Chapter 170 A once-in-a-decade event, foreign guests gather and sing...
When Leosley arrived, he found the three of them embracing and weeping.
Oh, just kidding, actually no one was crying when he arrived at the scene.
Furna had already wiped away her tears and sat upright on the bench, while Villette beside her lowered her eyes to hide her sorrow, and dear little Maine was drowsy in the judge's arms, not yet awake, so why was she crying?
But Leosley knew that if there were an opportunity, an opportunity where he didn't have to worry about any identity, dignity, or responsibility...
That scene of them embracing and weeping, could it be just a fiction?
"well……"
He had just sighed when he saw the dragon's vertical pupils sweep over him indifferently.
“The Duke”.
Navelette tightened her arms, holding his thin Maine captive.
"As a family member of a prisoner and in a high position, you should step aside and avoid suspicion."
That's right.
Leosley chuckled and reached out to cover the steel wolf head emblem on his chest.
"But the person standing here is not the Duke, but an elder brother who has come to visit his younger brother."
Even so…
"If you count the time, it's been almost ten years since we last saw each other again."
"We parted ways nearly ten years ago when we were children, and nearly ten years again when we were teenagers, totaling almost twenty years, hahaha... That's more than twice the total time I've spent with him."
Before Leosley could say much more after stating the facts, Violet couldn't stand it any longer and slightly turned her body towards Frynn, making room for the Duke.
“Please sit here, Leosley, under my watchful eye… and look at your brother.”
"But he is very weak and probably won't wake up to meet you."
Leosley understood that reasonable supervision was necessary, and that Mello Petersburg did not allow criminals and their families to be alone. Leosley gladly sat down and took the young man back into his arms.
"Ah, Maine..."
As Mainkun lifted the jingling half-finger glove and settled into his arms, Leosley was stunned to reach out his bare hand and touch the young man's thin cheek.
"You... have grown up, and matured a lot."
Of all those who saw Maine again, he was the only one who did not first marvel at his good looks.
"But... I'm not good-looking."
After touching Maine's face, he stroked downwards, over his prominent Adam's apple, over his distinct cervical vertebrae, and lifted his frail arm to gently kiss the cross-section of the basalt.
"Barren, withered, Mainkuhn, you have grown into a form that saddens me."
After saying that, he tucked Mainkuen between his legs, holding him like a doll in his arms, and fell into a quiet silence.
“Leosley…”
Amid the patter of rain, it seemed that Navelette began to speak about the medical benefits Mainkun could enjoy, but Leosley didn't hear clearly; he only caught the last few sentences.
"I will regret everything I did for Mainkuhn."
“But Leosley, you know, I—I will not let you take him away, no matter what.”
His sentences began to stumble inexplicably, a situation that had not occurred in a century.
"In short, even if you resent me, Leosley, I will give a fair trial, and even if the verdict is terrible, I will carry it out..."
Good heavens, look at those eyes that are always calm and still, now they are as panicked as a lost young animal. Who is the one who is about to be put on trial?
"I will, I will..."
"That's enough, Vilette."
"……Feel sorry."
"Why should I apologize, Judge?"
Leosley held the person and looked up, his gaze clear but without hatred, instead carrying a deep, almost sorrowful understanding.
“That’s what I love about you… this unwavering justice, so go ahead and act according to the law, my good friend.”
"Leosley..."
"Leosley!!"
A trembling and astonished voice rang out, and Funina could hardly believe what she was hearing.
“Leosley! What are you saying? You want to let your brother return to the ley lines? To be beheaded in front of those hypocritical Sumerians? To be humiliated in front of those unreasonable Mondstadt people? Villette, you can't let them have their way! You must pardon him, or at least not sentence Mainkun to death…”
“Furina, this is not something I can decide. The determination of guilt depends on the facts and evidence.”
"Isn't that a sure way to die?!"
Suddenly everything went black. Furna looked at Leosley almost pleadingly, "Even if they're not blood brothers, there's still some affection between them, isn't there? Duke, you can't just abandon him like this..."
“Furina, things aren’t as bad as you think. Nasita, who is making the complaint, has a subtle attitude toward Mainkuen, and there’s no indication of any intent to harm her in her request for assistance from the Momang Palace.”
"My God! How could you trust those slippery and cunning people!" Furina roared, pointing directly at the Sumeru Crown that Leosley was pressing under his chin.
