Yes, Lady Funina!

And Fukaros looks exactly like Frinina...

“During the resupply process, apart from the procurement crew, no one else is allowed to disembark in principle, as this is to prevent unforeseen circumstances,” Richard said righteously.

After thinking for a moment, Funina said, "Then I can also serve as the purchasing agent."

Richard blinked; this was a path he had never imagined.

"What I mean is, after we finish visiting Inazuma, we can stay in Liyue for a few more days under the guise of being partners. There's no need to rush."

"Partners..."

Funina remembered that Fontaine and Liyue did indeed have a collaborative project, and she was the one who personally spearheaded its establishment.

That is indeed a good reason.

"Did you already think of this reason?" Funina felt that Richard was definitely doing it on purpose.

“Of course, a competent politician can often make use of all available resources around him, aren’t you one of them?” Richard countered.

Am I... like that?

Funina felt a little guilty, but more than that, she was concerned about Richard's attitude. After spending time together, she realized that Richard seemed to be taking her less and less seriously.

He used to always coax her and try his best to meet her demands, but now he dares to openly 'mocker' her like this.

This made Fu Ningna feel somewhat neglected, like she was once a sweetheart but is now a neglected wife.

"Are you saying I'm not a good politician?" Funina asked sternly.

“How could that be? Aren’t you very good at utilizing resources?” Richard looked puzzled, seemingly not understanding why Funina would say that.

"You see, when you encounter a problem you don't understand or can't solve, don't you think of me first?"

"Delegating tasks that you're not good at to those that are good at them already puts you ahead of most leaders."

After hearing Richard's words, Funina looked somewhat enlightened.

Is...is that so?

Was I really that amazing?

No...as expected of me? What a load of rubbish!

"You're trying to fool me again!" This time, however, Fulina wasn't led astray by Richard.

Even Richard was surprised that Funina wasn't fooled by him; she's improved.

However, he certainly couldn't admit it. Richard looked at Funina with a serious expression and asked, "Why do you think that?"

“I…” Funina was taken aback by Richard’s serious expression.

Seeing the expression on Richard's face—seven parts serious, two parts sincere, and one part heartbroken—Furina wondered if she had truly misunderstood Richard.

He...maybe he really didn't mean it that way?

No, Fulina subtly pinched the back of her hand, not with much force. Partly because she was afraid of pain, and partly because she was simply reminding herself not to fall for Richard's tricks again.

"I think you're just trying to fool me." Funina insisted on her point of view, saying that no matter how sweet your words are, you can't turn black into white.

Faced with Funina's insistence, Richard had no choice but to take another approach.

He reached out and put his arm around Funina's slender waist. Compared to solving the problem, dealing with the person who raised the problem seemed quicker and more efficient.

"Wait... what are you doing? I'm talking to you seriously! This is an office... ugh!"

Furina was persuaded by Richard with words.

However, this time it wasn't just a kiss; Richard also habitually started touching her.

While being passively entangled with Richard, Funina's tightly closed eyes widened instantly after sensing something.

“Wait… um… you… hand.” Funina tilted her head back, wanting to say something, but Richard clearly wasn’t going to let his prey get away like that.

What happened to his hand?

Oh, it's already inside the clothes.

If Funina hadn't mentioned it, Richard wouldn't have noticed at all. It might be hard to believe, but it wasn't something he intentionally wanted to do.

It's purely a matter of practice.

It's an automatic pathfinding system.

Chapter 208 Maid-Themed Restaurant

The two-week cultural exchange between the two countries is drawing to a close. In addition to showcasing the rich cultures of Fontainebleau and Inazuma, the exchange has also facilitated several trade and economic agreements.

Yaedo has officially established a branch in Fontainebleau, marking the first time in its history that it has formally opened a branch overseas and is now publicly soliciting submissions from local authors in Fontainebleau.

Correspondingly, major publishers in Fontainebleau were also allowed to join Inazuma, and the review threshold for related cultural works was greatly lowered.

Clearly, compared to the previous cultural exchange activities with Liyue, this cultural exchange activity with Inazuma is more closely related to culture.

The city hall has received countless petitions hoping to open a maid cafe in Fontainebleau.

The problem is, what's the point of going to the city hall to open a restaurant? You can't expect the city hall to fund the opening of a maid cafe, can you? That would be too absurd.

Even Funina wouldn't agree to such an outrageous request, but that didn't stop her from being interested in the maid restaurant mentioned in the letter.

