The Confused Focalors

Inside the Palais Mermonia—

Neuvillette finished reading the newspaper and fell into deep thought.

He had sensed that Furina had changed, yet was still unsure. Now, after reading this report, he wasn't sure what to feel.

Furina, as he remembered, was always lighthearted, laughing, and her personality tended toward the dramatic.

He had often chided her about this, urging her to act like a true Archon, so that he wouldn't have to handle Fontaine's every matter himself.

He'd hoped she would show more maturity, to bear the responsibility of her role—at least to keep herself safe.

But now, thinking back to Furina's performance at the opera house two days ago, and reading about the strategies and machinations described in the report—

He found it difficult to believe that all of this was Furina's doing.

Unlikely as it seemed, he had to admit that Furina had undergone some kind of change beyond his understanding.

People don't mature overnight, but Furina's transformation had taken place in what felt like an instant.

"Sigh…"

Neuvillette set down the paper and let out a sigh.

When Furina had been flamboyant and overly carefree, he had longed for her to become more responsible, more like a proper god, so he could worry about her less.

But now that Furina had indeed changed—had gained insight and cleverness, and no longer needed his protection—he found himself feeling a strange sadness.

After all, there was a certain beauty in Furina's former naivete and exuberance.

While he couldn't know what had caused it, he suspected that her innocence had disappeared along with her growth.

Thinking of the girl who would no longer laugh and tease, no longer behave with such carefree spontaneity in his presence, Neuvillette couldn't help feeling a pang of loss.

"Ah… it seems I've been around mortals so long that I'm succumbing to their same anxieties," he murmured, shaking his head and returning to his work.

Compared to Neuvillette, however, Focalors was utterly baffled.

For while everyone else believed Furina to be the Hydro Archon, the way she'd displayed such strength fit perfectly with what the people expected of a Archon.

But Focalors knew the truth—she was the Hydro Archon. Furina was not.

Five hundred years ago, after Focalors had taken up the role from her predecessor, Egeria, she had immediately begun working on a plan to prevent Fontaine's impending disaster.

The prophecy of Fontaine foretold a trial of the gods: in the future, the people would put their Archon on trial, and the god, seated before them, would weep bitterly. Then, the ocean would rise, mixing with the Primordial Sea, to engulf Fontaine, dissolving everyone in it.

This prophecy had been inscribed across multiple stone tablets, each depicting a scene that would one day come to pass.

Focalors had spent a long time contemplating a solution until she finally devised a plan.

To fundamentally prevent the prophecy from coming true, she would need to make the people of Fontaine fully human. Only then could they avoid dissolving in the Primordial Sea.

But even as the Hydro Archon, she didn't have the power to achieve this.

To transform Fontainians into complete humans would require the full, ancient power of the Hydro Dragon Sovereign.

However, in ancient times, the Celestia Island gods had vanquished the Seven Elemental Dragon Sovereigns, stealing some of their powers and giving those to the Seven Archons as their divine authority.

Those pieces of authority were embedded in their divine seats and would not return to the Dragon Sovereigns unless the seats themselves were shattered.

Moreover, even if she could return this power, there was no guarantee that the Hydro Dragon Sovereign would help her save Fontaine.

Thus, Focalors set her plan into motion.

This generation's Hydro Dragon Sovereign, Neuvillette, had been born in human form, with no knowledge of his purpose or true nature and a deep sense of existential uncertainty.

Focalors invited Neuvillette to Fontaine to act as the Chief Justice, suggesting that perhaps he could discover his purpose through his role in court.

The confused Neuvillette accepted, which played directly into Focalors' hands.

An elemental dragon who felt lost and lacking purpose would naturally develop an attachment to human society after spending centuries among them. Then, if disaster were to strike, he would never allow it to unfold without intervention.

Next, Focalors needed to find a way to destroy the Archon's Divine Throne, so the ancient power could return to Neuvillette.

Thus, she created the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale and placed it in the opera house to collect the people's faith in the god of justice during trials.

A small portion of this faith was used to power Fontaine, but the greater part of it was stored within the device to one day shatter the Divine Throne.

But this still wouldn't be enough. Destroying a Divine Throne was a dangerous move; if Celestia discovered her intentions, disaster would only befall Fontaine sooner.

