Even the ever-thundering King Engine stuttered for half a beat.
[Detected Lumine's Super Fear Emotion – Emotion Points +10,000.]
King: "…"
There's actually a move like this?
Furina blinked, then planted one hand on her hip and tapped her chin with the other, showing an approving smile.
"Oh? A wise choice, Traveler. It seems you understand Fontaine's laws quite well."
Paimon was utterly dumbstruck; her tiny head overflowed with giant question marks and grievance.
"Lumine! Aren't we best friends? How could you do this to me!"
Paimon kicked her little legs frantically in Lumine's grip, tears brimming as she protested.
"You're really handing me over to that scary man?"
Lumine leaned to Paimon's ear and whispered at lightning speed.
"Bear with it, Paimon—just one month!"
"The Hydro Archon said it's only a month! But look at that guy over there!"
She furtively signaled with her eyes toward King, who stood like a God.
"If I fight him, he'll one-shot me for sure! I'll really die!"
"You don't want to lose me, right? One month—after that I'll treat you to a feast!"
"Which do you pick: a month in jail or losing me forever?"
Paimon followed Lumine's gaze and met King's ferocious stare—and that deafening heartbeat.
BOOM!!!
Paimon shivered, her small face turning pale.
Lumine does make sense… against that monster she'd definitely die!
Compared with that, a month in jail… suddenly didn't sound unbearable. Waaah… Realizing this, Paimon stopped struggling, drooping like emergency food seized by fate, big tears rolling down as she whimpered.
"Uuu…"
"Then you must remember to pick me up in a month and cook yummy food every single day…"
Watching the "law-abiding" Traveler and the "guilty-as-charged" floating creature, Furina gaped—then almost burst out laughing.
Too amusing—utterly hilarious!
Is this what absolute power looks like?
A true powerhouse needn't even lift a finger; his sheer presence made the hero who quelled the draconic calamity surrender without a fight—and betray her best partner!
She reveled in the drama.
Furina turned gracefully to King, a flattering smile on her face.
"It seems Mr. Su Ze needn't take action after all."
"To subdue an enemy without striking a blow—your might is breathtaking."
King stood motionless, expressionless.
Inside, he exhaled a long, long sigh of relief.
I… I survived!
Thank heavens the Traveler knows when to yield—and thank heavens Paimon is an idiot!
He tilted his head slightly, catching the beaming Furina atop the high platform, then the "saved-by-the-bell" Lumine and the "life-has-lost-all-meaning" Paimon.
After a brief silence, under everyone's gaze, King slowly turned around.
He didn't say a word.
The war-drum heartbeat faded with his turn, diminishing from world-shaking roar to muffled thunder, to faint surf, until it vanished.
He strode steadily out of the opera house, leaving countless reverent stares behind.
A lofty, solitary figure.
Furina watched him go, her eyes shining even brighter.
Exactly—so long as Mr. Su Ze is here, nothing can stop her!
[Detected Furina's Super Reassurance Emotion – Emotion Points +5,000.]
The trial ended in yet another dramatic curtain-call.
The crowd dispersed in shock and chatter; the opera house soon stood empty.
Triumphant, Furina skipped to the drooping Paimon and circled the little floater with interest.
"Ahem~ Then, per the law, the offending aerial entity 'Paimon' is hereby taken into custody."
She tapped her chin with a fingertip, feigning sternness but unable to hide her smile.
Paimon stamped in fury: "You meanie God!"
"Paimon didn't even do anything!"
"And you, Lumine—you're a meanie too!"
Lumine rubbed her brow; what's done is done, she could only promise compensation. "Paimon, be good—just one month… I'll cook delicious food for you every day!"
"Delicious food!"
"…Uuu, but Paimon doesn't want a dark, cold prison."
Paimon began shedding pearls of tears, looking truly pitiful.
Furina stared at her, stumped.
She turned to Neuvillette and Clorinde beside her: "By the way, where do we keep a talking, thinking flying creature?"
"I recall previous offenders were stored in the storehouse."
Clorinde looked at Paimon, a trace of dilemma on her usually cold face.
"Lady Furina, perhaps we could purchase a cage meant for flying creatures," she offered carefully.
Hearing "cage," Paimon shrieked: "No way! Paimon's not a bird—no cages!"
Furina fell into thought.
Lock this thing in a cage?
That doesn't seem right—she can talk, has wisdom.
Scold her and release her?
Too childish, unworthy of the law's dignity.
How should a talking floater be handled?
Tch, a new problem indeed.
She turned to Neuvillette, brows knit: "Neuvillette, what say you?"
Neuvillette's deep gaze swept over the tearful Paimon, then toward the direction King had left. After a pause he spoke calmly.
"The statutes contain no specific provisions on detaining flying entities of high wisdom."
"To throw her into storage or confine her in a cage would be inappropriate."
He looked at Furina and offered a seemingly reasonable solution.
"Lady Furina, since this 'criminal' surrendered because of Mr. Su Ze, and Mr. Su Ze possesses absolute strength to ensure she won't offend again—"
"I believe entrusting the floater to Mr. Su Ze's supervision until her term ends is the most suitable course."
Neuvillette's words sounded absurd on the surface.
Yet he had his own calculations—
Furina's daily life shuttled between Opera Epiclese and the opera house; she had no need for bodyguards.
He had to find some actual work for Mr. Su Ze.
Otherwise he could hardly justify to the public why they paid a "bodyguard" such a colossal salary.
After all, "bodyguard" King's wages were ten times those of the God Furina!
Neuvillette intended to pile more tasks onto King hereafter.
That would make the huge paycheck—and future raises—perfectly reasonable.