"It's the special campaign of 'cracking down on crime and resolving cold cases, Lady Furina," Clorinde stopped walking and turned back to repeat the answer to Furina.
At the same time, this deep-blue-haired knight gave a puzzled look toward Richard, as if asking with her eyes, 'Why is Lady Furina, who usually doesn't care about these things, suddenly stopping me to ask about this?'
Richard couldn't figure out what Furina was thinking either. He returned a look that said 'I don't know, along with a subtle message: Why don't we just hear her out?'
"Cleaning up old and unresolved cases... Clorinde, does that mean Fontaine has a lot of cases that haven't been solved?" Furina asked.
"Yes, Lady Furina. From what I know, Fontaine accumulates a batch of cases each year that go unsolved due to various reasons. Some are serious, others are not. I believe Chief Justice Neuvillette must have noticed this, which is why he's launching this campaign." Clearly, the strongest Duelist was far more informed about the inner workings of Fontaine's judiciary than the Hydro Archon herself.
"Are these cases usually difficult to handle?" Furina continued asking. At this moment, she no longer appeared listless like earlier in front of Richard; she was even a bit invigorated, like someone who had just gotten a juicy piece of insider news.
"They're definitely troublesome. Otherwise, they wouldn't have turned into unresolved cases. But actually, a good portion of them aren't that serious. They were just shelved due to a lack of manpower at the time..." Clorinde replied after thinking for a moment.
Upon hearing that, Furina slapped the table. That's exactly what she wanted to hear!
Richard's heart sank. 'What if these old case investigations actually dig something up...?'
In truth, if it were outsiders doing the investigating, he wouldn't be worried. On his home turf, Richard had the confidence to drive off any intruders. But if the threat came from within, an insider, that was a different story altogether.
Richard looked at the now-enthusiastic Furina. That sense of unease only grew stronger. He had no choice but to speak up:
"Lady Furina, strictly speaking, that falls under the Court's jurisdiction, not the Ministry of Administration." Richard's words poured over Furina's burning passion like a bucket of cold water.
'Oh, right. Handling cases falls under the Court's duties. What does it have to do with her, the Minister of Administration?'
If she jumps in to help, puts in the effort, and the credit goes to someone else in the end, wouldn't that just make her a glorified errand girl?
Furina wanted something that would immediately make people say, "Wow, that's Lady Furina's doing!" Not "Lady Furina helped the Court so much! How nice of her!" That would be downright insulting.
Clorinde thought for a bit and said, "It's not completely unrelated. In fact, there are quite a few cases connected to the Ministry. If you're willing to take charge of those, I don't think Neuvillette would mind."
The fire of hope reignited in Furina's eyes. Meanwhile, Richard closed his book in disbelief and stared at Clorinde as if she had lost her mind.
'Do you even know what you're saying, Clorinde!?'
But Clorinde didn't notice Richard's reaction. She was dutifully helping Furina assess the feasibility of the idea.
While this would indeed hand over some of the Court's credit, it would also save them a lot of trouble.
After all, as the successor to the Marechaussee Hunter and also Furina's personal bodyguard, much of Clorinde's work was already connected to the Ministry.
If Furina was willing to take on some of that workload, Clorinde's burden would drop significantly compared to her colleagues. If luck were on her side, she might even get a pleasant vacation during this campaign period.
To her, this was a very tempting offer.
To Richard, it was an enormous headache. He could no longer sit still.
He said, "Actually, I also have a few preliminary ideas for your consideration, Lady Furina—"
"If they're still preliminary, then save them. Once they're mature, you can share them. Right now, I think my idea is already perfect," Furina cut him off, completely ignoring Richard's concerns.
She was entirely swept up by the brilliance of her own "genius" plan, her mind repeating over and over again:
'Do it! Do it! Just f**ing do it!*'
"Clorinde, help me tell Neuvillette, no, forget it, I'll tell him myself! I'm going to clear out every single unresolved case! No! That's not enough! I want to conduct a full investigation into all of the Ministry's problems! I want a total reform from top to bottom, inside and out!" Furina declared passionately.
And just like that, she added even more to her own plate.
Richard felt darkness creep into his vision.
And yet Furina still wasn't done with him. She leaned forward across her desk, closing the distance between them. Her ahoge bounced, and her two-toned eyes sparkled as she stared at the increasingly nervous Richard.
"Richard, you'll help me, won't you?" she said, smiling.
"I..." Richard noticed that Clorinde was also looking at him, waiting for his response.
If he said no now, wouldn't that make him look guilty? It would be no different from confessing to a crime.
But with Furina pressuring him like this, he had no room to maneuver. At this point, anything other than saying yes would be a mistake.
So, after a brief pause, he made up his mind. He placed the book on Furina's desk, adjusted his collar, and looked her in the eyes.
"Yes, Lady Furina."
After answering her, he turned his gaze toward Clorinde, who was watching all of this like a spectator at a show.
He used to think of her as a loyal and upright protector. But after what happened today, he might need to reassess that opinion.
Still, what's done is done. He'd remember this debt.
Clorinde, for her part, didn't seem to feel guilty at all. In fact, the usually stern woman even gave Richard a faint smile after catching his gaze.
'Smile? You've got the nerve to smile!?'
Even though he was fuming inside, Richard returned a polite smile.
He wanted to ask her with that smile: 'Was that really polite of you?'
But clearly, Clorinde didn't get the message. She simply assumed Richard was thanking her for the opportunity.
She knew these kinds of officials well; those who wanted to climb the ranks didn't fear having too much work; they feared having nothing to do.
After witnessing the inefficiency and laziness of so many Fontaine civil servants, she could tell from the moment she met him, Richard was one of the ambitious ones.
'No need to thank me. You earned this.'
That's what Clorinde thought.