Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

The "serial disappearances" case, being one of the most heinous crimes since Fontaine's founding, held great symbolic significance, comparable to, or even surpassing, the Jack the Ripper case in London.

This case had lasted for nearly twenty years, leaving Fontaine's young women in fear, afraid of becoming the next victim.

Even Callas Cassapa, who had made significant contributions to Fontaine, had been wrongly accused and executed because of it.

"Considering the severity of Vacher's crimes, as Chief Justice, I hereby pronounce the verdict on behalf of the Palais Mermonia—death."

Neuvillette, standing before the Lucine Fountain with a serious expression, addressed the gathered Fontaine citizens.

This scene was different from usual—normally, the Lucine Fountain was filled with newlywed couples seeking blessings. Now, the citizens had come to witness the execution of Vacher, the culprit behind the serial disappearances.

Honestly, they might also be here out of curiosity about the death penalty.

After all, although many people had died in Fontaine, this was the first actual execution.

But compared to curiosity, it was probably mostly outrage.

After all, under [Furina]'s instruction, Neuvillette had once again announced Vacher's crimes—unlike at the opera house, this time, even without tickets, the citizens of Fontaine could witness the trial.

Undoubtedly, among the crowd were the families and friends of the girls who had been victimized by Vacher over the past two decades. They wept at his capture.

And those who had no connection to the case, after initially coming out of curiosity, their emotions turned to genuine anger upon learning of Vacher's heinous crimes.

"Death penalty! Death penalty!"

Inside the opera house, people argued and debated, treating it as entertainment.

But outside the opera house, the "drama" no longer swayed people's will. What remained was the most impartial law.

"Say, how are you planning to carry this out?" Furina asked Jiang Qiao, puzzled.

The Gardes had proposed execution by firing squad—well, even if the caliber was a bit larger, it didn't matter.

Neuvillette's suggestion was "drowning." After all, Vacher's crime was dissolving innocent girls in water. Therefore, having water cleanse his sins seemed fitting.

But [Furina] strongly opposed this, and her reasoning was sound:

"How can we let such scum defile the waters?"

"Besides, this guy has always wanted to dissolve in water. If we drown him, wouldn't we be granting his wish?"

"There's plenty of water in Fontaine, but not a single drop can accommodate such a sinful person like Vacher."

This reasoning left Neuvillette speechless.

He even felt it made perfect sense.

After all, Neuvillette's true identity was the Hydro Dragon. He was always meticulous about the purity of water.

Although he had drowned countless criminals, if he had to actively let someone like Vacher pollute Fontaine's water, Neuvillette would definitely be unwilling.

Not to mention—

"I remember you enjoy tasting water. If he were drowned, wouldn't it, in a way, add a certain… flavor to the water?"

The blue and white-haired girl teased Neuvillette.

This sounded like a joke, but in a sense, it was true.

Because all waters in Fontaine eventually flowed into the Lucine Fountain, if someone was drowned, no matter where the water came from, it would eventually end up in Neuvillette's stomach.

Neuvillette remained expressionless.

He had to admit, he was disgusted.

Therefore, Neuvillette didn't bother thinking about how to deal with Vacher—this matter ultimately fell to [Furina], who volunteered.

Vacher, his hands bound, knelt before the Lucine Fountain. But strangely, there was no execution tool, nor any Gardes acting as executioners.

This made the crowd, who were clamoring for the death penalty, murmur amongst themselves.

Until the blue and white-haired girl in the hat appeared.

"No way, could it be that Lady Furina is going to personally execute the criminal?"

Seeing [Furina], the people speculated.

And the Steambird reporters were incredibly excited—this was big news!

In five hundred years, Lady Furina, who had rarely taken action, was going to execute someone? This was completely different from her usual behavior. Charlotte was certain that this would make headlines in the Steambird.

Especially—they might even see Lady Furina in action.

Although Lady Furina's usual performances were eye-catching enough, as Focalors, the Hydro Archon, she always seemed somewhat… weak. At least the citizens of Fontaine had never seen their Archon display her divine power.

"Hehe, are you going to personally execute me, Lady Hydro Archon?"

Vacher, kneeling on the ground, sneered, his respectful address laced with sarcasm.

Even now, he still didn't think he had done anything wrong.

Or rather, if there was anything wrong, it was the Palais Mermonia, it was these people present, who had forced him to do it!

As for the lofty Hydro Archon, there was no need to mention her.

Vacher's disdain for Furina was even greater than his disdain for the Palais Mermonia.

After all, to gather funds and sell Pneuma, he had been quite successful in Fontaine's underworld. The dark side of the city, even the greedy officials in the Palais Mermonia, how much better were they compared to him?

