"Yes!" The patrol officers did not even stop to consider whether it was true. The Hydro Archon was standing right there and had not denied it. How could it be fake? Besides, the other party was a Fatui Harbinger. What was there to doubt?
Lora lowered her voice and said to Tartaglia, "Do me a favor. There'll be a big reward once it's done."
"This favor?" Tartaglia looked at her in surprise.
"Don't you like fighting? I'll let you fight to your heart's content later," she continued.
Hearing that, Tartaglia finally grinned.
"Now that sounds more like it."
And so, he allowed himself to be arrested and was taken by the patrol officers to the Opera Epiclese.
Meanwhile, Neuvillette and Chaya, who were handling documents in the Palais Mermonia, also received a report from below.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, Miss Chaya, the patrol officers have arrested a Fatui Harbinger. They say he attacked Lady Furina on the street."
Neuvillette and Chaya both put down the documents in their hands.
"What about Miss Lora?" Neuvillette asked.
"Miss Lora was the one who caught him. The patrol officers have already taken him to the Opera Epiclese," the staff member replied.
The two exchanged a glance. After dismissing the staff member, Neuvillette sighed helplessly.
"It seems Miss Lora has come up with a plan to send this Harbinger to the Fortress of Meropide. Since there will be a trial, I must attend. Miss Chaya..."
"Leave this place to me. These documents are nearly finished," Chaya said with a nod.
Neuvillette nodded, then stood and left the office.
It had to be said that with Chaya around, his work had become much easier. Her views on various matters were often even more mature and profound than his own. She could analyze situations thoroughly and offer more precise ways to handle them.
...
Meanwhile, somewhere beneath the sea in Fontaine.
Zhongyue emerged from beneath the seabed. Seawater surged into the tunnel behind her, but with a simple movement of her hand, she sealed the passage completely, blocking the water from pouring in.
"This is it."
She looked at a hidden entrance nearby, rubbed her hands, and muttered, "Honestly, after digging holes for days, I finally found this lousy place."
After saying that, she kicked away the cover over the entrance and charged inside.
There was an underground cavern within. Many machines used to produce Sinthe were placed inside, and Marcel, along with other higher-ups of the Confrerie of Cabriere, were all there.
Several young women were also locked in a cell in the corner.
Everyone inside was utterly shocked by her arrival.
Marcel demanded, "Who are you? How did you find this place?"
Zhongyue ignored his questions and walked straight to the cell in the corner.
"Is anyone here named Aurelie?"
A mature, dependable-looking young woman raised her hand and said, "I... I'm Aurelie."
"Then there's no problem."
Zhongyue nodded and said to the others, "I'm here to take you out. Don't be afraid. With me here, nothing will happen to you."
While she was speaking, Marcel grew angry and ordered his men to capture her.
But the moment those men approached, she simply raised her hand and waved lightly.
Sharp stone spikes suddenly rose from the ground, pressing directly against their hearts.
If they dared to take even one more step forward, the spikes would pierce through their bodies and puncture their hearts.
"If I didn't need to keep you alive for trial, you'd all be lying on the ground already," Zhongyue said coldly.
Marcel clearly had not expected her to control Geo.
In a panic, he quickly ran to the side, grabbed a container filled with Water from the Primordial Sea, and splashed it toward her.
Zhongyue created a stone wall to protect Aurelie and the others, but the men standing in front of her were not so lucky. Once contaminated by the Water from the Primordial Sea, their bodies rapidly dissolved and turned into puddles of water.
Some of it also splashed onto Zhongyue, but nothing happened to her at all.
Marcel was shocked.
"You... you're not dissolving? You're not Fontainian!"
He backed away again and again, staring at her in disbelief. How could it be such a coincidence? Of all people, he had run into someone who was not Fontainian.
"Did I ever say I was Fontainian?"
Zhongyue looked at Marcel as if he were an idiot.
He tried to flee, but she easily sealed the exit. He did not have a Vision and could not control the elements at all, much less resist her.
Zhongyue once again controlled Geo and pinned Marcel's legs to the ground. Only then did she open the cell and release everyone inside.
Holding the list, she checked the names one by one.
Unfortunately, many of the people on it were already dead. Or rather, they had already been dissolved by Water from the Primordial Sea, their consciousness returning to the water.
"Come with me. I'll take you to the Opera Epiclese to testify and get this kid sentenced," Zhongyue said to them.
"Kid?"
Aurelie was rather surprised to hear her refer to Marcel that way. She looked at him, then back at Zhongyue. No matter how she thought about it, that kind of word really should not have been coming from Zhongyue's mouth.
"What's with that look?"
Zhongyue frowned when she saw Aurelie's expression.
"Calling him kid is already giving him too much credit. Back in the day, I wouldn't even have bothered looking at someone like him. All right, all right, stop wasting time. Let's go."
With that, she led everyone away. She used stone to restrain Marcel's body, embedding him inside it, then left the place.
...
At that moment, a highly unusual trial was taking place at the Opera Epiclese.
The defendant was, at least on the surface, the highest-ranking foreigner ever judged by the Opera Epiclese: a Fatui Harbinger from Snezhnaya.
Furina and Lora stood at the plaintiff's bench, while Tartaglia sat in the defendant's seat, his expression still blank.
Although Lora had asked him to help, he still had not figured out what exactly she wanted him to do.
And he was not the only one confused. Neuvillette, as well as Lumine and Paimon in the audience, were just as bewildered.
As for the others, never mind them. These few did not believe for a second that Tartaglia would actually attack the Hydro Archon.
He would not even get past Lora, would he?
Neuvillette aside, Lumine and Paimon had personally seen Lora beat Tartaglia down.
No matter what, this guy could not be so brainless that he would charge in even after seeing Lora there, right?
Thinking that, Lumine suddenly paused.
Actually...
If it was Tartaglia, he really might do exactly that.