The Opera Epiclese no longer felt like a theater.
A few minutes ago, it had been all lights, applause, polished flooring, velvet seats, and whispered excitement. Now every beautiful corner looked like it had been waiting to become evidence. The stage crew had gone pale. Guards moved between the aisles with sharp professionalism. Officials spoke in low voices near the curtains, and the audience remained trapped in their seats beneath Neuvillette's order, restless and frightened as the rumor of a vanished woman and an injured assistant spread from row to row like spilled ink.
Lyney and Lynette stood near the edge of the stage, watched by guards who were trying very hard not to look like guards watching suspects. That made them look even more like guards watching suspects. Lyney's smile was gone, which was already alarming because magicians treated smiles like emergency equipment. Lynette stood beside him with her usual composure, but her tail gave one small, controlled flick that suggested she was mentally listing every possible disaster and ranking them by how badly Lyney had accidentally helped each one happen.
Honestly, relatable.
Lumine stood beside me in the aisle with one hand still near her sword. She was not drawing it, but everyone nearby understood the message. If Fontaine's beautiful justice system decided to become stupid too quickly, Blondie was prepared to introduce it to sharp diplomatic feedback.
Paimon floated close to Nilou, which was good because Paimon had the emotional stability of a thrown spoon whenever murder mysteries appeared. Nilou's hands were clasped near her chest, her face pale but steady as she looked between the stage, the frightened audience, and me. Greg remained on my shoulder, unmoving except for the occasional slow tail press against my neck, which I had learned meant either danger remains or you are being stupid in a way that may soon become expensive.
Possibly both.
Lumine turned toward me, her voice low enough not to carry but sharp enough to cut through my ribs. "You knew something like this would happen."
"I knew enough to prepare," I said.
"That is not an answer."
"It is the answer that prevents Fontaine from detonating early."
Paimon immediately spun toward me. "There! That! Paimon hates that kind of answer! Why do your answers always sound like they have hidden compartments?"
"Because Fontaine has infected my vocabulary."
"Shigeru!"
Nilou stepped closer, not to defend me exactly, but to keep the conversation from becoming a battlefield in the middle of an already collapsing theater. "The woman is alive, right?"
"She is," I said, and that at least was one truth I could give them cleanly. "Halsey escaped through a hidden route. I helped make sure the Primordial Seawater did not touch her."
Paimon's eyes went wide. "Then why can't we just tell everyone that? If she's alive, Lyney won't look as guilty!"
Lumine's expression tightened, because she already understood the ugly answer even before I said it.
I looked toward the stage, where Furina was speaking dramatically with an official while Neuvillette listened with the patience of a mountain forced to attend theater club. "Because the people behind this need to believe enough of their plan worked. If we reveal Halsey too early, the case shrinks into a failed trick, a stage accident, and a missing woman who can be quietly chased again later. If the disappearance stays active for now, the court has to examine the mechanism, the hidden routes, the liquid, Cowell, Lyney's movements, and the serial disappearances connected to it."
Paimon looked horrified. "So we have to let everyone think the tragedy happened?"
"For now," I said, hating how calm my voice sounded. "The truth has to come out in a way the whole court can see. Not as a rumor. Not as my word. Evidence."
Nilou's eyes lowered for a moment. "You saved them, but you still let the fear remain."
"I know."
"That must feel terrible."
I swallowed. There were a lot of things I could have said. I could have made a joke about emotional damage points. I could have declared that my heroic suffering was almost as beautiful as my face. I could have deflected, dodged, and tap-danced on my own guilt until Paimon yelled at me for turning morality into stage comedy.
Instead, I looked at Nilou and said, "It does."
Her hand found mine briefly, warm and gentle. She did not say it was right. She did not say it was wrong. Somehow, that made her kindness heavier.
Neuvillette's voice carried across the hall before the silence between us could deepen. "The investigation will proceed immediately. Until the circumstances are clarified, the relevant parties are to remain available for questioning. Lady Furina, I ask that any public accusation be reserved until evidence has been reviewed."
Furina placed one hand against her chest with wounded magnificence. "Monsieur Neuvillette, surely you do not think I would act without regard for evidence."
