Academy of Sciences, the highest institution of learning in Fontaine. As an official of the Ministry of Education, it was natural for her to be responsible. In addition, the Zhuying Court had uncovered many cases of corruption and bribery, involving a large number of officials from the Ministry of Education. Now the department was on the verge of reorganization.

In fact, this matter was mentioned at the plenary meeting of Momang Palace held not long ago.

Despite repeated objections from the Ministry of Education's permanent secretary, everyone knew that the reorganization of the Ministry of Education was a foregone conclusion.

As for why the Minister of Education did not object, it was because he was currently in Merope Petersburg and had no way of participating in this plenary session. The scope of the impact was so wide that the Ministry of Education could not even select an acting minister.

This is the first time in the history of the Mo Mang Palace plenary session that a ministerial-level figure was absent from the meeting.

"Due to historical reasons, although the city hall looks large now, it actually lacks the core functions of the department and is bloated."

“Isn’t it considered a core function to help citizens solve various difficult problems?”

"When you encounter difficulties, the first thing you think of is to find the nearest special patrol team, or take a patrol ship to come to Mo Mang Palace from afar to experience the feeling of being kicked around like a ball?"

Linnet: ...

"What about the city appearance?"

“That’s what the Ministry of Health does.”

“What about city transportation?”

“We have the Department of Transportation.”

“What about urban development?”

"The City Planning and Development Committee should find out."

Linnet was speechless. The name of City Hall sounded very impressive at first glance, and its internal size was also among the best. But when Richard said this, Linnet felt that her own department seemed to be just bloated.

It looks mighty and majestic, but in fact the silver spear with a waxy tip is vulnerable to a single blow.

"Someone originally wanted to propose the establishment of a Ministry of the Interior at this meeting in order to reduce the functions and size of the City Hall, and even proposed that I be the Minister of the Interior."

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

"Do you really think that cleaning up other departments' messes is a good thing?"

"Yes, it is obviously easier to clean up Lady Funina's butt alone than to clean up the butts of a group of people."

And if it was just Furninna alone, she could be prevented from pooping when necessary...

Of course, this statement was too vulgar, so Linnet decided to change it into a reasonable advice to Funina not to be too aggressive in doing things.

"Indeed, Finina's butt is much more attractive than those middle-aged greasy men."

"?" Linnette slowly answered with a question mark. Is this about the butt?

Richard saw Linnet looking at him unkindly, and quickly added: "Of course your butt is also very nice."

Linnett showed a look of disgust that was visible to the naked eye, and stood up to go out.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Report to the Shadow Chaser, reporting your superior for sexual harassment and attempted verbal harassment of the Water God."

"Weren't you the one who mentioned Funina first?!"

"You should save this for the special patrol team."

In other words, there was no phone, otherwise Linnet would have already started dialing.

After finally getting rid of Linnet's idea of ​​calling the police, Richard wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead and said, "So my target is the core functions of the Ministry of Education. As one of the top five departments of Fontaine, even if we fail to obtain their core functions in the end, as long as we can get them to stand on our side, it will be enough to make us invincible."

"Whether it is seeking to seize the core functions of the Ministry of Education or obtaining the core functions of the Ministry of Education, the Fontaine Academy of Sciences is an obstacle that cannot be avoided."

Linnet nodded and replied, "I understand. So what we need to do now is to get Lady Funina to help. This shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

When Linnet said this, her face was expressionless, but her tone was a little strange, with a sour feeling.

"Unfortunately, this has become the biggest problem right now." Richard spread his hands, indicating that Linnett was thinking too simply.

It is true that Funina trusts Richard very much and can listen to what he says, but this does not mean that she will listen to everything Richard says.

At least on the financial budget, Richard could be sure that the other party had his own ideas.

"Allocate funds to Fontaine Scientific Research Institute to start the reconstruction plan? I don't think that's necessary." After listening to Richard's statement, Funina rejected the proposal without even thinking about it.