"A maid cafe?" Richard looked at Funina with a puzzled expression, not understanding why his prime minister would bring this up out of the blue.

“Yes, this restaurant seems to be really popular lately…” Funina looked at Richard expectantly, “How about we go there for lunch?”

After listening to Frynn's suggestion, Clarin thought for a moment and said, "And then the next day the Steambird newspaper will have an article titled 'Prime Minister Frynn, accompanied by numerous high-ranking city hall officials, inspects a maid restaurant'?"

"..." When Frynn heard what Clorinde said, her expression faltered slightly, as if something was indeed inappropriate.

"Besides, a maid cafeteria... Actually, the restaurant in Momang Palace can also be considered a maid cafeteria. Lady Funina, weren't your meals served by the servants of Momang Palace?" Clorinde felt that Funina was simply going the long way around.

It's important to know that the maids at the Mo Mang Palace restaurant aren't just pretending; they have real jobs. There are many more real maids than those so-called maids. The maids who work at Mo Mang Palace have all undergone professional training. It's not like just anyone can put on a maid outfit and become a maid.

"Now that you mention it, maid cafes suddenly don't seem so appealing anymore," Funina said, sitting back down, somewhat dejected.

"That's not entirely true. Compared to the waiters in the Mo Mang Palace restaurant, the maid cafeteria is much more lively. Although they're not as professional as the regular maids, they have their own unique charm," Richard said very objectively.

But after Richard finished speaking, he noticed that the two women in the office did not reply immediately, but were staring at him.

"You... seem quite familiar with maid cafes?" Funina asked with a somewhat unfriendly expression.

"Have you been there before?" Seeing Funina leading the charge, Clarinde mustered her courage and asked.

Richard glanced at Clorinde, which made her eyelids twitch, and she subtly moved to shield Furness in front of her.

Haha, what good is it for you to have Frinina as your backer? She's not Fucarus. Although Fucarus is a bit weak in combat, she can still help you share the burden to some extent. But Frinina is still just a puff pastry in the making, not a puff pastry yet!

“I wouldn’t say I’m familiar with it, but that maid cafe is owned by Yae no Miko, didn’t you know that?” Richard said.

"The Eightfold Divine Child?!" Funina hadn't expected this to be related to the Eightfold Divine Child.

"The fact that projects like maid cafes, which are somewhat borderline, can exist in exchange activities between the two countries already speaks volumes," Richard said, shrugging.

Without the support of Yae no Miko, how could a normal person possibly think of opening such a strange restaurant at the cultural exchange venue between the two countries?

Even if someone really thinks that way, they can't start a business without someone backing them up.

At the mention of Yae no Miko, Clarinde's delicate body visibly trembled, and she glanced at Funina with a hint of guilt.

Furina didn't notice Clorind's unusual behavior behind her, but even if she had, she wouldn't have thought about it in any other way.

After all, Claurind had never mentioned to anyone that Yae no Miko had also come ashore. If it weren't for that incident, Claurind might have exchanged information at the tea party.

She couldn't possibly tell Lynette and the others, "Hurry up, Yae no Kamiko has already succeeded."

If Lynette or Frynn asked her how she knew, Clorinde couldn't very well say, "We met in bed, could we?"

“But if it’s a shop run by Yae no Miko… can we use the internal passage?” After Richard said that, Funina’s previously dormant idea suddenly became active again.

“I’m not sure about that, but Clarinde has been getting along well with the Divine Child lately, so you could ask her to inquire,” Richard said with a smile.

Claurind: !!!

Seeing the look in Furina's eyes, Clarinde forced herself to remain calm and said, "Then... I'll go ask?"

“Go ask,” Funina nodded, clearly not giving it much thought.

In her view, the reason why Clarinde had a good relationship with Inazuma was simply because of her previous "teaching and instruction." Since the Kage was willing to teach Clarinde the core martial arts, it was normal for Yae no Miko, who was a Kage's familiar, to have a good relationship with Clarinde.

Even Yae no Miko might have attended Professor Clarinde's classes.

It's unclear whether Yae no Miko actually heard Clarind preach, but they did receive the same fluids.

“In that case, we definitely won’t make it by noon,” Richard said, glancing at the time.

"Then let's go take a look together after get off work. After get off work, my status should change from Prime Minister to ordinary citizen, right? That way, even if it makes the newspapers, I'll have a reason to deny it." Funina thought she was a genius.