I heard at least three people nearby make tiny sounds of doubt.
Furina ignored them with divine skill.
Neuvillette did not blink. "I am saying the court will proceed according to evidence."
"Of course," Furina said, recovering beautifully. "Evidence shall be gathered, truth shall be pursued, and justice shall shine brighter than any stage light. But I must say, a magician whose own volunteer disappears in the middle of his grand performance does invite certain questions."
Lyney's shoulders shifted only slightly, but I saw it. The accusation landed.
Lynette's eyes narrowed.
Lumine stepped forward at once. "Then we'll help investigate."
Furina's attention snapped toward her, and her expression brightened in that dangerous way she had when she found a stage partner. "Ah, the Traveler herself. How noble. How convenient. How very fitting that such renowned adventurers would wish to defend an acquaintance."
Paimon crossed her arms. "We're not defending him because he's our acquaintance. We're defending him because something is weird here!"
"Indeed," Furina said, her smile sharpening. "And sometimes, dear Paimon, the weirdness points directly toward guilt."
Paimon flinched. "Paimon doesn't like how good she is at making things sound bad."
"She weaponizes sentence structure," I muttered.
Furina's eyes flicked toward me, and for one terrifying moment I thought she had heard me. Then she smiled brighter. "And you, Shigeru? Surely the gentleman who greeted me so respectfully has a view on this dreadful matter."
Lumine's hand shot out and clamped around my sleeve.
Nilou's hand touched my other arm.
Paimon pointed at my mouth with both hands like she was trying to physically threaten it into silence.
Greg's tail pressed hard against my neck.
I smiled politely. "My view is that evidence should be examined before theatrical conclusions are performed."
Furina blinked, probably because she had expected me to say something deeply illegal. To be fair, so had everyone else.
Neuvillette gave me a measured look. "A reasonable position."
Greg flicked his tail.
"Do not sound surprised," I whispered to my shoulder lizard.
Lumine still did not release my sleeve. Wise woman.
The investigation began with controlled chaos. Guards escorted the remaining audience out in sections after recording names and seating positions. Stagehands were gathered for questioning. Cowell had been carried away under medical supervision, still unconscious but breathing thanks to the invisible Dendro pulse I kept tethered to him like a stubborn thread tied around fate's ankle. Halsey remained absent from the public record, though my fading Dendro trace confirmed she had reached a safer outer passage before cutting away into Fontaine's labyrinth of routes.
Good. Smart. Run, girl. Become a problem later in a useful way.
Neuvillette permitted Lumine to inspect the stage under supervision, probably because the Traveler had a reputation for solving disasters that governments preferred not to admit existed. Furina followed at a theatrical distance, ready to turn any clue into an accusation. Lyney and Lynette were allowed to speak with us briefly before formal questioning, though guards remained close enough to remind everyone that Fontaine's hospitality now had handcuffs in its imagination.
Lyney greeted Lumine with a strained smile. "This is not exactly how I hoped you would remember our show."
Paimon planted both hands on her hips. "You think?"
Lynette glanced at Paimon, then at the damaged stage. "It was not supposed to happen like this."
"No," Lumine said. "But something did happen, and you need to tell us everything."
Lyney's smile dimmed further. "I know."
I watched him with my forbidden archive brain quietly screaming in the background.
Magic boy, please. You are innocent of murder, but you are standing in a nation obsessed with trials after performing a suspicious magic trick involving a missing woman, an injured assistant, a hidden tunnel, and secret Fatui business. This is not a look. This is an entire guilty wardrobe.
Nilou stepped forward gently. "Lyney, if you hide something because you think it protects someone, it may hurt them more later."
Lyney looked at her, and something in his expression softened. Nilou had that effect. She could say something obvious and make it sound like it had been waiting kindly inside someone's chest.
Lynette answered first, her voice quiet. "There were aspects of the performance that were not meant for the audience."
Paimon's mouth dropped open. "That sounds suspicious!"
"It is suspicious," Lynette said.
Paimon froze, clearly unprepared for honesty.
Lyney sighed. "We had another objective during the performance. I cannot explain every detail here, not with so many ears nearby, but I did leave the stage briefly."
