Chapter 33: Ten Years of Searching for a Son, Human and Totoro Each Have Their Own Thoughts...
[That child's features are very distinctive; you won't forget him after just one look.]
Leosley is right.
After seeing the reconstructed portrait in the file, Navelette never forgot that peculiar yet youthful face.
I've kept it in my mind for almost ten years.
*
"......"
Navelette lowered her head, her vertical pupils shifting downwards, her gaze fixed intently on the cat ears that the boy was clinging to the brim of his hat.
What is Violet doing here?!
His vertical pupils trembled violently behind his sunglasses, and Mainkun suppressed the urge to turn and run.
The Opéra Garnier, isn't it a place where humans punish their own kind for their mistakes? Could it be—
I haven't visited you for just a few days!
Mainkun really wanted to turn into a cat and slap him in the face with a paw.
You, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, also committed murder??
Navelette, completely unaware of the danger, continued to carefully observe the tiger stripes on Maine's ear:
It really looks like it.
Mainkuhn, who knew nothing about it, was deeply worried:
Is it too late to go to the crime scene and write the word "lynx"?
"Lord Navelette."
Amélie suddenly spoke, her words clearly penetrating the half-demon's ears.
"Is my case so serious that it requires your judgment—the Supreme Judge?"
Oh, so Violet wasn't on trial after all.
Mainkuhn breathed a sigh of relief.
I always said, this kind of kind-hearted person who lends a helping hand to cats and repeatedly trains them can't have done anything wrong. Since he's the supreme judge, then it's reasonable...
Mainkuhn: "..."
Wait! What the heck?!
"???"
Mainkuen looked up sharply and met the white-haired man's gaze through his sunglasses.
The Supreme Judge, the highest authority in this nation, second only to God and above all others—
Is this really how you, such an innocent and kind person, are treated?!
*
Navelette knew that it was impolite not to focus on the other person during a conversation, especially when the other person was a single mother who clearly needed comforting and was a vulnerable individual.
"Please do not worry, Mrs. Amélie."
But it's really hard not to notice the boy's furry ears next to you.
Light gray ear flaps with white downy hairs, black tiger stripes, and tufts of hair nearly a finger's length at the tips.
They look so alike.
It looks almost exactly like the ears of that missing child.
“I am no different from other judges; rank does not affect the fact that justice is equally applied to everyone.”
As Navelette explained to Amélie, she couldn't help but lean closer to the silent cat-eared boy beside her.
Why do you have to cover yourself up so... meticulously?
Further identification requires at least seeing the color of the eyes and the face.
He moved closer and closer.
“I handle most criminal cases…and yours is no exception, after all, it involves—um!”
At that moment, Maine's bent knuckles tapped the Supreme Judge's side, interrupting his unspoken words.
"!?"
Am I too close?
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
Melissa, the guard watching over Amelie, immediately shouted and sternly reprimanded the boy:
"How dare you lay a hand on Lady Vilette!"
"......!"
The hand recoiled as if electrocuted, and Villette only had time to catch a glimpse of a few dark shadows in his palm.
Fingernails? They're so long.
But it's neatly tucked into the palm of his hand, just like Mein Kuhn's habit.
"You sneaky brat! Stop playing dead!"
"......"
The boy simply turned his head away, ignoring her.
"Hey, you arrogant brat!"
Melusin glanced at it, and anger welled up inside her:
"I apologize to Lady Navelette!!"
"...It's alright, no need."
"But sir, look at him! How arrogant he is, he's completely ignoring us!"
"No, really, you don't need to..."
Navelette stopped Melosin a second time not just because he was a tolerant person.
Also because...
"Is Lady Vilette going to put my mother on trial?"
Little Femini's blue eyes are innocent yet nervous:
"Why? Did Mom do something wrong?"
"ah......"
That's when Navelette noticed.
Unlike the families who used to be outside the Opiclie Opera House.
This child.
They were completely unaware of the changes that had occurred in their family.
......
So, was it this 'Mr. En' along with his mother who protected his innocent childlike heart?
Navelette's gaze toward the boy grew even gentler, tinged with a hint of apology.
Whether or not he is Leosley's brother, he is a thoughtful young man.
*
"Mom, what did you do wrong? Are you going to be locked up?"
Little Femini finally realized that the guards were more like supervising her mother than protecting her.
"My sweet baby."
Amélie didn't explain much, she just kissed Fimini on the forehead and gave him some ordinary advice.
"Listen to your brother En and don't cause him any trouble."
"Brother En...?"
Leaving the bewildered child behind, Amélie held back her tears and smiled at Villette.
"Let's go, sir."
For four hundred years, outside the Opéra Garnier opera house, Navigette has witnessed far too many scenes of sinners bidding farewell.
