svetikya Page 356
Page 356
This is the conclusion Jacob drew after observing it.
only..
Why would she be here?
Jacob looked at 'Frinna' with a heart full of doubt.
The fact that this absurd water god would appear in front of Gestalt made him wonder if Fontaine had sensed something.
But looking back at Funina's absurd style, Jacob felt that this might just be an accident. Perhaps this absurd water goddess just happened to want to come here, so she came?
After all, it's not surprising that a ridiculous god would do anything.
After thinking it over, Jacob decided to pretend to be an ordinary person to fool the water god in front of him.
Unfortunately...
“I remember that the Shadow Chasing Court has already seized this place, right? This tower should now be the property of the Fontaine Court.”
"But you..."
"Mr. Jacob, what are you planning to do here?"
The dignified young woman, with a smile in her eyes, revealed long-buried stories and Jacob's name.
As the symbol of Fontaine and the mistress of Moman Palace, it was not surprising that Funina knew about that matter. However, when this knowledge appeared at the same time as Jacob's name, Jacob, who was looking into the girl's eyes, which were full of smiles yet revealed profound meaning, as if they had seen through him, understood that his attempt to conceal his identity was doomed to failure from the very beginning.
"It seems that Lady Funina knows me."
Jacob took off his hat and stopped pretending.
"Leaving aside your secret schemes, you are, after all, the son of Eduardo Baker... As a god, if you don't know these things, isn't that somewhat derelict of your duty?" Hearing this, Funina was initially bewildered, then glared at Jiang Qiao with displeasure—I'm sorry! I'm a derelict water goddess! I didn't know such things!
However, she pondered for a moment and suddenly realized: "Eduardo Baker...that name—the leader of the Grey River five hundred years ago?"
Although Funina rarely governed, she was quite knowledgeable about things in Fontaine, especially about the previous water god. After all, she had always wanted to find out what the prophecy was all about and how to resolve the situation.
Therefore, she is quite familiar with the history of Fontainebleau.
Eduardo Baker was a figure before Fucarus succeeded to the position of water god and Egolia was in power. At that time, the Fontaine nobles were extremely cruel. In order to ensure the Fontaine's glamour, they drove all the poor people into the underground Gray River and became the leader of the lower class. But after that, the Fontaine nobles were not satisfied and wanted to deal with those things in the Gray River that affected the city's appearance. Thus, the Gray River Conflict occurred.
The victor was undoubtedly the Fontaine government. At that time, the Court of Justice directly drove the lower-class Fontaine people out of the sewers and drove them to the barren desert to fend for themselves. However, Eduardo took the officials of the Court of Justice hostage and occupied Whitesong Town, resisting the government. This eventually ended with the outbreak of the Siege of Whitesong.
"He's Eduardo's son?" Furna looked at Jacob with some surprise, mixed with a hint of apology.
Although Fucarus had not yet ascended to the throne when this happened, and she was not in power at the time, I feel a deep sense of regret every time I read this part of history.
"A nostalgic name... I never expected that Lady Funina would pay attention to these things."
"Although it happened during the reign of the previous water god, it was ultimately a mistake made by Fontaine, and as the water god, it is of course necessary for me to know about it."
“However, that has nothing to do with what you are doing now. If you are seeking compensation for what happened back then, Fontaine will not ignore it. But as the Water God, I cannot turn a blind eye to what you and your companion are about to do.”
Hearing Jiang Ningna's rather serious words, Jacob was somewhat surprised and asked in return:
"...So you really do know. If I may be so bold, Lady Funina, just how much do you know?"
"everything."
“That’s a truly divine answer.” Jacob paused, then shook his head.
"Hey... what are you two talking about?" Funina, who was standing to the side, tugged at Jiang Qiao's sleeve and asked in a low voice, somewhat dissatisfied.
She hadn't even figured out what was going on with this man named Jacob yet, and the conversation had already veered off to a point where she couldn't understand anything... Damn riddle-maker!
“Well, you only need to know one simple thing—this Mr. Jacob is plotting a plan that could overthrow Fontaine, no... the entire Teyvat.”
"what?!"
Funina's eyes widened in shock, and then her gaze toward Jacob changed, perhaps becoming wary or cautious.
Jacob, however, did not seem satisfied with this statement, and even shouted loudly with a hint of anger and agitation:
"Overthrow? No, what we need to do is save! You are so arrogant as a god, water god! You know nothing at all."
"Can dissolve everyone's consciousness in water be called salvation?"
