After receiving a thorough beating from the Fatui's Second Harbinger, Neuvillette, lying in his hospital bed, gained a much clearer understanding of what Celestia truly represented.
If even Snezhnaya had to gather numerous powerful figures before daring to challenge the Heavenly Principles...
Just how terrifying were the usurping gods above the heavens?
During last night's battle with the Genius, there had only been one thing he truly felt—
utter helplessness.
No matter what he tried...
he simply couldn't escape the overwhelming power of the Genius.
"What a terrifying individual..."
"Can someone like that truly have been born in Teyvat?"
As an elemental dragon, his physique ensured he wouldn't remain gravely injured forever.
But after witnessing the Genius's strength firsthand...he finally understood.
"Lord Neuvillette!"
"Someone has come to visit you!"
A tiny Melusine poked her head through the doorway and reported to the Chief Justice.
"...Very well."
"Please let them in."
There wasn't much time left to dwell on the Genius.
Neuvillette prepared himself to receive his visitors.
Soon, two adults and one child entered the room.
The moment he looked up—he froze.
The Genius himself had arrived.
Su Ran walked in carrying a fruit basket.
Beside him was Arlecchino.
Nestled in his arms was little Arlecchino.
Neuvillette: "..."
He had never felt so speechless in his life.
Last night, he'd assumed Su Ran's remark about bringing a fruit basket had been nothing more than polite banter.
Yet...the man had actually come.
"I heard first thing this morning that Mr. Neuvillette had been seriously injured and hospitalized."
"So naturally, I rushed over to visit."
Su Ran placed the fruit basket beside the hospital bed.
Arlecchino couldn't help feeling surprised.
Fontaine's Chief Justice had mysterious origins.
But one thing was certain—he was incredibly powerful.
Someone had actually managed to injure him?
That alone was remarkable.
"...The one who beat me into the hospital..."
"...wasn't it you?"
Neuvillette stared at Su Ran with unmistakable resentment.
"You were the one who seriously injured me."
"And now you're here to visit me?"
"What exactly is going through your mind?"
He had truly never been this speechless.
Arlecchino looked toward Su Ran in astonishment.
So...you were the one who injured Neuvillette?
When Su Ran had invited her this morning to visit the Chief Justice, she'd genuinely wondered what kind of monster could have wounded someone like Neuvillette.
Turns out...the culprit had been standing beside her the entire time.
Seeing the shock on Arlecchino's face, Neuvillette found it somewhat surprising.
Apparently, this fellow Harbinger had known absolutely nothing about it.
"You're really that petty?"
"I'm here to visit you now, aren't I?"
Su Ran casually took an orange from the fruit basket and tossed it onto Neuvillette's lap.
"Even if you'd arrested me last night, I'd simply have requested Trial by Combat."
"Fontaine's strongest Champion Duelist, Clorinde, wouldn't have stood a chance."
"If even you couldn't defeat me..."
"...there'd be no point holding the duel afterward."
On that point,
Neuvillette agreed.
Though he had yet to become a complete dragon, he was still an elemental dragon.
By nature, his strength far surpassed that of ordinary humans.
If even he couldn't win...then sending Fontaine's greatest Champion Duelist would accomplish nothing.
"Then answer me this."
"Why did you sneak into the Hydro Archon's bedroom last night?"
Compared to his own injuries...or even the Genius's overwhelming power...
Neuvillette cared far more about one thing:
What exactly had the Genius and the Hydro Archon been discussing?
"Oh, nothing much."
"I simply wanted to invite Furina out for a trip."
Finding himself with nothing better to do, Su Ran grabbed two more oranges from the basket.
One he tossed toward Arlecchino.
The other he peeled himself before feeding its slices to little Arlecchino.
The explanation, however...sounded utterly absurd.
"...You expect me to believe such a ridiculous excuse?"
Breaking into the Hydro Archon's bedroom in the middle of the night...
just to invite her on a trip?
Even claiming they'd been discussing Fontaine's prophecy would've sounded more believable.
Neuvillette didn't believe a word of it.
"I swear on the Captain's honor."
"It's absolutely true."
"...Then why aren't you swearing on your own honor?"
Arlecchino couldn't help asking first.
Swearing on someone else's reputation?
Anyone hearing that would think he and the Captain were close friends.
Yet their very first meeting had nearly ended with the Captain's skull being crushed.
"Because..."
"I think my own credibility is probably nowhere near his."
"Among the Fatui Harbingers..."
"he's one of the very few genuinely honorable people."
The reputations of the other Harbingers...
were infamous beyond measure.
As for himself...
Even though the Genius had contributed enormously to Teyvat and was about to open it to the wider universe—did anyone actually know he'd done those things?
At present, only a handful of people did.
Arlecchino fell silent.
To be fair...he wasn't wrong.
Among the Harbingers, the Captain's integrity and reputation were beyond dispute.
"...Still don't believe me?"
Su Ran looked at Neuvillette.
After a brief silence, the Chief Justice nodded.
"Heh."
"Whether you believe me or not..."
"...doesn't really matter."
Su Ran didn't need Neuvillette's trust.
It made no difference to him.
Outside the window, a light drizzle began to fall.
Someone, it seemed...was feeling just a little saddened.
"Your Fatui didn't come to Fontaine without a purpose."
"Surely."
"If you won't tell me about your meeting with Furina..."
"...then at least tell me why the Fatui are here."
If the House of the Hearth merely wished to shelter abandoned children, Neuvillette could tolerate that.
That was precisely why Arlecchino had encountered so little resistance in Fontaine.
But the Genius?
What was his objective?
"Watching Fontaine get swallowed by the waters foretold in its prophecy."
"Does that count as a purpose?"
Su Ran answered honestly.
Neuvillette's heart sank.
He had never truly trusted this Harbinger.
But those words...
caught his attention immediately.
After all, the sea level around Fontaine had been rising year after year.
"...Are you saying..."
"...that Fontaine's prophecy will soon come to pass?"
If that was the reason the Genius had come here...
then didn't that itself prove the prophecy was imminent?
But...how could he possibly know?
Neuvillette's thoughts raced.
If everything proved true...
then last night's private meeting between Furina and the Genius...
had most likely been about the prophecy itself.
"I never said any such thing."
"You drew that conclusion yourself."
Though Su Ran denied it, both Neuvillette...
and Arlecchino...became even more convinced that Fontaine's prophecy was real.
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