Lumine's eyes sharpened. "During the trick."
"Yes."
Paimon slapped her forehead. "Lyney! That makes you look so guilty!"
"I am aware."
"No, Paimon means really guilty! Like, dramatic guilty! Like the kind of guilty that makes Furina sparkle!"
Across the stage, Furina did in fact seem to sparkle while speaking to an officer.
Lyney looked pained. "That is not encouraging."
I put a hand on his shoulder before Lumine could stop me. "Brother, as your future possible defense assistant, let me say this with love. You are collecting suspicious behavior like limited-time event currency."
Lyney stared at me.
Lynette blinked once. "That is accurate."
Lumine pinched the bridge of her nose. "Do not call yourself his defense assistant."
"I said future possible."
"That is worse because it implies planning."
Nilou looked between us, confusion mixing with alarm. "Is Shigeru not allowed to help in court?"
Paimon turned to her with grave urgency. "Nilou, listen to Paimon carefully. Shigeru helping in court could either save everyone or legally destroy three nations by accident."
Greg flicked his tail once.
I frowned. "Why are you all acting like I cannot behave in a formal setting?"
Lumine released my sleeve just to point toward the center of the hall. "You internally threatened the Chief Justice ten minutes ago."
"Internally."
"You called Furina 'FuriFuri' in your head so loudly I could feel it."
"That is a skill issue on my part."
Nilou covered her mouth, fighting a smile despite the crisis. Lyney looked like he was debating whether our support increased or decreased his survival chances. Lynette, with the brutal calm of a younger sister who had accepted disaster, said, "The Traveler should speak for the defense."
"Agreed," Lumine said instantly.
"Betrayal," I whispered.
Greg's tail flicked.
"Et tu, lizard?"
We proceeded to examine the stage, which was less glamorous up close and much more horrifying. The box used in the trick had hidden panels, clever slots, and enough design complexity to make it clear Lyney's act was not just sleight of hand but engineering, timing, and trust. Unfortunately, trust had been stabbed in the back, shoved into a box, and almost dissolved by ancient murder water.
Lumine crouched near the mechanism while Paimon hovered over her shoulder. "There are marks here. Something moved differently than it should have."
Lynette nodded. "This panel was not aligned like that before the performance."
Lyney frowned. "Cowell handled part of the stage preparation."
Paimon pointed dramatically. "Suspicious assistant behavior!"
"Do not say it like that in court," Lumine said.
Paimon looked offended. "Paimon can be professional!"
Everyone stared at her.
Paimon deflated. "Fine. Paimon can be loud support."
Nilou inspected the edge of the box without touching it. "The woman must have been frightened. Being inside here while something went wrong…"
"She moved fast," I said before I could stop myself.
Lumine's gaze cut toward me. "You tracked her."
"Yes."
"Where is she now?"
"Alive and away from the first danger. I cut the thread before it could be followed back to us or to her."
Paimon stared. "You can cut your own tracking?"
"I can, yes."
"That sounds useful and creepy."
"Most skills are both if described by Paimon."
Greg's tail flicked in agreement, which I found personally unnecessary.
Neuvillette approached while we were still examining the mechanism, his presence instantly shifting the behavior of every nearby guard. Furina followed him, her steps lighter but her attention sharp. She might be dramatic, ridiculous, smug, and dangerously cute, but she was not stupid. That was important. Furina's mask worked because beneath it, she was always listening for the shape of disaster.
"What have you found?" Neuvillette asked.
Lumine stood. "The mechanism was tampered with. The volunteer's disappearance may not have followed Lyney's intended trick."
Furina lifted a finger. "Or the intended trick is now being described as tampering."
Paimon huffed. "That's twisting it!"
"That is examination," Furina declared.
"That is twisting with better posture," I muttered.
Nilou nudged me gently with her elbow.
Neuvillette looked toward the box. "And Cowell?"
"He handled preparation," Lyney said carefully. "But I cannot yet say what role he played in the incident."
Lynette added, "He is not conscious."