Since the crisis was over and Funina no longer had to play the water goddess, she seemed to have broken free of some kind of shackles, and was filled with a strong curiosity about everything.

Like this maid-themed restaurant, if it were the old Funina, even if she was interested, she wouldn't have said it outright like she is now; instead, she would have kept the idea deep in her heart.

Of course, Richard thinks that Funina is in a very good state right now, which just shows that Funina's emotional wounds are healing.

If, after the prophecy crisis ends, Funinna moves out of Momang Palace and becomes a shut-in wherever she wants, that would be even more worrying, wouldn't it?

So whether it was for Furina's mental health or for other factors that were not for outsiders to know, Richard was willing to grant her this small request.

Even if Funina were seen by reporters and made the front page the next day, Richard would help her mitigate the impact of the incident free of charge.

"After get off work... can I invite a few more people? Lynette and Fukaros invited me to dinner," Cloninder asked.

“Of course, I’d like to invite them too. Let’s call it… a long-awaited grand dinner for the higher-ups of Mo Mang Palace,” Fu Ningna said, clapping her hands.

Navilette: ...The world has forgotten me.

It wasn't that I was deliberately trying to isolate Navelette, but how could I possibly connect the Supreme Judge with a maid cafe?

The location for the after-get off work dinner had been decided. Clarinde went upstairs first to explain the matter to Lynette and Fukaros, although Lynette acted somewhat strangely after hearing the word 'maid'.

But Claurind still got their unanimous agreement, and then she went straight to the Inazuma Embassy.

During afternoon tea with Kage and Yae no Miko, Clarin mentioned this matter to Yae no Miko.

"Oh? The Water God is actually interested in a maid cafe?" Yae no Miko raised her eyebrows in surprise after hearing Clarinde's request.

The chief priest's lips curled slightly. "I thought the first person to make this request would be some lecherous scoundrel."

Ying glanced at Yae no Miko and thought to herself, "Miko, you're not much better. If we're talking about lust, I feel like you're much more eager than Richard."

Ying knew that this maid cafe was actually a backup plan left by Yae no Miko to ensure that after failing on the first day, there would still be opportunities to take action later.

On another note, how come Yae no Miko and Clarinde's relationship suddenly became so good?

Ying remembered that Clarinde and Yae no Miko were at most casual acquaintances before, but now it seems that they are developing into best friends.

Of course, Shadow wasn't worried about his position in Yae no Miko's heart being shaken, and he was happy to see Yae no Miko and Clarinde get along well.

Although Ying is rather dull when it comes to emotions, she understands the importance of having many friends and few enemies.

“Richard doesn’t seem very interested in maids.” Claude recalled Richard’s behavior in the office earlier.

I have a feeling that Richard isn't as enthusiastic about the maid cafe as I thought.

"Is that so? I don't think so. He certainly wouldn't be interested in the maids in the shop, but what if we became the maids in the shop?" Yae no Miko's lips curled into a meaningful smile.

Yae no Miko knew very well how high Richard's standards were. The waitresses she found to play the roles of maids were at most slightly attractive, and they didn't catch Richard's eye at all.

After all, Richard usually has to look at the kind of women around him: Claurind, Lynette, Frynn, Fukaros, Ray, and himself, who is both intelligent and beautiful.

It's not that Yae no Miko is bragging, but people like them are always sought after wherever they go. For ordinary people, meeting even one is already a stroke of good fortune.

Unlike Richard, who had so many beautiful women surrounding him.

It's truly a case of some dying from drought and others from floods.

Since Richard looked down on the pretty maids in the shop, if she, Shadow, and Clarin were to serve as maids, Yae no Miko didn't believe that lecherous man could resist.

"Wait, I didn't agree to that." Shadow said, looking at Yae no Miko.

"Oh dear, don't be such a spoilsport. I've already prepared your clothes. Don't you want to see Richard's expression when he sees you in a maid outfit?" Yae no Miko winked mischievously at Kage.

"..." Ying wanted to say no, but no matter what she said, she couldn't bring herself to say it. In fact, she was secretly looking forward to that scene.

Yae no Miko didn't mind Kage's tsundere attitude, and of course, this time she unusually refrained from teasing him.

Because she knew that if she teased the other person at this moment, given Ying's personality, she might really refuse to wear the maid outfit.

That's so boring.