Useless ramblings

Lucas looked around the vast hall of Palais Mermonia and couldn't help but admire the beauty of it all.

He then moved his eyes and observed a painting that was hanging on the wall. Its contents depicted a scale with waters coiling behind it— it was the symbol of the Hydro Archon. It represents the justice that flows down like water. It depicted fair judgment and gushing punishments.

"Very symbolic..." Lucas grasped his chin as he looked at the painting. "As expected of the nation known for its artistic beauty..."

Finishing his observation of the painting, Lucas continued to explore Palais Mermonia.

"Sir Dupont, please help me with this paperwork..."

"Miss Renaud, here are the papers regarding the construction of..."

"I know, right? The theft had been skyrocketing this week..."

"About Madame Lefevre's identification papers..."

"What? The Lemon cakes at Hotel Debord are about to run out? Oh no!"

Although it wasn't loud, various voices were present around the halls of Palais Mermonia.

Rows of tables and chairs lined up in the hall, with each having someone sitting on them.

From officials attending to their papers to people reporting matters about Fontaine— all of them were present.

Of course, none of them noticed the young man nonchalantly walking around.

Lucas sighed deeply. "Still no luck..."

He then moved his eyes and looked at the receptionist in the room. Lucas recognized the receptionist— it was a Melusine.

"Now that I think of it, I haven't seen a Melusine up close yet..." Lucas mumbled to himself as he crossed his arms. "With their special perception, perhaps..."

Thinking of something, Lucas decided to walk up in front of the Melusine behind a counter.

The dark green counter had a Melusine behind it that wore a blue frock suit— a standard uniform of the Maison Gardiennage.

"..." Lucas stood over the counter and looked directly at the Melusine in silence. After a few moments, he opened his mouth. "...hello?"

"..." There was no response.

"Hmm..." Lucas crossed his arms as he tilted his head as if searching for ideas.

"Did you know that in terms of human and..." Lucas then started rambling on useless information in front of the Melusine, but it was to no avail.

Minutes passed by and the Melusine still hadn't shown any reaction.

"Hah..." Sighing outwardly, Lucas held back his long black hair which had some streaks of white mixed in that was in front of his face. "Doesn't work, huh...?"

"Miss Sedene, can you pass this to Monsieur Neuvillette for me?" Just then, a voice came from behind Lucas.

A man who wore a green coat approached the Melusine named Sedene while holding a portfolio.

Lucas couldn't react fast enough and was pushed away by the man— obviously due to his invisible state.

Similarly, the man who bumped into Lucas stayed for a bit. However, it wasn't as hard as Lucas.

"Hm?" The man seemed to have sensed something and looked around. He then mumbled to himself, "Did I stumble? Weird..."

"Anywho, here's the portfolio Monsieur Neuvillette requested. See ya, Miss Sedene." The man handed the portfolio to the Melusine before quickly leaving.

"Farewell, Sir Grenier." Sedene the Melusine waved at the man before taking the portfolio.

Meanwhile, Lucas managed to hear the man's words, and his eyes lit up. "Oh right... I was here for Neuvillette, weren't I?"

Looking at Melusine who was sorting a portfolio, Lucas lightly shook his head. "I guess even the race who are renowned for their unmatched perceptive abilities can't help me..."

"I just hope that someone like Monsieur Neuvillette could help me..." He spoke with a soft expression. "Judging from their conversation, he should be in his office right now..."

After saying this, he turned around and started walking towards the Chief Justice's office, which was not far away.

The Melusine, whose name was Sedene, however, couldn't help but look in the direction of Lucas.

"Is there somebody there...?" Sedene asked herself as she tried to focus. However, she wasn't able to see anything in the end.

With a shrug, she passed it off. "Perhaps I'm seeing things... I should get two lemon cakes later."

---

Lucas made his way towards the Chief Justice's office's door and couldn't help but look at it for a few seconds.

Taking a deep breath, he sighed lightly. With a soft solemn expression, his cerulean-blue eyes gleamed. "If even not the Hydro Dragon can see me... Then who else will...?"

