Chapter 195 He fell into beasthood, only to become a human...
In the House of the Fireplace, Arecino takes the tearful children back to their rooms.
"Rosalyn, what did you mean when you said that the young master has lost contact?"
"Literally, it doesn't seem like the Sixth Seat directly switching sides, nor does it seem like you, a traitor, have silently exposed the Fools' dark history, as if you're always ready to defect with your entire family. Young Master just lost contact with someone, disappeared without a trace, and I wasted so much money bribing the guards."
The woman rolled her eyes. "Couldn't he just wait for rescue? Why did he have to break out of prison like that? What a reckless little rascal..."
Clementine smiled and ignored her complaints about her family's 'defection,' choosing to remain selectively deaf to them.
"Escape? Then his loss of contact is even stranger. You know, the top of Mello Petersburg has already pierced more than half of the sea surface. If he really succeeded in swimming out of the isolated city, it wouldn't have taken long. So why hasn't he contacted the Fools yet?"
“He has no reason to defect; perhaps something happened,” Arecino guessed. Logically, as the executive officer who had lived in Fontaine for a long time, she should personally step in to rescue her colleague. “But right now I don’t have the time to travel, so I’ll have to trouble you to rescue him, Rosalyn.”
"Fine, I know. You're even disregarding the Queen's kindness for that stupid cat." Rosalind rolled her eyes so hard they almost flew to the sky, but she didn't say anything in the end. She gracefully went out to prepare to rescue the person.
"Don't come begging me for help when you're punished by the gods... wait a minute."
"What's wrong, Rosalyn?"
"Hahaha, Clementine, you're exaggerating again." She laughed as if she had found something wrong. "The castle pierces more than half of the sea? When I saw it today, it looked like it was only halfway across! Where is your intelligence personnel's meticulousness? Fine, I'll let you off this time, but you'd better watch out next time."
After nitpicking, she felt much better and happily turned and left.
They didn't see Arecino's suddenly serious expression at all.
"...No way, Pepe, could it be a prophecy..."
"The Academy of Sciences' water level report is too slow. Clay, let's go to the beach and find a place with a reference point."
It's not an illusion.
Arecino walked out of Fontaine and estimated the distance between the city walls and the sea.
"It has indeed shrunk a bit."
The disappearance of the young master and the rising sea level happening at the same time are truly a double whammy.
“Ms. Pepe, Ms. Clay, what are you looking at... It looks like the water is rising? It's alright, it's alright.”
Occasionally, a resident would pass by, acting quite nonchalantly.
"A little water is good. If you ask me, Fontaine is too dry right now. The title of the Land of Water is about to be taken over by Sumeru."
That was truly thoughtless. Clementine feigned surprise and reminded him, "Hey? Old man, aren't you afraid of that prophecy? We'll all be submerged!"
"Hahaha! Prophecy? Only young girls like you would believe in such things. The doomsday prophecy of Fontaine is just a lie told by unscrupulous merchants and overseas travel agencies to swindle your money..."
"Even if they really come, there's still Lady Funina up there to keep things under control. Look, let her figure out a way to push the sea level down like this again, and that'll be the end of it, right?"
He chuckled and left, leaving Arecino frowning.
"Mainkuhn completely destroyed their vigilance."
"Even if he didn't destroy it, I guess many people still wouldn't believe it. After all, it took us several years of investigation to confirm this, didn't it?"
Clementine sighed deeply and looked out at the sea.
"Hey, Peipei."
"Um?"
Do you think Little May's plan to save the world will succeed?
Arecino didn't know if she would succeed, but she knew one thing.
"He's about to die himself, yet he's still trying to save the world."
The rise in water level didn't attract much attention, after all, the trench was still as deep as it was, and the next day, people gathered at the opera house as usual.
There were quite a few more people.
"Huh? Chiori, what are you doing here?"
"Ah, I came with Qi Liangliang. She's that... specially hired feline behavior expert? And you, Xia Worei, aren't you working anymore?"
“I’m here as part of my job. This is the lynx case, a long-standing case passed down from the previous Special Patrol Captain Donatello to me. It’s time to close it, isn’t it, Father?”
"Yes, it's been dragging on for far too long, until you're all grown up now..."
Arecino walked through the crowd and took the psychological test again at the entrance before entering.
It seems much simpler than the previous two days, which is normal. After all, no matter what kind of life Mainkuhn experienced in Fontaine, it was still better than living under Kujavina.
"Look there! It's Peipei..."
Strangers, don't call me so intimately. Sigh, you've all been influenced by Mainkun when he was a child.
"Where's Furnessa?" After sighing, Arecino looked up at the defendant's dock. "Why isn't she here?"
Above, Head Nurse Melusin was removing the blood pressure monitor from Mainkuen's left arm. The judge and the Duke were discussing the numbers on the monitor with grim expressions, but Funina was nowhere to be seen.
Could it be that they have finally developed some awareness as gods and have gone to deal with the problem of rising water levels?
……wrong.
“Father, she’s over there.”
Linni pointed, and Arecino saw Furina sitting alone in the VIP section.
Sitting alone?
"What's wrong with me sitting here? This is my designated seat!" Funina shouted at her guard, her back stiff. "The defendant's stand is cramped and the view is terrible, I'm not going there!"
Clementine wondered, "I remember she seemed quite happy there just a couple of days ago. When she was sad, she would hide away with her friends and occasionally comfort others..."
"Feeling guilty, huh?" Arecino crossed her arms. "Afraid to face Maine and his relatives because you're hiding something? Ha...acting like a child who's done something wrong."