My hidden thread pulsed faintly from somewhere beyond the hall where healers worked on Cowell. His heartbeat remained uneven but present. The man was alive, and if he ever woke up, he was going to become Fontaine's least convenient witness.
Furina turned toward Lyney with a gleam in her eyes. "How interesting that the one person who could clarify part of your mechanism is unable to speak."
Lyney's jaw tightened.
Lumine stepped in before the magician could answer poorly. "That works both ways. If Cowell was responsible for the tampering, then his condition prevents him from defending himself or explaining who he worked with."
Neuvillette nodded slightly. "A fair point."
Furina's smile did not vanish, but it adjusted. She enjoyed challenge. Of course she did. She had spent centuries surviving a role made of judgment and performance. A trial with a famous Traveler on the other side probably felt like both danger and oxygen.
While Lumine continued discussing the mechanism with Neuvillette, I let my attention drift toward the hidden route Lyney had used. There were scuff marks near a concealed entrance, subtle but present. My Dendro threads had traced them earlier. Canon was still marching. Lyney had left during the trick. His reason was not murder, but courts were not kind to suspicious timing.
Paimon floated near me and whispered, "You're doing that blank-eye thing again."
"I am thinking."
"That's what Paimon is worried about."
Nilou stepped closer. "Are you thinking about how to defend Lyney?"
"Yes," I said.
That was technically true.
Inside my skull, however, my brain was not preparing a legal defense. My brain was dressed like a deranged adventurer, sprinting through Fontaine's main quest with a clipboard on fire.
Okay. Fontaine disaster route review.
Magic boy gets accused because his trick has worse security than a Fatui group chat. Cat girl becomes emotionally compressed. Furifuri enters smug prosecutor theater gremlin mode. Blondie investigates properly because she is competent and beautiful. Paimon panics because crime scenes do not contain enough snacks. I attempt to defend Lyney and accidentally make him look like the Fatui's regional manager.
Then murder water enters evidence. Marcel-slash-Vacher eventually gets exposed because grief plus crime equals therapy failure. Ginger buddy gets declared guilty by the magic justice printer even though he did not do this one. Neuvillette bodybags him in public with government-authorized dragon dignity. Ginger gets a fortress vacation. Whale clocks in. Furifuri suffers. Hydro Dragon discovers feelings late. I develop emotional damage but handsomely.
I nodded to myself.
Terrible route.
Necessary route.
Needs edits.
Paimon waved a hand in front of my face. "Hello? Teyvat to Shigeru! Do you have a defense plan or not?"
"I have several plans."
Lumine looked over her shoulder. "Legal plans?"
I paused.
Greg's tail flicked.
Traitor.
Lumine's expression flattened. "Shigeru."
"Some of them are adjacent to legality."
Paimon screamed quietly, which was an impressive and uniquely Paimon skill. "Adjacent is not good enough for court!"
Nilou's brows drew together. "What are the plans actually for?"
I looked at Lyney, then Lynette, then Furina and Neuvillette, then the stage where Primordial Seawater had nearly turned a woman's survival into a historical footnote. "Preventing deaths, preserving evidence, keeping the real criminal from hiding, stopping Furina from collapsing under a secret nobody understands yet, pushing Neuvillette toward emotional competence, and making sure Childe gets sent to prison at the correct time."
Silence.
A very powerful silence.
Lyney slowly turned his head toward me. "I beg your pardon?"
Lynette blinked. "Prison?"
Paimon grabbed both sides of her head. "WHY IS CHILDE IN THIS PLAN?"
Lumine stared at me with the expression of someone who loved me, trusted me, and was considering violence as a communication method. "Explain the Childe part."
I slowly looked away. "Future tourism problem."
"Shigeru."
"One emotionally damaging route at a time."
Paimon pointed toward the stage. "We are currently dealing with Lyney being accused! Why are you route-planning Childe's prison vacation?"
"Because Fontaine is a layered disaster cake."
Nilou's face went pale in that calm, worried way that always made me feel like a villain in my own monologue. "Is Childe going to be falsely accused too?"
I hesitated.
That was enough.
Lumine's eyes hardened. "He is."
"Later," I said. "Not here. Not this case. And I will not frame him or push false evidence. I swear that."
