In the following days, Mondstadt City was bustling with post-disaster recovery work; burned houses and windmills needed repair, and the bombed Mondstadt Bridge needed reconstruction.
The carcass of The Dragon Ursa, which Diluc had finished off, also needed to be recovered in time. Although that Dragon Ursa was a replica from Dottore's slicing, it was still a giant dragon's body, and a fresh one at that. To let it slowly rot and decompose in the Brightcrown Canyon forest would be the greatest waste.
Lisa, Albedo, and the heads of the Potion Workshop and Alchemy Workshop had long coveted the dragon's carcass. For the past few days, they had been arguing fiercely over its distribution.
As the top technology on the Teyvat continent, no scholar or alchemist dedicated to research could refuse such excellent material.
If Mondstadt dared to release the news that it possessed the body of a giant dragon replica researched by Snezhnaya's Dottore, they could guarantee that even from Sumeru, thousands of miles away, the great scholars of the Akademiya would rush to Mondstadt like mad dogs sniffing out a scent, trying to get a piece of the pie.
Speaking of The Dragon Ursa, due to another Dragon Ursa being torn in half on the spot by Miyashiro, a large amount of dragon blood and internal organs fell into Cider Lake. For safety reasons, Acting Grand Master Jean immediately ordered all Mondstadt residents to temporarily refrain from drinking water from Cider Lake.
After analysis by Sucrose and others, The Dragon Ursa's blood and internal organs did not cause any harmful effects to the water quality of Cider Lake. Not only that, but the Cider Lake water, seemingly mixed with dragon blood, gained some beneficial components for humans, which made Acting Grand Master Jean breathe a sigh of relief.
It seems that The Dragon Ursa and Dragon Durin, although both are dragons, Ursa is an element creature of Teyvat. Its flesh and blood, unlike Dragon Durin's, are not filled with toxins and curses.
In addition to this, there was also casualty relief work for the incident, and the investigation of fire points in the surrounding areas of Mondstadt, etc. It was an incredibly busy time, and the heavy post-disaster work also allowed the Knights of Favonius to temporarily forget the grief of that night.
Temporarily numbing many things with heavy work was a delaying tactic that Acting Grand Master Jean had summarized from years of work, but it was only a temporary solution.
Late at night, in Acting Grand Master Jean's office.
As the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, Jean has always advocated a hands-on approach and is a complete workaholic. However, there is a big problem before her now that has kept her frowning.
This matter is the issue of how to deal with the members of the Lawrence Family. This matter, it can be said, the entire Mondstadt City is waiting for Jean's verdict.
In fact, Jean also knows that Mondstadt City has suffered such significant losses this time, causing widespread public outrage, almost reaching a boiling point. Someone must pay the price to quell the anger of the Mondstadt people.
However, dealing with the Lawrence Family members is not a simple matter. According to the agreement reached with Eula earlier, she only agreed to let twenty-one children under seven years old from the clan become new members of the Lawrence Family; she wanted none of the others!
And for those adult Lawrence members, Jean would not hesitate for a moment to sentence them to death. As Acting Grand Master Jean, who has been in power for several years, her gentleness is only given to Mondstadt's friends. For Mondstadt's enemies, she never shows mercy.
The key issue lies in how to deal with those children who are neither adults nor under seven years old.
Should they all be implicated and executed?
Although this is the simplest and quickest solution, Acting Grand Master Jean simply cannot do it, nor does she have the authority to issue such a judgment.
In the thousand years since the establishment of the Knights of Favonius, neither in Mondstadt's laws nor in its history has there been a crime of collective punishment, let alone killing some underage children. This goes against the code of conduct of the Knights of Favonius.
Even a thousand years ago, when Vennessa had just overthrown the deeply sinful Lawrence Family, she only punished the main culprits, giving the Lawrence Family a glimmer of hope. Although it was this glimmer of hope left by Vennessa that led to this rebellion a thousand years later.
Mondstadt's national conditions are not the same as Inazuma's. Acting Grand Master Jean's power cannot contend with Miyashiro, the Inazuma Regent. Although both are the highest leaders of their respective nations, Miyashiro has the backing of his own strength, plus Inazuma's unique national system. Aside from Raiden Shogun, Inazuma can be said to be Miyashiro's personal domain.
Therefore, when Miyashiro implicated the rebellious Kujou Clan, he faced almost no resistance. Moreover, didn't he still leave a bloodline for the Kujou Clan?
However, Mondstadt is different. The crime of collective punishment was created to ensure the sacred and inviolable authority of the ruler. Unfortunately, as a city-state with no one claiming kingship, Mondstadt has no king in the practical sense, so the crime of collective punishment has no room to exist.
Learning from the lesson, Acting Grand Master Jean wanted to avoid leaving future troubles.
Most of these underage children have inevitably been branded with the Lawrence Family's mark and have developed the bad habits of the family. It will definitely not be easy to later reform these children's minds.
If reforming children under seven years old is like drawing on a blank piece of paper, Acting Grand Master Jean believes she still has some confidence. But reforming children over seven years old is tantamount to drawing on a piece of paper that has already been crumpled and scribbled on. Even Acting Grand Master Jean does not have 100% confidence.
Especially for those children who are already in their teens, their values have already begun to take shape. The difficulty of breaking their existing values and reshaping them now is imaginable.
What's more, their relatives will be tried and executed by the Knights of Favonius in the near future. This undoubtedly plants a seed of hatred in their hearts, which could sprout at any time.
At their age, they won't consider why their relatives were tried for doing bad things. They will only remember that the Knights of Favonius killed their family, making them lonely orphans overnight, which further increases the difficulty of reform.
It is precisely for this reason that Acting Grand Master Jean has not been able to approve the death sentence for the Lawrence Family, but Jean also knows that this matter cannot be delayed much longer.
Because this action has already caused dissatisfaction among some citizens, especially the families of the deceased.
Initially, they could understand that the Knights of Favonius also needed time to prepare, but after several days, the Knights of Favonius had no news at all.
And at this moment, a rumor unexpectedly spread in Mondstadt City: it was said that Eula, the remnant of the Lawrence Family, had attached herself to the Inazuma Regent and become his woman.
Eula had whispered in the Regent's ear, hoping to give the Lawrence Family a glimmer of hope, and so the Inazuma Delegation put pressure on the Knights of Favonius, which is why the Knights of Favonius had delayed issuing the judgment.
It was this rumor that made many Mondstadt residents feel that things had changed. They began to spontaneously gather at the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius, demanding that Acting Grand Master Jean give a clear explanation.
As Jean leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes and pondering a proper solution, a knock sounded on her office door...
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