Mustering all his confidence, he extended his hand and opened the door.

Without any sound, he entered and closed the door behind him.

Once more, none noticed the Chief Justice's door opened or closed. They didn't even hear a single sound.

Lucas entered the room without any hurry and looked around.

Rows of bookshelves were present on each side of the room, with each containing pieces of documents. Lucas approached them and looked without touching anything.

As for the room itself, it had an elegant quality to it, but also a hint of a quaint atmosphere.

In the back of the room, a single long table can be seen. On it were various papers that were neatly organized.

Sitting in front of the long table was a man who exuded an elegant and domineering aura. He had an air of both impartiality and gracefulness around him.

The man had pale skin, dark blue-shaded slit eyes, pointed ears, and waist-length white hair with a single lock that has a blue underside.

He wore a complex and solemn ocean-blue garb worthy of the Iudex. It represented his status as well as who he was.

That's right— it was none other than the Chief Justice of Fontaine, the impartial Iudex, and the successor of the Hydro Dragon Sovereign— Neuvillette!

This was the man who made fair judgments and condemned those who were in the wrong in the court.

Currently, he is busy archiving something on paper.

When Lucas saw Neuvillette, he couldn't help but get nervous. "What a scary fellow... Just seeing him makes me want to not commit any sins..."

He then gently shook his head and walked towards the Iudex Neuvillette.

"..."

"..."

There was a deathly silence lingering in the air.

Other than the rain outside, no other noise entered the room and disturbed the silence.

"Hello?" Lucas decided to speak first. He then bent down and looked at Neuvillette directly in the eyes. "Monsieur Neuvillette? Can you see me? Hello?"

"So as a joke, I went to my friend's house wearing..." He tried various shenanigans to catch Neuvillette's attention, however, the impartial Iudex just continued with his paper.

After a few moments, Lucas gradually stopped. Once more the feeling of helplessness was creeping up over him.

He then looked at Neuvillette with a grim expression.

"Dang it..." He cursed. He then found a chair to sit on and sat down. "Even the Iudex can't see me... What should I do now..."

"At this rate, I might really develop Monophobia..." Lucas' eyes blurred before he lifted his thumb and wiped them.

After a few seconds, he calmed himself down. "No— Breaking down right now won't help me."

With a frustrated expression and teary eyes, Lucas abruptly stood up and walked towards a mirror in the room and touched it.

Whoom—*

His figure instantly vanished as if it had been erased by an eraser, entering the mirror.

"I don't need crying right now..." Lucas mumbled to himself with a frustrated expression. "I'll just distract myself from reality... With food... Yeah."

With these words, he decided to leave the Iudex's room and find a room where pastries are present to steal from.

In less than a second, his figure disappeared from the mirror.

---

Silence. It was as if no one had ever even entered the Chief Justice's office.

"..." The ever-so Impartial Neuvillette, who seemed busy not long ago, suddenly raised his eye and looked at the mirror in the room.

"What an odd intruder..." Neuvillette's cold yet elegant voice resounded in the room. "First he looked around the room with curiosity..."

"Then he started standing in front of me making strange gestures without uttering any words..." He said before putting down the pen he was holding. "Truly a peculiar person..."

Unbeknownst to Lucas, Neuvillette had already sensed his presence the moment he entered the room.

Neuvillette wanted to apprehend the intruder, but he soon noticed his strange actions. As such, he decided to observe.

In the Chief Justice's eyes, Lucas appeared to be someone who didn't have any form— invisible. He wasn't even able to hear anything from him.

All Neuvillette could 'see' was an invisible figure was that disrupting the flow of wind in the room.

Neuvillette was only able to determine that the invisible man's gender is male from the latter's strange actions.

Looking at the mirror where the man disappeared off to, Neuvillette couldn't help but solemnly stare at it for a few moments.

"Now I'm curious... Are you friend or foe?" Neuvillette said with a heavy voice. "But for a foe to have such deep sadness in them... It truly is peculiar."

Without doing anything else, Neuvillette lightly shook his head. He made a mental note to investigate this matter later.

"I'll observe for now..."