The blue-and-white-haired girl ignored the sarcastic words, instead raising her fingertips and calmly gazing at the former, asking a question while adding, "Of course, I don't deny that it is indeed a choice."
"..."
“I think I should take back what I said earlier. It seems that you do know what we are going to do, Lady Funina.”
"In that case, you should also understand that when the star-devouring behemoth arrives, only by following Master René's method can the people of Fontaine escape the predetermined flood and perish."
“I have an old friend who might have a lot in common with you.”
"It's my pleasure."
"So, Lady Funina, are you still going to try to stop me?"
"of course."
“...Why?!” Jacob was incredulous.
"I understand your desire to save the world, and I don't deny your plans, after all, the path to salvation is arduous and difficult..."
"Then you should be supporting us even more! Don't you, as a god, want to stop the prophecy? You know! According to that ancient prophecy, everyone will be dissolved, and only you will weep on your throne! Do you want to see that kind of future?"
Although he wasn't a genius like René or Alain, Jacob's talent was undeniable. He didn't have much fear or respect for the gods, and as for trying to gain their support, Jacob certainly wouldn't have done such a thing in the past.
For people like them, what they lack most is never supporters, but 'understanding'.
Support can be achieved in many ways, but true confidants who understand and truly grasp what they are doing are extremely rare.
This is perhaps the common tragedy of geniuses.
For Jacob, the water goddess Funina, who now appears before him, seems to be both an understanding person and a very strong supporter.
If they could obtain the help of a water god, their long-cherished wish to save the world would undoubtedly be easier to realize.
However, this strong supporter simply smiled and shook his head.
"If there is no other way, perhaps this is not bad."
"But the people of Fontaine deserve a better future, don't they?"
“If it is not the only option, then the people of Fontaine should have the right to choose the better one.”
"Therefore... in the name of the God of Water—I must put an end to your plans."
The girl's tone revealed a resolute determination.
Jacob fell into a brief silence.
"The negotiations broke down?" Fairy Ellie sat on a treetop nearby, looking at the suddenly somber atmosphere with some curiosity.
"It wouldn't be accurate to call it a breakdown; rather, it would be more accurate to say that there was never any possibility of negotiation between us from the very beginning."
"Funingna"—Jiang Qiao shrugged.
"You can't get someone to give up five hundred years of painstaking planning with just words."
"Eh...Eh?! Are they going to fight?"
"No, you really dare to hit him? He... he's the water god, the god of justice, Fukaros!" Looking around, Funina glanced at Jacob, then at Jiang Qiao, and quickly shouted at Jacob, pointing at 'Funina' and trying to raise the water god's tiger flag to scare Jacob.
To be honest, although she was indeed hostile after learning that Jacob seemed to be the one who wanted to overthrow Fontaine and was thinking of getting the police to arrest him, the thought of directly fighting him... was terrifying!
"The name of the gods is indeed awe-inspiring, but it is not so to say that mortals are necessarily inferior to the gods, is it?"
Jacob casually tossed his hat aside, showing no fear whatsoever.
As René's partner, he was undoubtedly the person in Fontaine who had the least fear of the gods.
What is there to fear about gods? They are merely beings with slightly greater power.
Of course, he does not deny that there are indeed some individuals among the gods whose power is too great.
"There are differences between gods. If it is a god of great power like the Noble God of Liyue or the Narukami of Inazuma, I am no match for them."
Having traveled extensively throughout Teyvat, he glanced indifferently at 'Frinna' and calmly said:
"But Lady Funina, you are probably not such a god who is good at fighting, are you?"
"Eh...you, how did you know?" Funina, who was disguised as 'Jiang Qiao', panicked when she heard this.
Although I am indeed a complete weakling, except for living a long time and being utterly incompetent.
But she felt she should have acted very well, right?
Jacob glanced at Funina with a strange look, finding the man beside her odd, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he said with certainty:
“For five hundred years, I have been watching you, Lady Funina... You have never shown even a moment of your divine power.”
Is it because you don't want to show it, or because... you can't show it?
“I have witnessed countless times that if you could show even a little bit of the power of a demon god, or even the power on the scale of the Eye of God, it would be enough to convince the people. But you always choose to make excuses or use various methods to get by.”
"Now that I think about it, that's probably the case, isn't it?"
“You are too weak, even demonstrating the power of the gods has become difficult.”
"This is the only answer I can get."
"And can someone like you really contend with me, who has mastered the power of the abyss?" Jacob smiled, opened his arms, and his voice gradually became more authoritative.