For Funina, tightening her purse strings to prepare for the future exchange of the [Qun Yu Pavilion] has become her most important thing so far. This approach of throwing money into the bottomless pit of the Academy of Sciences will naturally not be recognized by Funina.

Not to mention that she was also at the scene of the previous explosion. The many things that happened after the explosion and the ugly things revealed inside made Funina's favorability towards this academy drop to the freezing point.

Sometimes she even wondered if such an academy of sciences was really necessary to exist.

"Lady Furninna, I think..."

"Okay, no need to say more. I am more concerned about the situation within our department than the Academy of Sciences."

"What's going on within our department?" Richard didn't understand what Funina was referring to.

Fu Nina pointed to the department's expense report from last year to date on the table and said seriously, "Don't you think the daily expenses of our department, and even the entire Mo Mang Palace, are a bit too high?"

"Wait, Lady Finina, you wouldn't do that?" After hearing this, a horrifying thought immediately flashed through Richard's mind.

"I think it is necessary to cut down on this part of the expenditure and invest this Mora in more useful places." Finina crossed her fingers, her pretty face full of seriousness.

"Excuse me, Lady Finina, this... this is simply unheard of." Richard couldn't even think of an adjective to describe this decision.

This is no longer "courageous", it's simply suicide. No, it's self-destruction, dragging everyone down with it.

In comparison, the Ministry of Education and the Academy of Sciences are nothing but trivial matters.

The most urgent task is to make Funina give up this unrealistic idea.

PS: There will be another chapter later today, and I wish you all a happy Christmas, and may you grow 1cm every day.

Volume 97: Chapter 4 Funina: My little cake...o(ini)o (K+)

"Lady Fininna, you should be aware that if our department's expenses can indeed be reduced, then the budget that can be allocated to our department next year will be reduced."

"I know. You told me before." Funina nodded slightly, indicating that she knew about it.

"Then why are you still cutting down on spending...is it that the recent afternoon tea is not to your liking?" Richard's subtext is: Are you bored and doing such a thankless task?

"Afternoon tea is indeed a bit expensive. Let's replace macarons with cheaper mousse cakes in the future. In addition, black tea is a bit expensive. It's not that we can't drink ordinary black tea." Funina also knew that this kind of thing could not be achieved overnight, so she decided to start with the details and work her way up to the whole.

And it was this sentence that made Richard realize that Funina was serious because she took action on the afternoon tea!

You know, it can’t be said that Funina has a special liking for afternoon tea. It can only be said that she goes to work just for this cup of tea and snacks.

Now the other party actually wants to cut spending on afternoon tea and reduce the quality and grade of tea and desserts. This is simply unbelievable for Furninna, who is picky and has strict tastes.

The degree of its incredibleness is comparable to that of Yufenna sitting on the judgement bench and making judgments.

"But even if we cut this part of the expenses, we won't be able to save that much Mora in a month." Richard tried to dissuade Funina from the idea by saying that the money was small but the money was not enough.

"There is an old saying that goes, do not refrain from doing good deeds even if they are small, and do not commit evil deeds even if they are small."

"Indeed, the department budget should not be cut." Richard agreed deeply. Although budget cuts are a small matter, the consequences can be described as a disaster.

Although it is just a reduction in superficial benefits such as afternoon tea, this kind of benefit is often the most direct and can best improve the happiness index of civil servants.

It can be said that among the many civil servant benefits, afternoon tea is definitely among the most important in Fontaine, and is comparable to the benefit of giving daily necessities and food to civil servants in Liyue next door during festivals!

This is enough to show its importance.

To put it mildly, it will lower the happiness index of civil servants. To put it more broadly, it will undermine the work enthusiasm of civil servants, shake their position in the blind date market, and destroy the cornerstone of Fontainebleau's administrative system.

The impact is far-reaching and we must be on guard!