"You don't think Vashe is just a pitiful man?"
Clorinde's lips curled into a faint smile as she gazed quietly at Furina.
"Oh, come on! Just because I pity him I should reduce his sentence? I pity all the young girls he killed too—should I find a way to resurrect them then?"
Furina rolled her eyes and snapped back:
"Since when does a tragic life justify evil? Since when is that a reason for me to forgive him?"
"Please! He slaughtered so many innocent people, and you want me to let him off because he's 'pitiful'? Clorinde, is that really something you would say?"
Clorinde lowered her head slightly, speaking softly:
"It was a slip of the tongue, my lady. Then, how should we sentence Vashe?"
Neuvillette was tempted to interject that Vashe's case should still go through the Tribunal.
But Focalors merely shook her head ever so slightly, signaling Neuvillette to stay quiet.
The Fontaine of the future would be the King's Fontaine. The Tribunal should be Furina's instrument, not above her.
And to test Furina with someone like Vashe—nothing could be more fitting.
Furina, oblivious to the subtle glances between them, fell into thought for a moment, then declared with absolute certainty:
"In that case—death penalty!"
"Death penalty?!"
Even Clorinde couldn't hide her shock this time.
She only wanted Furina to hand down a sufficiently severe punishment. After all, no matter what grievances Vashe had, they didn't grant him a license to kill.
But the death penalty…
Honestly, how many years had it been since Fontaine executed anyone?
The last person to die from judgment was Karys. And that wasn't even execution—it was a lost duel.
But now, Vashe would be the one to restart capital punishment…
The implications for Fontaine were immense.
Clorinde frowned slightly, hesitated a moment, and then spoke softly:
"Are you certain, Lady Furina? The death penalty hasn't been used for many years—"
"Oh, please! A King never takes back their words once spoken."
Furina pursed her lips, full of sass.
"Clorinde, did you forget what Mount Shu taught you? When have the Sect Leader and the First Seats ever preached anything but blood for blood, debt for debt?"
"Since when has Mount Shu ever talked about forgiving your enemies?"
"As Elder Xuanxi once said—if I forgive a murderer, then I'm an accomplice to murder!"
"No matter his reasons, life for life—that's Heaven's law!"
"Neuvillette, it's settled! After the trial, execute him immediately!"
Furina's words were final. Neuvillette could only give a bitter smile and nod.
One could easily imagine how shocking the return of capital punishment would be to all of Fontaine.
"Lady Furina, the sentence can be carried out… but the Oratrice of Divine Judgment may not approve…"
Neuvillette suddenly remembered Focalors's plan—chances were, the Oratrice wouldn't agree to the death penalty.
"It's just a machine! And it dares to oppose the will of its King?"
Furina crossed her arms, radiating authority:
"In Fontaine, I make the rules! No one defies the King's command!"
"Royal Decree: After Vashe's trial, announce his crimes and execute him immediately!"
"Royal Decree: Any sinner within the Lesley Interest Group—capital punishment!"
"Royal Decree: Neuvillette shall oversee all executions! The Oratrice shall give its full cooperation!"
As the three decrees were issued, Furina's true essence drained away, nearly half consumed in an instant.
But with the nation's fortune bolstering her, Neuvillette's expression shifted. His hand rose unconsciously to his chest as he intoned solemnly:
"Neuvillette obeys."
"The Oratrice obeys."
The first voice was expected—Focalors, though surprised, could accept it given how absurd cultivators could be.
But the second voice…
That was simply absurd!
A mere machine—how could it even speak obedience?
It had never been given consciousness during its creation!
Neuvillette, equally dumbfounded, turned toward Furina.
Despite her drained essence, the nation's fortune bore most of the burden for her. At this moment, she stood proudly, beaming:
"Well? Not bad, huh? My Heavenly Mandate: The God-Sealing Art!"
"Unbelievable…"
Neuvillette finally came back to his senses, visibly shaken.
"To control people is one thing, but even lifeless machines without consciousness?"
"That's nothing."
Furina huffed proudly:
"Once I advance further in this Heavenly Mandate: The God-Sealing Art, and break through to the Spirit-Transformation stage, with stronger national fortune—"
"I can enshrine the very heavens, the rivers, the mountains as divine guardians of Fontaine."
"If I wished, I could even bestow the Oratrice itself with divinity—make it the God of Scales and Justice, with a will of its own!"
Focalors and Neuvillette both stared at Clorinde in stunned silence.
She simply nodded slightly and explained in a quiet voice:
"Lady Furina speaks true. Back then, the Emperor of Great Yan who possessed this same art, during a grand state ritual…"
"He enshrined every visible mountain, river, lake, and sea into divine protectors of the realm."
"This Heavenly Mandate: The God-Sealing Art is one of the strongest cultivation techniques known—even our Sect Leader admits it."
They had already known cultivators were outrageous. But this? To breathe life into the mountains and rivers themselves?
With such power, who would need a five-hundred-year plan?
Why not enshrine the Primordial Sea as Fontaine's Guardian Sea God right away?