Regret, wailing, stubbornness, arrogance—in Funina's words, all became tedious drama.
But a smiling mother is a rare sight indeed.
"Wait, wait a minute."
In the final moments before Amélie left, the boy suddenly spoke.
"!"
He spoke!
Navelette immediately turned around and looked intently at Maine:
"What's wrong, sir?"
"!!"
My gaze is so hot! Ugh—
Maine was about to say something when it was suddenly cut off.
From Villette's perspective, the boy had just stopped them when he fell into a long silence, as if hesitant to speak again.
"If you need help."
With ten times the patience and ten thousand times the tolerance, Navelette bent down, attempting to have a perfect first conversation with the boy.
"I'm right here, please speak."
The other party is very likely Leosley's brother.
So, it's very likely that he stopped me because he wanted to ask for help.
"......"
Under the dragon's serious gaze, the boy took a step back, then abruptly stopped.
After a long while, the half-demon finally spoke again.
"people."
A person? What kind of person?
The Water Dragon King listened carefully.
"It's me."
The boy looked back at little Femini, then pointed to the human mother.
"Killed."
Look here, Amélie!
Look at your son, who knows nothing, and is reaching out his arms to you!
"Arrest me."
I killed that person, arrest me.
The murderer, a lynx, wants to take responsibility for a crime he did not commit.
"!????"
Why is it "confessing" instead of "asking for help"?
This is a hundred times rarer than a smiling mother!
Navelette immediately looked at the guard responsible for watching over Amélie, and no one could detect the fear and confusion in his eyes:
"What happened?"
“The evidence is conclusive, Lord Navelette.”
Melusin watched Amélie with her strange eyes.
"Don't listen to his nonsense!"
"Sir, this isn't the first time this young man has said something like this."
The guards looked at the minors with pity.
"He seems to have a hard time accepting the facts."
"Xiao En."
Even the criminal shook his head and pushed his son away from his arms.
"One person does something, and one person takes responsibility for it; that's the rule of human society."
"Don't interfere, just keep an eye on things."
It was a false alarm.
Navelette felt a slight sense of relief.
The boy, who is suspected to be Leosley's brother, is still an innocent person.
That's wonderful.
*
"Mora weighs as much as your wedding ring? You sacrificed your spouse to escape gambling debts!"
The righteous god is high above, his operatic voice rebuking the sins of mortals.
Amélie! The saw that dances in the dead of night, is it the key to your freedom? When the claws of loan sharks tear open the door, you use your husband's blood as ransom, pawning your soul to the deep sea?
"Lady Furina! I have never touched the dice on the gambling table, not a single one of the thousands of Mora has ever touched my fingers! I have been working hard to repay my debts for years, and even when I was starving and freezing, I have never rebelled once!"
Amélie didn't hire anyone to defend her; no one knew her right from wrong better than she did.
“It was not Mora who drove me to kill my husband, and it was not the knife and saw that cut open my throat, but the noose around our necks!”
She recounted the story of the illicit creditors who had seized her property and the dark truth of how her son had been taken in exchange for Mora. The people of the just kingdom and the merciful God fell silent.
"If it weren't for that assassin who called himself a lynx, who ended the human trafficker's life beforehand and intimidated the evildoer with fear—I would probably have been dragged away by the creditors long ago and become livestock to be sold along with my son!"
"I killed him not only because of a long-standing grudge, but also for a future of freedom!"
"Lynx, did she just say lynx?"
What shocked ordinary people was not just the mother's suffering.
"I thought the 'lynx' was just an urban legend. Could there really be such a person?"
"Urban legend? How naive!"
Whispers began to circulate among the guests:
"Haven't you noticed that the special patrol teams are practically everywhere this month? They have seven unsolved murder cases this month alone!"
"But it wasn't reported in the newspapers, so of course I'd assume it's fake. And they haven't caught them yet? What efficiency... ugh, just thinking about it is terrifying..."
"He only kills evil people, what are you afraid of?"
Bystanders laughed:
"Have you done something wrong?"
"What evidence is there that he only kills bad people?!"
The man's face instantly turned red:
Even if that's true, killing someone is still a crime!
"Silence! Silence!"
The Water Dragon King slammed his staff down heavily:
"Don't discuss things that are unrelated to the case."
"I am aware of this matter."
Finally, as the scales were tipped back to square one, the most just judgment was delivered.
“Ms. Amélie, you are guilty.”
"......"
Ah Mei smiled wryly and obediently accepted the verdict.
"Thump, thump, thump."
But the trial was not over. The Water Dragon King struck the ground repeatedly with his staff and began chanting again.
"Those who use their power to oppress others are guilty."
"Those who lend money illegally are guilty."
“Those who desecrate life and traffic in women and children are guilty.”
What does this mean?