"Look what your brother has been fooled into! One-tenth of the gems on it are fake, and there's even glass mixed in to make up the difference!"
"……Um?"
"It's true, he was deceived by the Sumeru Man."
Shuilong carefully chose his words, "Mr. Mainkuhn probably isn't very good at recognizing gemstones; he only knows that the crown is beautiful..."
Leosley immediately covered the cat's ears. "Don't mind it, Mainkun. You're cute even when you're being silly."
"Duke!! What's with your focus?"
Furna was furious. She squeezed past the Dragon King in the middle of the chair and glared at Leosley. "What I'm discussing with you now is a very serious matter. If we don't do everything we can to save him, then Mainkun, who is being jointly accused by the four countries, really has a high chance of being sentenced to death!"
"We must do everything in our power to save it."
"Yes! So stop, focus, and stop playing with his ears!"
Leosley's calm voice suddenly turned cold, "Does that include you, Furina, in the fight to the death?"
"?"
Funina sensed something was wrong and cautiously asked, "Of course, what's wrong?"
“Well, over the years, I’ve been thinking about what Mr. Raymondo said about the machine that can convert black water into energy, and what Mr. Villette said about the water manipulated by Mainkuhn containing hatred and malice.”
Leosley suddenly reached out and pointed to the sun-baked slope below the harbor.
"My Lord, is the prophecy of the end of the world really false, as you say?"
"……certainly!"
Funina immediately put on a bewildered expression, hiding the cold sweat on her palms.
"Why are you suddenly worried about such an outdated prophecy? Don't worry, with me, the god, here, nothing will happen."
It would have been better if she hadn't said those words; after she did, even Villette looked at her with a probing expression.
"The aura emanating from the Grass God and the Thunder God seems slightly different from yours..."
"One was imprisoned for five hundred years, and the other was self-isolated for five hundred years. It's normal for them to have a bit of a musty smell on them."
"is that so?"
Navelette seemed to have been fooled, but Funina dared not be negligent at all, because Leosley was holding his sleeping brother in his arms, looking at her with deep eyes.
"W-What's wrong?"
"Can't I really say?"
"Say...say what?"
“Furina, we haven’t spent much time together, but ten years is enough for me to know what kind of person you are: kind, compassionate, warm-hearted, and good. You are a good person.”
Her usually indifferent subjects suddenly bowed down as if showing weakness, opening their arms to her and revealing the dying cat-eared hero among them.
“Speak up, he needs the credit for saving him to salvage his infamy…”
Her posture was humble, bordering on pleading, but Funina's response was also quite decisive.
"I don't understand what you're saying."
She stood up gracefully from the bench with a stern face.
"I imagine Clarinde must be getting impatient waiting outside, so I'll be going now if there's nothing else."
She left at a leisurely pace, but Leosley inexplicably sensed an air of panic.
"Funinna".
He pressed for an answer one last time.
"Will something bad happen to Fontaine if I tell you?"
Otherwise, he simply couldn't understand why a good person like Funina would stand by and watch Mainkuen, who was trying to save the world, die.
"What nonsense is this?"
The deity's footsteps never ceased, his figure gradually fading into the distance.
"Thinking about it carefully, Mainkun and I don't really seem to have much to do with each other. He was just a cat that felt really soft to the touch, and I don't necessarily have to save him..."
It seems so.
"Ah... Mainkuhn..."
He unconsciously rubbed his brother's head, venting his frustration with each rub. "A legitimate employee leaves a contract, an illegitimate employee leaves a token of their master's trust. You, you, how could you just sell yourself so casually and without any security?"
“So, all our guesses over the years have been true.” Navelette’s breathing quickened, and he turned to look at the sleeping cat with almost disbelief.
Is it possible to save the world through hatred?
“I don’t know, Villette. It’s all just speculation. There’s not even a complete chain of evidence.”
Ah… evidence. In the end, if the truth of the doomsday prophecy cannot be confirmed by Funina, then everything Mainkun has done can be considered the delusions of a madman, and he may even be charged with several crimes related to the destruction of the marine ecosystem.
But, but—
"Even without evidence, even if he did commit many crimes in the name of saving the world, he shouldn't have fallen to such a state of being condemned by everyone!"
"This doesn't sound like something you would say."
And what about Frinna? Her aura is clearly vastly different from that of a demon god, so why does she refuse to admit it? Her pain is genuine, and she is truly weeping for Mainkun, so who is forcing her to pretend to be a god?
