While Yuto and Furina were planning their next steps, other investigations were also underway.
Claude had already taken the other members of the Gilded Troupe and smoothly brought Dirfi back to their current residence, with the yellow-clad woman taking over her subsequent care.
Meanwhile, Lumine and Paimon focused their investigation beneath the stage, hoping to find a breakthrough there.
After all...
This was where the problem occurred, and it was also the closest location to the scene of the incident.
Of course, Lumine and Paimon's idea, to some extent, coincided with the concept Yuto held.
Since it had already been determined that this matter was done by the Noclan Family, who had been punished by Yuto earlier, things were relatively easy to handle.
After all, the Northland Bank had been quiet recently, and their actions didn't make logical sense, so it couldn't have been done by the professional spies or intelligence agents of the Fatui.
And Fontaine is not like Sumeru, which has a mercenary system similar to the Gilded Troupe; even the underground black market is under the control of Palais Mermonia.
Given that the Fatui were restricted by some unknown reason, such a thing was most likely done by those who were not very experienced.
Therefore... Lumine and Paimon concluded that whoever did this would definitely leave some clues.
But many things do not develop in the direction people expect; in fact, they might even develop in the opposite direction.
...
Paimon glanced at the uniformly dust-covered underside of the stage, a hint of confusion in her black eyes.
"If only this one wooden board was problematic, then why were there no footprints on the dust beneath the stage?"
As Paimon spoke, she flew to where Lumine had jumped down from the stage earlier, pointing at the very obvious shoe print and saying:
"Look, even you jumping directly from above left clear marks, so why are there no footprints around here?"
"Those few Gilded Troupe members just now also talked about the stage; in their memory, the stage surface was exactly the same as before, with no difference at all."
"Whether to thin the floor from below or directly replace this stage floor, it must be done from below! Why are there no footprints here?"
After saying this, Lumine and Paimon simultaneously fell into contemplation.
As time ticked by, after the two had fallen into complete silence for three minutes, Paimon exclaimed in exasperation:
"I can't figure it out at all!!! The more I think, the more my mind gets muddled. This kind of thing is impossible!"
Hearing Paimon's words, which contained four parts resentment and six parts bewilderment, Lumine also sighed helplessly.
"All the clues are broken here... Although we can now confirm that this was man-made, we have no way of saying who did it."
"If we can't catch the culprit, our current investigation results are meaningless."
After saying this, Lumine sighed once more, seemingly feeling... helpless about the current situation.
She did not possess abilities similar to time reversal, nor was there anything like the Earth Veins here that could record past events.
—Even if there were, it's uncertain whether those images from the Earth Veins could be considered valid evidence.
"But at least we can't stop here."
After a brief moment of discouragement, Lumine gently shook her head and then continued to walk towards the darker areas beneath the stage.
Although she didn't know if she could find more effective evidence, she had to try at least.
How would she know there would be no results if she didn't try?
...
After investigating for about ten minutes, Lumine emerged from the stage pit, covered in dust.
Seeing Lumine sitting on the stage without any regard for her image, Paimon asked worriedly:
"Lumine... Did you find the crux of the problem? Or... did you find any other clues?"
Hearing this, Lumine gently shook her head, then coughed a few times before speaking:
"There isn't a single trace on the floating dust on the ground, as if no one had ever been there."
"The floor must have been replaced, but it's definitely not as simple as we thought."
"There must be other possibilities."
Hearing this, Paimon nodded her small head in frustration, then slowly floated over to Lumine's side, sighing softly before saying:
"Lumine... Do you think we can still find that evidence?"
"If we can't find evidence... can we still get the reward Yuto promised us?"
Lumine uncharacteristically gave no response to any of the questions Paimon posed.
It could be said that even she herself didn't know if they could accomplish all of this, if they could completely turn these things around.
So... given this great unknown premise and her own exhaustion, she was unable to give any effective answer.
And just as Paimon was about to say something else... a rather teasing voice entered their ears.
"While I don't know if you can find the corresponding evidence, I do know one thing: your reward... Palais Mermonia will not short you a single mora."
Hearing this voice, Lumine and Paimon looked over, seeing Yuto and Furina smiling at them, and for a moment, they felt a surge of excitement.
"Yuto? What you just said is true? Even if we don't find the corresponding evidence, we'll still get the promised reward?"
Yuto nodded slightly, then said very naturally:
"According to Article 621 of the latest revised labor law half a year ago, every bit of labor put in by any Teyvat citizen with legal status working in Fontaine should be realized in the form of mora."
"The payment amount should be comprehensively assessed based on work difficulty, work intensity, work time, and work completion. If there is a dispute... laborers can apply for arbitration to the Marechaussee Phantom, and the Marechaussee Phantom will have specialists to handle labor disputes."
Hearing this long string of legal provisions, Paimon blinked slightly, then scratched her head somewhat sheepishly, but still said righteously:
"Although it's a bit long and I don't quite understand it, overall it means we can get the agreed-upon reward, right?"
Paimon's words made Yuto's mouth twitch involuntarily, then he said somewhat helplessly:
"Of course, after all, I drafted and formulated this labor law; I can't possibly go against this rule myself, can I?"
"Besides... I didn't actually expect you to pinpoint the target and directly provide evidence that would allow the Marechaussee Phantom to make an arrest on your first try."
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