Paimon looked almost relieved for half a second, then realized the sentence was not done. "But?"
"But if Fontaine's own system turns on him, I may not stop it immediately."
Paimon stared at me like I had just kicked a puppy into a courtroom. "That's awful!"
"Yes."
"If he didn't do it, he shouldn't go to prison!"
"I know."
"Then stop it!"
I looked toward Neuvillette, then toward Furina, then toward the unseen machinery deeper than the Opera itself. "If I stop one wrong thing too early, Fontaine may face something worse before we're ready."
Paimon's mouth trembled with anger. "That is terrible."
"Yes."
"You're terrible."
"Maybe."
Nilou stepped closer, her voice quiet. "You're not abandoning him, are you?"
"No." My answer came faster than expected. "I'm sending him into the dark with a thread tied around his wrist. There's a difference, even if it still feels ugly."
Lumine's gaze did not soften, but it changed. She still hated it. Good. She should. But she understood that I was not enjoying the choice.
"We are talking about this later," she said.
"Yes."
"Without metaphors."
I winced. "Cruel."
"Clear."
"Fine."
Greg flicked his tail approvingly.
I glared at him. "You're enjoying my accountability arc too much."
The investigation continued, and Lumine did what Lumine always did when the world became unfair: she sharpened herself against the facts. She inspected the broken mechanism, questioned stagehands, checked the tunnel, compared Lyney's movements to the timing of the trick, and listened even when every new detail made his position worse. Paimon helped by remembering small things from the audience view, though she occasionally summarized evidence in ways that would give any attorney a heart attack.
Nilou helped differently. She spoke to frightened witnesses gently, asking what they saw before panic changed their memories. People responded to her because she did not sound like a guard, a prosecutor, or an adventurer hunting truth with a blade. She sounded like someone who cared whether their hands were still shaking. More than once, she brought us a useful detail wrapped in kindness: a strange noise during the trick, a moment when Lynette's expression changed, a stagehand seen near Cowell before the performance.
Greg, naturally, became a silent terror.
Whenever I missed a trace, he flicked his tail toward it. Whenever I leaned too close to evidence that might carry Primordial Seawater residue, he pressed his claws into my shoulder. Whenever Paimon talked too loudly near a guard, he stared at her until she whispered. At one point, Neuvillette passed nearby and Greg lifted his tail in dignified acknowledgement again.
Neuvillette returned the smallest nod.
I nearly collapsed from the political implications.
"Stop legitimizing my lizard," I whispered as soon as the Chief Justice moved away.
Paimon hovered beside me, horrified. "Paimon thinks Greg has more courtroom authority than you now."
"That is slander."
Lumine did not look up from the evidence. "It might be admissible."
Nilou gave a helpless little laugh, and for a moment, the tension became breathable.
Eventually, Neuvillette gathered the principal parties near the stage. His expression remained composed, but the weight of the situation had clearly settled into official shape. Furina stood nearby, practically vibrating with restrained theatrical energy. Lyney and Lynette were positioned together, calm on the surface and cornered beneath it. Lumine stood with Paimon at her side, evidence gathered and suspicion organized into something she could fight.
I stood slightly behind her with Nilou and Greg, which was where everyone preferred my mouth to be during legal proceedings: present but not leading.
Neuvillette spoke clearly. "The circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the volunteer known as Halsey, the tampered stage mechanism, and Cowell's injuries require formal examination. The court will convene to evaluate the matter. Until then, Mr. Lyney and Miss Lynette will remain under supervision."
Lyney bowed his head. "I understand."
Lynette said nothing, but she moved half a step closer to him.
Furina swept one hand outward, her smile brilliant enough to make half the hall forget she was accusing someone of a crime. "Then let Fontaine gather. Let truth ascend the stage. Let justice determine whether this magician's hands produced wonder… or something far darker."
Paimon whispered, "She practiced that."
"She absolutely practiced that," I whispered back.
Lumine's elbow found my ribs.
I accepted the punishment with grace.
Lyney looked toward Lumine. "Traveler, I know I have no right to ask this, especially after what I have not yet fully explained. But if you are willing…"
"We'll defend you," Lumine said.
