The major version update for the players had concluded, leaving a gap before the next update.
Lumine and Paimon returned to Fontaine and stayed for a while longer. During this time, they joined Lyney and his group in maneuvering against The Knave regarding Clervie's situation. When diplomacy failed, they were forced into combat.
Lumine's strength had grown immensely since their last encounter with The Knave, and the battle ultimately ended in her victory.
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On the other side, Fidelle's investigation was also making progress. Because her body was entirely new, genetic testing proved impossible.
Her memories were too distant, leaving her with only a vague recollection of a hazy place.
She had never considered investigating her past before, as her consciousness contained no concept of parents. Were it not for Freminet, these buried memories would have remained forever hidden.
In her memories, she was not human—not as an insult, but as a matter of fact.
That person had created her and given her a small jade bottle filled with blue liquid. She had once used droplets from this bottle to protect herself.
When she left Fontaine for Liyue to attend the Kaiyang Martial Summit, she had dripped a single drop of the liquid onto Furina to protect her as well.
Yet before this vivid memory, there lingered an even fainter, more nebulous one.
With a little Emotional Value assistance from Jiang Mumu, the recollection finally began to sharpen.
Fidelle returned to the earliest place she could recall appearing in her memories and began searching the area.
It was in the wilds of Fontaine, so long ago that Fidelle could only find a few dilapidated wooden huts scattered around. She searched them thoroughly, but found no clues.
Fidelle turned to Neuvillette for help. After the initial chaos following his assumption of the Authority of the Ancient Dragons, Fontaine had stabilized, and he had heeded advice to recruit human and Melusine assistants, easing his workload.
Neuvillette accompanied Fidelle to the huts. Reclaiming the Authority of the Ancient Dragons had deepened his connection to the primordial waters, making past currents clearer in his consciousness.
His ice-colored eyes swept over the desolate ruins, as if the dust of time were flowing backward in his gaze.
"This place..." Neuvillette's deep, resolute voice broke the silence. "Was not simply abandoned. Approximately fifteen years ago, an extremely serious smuggling operation and... illegal experiments involving Primordial Sea water occurred here."
Fidelle: "Primordial Sea water?"
"Yes," Neuvillette nodded. "A band of desperate criminals used this remote location to conduct forbidden research. An accident led to a small-scale leak of Primordial Sea water..."
"The records from that time state that a researcher couple assigned to guard this place—along with their young son—disappeared during the incident and are presumed dead. The scene was chaotic, the records are incomplete, and many details remain unverifiable."
"Researcher couple... son..." Fidelle murmured to herself, a strange ripple stirring in her heart.
"Perhaps the 'death' records are merely a cover-up," Neuvillette speculated. "Someone might have taken the child during the chaos, or... there could be other hidden circumstances. All the murderers involved confessed and were sentenced to fifty years of imprisonment."
"Are the names of those individuals still preserved?" Fidelle asked.
"Of course," Neuvillette replied. "If you need them, we can access the records at any time after we return."
Fidelle thanked Neuvillette, intending to track down those individuals herself, though she would postpone that for now.
After bidding farewell to Neuvillette, she went to the Fontaine Research Institute to search for information about the two researchers. However, due to incidents like the theft of the Arkhe Core, many old records might have been lost or disorganized.
Through inquiries, Fidelle learned that a special investigator named Fusilier had once handled cases involving individuals connected to this incident.
After several twists and turns, Fidelle finally located the capable investigator Fusilier near Lumidouce Harbor.
Upon hearing Fidelle's purpose—especially when it touched upon the Primordial Sea experiment leak from years ago—Fusilier's expression turned grave.
"These illegal experiments often hide behind complex networks," Fusilier explained. "During my investigation into the Nacker theft case, I encountered some shady figures who might have information about old rumors."
Following Fusilier's lead, Fidelle tracked down a hidden information broker in the "The Rusty Rudder" district.
Guided by Fusilier, Fidelle tracked down the information broker in the Rusty Rudder area—a middle-aged man named Covault.
After some negotiation, Covault provided a crucial piece of information:
After the incident years ago, someone had tried to sell a batch of research notes on the black market, rumored to be from a pair of researchers who had "disappeared" during the accident. However, due to the notes' extremely dangerous content—related to raw Primordial Sea water—they ultimately failed to sell. The notes may have been sold to a private collector or an unorthodox researcher.
Covault only vaguely recalled that the intermediary seemed to be a man with an obsessive interest in Clockwork Mekas.
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After returning to Fontaine, Fidelle obtained the list of individuals convicted in the incident from Neuvillette.
The list contained five names:
Three remained imprisoned, one had died of illness, and one had been released.
The only lead was Jacques, a former member who had been released several years prior due to good behavior. Records indicated he worked odd jobs in Poisson to make ends meet.
Fidelle immediately set off for Poisson.
Upon learning the reason for Fidelle's visit, Navia brought Melus and Silver to assist. The group found their target in a simple dwelling on the outskirts of town.
Now an elderly man with the rough edges worn away by time and hardship, Jacques cooperated fully with Fidelle's questioning.
He admitted he had only been a minor player, responsible for perimeter security and material handling, with little knowledge of the core experiments.
However, he vividly remembered the researcher couple—Armand and Sophie—who were kind and gentle, and their young son.
Fidelle: "Just one son?"
Jacques: "At the time, they only had one son."
Jacques strained to recall: "When the accident occurred, chaos erupted... I think I heard Mr. Armand shout frantically, 'Take Freminet away!'... Then I saw a young man rush out of the laboratory cradling a small baby..."
As for what happened to the child later, whether he lived or died, he had no idea.
Fidelle understood.
After thanking Navia, she went to the Fortress of Meropide and asked Wriothesley to summon the three detainees. She questioned them about Armand and Sophie's family.
As expected, they revealed that the couple had once had a daughter named Fiona, but she had died in infancy.
"Fiona... died young..."
Fidelle was close to piecing together the truth, but she needed one final confirmation.
She returned to the Fontaine Research Institute, determined to scour every dusty archive.
Finally, with the help of a kind Melusine archivist, they found a tattered researcher registration form in an old box marked "To Be Destroyed":