The sun slowly rose above the horizon. The blue-haired girl lay peacefully on the bed, her chest rising and falling gently with her breath, her sleeping posture exceedingly graceful.
The red-eyed girl slowly emerged from the blue-haired girl's body, leaned close to her face, carefully observed her sleeping expression, and gently placed a hand on the girl's soft, plump cheek, stroking it tenderly.
A moment later, the red-eyed girl slowly withdrew her hand, leaned her mouth close to the blue-haired girl's ear, and whispered, "Furina, time to wake up."
The blue-haired girl seemed not to hear, lazily turning over and occasionally murmuring, "Fontaine... prophecy..."
Upon hearing this, Dark Furina felt a pang of sympathy and gently patted Furina's head.
However, she did not stop trying to wake her up.
Her voice slightly louder, she urged, "Little dummy, wake up! If you don't get up soon, Fontaine will..."
Before she could utter the final two words, Furina abruptly opened her eyes. Dark Furina reacted quickly, immediately slipping back into Furina's body so that Furina did not see her.
Furina slowly climbed out of bed, changed her clothes, and washed up.
After finishing the breakfast that had been delivered, Furina went to her desk to handle documents.
Neuvillette was not due to start work for a few more days, so Furina had to deal with the files herself first.
The sheer volume of events occurring in a nation every day was immense, and official documents were continuously sent to Furina's desk.
At first, Furina read the entire documents with great interest, but as the quantity piled up, she lost all enthusiasm. She simply scrolled to the bottom of the page, signed her name, and then flipped to the next sheet, repeating the process endlessly.
Since the new Hydro Archon had just taken office, no one wanted to provoke her displeasure at this time, so there were no trials scheduled for the next two days, and Furina didn't have to worry about missing the most crucial trial.
"Lady Furina, this afternoon's schedule is an inspection tour of Fontaine, which will last approximately three days. Here is the route map."
The speaker was the secretary assigned to the Hydro Archon. Furina hadn't deliberately chosen a secretary; the Palais Mermonia had simply appointed one for her.
Furina took the route map and glanced at it. There seemed to be no issue, as an inspection tour was standard procedure for a newly appointed leader.
Dark Furina also looked at the route map. At first glance, there was nothing wrong, but upon closer inspection, her brow immediately furrowed.
"Wait a minute, Furina, this thing is suspicious."
"Hmm? What could possibly be wrong with it?" Furina asked curiously.
"The inspection tour itself isn't the problem; the key lies in this route map. Look, a normal route should cover all the important locations in Fontaine, such as the Court of Fontaine, Poisson, the Opera Epiclese, Romaritime Harbor, and the Fortress of Meropide. However, this route not only skips Poisson but also includes a particularly remote stretch of wilderness. Designing a route like this—unless the person who planned it has a screw loose—can only mean one thing: a conspiracy!"
"A con... conspiracy?" Furina's voice trembled slightly, startled by Dark Furina's words.
"If I'm right, it must be the nobles. They couldn't stand seeing their power diluted, so they're making a move," Dark Furina said with contempt. She utterly disliked such tactics.
"What should we do then? Should we notify them to change the route?"
"No. If you avoid it this time, they will repeatedly test you later, and they might even try to drive away Neuvillette—the Chief Justice who is about to arrive. Instead, let's turn their scheme against them and use this opportunity to completely eradicate them."
Furina seriously considered the pros and cons and decided to adopt Dark Furina's suggestion, though she planned to bring extra guards to handle any sudden developments.
"Mhm, alright, I understand." Furina nodded, then added, "Announce this matter to all of Fontaine."
Of course, this idea was also suggested by Dark Furina.
This was tantamount to bringing the entire affair into the open, making it a high-stakes gamble that neither the Hydro Archon nor the nobles could afford to lose.
"She actually agreed to the travel plan and even announced it to the public. Should I call you too naive, or deeply cunning?"
Inside the noble's mansion, the old man who had been seated in the center yesterday stroked his beard and uttered this statement.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, a large entourage departed from the Court of Fontaine. The sides of the road were packed with citizens who had heard the news and came to watch the spectacle. The guard contingent made up a large portion of the procession, tasked with protecting everyone, especially the safety of Lady Furina, in case of an emergency.
Day one, everything was normal. After visiting the Fortress of Meropide, the group proceeded to the Elynas area. Lady Furina held a symposium with local leaders, engaging in a fierce discussion about local livelihood issues.