Paimon nodded fiercely despite her fear. "Yeah! You're suspicious, but Paimon doesn't think you're that kind of suspicious!"
Lyney gave a small, exhausted smile. "I will accept that as encouragement."
Nilou stepped forward, hands held gently in front of her. "We'll help find the truth. But Lyney, please do not hide anything that could hurt your defense."
Lynette's gaze moved to Nilou, then softened a little. "We will tell you what we can."
I opened my mouth.
Lumine's hand immediately shot up without even looking at me.
Paimon pointed at me.
Nilou lightly touched my sleeve.
Greg's tail pressed against my jaw.
Lyney, the accused magician whose fate was hanging by a thread, looked at me with genuine concern.
I closed my mouth.
Rude.
Accurate, but rude.
"I will behave," I said finally.
Lumine stared at me.
Paimon stared at me.
Nilou stared at me.
Greg flicked his tail.
Even Lynette blinked once in open disbelief.
I placed a hand over my heart. "The lack of faith in this room wounds me."
Lumine's voice was dry. "You just included Childe's future imprisonment in Lyney's defense preparation."
"That was strategic route awareness."
"That was terrifying."
Paimon nodded rapidly. "And confusing!"
Nilou smiled at me, but her eyes were still worried. "Please try not to make things harder for Lyney."
"I will do my best."
Lynette tilted her head. "That phrasing is not reassuring."
Lyney sighed. "I suddenly feel the true trial has already begun."
He was not wrong.
The court was forming. Furina was ready. Neuvillette would preside. Lumine would defend. Paimon would panic. Nilou would quietly cut through everyone's emotional armor. Greg would judge us all from shoulder height. Lyney and Lynette would stand under suspicion while carrying secrets that made them look worse than they were.
And I?
I stood beside the people I loved with the face of a man prepared for justice, evidence, and truth.
Inside, I was preparing for Furifuri's cuteness, Lyney's Fatui human resources disaster, Marcel's therapy-failure crime route, Childe's future prison vacation, Neuvillette's legal bodybagging, and the whale clocking in like an overtime boss.
Fontaine was not ready.
Honestly, neither was I.
But the doors of the Opera Epiclese opened toward the courtroom all the same, and the next stage waited.
_________
End of Chapter 189
Quests Completed:
Survived the immediate aftermath of Lyney's magic show becoming Fontaine's newest crime scene.
Confirmed Halsey remains alive, hidden, and temporarily classified as "vanished for strategic reasons."
Confirmed Cowell remains alive, unconscious, guilty-adjacent, and inconvenient enough to ruin someone's future plans.
Allowed Lumine to begin actual evidence gathering while Shigeru performed forbidden disaster route calculations in his head.
Inspected the tampered stage mechanism without revealing Shigeru's covert rescue work.
Observed Lyney collecting suspicious behavior like limited-time event currency.
Allowed Nilou to question frightened witnesses gently and gather useful emotional evidence.
Allowed Paimon to panic productively instead of flying into the crime scene.
Allowed Greg to function as silent spoiler alarm, residue detector, and unofficial courtroom authority.
Accidentally revealed that Childe's future government-funded prison vacation is somehow part of Shigeru's route maintenance plan.
Promised to behave in court despite no one believing it for even half a second.
Rewards:
+1 Lumine Evidence Mode
+1 Nilou Witness Comfort Bonus
+1 Paimon Productive Panic
+1 Greg Courtroom Authority
+1 Lyney Suspicion Stack
+1 Lynette Defensive Silence
+1 Furina Prosecutor Sparkle Charge
+1 Neuvillette Procedural Gravity
+1 Cowell Future Witness Problem
+1 Halsey Hidden Route Preservation
New Passive Unlocked: "Disaster Route Maintenance"
New Mental Debuff: Fontaine Main Quest Speedrun Brainrot.
New Party Concern: Why Is Childe's Prison Vacation On The Planning Board?
New Legal Risk: Shigeru May Speak In Court.
Warning Added: The Defense Has Not Started Yet, But Everyone Is Already Afraid.
Next Quest: Defend the Magician Without Accidentally Convicting Him.