The two enormous discoveries nearly blew Shuilong's mind out of control. He stood up, paced anxiously for a while, and finally sadly discovered a fact.
“I’m sorry, Leosley.”
"Even if Mainkuhn did commit crimes in other countries in order to save Fontaine, as long as those crimes are true... the Cardinal Decree may still sentence him to death under the overwhelming public pressure in the four countries... the possibility of death remains very high."
This fact filled him with immense sorrow. He stopped in his tracks, looked down at Mainkuen, listened to his slow heartbeat, and saw his broken body, his bloodless face pressed against his brother's chest, the contrast between black and white stark. Justice, must I condemn this child? He looks like he won't live much longer!
For the first time in his four hundred years as judge, Navelette felt the urge to skip his shift. Outside the window, the rain poured down, and the Dragon King felt a deep sense of desolation.
"Leosley".
He sat back down beside the Duke, utterly helpless, like a child. "I feel like I'm in unprecedented pain..."
"That's because your moral compass is too high, my good judge."
“Leosley, why do you seem to be in a much better mood?” Water Dragon looked at him in confusion. “After knowing that Furina would never testify in court, you should be worried about Maine’s misfortune.”
"Oh, that's how it should be in theory, but I suddenly realized something."
Leosley freed one of his arms, which was holding Maine, and patted the Water Dragon King's shoulder reassuringly, in a gesture similar to the one the Dragon King had used to comfort Funina not long ago.
"Can Mainkun, who was scarred and battered while saving Fontaine, really bring himself to commit some unforgivable crime in another country?"
"you mean?"
"Just as I trust you, I trust Mainkuhn. Don't worry."
Leosley smiled, holding the Dragon King tightly with one arm and the sleeping cat tightly with the other.
"Nothing will happen."
These words were meant to appease both the Dragon King and himself.
"Even if the opera house is packed, with gods, humans, immortals, and monsters all gathered, just waiting for me to begin the trial?"
"Perhaps they all came to rescue people? They couldn't bear to see someone with black hair send off... uh, gray-haired people?"
Even after being comforted like this, Vilette still had no confidence at all.
When the appointed day arrived, Navigette stood outside the opera house, reluctant to go in, and watched the audience enter in an orderly fashion.
"What do you mean I failed the psychological test! If Ren can get in, why can't I??"
"Dear, this system shows your mental age is only six years old, which does not meet the entry requirements~"
"Aaaaaah! No way! Something must be wrong, I need to test it again!"
"Alright, boss, I'm not going in. I'll stay outside and watch the broadcast with you..."
What broadcast version? No, that's not important. Vilette quickly took a few steps and blocked the Liyue Asuras who were entering.
"Who are you?" he asked Zhongli.
"My name is Li Shui Die Shan. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Morax smiled and nodded to the young dragon king.
"?"
Completely puzzled, Vilette turned to the man with the golden horn beside her.
"Who are you."
"I am Xiaoyue Zhuyang, hello."
The Dragon King Ruoduo remained unfazed.
After a moment of silence, Navelette gently reminded her, "It seems to differ significantly from the submitted materials."
How could this happen?
"Even I, this immortal, do not know..."
"Um, Your Majesty, cough, gentlemen."
Xiao quietly nudged the god and dragon in the waist from behind, whispering a reminder.
"Your immortal titles are reversed, Lord Zhongli, you are the one who 'slices the moon and builds the sun'..."
…………
After a moment of silence, Zhongli suddenly hid behind Ruotu, leaving his old friend to deal with the chaotic junior dragon.
“It’s all their fault… no, we’re always inseparable, so people sometimes can’t tell us apart. Mr. Villette, please don’t take offense.”
Navilette couldn't hear what he was saying because his attention was completely drawn to a bard with a large glass ball hanging from his waist.
"Diluc, let me hide for a bit. Sigh, my dragon won't come with me..."
Normally, Vilette would have laughed at the sight of the gods with glass balls, but now, all he wanted was for it to rain.
One, two, three, four... all in Fontaine, all waiting to see Mainkun's trial...
"Naviette?"
The Duke received a water dragon king with a vacant look in his eyes.
"Why that expression? Wait, why are you pushing me away?"
"Listen to me, Leosley, you'd better flee, because your brother must have committed a heinous crime out there!"
-----------------------
Author's note: By the way, it's best not to take the details about the trial process too seriously; it's purely fictional.
After all, we've never been to the Fontaine Court, so we're not experienced.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