She would need to gather this faith without alerting Celestia.

And most crucially, she would need the people's genuine faith. A reclusive Archon hidden away would never be able to gather enough faith to shatter the Divine Throne.

Thus, Focalors needed someone to play the role of the Hydro Archon in her stead, someone who could walk among the people and capture their attention and their faith, drawing Celestia's gaze.

Only with such a distraction could she hide in the device and collect enough faith to break the Divine Throne and save Fontaine.

To this end, Focalors split off the part of herself that longed for humanity's beauty and kindness, transforming it into a girl who would carry these ideals.

This fragment of herself became Furina.

She entrusted Furina with the role of the Hydro Archon, telling her that no one could ever know her true nature; otherwise, Fontaine's prophecy could never be stopped.

After all, Furina was essentially part of Focalors herself.

No one in this world could understand Furina as well as Focalors did.

Focalors adored the beauty of humanity, so when she created Furina, she filled her with kindness, innocence, and hope.

In essence, Furina embodied everything Focalors yearned to see in humanity.

And yet, her perfect image of Furina had suddenly changed!

"How has she suddenly become so calculating? So shrewd? I didn't give her those traits!"

"Moreover, I didn't give her any power—she's just an ordinary girl!"

"How could she turn a complete outsider from Snezhnaya into something like a half-Fontainian?"

"And if she can do that, could she possibly turn Fontainians into complete humans, too?"

"No, that's impossible—not even Neuvillette can do that!"

"How did she manage it? She was only supposed to be an ordinary girl! How can she wield Hydro without a Vision?"

"And how did she acquire the power to reshape nature itself?"

"What on earth has happened to her? How has she suddenly become so powerful? Is she still the same Furina I once admired?"

Hidden within the Oratrice, Focalors was thoroughly perplexed.

All across Fontaine, discussions erupted in response to this latest newspaper.

Meanwhile, Felina paid no mind to the reactions of others; after all, she had gained a massive amount of Guardian Points from this incident.

The system's rewards had already arrived!

[Ding~ Congratulations, Master, on the successful judgment of the criminal Vacher and the resolution of the Fontaine case. You have received 60,000 Guardian Points.]

[Ding~ The detection shows that Guardian Points have reached the 30,000-point requirement to unlock the third stage, and you have received a reward: Arkhe Control!]

[Ding~ Due to the conclusion of the Vacher case and Master's conduct in the opera house, displaying the dignity of a true Archon, public faith in Furina has increased. This has strengthened Fontaine's belief in her as their Hydro Archon, granting Master an additional 40,000 Guardian Points.]

[With the Guardian Points earned this round, combined with previously remaining points, you have now unlocked the fourth stage reward requirement of 60,000 Guardian Points.]

[Congratulations! You have received the Fourth Stage Reward: Divine Spirit Status!]

Unquestionably, Felina had become the greatest beneficiary of this trial.

While the outside world was still abuzz with conversations about the trial, Felina was already examining the system rewards she had received.

The gains from this event were tremendous. She'd unlocked two stages of rewards at once—something entirely beyond her expectations.

First was the reward: Arkhe Control.

Fontaine contained a unique form of energy called Arkhe.

Arkhe had two distinct properties: Ousia and Pneuma.

Ousia and Pneuma were opposing forces. When they came into contact, they created an annihilation effect and produced energy—a reaction somewhat like electricity generation.

In Fontaine, mechanical guards scattered throughout the city were powered by Arkhe.

Some residents who possessed a Vision could tap into Arkhe, which assisted them in both combat and daily interactions with machinery.

However, Arkhe was an unstable energy source, and Fontaine's scientists had yet to find a perfect way to control it.

Therefore, it could only be used to power small devices, not supply electricity on a city-wide scale.

Currently, most of Fontaine's energy was supplied by the Oratrice.

In the game's storyline, after Focalors' death, the device was no longer able to collect faith and therefore could no longer supply power to Fontaine. Fortunately, Neuvillette, having gained full control of the Dragon Sovereign, was finally able to master Arkhe, preventing the collapse of Fontaine's energy system.

Complete mastery over Arkhe was something only the fully empowered Dragon Sovereign could achieve, let alone a human.

