"Where did you even get all these weird contraptions from?" Richard asked darkly, glaring at the animated mechanical portrait sitting on Furina's desk.
These things were like cockroaches; once you found one, it meant there were dozens hiding somewhere.
He didn't even need to think about it. If one of his moving portraits had ended up on Furina's desk, then Lynette, Clorinde, and even Ningguang probably had one too.
Furina looked at him as though she were staring at a caveman who'd just crawled out of a cave.
"You don't know? These mechanical portraits are all the rage in Fontaine right now. You can find them in any shop."
Then, after a short pause, she added, "Of course, considering portrait rights, shops can't legally sell this particular one without your permission."
Richard narrowed his eyes. "Then how did you get it?"
"I made it myself. Do it yourself, and you'll never go hungry. Shops sell the bases for these portraits; you just cut your own picture to size, stick it on, and voilà. Very convenient."
"...And where did you get the photo?"
"Oh, those are easy to find on the Gray River black market. But mine is legitimate, I took it from the archives."
By Fontaine law, even if a photo was withdrawn from exhibition under the "Official Protection Act," it couldn't be destroyed; it had to be archived.
So Furina had simply "borrowed" one from there, submitting a full report for the record.
Technically, everything she did was perfectly within legal bounds.
Even Richard couldn't find a flaw...except he could. "That's my photo. Shouldn't you at least ask for permission before using it?"
"I'm not profiting from it, so it's not infringement," Furina said, having clearly anticipated this.
She'd already checked the law: as long as there was no commercial gain, his complaint would only count as a civil issue.
What's more, due to Clorinde's little mix-up, the photos were technically registered as Furina's work, meaning she held the copyright. She could even grant licenses without asking Richard.
Of course, she'd never license them out. Letting other people see her man like that? Absolutely not.
In fact, Furina had supported banning that infamous "wet photo" too, but that ban applied to everyone except her.
Richard realized he was trapped. He couldn't legally stop her; in fact, she could even turn this into leverage against him.
Mr. Richard, you wouldn't want these pictures becoming public, would you?
Thankfully, she didn't seem to realize the power she held, yet. The naive Furina hadn't picked up Inazuma's bad habits.
But if she ever visited Inazuma… who knows what would happen.
Since the situation was irreversible, Richard could only take it out on Clorinde in the records and move on.
Let Furina and the others keep their pictures, but he'd be damned if they circulated through Fontaine.
So, over the next few days, Richard mobilized his connections and obliterated the Gray River's biggest illegal photo ring.
Hundreds of people were arrested, from ringleaders to low-level distributors, on charges including distribution of obscene material, violation of portrait rights, and illegal profit.
Severe sentences.
Even the street peddlers got 1–3 years.
The bosses? They'd be spending the rest of their lives in the Fortress of Meropide.
The culprits never figured out why the courts, which usually turned a blind eye, suddenly cracked down so hard.
Even the Spina di Rosula and the Fatui got involved.
Why were so many powers ganging up on them?
For the first time, the smug black marketeers understood what it meant to be "enemies of the world."
They became public enemies overnight, and before they knew it, they were in court.
Utterly absurd.
A few days later-
"Shenhe, what are you holding?" After days of research, Cloud Retainer had finally grasped the basics of anti-gravity tech. Exiting her study, she found Shenhe fiddling with a strange contraption.
"A moving picture," Shenhe replied honestly.
"A moving picture?" Cloud Retainer blinked.
Shenhe generously handed it over, then pulled another one out of her dimensional pouch.
Cloud Retainer looked closer and nearly dropped it.
"Is that… Richard? Why does he look like a drowned cat?!"
Shenhe didn't know why Richard had been soaked when the picture was taken, but she didn't care. She simply found it fascinating, endlessly so. Watching the picture's repeating motion somehow made her feel energized.
Cloud Retainer, meanwhile, lost interest after five seconds. After tinkering with the mechanism behind "Richard's" head and figuring out the simple principle, she set it down.
"Such a crude design," she muttered.
Then she frowned at Shenhe's fascination.
"Where did you even get this?"
Knowing Richard, there was no way he'd willingly make such a thing for Shenhe.
"Bought it," Shenhe said plainly.
"Bought it? From Richard?" Cloud Retainer asked, suddenly suspicious.
