The Impostor Died Peacefully.
Since there were still children around, Richard acted decisively and cleanly eliminated the fake Richard, who had transformed from a special kind of Whopperflower, in order to preserve his image in Klee's eyes.
Had Klee not been present, Richard figured he might've shown that Whopperflower just what true cruelty looked like.
Like planting it at the bottom of the ocean.
Or in molten lava.
Or in the Plane of Euthymia!
Basically, he would've tortured it in every way possible. Letting it die quickly in flames was far too merciful.
Fortunately, the culprit had already been captured. After the fake was dealt with, Furina and the others approached.
Though Klee was young, she understood that the fake "Richard" defeated by her brother was an impostor, so she wasn't frightened.
Which was good, if this whole imposter incident had caused a rift between him and his most beloved little sister, Richard might not have even handed the culprit over to Albedo for research. He would've taken care of it himself on the spot.
As for who should handle the culprit, Richard had even considered handing it over to The Doctor. 'That guy would definitely be interested in this failed specimen. And if it ended up with one of the younger segments of The Doctor...'
'Tsk tsk tsk. Death might be a better fate.'
Richard even thought to himself, he was being way too cruel.
Of course, this was all just in his head. The situation wasn't that bad. So he'd still let Albedo handle it.
"Wow! Why are there two brother Albedo again?" Klee covered her mouth in surprise as she looked at the unconscious Failed Original Plan lying at Richard's feet. Today was just full of surprises!
Seeing two Richard was one thing. But now there were two Albedos?
"Troubling you again," Albedo said as he knelt beside the failed clone, checking his condition and finally confirming, it was indeed the failed product from the original experiment.
And Albedo himself was the only successful product of the Original Plan.
Sometimes, Albedo couldn't help but wonder: what if he had been the failure? Would he, too, have chosen to attack and replace the original?
But there were no "what ifs" in life. And maybe that already was the answer.
"Don't mention it," Richard replied. "After all, he came looking for trouble first. His sense of picking opponents is just horrendous."
Out of four people, he just had to pick the strongest one.
"He had no choice. He probably already realized that you'd seen through him. If he didn't eliminate you, he couldn't proceed with his plan, to eliminate me and replace me," Albedo explained.
"Fair enough. So... what now?" Richard looked at the fake Albedo lying on the ground.
"Leave him to me. You go join Furina and the others for some fish-blasting. There's already been one avalanche, no matter how much you bomb now, it's unlikely to cause a second one anytime soon," Albedo suggested.
"Yay! Let's go blow up some fish!" Little Klee didn't understand much of the grown-ups' conversation, but she did catch the word "blast fish."
Klee's philosophy: As long as it involves blowing up fish, it's a good thing.
"Klee, slow down!" Furina watched Klee running off excitedly and couldn't help but resemble a young mother, worried her child might trip or fall.
Seeing this, Albedo looked at Richard with a knowing expression.
Richard clearly caught it too and replied grumpily, "Hurry up and finish your business, then come find us!"
He turned and strolled off toward Furina and Klee, muttering under his breath,
"At this temperature, conductivity is definitely poor. Might as well blow up fish with Klee instead."
Lines like that would make Jean's veins pop.
Halfway there, Richard seemed to remember something and suddenly turned back.
Albedo: ?
He didn't understand why Richard was returning... until he saw him hand over the Sword of Decay.
"That Whopperflower's power got wasted earlier. But this shouldn't be. Even a failed clone contains enough energy to rival several Hilichurl camps. Saves me the trouble of hunting them down," Richard explained.
"Make sure to extract the energy from this sword when you're done. Should be enough to meet the quota," he added.
Albedo fell silent.
Why did it feel like Richard's visit wasn't about catching up, it was more like a boss coming back to assign tasks?
He had just asked Richard for help with a small experiment, but somehow ended up with several more tasks, one of which seemed like a long-term project.
Richard was really starting to resemble Aunt Alice…
He could only hope little Klee wouldn't follow in either of their footsteps…
Meanwhile, before Richard even got there, several large holes had already appeared in the frozen lake.
Mademoiselle Crabaletta, having taken an anti-cold potion, operated like a cold and merciless bombing machine, hugging Jumpy Dumpty bombs, flying above designated targets, and dropping them from the air, sending ice-laced water columns meters high into the sky.
Luckily, the members of the Salon Solitaire could float. If this had been regular crabs, squids, or seahorses doing the bombing, the carnage would've been scattered all over the place.
Originally, Furina had no interest in fish-blasting. In fact, she couldn't understand why someone as cute as Klee would enjoy such a brutish form of entertainment.
She even wondered if Klee had been led astray by a certain fish-electrocuting someone. You know the saying: If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam slants.
But once she actually tried it…
Only then did she truly grasp its essence.
'You know what? Seriously, you know what?'
'Fish-blasting is kind of... amazing.'
On the calm surface of the lake, she'd toss in a cute, round bomb, just a short splash.
Then she'd watch it slowly sink, counting silently in her head...
Suddenly, the lake's surface shattered as if torn by an invisible force. The bomb detonated underwater. A high-pressure shockwave formed an enormous spherical blast, radiating outward with incredible force.
Its color shifted from deep blue to fiery red, like a volcanic eruption beneath the sea.
The shockwave compressed and shredded the water, leaving behind a massive hollow cavity.
After the deafening blast, the soft pitter-patter of water droplets falling filled the silence...
Then, dozens of belly-up fish slowly floated to the surface.
Sight. Sound. Even taste, all senses were satisfied. Furina even felt something she hadn't expected:
The joy of harvest.
'Blowing up fish is way too fun!'
Just as Richard arrived at her side, he heard the Hydro Archon herself turn to him and say, with inexplicable emotion:
"Richard, explosions... are truly an art form!"
Richard: ???