Before leaving, Lin Qiu left his address with Navia so she could come find him.
If Lin Qiu needed to find Navia, he just had to come to this Spina di Rosula branch, and someone would notify her.
Navia also settled Lin Qiu's fortune-telling fee, handing him ten thousand Mora directly (for reference, in this book, Mora's purchasing power is similar to RMB).
Plus Lin Qiu's salary for this month was another ten thousand Mora, so now he actually had a bit of pocket money.
This salary was pretty much the same as what he'd earned at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Come to think of it, these twenty thousand Mora could even be considered courtesy of Marcel (Vasche). After all, there weren't many civilians supporting Spina di Rosula anymore, and Marcel had become their primary source of funding.
Now that he had money, who gave a damn about fortunes? Fortune-telling? Screw that!
Lin Qiu took the money and hopped straight on a cruise ship to the Opéra Épiclese. A trial was just about to begin, with tickets at 500 Mora for ordinary seats.
This bit of cash was pocket change to him now.
"So big?" Lin Qiu couldn't help exclaiming after entering the Opéra Épiclese.
It had looked big enough in the game, but in reality, it was ridiculously massive. No wonder it was Fontaine's largest opera house.
Lin Qiu found his seat and waited for the trial to start. Trials held here were never small matters.
His gaze swept over the surroundings. Looking up, he spotted a blue figure.
Her gown and hat were primarily deep blue, evoking the depths of the ocean, profound and lonely. Yet the white accents in her dress and hair dotted the sea like rays of sunlight, pulling her from isolation and adding a touch of openness and grace to the ocean's solitude.
The bows on her gown and hat only amplified her girlish charm.
Furina was here, as expected. She was still yearning for that grand trial that would end everything.
"Fufu," Lin Qiu sighed softly. Who wouldn't feel for this girl?
As if sensing his call, or perhaps feeling someone staring, Furina's gaze flicked toward Lin Qiu.
She was always sensitive to eyes on her, but since she attended nearly every trial, people in the opera house had grown used to her presence. Few stared at her for long anymore, so his 'intense' gaze piqued her curiosity.
"The novelist who just arrived in Fontaine?" Furina's network of informants spanned all of Teyvat, so Lin Qiu's arrival in Fontaine hadn't escaped her notice.
She even knew about everything that had happened that morning, including Navia taking him away. She just didn't know what the two had discussed in private—her spies couldn't follow that closely.
Lin Qiu noticed Furina's gaze and gave a polite smile in greeting.
Furina nodded back with a dopey little dip of her head at first, then promptly raised her pristine neck like a proud swan.
Though her eyes no longer lingered on Lin Qiu, her mind was still on him.
"A fortune-teller, huh? Wonder if he can divine a way to break the prophecy?"
"Probably not. We've been searching for so many years without a shred of hope. All I can do is trust the me in the mirror."
Her thoughts were pessimistic, but like Navia, Furina was strong and refused to give up.
Even if she thought hope was slim, she still wanted to find a chance to ask Lin Qiu.
Unlike Navia, though, as a god, she couldn't just meet a foreigner casually. She had to follow protocol, and Lin Qiu wasn't on any diplomatic list.
Unless she sought him out in a personal capacity—but a nation's god visiting an ordinary foreigner privately would clash with the image she'd always projected.
"If only he were more famous," Furina sighed inwardly. If Lin Qiu had some renown, it would be far more reasonable for her, as a god, to meet him.
Lin Qiu had no idea what Furina was thinking. Though he wanted to help her, his current strength didn't allow it. Even if he had the power, his status made seeing her difficult.
No matter how dopey Furina seemed or how much like a mascot she appeared, she was still a nation's god—not someone easily met in private.
Forcing his way in with brute strength might even scare little Fufu. She was fragile yet resilient.
The best approach was to make Furina come to him of her own accord.
What he didn't know was that Furina was thinking of ways to meet him too. Mutual pining, sort of.
Regardless of what Lin Qiu and Furina were pondering, the trial proceeded as scheduled.
Neuvillette struck the floor with his cane, his cold, solemn voice echoing through the hall. "Silence!"
The courtroom fell quiet.
Neuvillette's words were like a director yelling 'action,' launching the trial like a dramatic play.
Court trial, commence!
The case wasn't complicated. The accuser charged the suspect with murder, backed by some evidence.
The scales tipped toward the accuser.
"They could declare the verdict now, right?"
"This trial's kinda boring. No twists at all."
"Yeah, the perp isn't even some serial killer. Kinda underwhelming."
"If there were a twist right now, like the suspect pulling evidence that the accuser's the real killer framing him, that'd be way more interesting."
The audience chattered away, and Lin Qiu's Emotion Value ticked up bit by bit.
Aside from named characters in Genshin with screen time and storylines, other people provided limited Emotion Value. That was why Lin Qiu had come to Fontaine—to win by sheer volume.
The trial didn't shift with the crowd's hopes. The scales kept tilting toward the accuser until Neuvillette, following the Oratrice's judgment, declared "guilty."
'Emotion Value gained: 100'
'Emotion source: Furina'
'Emotion content: Again... How long has it been? Hasn't it come yet?'
Hearing the system prompt, Lin Qiu glanced toward Furina.
She was propping her cheek with one hand, leg crossed, looking utterly indifferent to the trial.
But her long, wave-like white hair veiled her beautiful heterochromatic eyes, hiding the emotions within.
She knew hope was faint, yet every trial stirred her anticipation. Could this be the grand trial she'd awaited?
Sadly, each hope ended in disappointment.
"Boring." Furina stood and left without a backward glance.
Clorinde followed silently behind her.
Seeing Furina leave, Lin Qiu had no reason to stick around either.
All in all, this had been a bountiful haul. Ever since arriving in Fontaine, his Emotion Value had been pouring in.
Especially from Navia—she was a real gem, providing the lion's share.
Lin Qiu was even considering rewarding her, like telling her that Myles and Silver were still protecting her as pure water spirits.
After leaving the Opéra Épiclese, Lin Qiu's Emotion Value was nearly at 1000 points.
Once he hit 1000 Emotion Points, he could exchange for an elemental power—his first real taste of strength.
"Please wait." A voice rang out behind Lin Qiu.