'Could Richard really have fallen so low, selling risqué portraits for money?'
'Impossible. The man had half of Ningguang's fortune!'
'Or… was it for spiritual reasons?'
"Not from him," Shenhe shook her head. "From a stranger."
"A stranger? Then how would they get his picture?"
"There was a photography exhibit in the convention hall… Furina took it," Shenhe said simply.
Cloud Retainer blinked, not quite following, but decided to drop the matter.
"Don't tell me you just sit there watching it all day?"
"No. Not while eating," Shenhe said seriously. "The soup might splash on it."
Cloud Retainer sighed. "What's so interesting about that thing?"
"It's nice to look at," Shenhe said firmly, and after thinking for a moment, added, "More interesting than your furnaces."
Cloud Retainer froze.
'More interesting than my furnaces? Impossible!'
'The sacred art of Liyue's mechanism craft was not to be compared with such trivial toys!'
Determined to prove a point, she stormed back into her workshop to personally craft a Liyue-style version of the moving portrait, one infused with true mechanical artistry.
Shenhe's cool eyes flickered. Then, quietly, she pulled out a pristine set of The Cat Who Stole the Heart original prints and followed her master inside…
The next day, Richard visited Ningguang's Fontaine residence at Cloud Retainer's invitation, and immediately froze at the sight of the shimmering, glowing Liyue-version of the mechanical portrait on the table.
'There's a Liyue-exclusive edition now?! Are you serious?!'
"Richard," Cloud Retainer said proudly, "tell me, which is better? My mechanical art, or Shenhe's store-bought one?"
Richard's expression was indescribable.
No comment. (Richard.png)
"…Yours, of course," he said quickly.
And to be fair, she had done a fantastic job, smoother motion, perfect detail, and even blinking animation. Compared to the choppy Fontaine version, it was like comparing fine chocolate to a brick.
'Still… You have this level of skill, and you used it for this?!'
Satisfied with the answer, Cloud Retainer turned to Shenhe. "See? Even Richard says so."
Shenhe nodded, her eyes glued to the portrait. "Master is amazing."
"This is but a shallow application of mechanical arts," Cloud Retainer said proudly. "The true path is vast and profound-"
Unfortunately, Shenhe's "interest" was less about the mechanics and more about the subject of the portrait, a very wet Richard.
"Shenhe, after all that, what do you think?" Cloud Retainer asked with a self-satisfied smile.
"I think…" Shenhe paused, then pointed to the portrait.
"Master, can I take this one home?"
Cloud Retainer froze.
She was… so stupid!
How did she not realize her disciple wasn't interested in mechanics but in the man in the picture?!
Yet, instead of anger, she felt bittersweet warmth.
Her once-cold disciple, who'd seemed almost inhuman, was showing emotion, desire, attachment.
It meant Shenhe was finally overcoming the soul-binding side effects of the Red Rope.
But… the "antidote" was Richard.
That realization stung.
She'd raised Shenhe for over twenty years, and yet that man, who hadn't even seen her in months, now held such importance in her heart.
The more Cloud Retainer thought about it, the more she glared at Richard.
That saying about mothers-in-law liking their sons-in-law more and more?
Yeah. Not here.
In her eyes, the more she looked at Richard, the more irritating he became.
They used to be friends. Now? Strangers.
Richard, meanwhile, was utterly baffled.
'You made an animated portrait of me and you're the one mad?! How's that fair?!'
But being the bigger person, he let it slide.
Changing the topic, he asked, "You've gone over the anti-gravity research, right?"
Cloud Retainer nodded. "Yes. Fontaine's been moving in the right direction. There were missteps, but they corrected them quickly. That explosion, they simply advanced too hastily. Impatience is the enemy of innovation."
She shared her analysis, then finally gave her answer to Furina's request. "Apologies, but I don't think I'm suited to lead the research."
Richard wasn't surprised.
For a being who could fly by nature, anti-gravity tech, born from mortal yearning to float, held little meaning.
Her advice was useful, but her methods couldn't be replicated by humans.
It might be better to leave the research to Fontaine's own scholars.
"I agree," Richard said. "But please don't tell Furina directly. Just say you're still testing your theories, let her keep a little hope alive."