The thought flashed through Focalors's mind, but quickly faded.
She knew Furina couldn't yet do that.
The Primordial Sea was the root of Teyvat's very world. With Fontaine's national fortune alone, it was impossible.
If Furina were already at Jiang Yan's level—at the peak of Void-Returning, or even its early stages—it might be feasible.
Even so, Focalors felt a surge of hope like never before.
Furina… she could absolutely save Fontaine from its looming crisis.
Taking a deep breath, Focalors said softly:
"As for the serial disappearance case of the girls—we'll set it aside for now. Our priority is the prophecy's crisis."
"The power Lady Furina has revealed may be enough to resolve it in the future."
"We can't help you reach late Foundation-Building in cultivation, but as for strengthening the nation's fortune—that, perhaps, we can assist."
"Yet… how can we strengthen national fortune?"
At this, Furina spoke:
"The so-called national fortune is simply the supernal reflection of a nation's people, land, and civilization."
"To strengthen it, the population must grow, the territory expand, the culture flourish."
"But population cannot grow overnight. And Fontaine cannot arbitrarily expand within Teyvat."
"That leaves us only one option—to enrich our civilization!"
Neuvillette mused aloud:
"In other words, to make Fontaine stronger? If the Narzissenkreuz Institute develops more technology, that should count too, right?"
"Too slow."
Furina shook her head.
"From conception to research, to practical application, the cycle of a single technology may take longer than it would to grow our population."
"We don't have that time."
Neuvillette frowned slightly.
"Then what can we do?"
"There's one simplest way!"
Furina's eyes gleamed, her tone resolute:
"Martial cultivation!"
At once, light flashed in Neuvillette's eyes as realization struck.
"Clorinde once reported—Liyue is already preparing to fully implement martial cultivation across the nation."
"By spreading martial cultivation, the people themselves grow stronger, and so does the national fortune. Lady Furina, is that what you mean?"
Furina nodded approvingly, smiling like a teacher with a promising pupil.
"You catch on quickly, Neuvillette."
He twitched his lips, helpless.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Furina chuckled and continued:
"As for the source of martial cultivation, don't worry. Clorinde and I are at Mount Shu. First Seat Zhongli has already placed martial techniques in the Hall of Merit."
"They're not expensive. Together we can exchange for them soon enough."
"Though our own cultivation isn't high, with Zhongli's techniques we can adapt them to suit Fontaine's people."
"We'll send them back as soon as possible."
Focalors watched Furina speaking with such conviction and sighed inwardly.
In the end, the burden of Fontaine's prophesied crisis fell entirely on Furina's shoulders.
And somehow, that made Focalors feel a pang of guilt toward her.
"Wouldn't this delay your cultivation? Your cultivation is still the most important."
Neuvillette asked softly.
Furina waved her hand.
"In Mount Shu, anything unrelated to cultivation is dirt cheap. Just a couple of missions and we'll have enough."
At that, both Neuvillette and Focalors exhaled in relief.
"But besides that, we must also coordinate with Liyue."
"Techniques alone aren't enough. Even if people can cultivate, their progress will be unbearably slow."
"We don't have time to waste—we must accelerate Fontaine's martial development."
Neuvillette thought for a moment, then asked quietly:
"Spirit beasts?"
Furina nodded.
"The flesh and blood of spirit beasts brim with spiritual energy—they're the perfect catalyst for martial growth."
"That's why Liyue has such an advantage, with Jueyun Karst nearby and the highest number of cultivators."
"Their spirit beast resources are abundant."
"Clorinde and I can hunt beasts in Mount Shu, but our main duty is cultivation. We can only send some back occasionally."
"More importantly, beasts in Mount Shu are mostly late Foundation-Building. The weaker ones—early and mid Foundation—are rare."
"Many are even at early Qi Refining."
"High-level beasts like these are inedible for ordinary martial artists. Only grandmasters can barely digest them."
"In the end, we'll need the lower-tier beasts around Jueyun Karst."
"And most importantly, because Liyue lies closest to Mount Shu, it feels the strongest influence from it. Spiritual revival begins there and spreads outward across Teyvat."
"Spiritual revival births countless spirit beasts—and accelerates martial growth."
"Revival is Teyvat's destiny. In that rhythm, the elemental powers will gradually become ordinary…"
"And martial cultivation will only grow stronger."
"I want Fontaine to catch that tide, to lead the nation down the path of martial cultivation."
"By working with Liyue, sending our elites to train there, we gain both a strong ally and a rapid head start."
"With this, our national fortune will strengthen, and I can wield the Heavenly Mandate: The God-Sealing Art to overcome all crises."
"Well? What do you think?"
Neuvillette and Focalors simply stared at her, as though seeing a completely different Furina.
A plan so detailed, so pragmatic—it was hard to imagine coming from her.
Was this transformation due to the Enshrinement Art?
Or… from passing through the Heart-Testing Array?
Focalors couldn't say. But she knew one thing:
With such a Furina—such a King—Fontaine's future would indeed grow stronger.
The proudest moment of Focalors's life was the very birth of Furina!
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