Having witnessed such darkness, he held no reverence for Furina, the seemingly glamorous leader of Fontaine, only ridicule.

"To be executed by a god, I'm truly honored, haha."

"Don't misunderstand, I'm not the one who will be your executioner."

"You're not worthy."

Her calm smile held no trace of anger. [Furina] was simply stating a fact.

"Someone else will do it."

"?"

As Vacher looked at her, puzzled, the blue and white-haired girl walked to the Lucine Fountain, gracefully took off her hat, and tilted it towards the fountain.

The iridescent water flowed into the fountain, creating ripples.

"Primordial waters of the Primordial Sea? What are you doing?" Neuvillette, recognizing the iridescent water, asked, puzzled.

Pouring the primordial water into ordinary water could easily cause problems—Pneuma was diluted primordial water. The Lucine Fountain, as the endpoint of all waters, could metabolize it, but he didn't understand the meaning of this action.

Before he could get an answer—

The calm water surface rippled, then formed a whirlpool.

A huge water column rose from the fountain.

A figure emerged from the water.

It was an unfamiliar girl.

"Who is that?"

"I don't know, but she looks quite pretty."

"Average—not even a match for Lady Furina!"

"The point isn't her, it's the water column! Lady Furina is finally displaying her divine power!"

"Indeed, it's not easy to see Lady Furina in action. I heard that no one who has seen her in action is still alive."

"Huh? Is that so? That scary?"

"Don't listen to him. Lady Furina hasn't taken action in the past five hundred years, at least no one has seen her do it. Those who saw her five hundred years ago are all dead."

"Haha, we're witnessing history."

The crowd murmured amongst themselves. [Furina Qiao]—Furina, hidden among them, had a strange expression on her face.

Although it wasn't the first time people had gossiped about her, and she even found it amusing sometimes, as the person involved, hearing their discussions firsthand still made her feel slightly emotional.

It wasn't that I didn't want to take action! It's because that Focalors didn't even give me any power, only leaving behind a damned curse of immortality! It's difficult, alright!

Although she wanted to complain, the person she could confide in was standing right by the Lucine Fountain. Furina could only swallow her bitterness and sulk.

However, compared to the crowd and Furina, the most emotional person was Vacher, kneeling on the ground.

He stared blankly at the woman emerging from the water column, his eyes wide with shock.

"Ve… nier… Venier!"

"You… you're my Venier!"

His voice and hands trembled, and Vacher was incredibly agitated.

Twenty years had passed. He had become an old man, but Venier still looked the same, in the form of a young girl.

"I really… I really see you again…"

He was ecstatic.

For countless days and nights, he had dreamed of seeing her again, even committing the heinous serial disappearances for this very reason.

Vacher had thought he would never see her again and had fallen into despair after hearing his death sentence.

Unexpectedly, there was a twist. The experiment hadn't succeeded, but he still saw the lover he had longed for.

This even gave him the strength to stand up again.

"Vacher…"

As she approached, her familiar voice and appearance brought tears to his eyes, but he didn't notice the sadness in Venier's words.

"I didn't expect we would meet again like this."

"I didn't expect it either… Venier, you… how have you been all these years?"

"..."

"Very well, really well, Vacher…"

The couple chatted as if they were just catching up after a long absence.

The crowd was puzzled.

Even Furina went to Jiang Qiao's side and asked softly, "What are you doing?"

This was supposed to be an execution, but there were no execution tools, no executioner, and the criminal was chatting with his supposed lover.

The crowd was dissatisfied.

Such a villain, shouldn't they just execute him quickly? Why were they fulfilling his dying wish?

The blue and white-haired girl glanced at her and said calmly, "She—"

"Vacher—I am your executioner."

[Furina]'s words were different from Venier's (?), but their meaning stunned everyone, including Vacher.

"W-why… ah?"

Vacher looked at her in disbelief.

"Venier, everything I did was to bring you back! It was all for you!"

He felt that perhaps everyone had the right to accuse him, but Venier, he had been sincere, wholehearted!

Venier (?) remained indifferent.

She didn't need to repeat herself.

"She is not Venier, at least not entirely."

"Then who is she?"

"The Oceanid we saw in the Lucine Fountain, the collective consciousness of the girls dissolved by Vacher." Sitting by the Lucine Fountain, her legs crossed, the girl's expression was incredibly calm as she explained Venier's (?) origins.

—The victims.

Her smooth, blue and white hair swayed in the wind, obscuring her divine, heterochromatic eyes. She looked at the stunned Vacher and said softly, "Having the girls Vacher harmed personally execute him is the most fitting outcome, isn't it?"

For someone like Vacher, simply executing him would be letting him off too easy.

Dying with regrets was also an option.

But since there was a better way, why not use it?