Day two, the procession traveled south from the Opera Epiclese towards Romaritime Harbor.
Still, nothing happened.
Day three, the entourage entered the relatively sparsely populated Beryl Region.
After traveling for most of the day, they had reached the edge of the Beryl Region. They were still some distance from the Court of Fontaine, but not far; they would soon be home, and the people in the procession grew excited.
Led by their guide, the entire group proceeded step by step toward an underground area. The official explanation for not taking the main road was that this path was shorter and took less time.
Five hundred years later, this path would not exist; access would require diving underwater.
As they gradually delved deeper underground, Dark Furina warned, "Furina, be careful. I sense a dangerous presence nearby." Her concentration immediately heightened.
Hearing this, Furina felt a moment of panic, but quickly composed herself and shouted to her surroundings, "Everyone, be careful! There might be monsters lurking nearby."
No sooner had she spoken than a roar—"┗ | ｀ O ′ | ┛ Oww~~~"—erupted, and an entirely blue monster appeared before everyone. The creature looked somewhat humanoid, with thick, powerful arms on either side of its body.
"Ah... huh?" Everyone, including Furina, was startled, except for Dark Furina.
The administrative staff, in particular, were trembling so badly they couldn't stand up in the face of such a massive monster.
Furina was panicking internally, but as the Hydro Archon, she could not show distress.
After she took a few deep breaths, Dark Furina injected another gentle surge of Hydro element into Furina's body, helping her quickly calm down.
"Everyone, fall back! Personnel involved in administrative work, gather in the center, cover your heads and stay low! All combat personnel, prepare for battle! Cover the retreat, fight while falling back!" Furina's loud, clear voice calmed everyone down, and they began carrying out their duties in an orderly fashion.
Just then, a large horde of monsters appeared at the exit of the cave behind the procession—they were surrounded.
"Hmph, checkmate."
Several nobles sat in their mansion, calculating the time; the inspection team should have already encountered the monsters.
"Focalors, Hydro Archon, how will you respond this time?"
They weren't worried about failure; failure would simply result in the usual outcome, and as long as their hands were clean, they had nothing to fear.
Watching the scene, Furina felt a sense of despair. She could only adjust her orders, deploying more troops toward the exit in an attempt to break through. The front line could not retreat; they had to hold back the Hydro Phantasm.
"I can't die... I absolutely cannot die here... Fontaine..." Tears threatened to fall, but she fiercely held them back.
Because the Hydro Archon does not cry. The Hydro Archon is supposed to possess great power, capable of solving any problem.
"Oh ho, it seems things have gotten a bit tricky." A cold glint flashed in Dark Furina's eyes. With a single wave of her hand, a gleaming, crescent-shaped scythe appeared in her grasp. "Well then, I hope you let me have some fun."
However, Dark Furina did not immediately strike after drawing her weapon; instead, she first surveyed the battlefield.
Since they had brought a sufficient number of people, the situation wasn't actually that dire yet.
The Hydro Phantasm at the front was being stalled, and the rear detachment was clearing out the monsters.
But was the situation truly that optimistic?
Suddenly, the large Hydro Phantasm split into several smaller Hydro Phantasms, or more accurately, "Semi-Phantasms."
This in itself wasn't too bad; it just meant a few more targets to attack.
However, after a period of time, the large Hydro Phantasm suddenly teleported next to the smaller ones, absorbing them. The large Phantasm's size suddenly increased, and its power rose accordingly. The front line instantly collapsed, having already lost more than half its personnel. The remaining soldiers were covered in injuries and were forced to retreat.
"Lady Furina, please help us!"
The warriors at the front cried out for help, believing that the Hydro Archon had merely been testing them, and that if Lady Furina stepped in, everything would be fine.
But Furina remained indifferent.
It wasn't that she didn't want to help, but she genuinely lacked the power. She was just a little girl playing the role of the Hydro Archon, possessing no strength of her own. Watching the warriors fall one by one hurt her deeply.
Suddenly, the large Hydro Phantasm spotted Furina, who was protected in the center of the group, and realized the principle of "catching the ringleader first." It leaped fiercely and charged toward Furina's position. There were few guards around Furina, and they couldn't stop it. The large Hydro Phantasm's massive palm was about to strike Furina.
"Lady Furina! Lady Furina!" The people around her cried out anxiously. They never imagined the Hydro Archon would be approached by this monster.
"Checkmate."