"All right."
Although it was strange, Clarinde had no choice but to obey.
"Then, Lady Funina, I will be watching over you. Please call me anytime if you need anything..."
"You go away too! I need to be alone for a while!"
"…Lady Funina?"
"Don't you understand? I don't need company right now, I want to be alone for a while! Or do you think anyone can threaten the gods?"
"OK…"
Clementine looked at Klorinde in surprise, hesitated for a moment, and returned to the defendant's seat. "Eh? She chased away the guards too? Why do you think that is, Pepe?"
"Perhaps she was afraid of revealing something when she got emotional, although in my opinion she has already revealed enough flaws, and it's a bit too late to fix them now. Of course, there is another possibility."
"What?"
"That means she really wanted to be alone for a while, to have some peace and quiet without being disturbed."
Arecino looked up, and although Frynn concealed it well, she could still see that after the guards left, the god's shoulders relaxed slightly, then she started biting her lip... then relaxed, her nails tapping the armrest... then let go. Ha, was she trying so hard to hide her anxiety? Poor thing.
"Father...doesn't he like Lady Funina?"
Perhaps noticing that Arecino was staring at people for a little too long, Fimini asked inquiringly.
"It's hard to like, isn't it?"
Putting aside the justice that never came to me in my childhood, if Frynn had been a little more reassuring, my efforts to stop Mainkun wouldn't have felt so powerless, tsk.
"So, your father dislikes her?"
"It's not that bad."
Black fingers lightly touched the corner of the lips, the sweet taste of cream still lingering on the tongue.
"He's just a good person who's in the wrong place; he doesn't deserve such intense emotions."
As they were talking, little Narcissus walked over and smiled as she reached out to Arecino, "Pepe! Give me the X-ray machine, I need to upgrade it, the old version is no longer working."
"...Please allow me to remind you, gods of the land of wisdom, our relationship is not yet close enough for us to use nicknames."
"Aren't we long-time partners?"
"And the CEO? Your magnanimity is truly extraordinary; I can only look up to you in awe."
After offering a token protest, Arecino was already exasperated with the current situation where everyone called her by her nickname. She now only hoped that people wouldn't change their pets' names to hers just because they liked the nickname so much.
"What aspects have been updated? In my opinion, its functions are already quite complete."
"It's my heartfelt voice."
"Inner thoughts?" Arecino's heart tightened slightly.
“Ah, this function isn’t for you guys, it’s mainly designed for Maine,” Narcida quickly explained. “You know, he’s turned into a cat now, so it’s hard to read his thoughts from his expressions anymore. This upgraded machine can recall his strongest feelings at that time… Wait a minute, I’ll turn this function off for you guys. Hehe, use it without worry, it won’t leak anyone’s privacy except Maine’s!”
"Wow, Mr. En is really in a bad situation."
"Who told him to ruin himself like this?"
Arecino helped the children put on their devices and returned to her seat to wait for the trial to begin.
"Alright, let me hear what Mainkuhn's strongest feelings are after he turned into a cat."
"Mimi".
"I want to die."
"Not surprising at all."
Arecino was not surprised, but the rest of the people in the opera house were clearly taken aback.
"Cat, cat god..."
The thought of a small, furry creature with a blank expression, seemingly contemplating death, seemed to have a significant impact on them, especially on the Fontainebleau residents who had owned cats.
"Back then, did you spend your time with me with such pain in your heart?" Navigette recalled many things from the past, "and I didn't even notice..."
He was so sad that even his dragon horns went limp.
“Try to be optimistic, Navi. I’d rather believe that you brought him some comfort.”
The Sumeru people were silent for a moment because of this simple and straightforward sentiment, and it was only after a long time that Seno spoke.
"Tinari, do animals have suicidal tendencies?"
"...Wasps will use their stingers, which are connected to their hearts, to pierce their enemies, but that is not to seek death, but rather the price of a defense mechanism. Tigers raised in captivity for a long time will harm themselves, but that is more like the result of a mental breakdown rather than a planned end to life...From the current scientific definition, Sumi does not believe that ordinary animals have suicidal desires."
"...So, Your Majesty, you are not an animal at all. Is this disguise really beneficial to you?"
Seno watched with heartache as the boy turned into a cat. He had the same unwavering spirit as Arecino and could not accept his friend's lowliness.
In particular, he was the usurper of Mount Sumeru, a once supreme, invincible, fearless and dauntless king.
Although Kavi also couldn't accept this contrast, he possessed the virtue of tolerance. "I can understand... Alas, he certainly didn't have a good life as a human being, so of course he wanted to escape... To be a human being, you need courage..."
"It may not be a bad thing."
Finally, Elhesen delivered his final verdict.
"Humans are generally much more tolerant of animals than of their own kind. Perhaps during his time with the cat, he will glimpse the true nature of humanity."
"I want to die."
But not…
Why can't we...?
Someone made a wish to let the half-demon live, and Mainkuen lost the ability to commit suicide. The cat, who knew nothing, could only open his vertical pupils with difficulty and see the world through his body that had been forcibly left in the human world.
"I need to have... a reason to live, otherwise it won't work."
A gentle term of address naturally came to mind.
"……elder brother. "
"Please hug me again, brother..."
Leosley bent down and embraced the sleeping youth.
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The author says: I feel that the title of this book no longer summarizes the main text, so I want to change the title.
But I can't think of a good name. "A Cat That Wants to Save Fontainebleau" seems a bit bland.
Friends, do you have any good ideas to help me? [Let me see] The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon comment section is open for bidding~ I'll choose from the ones with the most likes.
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