What people like Vacher feared most wasn't death—at least not primarily. What they feared most was the shattering of their lifelong pursuit.

All their sacrifices not only failed to achieve their goals, but also caused their loved ones to suffer, turning love into hate.

The result was the collapse of their beliefs, the collapse of the conviction that had sustained their actions.

"Let the lover he desperately wanted to bring back personally end his sinful life."

Beneath the illusory guillotine was Vacher.

And beside the guillotine was his beloved Venier.

"Venier… Venier…"

No matter how much he called out, trying to appeal to their past relationship, all that awaited Vacher was the falling blade, released by Venier (?) with a smile.

A sin, thus, came to an end.

Sound lost its meaning, and there was no visual impact, as the self-igniting flames consumed Vacher.

Afterward, Venier (?) asked the question she had been pondering:

"Lady Furina, I don't understand why you didn't let me take him away."

As the collective of the girls Vacher had harmed, they didn't just want to kill him; they wanted to take his soul and torment him for eternity.

But this action was stopped by Jiang Qiao.

"There's no need to further pollute the water."

Oceanids were pure beings, innocent and kind. And this meant that even the slightest touch of malice would shatter their consciousness, turning them into scattered fragments.

The victims were composed of the girls harmed by Marcel, and their hatred for him had already tainted their purity as Oceanids. Why add a scum like Vacher to the mix?

"I've already cleansed the remnants of Vacher's consciousness from the ley lines. That's enough."

"As for you, I hope you can face tomorrow with hope." [Furina] said.

Dissolving into water didn't mean the end of life, at least not for Fontaine's people. It just meant their consciousness merged together, their past memories fragmented.

Of course, in the conventional sense, this was indeed the end of their existence as "individuals."

But… consciousness returned to the collective, couldn't it just be separated again?

He separated the consciousnesses of the sacrificed girls from the Oceanid collective, and using the power of the "primordial waters of the Primordial Sea," he nurtured them anew, resulting in this individual, who had regained human form.

"You… you can separate them again?" Furina asked, surprised, with a hint of anticipation and joy.

The revelation of the Primordial Sea had made her understand many things, but she was still powerless.

And the method Jiang Qiao demonstrated seemed to offer a glimmer of hope.

"It's not difficult, but it's somewhat troublesome."

Jiang Qiao gave his opinion.

Separating individuals from a collective consciousness wasn't easy. Only by manipulating the mental realm could one handle such intangible things—of course, this wasn't a problem for Jiang Qiao.

After all, he could create "holy swords," and the authority of Origin could also achieve similar effects.

For him, the biggest problem was finding them.

Finding the fragmented memories within the vast waters, although not impossible, was a time-consuming task.

Unless they were intercepted beforehand… well, Jiang Qiao had better methods, but those would require more effort.

"This is the result of my attempt."

"Her will is formed from the collective consciousness of the sacrificed girls. There might be some memory loss, but after reintegration, it has formed a new, shared will."

"This… is she still the same as those girls from the past?" Furina looked at Venier, uncertain.

"It depends on how you define it. At least she is indeed composed of those girls, and those memories are proof of their existence, created by them."

"But in reality, she should indeed be a new life."

"It's not impossible to separate them again… but she doesn't seem to need it."

The blue and white-haired girl shrugged.

Venier (?) nodded:

"Mmm, this is good enough, Lady Furina."

Honestly, for Oceanids, returning from individual consciousness to the collective wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Being able to feel and understand each other was a beautiful experience that humans couldn't comprehend.

However, merging into a collective consciousness also carried the risk of losing oneself within the collective.

But these girls harmed by Marcel mostly had regrets.

Some of them still yearned for a human life.

But perhaps because of the collective, being intertwined and able to feel each other had become a habit over time. Separating them again would feel awkward.

So this was better.

After reuniting with Fairy Ely and Lumine in the side hall of the opera house, Fairy Ely voiced Lumine's thoughts,

"Since the truth has been revealed, can Lumine's charges be dropped now?"

Lumine nodded vigorously, hands on her hips, as if saying with her expression—I'm innocent!

Being wrongly accused had been very unpleasant.

Now that her name was cleared, shouldn't she receive some kind of reward for her efforts?

"Mmm, indeed…"

"I apologize, but I'm afraid it can't end so simply." Just as Furina nodded in agreement, Neuvillette appeared, his tone serious.

"Eh? Hasn't Vacher been executed?"

"Oh, my apologies for the wording… Miss Lumine's charges regarding the serial disappearances can indeed be dropped, but according to Fontaine law, she has another charge."

"?" Lumine, who was still calculating how many Mora she could get, was puzzled.

While [Furina Qiao] wondered what other charges there could be, [Furina] instantly found the answer in the Fontaine law recorded within this body.

—Illegal entry.