If simply neglecting one's duties was enough to put a god on trial, then the three Raiden sisters next door certainly had not been especially diligent either. There was also a certain drunk bard who did even less. Using that as grounds to prosecute a god clearly would not hold up.
Lora shook her head and said to Lumine, "Sorry, but I won't give you the answer. You'll have to find the reason yourself."
Seeing Lora's expression, Lumine did not press further. She simply nodded.
"I understand. I'll do my best."
"You can also involve civilian groups like the Spina di Rosula. Maybe even cooperate with the Fatui. Of course, only with Lyney and Lynette's side," Lora added, listing people who could potentially help.
After hearing her explanation, Lumine asked, "You've been planning this for a long time, haven't you? This doesn't sound like something you improvised."
"I had the idea for a while, yes. But I only truly started shaping the plan after arriving in Fontaine," Lora admitted with a nod.
The two remained there for a while longer before returning to the Palais Mermonia.
Not long after getting back, Lumine left with Paimon, saying they planned to explore more of Fontaine.
Chaya also came to find Lora.
"Zhongyue's group already left Elynas and headed toward southwestern Fontaine. I heard they met a dog named Seymour on Elynas. After traveling with it for a while, they learned about Narzissenkreuz."
"Narzissenkreuz?" Lora nodded slightly. "With the three of them involved, those people should finally get a happy ending."
Everyone in Fontaine was trying to save Fontaine in their own way.
It was a nation worth saving.
Chaya looked at Lora and continued, "You sent the Traveler all across Fontaine under the guise of adventure, but in reality, you wanted her to do something for you, didn't you?"
Lora smiled and nodded.
"Nothing gets past you, Rex Lapis."
"The Fatui Harbinger known as The Knave, Arlecchino, is about to arrive in Fontaine," Chaya suddenly said.
Only then did Lora understand why she had come.
"No wonder you came looking for me so suddenly. But how did you get that information? Fontaine's intelligence network has been crippled for five hundred years. Even Furina's people shouldn't be able to track Arlecchino's movements."
"Of course I didn't discover it myself." Chaya shook her head. "That drunk bard sent word."
"He's actually doing serious work?" Lora looked genuinely surprised.
She had assumed that guy would only show up near the very end.
"He rides the endless winds like the eyes of the heavens themselves, watching every movement across Teyvat. From the moment The Knave left Snezhnaya, she never escaped his sight," Chaya said slowly.
Lora laughed.
"See? I told you he's reliable whenever he actually takes things seriously."
Hearing that, Chaya fell silent for a moment before continuing.
"Do you know where he sent the message from?"
"Where?" Lora immediately sensed something was wrong from Chaya's expression.
Chaya sighed, looked at her, and slowly answered:
"The Fortress of Meropide."
The moment she heard that, Lora froze.
Then her head slowly tilted to one side, revealing an innocent, utterly bewildered expression so absurdly cute it made people want to pat her head.
"What?"
"I said he's inside the Fortress of Meropide right now," Chaya repeated.
Lora stared blankly.
"How did he even get in?"
Chaya shook her head helplessly.
"I checked all recent records from the Court of Fontaine. There were no suspicious trials. He most likely slipped in on his own. The Fortress of Meropide may be hidden from humans, but not from beings like him."
"That really does sound like something he'd do..." Lora sighed.
...
Meanwhile, inside the Fortress of Meropide.
The Thunder Trio led Tartaglia deeper underground. Because of their special status, no one dared stop them, and the group smoothly entered one of the Fortress's restricted areas.
There, they heard the gentle sound of a lyre.
Makoto turned toward the source and saw a green-clad young man leaning against the wall while casually playing his instrument.
"How long have you been here?" she asked.
"Not long. I arrived in Fontaine around the same time as Lora and the others." Venti put away his lyre and walked over with a smile. "Back then, both Neuvillette and Furina had all their attention focused on Lora, so nobody was paying attention to me. I simply wandered in."
The way he described it made it sound as though he had merely dropped by someone's house, found the host absent, and casually let himself in to wait.
"No wonder the air in the Fortress feels so fresh," Makoto said in realization. She had initially assumed the Fortress's air purification system was just exceptionally good.
So it was because of him.
Makoto then asked, "And you've been hiding here this entire time?"
Venti nodded proudly.
"Of course. I've been waiting for you here for days. Not only that, I scared off everyone who tried getting close to this place."
"How?" Makoto asked curiously.
Venti smiled.
"Simple. I'm a bard. Telling ghost stories is easy."
Tartaglia could not help asking, "But aren't ghost stories easy to expose?"
Venti looked at him, clicked his tongue, and shook his head dramatically.
"Ah... so you really are still too young, Fatui Harbinger. Ghost stories that can be exposed are fake. With my abilities, how could any ghost story I tell possibly be fake?"
Even if it started out fake, he could always make it real.
After hearing that explanation, Tartaglia thought about it carefully and decided it somehow made sense, so he wisely stopped talking.
Out of the five people present, he was the only actual human.
"Come on. Time to head inside." Venti's smile gradually faded as his expression turned serious. "Lora said we're running out of time, so we need to buy her a little more time."
Then he looked toward Tartaglia.
"We'll be relying on you to keep the whale focused on us and warn us if anything changes."
"No problem," Tartaglia replied with a nod.
The group continued deeper inside.
Ahead of them was a long corridor. After passing through it, they arrived at a vast hall. Beneath the hall stood a massive machine that appeared to be sealing something below it.
Venti looked at the machine and slowly explained:
"This is the entrance to the Primordial Sea. Unfortunately, we can't fully control the mechanism, so we can't completely open the seal."