The onlookers whispered among themselves:
"Is Amélie not the only one being tried now?"
"Alas—the common people!"
Funina suddenly stood up and took off her hat expressionlessly.
"A mother killing to protect herself and her child is an undeniable sin, but the root cause of this behavior is an inescapable predicament."
“I think every person with a conscience should feel ashamed, because this is a mistake made by the whole society and a flaw in the Fontaine system.”
"As the spokesperson for justice and the god of Fontaine, I should give an explanation."
"Lady Funina..."
Funina wasn't sure if she should do this.
Perhaps laughing wildly and saying "That's all there is to it" before leaving first would better fit the public's definition of a deity?
No, no.
I am a mad god, an extravagant god.
But they must be benevolent deities, deities that inspire faith.
This is a tragic case, and walking away will only shake the people's faith in me!
“I—Furina de Fontaine—have already filed charges against 172 creditors before the trial—”
Funina's eyes were resolute, and her loud voice pierced the sorrowful air of the courtroom.
"From this moment until the end of the world—"
"In the Grey River, there will be no more cries of children bought with money, nor any more blood-stained farewells!"
"This is—this is going to reorganize the Grey River? Good! As expected of Lady Funina! This should have been done a long time ago!"
"A benevolent yet majestic deity—!"
Is this due to the duty of the gods or the sentimental nature of human nature?
Fu Ningna couldn't tell them apart anymore.
"Be rational, my subjects!"
The girl stood with her hands on her hips, her posture haughty and disdainful.
"I am the god of justice, it is my duty to fight crime!"
*
"......"
Mainkuhn pressed his ears, wondering if there was something wrong with his hearing.
They've gone mad, they've all gone mad.
Aside from the fact that the Supreme Judge is a kind, gentle, respectful, frugal, and modest person, the Goddess of Justice is actually that human girl.
I feel like Fontaine is doomed.
"Brother En..."
Reciting the name he had heard from his mother, little Fimini nervously reached for his arm:
"What will happen to Mother? Will she be beaten? Will she go hungry?"
Oh right, and Fémini too...
Mainkuhn anxiously wagged his tail.
What should I do? Should I keep it in human form? It's so small and silly, it doesn't seem suitable for a fireplace house at all.
But I don't like human form, Amélie—how despicable! What a cruel heart!
So what if I said I killed him! Don't you humans love happy endings? Just say I killed him—
"Big brother?"
Mainkuhn did not take him into the Opikley Opera House, but instead found a bench in the sunlight, where they awaited the verdict amidst white doves and iridescent roses.
Amélie, ah...
The half-demon's keen ears had already given him the verdict, but Mainkun didn't know how to begin.
Should I make up a lie?
Saying things like, "Your mom went to school."
That sounds much better than 'your mother is locked up'.
Murder is indeed a wrong act that should not be tolerated.
Kujavina... she didn't even teach me the right thing.
So, it turns out that Amélie was only ever kept underwater? Wouldn't she be hung up and beaten half to death? Would her food be withheld, or would her head be submerged and electrocuted?
Perhaps it's just because her crime was relatively minor.
Mainkuhn was making wild guesses.
If the human traffickers were on trial, they would probably be sentenced to death.
“Amélie…”
"!"
He spoke!
Fimini stared intently at the boy's mask.
What will happen to my mother?
The surroundings were silent and deserted, except for a seemingly harmless human child. Despite her efforts, Mainkun managed to utter a few more words.
"...to the deep sea."
"The deep sea!? It feels so cold and scary. Mom, what is Mom doing there?"
I haven't even said anything yet and you're already this scared? Looks like I'd better not tell the truth.
Mainkuhn is trying to make things up.
He recalled what Fimini liked.
"...teaching penguins to swim."
"!?"
The effect was immediate! The child's attention was indeed diverted.
"Penguins—? Are they the penguins from fairy tales?"
"...right."
"Then, will they bully Mommy?"
Little Fimi asked anxiously.
"How long will it take Mom to teach me? And also..."
"......"
There are too many problems; Mainkuhn's little cat brain can't keep up.
Anyone, please help me—
"No, there is a kind shark who will protect your mother."
Suddenly, a familiar voice broke in again.
It was Navelette who, immediately after the trial, set off to find Mainkuhn and Fimini, and happened to overhear their conversation.
"A shark? Is it fierce?"
"They're not fierce. Some people just look fierce, but they're actually good people."
Looking at the gloomy, seemingly unapproachable boy, Navelette recalled Leosley's appearance.
"He is reliable, strong and meticulous. Although he sometimes uses unconventional methods to solve problems, it is to protect more innocent people... so anyone can feel at ease being friends with Mr. Shark."
"Oh...that's just like Brother En!"
Fimini suddenly laughed, giving the half-demon a bright smile:
"I'm relieved!"
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