Even Fontainians with a Vision could only tap into one of the two Arkhe elements, and only in very small quantities.

Yet this reward from the third stage had granted her Arkhe Control.

"Amazing—what a prize!"

"Handled well, it could become a new energy source. Used another way, it could blow enemies to pieces."

Felina was pleased. Complete mastery over the Arkhe elements could solve Fontaine's energy issues on one hand.

On a larger scale, with the massive energy provided by Arkhe, combined with the brilliant minds at the Fontaine Academy, it might even be possible to build a machine with the strength of a Archon!

After all, with Fontaine's current research on Arkhe and mechanics, the Academy was already capable of creating the Icewind Suite, a machine that could rival a field boss. With her Arkhe Control, they'd be soaring!

Furthermore, once Arkhe elements were fully controlled, the minerals that produced Arkhe could become an energy source similar to coal or oil.

And since Mysterious Ore was unique to Fontaine, a few strategic moves could easily turn Fontaine into an energy monopoly.

But these ambitions couldn't be rushed. Felina shifted her attention to the second reward: Divine Spirit Status.

A god is born from people's wishes, even more so for gods.

Gods offer protection to the world, and in turn, people offer faith, creating a symbiotic bond.

When faith gathers around a special existence, that being becomes stronger, eventually becoming a true god.

For instance, Barbatos, the Anemo Archon of Mondstadt, had once been no more than a small wind spirit born of snow, but under the influence of faith, he grew into a god.

Divine Spirit Status, as the name suggests, grants one the ability to receive faith, bestowing them with the qualifications of a god.

When Focalors split Furina off from herself, Furina was just an ordinary girl. The Divine Spirit of Hydro remained with Focalors; Furina possessed no Divine Spirit.

This was why, despite Furina's efforts in the past five centuries to play the role of Hydro Archon, and despite the Fontainians' faith in her as their god, all that belief flowed instead to Focalors.

But now things were different. With Felina sharing a body with Furina, Felina had gained the Divine Spirit Status.

This meant that from now on, Fontaine's faith would no longer flow to Focalors but rather to Felina!

After all, Furina was publicly recognized as Fontaine's Hydro Archon. Every Fontainian believed that Furina was their goddess, and it was she they worshipped—not Focalors, who had never shown herself.

Thus, now that Felina, sharing a body with Furina, possessed the capacity to receive faith, it made sense for that faith to flow to her instead of Focalors.

"A god born of people's wishes…"

"If Focalors loses her worshipers and no longer receives faith while people continue to believe in me as Hydro Archon, their faith will fuel me."

"Could it be that one day, through the power of people's wishes, Focalors' crown might slip, and I would rise as the Hydro Archon, taking her place?"

"If that day comes, it will make things so much simpler."

As Felina pondered this, it seemed she had made a firm resolution.

Days passed.

One morning, after breakfast, Furina strolled leisurely into Neuvillette's office.

"Good morning, Neuvillette!"

Her voice rang out boldly, full of drama. Neuvillette perked up at the familiar tone.

"You came at just the right time."

Neuvillette set down his pen and looked at Furina. "I need your opinion on a matter."

"Oh? What is it?" Furina leaned in, curious.

"It's related to you, actually."

Neuvillette began recounting the events that led to the current situation.

The trial from a few days ago had drawn enormous attention, and as the details of the case gradually surfaced, so did trouble.

This trial had brought the Primordial Sea into the public eye, and soon people realized that diluted Primordial Seawater was precisely what made Sinthe.

At first, Fontaine's officials hadn't fully realized the gravity of this revelation. But soon, the scale of the problem became apparent.

Anyone could make Sinthe by diluting water from the Primordial Sea. This was like saying one could scoop up water from a river, mix it with tap water, and have a drug as potent as any narcotic.

At first, no one knew, which kept it under control. But as details of the trial spread, news of Sinthe's recipe became public knowledge.

Suddenly, Sinthe flooded Fontaine's markets, and because it was easy to make, its price was lower than ever—even lower than what Vacher had charged.

Some didn't even bother buying it; they simply mixed their own.

In just a few days, Sinthe had spread rampantly across Fontaine, with the number of addicts multiplying rapidly.

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