"Huh? What?" Tartaglia froze for a moment and looked at Lora in confusion.
Lora said, "I may need your help while I'm in Fontaine, so... when the time comes, I hope you won't refuse. Don't worry. It may be a little difficult, but once it's done, I promise you a very generous reward. How does that sound?"
"Help?" Tartaglia was surprised. He hadn't expected Lora to ask him for help. In Fontaine, wasn't she supposed to be the one calling the shots?
Tartaglia looked at Lora, seeming to weigh how trustworthy her words were.
Lora smiled at him, her eyes practically saying, Come on, we're close, aren't we? Would I trick you?
"...All right. If there's anything you need me for, just say the word." After thinking it over for a long while, Tartaglia finally smiled and nodded. "I still have business to handle, so I'll be going first. We'll talk next time."
After Tartaglia left, Lora said to Estelle, "Then we'll be off too. When I have time, I'll come by for afternoon tea."
"I'd be delighted, Miss Lora. Take care!" Estelle smiled and nodded, watching as Lora left with Lumine and Paimon.
But the group had not been walking through the streets for long before they ran into Hélie, whom Neuvillette had sent to find them.
The moment Hélie saw Lora, she cheered again. "Wonderful! I found Lady Lora right after coming out. Neuvillette must be watching over me!"
"Uh... what happened, Hélie?" Lora blinked, staring blankly at the jubilant Hélie.
Hélie said, "It's like this. Neuvillette sent me to find you just now. He said a trial is about to begin and hopes you can attend."
"What trial?" Lora asked.
Hélie thought for a moment. "I heard people say it seems to be about a brawl."
At the word brawl, Lumine and Paimon both instinctively looked at Lora.
Lora, however, asked curiously, "A trial for a brawl isn't a major matter. It shouldn't require Neuvillette to appear personally, right?"
The Court of Fontaine saw no shortage of incidents day to day, and plenty of them involved violations of Fontaine's laws. But not every case needed to go to trial. In many situations, the Maison Gardiennage would handle the matter first, then compile the documents and submit them to Neuvillette.
Cases that required Neuvillette to personally preside were usually matters with significant impact.
A mere brawl should not be a problem, right?
Surely Tartaglia had not just left here only to get arrested by the patrol right after?
But he had not even fought. She was the one who had acted just now.
Besides, she had made sure no one nearby was paying attention before making a move. When it came to fighting on dark, windy nights, murder, robbery, and all that, she knew the business inside out. There was no way she could have been discovered...
Hélie interrupted Lora's runaway imagination and said, "I heard it involves foreigners, so Neuvillette will preside over the trial."
As for why Lora had been invited to attend, it was naturally because, as the former Hydro Archon, she was expected to attend Fontaine's trials. This was Neuvillette's respect for her.
"Oh! Foreigners, huh? Then the Chief Justice really does need to go through the formalities. If it goes badly, it could become an international dispute." After hearing Hélie's words, Lora finally understood.
That explained it.
So Lora brought Hélie, Lumine, and Paimon with her to the Opera Epiclese.
When the four of them arrived at the Opera Epiclese, they saw Idyia in the lobby.
The moment Idyia saw Lora, she ran over excitedly, shouting as she came.
"Lady Lora! Lady Lora! I'm here!"
"Uh..." Lora took half a step back and looked at Idyia, who had almost thrown herself straight into her arms. "I know you're here... but aren't you supposed to be working right now? This is..."
Idyia also realized it and quickly stepped back. She made a patrol-team salute to Lora and said, "Lady Lora, I'm now the captain of the Opera Epiclese patrol team! I'm specifically responsible for the opera house's daily security!"
"Very good. Great energy!" Lora nodded in satisfaction. "Go on, get back to work."
Idyia nodded, said goodbye to Lora, and continued with her duties.
When the group entered the main hall of the opera house, many people were already seated. The Opera Epiclese rarely judged foreigners. Most of the time, trials involved locals from Fontaine. Because of that, even a minor brawl had drawn quite a number of spectators.
Neuvillette was already at the judge's seat. When he noticed Lora and the others enter, he nodded to them.
Lora nodded slightly in return, then sat down in the very center of the audience seats.
The spectators around her immediately straightened their backs and sat properly.
Don't ask. It was just the mysterious, unnamed power of the courtroom.
Chaya sat in the first row at the very front, with some documents placed beside her. It seemed Neuvillette had entrusted her with some note-taking. To be fair, the two of them made quite a good team when working together.
What a pity. If only Chaya were from Fontaine, there would be another chosen worker.
Such a pity. Such a pity.
Too bad Chaya did not exist.
As Lora stared at Chaya's back and shook her head with a soft sigh, Chaya seemed to sense someone talking about her. She turned back toward Lora with a puzzled look.
Lora immediately put on a smile and waved at her.
Furina had already arrived at her exclusive seat. Looking down from above, she said to Neuvillette, "Neuvillette, what's going on? Why hasn't the trial started yet?"
Neuvillette looked at Furina and said calmly, "Lady Furina, please be patient. Neither the plaintiff nor the defendants have arrived yet. The plaintiff has some injuries that still require treatment. The trial will begin shortly."
"We still have to wait? And here I was looking forward to this trial of foreigners," Furina said, sounding somewhat disappointed.
However, this trial would soon prove far from disappointing. In fact, it opened Lora's eyes.
Before long, both the plaintiff and the defendants were brought in.
The plaintiff's side didn't seem particularly unusual—just an ordinary local Fontainian with bandages wrapped around his hand.
But the defendants...
The moment Lora saw the three purple-haired women standing at the defendant's bench—women who looked almost identical, all with refined, mature features—even someone like her, who loved watching chaos unfold, was completely caught off guard.
Could someone please tell her what the hell was going on here?
How had the Raidens ended up as defendants?